BSc: Mechatronics
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Mechatronics
- Course name: Mechatronics
- Code discipline:
- Subject area: Sensors and actuators; Robotic control; Electromechanical systems.
Short Description
This course covers the following concepts: System design; Feedback control; Electric motor selection and control.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite subjects
- CSE201 — Mathematical Analysis I: derivatives, definite and indefinite integrals
- CSE202 — Analytical Geometry and Linear Algebra I & CSE204 — Analytic Geometry And Linear Algebra II: matrix operations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
- CSE205 — Differential Equations: first- and second-order ODEs, state-space representation and modeling, concepts of stability (Lyapunov, asymptotic, exponential)
Prerequisite topics
Course Topics
| Section | Topics within the section |
|---|---|
| Dynamics and electrodynamics |
|
| Electric motors |
|
| Transmission mechanisms and sensors |
|
| Control systems |
|
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
What is the main purpose of this course?
Industrial requirements for modern mechatronics and robotics engineers are such that, given an automation task, they must be able to identify and model the targeted physical process or system, select appropriate sensors, actuators and transmission mechanisms to control it, and design and implement control algorithm to ensure the system achieves desired performance. Therefore, the purpose of this class is to familiarize the students with the most fundamental aspects of all the key areas described above while focusing on typical real-world exercises and examples.
ILOs defined at three levels
Level 1: What concepts should a student know/remember/explain?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- Various types of sensors, their pros and cons,
- Working principles of electric actuators (DC motors),
- Operation principles of motion transmission mechanisms,
- Fundamentals of linear feedback control systems, and
- Principles of controller design for mechatronic systems.
Level 2: What basic practical skills should a student be able to perform?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- How to select sensors for a given application,
- How to choose appropriate transmission mechanisms and account for their efficiency,
- How to integrate all selected parts to create a mechatronic system,
- Typical nonlinearities that originate from electronic and mechanical sources and their effects on system performance, and
- How to tune control system for selected motor and desired performance specifications.
Level 3: What complex comprehensive skills should a student be able to apply in real-life scenarios?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- Drive differential equations of motion describing behavior of physical systems with several degrees of freedom,
- Calculate motor and sensor requirements for a given physical system, control task or application,
- Select appropriate motor that provides enough power while avoiding overheating,
- Tune control system for selected motor, transmission mechanism and sensor to achieve desired response and stability.
Grading
Course grading range
| Grade | Range | Description of performance |
|---|---|---|
| A. Excellent | 90-100 | - |
| B. Good | 75-89 | - |
| C. Satisfactory | 60-74 | - |
| D. Poor | 0-59 | - |
Course activities and grading breakdown
| Activity Type | Percentage of the overall course grade |
|---|---|
| Labs/seminar classes | 0 |
| Interim performance assessment | 60 |
| Exams | 40 |
Recommendations for students on how to succeed in the course
Resources, literature and reference materials
Open access resources
- “Mechatronics,” Sabri Cetinkunt. John Wiley & Sons., 2007.
- “System dynamics: modeling, simulation, and control of mechatronic systems,” Dean C. Karnopp, Donald L. Margolis, and Ronald C. Rosenberg. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
- “Mechatronics: Electronic Control Systems in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering” (6th Edition), William Bolton. Pearson Education, 2003.
