Project-Based-Learning (PBL) at Technische Universität Hamburg is the terminology when students take courses during their studies allowing them to experience real-world issues and work in highly interactive formats to receive their grades. Being convinced of the importance of such learning experiences, my lectures based on this concept and closest to my heart are called “Applied Design Methodology in Mechatronics” (ADMM) in the master-studies and “Methodological Design of Mechatronics Systems” (MDMS) in the mechatronics bachelor. They guide engineering teams from the idea to the product, giving them the experience of systematic creativity and decision-making, challenges to define interdisciplinary interfaces, project-management impact, and to see the outcome of their decisions in the implementation of a physical and functional sample. This year, four research-driven questions has being worked on by the student teams, and in a exhebition-type-setting the course finished just yesterday with some large public attention on our campus. The topics followed those storylines: Music therapy in hospitals aims to enable physically disabled people to participate in music-making. For this purpose, an input device has been designed that can control a synthesiser in response to minimal gestures. The input device is mobile and can be easily used at any hospital bed.
The mechanical human-machine interface is currently the subject of active research, particularly in the high-frequency vibration range between 20 and 500 Hz. It can be both, a tactile feedback channel and increasingly also a sensor system for quantifying interaction. A measuring system has been developed for this purpose, which is designed to measure the mechanical impedance of the hand in a specific grip situation.
Autonomous robots need cameras or lidar to orient themselves! What happens if, by definition, you do not allow any sensors being based on electromagnetic waves, but still want to have an autonomous, mobile robot? What happens if you want to teach the robot to recognise soft obstacles (e.g., tall grass) as such and evaluate that it is permissible to drive through them? This was the task of a team, and the result is a tactile sensor unit for a small mobile robot platform.
Cables and wires must be inspected and maintained. This process involves immense effort and resource consumption, especially with freely suspended cables. How can a unit be moved along a cable while simultaneously recording measurement data? Many thanks to all attendees of the lecture, but also and especially my team of supervisors Mohammad Sadeghi, Mattis Molinski,Juliana Lüer,Ali Elnwegy from Institut für Mechatronik im Maschinenbau IMEK, and all the helping hands in the background to make such a module to become a success! A special thank also to Christian Lüthje for stepping by two times yesterday and inviting the students to join to the next round of Hashtag#FutureFounders in the context of Impossible Founders Hamburg.
