I am doing mechatronics engineering and i am to choose an elective module. We have the choice of taking up Digital Signal Processing or Power Electronics and Drive. Majority of my friends are taking DSP cause our lecturer says its more useful for mechatronic student. I personally feel that PED has a better application for robotics. Could i get some advice on which is more reasonable for robotics.
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1$\begingroup$ Welcome to Engineering! This looks like an academic guidance question. Such questions often involve personal choice and can probably be better answered by an adviser or counselor. We do not believe this site's format is well-suited to such questions, which are therefore considered off-topic. $\endgroup$– WasabiCommented May 5, 2017 at 10:39
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$\begingroup$ Perhaps the engineers who can offer the best advice are those who are more likely to frequent this site and won't necessarily be frequenting an academic site. Particularly as the attracted answers seem to be appreciated - not including mine in that or looking for votes. So, perhaps it should not be closed. $\endgroup$– Solar MikeCommented May 6, 2017 at 8:32
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$\begingroup$ @Wasabi That's a question - how many advisors have that type of experience in engineering fields - I have met a few and 1) they weren't engineers, 2) had not studied in two languages, 3) had no clue about the different fields in engineering - engineering was just one branch available. Of course you may have been luckier in the advisors you came across. $\endgroup$– Solar MikeCommented May 6, 2017 at 8:54
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3 Answers
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DSP is relevant to any engineering field that involves gathering data and/or controlling something. That includes almost all robotics applications.
It's not quite clear just from the title what "Power electronics and drive" means. "Power electronics" could be anything from a 20W amplifier driving a motor, through a few MW for transport applications (e.g. electric trains), up to GW of power and systems operating at hundreds of kV for electricity generation and distribution.
The bottom line is that working in industry you will almost certainly end up knowing something about both fields, so choosing which to study right now might not be too important in the long run. But I would suggest that DSP would be easier to learn from an academic course, and power electronics easier to learn "on the job" as and when you need it, so long as your degree course has covered the basics of (low power) analog electronic circuit design and analysis.
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$\begingroup$ is there such engineering field that does not need to collect or analyze data / control something? I bet they didnt do calculus. $\endgroup$– joojaaCommented May 5, 2017 at 13:51
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In my view you should pick what you are interested in - that's why courses are designed to be modular.
And you have the choice to follow all the others : DSP or take PED and end up doing something different. Think about the robots that are being built at the moment that move heavy weights...
Really it's only my opinion : I started with an apprenticeship as a vehicle electrician, now I lecture in Facilities...
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As Solar Mike already stated, pick what fits your personal interest (the topic, not any potential future advantages).
What I've experienced in my studies (electronics) and the bunch of elective modules I took, is that you won't become an expert anyways in the (usually) short time. As for potential future upsides, since you probably cannot tell for sure, what direction (or company) you will take after your studies, neither can you say which one is the better for you.
Regarding the two topics, I think both of them are reasonable choices for robotics. Some other criteria I considered:
- Interest
- Lecturer
- Number of students
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$\begingroup$ +1 for adding points that I didn't think of ! $\endgroup$ Commented May 5, 2017 at 7:37