Free Mechatronics Course
Mechatronics for Robotics & Automation
This free mechatronics course follows how a machine senses a change and responds with movement. Join the lessons to connect mechanical parts, electrical signals, and control decisions when reasoning about an automated system.
About this course
A free mechatronics course helps you understand a machine as a set of working relationships rather than separate mechanical and electronic parts. You learn how sensors provide information and how actuators produce a response, then connect those roles with power transmission, circuits, and the controller. Block diagrams give you a way to describe that interaction before considering a design.
Robotics and automation lessons extend the same reasoning to feedback, integration, and troubleshooting. You compare microcontrollers with PLCs and consider why a change to one part can affect the wider system. These ideas apply to automated production in US manufacturing, where design choices also need attention to machine safety and authorized procedures. The course provides introductory system knowledge for further learning, not a promise of hardware access or competence to commission an industrial robot.
Course outline
Foundations of Mechatronics
In this module, you’ll learn what mechatronics is, its core disciplines, system inputs and outputs, the design process, safety standards, block diagrams, and career paths.
Mechanical Design Fundamentals
In this module, you’ll learn how gears, belts and bearings move power, plus choosing materials, handling loads and tolerances, using CAD, and designing easy-to-build parts.
Electrical and Electronic Systems
In this module, you’ll learn circuit basics, power supplies, analog versus digital signals, circuit boards, relays and transistors, reading wiring diagrams, grounding, and electrical safety codes.
Sensors and Transducers
In this module, you’ll learn how encoders, proximity, force, temperature and speed sensors work, plus cleaning and converting their signals, combining sensors, and picking the right one.
Actuators and Motor Control
In this module, you’ll learn how electric, hydraulic and pneumatic actuators work, how DC, AC, stepper and servo motors are controlled, and how to size and choose them.
Microcontrollers and Embedded Control Systems
In this module, you’ll learn how microcontrollers and PLCs differ, basic embedded programming, ladder logic, timers and interrupts, communication protocols, control panels, debugging, and using AI to speed up prototyping.
System Integration and Control Theory
In this module, you’ll learn open versus closed-loop control, feedback, PID tuning, system modeling, stability, state-space basics, and how to integrate, test, and troubleshoot a complete system.
Industrial Applications, Robotics, and Automation
In this module, you’ll learn about industrial robots, kinematics, automated assembly lines, smart factories, connected machines, predictive maintenance, safety systems, quality inspection, emerging fields, and a capstone project.
Get access to the complete curriculum once you enroll in the course
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the mechatronics course bring its subjects together?
What mechanical components will I learn about?
How are sensors different from actuators in the free mechatronics course?
Which sensor types are introduced?
Does beginner mechatronics learning include motor control?
How will I compare microcontrollers and PLCs?
What does feedback control add to the course?
Are robotics applications included?
How can these lessons relate to US manufacturing work?
What will I study about troubleshooting a complete system?
Recommended Free Engineering & Technical Trades courses
-
FREE
-
FREE
2.5 hrs
-
FREE
-
FREE
-
FREE
-
FREE
-
FREE
-
FREE
FREE
.jpg "Course thumbnail image")
