Unit Description and General Aims

Demonstrable practical hands-on work is a requirement of many professional engineering societies and accreditation agencies around the work and is an essential component of the EIT Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering programs.

Whilst these programs include contextualised remote and virtual labs; equivalent to, or considerably more comprehensive than a traditional classroom-based program; it is essential to verify that students are competent in hands-on work skills, including; practical tool usage, workplace safety, physical measurement, experimentation, construction, assembly and working in an engineering team, within the context of their discipline.

The workshops commence with a first aid course and each session requires students to undertake a job safety analysis. In total, there are four workshops for Bachelor’s students, each comprising of 30-40 contact hours of activities.

The Hands-on workshops are also conducted to provide supplementary exposure to the course units. students develop and verify their capability to practically apply scientific and engineering principles. For example, students conduct laboratory experiments related to physics and chemistry; mechanical workshops apply theoretical concepts related to mechanisms, machines and processes; civil workshops relate to materials, surveying and construction; industrial automation workshops relate to instrumentation and control; and electrical workshops relate to circuits, power generation, distribution, and electric motors. 

The latter workshops foster high-level job-ready design skills using industry-standard technologies, exposure to practicing professional engineers, and reflection upon commercial engineering projects, including systems engineering, stakeholder requirements, current and new technologies, design standards, best practice, realistic job-previews, and sustainability factors; pertinent to practicing technologists and professional engineers. 

On-campus and online students will elect to attend any of the biannual FTE four-week workshop deliveries, at an EIT campus. On-campus students may complete specified workshop tasks over the course of a semester. 

Students who already possess significant industrial experience in their engineering discipline of study may apply for recognition of prior learning to meet this requirement. 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students are expected to be able to: 

BXX001: 

1. Demonstrate the ability to conduct risk assessment and apply risk elimination strategy in industry. 
   Bloom's Level 3 (Psychomotor Level 2)

2. Demonstrate hands-on experience and skills in basic engineering measurement.          
   Bloom's Level 3 (Psychomotor Level 3)

3. Demonstrate the ability to conduct scientific experiments and perform data analysis.  
   Bloom's Level 4 (Psychomotor Level 4)

BXX002: 

4. Demonstrate the ability to construct and analyse electrical circuits as well as setup/test industrial communication networks   
   Bloom's Level 3 (Psychomotor Level 4)

5. Examine and analyse electrical equipment and Programmable Logic Controllers. 
   Bloom's Level 4 (Psychomotor Level 4)

BXX003: 

6. Demonstrate practical knowledge to analyse and evaluate common industrial automation engineering problems.  
   Bloom's Level 3 (Psychomotor Level 4)

BXX004: 

7. Demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes of a professional engineer. 
   Bloom's Level 4

8. Develop an understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities at workplaces.   
   Bloom's Level 5

9. Develop professional skills to design and analyse real-world projects using industry-standard technologies. 
   Bloom's Level 6 (Psychomotor Level 4)

Student assessment

Prescribed and Recommended readings

Required Reading

• BXX001C Measurement Science Workshop – STUDENT MANUAL
• BXX002C Power and Control Workshop – STUDENT MANUAL
• BXX003C Industrial Automation Engineering Workshop – STUDENT MANUAL
• BXX004C Professional Practice Workshop – STUDENT MANUAL

Optional Reading

• Hands-on Workshop RPL Application Form

Unit Content

Week 1 – BXX001

Measurement Science

• Task 1: 
  • First aid
  • Job safety analysis
  • Engineering case studies 
    
    
• Task 2: 
  • Measure dimensions with callipers, micrometre, spherometer
  • Measure fluid and gas properties with manometer and Boyle’s law apparatus
  • Measure thermal properties with thermal camera and calorimeter
    
    
• Task 3: 
  • Measure forces in equilibrium using a lever and fulcrum, force board with spring scales, and simple form truss
  • Measure elongation of an object under tension demonstrating Hooke’s law
  • Use a load cell to determine weight 
    
    
• Task 4: 
  • Use vernier sensors and LabQuest data loggers to determine work done by lifting and object up an inclined plane
  • Use vernier cart and track sensor system to calculate force, velocity, and acceleration as well as collision velocity
  • Calculate projectile velocity using a ballistic pendulum 
    
