Projects in mechatronics program: practical examples

This paper describes organization, educational approach and contents of students´ project work in mechatronic program at the University of Maribor, Slovenia. Program is executed by two faculties; Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Three courses Project I, II, III, are assigned to the project work in second and third year. The students in Project I are lead by the mentors. The portion of autonomous work is then increasing with each following course. Project work typically ends with a diploma. By a careful choice of interesting up-to-date real life problems, project work provides the students with the practical skills and a broad knowledge of the essential contents from mechanical engineering, control theory, electronics, power electronics, automatic control and mechatronics design, but it still allows the students to specialize in a field of their choice.