Senior control systems laboratory at Purdue University

This paper describes the philosophy and content of an innovative senior controls laboratory in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. This laboratory has been not only a highly successful component of the curriculum from an educational standpoint, but also quite popular in terms of student evaluations. The laboratory was designed to address many of the problems plaguing typical laboratory courses, such as large instructor learning curve and preparation time, excessive equipment down-time and operating costs, overly complex instructions for student exercises, and student cheating on project assignments. By addressing these and other factors that can lead to student apathy, the authors have been able to maintain a high educational yield