UNDERGRADUATE ADVANCED PROGRAM

Mechatronics Engineering

ME4176 - 4(3-1-0.5-8)
Motion & Machine
Automation

Tran Van Thuc, Ph.D

Lecturer, Dept. of Machine Tools and Tribology, C10-202,
Tel: 0964011558; email: thuc.tranvan@hust.edu.vn
1
Contents

1 Mechatronics

2 Mechanical actuation systems

3 Pneumatic and hydraulic actuation systems

4 Electrical actuation systems

2
Contents

5 Basic system models

6 System models

7 Systems transfer functions

8 Closed-loop controllers

3
Contents

9 Input/output systems

10 Programmable logic controllers

11 Mechatronics systems

12 Lab\ home works

4
 References

1. W. Bolton. Mechatronics - Electronic control systems in

Mechanical and Electrical Engineering - 3rd Edition.
Pearson Education Limited, 2003.
2. Richard C. Dorf, Robert H. Bishop. Modern control
systems. Prentice Hall International, 2000
3. Norman S. Nise. Control systems engineering. Prentice
Hall International, 1999.
4. Gene F. Franklin, J. David powell. Feedback control of
dynamics systems. Prentice Hall, 2002.
5. J. Lowen shearer, Bohdan T. Kulakowski, John F.
Gardner. Dynamic modeling control of engineering
systems. Prentice Hall - 1996

5
 References

6. Tạ Duy Liêm. Rô bốt và HTCN rô bốt hóa. NXB KHKT,

2004.
7. Bùi Quí Lực. Kỹ thuật điều khiển tự động. NXB KHKT,

2011.

8. Phạm Đắp, Trần Xuân Tùy. Điều khiển tự động trong các

lĩnh vực cơ khí. NXB KHKT.

9. Đặng Vũ Giao. Cơ sở điều khiển hệ thống tự động.

ĐHBK HN.

6
Chapter 1. Mechatronics

1.1 What is Mechatronics?

1.2 Systems

1.3 Measurement systems

1.4 Control systems

1.5 Microprocessor-based controllers

1.6 Response of systems

1.7 The mechatronics approach problems

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.1. What is Mechatronics?
1. The term mechatronics is
used for this integration of
computer, control systems,
electrical systems and
mechanical systems.

2. A mechatronic system is
not just a marriage of
electrical and mechanical
systems and is more than
just a control system;

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.1. What is Mechatronics?
3. It is a complete integration
of all of them. In the design
now of cars, robots,
machine tools, washing
machines, cameras, and
very many other machines,
such an integrated and
interdisciplinary approach
to engineering design is
increasingly being adopted.

Eg.: Camera and it’s Auto-

Focus

9
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.1. What is Mechatronics?

4. The integration across the traditional boundaries of

mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics
and control engineering has to occur at the earliest stages of
the design process if cheaper, more reliable, more flexible
systems are to be developed.
5. Mechatronics has to involve a concurrent approach to these
disciplines rather than a sequential approach of developing,
say, a mechanical system then designing the electrical part
and the microprocessor part.
6. Mechatronics brings together areas of technology involving
sensors and measurement systems, drive and actuation
systems, analysis of the behavior of systems, control
systems, and microprocessor systems.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.2. Systems
1. Mechatronics involves, what are
termed, systems. A system can
be thought of as a box which has
an input and an output and where
we are not concerned with what
goes on inside the box but only
the relationship between the
output and the input.
For example: a motor may be
thought of as a system which has as
its input electric power and as
output the rotation of a shaft. The
beside figure shows a
representation of such a system.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.2. Systems
2. A measurement system can
be thought of as a black
box which is used for
making measurements. It
has as its input the quantity
being measured and its
output the value of that
quantity.
For example, a temperature
measurement system, i.e. a
thermometer, has an input of
temperature and an output of a
number on a scale.

12
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.2. Systems
3. A control system can be thought of
as a black box which is used to
control its output to some particular
value or particular sequence of
values.
For example: a domestic central
heating control system has as its input
the temperature required in the house
and as its output the house at that
temperature, e.g. you set the required
temperature on the thermostat or
controller and the heating furnace
adjusts itself to pump water through
radiators and so produce the required
temperature in the house.

13
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.3. Measurement systems
Measurement systems can, in general, be considered to be made up
of three elements (as illustrated in the Figure):
1) A sensor which responds to the quantity being measured by
giving as its output a signal which is related to the quantity.
For example, a thermocouple is a temperature sensor. The
input to the sensor is a temperature and the output is an
(Electromotive Force (EMF)) e.m.f. which is related to the
temperature value.

