Introduction to the Intelligent Online Course of Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology
This course is a national high-quality online open course and a provincial-level model course integrating ideological and political education developed by Zhejiang Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. As a fundamental course for the Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation program, it is regularly delivered on two platforms: Zhejiang Provincial Online Open Course Sharing Platform and Xueyin Online. Open to learners from multiple higher vocational colleges and enterprises in the intelligent manufacturing industry, it meets the demands for overseas promotion of digital intelligent courses. The teaching content covers the whole chain including hydraulic and pneumatic theories, virtual simulation and industrial practical training. It deeply integrates post-curriculum-competition-certificate integration, curriculum-based ideological and political education, and blended digital teaching modes.
I. Basic Course Positioning
Affiliated to the Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation program under the Equipment Manufacturing discipline group, this course carries 3 credits for a total of 48 class hours (2 online credits + 1 offline credit). Targeting positions such as process technicians for intelligent manufacturing production lines, equipment maintenance personnel and automatic system designers, it aligns with assessment criteria of vocational skill level certificates for intelligent manufacturing engineering technicians and requirements of the National College Student Mechanical Innovation Design Competition.
It serves as a prerequisite supporting course for majors related to automated equipment, CNC machine tools and industrial robots, and also caters to mechanical majors at overseas vocational colleges focusing on intelligent manufacturing. Jointly developed by universities and enterprises, the curriculum content, new technology updates and practical training schemes are designed together with senior engineers from leading gearbox manufacturers, featuring industrial cutting-edge insights and international applicability.
II. Core Course Features
1. In-depth Integration of Posts, Curricula, Competitions and Certificates; Content Synchronized with Global Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies
Centered on real industrial projects of intelligent forming equipment, high-end CNC machine tools and flexible automatic production lines, the curriculum content is reconstructed following a progressive logic of "unit – single machine – production line". It incorporates internationally advanced control technologies including servo hydraulics and digital pneumatics, matches universal skill standards for automated equipment maintenance posts at home and abroad, and takes into account both domestic vocational skill certificates and general technical specifications for the global manufacturing sector.
2. Integration of Theory, Virtual Practice and Physical Operation; Full Coverage of All-digital Intelligent Teaching Resources
A three-dimensional resource library integrating theoretical animations, virtual simulation and industrial practical training has been built, containing 41 sets of component structural animations, 150 professional micro-lessons, 22 hydraulic circuit simulation cases and complete industrial operation videos. Learners can conduct independent learning anytime on mobile phones, tablets and computers, adapting to cross-border remote online teaching scenarios.
3. Collaborative Teaching by Dual-qualified Teachers; Joint Teaching Team of Universities and Enterprises
All instructors on the teaching team are dual-qualified teachers, including academic discipline leaders, senior engineers and enterprise frontline professor-level senior engineers. The team possesses both university teaching and research capabilities and practical experience in overseas general equipment projects. Teaching cases cover equipment of mainstream domestic and international hydraulic and pneumatic brands to accommodate the cognitive characteristics of overseas learners.
4. Whole-process Ideological and Political Education; Establishing an Education System of "Three Precisions and One Craftsmanship"
A three-dimensional and five-integration ideological and political education model is constructed. Content including national master craftsmen, technological breakthroughs of domestic high-end equipment and the mission of building a powerful manufacturing nation is embedded into all teaching projects. It cultivates craftsmanship featuring precise analysis, elaborate design and accurate operation, balancing technical instruction and professional literacy development.
5. Diversified Digital Assessment Supporting Hierarchical Personalized Learning
An innovative "three evaluations and six assessments" digital evaluation system is adopted. Learning trajectories are collected via big data on the online platform to realize four-dimensional assessment: process evaluation, situational outcome evaluation, comprehensive competency profiling and value-added evaluation. Student competency portraits are automatically generated, and hierarchical extended resources can be pushed to learners with different foundations and from different countries.
6. Large-scale Shared Application with Mature Operation Foundation for Overseas Promotion
The course has run steadily for 17 sessions, attracting over 6,700 students from 67 domestic institutions. The platform records more than 29,000 interactions and 1.76 million online visits. Standardized operation mechanisms including regular online Q&A, periodic resource updates and brushing-learning behavior control have been established, enabling rapid deployment on overseas online teaching platforms.
III. Teaching Objectives (Integrated Three-dimensional Objectives)
(I) Knowledge Objectives
Master fundamental principles of hydraulic and pneumatic transmission and calculation methods of basic fluid mechanics parameters; be familiar with structures and selection standards of universal domestic and international hydraulic and pneumatic components.
Skilfully identify and interpret schematic diagrams of typical hydraulic and pneumatic systems for machine tools, forming equipment and automated production lines; grasp design procedures of conventional circuits.
Understand operating characteristics and selection criteria of hydraulic pumps, motors, cylinders, various valves and pneumatic accessories; comprehend development trends of cutting-edge technologies such as digital hydraulics and servo pneumatics.
(II) Ability Objectives
Operate digital simulation software to complete modeling, simulation debugging and performance analysis of hydraulic and pneumatic circuits.
Assemble hydraulic and pneumatic circuits, adjust parameters, diagnose and eliminate faults on industrial training platforms.
Select hydraulic components, calculate pressure and speed parameters according to equipment working conditions, and independently design control circuits at unit and single-machine levels.
Possess practical engineering capabilities for routine maintenance, working condition detection and simple renovation of hydraulic and pneumatic systems on intelligent manufacturing equipment.
