Lectures / 21/01/2009 7:30 pm

Open Space?

What is mechatronics?

Camcorders, photocopiers, ultrasound scanners, cell phones and other appliances in daily use combine in their conception exerptise from different areas of engineering, none of which would have been capable to realize these complex devices on their own and unaided by the others.

It has often been the case in the history of technology that it was the fusion of different areas of expertise that gave rise to new developments. This has sometimes even resulted in the birth of new disciplines. Mechatronics is an example. It attempts to combine such diverse disciplines as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and automation engineering in a manner that allows these disciplines to work together systematically instead of simply existing side by side. Planning complex systems has been greatly simplified by cost effective information processing. Usability is gaining in importance all the time. This is why planning the individual components of such appliances must be subordinated to the overall aim of functionality and user friendliness.

Mechatronics is therefore not a reduction of electrical engineering and mechanical engineer¬ing to their shared historical roots. Rather it is the attempt to add to these disciplines auto¬mation engineering and other branches of IT and to fashion the whole into a new area of research that constitutes a novel approach to many complex technological problems.
Mechatronics has been growing quickly and dynamically; it has no clearly defined boundaries and is by its very nature interdisciplinary.