Practicing Model Based Design and Industrial Approach for a Course on Automotive Electronics

Automotive electronics is a course which is highly multidisciplinary and application oriented which requires the knowledge of various engineering domains.At our organization this course is introduced to the students of third year belonging circuits branches to cater to the needs of automotive industry. In automotive industry various product development models are followed and V design model is most common amongst them. As a part of V design model, model based design approach (MBD) is usually followed prototype development. As MBD provides a rapid prototyping method of the product under design it is very much popular in automotive industries. The same method with the integration of industrial approach is practiced for teaching a course on automotive electronics.Model based design approach includes using models as components for prototyping and most commonly used tools for such kind of design are MATLAB/SIMULINK or lab view. In this paper we discuss about adapting model based design approach using SIMULINK at various levels to teach a course on automotive electronics. MBD approach is used in teaching theory concepts, in laboratory exercises from simple simulation to porting the models to hardware and lastly in course projects. Course project development also involved virtual industry environment along with MBD. The approach helped the students learn and develop technical and professional competencies, industry specific skills and also prepare graduates to be industry ready. The student learning was measured in terms of their ability to work in a team, project management skills and their technical competencies to develop sub-modules and integration of sub modules. The outcomes are also discussed with respect to students placements in automotive industries and attainment of ABET outcomes.