International projects
Innovative Remote Laboratory in the E-training of Mechatronics
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The profession of a mechatronic is believed to be a profession of the future, as many EU studies have indicated it, placing it among the top three most perspective professions. The mechatronic area offers modern job opportunities, combining three main fields of interest: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and information technologies; this is why the mechatronics is considered an interdisciplinary technical filed. In Slovenia and other EU member states formal training programs in mechatronics are already offered at the level of secondary school, as a programme of higher education and at university level. However, market demand is much greater than supply. For the time being, the market is short of adequately trained staff; for that reason jobs that would call for experts in mechatronics are done, as a rule, by experts in mechanical or electrical engineering, who, due to their narrow orientations and focus on just one area, do not provide the possibility of a comprehensive insight into the installations and processes that require knowledge of mechatronics. Company research has shown that there is a great interest on the side of economy in additional vocational training for the staff, who have already completed their formal studies in mechanical or electrical engineering, to train them for work in the production processes, where mechanical machine installations are controlled by electronic control systems. In this way, the companies could at least partially diminish the currently existing gap on the market, which lacks qualified staff. Companies also voiced a demand for vocational training to be efficient substance-, time-, and cost-wise, and implemented at an independent location, with the purpose of minimizing the effects on the company operations. The main purpose of this project is to introduce good practices into the areas of vocational training in mechatronics from abroad and in addition, to support it with the state-of-the-art ICT, as well as with the established methodological and didactic approaches, all with the view of improving the quality and efficiency of education. This should result in greater recognition and appeal of the profession, and will positively influence the gap between supply and demand of mechatronic staff on the market. The project is intended to prepare an e-course in mechatronics, which will introduce a completely new method of training for this type of profile. Both theoretical and practical training will be fully executed on-line. Practical work will take place by the means of innovation transfer – innovative remote laboratory for practical classes, based on internet technology, and will enable concrete mechanical-electronic and programming-related experiments, taking place in a physical laboratory, to be executed, which is essential for the mechatronics training. Such educational method could be fully compliant with demands of companies. Within the framework of this project, we shall carry out a pilot training for at least 20 participants of the e-mechatronics course. The project consortium comprises the most eminent institutions working in the field of mechatronics and e-learning, combining rich knowledge and experience of cooperation in the framework of numerous undergoing and successfully completed international and national projects. They are the guarantee for successful implementation of all goals set for the proposed project and the efficient follow-up dissemination of its results.
