Learn to design, integrate, program, and troubleshoot intelligent electromechanical systems by combining mechanical engineering, electronics, sensors, actuators, embedded systems, and industrial automation. 19 modules from fundamentals through certification, 6 complete real-project design packages (conveyor system, robotic pick-and-place cell, CNC automation, packaging machine, automated warehouse, smart manufacturing cell), a 12-template documentation kit, and a certificate of completion. One-time $4.99 purchase, no account required.
Explore the Full Curriculum →No. NCEES does not offer a dedicated FE or PE Mechatronics exam. Mechatronics engineers who want NCEES licensure typically sit for a closely related discipline exam such as FE/PE Electrical or FE/PE Mechanical, depending on their background and the FE Reference Handbook topics that best match their coursework. The credentials covered here — NIMS Mechatronics and the motion-control fundamentals exam — are the field-specific alternative.
The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) is a nonprofit standards and credentialing body for metalworking and manufacturing skills, including a Mechatronics credential set with duty areas such as Mechanical Systems, Electrical Systems, Fluid Power Systems, and Troubleshooting & Repair. NIMS credentials are widely recognized by manufacturers and are commonly built into community and technical college mechatronics/advanced manufacturing programs.
No official order is required — they are separate duty-area credentials. Many mechatronics programs teach electrical systems and fluid power systems in parallel or sequential courses, so studying and testing in either order (or both together) is common. Programs building toward a full Mechatronics credential typically expect candidates to complete both, plus the Mechanical Systems duty area.
PID control and servo/stepper motion fundamentals are universal engineering knowledge taught across mechatronics, robotics, and controls curricula — no single organization certifies it as a standalone credential the way NIMS certifies specific manufacturing skill areas. This exam is framed as a self-study fundamentals check, complementary to (not a replacement for) the NIMS credentials above.
Two ways an embedded system notices something happened — one keeps asking, the other gets tapped on the shoulder the instant it matters.
Two independent dials on the same signal — one sets how much average power reaches the load, the other sets whether the switching is silent or an audible whine.
Why one motor needs constant position feedback to work correctly — and the other is designed to run perfectly well without ever checking, until it silently isn't.
Why zero backlash isn't automatically the best setting — a little free play is usually the correct design choice, not a defect.
Why a mechanism can have more degrees of freedom than motors — underactuation is usually the smarter design, not a shortcut.
Why a motor's nameplate power figure isn't always available all the time — an intermittent-duty rating is conditional on a cool-down, not a number you can draw on forever.
Why getting a stalled actuator moving in the first place can demand noticeably more torque than keeping it moving once it's already going.
Two different causes of the same rough, uneven rotation — one purely magnetic and present even unpowered, the other purely electrical and only present when driven.
Why one encoder has to go hunt for a known reference point after every power-up, while the other already knows exactly where it is before it even moves.
Zero backlash and the fastest response come from bolting the motor straight to the load — but only if you're willing to pay for a motor big enough to skip the gearbox entirely.
Interactive 17-section reference covering actuator selection, gear trains, motor drivers and H-bridges, PWM and VFDs, PID control and tuning, complementary and Kalman filter sensor fusion, automation sensors, signal conditioning, and embedded firmware architecture.