14
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.3. Measurement systems
2) A signal conditioner takes the signal from the sensor and
manipulates it into a condition which is suitable for either
display, or in the case of a control system, for use to exercise
control. Thus, for example, the output from a thermocouple is
a rather small e.m.f. and might be fed through an amplifier to
obtain a bigger signal. The amplifier is the signal conditioner.
3) A display system where the output from the signal conditioner
is displayed. This might, for example, be a pointer moving
across a scale or a digital readout.

15
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1.Eg.: Your body temperature,
unless you are ill, remains almost
constant regardless of whether
you are in a cold or hot
environment. To maintain this
constancy your body has a
temperature control system. If
your temperature begins to
increase above the normal you
sweat, if it decreases you shiver.
Both these are mechanism which
are used to restore the body
temperature back to its normal
value.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1. The control system is maintaining constancy of temperature. The
system has an input from sensors which tell it what the temperature is
and then compares this data with what the temperature should be and
provides the appropriate response in order to obtain the required
temperature. This is an example of feed back control; signals are fed
back from the output, i.e. the actual temperature, in order to modify
the reaction of the body to enable it to restore the temperature to the
‘normal’ value. Feedback control is exercised by the control system
comparing the fed back actual output of the system with what is
required and adjusting its output accordingly. This figure illustrates
this feedback control system.

17
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1.One way to control the
temperature of a centrally heated
house is for a human to stand
near the furnace on/off switch
with a thermometer and switch
the furnace on or off according
to the thermometer reading. That
is a crude form of feedback
control using a human as a
control element.

18
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1.The term feedback is used
because signals are fed back
from the output in order to
modify the input. The more usual
feedback control system has a
thermostat or controller which
automatically switches the
furnace on or off according to
the difference between the set
temperature and the actual
temperature (Fig. 1.6). This
control system is maintaining
constancy of temperature.

19
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1.If you go to pick up a pencil from a
bench there is a need for you to use a
control system to ensure that your hand
actually ends up at the pencil. This is
done by you observing the position of
your hand relative to the pencil and
making adjustments in its position as it
moves towards the pencil. There is a
feedback of information about your
actual hand position so that you can
modify your reactions to give the
required hand position and movement
(Fig. 1.7). This control system is
controlling the positioning and
movement of your hand.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems
1.Feedback control systems are widespread, not only in nature and
the home but also in industry. There are many industrial process
and machines where control, whether by humans or
automatically, is required. For example, there is process control
where such things as temperature, liquid level, fluid flow,
pressure, etc. are maintained constant. Thus in a chemical
process there may be a need to maintain the level of a liquid in a
tank to a particular level or to a particular temperature. There are
also control systems which involve consistently and accurately
positioning a moving part or maintaining a constant speed. This
might be, for example, a motor designed to run at a constant
speed or perhaps a machining operation in which the position,
speed and operation of a tool is automatically controlled.

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Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Open- and closed-loop systems

Two basic forms

of control system

one being called and the other

open loop closed loop

What is different between these?

22
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Open- and closed-loop systems
 An example of open-loop control: Consider an electric fire
which has a selection switch which allows a 1 kW or a 2 kW
heating element to be selected.
 If a person used the heating element to heat a room, he or she might just
switch on the 1 kW element if the room is not required to be at too high a
temperature. The room will heat up and reach a temperature which is only
determined by the fact the 1 kW element was switched on and not the 2 kW
element.
 If there are changes in the conditions, perhaps someone opening a window,
there is no way the heat output is adjusted to compensate.

23
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Open- and closed-loop systems
An example of closed-loop control: The heating system with the heating
element could be made a closed-loop system if the person has a
thermometer and switches the 1 kW and 2 kW elements on or off,
according to the difference between the actual temperature and the
required temperature, to maintain the temperature of the room constant.
• In this situation there is feedback, the input to the system being
adjusted according to whether its output is the required temperature.
• This means that the input to the switch depends on the deviation of the
actual temperature from the required temperature, the difference
between them determined by a comparison element - the person in this
case.

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system

A
Comparison
element

B
Control element

C
Correction element

D
Process element

E
Measurement element

25
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
A. Comparison element
- This compares the required or reference value of the variable
condition being controlled with the measured value of what is
being achieved and produces an error signal.
- It can be regarded as adding the reference signal, which is
positive, to the measured value signal, which is negative in this
case: Error signal = reference value signal - measured value signal.

26
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
A. Comparison element
The symbol used, in general, for an element at which signals are
summed is a segmented circle, inputs going into segments. The
inputs are all added, hence the feedback input is marked as
negative and the reference signal positive so that the sum gives the
difference between the signals.

