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Advice for teachers -
Systems Engineering

Unit 3: Integrated and controlled systems – Area of Study 1: Integrated and controlled systems

Outcome 1

Investigate, analyse and apply concepts and principles, and use components to design, plan and commence production of an integrated and controlled mechanical and electrotechnological system using the systems engineering process.

Examples of learning activities

  • Use WolframU to explore control systems, modelling systems and analysing systems on the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE website.
  • Access the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE website and discuss Ohm’s law.
  • Use appropriate resources, such as system block diagrams and IPOs (input-process-outputs), to understand how integrated systems function. Identify whether a system is closed or open loop.
  • Describe the concept of control and give examples of open and closed loop control systems (including diagrams and an explanation of the differences). Refer to ‘All about circuits’ on the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE website for further information.
  • Watch the ABC Education clip entitled ‘Tractor beam on water’ to explore how motion, force and energy are used to manipulate and control electromechanical systems when designing simple, engineered solutions.
  • Explore how microcontrollers can be used to effectively add closed loop control to a system. This could be by using some detection within hardware (using ultrasonic sensors), which allows the microcontroller to perform a different operation.
  • Use modelling software (such as Wolfram SystemModeler or Circuit Wizard) to demonstrate concepts of mechanical advantage, gGear and velocity ratios, or to give information about certain points in a circuit for voltage and current. This involves predicted and actual results (for both mechanical and electronic subsystems).
  • Discuss Newton’s laws of motion using ‘The Physics Classroom: Newton's Laws’ resource on the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE.
  • Use the ABC Education resource entitled ‘Fly a cargo-carrying spacecraft’ to explore Newton’s second law of motion by investigating how the thrust of the engines and the mass of the ship affect its acceleration.
  • Create a design brief that addresses the factors influencing the design of an integrated, control system. As a class, work through the main steps:
    • Discuss how to approach the analysis of the problem/need/opportunity/situation identified in the design brief and discuss potential solutions. Collect, analyse and annotate images showing potential solutions to the design brief, and share findings. Based on the discussions, select a preferred option for the controlled integrated system. Annotate and justify the preferred option.
    • Investigate systems, subsystems and the integration of these to form a completed working system or project (such as exploring wind energy), the transformations within the system and how any mechanical or electrical components are interconnected.
    • Discuss how to develop evaluation criteria appropriate for the system being designed and the systems engineering process. Work in small groups to develop evaluation criteria and share findings with the class for further discussion about appropriateness of each criterion for evaluation.
    • Discuss what is included in a production plan; for example, identifying parts (subsystems), timeline, materials, tools, processes and equipment. Work in small groups to develop a production plan for the class-selected preferred option and share work.
    • Demonstrate the use of computer-aided design (CAD) software (such as SketchUp) to render designs. Refer to tutorials on The Department of Education and Training’s FUSE site. Use SketchUp to render the preferred design.
    • Discuss the selection and design of appropriate diagnostic and testing procedures and decide on procedures for the preferred option.
  • Consider examples of mechanical analysis and modelling through the use of CAD software (such as ProDesktop, Autodesk Inventor or Solidworks) to create mechanical design options to model mechanical systems and give predicted outcomes. Examples of software include WolframU SystemModeler, and Mechanisms by Focus Educational.
  • Example icon for advice for teachers
    Develop a prototype of a gear, lever or pulley subsystem as part of a system.
  • Create a prototype of an electrical or electronic circuit design to use in a controlled integrated system.
  • Use software such as Circuit Wizard (Educational demo is free) or Visual Spice by Quasar Electronics to model electrical and electronic systems and give predicted outcomes.
  • Model and simulate the performance of circuits powered with alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar.
  • Use the Wolfram Demonstrations resources on the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE website to explore a variety of pulleys.
  • Refer to the Department of Education and Training’s FUSE resource ‘Motion and energy transfer’ for topics including energy transfers and transformations in systems and events, different forms of energy, the energy of moving things, Newton’s laws, and alternative energy technologies.
  • Watch the ABC Education video entitled ‘What is a physics engine?’ and discuss the application of Newton’s third law of motion.
  • Watch a teacher’s demonstration of the use of tools and machines that demonstrate complex process skills to create an integrated, controlled system. Video or photograph the demonstration of these skills and annotate, identifying the tool and/or machine and process/es and management of risks.
  • Formulate a risk assessment of the production of an integrated, controlled system that includes the machines, tools and processes, and shows the hazards and precautions, before, during and after the build. This information could be presented in a table (docx - 66kb).
Example icon for advice for teachers 

Detailed example

Produce a prototype of a gear, lever or pulley system as part of subsystem

Provide students with a simple design brief with evaluation criteria and the preferred design option including annotations.

Ask students to use the preferred design option and produce a prototype of a gear, lever or pulley subsystem as part of the system. Refer students to the systems engineering process when producing their subsystem.

Students must document the following:

  • principles being used in the mechanical subsystem of their integrated, controlled system
  • impact on the overall design
  • tools and machines needed for the processes, as well as a risk assessment on the tools, machines and processes
  • reference to appropriate technical information
  • testing and collection of data using the appropriate techniques.

Students can use a blog (such as Global2) or a wiki (such as Wikispaces, MediaWiki, DokuWiki or WikkaWiki) to document this information.