Digital Twins Enabled Remote Laboratory Learning Experience for Mechatronics Education

Abstract

Laboratory intensive assignments and hands-on skills are important components in Mechatronics and Control Engineering by their nature. Like many other educational services, lots of the contents including laboratory studies are switched to remote learning due to COVID-19. In this work, the need for remote laboratory assignments is transformed into an opportunity to use Digital Twins in the education effectively. Laboratory assignments are designed on top of the concept of Digital Twin applications for the course “ME-142: Mechatronics” at the University of California, Merced. Basic mechatronics simulation skills are enhanced using the foundational applications in MATLAB/Simulink. After students reached high confidence level in the simulation environment, the concept of Digital Twins is introduced for subsequent laboratory assignments consisting identification, modeling, analysis, controller design and validation. Through the end of the semester, students are expected to work in groups of six for the course project to create their own applications of Digital Twin for a variety of systems. Finally, Digital Twin applications are posted online using MATLAB Web App Server to enhance accessibility and compensate the lack of hardware interaction.