Essentials of Mechatronics (PDF)

Learn how to study, analyze, select, and design a successful
mechatronic product

This innovative, cutting-edge publication presents the essential
nature of mechatronics, a field at the crossroads of information
technology and mechanical and electrical engineering. Readers learn
how to blend mechanisms, electronics, sensors, control strategies,
and software into a functional design. Given the breadth that the
field of mechatronics draws upon, this publication provides a
critical service to readers by paring down the topics to the most
essential ones.

A common thread throughout the publication is tailoring performance
to the actual needs of the user, rather than designing "by the
book." Practical methods clarify engineering trade-offs needed to
design and manufacture competitive state-of-the-art products and
systems.

Key features include:

* Easy-to-construct set of laboratory experiments to give readers
practice in controlling difficult systems using discrete-time
algorithms

* Essentials of control theory, concentrating on state-space and
easily constructed simulations in JavaScript, including typical
mechatronic systems with gross nonlinearities where linear methods
give the "wrong answer"

* Hot topics that include advances in the automotive, multimedia,
robotics, defense, medical, and consumer industries

* Author-provided Web site at www.EssMech.com offers additional
resources, including videos, dynamic simulation examples, software
tools, and downloads

There are hundreds of choices involved in all but the simplest of
mechatronic design tasks. Using this publication as a reference,
electrical, mechanical, and computer designers and engineers can
find the most efficient, cost-effective methods to transform their
goals into successful commercial products. With its use of
laboratory experiments, this publication is also recommended as a
graduate-level textbook.

Author Web site located at www.EssMech.com provides in-depth
support material that includes links to simulations for modeling
dynamic systems with real-time interactions, image processing
examples, and 3D robot modeling software, enabling readers to
"construct" and manipulate their own mechanism as well as other
useful links.