Closed access resources
Software and tools used within the course
Teaching Methodology: Methods, techniques, & activities
Activities and Teaching Methods
| Learning Activities | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homework and group projects | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Testing (written or computer based) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Discussions | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oral polls | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Formative Assessment and Course Activities
Ongoing performance assessment
Section 1
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Find kinetic and potential energy of a given physical system. | 1 |
| Question | Write differential equations of motion of a mechanical system. | 1 |
| Question | Find system transient response when external force is applied. | 1 |
| Question | Solve for voltages and currents in a given electric circuit. | 1 |
| Question | Find electric power produced by individual circuits’ components. | 1 |
| Question | In MATLAB or other software, do the following for a second-order system: Write a program to simulate its dynamics; Plot step response and find its parameters; Calculate and plot system energy with time. |
0 |
| Question | Find and analyze frequency response (Bode plot) of a dynamic system. | 0 |
| Question | Find impedance of a given linear electric circuit. | 0 |
| Question | Write differential equations describing voltages and currents of dynamic circuit. | 0 |
| Question | How does electric energy exchange in an RLC circuit? | 0 |
Section 2
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | What devices around us are based on principles of electromagnetism? | 1 |
| Question | Describe what happens when an conductive wire is placed in magnetic field. | 1 |
| Question | How to create a rotating magnetic field, and what happens to magnetic objects placed inside of it? | 1 |
| Question | How to find electrical and mechanical power of electric motor? | 1 |
| Question | What happens when a motor is running in the generator mode? | 1 |
| Question | Drive differential equations governing the motion of a DC motor. | 0 |
| Question | Draw a block diagram of a DC motor based on differential equations and convert them into state-space form. | 0 |
| Question | Calculate maximum DC motor speed in no-load and loaded conditions. | 0 |
| Question | Assuming a DC motor, calculate stall torque and maximum torque for given speed. | 0 |
Section 3
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | What applications of gears do you know? What about belts and pulleys? | 1 |
| Question | What are the possible sources and effects of shaft misalignments on electric motors and gears? | 1 |
| Question | Give an example of sensors used in conventional home appliances. | 1 |
| Question | Typical applications where we need velocity and acceleration measurements. | 1 |
| Question | Given a particular real-world device (system), which transmission mechanisms and sensors does it use in your opinion? | 1 |
| Question | What are potential drawbacks and nonlinearities of conventional motion transmission mechanisms? | 0 |
| Question | What effect does a transmission mechanism have on required motor speed and torque? | 0 |
| Question | What are the pros and cons of each conventional position sensor type? | 0 |
| Question | Name applications where position measurement is not feasible. | 0 |
| Question | What are the main issues of conventional force-torque sensors? | 0 |
Section 4
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Give examples of real-world biological and physical closed-loop (feedback) systems | 1 |
| Question | Drive error dynamics equations for a given feedback control law | 1 |
| Question | What are the physical analogies of each term in PID-controller? | 1 |
| Question | How to implement PD regulator in MATLAB software? | 1 |
| Question | In MATLAB, simulate behavior of a linear second-order ODE for the following controller types: P, PD, PID. | 0 |
| Question | Analyze stability of a given feedback control system. | 0 |
| Question | How does sampling affect system stability? | 0 |
| Question | Tune controller for a given motor-transmission-sensor combination. | 0 |
Final assessment
Section 1
- Use Kirchoff’s voltage and current laws to drive differential equations of a given electric circuit.
- What are the analogies between three main mechanical (mass, damper, spring) and electrical (resistance, capacitance, inductance) components?
- Find impedance of electrical circuit and draw a corresponding mechanical system schematically.
Section 2
- Draw a schematic diagram of electrical and mechanical parts of DC motor and explain their interplay.
- What is the physical meaning of mechanical time constant of a DC motor? What about electrical time constant? How to calculate them?
- Explain how to select a DC motor based on known force-velocity profile of the application.
Section 3
- Derive differential equations of motion when a load is connected to DC motor shaft via transmission and analyze its contribution to overall system dynamics.
- For an application of motion control with desired accuracy and given a DC motor, select appropriate transmission mechanism and sensor resolution to satisfy performance specifications.
- List pros and cons of conventional position sensor types and briefly describe their preferable application areas.
Section 4
- What is the physical analog of PD-regulator in application to control over second-oder mechanical systems?
- What are the effects of time delays, quantization, and sampling rates on stability of digital control systems?
- For a given application, select DC motor and tune its control system.
The retake exam
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4