INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICAL ENGINEERING [BESCK104D]

Introduction to Mechatronics and Robotics: Open-loop and closed-loop

mechatronic systems. Classification based on robotics configuration: polar
cylindrical, Cartesian coordinate and spherical. Application, Advantages and
disadvantages.

Automation in industry: Definition, types – Fixed, programmable and flexible

automation, basic elements with block diagrams, advantages.

Introduction to IOT: Definition and Characteristics, Physical design,

protocols, Logical design of IoT, Functional blocks, and communication
models.

Introduction to Mechatronics

It is an integration of Mechanical and Electronic engineering.

It specifically refers to multidisciplinary approach to product and Manufacturing system

design.

Mechatronics basically refers to mechanical electrical systems and is centered on mechanics,

electronics, computing and control which, ed, make possible the generation of simpler, more
economical, reliable and versatile systems.

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A combination of hardware and software which together form a component of a

Mechatronics systems.

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An embedded system is designed to run on its own without human intervention, and may be
required to respond to events in real time.

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The term "mechatronics" was first assigned by Mr. Tetsuro Mori, a senior engineer of the
Japanese company Yaskawa, in 1969.

Introduction to Robotics

Robots are devices that are programmed to move parts, or to do work with a tool. Robotics is a
multidisciplinary engineering field dedicated to the development of autonomous devices,
including manipulators and mobile vehicles.

Definition:
“An industrial robot is a programmable, multi-functional manipulator designed to move
materials, parts, tools, or special devices through variable programmed motions for the
performance of a variety of tasks”
An industrial robot is a general purpose programmable machine that possesses certain
anthropomorphic features
The most apparent anthropomorphic feature of an industrial robot is its mechanical arm or
manipulator.

Robots can perform a variety of tasks such as loading and unloading machine tools, spot
welding automobile bodies, and spray painting.

Robots are typically used as substitutes for human workers in these tasks.

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Robotics is a branch of engineering and science that includes electronics engineering,

mechanical engineering and computer science and so on. This branch deals with the design,
construction, use to control robots, sensory feedback and information processing. These are
some technologies which will replace humans and human activities in coming years. These
robots are designed to be used for any purpose but these are using in sensitive environments
like bomb detection, deactivation of various bombs etc. Robots can take any form but many
of them have given the human appearance. The robots which have taken the form of human
appearance may likely to have the walk like humans, speech, cognition and most
importantly all the things a human can do. Most of the robots of today are inspired by
nature and are known as bio-inspired robots. Robotics is that branch of engineering that
deals with conception, design, operation, and manufacturing of robots.

There are some characteristics of robots given below:

 Appearance: Robots have a physical body. They are held by the structure of their body
and are moved by their mechanical parts. Without appearance, robots will be just a
software program.
 Brain: Another name of brain in robots is On-board control unit. Using this robot
receive information and sends commands as output. With this control unit robot knows
what to do else it’ll be just a remote-controlled machine.
 Sensors: The use of these sensors in robots is to gather info from the outside world and
send it to Brain. Basically, these sensors have circuits in them that produces the voltage
in them.
 Actuators: The robots move and the parts with the help of these robots move is called
Actuators. Some examples of actuators are motors, pumps, and compressor etc. The
brain tells these actuators when and how to respond or move.
 Program: Robots only works or responds to the instructions which are provided to
them in the form of a program. These programs only tell the brain when to perform
which operation like when to move, produce sounds etc. These programs only tell the
robot how to use sensors data to make decisions.
 Behaviour: Robots behavior is decided by the program which has been built for it.
Once the robot starts making the movement, one can easily tell which kind of program
is being installed inside the robot.

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Open-loop mechatronic systems.

Any electrical or electronic system which does not automatically correct any variation to its
output is called an open loop system.

The open-loop configuration does not monitor or measure the condition of its output signal as
there is no feedback

an Open-loop system, also referred to as non-feedback system, is a type of continuous

control system in which the output has no influence or effect on the control action of the
input signal. In other words, in an open-loop control system the output is neither measured

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nor “fed back” for comparison with the input. Therefore, an open-loop system is expected to
faithfully follow its input command or set point regardless of the final result.

Open-loop Drying System

disadvantage of open-loop systems is that they are poorly equipped to handle disturbances or
changes in the conditions which may reduce its ability to complete the desired task. For
example, the dryer door opens and heat is lost. The timing controller continues regardless for
the full 30 minutes but the clothes are not heated or dried at the end of the drying process.
This is because there is no information fed back to maintain a constant temperature.

