Design and development of a Cartesian plotter as a way to teach Mechatronics to Mechanical Engineering students

The need for interdisciplinary skills in mechanics, electronics, control theory and computer science was recognized as becoming more and more important for mechanical designers. At this aim, it is since the academic year 2002/2003 that a course on Mechatronic Systems is delivered at Bergamo University as an option in the BS curriculum for Mechanical Engineering students. The course is mainly based on Project Oriented Learning activities; actually a practical project is developed each year. This paper mainly deals with the description of the Mechatronics education activity at Bergamo University, with reference to the 2005/2006 academic year course project: a Cartesian plotter driven by stepper motors.