An Active Learning Didactic Proposal with Human-Computer Interaction in Engineering Education: A Direct Current Motor Case Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Method-DidacticProposal for an Active-Collaborative Learning Massive Flexible Digital Master Class
2.1. Educational Research Methodology
2.2. Disciplinary and Transversal Competencies
- The student obtains a mathematical model of the dynamics of a direct current motor (disciplinary).
- The student validates the mathematical model through simulation work (disciplinary).
- The student works collaboratively to develop effective communication and reasoning for complexity (transversal).
2.3. Didactic Techniques—Collaborative Learning and Flipped Classroom
2.4. Proposal—Didactic Design
2.5. Breakdown of Activities
- Session 1—Previous:
- I
- All participants review the description, competencies, expected outcomes, schedule, milestones, and policies related to the activity. The professor introduces the topic and remarks on the importance of dynamic models and automatic control in engineering. Herein, the competencies are illustrated, and the expected results and breakdown schedule is presented to the students.
- II
- Students (in teams) review the theory about mathematical modeling of DC motors in the textbook or in any other designated media.
- III
- Separately, each student develops the mathematical model, and later on, they incorporate both efforts into one single model that is the deliverable of the previous activity. They will also carry out a qualitative validation of the obtained model before moving on to the next stage. It is likely that one or both students will have to carry out this stage again if there are problems with the expected model behavior.
- IV
- Students review podcasts with introductory tutorials about Scilab.
- Session 1—During:
- I
- The professor summarizes the activity description and all related information.
- II
- The teacher presents the mathematical model, discusses results, and resolves doubts about the procedure.
- III
- In a plenary session, the obtaining of the block diagram that models the engine is presented and worked on, and the input and output relationships of interest are clarified.
- IV
- Each team builds the block diagram in Scilab. They will adjust parameters and review input–output relations.
- V
- The teams program the differential equations that represent the system and review the input–output relations.
- VI
- In a plenary activity, students compare differential equations versus the block diagram representations.
- Session 2—Previous:
- I
- Students review material to become familiar with it (Quite Universal Circuit Simulator), and solve introductory exercises.
- II
- (in teams) In Qucs, student A programs the electrical circuit that models the motor’s dynamics.
- III
- (in teams) In Scilab, student B validates the result in Qucs by programming a numerical analysis.
- IV
- Each student will explain to their partner what they did. The level of mastery must be such that each member must be able to understand and modify the partner’s work.
- Session 2—During:
- I
- Each member will work with the results of the other associate towards carrying out the following tests: no-load test with a constant supply voltage, no-load test with a pulse width modulation (PWM) supply voltage, and load test with a constant supply voltage.
- II
- The team share experience and results, and record observed similarities and differences.
- III
- The main findings are highlighted in a plenary activity.
- IV
- The professor will introduce control systems stability, Lyapunov stability analysis, and PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controllers.
- Session 3—Previous:
- I
- Students will reinforce the previously explained control-oriented topics through defined material (videos and preliminary examples).
- II
- The teams will start to develop the mathematical procedure to test stability in closed-loop with a PD controller, and the achievements will be delivered.
- Session 3—During:
- I
- In a plenary session, the professor will carry out the mathematical stability procedure and resolve queries.
- II
- Teamwork to simulate the closed-loop in Scilab will be accomplished.
- III
- Main results and conclusions are discussed among all participants.
- IV
- All activities are delivered in a single report (one per team).
2.6. Outcomes and Evidence
2.7. Competency-Oriented Flowchart
2.8. Activity Deployment
3. The Case Study: Modeling, Simulation, and Control of a DC Motor
3.1. Mathematical Modeling—Understanding the System’s Dynamics
3.2. Circuit Simulation in Qucs—A Purely Electrical System
3.3. Numerical Simulation—A Validation in Scilab
3.4. Results in the Open-Loop
3.4.1. No-Load Test with a Constant Supply Voltage
3.4.2. No-Load Test with a Pulse-Width-Modulated (PWM) Supply Voltage
3.4.3. Load Test with a Constant Supply Voltage
3.5. Discrete PD Control and Stability Analysis
3.5.1. Discrete-Time PD Controller
3.5.2. Stability Analysis
3.6. Pd Control Simulations
4. Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Work
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Massive Flexible Digital Masterclass (MFDM)
- Strong understanding of the physical phenomena involved in an electrical engineering class.
- Strong understanding of the relationships between the equations and the behavior of the variables of interest, such as armature current, motor torque, and angular speed.
- Enhance the simulation skill of the students: the motor’s behavior is analyzed by means of a circuit simulator, where the effects of a specific supply voltage, load torque, and motor parameters can be studied in an agile, cheap, and reliable manner.
- Analogy between the direct current motor and an electrical circuit, where the first one involves electrical and mechanical variables, and the second one involves only electrical variables.
- Enhance the ability to identify, formulate, and solve electrical engineering problems.
- Enhance the ability to apply electrical engineering design.