Then we can see that open-loop system errors can disturb the drying process and therefore
requires extra supervisory attention of a user (operator). The problem with this anticipatory
control approach is that the user would need to look at the process temperature frequently and
take any corrective control action whenever the drying process deviated from its desired
value of drying the clothes. This type of manual open-loop control which reacts before an
error actually occurs is called Feed forward Control.

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Closed-loop mechatronics systems.

A closed loop control system is a mechanical or electronic device that automatically regulates
a system to maintain a desired state or set point without human interaction. It uses a feedback
system or sensor. Closed loop control is contrasted with open loop control, where there is no
self-regulating mechanism and human interaction is typically required.

A simple example of a closed loop control system is a home thermostat. The thermostat can
send a signal to the heater to turn it on or off. It uses a temperature sensor to detect the
current air temperature. When the temperature is below the set point, it turns the heater on.
When the sensor detects the temperature is above the set point, it turns the system off.

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Most modern closed loop systems are electronically controlled. These may use discrete
analog electronic comparators for simple systems, such as an oven thermostat. More
complicated systems use a microcontroller or programable logic controller to take several
inputs and to control multiple outputs. A complex system example would be a
building heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in a data center that can use sensors
for inside air temperature, outside air temperature and relative humidity to control the
operation of a heater and AC.

Classification based on robotics configuration:

These are the some types of robots given below:

 Articulated: The feature of this robot is its rotary joints and range of these are from 2
to 10 or more joints. The arm is connected to the rotary joint and each joint is known as
the axis which provides a range of movements.
 Cartesian: These are also known as gantry robots. These have three joints which use
the Cartesian coordinate system i.e x, y, z. These robots are provided with attached
wrists to provide rotatory motion.
 Cylindrical: These types of robots have at least one rotatory joints and one prismatic
joint which are used to connect the links. The use of rotatory joints is to rotate along the
axis and prismatic joint used to provide linear motion.
 Polar: These are also known as spherical robots. The arm is connected to base with a
twisting joint and have a combination of 2 rotatory joint and one linear joint.

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 Scara: These robots are mainly used in assembly applications. Its arm is in cylindrical
in design. It has two parallel joints which are used to provide compliance in one
selected plane.
 Delta: The structure of these robots are like spider-shaped. They are built by joint
parallelograms that are connected to the common base. The parallelogram moves in a
dome-shaped work area. These are mainly used in food and electrical industries.
Four basic configurations are identified with most of the commercially available industrial
robots

1. Cartesian coordinate configuration: A robot which is constructed around this configuration

consists of three orthogonal slides, as shown in fig. (a).The three slides are parallel to the x, y,
and z axes of the Cartesian coordinate system. By appropriate movements of these slides, the
robot is capable of moving its arm at any point within its three dimensional rectangular spaced
work space.

Advantages:

1. Simple control due to linear movement and also easy to visualize.

2. High degree of mechanical accuracy, repeatability and rigidity.

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3. Can carry heavy loads.

4. Since movement can take place in all three directions simultaneously, the motion of wrist hand
is smoother.

Disadvantages:

1. The arm movement is restricted to small rectangular work space.

2. Low ratio of robot size to operating volume as this configuration occupies large area.

Applications:

Surface finishing, inspection, Machine loading and unloading, Assembly, welding

Cylindrical coordinate configuration

2. Cylindrical configuration: In this configuration, the robot body is a vertical column that
swivels about a vertical axis. The arm consists of several orthogonal slides which allow the arm
to be moved up or down and in and out with respect to the body. This is illustrated schematically
in fig. (b).

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Advantages:

1. Larger working envelop compared to Cartesian configuration.

2. Simple in design

3. Easy to program

Disadvantages:

1. Less mechanical rigidity because it has to overcome the inertia of the object while rotating.

2. Robots repeatability and accuracy is restricted to only rotary axis.

3. Needs more sophisticated control system compared to Cartesian configuration.

Applications:

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Conveyer transfer operation, assembly, coating applications, investment casting, forging, Pick
and place operation, Machine loading and unloading etc.

Polar/ Spherical coordinate configuration

This configuration also goes by the name “spherical coordinate” because the workspace within
which it can move its arm is a partial sphere as shown in fig.(c). The robot has a rotary base and a
pivot that can be used to raise and lower a telescoping arm.

