Mechatronics Foundations

Sense, think, act. What mechatronic systems are and how they are designed, the digital logic behind controllers, and the sensors that measure position, speed, force and strain.

• Introduction to Mechatronics & System Design — The synergy of mechanics, electronics, control and software. Learn what makes a system mechatronic (sense–think–act), the building blocks (mechanisms, actuators, sensors, signal conditioning, controllers, software, interfaces), examples from cameras to cars to robots, the V-model and concurrent design process, requirements and budgets (force, power, resolution, bandwidth), trade-offs between mechanical and software solutions, and model-based design — with Python budgeting a pick-and-place axis.
• Logic Gates — Logic gates are the atoms of digital electronics. Learn binary signals and logic levels, the basic gates (NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, XNOR) with truth tables and symbols, universal gates, CMOS implementation, noise margins, fan-out, propagation delay and dynamic power.
• Sensors — Sensors respond to a physical quantity with a measurable electrical change. Learn static and dynamic characteristics — range, sensitivity, accuracy, precision, resolution, linearity, hysteresis — and the common temperature, position, pressure and light sensors.
• Displacement, Speed, Force & Strain Measurement — Measuring motion and force for machines and structures: potentiometers, LVDTs, capacitive and eddy-current proximity probes, optical encoders (incremental/absolute, quadrature), tachogenerators, accelerometers and vibration monitoring, strain gauges and Wheatstone bridges (quarter/half/full), temperature compensation and load cells.