S-STEM Scholar Jeremiah Toller's Blog

  This week’s blog entry marks the beginning of a series of entries documenting the process of learning Solidworks (2021), a computer aided design and engineering program by Dassault Systèmes (who also make CATIA, for those of you familiar with industrial level CAD programs). In theory, proficiency with this program can create a much more immersive experience for engineering students, enabling greater opportunities for “play,” which leads to deeper understanding of the program and the field itself. This also provides a head start for any student early on in the educational process, since Solidworks is broadly used in engineering programs at some point in the process and is why this endeavor was chosen. The theory being tested, however, is the internal tutorial program embedded within Solidworks is rumored to be all that is needed to reach intermediate to advanced level understanding of the software, with additional sources only needed for specialized uses or integration with other ...

  Mechatronics: An Introduction Mechatronics Engineering is certainly an interesting combination of words, but what does it mean? Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary sect of engineering, combining mechanical, electrical, and electronic engineering, along with many aspects of robotics and computer science. In fact, robots are mechatronic devices, but not all mechatronic devices are robots. The insert/eject mechanism on disk readers (i.e. CD, DVD, Blu-Ray) is an example of a mechatronic device, as are elevators, automated vehicles, and any self-adaptive tool or machine. The journal entry I am referring to today is a preface to other articles published in Robotics Vol. 9, Issue 2 from June of 2020, which I may continue onto next week, and serves as a bit of a sampler of mechatronics related topics. It starts by noting the importance of mechatronics and robotic technologies on human life and society since we have employed so much of it into our systems and everyday lives. From assisti...