27
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
A. Comparison element
- A feed back loop is a means whereby a signal related to the
actual condition being achieved is fed back to modify the input
signal to a process.
- The feedback is said to be negative feedback when the signal
which is fed back subtracts from the input value. It is negative
feedback that is required to control a system. Positive feed back
occurs when the signal fed back adds to the input signal.

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
B. Control element
- This decides what action to take when it receives an error
signal.
- It may be, for example, a signal to operate a switch or open a
valve.

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
B. Control element
- The control plan being used by the element may be just to
supply a signal which switches on or off when there is an error,
as in a room thermostat, or perhaps a signal which
proportionally opens or closes a valve according to the size of
the error.

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
B. Control element
- Control plans may be hard-wired systems in which the control
plan is permanently fixed by the way the elements are
connected together.
- Or control plans may be programmable systems where the
control plan is stored within a memory unit and may be altered
by reprogramming it.

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
C. Correction element
- It produces a change in the process to correct or change the
controlled condition.
- It might be a switch which switches on a heater and so increases
the temperature of the process or a valve which opens and
allows more liquid to enter the process.
- The term actuator is used for the element of a correction unit
that provides the power to carry out the control action.

32
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
D. Process element
- It is what is being controlled.
- It could be a room in a house with its temperature being
controlled or a tank of water with its level being controlled.

33
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Basic elements of a closed-loop system
E. Measurement element
- It produces a signal related to the variable condition of the
process that is being controlled.
- It might be, for example, a switch which is switched on when a
particular position is reached or a thermocouple which gives an
e.m.f. related to the temperature.

34
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Eg. various elements
E.g. A person controlling the The various elements
temperature of a room
Controlled variable  the room temperature
Reference value  the required room temperature

Comparison element  the person comparing the measured value with

the required value of temperature
Error signal  the difference between the measured and
required temperatures
Control unit  the person
Correction unit  the switch on the fire
Process  the heating by the fire
Measuring device  a thermometer

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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Sequential controller
- The term sequential control is used
when control is such that actions are
strictly ordered in a time or event
driven sequence.
- Control could be obtained by an
electrical circuit with sets of relays or
cam-operated switches which are
wired up in such a way as to give the
required sequence.
- Hard-wired circuits are now more
likely to have been replaced by a
microprocessor- controlled system,
with the sequencing being controlled
by means of a software program.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ Microprocessor-based controllers
- Microprocessors are now rapidly
replacing the mechanical cam- operated
controllers and being used in general to
carry out control functions.
- They have the great advantage that a
greater variety of programs become
feasible. In many simple systems there
might be just an embedded
microcontroller, this being a
microprocessor with memory all
integrated on one chip, which has been
specifically program med for the task
concerned.

37
 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
1.4. Control systems/ The mechatronics approach
 Mechatronics involves the bringing together of a number of
technologies: mechanical engineering, electronic engineering,
electrical engineering, computer technology, and control engineering.
 This can be considered to be the application of computer- based
digital control techniques, through electronic and electric interfaces,
to mechanical engineering problems.
 Mechatronics provides an opportunity to take a new look at
problems, with mechanical engineers not just seeing a problem in
terms of mechanical principles but having to see it in terms of a range
of technologies.
 The electronics, etc., should not be seen as a bolt-on item to existing
mechanical hardware. A mechatronics approach needs to be adopted
right from the design phase. There needs to be a complete rethink of
the requirements in terms of what an item is required to do.
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 Chapter 1. Mechatronics
Problems
1. Identify the sensor, signal conditioner and display elements in the measurement
systems of (a) a mercury-in-glass thermometer, (b) a Bourdon pressure gauge.
2. Explain the difference between open- and closed-loop control.
3. Identify the various elements that might be present in a control system involving a
thermostatically controlled electric heater.
4. The automatic control system for the temperature of a bath of liquid consists of a
reference voltage fed into a differential amplifier. This is connected to a relay which
then switches on or off the electrical power to a heater in the liquid. Negative
feedback is provided by a measurement system which feeds a voltage into the
differential amplifier. Sketch a block diagram of the system and explain how the error
signal is produced.
5. Explain the function of a programmable logic controller.
6. Explain what is meant by sequential control and illustrate your answer by an
example.
7. State steps that might be present in the sequential control of a dishwasher.
8. Compare and contrast the traditional design of a watch with that of the mechatronics-
designed product involving a microprocessor.
9. Compare and contrast the control system for the domestic central heating system
involving a bimetallic thermostat and that involving a microprocessor.
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