Walking Before Running: Filling the Freshman Engineering Gap by Building Mobile Stiquito(TM) Robots

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI

Investigators

Abstract

Electrical Engineering (55) The objective of this project is to provide freshman engineering students with a realistic, enticing, and exciting introduction to their prospective profession. Through design and construction of a walking robot, coupled with practical engineering activites (project scheduling, manufacturability, economics, etc.), students develop the physical intuition needed to understand what more advanced courses are trying to accomplish. Skills that are often taken for granted by instructors, e. g., use of hand tools and identifying basic components, are taught, and these introduce students to the essentials of their chosen profession. Expected outcomes include an increased retention rate for traditional, non-traditional, and under-represented freshman engineering students, improved performance in courses, and more qualified graduates. Support is also used to equip a dedicated laboratory as a "learning center" for team activities.