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Unit Synopsis
This project-based unit is about designing fluid power systems for automated and semiautomated industrial plants. This unit deals with exploring fluid power elements and their ISO standard symbols, designing fluid power circuits using actuators, directional control and other valves, sensors and control systems. Control technology may include both hydraulic and pneumatic systems integrated with programmable controllers (PLCs and micro-controllers). In small teams, you will undertake project work involving solving real-life industrial problems. There are also several laboratory experiments in areas of hydraulic and pneumatic operating system design and control circuit design integrated with PLCs for automated machines. You will use simulation software (SimScape and/or FluidSim) for confirming the functionality of designed projects prior to prototyping. You will communicate professionally using discipline-specific terminology to present designs and problem solutions. Students enrolled in online mode must attend a compulsory residential school to facilitate peer collaboration and attainment of the unit learning outcomes.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 8 |
| Credit Points | 12 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.25 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 3. Laboratory/Practical | 20% |
| 4. Examination | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4.50 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 72.73% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Students
PLC programming training would be more fruitful if it was done before study break week.
Recommended to organise PLC program training earlier rather than at the end of the term. Earlier communication with OMRON Electronics can help to get a PLC expert for guest lecture delivery.
A guest lecturer was invited to introduce various control measures including Simulink and PLC.
Source: Student
Pneumatic control integrated with PLCs was a good experience.
It is recommended to continue with the developed structure of the unit (fluid power, pneumatics, and PLCs together). This may help students graduate with job-ready skills in industrial automation and production.
Two projects were considered: one with hydraulic fluid power and another with pneumatic power. In both projects, students employed control strategies to complete the projects.
Source: Student
Fluid power simulation with SimScape was very helpful.
Continue teaching simulation of fluid power circuits using SimScape and FluidSim facing the current challenges of industry automation.
SimScape and SimScape Fluid were employed in the tutorial session and students used these simulation tools along with other control measures to complete their projects.
Source: Unit Coordinator
Exam (replacing quiz) is essential
In the post-COVID period, an exam carrying 40% value should be introduced. This will improve the quality of assessment of students' knowledge and skills.
The online individual exam, valued at 40% was considered to assess student content knowledge and problem-solving skills.
Source: Moodle
Students favour engaging learning and teaching approach for their learning.
The good engaging teaching approach for student learning will be employed and improved further.
In Progress
Source: Moodle
MATLAB simulation enhances student problem-solving skills
The MATLAB tool will be employed further.
In Progress
Source: Moodle
Lab activities were in online mode due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Face-to-face lab activities solve laboratory-related problems in CQU campuses.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Design complex fluid drives and analyse their performance
- Evaluate advanced applications of drive systems in industrial plants
- Design fluid control circuits integrated with programmable controllers for automated machine systems
- Design and analyse electro-mechanical and fluid control power and energy conversion systems
- Design protection and control systems for fluid power machines
- Analyse electro-mechanical power and energy conversion
- Create professional documentation using terminology, symbols and diagrams related to electric and fluid drives.
The learning outcomes are linked to Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard and Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) 9 Level.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||
| 3 - Laboratory/Practical | • | • | • | • | |||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | • | • | |||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | ||||
| 2 - Communication | • | • | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • | |||
| 4 - Research | • | ||||||
| 5 - Self-management | • | ||||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | |||||||
| 3 - Laboratory/Practical | • | • | |||||||