Mechatronic Design Quotient as the Basis of a New Multicriteria Mechatronic Design Methodology

A concurrent, integrated, and multicriteria methodology is presented for the conceptual design of mechatronic systems. It uses an evaluation model called mechatronic design quotient (MDQ) to facilitate decision-making in the design process. A nonlinear fuzzy integral is used for the aggregation of criteria in MDQ, thereby accommodating possible correlations among them. The performance of the developed methodology is validated by applying it to an industrial fish cutting machine called Iron Butcher-an electromechanical system that falls into the class of mixed or multidomain systems     

A design paradigm for mechatronic systems

Concepts of mechatronics are applicable in the design of complex and multi-domain dynamic systems. This paper presents an approach based on the mechatronic design quotient (MDQ) for systematic design of a mechatronic system. Traditional procedures of design are hierarchically separated into topological design and parametric design. Extending this concept, an MDQ may be “structured” into a multi-layered hierarchy. The approach and significance of the application of MDQ in mechatronic design are indicated using illustrative examples.     

Design of Mechatronic Systems With Configuration-Dependent Dynamics: Simulation and Optimization

This paper considers the simulation and optimization of mechatronic systems with configuration-dependent dynamics. A modeling methodology, able to capture the varying dynamics and the embedded control system actions, using affine reduced models and cosimulation, is proposed. In this way, mechatronic systems with configuration-dependent dynamics can be evaluated during the design phase. This methodology is applied to a pick-and-place assembly robot and an experimental validation is carried out. The mechatronic design approach, which takes into consideration structural and control parameters, is considered. Using time-domain metrics, two control strategies are derived: a linear time-invariant proportional--integral--derivative (PID) controller and a linear parameter-varying PID controller. Finally, design tradeoffs are evaluated in a truly mechatronic approach.      

Design for control-a concurrent engineering approach formechatronic systems design

The well-accepted basis for developing a mechatronic system is a synergetic concurrent design process that integrates different engineering disciplines. In this paper, a general model is derived to mathematically describe the concurrent design of a mechatronic system. Based on this model, a concurrent engineering approach, called design for control (DFC), is formally presented for mechatronic systems design. Compared to other mechatronic design methodologies, DFC emphasizes obtaining a simple dynamic model of the mechanical structure by a judicious structure design and a careful selection of mechanical parameters. Once the simple dynamic model is available, in spite of the complexity of the mechanical structure, the controller design can be facilitated and better control performance can be achieved. Four design scenarios in application of DFC are addressed. A case study is implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of DFC through the design and control of a programmable four-bar linkage     

Mechatronic design

Mechatronic design is the integrated design of a mechanical system and its embedded control system. In order to make proper choices early in the design stage, tools are required that support modelling and simulation of physical systems––together with the controllers––with parameters that are directly related to the real-world system. Such software tools are becoming available now. Components in various physical domains (e.g. mechanical or electrical) can easily be selected from a library and combined into a ‘process’ that can be controlled by block-diagram-based (digital) controllers. A few examples will be discussed that show the use of such a tool in various stages of the design. The examples include a typical mechatronic system with a flexible transmission, a mobile robot, and an industrial linear motor with a neural-network-based learning feed-forward controller that compensates for cogging.     

Holistic system modeling in mechatronics

This paper outlines an alternative modeling scheme for mechatronic systems, as a basis for their concurrent design. The approach divides a mechatronic system into three generic subsystems, namely generalized executive, sensory and control, and links them together utilizing a combination of bond graphs and block diagrams. It considers the underlying principles of a multidisciplinary system, and studies the flow of energy and information throughout its different constituents. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are reformulated for mechatronic systems, and as a result three holistic design criteria, namely energy,entropy and agility, are defined. These criteria are formulated using the bond graph representation of a mechatronic system. As a case study, the three criteria are employed separately for concurrent design of a five degree-of-freedom industrial robot manipulator.     

