Bradley MechatronicDesign Linz2012

8/17/2019 Bradley MechatronicDesign Linz2012

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University of Linz Mechatronics Workshop – November 2012 David Bradley

Mechatronics

More questions than answers!

Professor David Bradley

University of Linz Mechatronics WorkshopNovember 2012


What is mechatronics?

Question

S u s t a i n a b i l i t y I s s u e s

M a n u f a c

t u r i n g

T e c h n

o l o g y

Design Process

M e c h a n i s m

s

V e h i c

l e s

Marine Systems

M o d u l a r i t y

A u t o n o m o u s

S y s t e m s

Sensing

P r o s t h e s e s

E d u c a t i o n

H e a l t h S y s t e m s

Nanotechnologies

A r t i f i

c i a l I n t e

l l i g e n

c e


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Is attempting to provide a formal expression ofmechatronics, either textually or graphically, asource of confusion?

Question


Definitions of Mechatronics - Text

http://mechatronics.colostate.edu/definitions.html

• The synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronic control and

systems thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes.Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee of the European Community

• Mechatronics is a design philosophy that utilizes a synergistic integration ofMechanics, Electronics and Computer Technology (or IT) to produce enhanced

products, processes or systems.Loughborough University

• The blending of software [and] hardware for the design [and] analysis ofadvanced control techniques.

Clemson University

• The synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronics, controlsystems and computers, all integrated through the design process.Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• Mechatronics is concerned with the blending of mechanical, electronic, software,and control theory engineering topics into a unified framework that enhances thedesign process.Virginia Polytechnic Institute

• An integrating theme within the design process [combining] electronicengineering, computing and mechanical engineering.


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• The synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronic control andsystems thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes.Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee of the European Community



• The blending of software [and] hardware for the design [and] analysis ofadvanced control techniques.Clemson University


• Mechatronics is concerned with the blending of mechanical, electronic, software,

and control theory engineering topics into a unified framework that enhances thedesign process.Virginia Polytechnic Institute




Definitions of Mechatronics - Text• The synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronic control and

systems thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes.Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee of the European Community



• The blending of software [and] hardware for the design [and] analysis ofadvanced control techniques.

Clemson University


• Mechatronics is concerned with the blending of mechanical, electronic, software,and control theory engineering topics into a unified framework that enhances thedesign process.Virginia Polytechnic Institute




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• The synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronic control andsystems thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes.Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee of the European Community



• The blending of software [and] hardware for the design [and] analysis ofadvanced control techniques.Clemson University


• Mechatronics is concerned with the blending of mechanical, electronic, software,

and control theory engineering topics into a unified framework that enhances thedesign process.Virginia Polytechnic Institute




Definitions of Mechatronics – Graphical


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Does the emphasis within mechatronics needto shift from integration across core disciplinesto encompass a holistic view of system designand development?

Question


Why am I confused!?Mechatronics - Then & Now

Then - 1970

• PDP-8 (1965) & PDP-11 (1970)


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Why am I confused!?

Mechatronics - Then & NowThen - 1970

• Apollo guidance computer

Display &DSKY

keyboard

Telemetry

EngineCommands

AttitudeControls

DataDisplay

ManualControlSignals

Navigation

Star-TrackingInertial

Platform

Radar

RangeDirectionVelocity


Why am I confused!?Mechatronics - Then & Now

Now - 2012

• Multi-core processors

• Low cost, high capacity memory


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Why am I confused!?

Mechatronics - Then & NowNow - 2012

• Flexible circuit boards

• Smart phones


0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1981 -

1985

1986 -

1990

1991 -

1995

1996 -

2000

2001 -

2005

2006 -

2010

Years

J o u r n a l P

u b l i c a t i o n s

Mechatronics Mechatronics + Design

Mechatronics Publications


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0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

1981 -

1985

1986 -

1990

1991 -

1995

1996 -

2000

2001 -

2005

2006 -

2010

Years

C

o n f e r e n c e

P u b l i c a t i o n s

Mechatronics Mechatronics + Design





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Some 40 years or more after it was firstproposed, has mechatronics becomeembedded within mainstream engineering, ordoes it remain a distinct discipline withinengineering design?

