www.pdfstall.online: Mechatronics in Action (Free PDF)

File Size: 10.71 Mb

Description

Worldwide interest in mechatronics and its associated activities continue to grow annually. One indicator of this growth is the large number of mechatronics-based conferences on offer. When the first of what became the Mechatronics Forum conferences was organised in 1989, this was the only conference series which had mechatronics in its title. Searching the internet today reveals a myriad of national and international groups and organisations promoting mechatronics events As Memiş Acar says in his history of the Mechatronics Forum which appears as the Forward to this book, the word mechatronics is generally taken as having being coined in the early 1970s by Tetsuro Mori of the Yaskawa Electric Co. in Japan. Interestingly, from 1972 to 1982, mechatronics was a registered trademark of the Yaskawa Electric Co. It was not until the early 1980s that other organisations began to use the term in order to describe the philosophy of design teams.

Long before the word mechatronics came into general use it was recognised in industry that in order to facilitate innovation and increased efficiency in manufacturing and product design, it was vital for engineers and technicians from the disciplines of mechanics and electronics to work in synergy as teams rather than independently.

In my particular research area of marine systems, it is well known that the pioneering work of both Minorski [1] and Sperry [2] during the first quarter of the 20th century led to the development of automatic steering, or the ship steering autopilot. The evolution of the autopilot was itself made possible by the parallel development of powered rudders, or steering machines, and especially the
electrically driven gyrocompass which overcame the problems associated with magnetic compasses which had their readings corrupted by local magnetic fields and the electrical systems in ships. Indeed, the invention of the electrically driven gyrocompass is arguably the most important breakthrough in ship control systems design, and its incorporation into the ship steering autopilot is probably one of the first examples of mechatronics in action.

Content:-

1. Introduction

2. Consumption to Contribution: Sustainable Technological Development Through Innovation

3. The “Revolution”: a Small Company Revived

4. A Mechatronic Design Process and Its Application

5. A Mechatronic Design of a Circular Warp Knitting Machine

6. Mechatronics and the Motor Car

7. Multi-mode Operations Marine Robotic Vehicle – a Mechatronics Case Study

8. Wireless Communication Technology for Modular Mechatronic Controllers

9. The Utility Function Method for Behaviour Selection in Autonomous Robots

10. Force Sensing in Medical Robotics

11. Intelligent Prostheses – a Biomechatronics Approach