Mechatronic design approach for engine management systems

Internal combustion engines with electronic management systems have developed to mechatronic systems. They basically consist of a thermodynamic process, electromechanic, hydraulic or pneumatic actuators, electronic sensors and one ore more digital control units with their specific software. In order to meet rising demands concerning drivability, emissions and consumption under the restriction of shorter development cycles, there is a rising need for modern identification methods (neural networks) and software/hardware tools (Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP), Hardware-in-the-Loop-Simulation) for the design of engine control units. In this contribution, a software/hardware environment for a mechatronic design approach for engine control systems is discussed. A dynamic engine test stand equipped with a RCP system is described which allows fast and comfortable design and testing of new control functions. Enlarged with an on-line indication system, a cylinder pressure based engine management system can be established, where the desired control settings are calculated by an upper level engine optimization. Time-variant optimization strategies for an improved exhaust-, consumption- and drivability performance were developed by means of adequate models of the engine behavior with fast neural networks.     

Optimal construction and control of flexible manipulators: a case study based on LQR output feedback

A mechatronic approach is studied here to design the mechanical system and controller concurrently for a robotic flexible manipulator. There is no coupling effects among these components which exit in traditional sequential design and this concurrent development leads to the global optimal performance. A linear quadratic regulator with output feedback is used to compare the results obtained from the traditional approach and this mechatronic approach. Using the mechatronic approach, optimal beam shapes as well as the associated optimal controllers for different feedback structures and for different objective functions can be achieved. Numerical results have indicated substantial improvements on performance.     

Model-integrated mechatronics - toward a new paradigm in the development of manufacturing systems

The traditional approach for the development of manufacturing systems considers the constituent parts of the system, i.e., mechanical, electronic, and software, to be developed independently and then integrated to form the final system. This approach is being criticized as inappropriate for the complexity and the dynamics of today's systems. This paper proposes an architecture that promotes model integration not only for implementation space artifacts but also in artifacts of the early analysis and design phases of the development process. The proposed architecture, which promotes reuse and significantly decreases development and validation time, is at the heart of a new paradigm called model-integrated mechatronics (MIM). MIM applies domain-specific modeling languages for the concurrent engineering of mechanical, electronic and software components of mechatronic systems. It simplifies the integrated development process of manufacturing systems by using as basic construct the mechatronic component. The MIM paradigm was utilized to define "Archimedes," a system platform that supports the engineer through a methodology, a framework, and a set of tools to automate the development process of agile mechatronic manufacturing systems.     

利用UG软件建立机械电子产品三维设计平台

对利用UG软件建立机械电子产品三维设计平台进行了探讨,提出了统一公共环境参数、定制模板、模式文件、建立标准件及公用件库、规范文件命名及目录体系等方面的解决方案。该方案已经成功应用于机械电子产品三维结构设计的工程应用中,明显提高了设计效率和质量。     

A mechatronic approach to microsystem design

This paper discusses the implementation of a concurrent-engineering view of microsystem design. The proposed concurrent-engineering or mechatronic approach to the design of hybrid microsystems is illustrated by three case studies. First, the design of an advanced computer writing tool is discussed. The design of this consumer product requires a mechatronic approach at different functional levels and at different levels of miniaturization. Another illustration of this approach is the design of an implantable drug delivery device. A device for solid drug delivery, as well as a device for liquid drug delivery, are presented. It is demonstrated that miniaturization can be obtained by a combination of functions in a single component. The multiplication of functions in a single component automatically leads to a concurrent-engineering approach far the design. Finally, the micromanufacturing of silicon parts by electrodischarge machining is described. It is demonstrated that electrodischarge machining of silicon is not only feasible, but forms an interesting and complementary technology to traditional silicon micromachining. Therefore, this powerful manufacturing technique opens the way for concurrent engineering of real three-dimensional micromechanical sensors and actuators with integrated processing electronics on the same wafer     

Mechatronic model of continuous miner cutting drum driveline

The continuous miner's boom with cutting drum is a mechatronic system involving electromechanical driveline which interacts with rocks. The forces needed for the rock-cutting process are dependent on many factors. However, in each case the value of these loads has a significant influence on the mechanical structure and electrical system. The paper presents a new concept of a power train system where the electronically controlled PM electric motors are directly connected with the mechanical transmission system in the cutter head. A mathematical and numerical model was developed to determine the electrical parameters during the cutting process and interactions between the electrical and mechanical subsystems. The results of a simulated rock cutting process are presented in time-dependent charts showing the cutting drum's operation.     

