Mobile Robot Lab Project to Introduce Engineering Students to Fault Diagnosis in Mechatronic Systems

This document is a self-archiving copy of the accepted version of the paper. Please find the final published version in IEEEXplore: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TE.2014.2358551This paper proposes lab work for learning fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) in mechatronic systems. These skills are important for engineering education because FDD is a key capability of competitive processes and products. The intended outcome of the lab work is that students become aware of the importance of faulty conditions and learn to design FDD strategies for a real system. To this end, the paper proposes a lab project where students are requested to develop a discrete event dynamic system (DEDS) diagnosis to cope with two faulty conditions in an autonomous mobile robot task. A sample solution is discussed for LEGO Mindstorms NXT robots with LabVIEW. This innovative practice is relevant to higher education engineering courses related to mechatronics, robotics, or DEDS. Results are also given of the application of this strategy as part of a postgraduate course on fault-tolerant mechatronic systems.This work was supported in part by the Spanish CICYT under Project DPI2011-22443

A Novel Real-Time MATLAB/Simulink/LEGO EV3 Platform for Academic Use in Robotics and Computer Science

Over the last years, mobile robot platforms are having a key role in education worldwide. Among others, LEGO Robots and MATLAB/Simulink are being used mainly in universities to improve the teaching experience. Most LEGO systems used in the literature are based on NXT, as the EV3 version is relatively recent. In contrast to the previous versions, the EV3 allows the development of real-time applications for teaching a wide variety of subjects as well as conducting research experiments. The goal of the research presented in this paper was to develop and validate a novel real-time educational platform based on the MATLAB/Simulink package and the LEGO EV3 brick for academic use in the fields of robotics and computer science. The proposed framework is tested here in different university teaching situations and several case studies are presented in the form of interactive projects developed by students. Without loss of generality, the platform is used for testing different robot path planning algorithms. Classical algorithms like rapidly-exploring random trees or artificial potential fields, developed by robotics researchers, are tested by bachelor students, since the code is freely available on the Internet. Furthermore, recent path planning algorithms developed by the authors are also tested in the platform with the aim of detecting the limits of its applicability. The restrictions and advantages of the proposed platform are discussed in order to enlighten future educational applications

Modular Autonomous Robotics Platform for Educational Use

Robotics is a field that continues to grow as robots become common in environments as varied as households and the battlefield. This paper presents a low cost robotics development platform using commercial off-the-shelf parts for educational and academic use. It is a direct response to the high cost and limited functionality of existing platforms. A navigation and obstacle-avoidance Fuzzy Controller is provided to accelerate the typical development process for a mobile robot. The fundamental aim is to facilitate future robotics projects by producing an inexpensive, modular and highly accessible platform that improves upon existing commercial offerings

Application of LEGO Mindstorms Kits for Teaching Mechatronics Engineering

One of the major educators’ challenges is to teach the theoretical lessons with practical examples that can be taught in the classroom or teaching laboratories. The application of these examples will face a major problem for students in engineering: the difficulty of understanding and seeing how a mechatronic device works in everyday life. This requires the use of tools that enable the construction of different low cost prototypes to assist in student learning. Another challenge to educators is the need to motivate students during the lessons and to present models that students can make and develop on their own. Within this context this paper presents a pedagogic proposition based on the use of LEGO Mindstorms kits to teach practical lab activities in a mechatronics engineering course. The objective is to develop teaching methodologies with the use of these LEGO kits in order to motivate the students and also to promote a higher interdisciplinarity, by proposing projects that unify different disciplines. Thus, the paper is divided into three parts according to the educational experiences implemented in the course of mechatronics engineering at the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. The first part presents the use of the kits in robotics discipline. The second part presents the use of the virtual kits in the Computer Aided Design discipline with zero-cost. The third part presents a multi-disciplinary project EDROM in mechatronics using LEGO kits

Improved Fuzzy-Pid Controller In Following Complicated Path For Lego Mindstorms NXT

Line follower robots are monotype mobile robot having the ability to follow a line very accurately. Though many researchers are studying regarding line follower robot controller but most of the concepts are concentrated on theoretical design. The performance of the conventional type of controller in controlling line follower robot is still being a popular topic to be discussed. The traditional controller cannot deal with uncertainty data such as the amount of light whether it is too high or too low light that received by the light sensor which leads to the inaccurate movement of the line follower robot. This research presents an application of improving fuzzy-PID controller method in controlling LEGO Mindstorms NXT while following the complicated path with more accurate and high velocity. LEGO Mindstorms NXT with single light sensor is used as a line follower robot to tracking the complicated black line drawn on the white surface. The investigation of existing method for line following application will help in identifying the best controller method of inspecting the pattern of line follower robot movement. At the end of the research, the movement of LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot is more accurate with high complexity of line by using improved fuzzy-PID controller. The improved fuzzy-PID controller also increases the velocity of the robot when tracking the complicated path

Dynamic analysis, modeling and control of the LEGO EV3 modular mobile platform

Due to the increased popularity of robotic systems and their more frequent application, some companies have opted to incorporate modular robotic systems in their assortment. The advantages of such systems are great flexibility in terms of combining components, relatively easy programmability, a wide range of functions that can be performed, the availability of components, as well as modularity in terms of functional and structural connectivity. The disadvantages are reflected by the fact that these systems are not optimized for a particular application. The precision and accuracy of such systems are substantially less than those of the system created exclusively for a particular application. Gaps and dead strokes of moving parts are very influential on the performance of functions and there is relatively little autonomy to such systems. The problem of mutual inarticulation of motors was introduced, and a solution was given to overcome these problems. The observations concerning the aforementioned problems have been explained and the most important features of this approach to robotic systems highlighted