As an MRE student, you have access to state-of-the-art mechatronics and robotics tools and learning environments. In addition to existing facilities within Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), new educational space was created specifically for the MRE Program.
The MRE Commons is available exclusively to students enrolled in the MRE Program. The MRE Commons serves a dual purpose as both classroom and student learning commons, providing a dedicated space for working on design projects and collaborating with team members.
Mitchell Hall was designed to bring every aspect of campus life together under one roof: innovation, research, and wellness facilities for students. In Mitchell Hall, three dedicated laboratories showcase the state-of-the-art equipment that is used in the MRE Program. This includes: The MRE Automation Lab, the MRE Autonomous Systems Lab, and the MRE Design Lab. In addition, Mitchell Hall is also home to Ingenuity Labs research centre, which currently serves as a robotics industry and research cornerstone for the Faculty.
The MRE Program leverages several hands-on tools that bring the future to the classroom. Here are some examples of the equipment you may encounter throughout your undergraduate career as an MRE student.
The Festo modular production system is a mechatronics and factory automation learning solution. It provides industry-relevant training in mechatronics and automation technology, including PLC programming. Thanks to the high degree of modularity of the system, we can combine stations, modules and accessories to create a production line that is tailored to specific learning objectives and scenarios in MRE coursework and is features in mREN320: Introduction to Industrial Automation.
The Quanser Self-Driving Car Research Studio (QCAR) is a highly flexible, sensor-rich, and powerful platform designed specifically for academic research in autonomous vehicles. QCAR is an open-architecture, scaled model vehicle. It is equipped with a wide range of sensors including LIDAR, 360-degree vision, depth sensor, IMU, encoders, as well as user-expandable IO. The vehicle is powered with an NVIDIA® Jetson™ TX2 supercomputer that gives you exceptional speed and power efficiency. The QCAR is housed in the Autonomous Systems Lab in Mitchell Hall 175, and operates using a scaled test track, complete with traffic lights, street signs, and obstacles.
The Robotics Lab in Beamish-Munro Hall features Quanser QArm, which can be used to simulate, test, and automate a wide range of grasping and manipulation applications. These robotic arms are suitable for all levels of expertise, so you can control your robot to perform everything from simple grasping tasks to programming more complex manipulation applications in ROS, Python, and Simulink. Students get a systematic understanding of the design of robotic systems and concepts, including joint control, kinematics, path planning, statics, and dynamics.
In your design spine courses, you will encounter several different mobile robots, from custom-built rovers and mini-bot robots to sophisticated learning platforms. These robots are equipped with an array of integrated sensors ideal for many robotics applications.
Lab courses in the MRE program are designed to reflect real-world applications of mechatronics and robotics theory, whether that’s troubleshooting systems integration, analyzing heat transfer in micro-electronics, coding an autonomous robot, or full-scale client-based design projects. We work with our faculty, graduate students, and student design teams to assess problems they encountered in their competitions and research projects to provide examples of the problems (and solutions) you may encounter in the world of mechatronics and robotics engineering.