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Mechatronics, a truly multi-disciplinary approach to engineering, has become a key to many different products and processes. The integration of mechanics, electronics, control and ____________________ exploits and exceeds the relative advantages of single ____________________, and when they are integrated, the ____________________ ensures that performances reach unprecedented levels. The importance of Mechatronic Engineering will further ____________________ due to consumer demands. Thus it has a vital role to play in the____________________.

Drastic technological advances in electromechanical motion devices and power electronics, solid-state devices and ICs (____________________ ), MEMS and NEMS (____________________ and ____________________ ), materials and packaging, computers and IT (____________________ ), microprocessors and DSPs (____________________ ), digital signal and optical processing, computer-aided-design tools and simulation software, have brought new challenges to the academia.

Mechatronic engineers possess the core skills of mechanical engineers and electrical engineers. Their knowledge enables them to solve a wide range of mechanical, electrical and software ____________________ , allowing them to participate ____________________ and lead multidisciplinary design teams. Mechatronic engineers are ____________________ by product developers and manufacturers, large and small, by the mining industry, by the aerospace and defence sectors, and by the government and industry research groups. Wherever ____________________ is potential for improvement through the integration of computer and electrical hardware with mechanical systems there is a need for ____________________ engineers. Opportunities also exist for graduates to form their own companies early in their careers.  In the future, mechatronic engineers will be in great demand as more industries seek to apply the evolutionary advances in computers, electronics, sensors, and actuators to ____________________ their products, processes and services.

Glossary:

acronym – a word composed of the initial letters of the name of something

actuator - a mechanical device for moving or controlling something

advance – progress in understanding, developing new ideas and technologies in a particular field, subject

CAD - acronym for computer-aided design. A system of programs and workstations used in designing engineering, architectural, and scientific models ranging from simple tools to buildings, aircraft, integrated circuits, and molecules. Various CAD applications create objects in two or three dimensions, presenting the results as wire-frame “skeletons,” as more substantial models with shaded surfaces, or as solid objects. Some programs can also rotate or resize models, show interior views, generate lists of materials required for construction, and perform other allied functions. See also CAD/CAM.

CAD/CAM - acronym for computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing. The use of computers in both the design and manufacture of a product. With CAD/CAM, a product, such as a machine part, is designed with a CAD program and the finished design is translated into a set of instructions that can be transmitted to and used by the machines dedicated to fabrication, assembly, and process control.

CADD – a system of hardware and software similar to CAD but with additional features related to engineering conventions, including the ability to display dimension specifications and other notes. See also CAD.

CAE - acronym for computer-aided engineering. An application that enables the user to perform engineering tests and analyses on designs created with a computer. In some instances, capabilities such as logic testing that are generally attributed to CAE applications are also part of CAD programs, so the distinction between CAD and CAE is not a hard-and-fast one.

core – essence

DP - data processing - 1. the general work performed by computers. 2. More specifically, the manipulation of data to transform it into some desired result.

integration - 1. in computing, the combining of different activities, programs, or hardware components into a functional unit 2. in electronics, the process of packing multiple electronic circuit elements on a single chip. See also integrated circuit

integrated circuit – a device consisting of a number of connected circuit elements, such as transistors and resistors, fabricated on a single chip of silicon crystal or other semiconductor material. Integrated circuits are categorized by the number of elements they contain. Acronym: IC. Also called: chip.

lithography – a process of imprinting patterns on semiconductor materials to be used as integrated circuits.

MEMS - acronym for micro-electromechanical systems. A technology combining computers with extremely tiny mechanical devices. MEMS devices contain microcircuitry on a tiny silicon chip onto which a mechanical device such as a sensor or an actuator is attached. MEMS devices are used in switches, pacemakers, games, GPS tracking, data storage, and for accelerometers in air bags. Because MEMS devices have the potential to be manufactured in large quantities for little cost, many additional MEMS products are being planned or studied.

microprocessor - a central processing unit (CPU) on a single chip. A modern microprocessor can have several million transistors in an integrated-circuit package that can easily fit into the palm of one’s hand. Microprocessors are at the heart of all personal computers. When memory and power are added to a microprocessor, all the pieces, excluding peripherals, required for a computer are present. The most popular lines of microprocessors today are the 680 x 0 family from Motorola, which powers the Apple Macintosh line, and the 80 x 86 family from Intel, which is at the core of all IBM PC–compatible computers.

nanotechnology - a field of science whose goal is to control individual atoms and molecules to create computer chips and other devices that are thousands of times smaller than current technologies permit. Current manufacturing processes use lithography to imprint circuits on semiconductor materials. While lithography has improved dramatically over the last two decades -- to the point where some manufacturing plants can produce circuits smaller than one micron (1,000 nanometers) -- it still deals with aggregates of millions of atoms. It is widely believed that lithography is quickly approaching its physical limits. In the popular press, the term nanotechnology is sometimes used to refer to any sub-micron process, including lithography. Because of this, many scientists are beginning to use the term molecular nanotechnology when talking about true nanotechnology at the molecular level.

Although research in this field dates back to Richard P. Feynman's classic talk in 1959, the term nanotechnology was first coined by K. Eric Drexler in 1986 in the book Engines of Creation.

sensor - a device that detects or measures something by converting nonelectrical energy to electrical energy. A photocell, for example, detects or measures light by converting it to electrical energy. See also transducer. synergy or synergism - most often refers to the phenomenon of two or more discrete influences or agents acting in common to create an effect which is greater than the sum of the effects each is able to create independently.

synergistic - cooperating for an enhanced effect

transducer – a device that converts one form of energy into another. Electronic transducers either convert electric energy to another form of energy or convert nonelectric to electric energy.

unprecedented – has never happened before

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

OF

MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

(Robert, H. Bishop: The Mechatronics Handbook, CRC Press)

5 important development steps:

| |Precision |Mechanical |Machines |

| |Mechanics |Elements | |

|Pure mechanical system |○ |○ |○ |

|1. Addition of sensors, actuators, |○ |○ |○ |

|microelectronics, control functions | | | |

|2. Integration of components |○ |○ |◦ |

|(hardware integration) | | | |

|3. Integration by information |○ |○ |◦ |

|processing (software integration) | | | |

|4. Redesign of mechanical |○ |○ |◦ |

|system | | | |

|5. Creation of synergetic |○ |◦ |◦ |

|effects | | | |

|Fully integrated mechatronic systems |○ |◦ | |

| | | |◦ |

|Examples |Sensors |Suspensions |Electric drives |

| |Actuators |Dampers |Combustion |

| |Disc-storages |Clutches |engines |

| |cameras |Gears brakes |Machine tools |

| | | |Robots |

5 DEVELOPMENT STEPS

IN THE DESIGN OF MECHATRONIC SYSTEMS

| |Pure mechanical system |

|1. |+ sensors, actuators, microelectronics, |

| |control functions |

|2. |+ hardware integration |

|3. |+ software integration |

|4. |+ redesign of mechanical system |

|5. |+ creation of synergetic effects |

| |Fully integrated mechatronic systems |

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

|Pure *_______________________ systems | | ................
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