07-01-2014, 03:20 PM
Intro to Mechatronics
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Mechatronics: Working Definition for us
Mechatronics is the synergistic integration of sensors,
actuators, signal conditioning, power electronics, decision
and control algorithms, and computer hardware and
software to manage complexity, uncertainty, and
communication in engineered systems.
Product Realization Paradigm
• Engineered products frequently involve components from more than one discipline
• Traditional product realization
– Discipline specific sequential process (design then manufacture)
– Drawback: cost overruns due to redesign/re-tooling
•A better but still deficient approach
– Discipline specific concurrent process (design for manufacturing)
– Bottleneck: sub-optimal integration
•Mechatronics based product realization exploits
– Integrated process founded upon interdisciplinary synergy
Multi-/Cross-/Inter-Disciplinary
• Products and processes requiring inputs from more than one
discipline can be realized through following types of interactions.
– Multi-disciplinary: This is an additive process of brining multiple
disciplines together to bear on a problem.
– Cross-disciplinary: In this process, one discipline is examined from the
perspective of another discipline.
– Inter-disciplinary: This is an integrative process involving two or more
disciplines simultaneously to bear on a problem.
Mechatronics-based Product Realization
• Systems engineering allows design, analysis, and synthesis of products and
processes involving components from multiple disciplines.
• Mechatronics exploits systems engineering to guide the product realization process
from design, model, simulate, analyze, refine, prototype, validate, and deployment
cycle.
• In mechatronics-based product realization: mechanical, electrical, and computer
engineering and information systems are integrated throughout the design process so
that the final products can be better than the sum of its parts.
• Mechatronics system is not
– simply a multi-disciplinary system
– simply an electromechanical system
– just a control system
Semiconductor Revolution
• Led to the creation of integrated circuit (IC) technology.
• Effective, miniaturized, power electronics could amplify and deliver
needed amount of power to actuators.
• Signal conditioning electronics could filter and encode sensory data in
analog/digital format.
• Hard-wired, on-board, discrete analog/digital ICs provided
rudimentary computational and decision-making circuits for control of
mechanical devices.