Design and Development of Mechatronics Trainer for Skills Competency Assessment

Training globally competent students and workers to meet the required standard qualifications for the evolving manufacturing industry is essential. However, At Mindanao State University—Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), the equipment and trainers available are minimal, outdated, and need an upgrade to match program requirements to meet industry trends and global competitiveness. The study aims to develop a mechatronics trainer prototype to assess the skill competencies in mechatronics of industry practitioners and students for quality-assured institutional assessment and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Mechatronics Servicing National Certification (NC) III and IV. The core competency standards addressed were based on the learning outcomes of the 2018 TESDA Migrated Training Regulation (TR) for NC III and NC IV in Mechatronics Servicing. The development of the Mechatronics trainer includes planning the design, identifying the components needed, generating schematic diagrams for electrical and programs in PLC, testing and commissioning the components, and gathering feedback for improvements. The mechatronics trainer has undergone a series of testing in terms of individual devices and system operability based on given tasks to achieve the overall functionality. The NC III and NC IV level of skills competencies of ten Bachelor of Science in Industrial Automation and Mechatronics students at MSU_IIT were assessed and qualified based on the required unit of skills competencies as specified in the mechatronics servicing TR. Based on the results, students with a background in mechatronics were competent in performing the given tasks: (1) Forward-Reverse motor control using Variable Frequency Drive with changing frequency; and (2) Motor speed control with forward-reverse using HMI, PLC, and VFD. Few of the students using the trainer have difficulty in advanced human- machine interface configuration, programmable logic controller programming, and variable frequency drive parameterization due to unfamiliarity with the devices and limited time to finish the tasks.