System designer mechatronics7/27/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The key aspect of it all is that the team can comprehensively test their designs with minimum outlay (see figure 2). ![]() That has to be a shining example of how to do it.” The feedback from the customer was that they were able to fast-track to an optimized design and save over $100,000 in the process. I think in the end they narrowed it down and built two actual physical prototypes to see which one worked best. “They got some students to come in over the summer and build virtual prototypes of those 20 different machines so they could run them and then understand which were the best candidates. "They were almost overwhelmed with 20 potential solutions,” he says. Prichard cites a packaging OEM customer who used a mechatronic approach to explore changes to an existing machine design. The key is winnowing down those candidates into a handful of choices worth pursuing. The process can sometimes provide a formidable number of candidate designs. Using mechatronics, we can model that now and ideally avoid that scenario entirely.” A motor in the system can excite that compliance and you can wind up with the payload vibrating in a way that you didn't really imagine. “You can see what happens if you add compliance, because two of the big things that can give you a surprise tend to be around compliance and backlash.” Even the best analysis of load and torque can become irrelevant in the face of unforseen dynamic effects. You can see what happens if you change the material of a bracket or the reduction ratio of a gearbox,” says Pritchard. Once the team has established a model of the entire machine from load through controls, they can begin to simulate performance and evaluate the effects of difference changes (see figure 1). Different elements may originate in different design tools, but it all gets brought together in a collaborative environment. The process might start with a mechanical design that gets augmented by the electrical engineers, the controls engineers, the software engineers, all in a collaborative environment. They model the payload, mechanism, motors, feedback, drives, and controls. The idea behind mechatronic is for the mechanical, electrical, controls, and software engineers to collaborate to produce a single integrated model of the whole system. The idea is to do a quick sanity check to ensure that the neutral design statement is realistic, then the real work begins. Fundamental physical constraints exist that simply can’t be engineered around. Now, let's take a closer look at how a mechatronic design approach is implemented and the pitfalls to avoid.Ī good approach is to start with a goal and a first approximation, what Pritchard characterizes as a neutral design statement - for example, the machine needs to move a 5-lb load from point A to point B in a given time. Obviously, simulation is not perfect but it’s certainly a great indicator.” In part I of this article, we discussed the theory. "You conceive the whole potential solution, you spend time modeling, and you build a virtual prototype to see the likely outcome. "The core of the mechatronic approach is to brainstorm possible designs," John Pritchard, Global Product Marketing Manager at Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Covering the mechanical, electrical, controls, and software aspects of a system, the approach provides a cost-effective way to explore design options and look for the best possible solution to a given set of design constraints. Mechatronics refers to a systems-engineering approach to machine building based on physical and mathematical models and simulations. Modeling and simulation can provide big benefits to users, so long as they take care to avoid the pitfalls. ![]()
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