| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Background | p. 1 |
| What is Mechatronics? | p. 1 |
| Mechatronics and Design Innovation | p. 4 |
| Mechatronics and Manufacturing | p. 5 |
| Mechatronics and Education | p. 7 |
| Mechatronics and a Sustainable Future | p. 9 |
| Sustainability | p. 9 |
| Mechatronics and Sustainability | p. 11 |
| The Book | p. 13 |
| References | p. 14 |
| Consumption to Contribution: Sustainable Technological Development Through Innovation | p. 19 |
| Introduction | p. 19 |
| The Interpretation of Meaning for Sustainability and Innovation | p. 20 |
| Desconstructing Technological Innovation as a Driving Force for Sustainable Engineered Systems | p. 21 |
| Forecasting, Foresight and Technology Assesment | p. 23 |
| The Influence and Impact of Information and Communication Technologies | p. 24 |
| Consumption, Obsolescence and Moves Towards Future Proofing | p. 26 |
| Complexity Paradigms within a Sustainability Context | p. 28 |
| Rationalising Material Selection and Processing | p. 29 |
| Conclusion - From Responsible Design to Resource Recovery | p. 31 |
| References | p. 34 |
| The "Revolution": a Small Company Revived | p. 43 |
| Some History of the UK Industry-Academic Link, the "KTP" | p. 43 |
| Some Observations on the Acceptance of Computer-aided Engineering (CAE) in Smaller Companies | p. 44 |
| The Ducker Engineering Case Study | p. 45 |
| Problem or Opportunity? | p. 45 |
| The "Revolution" | p. 49 |
| Futher Benefits Demonstrated in the CAE Application | p. 51 |
| Conclusions | p. 53 |
| References | p. 54 |
| A Mechatronic Design Process and its Application | p. 55 |
| Introduction to Mechatronic Design | p. 55 |
| Mechatronic Design Process Model | p. 55 |
| A Mechatronic Case Study | p. 59 |
| Mechatronic System Design Problem Description | p. 59 |
| Design Concept Development | p. 59 |
| Detailed Design | p. 61 |
| Electronic Control Unit | p. 67 |
| Conclusions | p. 69 |
| References | p. 70 |
| A Mechatronic Design of a Circular Warp Knitting Machine | p. 71 |
| Introduction | p. 71 |
| Warp Knitting Cycle | p. 72 |
| Circular Warp Knitting Machine Concept | p. 73 |
| The Needle Reciprocating Mechanism | p. 75 |
| The Patterning Mechanism | p. 75 |
| Servo Motor Selection | p. 76 |
| The Prototype | p. 78 |
| Servo-controlled Needle Motion | p. 79 |
| The Yarn Feed Mechanism | p. 80 |
| Truncated-cone Optimisation | p. 80 |
| Conclusions | p. 80 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 81 |
| References | p. 81 |
| Mechatronics and the Motor Car | p. 83 |
| Background | p. 83 |
| Vehicle Mechatronic Systems | p. 83 |
| Drivers for Change | p. 86 |
| Engine Basics | p. 88 |
| The Mechanical Solution for Ignition Timing and Fuel Delivery | p. 89 |
| Traditional Mechanical Ignition Timing | p. 89 |
| Fuel Delivery - the Carburettor | p. 90 |
| The Mechatronic Solution to Engine Management | p. 92 |
| Sensors | p. 92 |
| Actuators | p. 93 |
| Processing | p. 94 |
| Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) | p. 97 |
| Background to the Theory of Braking | p. 97 |
| ABS Components | p. 99 |
| ABS Diagnostics | p. 101 |
| Conclusions | p. 101 |
| References | p. 101 |
| Multi-mode Operations Marine Robotic Vehicle - a Mechatronics Case Study | p. 103 |
| Introduction | p. 104 |
| MPPT Ring System Overview | p. 105 |
| Main Features | p. 105 |
| The Virtual Underwater Laboratory | p. 107 |
| Architecture and Implementation | p. 108 |
| Imaging Sonar Simulator | p. 110 |
