Mechaiddqd

I originally built the Mechaiddqd mechatronics simulators to give students digital access to lab equipment outside of scheduled class time. When the COVID pandemic arrived, that idea stopped being a convenience and became a necessity.

The earliest versions were a handful of MATLAB scripts. Pandemic-era versions were rebuilt in Unity, packaged in a Windows installer, and updated automatically so I could keep distributing improvements without constant manual support.

A key design decision was to mimic the programming interface students were already using to control their Arduino hardware. That meant the transition between physical labs and simulator work felt much less artificial.

The simulator lineup included direct replicas of existing hardware like a robot arm and XY table, along with systems that were not feasible in the physical lab at the time, including a rollerball, candy sorter, and juice bar.