Mechatronics Teaching through Virtual Platforms for Home Confinement due to COVID-19

Abstract

The pandemic that has been unleashed all over the world has forced us to change our way of life, this includes to avoid face-to-face classes. Therefore, an important question arises: how to carry out the online classes of a subject in which the main focus is on developing projects such as the Mechatronics course? This document presents the platforms used in the online course that include: Factory I/O, Overleaf, Tinkercad and FluidSIM, for replacing face-to-face practices. The course development, its characteristics and even the practices that have been done during the online course on the platforms are explained. The main idea is to show that it is possible to substitute the face-to-face practices, using appropriate online tools for each topic within the course. The use of online platforms and simulation software allows obtaining new skills of teaching regarding laboratory subjects. In general, online platforms allow having an alternative and new tools to transform the most of the course to the online mode.