Mechatronic systems: concepts and applications

The synergetic integration of mechanical processes, microelectronics and information processing opens new possibilities to the design of processes as well as for its automatic control. The solution of tasks within mechatronic systems is performed on the process side and the digital–electronic side. As the interrelations during the design play an important role, simultaneous engineering has to take place from the very beginning. Mechatronic systems are developed for mechanical elements, machines, vehicles and precision mechanic devices. The integration of mechatronic systems can be performed by the components (hardware integration) and by information processing (software integration). The information processing consists of low-level and high-level feedback control, supervision and diagnosis and general process management. Special signal processing, model-based and adaptive methods are applied. With the aid of a knowledge base and inference mechanisms, mechatronic systems with increasing intelligence will be developed. The main goals are to increase systems performance , reliability and economy, and decrease production costs.