What is mechatronics and why teach it?

International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education, Oct 2004 by Bradley, David

While there are arguments that what is required is an ontology of mechatronics, perhaps a better approach would be through the medium of mechatronics education to identify how concepts are developed and the ways in which they are linked.21 At the moment there is perhaps a tendency for those outside the mechatronics community to view it as a 'non-subject' as it often appears to outsiders to seek to present itself as an all-encompassing area of technology and engineering instead of as an approach, or perhaps indeed a methodology, to achieving integrated solutions to engineering problems, and to breaking down the traditional barriers between disciplines (Fig. 6).

Mechatronic themes

As has already been suggested, mechatronics and mechatronics education is increasingly being seen and considered in relation to a number of themes which emphasise different aspects of the mechatronic concepts of integration. Given the breadth of subject material, as suggested by Fig. 4 and Table 2, the fact that mechatronics may be perceived by many as encompassing this division into themes is perhaps only to be expected, despite the fact that it can increase the problems of understanding the true nature of the subject. In relation to mechatronics education, the choice of theme is dictated by a number of factors including:

* The backgrounds and interests of the staff involved in teaching;

* Industrial requirements, both locally and nationally;

* Student perceptions and interests;

* Availability of resources, particularly human and financial;

* Research activity.

While it is unlikely that any one of these considerations will dominate course development, they will all play a role in determining the structure of any course. For instance, resource implications will often mean that teaching of specialist material will require that mechatronic engineers are incorporated as part of a larger group of subject specialists for this purpose, with the courses then being structured to meet the needs of the subject specialists rather than the mechatronics students. Also, the increasing modularisation of programmes can tend to mitigate against the ability to introduce the necessary integrating material, particularly where modules are seen as having to be complete and entire within themselves.

Design

This may be considered to be the primary theme for mechatronics as by implication it is this aspect which attempts to bring together concepts and ideas in relation to a product or system. However, as suggested by Fig. 7, the design theme is also probably the most abstract and least technically based of those considered here, placing the emphasis on conceptual areas such as requirements analysis and capture, concept generation, information and knowledge management supported by areas such as modelling and analysis rather than the more direct application of technical skills.16 Elements of the design theme are also likely to found embedded within all other themes, though this may be in an implicit form rather than as explicit course content. Nevertheless, it is essential that all mechatronics courses contain an element of design to support the concepts of integration and to bring in factors such as those shown in Fig. 4.