Povilas Piartli from Vilnius says that he didn't know what he wanted to study when he was at school, because he was interested in mechanics, electronics, and programming. However, the young man soon discovered mechatronics, a field of study that combined all his interests and opened the door to NASA.
"I studied very well at school and could choose any study. After reviewing their programs, I was most interested in mechatronics and robotics. It turned out that robotics is part of mechatronics, so I chose the latter.
I decided to make a robot in my last term of school to see if I would enjoy such studies. I bought various motors, wheels and controls. The result was not perfect, because I bought the motors without gearboxes, so my robot did not move from its place. However, the process itself was interesting and pushed me even more towards mechatronics", smiles the mechatronics graduate of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design of the Kaunas University of Technology.
The first creation is a light-following robot
According to P. Piartli, studying mechatronics is engineering, where you need math the most, as well as excellent spatial awareness, as you learn computer drawing, and some understanding of electricity. He says that at least basic programming knowledge would make the studies easier, but programming can be learned during them as well.
"During studies, a lot of attention is paid to practical activities. Students acquire various skills: metal casting, milling, connecting electric circuits, 3D design, robot programming, which is interesting in that you have to come up with the task yourself, for example, the robot has to move along the wall.
Although there were many practical activities, I wanted more. During the first year, a few friends and I took an already constructed robot without electronics and, using the equipment left over from my not-so-successful school experiment, we made a light-following robot," the interviewer shares his memories.
Later, Povilas says that he has already developed bigger projects: a line-following robot for competitions, a robot-platform for transporting goods and having enough power to take a person up a hill.
When asked where the results of mechatronics can be seen in the household, he begins to name: these include microwave ovens, refrigerators, smart toasters or more modern ovens - all these inevents are works of mechatronics. Also, manufacturing equipment is used in industry, because it is not controlled by human hands, but by electronics.
More and more young people are interested in technology-related studies, and many try to gain knowledge and versatile experience while still in school, participating in various projects. One such is "Prisijungusi Lietuva", which offers young people aged 14-29 to improve their digital skills by participating in various events: creative competitions, workshops, hackathons.
"We have been running the project for two years now and we notice that it is the events that require an original format and creative and analytical thinking that attract a lot of attention from young people. They encourage schoolchildren to be more interested in information technologies, programming, develop creativity and self-expression. It also encourages volunteering - one of our project activities is e. a network of scouts where young people who become members contribute to improving the digital skills of members of the local community. We estimate that about 10 people will participate remotely in the events currently taking place in all counties. young people", says Jurgita Vasilavičiūtė-Garunkštienė, head of activities of the "Connected Lithuania" project.
75 kilograms of equipment from China
Mr. Piartli says studying mechatronics became his ticket to NASA (JAV National Aeronautics and Space Administration) - the guy went there to intern after winning the competition. "During my internship, I worked on two projects. One of them is the so-called "tensegrity" robot, which does not use bending, only compression and stretching, so the robot is more resistant to shocks and falls, but it is more difficult to control. Its appearance certainly does not correspond to the imagination of what a robot can look like - it is like a ball of rods and cables.
The second project I joined involved testing a drone that was launched into the air to take video while in flight and help create a 3D map of the surface. The first tests ended with the drone crashing and looking for its pieces, more than half of the video was just the sky, but after a while we had a drone that could withstand more than one test and filmed not the sky, but the ground, which was what was needed. This allowed me to realize even more clearly that it takes a lot of perseverance and work to implement an idea, and even at NASA, things don't always work out the first time," he explains.
During the internship, what caught the boy's eye the most was the fact that most of the work takes place at the computer. He says that even though he is a mechatronics engineer, he spent more than half of his internship time programming. The fact that almost everything is created by first simulating the process in a computer environment also left an impression.
Later, the guy went to China, the Beijing Institute of Technology, for a study exchange. He says that many new advantages and intricacies of mechatronics have been revealed in China, and he laughs that he returned from a foreign country with several tens of kilograms of waiting for himself. "In our free time, my roommates and I were researching one giant Chinese-only online shopping platform called TaoBao. As a result, I returned home with 75 kg of luggage, which contained mostly miscellaneous equipment for my future projects," he says.
Mr. Piartli assures that studying mechatronics is an extremely good choice for those who like many things and cannot choose - mechatronics allows you to choose everything. He points out that while studying, you need to get used to learning something new often, because each project is unique. The main qualities that are very necessary when studying mechatronics are the desire to improve, and when faced with obstacles and problems not to ignore them, to learn to solve them.