(III) Literacy Objectives
Develop rigorous and standardized engineering thinking, and foster craftsmanship featuring precise calculation, accurate operation and pursuit of excellence.
Establish awareness of quality safety, green manufacturing and standardized operation, complying with universal professional codes of conduct in the global manufacturing industry.
Acquire general professional competencies including teamwork, scheme discussion, technical document writing and cross-disciplinary communication.
Recognize the value of independent controllability of core technologies for high-end equipment, and cultivate professional aspiration for technological research and continuous innovation in manufacturing.
IV. Coverage of Teaching Content
Breaking the traditional segmented disciplinary framework, the course sets 13 progressive real enterprise projects. From basic to advanced levels, it covers five modules: hydraulic fundamentals, component selection, pressure/speed/directional control circuits, integrated hydraulic systems and pneumatic control systems, fully encompassing core industrial knowledge points:
Basic Hydraulic Transmission Module: Operating principles of hydraulic transmission, selection of hydraulic media and hydrostatic calculation, with cases of hydraulic jacks and large lifting equipment.
Power and Actuator Module: Structures, parameter calculation and matching selection of hydraulic pumps, cylinders and motors, covering mainstream equipment such as injection molding machines and machining centers.
Control Components and Basic Circuits Module: Working principles of directional, pressure and flow control valves; construction of typical control circuits for locking, pressure regulation, speed regulation, balancing and clamping.
Integrated Complete Machine Hydraulic System Module: Drawing analysis and troubleshooting of full hydraulic systems for modular machine tools, CNC machining centers and intelligent forming equipment.
Pneumatic Transmission Module: Pneumatic components, pneumatic circuit design, assembly and commissioning of automatic pneumatic systems for material conveying.
Advanced Expansion Module: New technologies including digital hydraulics, servo pneumatics and intelligent sensor detection, applicable to high-end intelligent manufacturing production lines.
Supporting digital resources cover all knowledge points, including principle animations, simulation cases, practical operation videos, standardized question banks and loose-leaf task worksheets, satisfying learning demands of theoretical self-study, virtual training and offline hands-on practice.
V. Teaching Methods and Organization Forms
(I) Core Teaching Model: Online-offline Blended Teaching Integrating Three Scenarios with Six Tasks and Six Training Sessions
Cross-border remote teaching is delivered via the online course platform. Adopting action-oriented teaching, the whole process is divided into pre-class, in-class and after-class phases following a standardized six-step teaching procedure.
Pre-class Guided Training: Learners independently watch micro-lessons and finish preview tests online. The platform automatically collects learning data to accurately identify weak knowledge points.
Task Analysis: Teachers break down industrial project tasks through live streaming or asynchronous recorded lectures, integrating industrial cases and ideological and political elements.
Simulation Design: Groups collaboratively complete digital modeling and simulation tests of hydraulic circuits online and conduct comparative discussions on schemes.
Practical Verification: Complete circuit assembly, commissioning and troubleshooting on offline training benches or remote virtual training platforms.
Multi-dimensional Evaluation: Combine automatic online assessment, peer evaluation and comprehensive teacher comments, with periodic competency scores generated synchronously.
After-class Extended Training: Assign hierarchical exercises and cutting-edge technical materials; organize cross-border online thematic seminars.
(II) Diversified Teaching Approaches
Project-based teaching, case teaching, virtual simulation teaching, group inquiry-based learning and asynchronous online Q&A are comprehensively applied. All teaching resources remain permanently accessible for repeated review to accommodate overseas learners’ time zone differences and preference for self-directed learning.
(III) Course Administration and Organization
A four-party collaborative management mechanism is established, consisting of university academic administration, full-time online course administrators, teaching teams and enterprise part-time lecturers. Overseas equipment cases and international technical standard resources are updated regularly. 7×24-hour online Q&A is available, supported by standardized systems for course operation, copyright management and learning status monitoring.
VI. Prerequisites for Learners
(I) Pre-requisite Knowledge
Basic mechanical drawing capabilities to interpret drawings of fundamental mechanical parts.
Basic knowledge of physical mechanics and fluid mechanics with elementary mathematical computing skills.
Basic computer skills to operate simulation software and online learning platforms.
(II) Target Learners
Domestic Learners:
Second- and third-year students majoring in Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation, Mould Design, Industrial Robotics, Mechatronics; on-the-job employees engaged in intelligent manufacturing equipment maintenance and automatic design.
Overseas Learners:
Students majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Automated Manufacturing at overseas vocational colleges; practitioners undertaking equipment maintenance and automation technical posts in overseas manufacturing factories; participants of cross-border intelligent manufacturing training programs.
VII. Textbooks and Supporting References
(I) Core Teaching Textbook
Main Textbook: Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology, Chief Editor: Huang Jinyong, China Machine Press. Featuring a mature content system compatible with general teaching standards for higher vocational colleges worldwide, it adopts project worksheets as carriers and covers all 13 practical training projects.
(II) Extended References
Reference Textbook: Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology (Chief Editor: Huang Jinyong, China Machine Press)
Professional Books: Hydraulic and Pneumatic Technology, Handbook of Hydraulic Components
Digital Resource Library: Supporting micro-lessons, principle animations, virtual simulation cases, question banks and industrial extended materials
Industrial Standard Resources: Technical manuals of mainstream domestic and international hydraulic brands, universal industry specifications for hydraulic systems in intelligent manufacturing, and case library of national master craftsmen.
(III) Online Platform Resources
Main Platform: Xueyin Online. Complete teaching resources are available with a mobile APP supporting anytime learning and online tests.
