Approximately 3.8 million persons over age 65 are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision), of whom about 173,000 are legally blind veterans (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2003). The population of legally blind veterans is projected to increase to nearly 1 million by 2010 (Veterans Benefits Administration, 2001). As these demographic changes occur, it is important to gain a better understanding of the effects of orientation and mobility (O&M) training on older people with visual impairments, including those served by the Georgia Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC), on specific movement functions, especially gait and balance, and the potential for falls and injury. The lack of objective quantitative functional measures related to the outcomes of rehabilitation programs serving visually impaired persons limits the documentation and improvement of services to legally blind veterans. REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREThere are no protocols for determining changes in gait and balance in visually impaired persons who have completed O&M instruction at the BRC. Current assessments of patients' O&M skills are done through qualitative evaluations by mobility instructors in the form of "dropoff' lessons (Long, Rieser, & Hill, 2000 and/or "critical incident mobility assessment" (Geruschat, Turano, & Stahl, 1998). Yet, quanti-This project was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Project C1861P.tative parameters for gait and balance are available and are predictive of a reduced ability to negotiate safely in one's environment and the risk of falls among older sighted people (Buchner et aI., 1996; Kressig et. aI., 2001;Watelain, Barbier, Allard, Thevenon, & Angue, 2000). Since there is a high correlation between physical function (i.e., gait, balance) and the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), which include moving efficiently and safely in the environment as taught in O&M training, it is a logical step to measure functional parameters as a means of predicting an individual's ability to incorporate O&M skills into his or her daily routine. More quantitative measures of gait and balance may thus be useful outcome measures of O&M training. The use of such biomechanical measures may help BRC programs assess the effects of training on mobility problems and the risk of falls.Measures of gait and balance for sighted adults across the life span have been well documented in the literature and are predictive of function and the risk of falls in older individuals
As the field and applications of Mechatronics grow, engineering education must grow with it to meet the changing needs of students and industry. How to teach Mechatronics continues to be an open area for discussion. The subject remains broad, encompassing, and continually changing. This presentation focuses on the structure and growth of the Mechatronics course in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. The goal is to provide students with a fun, hands-on, challenging, and timely education in Mechatronics. An overview of the course and the laboratory experiences is presented. Student projects are included to highlight the topics tackled in the course. The changes taking place to expand and improve the course are discussed. Also, a discussion of future topics for Mechatronics education is presented.
Final Group Projects are an integral part of the graduate mechatronics course, "Introduction to Mechatronics," in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Students are able to develop both practical and theoretical understanding of mechatronics while working on their Final Group Projects. They also develop interpersonal and communication skills necessary to work in a multi-disciplinary field. To assist students, a framework has been developed to help them realize goals they propse for their Final Group Project. It helps them to work effectively within a team environment and present their projects utilizing different media outlets, such as witing technical reports, developing web pages for their Final Group Projects, and making oral presentations. This framework includes lecture topics covered in class, project requirements, grading methods, material resources, and support ffom graduate teaching assistants, electronic, and machine shop. In this paper, the framework and example projects demonskiting its effectiveness will be presented.
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