| Laboratory Configuration | p. 111 |
| University of Limerick (UL) Thrusted Pontoon/ROV | p. 112 |
| Base Vehicle | p. 112 |
| High-resolution Imaging Tool Skid | p. 114 |
| Onboard Electronics and Computer Control | p. 114 |
| Fault Tolerant Thruster Control | p. 115 |
| Autotuning of Low-level Controllers | p. 116 |
| High Frequency Sonar Enabling at Seabed Operation | p. 117 |
| Interchangeable Inshore and Deep Water Winch System | p. 118 |
| System Testing | p. 118 |
| Conclusions | p. 118 |
| References | p. 119 |
| Wireless Communication Technology for Modular Mechatronic Controllers | p. 121 |
| Introduction | p. 121 |
| Modular Mechatronic Controllers | p. 122 |
| Communications Technology | p. 124 |
| Model-based Mechatronic Controllers | p. 125 |
| Wireless Mechatronic Controller for the Camera Platform | p. 128 |
| Requirements for the Wireless Mechatronic Controller | p. 129 |
| Modelling of the Camera Platform | p. 130 |
| Results | p. 132 |
| Performance of the System | p. 133 |
| Conclusions | p. 134 |
| References | p. 134 |
| The Utility Function Method for Behaviour Selection in Autonomous Robots | p. 135 |
| Introduction | p. 135 |
| Behaviour Selection | p. 136 |
| The Concept of Utility | p. 137 |
| A Biological Example | p. 139 |
| The Utility Function Method | p. 141 |
| Motivation | p. 141 |
| Method | p. 141 |
| Optimisation Procedure | p. 146 |
| Application Example - a Transportation Task | p. 151 |
| Ongoing Work | p. 154 |
| Extended UF Method | p. 154 |
| Data Preprocessing and Artificial Emotions | p. 154 |
| References | p. 155 |
| Force Sensing in Medical Robotics | p. 157 |
| Background | p. 157 |
| Force Sensing Techniques in Medical Robotics | p. 159 |
| The Use of Force Sensing in Medical Robotics | p. 163 |
| Haptic Feedback During Robotic Surgery | p. 163 |
| Soft Tissue Diagnosis Through Tissue Mechanical Property Identification | p. 164 |
| References | p. 171 |
| Intelligent Prostheses - a Biomechatronics Approach | p. 173 |
| Introduction | p. 173 |
| Biomechatronics and Biological Systems | p. 174 |
| Biomechatronics | p. 174 |
| The Human Body | p. 175 |
| Prosthetics | p. 175 |
| Human Locomotion | p. 177 |
| Current Prosthetics | p. 179 |
| Future Prosthetics | p. 191 |
| Conclusions | p. 193 |
| References | p. 193 |
| Education in Mechatronics | p. 197 |
| Introduction and Background | p. 197 |
| The Development of the Master of Science in Mechatronics Systems Engineering at Lawrence Technological University | p. 203 |
| Rational for Course Development | p. 203 |
| Programme Structure and Implementation | p. 206 |
| Summary | p. 216 |
| References | p. 217 |
| Mechatronics Education | p. 219 |
| Introduction | p. 219 |
| Historical Context | p. 220 |
| Curriculum | p. 222 |
| Mechatronic Designer Programme | p. 223 |
| BSc Curriculum | p. 224 |
| MSc Curriculum | p. 228 |
| Modelling of Mechatronic Systems | p. 229 |
| Conclusions | p. 231 |
| References | p. 232 |
| A Personal View of the Early Days of Mechatronics in Relation to Aerospace | p. 235 |
| Mechatronic Futures | p. 241 |
| Introduction | p. 241 |
| Challenges | p. 242 |
| Home Based Technologies | p. 243 |
| Medicine and eHealth | p. 244 |
| Transportation | p. 245 |
| Manufacturing, Automation and Robotics | p. 246 |
| Communications | p. 247 |
| Nanotechnologies | p. 247 |
| Advanced Algorithms | p. 248 |
| Artificial Intelligence | p. 248 |
| Conclusions | p. 249 |
| References | p. 249 |
| Authors | p. 251 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
