Mechanical engineers develop a wide range of skills during their academic and professional life. These skills include (but are not limited to) critical thinking & problem solving, mathematics, physics, design, and many computer skills. In this article, I show some of the most important skills, which are related to computers, that I learned during my studies at university.
Content summary:
- Raspberry Pi & Arduino
- Matlab
- CAD
- FEA
- Python
Raspberry Pi & Arduino:
I learned a little about Arduino and Raspberry pi through self-learning and by doing my graduation project. The project was a rolling robot that moves forward and backward through shell rotation, and moves left and right by changing the position of the center of mass of the robot. The main components that I used for the project were Arduino and HC-06 Bluetooth module for controlling the robot, 3D printing for manufacturing the main frame, which was used inside the shell, 2 DC motors for shell rotation, and servo motor for moving the mass.
The plan was to add additional features to the robot, but due to time limitations and the pandemic situation, this was not feasible.
Below is a video that describes the project in detail.
Matlab:
I took Matlab introductory course during my first semester under name of COMP110: introduction to computer programming for engineers. It introduced me to programming basic concepts, such as conditional statements, loops, reading and writing to files, and data visualization.
I took another class that used Matlab in my second year named MECH307: Numerical methods for mechanical engineers. This course was more advanced and focused on solving mathematical problems using programming. I heard about numerical methods previously, but before taking this class, I did not really know what they do in them. The main topics focused on root finding, curve fitting, numerical differentiation and integration, and finite element method. Example problems were mainly in the mechanical engineering domain and during the class, I practiced animating simple mechanical systems using a mathematical description of the system.
Radius of curvature
Functions with numerical derivatives
Piston motion animation using Matlab
Functions of the system
I also touched on some features in Matlab during a class named MECH304: Control system. I used Matlab libraries that are made to solve control systems and differential equations. I also used Simulink for a class project.
The last class I used Matlab for was MECH444: Robotics. The class discussed various topics including robotic arm configurations and pathfinding. For one of the class projects, we were asked to write a Matlab code that will move a robotic arm in 3D space while avoiding obstacles and touching other objects.
CAD:
I learned CAD in MECH203: computer-aided design. The program we used in class was Siemens NX. I learned about 3D design, drafting, and assembly in this class.
CAD model
Original Makita saw machine
I also did another project as with my group in MECH206: Dynamics. We used CAD, Matlab, and Ansys.
CAD model with topolgy optimization
Simplified version
FEA:
I learned about FEA by doing projects for my classes. I worked mostly on COMSOL Multiphysics and ANSYS. I made simulations for microcantilever beam vibrational analysis, fluid through a pipe, micromixers, and pressure sensor. I have used FEA modules for fluids, electricity, mechanics, and vibration.
Python:
I learned python mostly on my own, but I took a class for python and used python for Machine learning class. I learned the basics of Object-Oriented-Programming (OOP), GUI, Data-Analytics.