Question


Design Models

F e e d b a c k

Need

Analysis ofProblem

Statementof Problem

SelectedSchemes

WorkingDrawings

Embodiment

Detailing

ConceptualDesign

Service

CertifiedSystem

Certification

VerifiedSystem

System Test

IntegratedSystem

SystemIntegration

TestedModules

Module Test

DevelopmentPhase

Output fromPhase

RequirementsAnalysis

RequirementsDocuments

Specificatiion

Specification

High-LevelDesign

DesignSpecification

DetailedDesign

ModuleDesign

Construction/ Coding

Modules

Test Planning

Test Planning

Test Planning

TestPlanning


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Design Based Issues - Communications

Theoretician

Reviews design process and

outcomes

Identifies methods and

procedures

Establishes good practice

Refines theories

Pragmatist

Emphasis on problem solving

Selects, uses and refines methods

Generates solutions

Establishes practice


Design Based Issues - Software

Relationships between system technologies, and particularlysoftware

• The assumption that ‘it is all software now ’ and that as changes to softwarewere relatively easy, changing the system was itself easy.

• Demands on software by other parts of the system because of the perception

that ‘it was easy to make the change there ’!

• Consider the case in 1997 of F22 Raptor sflying from Hawaii to Okinawa which whenthey crossed the International Date Line lostall navigation aids.

• The problem was traced to a coding error

which resulted in an infinite loop as a

consequence of the unexpected date change.

• In the words of Donald Shepperd, a former

head of the US Air National Guard, “Reliance

on electronics has changed the flight-testprocess. It used to be tails falling off, now it’s

typos that ground a fighter .”


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Design Based Issues - Complexity

• As systems become increasingly complex, it is difficult, and often indeedimpossible, for any single individual to manage all the levels of detailrequired.

• This leads to a necessary partitioning of function to levels at which anindividual can operate with an understanding at the level of the ‘domainexperts ’ of their task and of the nature of that task within the wider contextof the overall system.

• Failure to achieve this understanding can then have a significant impact onthe outcomes of the design process.

The Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) was lost in 1999

when a failure in communications between the

group responsible for navigation, who customarilyused Newton-seconds to express thrust, and that

responsible for the propulsion system, who incontrast used pound-seconds to express thrust,

resulted in the MCO being 100 km too close to Marswhen it attempted to enter orbit.


Design Based Issues

• Mechatronics by implication and usage is associated with the three coredisciplines of electronics, mechanical engineering and informationtechnology.

• This can result in a lack of focus on issues such as aesthetics ormanufacturing technology which may ultimately determine the success of theproduct or system.

• Lack of a broader awareness of the overall context within which themechatronics approach is being deployed is therefore likely to be detrimentalboth to outcomes, and to an outsiders view of the nature of mechatronics.

Overemphasis on core disciplines


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Within a systems context, is it the case thatmechatronics applies to the lower levels of anyhierarchy while at the upper levels it is systemsengineering that is more important?

Question


Mechatronics v Systems Engineering

Process Layer

Process Information

- The HOW

Data Translation &Interpretation betweenProcess Layers P

r o c e d u r a l

I n f o r m

a t i o n

- T h e

W H A T

Machinebased

systems

Humanbased

systems

Mechatronics

SystemsEngineering


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Mechatronics v Systems Engineering

MEANINGCurrent/Potential

INNOVATIONNew/Old

Systems TheorySystems/Environment

Object Dimension Novelty

Differentiation

TemporalDimension

Change

Evolution

SocialDimension

Advantage

Communication Theory

After S Roth, 2009, New for whom? Initial images from the social dimension of

innovation , Intl. J. Innovation & Sustainable Development, 4(4), pp 231 – 251


Does the very flexibility and adaptability of themechatronics concept work to its advantage ineducation, whilst adding to the diversity ofperception as to what, in the widest sense,mechatronics represents?

Question


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Education

Engineering graduates perceived as having a range ofweaknesses including:

• Technical arrogance

• Lack of design capability

• Lack of appreciation of alternatives

• Lack of appreciation for variation

• Poor overall perception of a project

• Narrow view of engineering and related disciplines

• Weak communication skills

• Little skill or experience of working in teams

Unfortunately, this remains essentially true though ALL of theabove, except of course arrogance, relate to skills whichshould be embedded within Mechatronics education!


Education

Need to encourage innovation, novelty and risk taking bymechatronic students, particularly in relation to design.