Mechatronic design of a ball-on-plate balancing system

This paper discusses the conception and development of a ball-on-plate balancing system based on mechatronic design principles. Realization of the design is achieved with the simultaneous consideration towards constraints like cost, performance, functionality, extendibility, and educational merit. A complete dynamic system investigation for the ball-on-plate system is presented in this paper. This includes hardware design, sensor and actuator selection, system modeling, parameter identification, controller design and experimental testing. The system was designed and built by students as part of the course Mechatronics System Design at Rensselaer.     

Biomimetic Liquid Metal Mechatronic Devices

Perceiving mechanical stimuli and converting them into bioelectric signals to complete sensing information transmission and computation is a fundamental mechanism for survival and evolution of natural animals. This leads to a variety of intelligent behaviors, such as processing, learning, judgment, feedback, and so on when tackling complex and changeable environmental challenges. Until now, the realization of a bionic system to mimic the above activities has long been an important goal which is mainly based on the integration of distributed functional units, lacking the coordination between functional units and the whole systems. Herein, based on the mechano-electronic coupling effect of liquid metals and by following the basic principle of perception and transduction of piezo proteins, a biomimetic functional liquid metal mechatronic device is proposed with the switching behavior via establishing the reversible charge gradient. Owing to flexible features of liquid metals, this all-soft mechatronic device exhibits excellent compliance with the whole system. Based on electrochemical characteristics of liquid metals, the passive intelligent device demonstrates versatile behaviors, such as self-energy supply, encoding, computation, sensing, information identification, communicating, and controlling functions etc. which can only possibly be achieved by living animals. This work opens a new strategy for developing intelligent mechatronic systems.     

Integrated structure and control design for mechatronic systems with configuration-dependent dynamics

This paper considers the optimal design of mechatronic systems with configuration-dependent dynamics. An optimal mechatronic design requires that, among the structural and control parameters, an optimal choice has to be made with respect to design specifications in the different domains. Two main challenges are treated in this paper: the non-convex nature of the optimization problem and the difficulty in modeling serial machines with flexible components and their embedded controllers. The optimization problem is treated using the direct design strategy which considers simultaneously structural and control parameters as variables and adopts non-convex optimization algorithms. Linear time-invariant and gain-scheduling PID controllers are addressed. This methodology is exploited for the multi-objective optimization of a pick-and-place assembly robot with a gripper carried by a variable-length flexible beam. The resulting design tradeoffs between system accuracy and control efforts demonstrate the advantage of an integrated design approach for mechatronic systems with configuration-dependent dynamics.     

Mechatronic modeling of a parallel kinematics multi-axial simulation table based on decoupling the actuators and manipulator dynamics

In this work a mechatronic model was developed for a parallel Multi-Axial Simulation Table (MAST) mechanism. The dynamics of the mechanism was obtained using the principle of energy equivalence and Boltzmann–Hamel equations. In this way, the procedure to obtain the explicit dynamic equations is simplified and has the advantage of being systematic. Also, the actuators and the control were modeled and integrated to simulate and study the system’s positioning and torque.A remarkable contribution of this work is that the mechatronic model developed considers the mechanism as a disturbance to the actuators in a decoupled manner, allowing to easily evaluate alternative designs of whether the actuators, the mechanism or both. Additionally, the procedure taken has been validated with experimental data from an actual MAST prototype.     

Mechatronic design and injection speed control of an ultra high-speed plastic injection molding machine

This paper presents pragmatic techniques for mechatronic design and injection speed control of an ultra high-speed plastic injection molding machine. Practical rules are proposed to select specifications of key mechatronic components in the hydraulic servo system, in order to efficiently construct an industry-level machine. With reasonable assumptions, a mathematical model of the injection speed control system is established and open-loop experimental data are then employed to validate the system model. By the model, a gain-scheduling PI controller and a fuzzy PI controller are presented, compared and then implemented into a digital signal processor (DSP) using standard C programming techniques. Experimental results are conducted to show that the two proposed controllers are capable of achieving satisfactory speed tracking performance. These developed techniques may provide useful references for engineers and practitioners attempting to design pragmatic, low-cost but high-performance ultra high-injection speed controllers.