Educational Strategy Based on Active Learning for Mechatronics Labs

This paper presents an educational strategy for Mechatronics laboratories education which integrates the Tecnológico de Monterrey Educational Model, industrial technologies and equipment, hands-on activities, laboratory equipment based on Design for Mechatronics Learning (DFML) and an eLearning platform to improve communication between teachers and students. An Automation of Manufacturing System Laboratory course is described where an industrial Flexible Manufacturing Cells (FMC) is used by the students. This industrial FMC was designed based on academic goals for mechatronics engineering students. Students have an intensive active participation in the experimental sessions. Students can integrate new sensors and actuators with industrial equipments such as Robot, CNC, ASRS, and so on. This feature allows students many independents layout combinations that are typical in industrial environments. The proposed educational strategy, based on industrial equipment designed to mechatronics practice, let to students how to deal with situations that may arise by multidisciplinary working teams to face conflictive problems in industrial environments. A final poll was applied to the student to assess the performance of use industrial equipment with design for mechatronics learning principles join with didactic learning techniques in an engineering course. The poll results let to come to a conclusion of this proposal improve the learning of engineering practice.