Providing Real-World Mechanism
Design Experience through the Early
Intervention and Mechanical
Engineering (EIME) Project
Stephen L. Canfield, Andrew Bryant
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Lindsay Smith
Dept. of Civil Engineering
Tennessee Technological University
ASME IDETC-CIE 2010
Montreal CA.
August 15-18
Outline of presentation
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Description of project
Elements of education
Pedagogical basis
Stakeholders
Expectations and outcomes per stakeholders
Project Examples
Pedagogical basis
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Over arching idea; learn by doing in a relevant, guided and
motivational environment
Problem-Based learning (Duch, 2001)
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Contextualized learning (McKeachie and Hofer, 2002)
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Students seek meaning in context and process new information in a
way that makes sense to their own frames of reference
Service learning (Oakes et al., 2002)
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Using problems to engage students and initiate learning on the subject
matter
Integrates community service with instruction and reflection to enrich
the learning experience
This paper offers an example for contextual learning in
mechanism design for undergraduates
TTU’s EIME Project
 EIME is my approach for creating a context for
learning in ME3610
“Kinematics and Dynamics of Machinery – Design of
Machinery”
 How?
 All students in ME3610 engage in/join the EIME
project
 EIME is a team-based, multi-disciplinary design
experience created around developing assistive
technology for children
 Student teams are matched with children/families
with needs
 Student teams are provided resources associated
with such a project
 Student teams are responsible to deliver a solution
(Design, product*)
Consider how we create context for
learning – “The Syllabus”
How a syllabus creates context
 Its major objective is to provide
students with proficiency and
experience in the basic skills of
analyzing motion of machines and to
perform synthesis of mechanisms
based on task specification.
How Service could create a context
for learning:
 Your company thinks that Jon’s
quality of life might be enhanced with
a machine
 You are assigned to use your
mechanism design skills to help Jon
 Successful outcomes might look like
What a successful outcome might
look like
Background & current status
 Began at TTU in 1999
 Employed in ME 3610
 1 section out of 2 per semester
 Approximately 60 students/year
 Classic mechanisms class
 Analysis/synthesis of linkages,
 Cam and gear systems
 Basic force analysis
Project Objectives
 To demonstrate real-world application
of mechanism design
 Provide compelling and immediate
purpose for learning mechanism
theory
 To provide experience working with
customers
 Create opportunity to see design in
practice
Details of the EIME Project
 Impact of project on:
1.
2.
3.
Instructor
Students
Course
 General approach
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Collect project needs
Present them to the students
Provide feedback to the students during the design
process
Provide resources for fabricating / testing the
product
Reflect
How EIME Works
Community
Curriculum
Collect assistive
technology needs
Within context of a course
background research,
integrate course material,
create design
Fabrication, testing,
evaluation and final
preparation
Form Student Design
teams
(Engineering, Education)
Match Child
needs with
Student teams
Form Final
project team
Deliver Final
product to
child/family
Family
Service coord.
Therapists /
Medical prof.
Disseminate
Results
What the project implies
 Project requirements for:
 Students
 Instructor
 Course
Project requirements for Instructor
Collect project needs
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Projects selected around theme:
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Early intervention service coordinators, special education,
school system
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Assistive technology for children with disabilities
Focus on needs with motion-control or mechanism-based solutions
Mobility, access, inclusion
TEIS located on Universities in TN
Letter soliciting nees
Established relationship with service providers
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Understand course objectives
What needs are best suited to the project
Successful outcomes not guaranteed (~70%)
Support student team interaction with families
Support logistical issues while instructor can focus on technical
feedback to the groups
Present to the students / initiate
projects
 Students form teams
 Teams select projects from list
 Topic thoroughly covered in literature
Support design process
 Similar to feedback students receive in
typical assignment
 Difference here: 5-7 different projects,
more open-ended design
 To facilitate, two technical reviews are
scheduled
 One with preliminary design
 One with final design
 Present and receive feedback in 20-30 min.
review session
 Local engineers volunteer to help support these
reviews
Provide resources for
fabricating/testing products
 Support consists of two parts:
 Location, technical support for fabrication
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Typical shop support at engineering universities
 Financial support
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Annual grant support from the TN dept. of
special education
Other issues
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Liability
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Students engage in the project as a formal class
assignment
They fall under a classification of persons performing duty
for state
Liability is born through the state
A project release
Any faculty engaging in this type of project should get
legal clarification through their OSP
Time associated with managing the project
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20 hours to organize project details
28 hours (2 hours per week) to provide technical support
and feedback
100 hours per semester required by supporting student
(latter supported through state grant)
Project requirements for Students
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Form teams, create a short, written teaming agreement
Meet with the family and service coordinator to identify
need/project specs.