- Enhance the ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
Appendix B. Questionnaire
- The work scheme, presented in the activity’s breakdown, allows developing the transversal competence of effective communication and reasoning for complexity.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The activities in session 1, students and professor, allow the development of the competency of mathematical modeling of a direct current motor dynamic.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The simulation effort, individual and collaborative, along with the plenary sessions, contribute to validate the mathematical model.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The flipped classroom didactic technique enables, with an adequate balance, one to carry out the sequence of activities, with the purpose of developing the declared competencies.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The deployment proposal is proposed in the context of a Massive Flexible Digital Masterclass (MFDM). As a student who has participated in massive courses and some of them in remote format, do you consider this scheme adequate to develop the declared competencies?(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The modeling, as defined in the activity for the simulation approach, as a pure electric circuit, allows modeling the dynamics of a permanent magnet electric current motor.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
- The activities to analyze and design the control system (flipped classroom, teamwork, simulations, and plenary wrap-up) are sufficient for understanding the relationship between automatic control and motors, as well as their importance as elements of an automatic control loop where it is required to ensure stability.(SA) Strongly Agree (A) Agree (N) Not sure (D) Disagree (SD) Strongly Disagree
Appendix C. Survey Validation through a Rule-Based System
- To validate the seven-question Likert scale survey, a ruled-based methodology, developed in [50], is applied. The following procedure was conducted to develop this expert system:Based on their meaning, the seven questions were categorized into three groups: competencies (C), mechatronics (M), and didactic techniques (DT), and the groups were as follows: Questions 1 and 2 in C category as C-1 and C-2, respectively; Questions 3, 6, and 7, in M, as M-1, M-2, and M-3, respectively; and Questions 4 and 5 in DT category as DT-1 and DT-2, respectively.
Q | R1 | f1 | R2 | f2 | R3 | f3 | R4 | f4 | R5 | f5 | fT | UL | UF | CUF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0.059 | 13 | 0.765 | 3 | 0.176 | 1 | 0.274 | 0.726 | 0.989314 |
C-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 3 | 0.176 | 6 | 0.353 | 8 | 0.471 | 1 | 0.039 | 0.961 | |
M-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0.000 | 14 | 0.824 | 3 | 0.176 | 1 | 0.368 | 0.632 | 0.995895 |
M-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 5 | 0.294 | 9 | 0.529 | 3 | 0.176 | 1 | 0.078 | 0.922 | |
M-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 0.059 | 11 | 0.647 | 5 | 0.294 | 1 | 0.143 | 0.857 | |
DT-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.176 | 6 | 0.353 | 5 | 0.294 | 3 | 0.176 | 1 | 0.045 | 0.955 | 0.995275 |
DT-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.059 | 4 | 0.235 | 10 | 0.588 | 2 | 0.118 | 1 | 0.105 | 0.895 |
- 3.
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Manuscript | Contribution | Software | Mathematical Modeling | Control Strategy |
---|---|---|---|---|
Zamarrón and Arjona (2010) [35] | Virtual instrumentation system for stator turn-to-turn winding-fault detection to prevent unexpected downtime or severe damage to induction motors (suitable for industry and academy) | LabVIEW | State–space | Fault detection |
Fuertes et al. (2013) [36] | Modular equipment simulation to control a DC motor educational set. Part of a remote laboratory of automatic control | JAVA | Coupled ordinary differential equations | PID |
Reis, et al. (2014) [37] | Modeling and control of motors that emulate wind turbines. Comparison of two approaches with DC and AC motors. | LabVIEW | Coupled ordinary differential equations | Frequency response |
Reck and Sreenivas (2016) [38] | Affordable and portable laboratory kit design for control systems courses (DC motor plus Furuta inverted pendulum). | Raspberry pi and MATLAB | Physical and electric characteristics, step and frequency response | PID control |
Chasiotis and Karnavas (2018) [39] | Educational platform to study brushless DC motor design and performance analysis | MATLAB | Dynamic equations from physical properties | Not reported |
Samil, et al. (2021) [40] | Virtual laboratory of DC motors modeling | MATLAB | Dynamic equations from physical principles | Not reported |
Tudic, et al. (2022) [41] | Design, manufacturing, assembly, programming, and optimization of a nonlinear mechatronic ball–plate prototype as a laboratory platform for engineering education. | Python | System Identification | PID control |
Parameter | Description | Quantity | Unit |
---|---|---|---|
R | armature resistance | 1 | ohms |
L | armature inductance | 10 | mH |
B | armature friction | 10,000 | |
J | armature J (rotor) | 100 | |
K | electromechanical constant | 0.1 | Wb |
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Said, A.; Félix-Herrán, L.C.; Davizón, Y.A.; Hernandez-Santos, C.; Soto, R.; Ramírez-Mendoza, R.A. An Active Learning Didactic Proposal with Human-Computer Interaction in Engineering Education: A Direct Current Motor Case Study. Electronics 2022, 11, 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071059
Said A, Félix-Herrán LC, Davizón YA, Hernandez-Santos C, Soto R, Ramírez-Mendoza RA. An Active Learning Didactic Proposal with Human-Computer Interaction in Engineering Education: A Direct Current Motor Case Study. Electronics. 2022; 11(7):1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071059
Chicago/Turabian StyleSaid, Alejandro, Luis C. Félix-Herrán, Yasser A. Davizón, Carlos Hernandez-Santos, Rogelio Soto, and Ricardo A. Ramírez-Mendoza. 2022. "An Active Learning Didactic Proposal with Human-Computer Interaction in Engineering Education: A Direct Current Motor Case Study" Electronics 11, no. 7: 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071059
APA StyleSaid, A., Félix-Herrán, L. C., Davizón, Y. A., Hernandez-Santos, C., Soto, R., & Ramírez-Mendoza, R. A. (2022). An Active Learning Didactic Proposal with Human-Computer Interaction in Engineering Education: A Direct Current Motor Case Study. Electronics, 11(7), 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11071059