Take a look at this site to see one persons offering for a "Mechatronics" teaching program.

http://www.eod.gvsu.edu/eod/mechtron/mechtron.html

There is almost nothing on Fluid Power so I contacted the author and he has responded that the Hydraulics and Pneumatics portion is under construction and will be presented like the Mechanical and Electrical portions.

Looks interesting.

Hugh Jack has a lot of information that the people on plcs.net use. Rookies are often to look at his PLC .pdf
http://www.eod.gvsu.edu/~jackh/books/plcs/

BTW, two weeks ago we provided introductory training for 13 students at Spokane Community College on hydraulic motion control. Every student got his own motion controller and hydraulic actuator simulator so they could practice and follow along. We can do that over the internet now. This means we don't need to travel or even send the motion controllers. We GoToMeeting to share our lap top with the class and to monitor the students. We can also log into the motion controllers directly and see what the students are doing.



Wow Bud, that is 13 students! Actually Spokane Community College has one of the best hydraulic labs for a college or university. I still think it is under utilized though.

Good things are happening Bud. Just because you don't see them or hear about them doesn't mean they are happening.

I'm just a cynical Old Man Peter. But I'm thankful not everyone has the same outlook about the state of Fluid Power knowledge in industry in general.

Maybe something will get done in the future besides 2 week seminars and an add on to the Mechanical Engineers full courses.

Did you notice what Hugh said about the Mechatronics classes as it concerns Hydraulics and Pneumatics. Sounded to me like another too little too late situation. He does appear to want to remedy the situation though, and I applaud him for that.

SOMEDAY, MAYBE??????????? Something besides 13 persons in a 16 week class.

quote:

Did you notice what Hugh said about the Mechatronics classes as it concerns Hydraulics and Pneumatics. Sounded to me like another too little too late situation..

I think he is right when it comes to pneumatics. Small linear motors are the way to go.

There are some applications where I don't think motors will ever be able to beat hydraulics.
1 Low duty cycle applications where energy can be store in the accumulator during the idle times.
2. Large loads moving quickly.
3. Applications where the electric motors will not fit or can be connected easily.
4 presses where constant force must be applied.

I see opportunities. Think about this. How many instructors do you think know anything about hydraulics? I bet it is few. I also bet there is only a need for a few IFF ( that is a mathematician's if and only if ) one can effectively conduct training over the internet.

Bud, have you ever thought about marketing the information you have? If I were you I would have internet classes. Every week you go through all the chapters in your manuals or the ppt that you have. You get people to sign up for the classes and send them a e-mail that lets them log on and attend your class. The best part is that you charge a fee. GoToMeeting cost about $40 a month for unlimited use. You can try it for free for one month. A lot will depend on your ability to conduct a class and the relevance of the material but your ppt files are excellent.

The problem is marketing and getting people to want to attend and internet class. The IFPE show is coming up. That would be a good marketing opportunity.

We train about 300 people a year on hydraulic motion control and specifically our motion controller. Some are classes at Delta but a bigger percentage now are trained over the internet.