Book Reference: (Tentative)

1. Mechatronics: An Integrated Approach

Author: C.W.De Silva
Publisher: CRC Press
A. What do you mean by Mechatronic engineering?
B. Mention Difference between conventional and mechatronic design
C. Examples and applications of mechatronic systems
D. Career opportunities of mechatronic engineers
E. Benefits and demerits of mechatronic systems
F. Concept and key element of mechatronic system
G. Evolution level of Mechatronics
H. Analogy between Human control and computer control
I. Importance of Mechatronics in Automation
 Evolution of automated systems:

 Completely mechanical automatic systems (before and

early 1900s)
 Automatic devices with electronic components such as
relays, transistors, op-amps (early 1900s to 1970s)
 Computer controlled automatic systems (1970s–
present)
 Mechatronics is the synergistic integration of
mechanical engineering (“mecha” for mechanical),
electronic engineering (“tronics” for electronics),
control theory and software engineering to manage
complexity, uncertainty, and communication in
engineered systems.

 The word “mechatronics” was first coined by Mr.

Tetsuro Moria, a senior engineer of a Japanese
company, Yaskawa, in 1969.
 Typical knowledgebase for optimal design and operation of
mechatronic systems comprises of
– Dynamic system modeling and analysis
– Decision and control theory
– Sensors and signal conditioning
– Actuators and power electronics
– Hardware interfacing
– Rapid control prototyping
– Embedded computing
 Applications of MTE
 Applications are almost endless and developing
every day that it includes:
 Smart consumer products: home security, camera, microwave
oven, toaster, dish washer, laundry washer-dryer, climate
control units, etc.
 Medical: implant-devices, assisted surgery, haptic, etc.
 Defense: unmanned air, ground, and underwater vehicles,smart
munitions, jet engines etc.
 Manufacturing: robotics, traction control, scanner, etc.
 Automotive: climate control, antilock brake, active suspension,
cruise control, air bags, engine management, safety, etc.
 Network-centric, distributed systems: distributed robotics, tele-
robotics, intelligent highways, etc.
Wheeled Robots
Aerial Robots
Legged Robots
Autonomous Cars
Hard Drive Underwater Robot
Industrial Robots
 Mechatronics is an exciting and rapidly growing new
area of engineering and career prospects are excellent.
Career opportunities in this fast-changing field exist in
both private industry and publicly funded enterprises.
 Professional mechatronics engineers are typically
found in positions where they are responsible for
integrated computer controlled mechanical and
electrical systems such as those found in the
manufacturing and mining industries, automotive
industries, robot industries, aircraft manufacturing
industries, automotive suppliers industries etc. They
are also employed in electrical plants and companies
where automation and process control is required.
Enhanced Features and Functionality: A mechanical
design typically provides only one function. Designing
with a microcontroller offers the flexibility of adding
features like LCD displays, lighting LEDs, a user
interface, programmability, safety features, speed
control etc. Modern washing machines, for instance,
offer many features over the mechanical designs of old.
These features include a display that gives cycle
information as well as providing a stain removal guide.
These machines use microcontrollers to efficiently vary
the speed of different cycles based on the content being
washed.
 High initial cost of the system
 Imperative to have knowledge of different
engineering fields for design and implementation
 Specific problems for various systems will have to
be addressed separately and properly.
 Expensive to add mechatronic approach to an
existing/old system
For Description, see Topic 1.1
 A mechatronic system has at its core a mechanical system which
needs to be commanded or controlled by a controller.
 The controller needs information about the state of the system.
This information is obtained from sensors. A sensor converts any
physical quantity like force or motion into electrical signal.
 In many cases, the signals produced by the sensors are not in a
form ready to be read by the controller and need some signal
conditioning operations performed on them.
 The conditioned, sensed signals are then converted to a digital
form by Analog-to-Digital Convertor (ADC) and are then sent to
the controller.
 The controller is the ‘mind’ of the mechatronic system, which
processes user commands and sensed signals to generate
command signals to be sent to the actuators in the system.
Actuators are devices that can convert electrical energy to
mechanical energy.
 The user commands are obtained from a variety of devices,
including command buttons, graphical user interfaces (GUIs),
touch screens, or pads.
 In some cases, the command signals are sent to the actuators
without utilizing any feedback information from the sensors. This
is called open-loop system, and for it to work, this requires a
good calibration between the input and output of the system.
 The more common mode of operation is the closed-loop mode in
which the command signals sent to the actuators utilize the
feedback information from the sensors. This mode of operation
does not require calibration information.
 Primary level mechatronics: This level incorporates I/O devices
such as sensors and actuators that integrates electrical signals
with mechanical action at the basic control levels. (Electrically
controlled fluid valves and relays)
 Secondary level mechatronics: This level integrates
microelectronics into electrically controlled devices. (Cassette
player)
 Third level mechatronics: This level incorporates advanced
feedback functions into control strategy thereby enhancing the
quality in terms of sophistication called smart system. (Control of
Electrical motor used to activate industrial robots, hard disk, CD
drives and automatic washing machines)
 Fourth level mechatronics: This level incorporates intelligent
control in mechatronics system. It introduces intelligence and
fault detection and isolation (FDI) capability systems.
 If a process is controlled and powered by a human
operator, the operator observes the behavior of the
system (i.e. using visual observation), then makes a
decision regarding what action to take, then using his
muscular power takes a particular control action.
 One could view the outcome of the decision making
process as a control or decision signal, and the action
of the muscles as the actuator signal which is the
amplified version of the control (or decision) signal.
 The same functionalities of a control system can be
automated by use of a digital computer.
 The sensors replace the eyes, the actuators replace the
muscles, and the computer replaces the human brain.