ENGINEERINGDESIGN AND MECHATRONICS

Dr D.A. Bradley and Professor A.P. Dorey

Department of Engineering, University of Lancaster

Many current engineering systems depend for their operation on a combination of technologies from
electrical and electronic engineering, mechanicalengineering and computing. In particular the design of
such systems must ensure an effective 'transfer of complexity' betweenthe individual technologies, both for
individual elements within the system and for the system as a whole.

Too often, however, restrictions are imposed on the final system by an approach to design and design
management and product development which is technology bound, resulting in the exclusion of solutions
from other technologies. Inherent to the concept of mechatronicsis an approach to the design of
engineering systems which is inherently technology independent and which concentrates on achieving the
necessary integration from the earliest stages of the design process.

The adoption of such an integratedand trans-disciplinary approach to engineering design in turn implies a
greater breadth of understanding of the design process than is generally found in industry, or indeed in
education. For mechatronics to play an effective role in product design and development it will be necessary
to educate, train and retrainengineers to adopt the wider view of the design processthat is needed. In
particular, emphasis must be given to an ability to gain access to and integrate information from differing
areas of technology and to communicatethis information to individual specialists.

The majority of engineering designers currently working in industry have been educated in one major
engineeringdiscipline only with their understanding of the possibilities afforded by a combination of
technologies limited to what they have gathered as a result of their own enthusiasm, interest and
experience. In addition, a common tendency in many areas of industry has been to underspecify in the early
stages of the design process and leave the provision of detailed solutions to designers specialising in a
specific area of technology. The effect, understandablybut regrettably, has been to emphasise familiar
technologies within the design process. As a result, a proper consideration of the possibilities afforded by
other technologies may be delayed or neglected.

A particular failing in this respect is the tendency of many engineers to neglect software in the early stages
of the design process. The result will probably be inefficient software running on inappropriate hardware.
Alternatively, the software environment may be regarded as a home for anything and everything that is too
complicated or too expensive to be achieved in hardware. Sadly, this is not the case.

Instead, what is needed is an approachto design which is technology independent and which allows the
designer to concentrate on achieving a solution to the problem. This in turn requires the provision of
designer support tools to facilitate inter or trans-disciplinaryworking.

The development of such a support tool is the purpose of the 'schemebuilder', 'function costing' and 'layout'
projects currently in progress in the Engineering Design Centre at Lancaster University. Together, these will
form an integrated, computer based design environment which will interact with the designer to monitor
decisions, to make suggestions about alternative solutions, to provide cost data and investigate form.

Consider schemebuilder in more detail. At one level it must enable a detailed investigation of alternatives in
a specific area of technology by an expert user while at another level it may be called upon to advise a less
expert user on alternatives drawn from a range of technologies. A further requirement is the ability to
identify, without the need for user intervention, the effect of decisions made at one point in the system on
options at other points in the system. In achieving this it is, however, essential to ensure that its use does
not place restrictions on the user, as is the case with some expert system forms, but instead increases the
users ability to investigate and integrate a range of solutions.
Thus far, work on schemebuilder has concentrated on defining its structure in relation to the requirements of
the designer for access to information.

The growth of interest in mechatronics has identified a need for the provision of a cohort of engineers whose
education and training enables them to operate in an interdisciplinary manner and to provide the link
between those with more specialist backgrounds. At present, the unified or general engineering degree
courses provided at a few sites in the U.K. are essentially mechatronic in nature, though not perhaps in
detail. In addition. the IMechEs Grant report has resulted in a move towards a broadening of many
mechanical engineering degree courses.

The Lancaster University MEng and MSc courses in Mechatronics represent one attempt to provide a
properly integrated course with an emphasis on design. The 4-year MEng course shares a common first five
terms with the 3-year BEng courses in Electronic Engineeringand Mechanical Engineering before diverting
for the final seven terms. During this period, students cover a range of topics from the final years of the
BEng courses together with additional, more advanced material. The exact balance of the material may be
biased towards electronics or mechanical engineering leading to accreditation by either the IEE or the
IMechE.

In the final (fourth) year of the MEng there is a significant emphasis on the design aspects of mechatronics
with the students carrying out a series of design seminars and design exercises together with a major,
-
industry based group project. This latter involves a group of students -typically 3 or 4 working closely with
industry on a real problem. After the initial introductory meeting and briefing by the company the group
becomes responsible for liaison with the company, for providing the necessary feedback through reports
and presentations and for organising the functioning of the group. Projects undertaken to date include the
design of the controller and drive system for an automatic washing machine, the design of a semi-automatic
suspension system for off-roadvehicles, the development of an automatic excavator and a robotic window
cleaning system for tall buildings.

The Mechatronics MSc course shares much common material from the final year of the MEng course
together with 'top-up' courses drawn from the second and third years of the BEng courses, the exact choice
being determined by an individualsbackground. The major difference between the two courses is that MSc
course students do not participate in a group project but instead undertake an individual project for their
dissertation. This project is again industry based and may well involve the student spending some time on
site.

The retraining of practising engineers towards mechatronics is something that must be addressed by
industry and education. The EuropeanCourse in Mechatronics is a COMMET initiative which provides a
series of one week courses at venues in England, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Scotland.
Important though this initiative is there is a need in the U.K. for improving the access of industry to a range
of courses covering all aspects of mechatronics. This in turn requires that education structures or
restructures its courses to make them available to industry in a suitable form, including modularisation, the
presentationon the industry site and the possible integration of a companies own courses with those
provided by education.

Mechatronics represents an approach to engineering design which is likely to be of increasing importance to

the success of a wide range of industries. Ifthe U.K. is to respond to the changes and developments that
are taking place it is necessary for both industry and education to recognise this and to work together to
provide the required infrastructuresto provide engineers with the required skills.

Reference
'Achieving Integration in Engineering Design Education: The Role of Mechatronics'
D.A. Bradley & D.Dawson
Mechatronic Systems Engineering, No1,pp19-2!3

2/2