Real-World Mechatronics Training
Automation World writes about the Sierra College Mechatronics program’s success in preparing employees for success in designing, building and maintaining automated equipment.
“With many manufacturing managers underwhelmed at the level of hands-on experience possessed by many of the new engineering graduates they hire, Sierra Community College responds with a program that could serve as a model for training workers for highly automated environments.”
The article includes “some of the skills taught as part of the college’s mechatronics program:
• Industrial safety fundamentals (lockout/tagout, personal protection, equipment, etc.)
• Precision measurement (calipers, micrometers, etc.)
• Basic electricity (single phase and three phase power, transformers, AC to DC conversion, etc.)
• Industrial wiring standards (wire gauges, color codes, connector types, circuit breakers, etc.)
• Relays and contactors
• PLC programming
• Electric motors (AC and DC) and solenoids
• VFD control of AC motors
• Stepper and servo motors
• Industrial sensors (temperature, pressure, capacitive, inductive, optical, etc.)
• NIST-traceable instrument calibration
• HART sensor communication
• Fundamentals of mechanical drafting
• Basic sheet-metal work (shears, brakes, punches, bend allowances, etc.)
• Use of machine tools (drill press, mill, lathe, etc.)
• Electronic soldering skills, including surface mount technology (SMT)
• Voltage, current and resistance/reactance relationships for DC and AC circuits
• Schematic diagram analysis and actual circuit construction
• Schematic capture and simulation, PC board layout and design rule checking
• Applications of transistors and integrated circuits in both analog and digital circuits
• Proper use of electronic measurement equipment (voltmeters, oscilloscopes, clamp-on ammeters, etc.)
• Closed-loop industrial control systems
• PID control
• Basic pneumatics and hydraulics (schematics, computer simulation and actual hands-on system implementation)
• Computer repair and upgrade (hardware and OS installation, hard-drive backup/recovery, networking, etc.)
• Microcontroller programming and hardware interface techniques.”
Read Real-World Mechatronics Training in Automation World