BARRIERS

Modular Course Design• Imposes artificial boundaries on content (and context).• Mitigates against integration.

Grades and Grading Systems• Focuses on module specific aims, objectives and

outcomes.• Emphasis on what is required to pass, resulting in a

conservative approach by students.


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Electronics• Multi-core processors• Flexible circuit boards• Sensor technologies• MEMS technologies

• Networking

Mechanical Engineering• Materials

• Modelling• MEMS technologies

Information Technology• Software systems• Applications programming• Advanced HMI

• The Internet• Networking

100

10

1

1970 2010

A v

a i l a b l e C o n t e n t

Education

The challenge of content


Education

• The backgrounds and interests of the staff involved inteaching the course

• Industrial requirements, both locally and nationally.• Student perceptions and interests.• Availability of resources, particularly human and financial.• Research activity.

Content will in general be determined by:


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EducationThe Internet of Things – Next Generation Mechatronics?

"Today computers - and, therefore, the Internet - are almost whollydependent on human beings for information. Nearly all of the roughly 50petabytes of data available on the Internet were first captured and created byhuman beings, by typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital picture orscanning a bar code .

If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things,using data they gathered without any help from us, we would be able to trackand count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost.

We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and

whether they were fresh or past their best.The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as theInternet did. Maybe even more so .”

Kevin Ashton, 1999

. . . .


RFID Tagging tofacilitate routing, control

and loss prevention

Supply chain

helpers

Surveillance, security,healthcare, transport,

food safety & documentmanagement

Vertical marketapplications

Locating people

and objects

Ubiquitous

positioning

Teleoperation andteleprescence. Monitor and

control distant objects

Physical-

World web

Demand forexpedited logistics

Cost reductionleading to

diffusion into 2nd

wave of

applications

Ability of devices

located indoors to

receive signals

Miniaturisation, powerefficient electronics,

available spectrum

Software agents

and advancedsensor fusion

T e c h n o l o g y R

e a c h

Time

EducationThe Internet of Things – Development over Time


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I n t e r a c t i v i t

y

Aw a r e n e s s

R e p r e s e n t a t i o n

A c t i v i t y a w a

r e

Functions

P o l i c y a w a r

e

Rules

P r o c e s s a w

a r e

Workflow

EducationThe Internet of Things – The Dimensions of Smart Objects


EducationThe Internet of Things – Actions

Information & Analysis – Monitoring the behaviour of objectswithin a defined framework in both space and time.

Situational Awareness – Real-time monitoring of and interactionwith a range of environments.

Data & Information Driven Systems – Distributed and networkedsensors contributing to a rich information environment driven by

advanced data analysis and visualisation.


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EducationThe Internet of Things – Applications

Logistics – Materials management and tracking.

Health – Real-time monitoring of conditions and detection ofchange through interaction with a range of environments andincluding implantable sensors.

Smart Environments – Direct management of a range ofenvironments in response to the individual.

Personal – Social networking and interaction, virtual communitiesand security.

The Future – Almost anything you can think of!


EducationThe Internet of Things – Areas of Interest

Cyber Security of Things – Security and hacking in the totallyconnected world.

Embedded Digital Forensics – Who owns your data, Cybercrimeon the Internet of Things ?

Social Networking & Mobility – Using mobility within the virtualenvironment to support mobility in the physical environment.

Accessibility – The use of Near Field Communications togenerate a human scale view of the environment.


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EducationThe Internet of Things – Areas of Interest

e-Inclusion – Flexible and intelligent interfaces to support thewidest possible range of users through assistive apps anddeveloper education (c.f. iAge project @ www.iageproject.eu).

Thin Client Devices – Use of web services to extend functionalityto such devices.

Human Identification Technologies – Specifically, the use ofsuch technologies to modify and control device functionality.

Art for the Artless – Using the new forms of natural interaction,such as touch and gesture, to produce new forms of creativecontent such as music or social interactive art.


Does the term mechatronics have a continuingvalue requiring members of the community tolive with the name, despite the fact that themotivation for its original construction hasperhaps long since gone?

A Final Question


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Thank You

I am afraid I have no answer to that one!


Mechatronics

More questions than answers!

Professor David Bradley

University of Linz Mechatronics WorkshopNovember 2012


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