{"id":1446,"date":"2026-05-01T15:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/?page_id=1446"},"modified":"2026-05-02T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:02:57","slug":"mechatronics-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/mechatronics-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mechatronics 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">An Introduction for Mechanical Engineering Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Course Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Mechatronics 2 is the continuation of the Mechatronics sequence and represents the transition from understanding individual components to engineering complete systems. Where Mechatronics 1 established the operational principles of circuits, microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators, this course develops the three skills that define a practicing mechatronic engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning Objectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>CO1<\/strong> &#8211; Apply statistical methods to characterize experimental measurement data, compute confidence intervals, and perform hypothesis tests<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO2<\/strong> &#8211; Quantify and correctly report measurement uncertainty using the Kline-McClintock method for multi-variable models<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO3<\/strong> &#8211; Design signal conditioning circuits (instrumentation amplifiers, active filters, Wheatstone bridges) to meet target performance specifications<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO4<\/strong> &#8211; Configure a data acquisition system correctly; apply Nyquist criterion; diagnose and prevent aliasing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO5<\/strong> &#8211; Compute and interpret the FFT of a measured signal; apply linear and nonlinear curve fitting and assess goodness of fit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO6<\/strong> &#8211; Select appropriate sensors from the major families; predict sensor output from calibration data; identify sources of measurement error in a complete signal chain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO7<\/strong> &#8211; Derive transfer functions from differential equation models; characterize first- and second-order systems from step response and Bode plot data<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO8<\/strong> &#8211; Assess closed-loop stability using gain and phase margins; interpret system behavior in the frequency domain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO9<\/strong> &#8211; Design and implement a PID controller; apply systematic tuning methods; implement a digital control loop on an embedded microcontroller<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CO10<\/strong> &#8211; Design, build, calibrate, document, and present an integrated measurement and control system that addresses a real engineering challenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Topics Covered<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Module 1: Precision Measurements and Signals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Measurement system performance; statistics and uncertainty propagation; calibration; instrumentation amplifiers; Wheatstone bridges; active filters; data acquisition; FFT and curve fitting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Module 3: Dynamic Systems Modeling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Differential equation models for mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid systems; Laplace transforms and transfer functions; block diagrams; first- and second-order response; poles, zeros, stability; Bode plots; experimental system identification<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Module 5: Advanced Embedded and Systems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Interrupt-driven programming; finite state machines; real-time constraints; I2C, SPI, UART, and CAN protocols; sensor fusion on microcontrollers; complete mechatronic system design process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Module 2: Advanced Sensors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strain and force; temperature (thermocouples, RTDs, thermistors); pressure and flow; displacement and motion (encoders, LVDTs); MEMS inertial sensors; IMU sensor fusion; introduction to machine vision<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Module 4: Feedback Control<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Closed-loop control architecture; PID controller structure and actions; Ziegler-Nichols and ITAE tuning; anti-windup; practical stability analysis; introduction to digital PID implementation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Course Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/rbtipton.github.io\/rbtipton-mechatronics2-website\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Link to Study Guide<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Introduction for Mechanical Engineering Students Course Overview Mechatronics 2 is the continuation of the Mechatronics sequence and represents the transition from understanding individual components to engineering complete systems. Where Mechatronics 1 established the operational principles of circuits, microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators, this course develops the three skills that define a practicing mechatronic engineer. Learning &#8230; <a title=\"Mechatronics 2\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/mechatronics-2\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Mechatronics 2\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1446","page","type-page","status-publish"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1446"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1456,"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1446\/revisions\/1456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coefs.charlotte.edu\/rtipton2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}