Submit a preliminary design report
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Problem statement with design requirements
Conceptual solutions
Comparison/evaluations
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Description of design
Kinematic model
Analysis of 3 components in the design
CAD model, dwgs for all fab. Components
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Optional
Incentive
Submit a written final design report
Fabricate, test design and demonstrate results
*Deliver a functional, safe working model of the design to the
family
Project requirements for Course
 20% of class grade
 Represents 8 class meetings
 In practice, four class meetings assigned to project,
remaining 38 to class projects
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Project introduction, forming teams, project assignments
Preliminary design technical review
Final design technical review
Final project review
 Project assigned at the beginning of course
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 Open-ended nature of projects project
 => Students may need access to course information in
an order different that that presented by the lecture
schedule
Project Outcomes (on student
learning)
 Course surveys
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Indicate positive outcomes in meeting course objectives
 Relative to other sections on formal, in-place measures
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Exams, follow-on courses, FE exams
No significant deviation between sections
 Heuristic measures
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Student evaluations,
Senior exit interviews
 500+ students engaged in the project
 100+ products delivered
 Many students respond after graduating
What EIME projects look like
Modified Bike for Brendon
TTU engineering students help make holidays
happy for child with muscular dystrophy
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 13, 2006) – A group of
Tennessee Tech University engineering
students are helping make the holidays happy
for a 7-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy.
The team designed and built a motorized bicycle
that will accommodate his special needs, giving
him the once impossible opportunity to ride
alongside the bikes of his two older brothers.
Team spokesman Nick Seegraves spoke for the
entire group when he said, “It’s really made my
Christmas knowing we’ve been able to do
something to make Brendon happy.”
“I want the light on the front to shine,” he said,
when team members finally got him to stop
riding long enough to get his reaction to his
new set of wheels — but even a working
headlight wasn’t enough of a priority for
Brendon to want to give up his new prized
possession.
“Sit and Spin”
Goal: Specified sensory
stimulation
Primary Challenges:
Multi-dof
Speed limited
Focus on a single
sensory input
Delivered: Novel Sit and
spin device for family,
design solution and
details
Sports Example:
 Modified Tee-ball
stand and swing
device
 Used by Structured
Athletics for
Challenged Children
Playground Equipment
Mobility: Tricycles, Bikes
 New
Tricycle/Modified
Tricycle designs
 Needs include
Dwarfism, SpinaBifida
Top Benefits
1. Provides students with a “relatable”
framework in which to organize new
knowledge content
2. Catalyst for self-directed learning
3. Emphasizes important skills not easily
incorporated into traditional activities
4. Targets ABET learning objectives that
are more difficult to achieve in
traditional classroom experience
Top Challenges (potholes)
1. To work, the experience must be
meaningful => Faculty time, organization
2. Self-directed learning => Need to
accommodate asynchronous knowledge
transfer
3. Skills often require implementation =>
Cost (budget per team)
4. Learning objectives are much more difficult
to measure => Assessment
Conclusions:
 Students have interest to engage in
service-learning activities
 Project offers opportunity to engage
technical and project management
skills
 Multi-disciplinary team work
 Success and sustainability of project
depends on partnership
Assessment based on TTU Servicelearning survey
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Question
1
I learn more when courses contain hands-on activities
2
Courses in school make me think about real-world situations in new ways.
3
When I am put in charge of a project, I sometimes wonder whether I can succeed at
it.
4
I learn course content best when connections to real-world situations are made.
5
The community participation that I did through this course helped me to see how the
subject matter I learned can be used in everyday life.
6
The work I accomplished in the course has made me more marketable in my chosen
profession.
7
The work I preformed helped me learn how to plan and complete a project.
8
Participating in the community helped me to enhance my leadership skills.
9
The work I preformed in the community enhanced my ability to communicate my
ideas in a real-world context.
Selected Survey response: ME 3610
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
average
2.5
std. deviation
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Figure 1: Student response (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)