MARVEL – Mechatronics Training in Real and Virtual Environments Concepts , Practices , and Recommendations

This publication was produced with the support of the Commission of the European Communities under the LEONARDO DA VINCI programme. The content does not necessarily reflect the Commission's position on this subject. FOREWORD This publication on the topic of " Mechatronics Training in Real and Virtual Environments " is one of the outputs from MARVEL, a pilot project under the LEONARDO DA VINCI action programme for implementation of the Euro-pean Community's vocational training policy. The aim of MARVEL was to create and evaluate virtual learning environments for mechatronics training in which learners are provided with ubiquitous online access to physical workshops and laboratory facilities from remote places and learning venues. The project developed novel concepts for learning communities and inter-site cooperation in which the stake-holders involved (e.g. vocational colleges, training enterprises , universities) can share and use costly plant and laboratory facilities via the Internet. A variety of learning environments were implemented and tested. The main target groups for MARVEL were students, trainees and instructors in vocational education and training. This publication covers only some of the early results from MARVEL. It highlights innovative concepts, examples , and recommendations for the use of 'real worlds' in virtual learning environments in order to accelerate the deployment of work process oriented training with real-life systems in mechatronics. The study is structured into three parts. In Part I we present a short overview of MARVEL and the project objectives. We also identify typical training needs and summarise key characteristics of new job profiles in mechatronics, before focusing on distributed environments for mechatronics training. More specifically, this chapter describes ideas for designing, providing and evaluating interlinked virtual and real learning spaces with a special focus on educational, psychological and organisational aspects. In the following chapter we provide an overview of technical concepts that were important for MARVEL. This includes a survey about remote and distributed workshop and lab assignments focused on the technological backbone common to the various training environments implemented during the course of the MARVEL project: a solar heating plant, a solar energy lab, a robot training lab, an electropneumatics workshop, a mixed-reality mechatronics workbench and an electronics workbench. In Part II we present various case studies, practical learning scenarios, and course trials which were implemented and tested within MARVEL by the project partners. The authors provide recommendations on how mechatronics training in real and virtual environments (e.g. laboratories, simulators, remote laboratories …