Mechatronics

Programme Goals

Many technical processes and products in the area of mechanical and electrical engineering show an increasing integration of mechanics with electronics and information processing. This integration is between the components (hardware) and the information-driven functions (software), resulting in integrated systems called mechatronic systems.

The development of mechatronic systems involves finding an optimal balance between the basic mechanical structure, sensor and actuator implementation, automatic digital information processing and overall control, and this synergy results in innovative solutions. The practice of mechatronics requires multidisciplinary expertise across a range of disciplines such as: mechanical engineering, electronics, information technology, and decision-making theories. These complicated interactions generate a rich and complex set of dynamic behaviours to be analysed and controlled.

This programme is aimed at investigating such analysis and control questions in emerging mechatronic systems.

Projects

• Control of Self-Servo Writing Process for Nano-Scale Positioning in a MEMS-Based Scanning Probe Data Storage System
• Tracking Control of a Nanopositioner using Complementary Sensors
• Physical-Model-Based Control of a Piezoelectric Tube
• Optimal Input Signals for Band-Limited Scanning Systems
• Minimising Scanning Errors in Piezoelectric Stack-Acutated Nanopositioning Platforms
• Design of Modulated and Demodulated Controllers for Flexible Structures
• Robotics Research