    
• Task 5: 
  • Use an oscilloscope with amplifier and oscillator and a sound level meter to take signal and sound level measurements
  • Use a digital voltmeter and ammeter with power supply and test components to take current-voltage characteristic measurements of ohmic and non-ohmic devices
  • Use Planck’s constant apparatus to investigate the relationship between photon colour and frequency
  • Use a magnetic field sensor with coil to determine the relationship between turns and field strength

Corresponds to:

• BSC102C Electrical Circuit Theory and Analysis (Core)
• BSC103C Engineering Dynamics and Mechanics (Core)
• BSC107C Physics and Chemistry for Engineers (Core)

Week 2 – BXX002

Power and control

• Task 1: 
  • Soldering, wiring, joining, and applying heat shrink
  • Assembling and testing circuits
  • Verifying circuit functionality and control logic for microwave simulator 
    
    
• Task 2: 
  • Cat5 cable termination and testing with a LAN cable tester
  • Insulation testing
  • Fibre optic cable assembly, splicing, and testing
  • MODBUS protocol between PC and RTU over serial
  • MODBUS protocol between two PCs over ethernet LAN  
    
    
• Task 3: 
  • DC generator using hand-crank kit and coils, verify with multi-meter and oscilloscope
  • DC motor using hand-crank kit and coils, verify with multi-meter and oscilloscope
  • AC generator using hand-crank kit and coils, verify with multi-meter and oscilloscope
  • AC motor using hand-crank kit and coils, verify with multi-meter and oscilloscope 
    
    
• Task 4: 
  • H-bridge assembly and DC motor control using PWM and Arduino
  • Interfacing with and verifying several sensor types using Arduino 
  • Manual VFD operation 
    
    
• Task 5: 
  • Line-follower robot kit, verification of connections
  • Running the code and verifying operation
  • Adapting the code for target behaviour
  • Introduction to PLC programming using ladder logic and PSIM
  • PLC timers and traffic light control using PSIM

Corresponds to:

• BSC102C Electrical Circuit Theory and Analysis (Core)
• BIA205S-BEE304S Electrical Control Circuits and PLC Programming
• BIA206S Communications and Networks
• BSC201C Engineering Programming (Core)

Week 3 – BXX003

Industrial Automation Engineering

• Task 1: 
  • Circuit breaker testing and verification
  • Motion control trainer demonstrating relays, limit switches, photoelectric switches, encoders, geared motors, IO and manual control 
    
    
• Task 2: 
  • HAZOP and equipment safety qualification and acceptance testing
  • AC motor control via PLC and VFD using Rockwell Studio 5000  
    
    
• Task 3: 
  • Coupled tanks with safety relay latching experiment using CodeSys ladder logic and Raspberry Pi
  • Siemens S7 1200 PLC training kit experiments simulating real world control applications 
    
    
• Task 4: 
  • Four-layer elevator training kit with call buttons, lifting winch, manual and PLC control
  • Stereoscopic warehouse shelf-stacking lab, with X-Y cartesian robot, mock shelfing, stepper motor control via PLC 
    
    
• Task 5: 
  • Hydraulics training kit with control valve, throttle valve, pressure reducer, relief valve, double acting cylinder and gauge
  • Refrigeration and air conditioning training system, connections, wiring, process control, measurement, and thermodynamic calculation

Corresponds to:

• BIA108S Process Instrumentation Control
• BIA205S-BEE304S Electrical Control Circuits and PLC Programming
• BIA204S Ancillary Support Systems
• BIA207S Automation Systems and Supervisory Control
• BIA208S Safety Systems Engineering
• BIA304S Power and Drive Controls

Week 4 – BXX004

• Tasks: 
  • Technical design workshop using professional software
  • Any of: presentations and case studies on technology, industry, job preparation, and best practice, site visits
  • Self-reflection

Corresponds to:

• BSC109C Industrial Experience Research Project (Core)
• BSC203C Engineering Design and Drawing (Core)
• BSC302C Project Planning, Management and Costing (Core)
• BSC305C Technology, Sustainability and Society (Core)
• (Other level 2-3 stream units)

Software/Hardware Used

Software

• See workshop manuals and bill of materials. 

Hardware

• See workshop manuals and bill of materials. 

Unit Changes Based on Student Feedback