Subject: Mechatronics and MEMS Subject code: MSD 610.

By Haridasa Nayak

Major topics to be covered in this subject

Introduction Sensors and Transducers Drives and Actuators, Data acquisition and translation Controllers and Algorithms Applications MEMS

Introduction

Definition:
Mechatronics is the synergetic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic control and system thinking in the design of products and processes

Block diagram of Engineering Design process

Block diagram of Product Development

Elements of Mechatronics

Engineering design and product development are complex processes involving an interaction between many skills and disciplines.

Mechatronics is not a distinctly defined, and hence separate Engineering discipline but is an integrating them within the design process. In achieving this integration it combines is core disciplines Electronic Engg., Computing and Mechanical Engg., - with links into areas as

diverse as manufacturing technology, Management and working practices.

Mechatronics brings together areas of technology involving Sensors and Measurement system, Drive and Actuation systems, analysis of the behavior of systems, Control systems and Microprocessor systems.

Example for System:

A motor may be thought of a system which has its input Electric power and as output the rotation of a shaft

Example of a Measurement system:

A thermometer has an input of temperature and an output of a number on a scale

Control system: It is used to control its output to some particular value or particular sequence of values.

Example: A domestic central heating control system has its input the temperature required in the house and as its output the house at that temperature. i.e., set the required temperature on the thermostat or controller and the heating furnace adjusts itself to pump water through

radiators and so produce the required temperature in the house

Measurement systems: can be considered to be made up of three elements 1. Sensor 2. Signal conditioner 3. Display

Sensor: Which responds to the quantity being measured by giving as its output a signal which is related to the quantity. Example: a thermocouple is a temperature sensor. The input to the sensor is a temperature and the output is an e.m.f. which is related to the temperature value. Signal conditioner: takes the signal from the sensor and manipulates it into a condition which is suitable for either display or in the case of a control system, for use to exercise control. Example: The output from a thermocouple is rather small emf and might be fed through an amplifier to obtain a bigger signal. The amplifier is the signal conditioner.

Display system: where the output from the signal conditioner is displayed. Example: pointer moving across a scale or digital readout.

Feedback control for human body temperature:

The body temperature unless ill, otherwise remains almost constant regardless of whether in cold or hot environment. To maintain this constancy body has a temperature control system If temperature begins to increase above the normal then it sweat, if it decreases the body will shiver. Both these are mechanism which are used to restore the body temperature back to its normal value. The system has an input from sensors which tell it what the temperature is and then compares this data with what the temperature should be and provides the appropriate response in order to obtain the required temperature. Signals are fed back from the output, i.e., the actual temperature, in order to modify the reaction of the body to enable it to restore the temperature to the normal value.

Feedback control for room temperature:

The feedback control system has a thermostat or controller which automatically switches the furnace ON or OFF according to the difference between the set temperature and the actual temperature.

Open Loop system

Example: Electric fire which has a selection switch which allows a 1KW or a 2 KW heating element to be selected. If a person used the heating element to heat a room, he or she might just switch on the 1 KW element

if the room is not required to be at too high a temperature. The room will
heat up and reach a temperature which is only determined by the fact the 1 KW element was switched on and not the 2 KW element. If there are changes in the conditions, perhaps someone opening a window, there is no way the heat output is adjusted to compensate.

Closed Loop system

If the person has a Thermometer and switches the 1KW & 2KW elements ON or OFF, according to the difference between the actual temperature and the required temperature to maintain the temperature of the room constant. There is feedback, the input to the system being adjusted according to whether its output is the required temperature. The input to the switch depends on the deviation of the actual temperature from the required temperature the difference between them determined by a comparison element.

Basic elements of a Closed Loop system

Comparison element: This compares the required or reference value of the variable condition being controlled with the measured value of what is being achieved and produces an error signal. Error signal = Reference value signal Measured value signal

Control unit:
This decides what action to take when it receives an error signal Ex: A signal to operate a switch or open a valve. The control plan being used by the element may be just to supply a signal which switches ON or OFF when there is an error, as in a

room thermostat or perhaps a signal which proportionally opens or closes a valve according
to the size of the error

Correction element:
It provides a change in the process to correct or change the controlled condition. Thus a switch which switches on a heater and so increases the temperature of the process or a valve which opens and allows more liquid to enter the process. Process element: The process is what is being controlled . It could be a room in a house with its temperature being controlled. Measurement element: It produces a signal related to the variable condition of the process that is being controlled

Mechatronics in Manufacturing
In the manufacturing industries there is a demand for production systems which are capable of responding rapidly to changing market conditions, accommodating a range of product types with short production runs involving relatively small number of items. Neither manual manufacturing processes nor mass production lines can meet these requirements. The former though highly adaptable, suffer from low levels of productivity. The assembly and transfer lines associated with the later lack flexibility, with change over involving significant time costs.

A mechatronic design approach has had as its primary benefit the ease with which the process can be reconfigured while, at the same time, offering enhanced product quality and consistency.

Mechatronics in Manufacturing
The adoption of an integrated mechatronic approach to design has led to a revival in areas such as high speed textile equipment, metrology and measurement systems and special purpose equipment such as that required for the automatic in wafer testing of integrated circuits.

The revival or new growth is brought about by the enhancement of process

capability achieved by the integration of electronics, often in the form of an embedded microprocessor, with the basic mechanical system.

Demand for increased flexibility in the manufacturing process has led to the development of the concept of FMS in which a number of elements such as CNC machine tools, robots and AGVs are linked together for the manufacture of a

group of products. Communication between the individual elements of the system

is achieved by means of LANs

Mechatronics in Manufacturing In both the manufacturing and process industries the development of low cost microprocessor based programmable controller has enabled their introduction as the basic control element for many plants

Comparison between a traditional and a mechatronic approach to Manufacturing Traditional approach Inspection / QA stages towards or at the end of process Manufacturing unit e.g., machine tool Dedicated CNC controller including automatic tool changes Essentially stand alone mode Mechatronic approach In process automatic inspection Networked CNC controllers with remote or central control of cycles Linked FMS with integrated parts handling and transfer, the latter based on the use of AGVs In process gauging, automated inspection, data collection and reporting Use of general purpose robots for handling: automatic tool changing Plant maintenance on a predictive basis, based on in-line diagnostics and condition monitoring

Largely manual inspection and quality assurance procedures Predominantly manual handling processes for loading and unloading Plant maintenance on a breakdown or preventive basis