Advantages:

1. Larger working envelop compared to Cartesian or cylindrical configuration.

2. Simple in design

3. Easy to program

4. Has good weight lifting capacity.

Disadvantages:

1. Less mechanical rigidity

2. Needs more sophisticated control system compared to Cartesian or cylindrical configuration.

3. Limited vertical movement.

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Applications:

Die casting, injection moulding, forging, machine tool press loading/unloading, dip coating, and
material transfer

Advantages of Robots:

• Robotics and automation can in many situation, increase productivity, safety, efficiency,
quality, and consistency of Products

• Robots can work in hazardous environments

• Robots need no environmental comfort

• Robots work continuously without any humanity needs and illnesses

• Robots have repeatable precision at all times

• Robots can be much more accurate than humans; they may have milli or micro inch accuracy.

Robots and their sensors can have capabilities beyond that of humans.

• Robots can process multiple stimuli or tasks simultaneously, humans can only one.

• Robots replace human workers who can create economic problems.

Disadvantages of Robots: 

•Inappropriate and wrong responses

•A lack of decision-making power

•A loss of power

•Damage to the robot and other devices

•Human injuries 

•Degrees of Freedom

•Sensors

•Vision systems

•Real-time Response

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Automation in industry:

Introduction to automation:

Automation in general is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as
machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, aircraft and many other
applications with minimal or reduced human intervention.IndustrialAutomation has been achieved
by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical,electronic and computers,
usually in combination

Reasons for Automation:

1.Increase labor productivity

2. Reduce labor cost

3. Reduces the effects of labor shortages

4. Eliminate routine manual and clerical task

5. Improve worker safety

6. Improve product quality

7. Reduce manufacturing lead time

8. Accomplish processes that cannot be done manually

Definition: “Automation is a technology concerned with the application of mechanical, electronic

and computer-based system to operate and control machines in production”.

Examples of automated manufacturing systems are machine tools, transfer lines, automated
assembly systems, industrial robots, material handling, and quality control.

Types of Automation:

Automation systems can be classified as

1.Fixed Automation

2. Programmable Automation

3. Flexible Automation

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1. Fixed Automation:

It is a system in which sequence of processing operation is fixed by the equipment configuration.

The operations involved in this type of system are generally simple. It is the integration and
coordination of many such operations into one piece of equipment that makes the system complex.

Features/Advantages:
1.High initial investment
2.High production rates
3.Relatively inflexible in accommodating the product variety.

For the products with very high demand rates and volume this system is preferred. The high cost of
the equipment can be spread over a very large number of units, making a unit cost attractive
compared to other methods of production.

Example: Mechanized assembly line, machining transfer line.

2. Programmable Automation:

The production equipment is designed with the capability to change the sequence of operation to
accommodate different product configuration. The operation sequence is controlled by program,
which is a set of instructions coded so that the system can read and interpret them. Programs can be
modified for different products.

Features/Advantages:

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1.High initial investment in general purpose equipment

2.Lower production rates compared to fixed automation
3.Flexibility to deal with variations and 4.changes in product configuration
5.Suitable for batch production
It is used for production system with low and medium volume capacity. For each set of new
product the system must be reprogrammed, the physical set up of the machine must be changed
over. Tools must be loaded, fixtures must be attached and required machine setting must be
entered. This change over procedure takes time.

Example: NC machines.

3. Flexible Automation:

A flexible automation system is a one that is capable of producing a variety of products with
virtually no time lost for change over from one product to the next.There is no production time lost
while reprogramming the system and alternating the physical set up.

Features/Advantages:
1.High initial investment in custom engineered system.
2. Continuous production of variable mixtures of products
3. Medium Production rates
4. Flexibility to deal with product design variations.

Example: CNC Machine

Three type of automation with respect to production quantity and product variety

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Introduction to IOT:

Definition:

The internet of things is a technology that allows us to add a device to an inert object (for
example: vehicles, plant electronic systems, roofs, lighting, etc.) that can measure
environmental parameters, generate associated data and transmit them through a
communications network.

The internet of things (IoT) is a set of technologies that uses sensors and actuators to
inform us about the status of everyday items such as vehicles, tools and even living
beings. It allows us to interact with them, enabling connectivity with platforms in the
cloud that receive and process information for posterior analysis. This analyzed data is
then used to make decisions.

Internet of Things refers to the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances,
and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity,
allowing them to collect and exchange data. The IoT enables these devices to interact with
each other and with the environment, and enables the creation of smart systems and
services

1. Smart home devices such as thermostats, lighting systems, and security systems.
2. Wearables such as fitness trackers and smartwatches.
3. Healthcare devices such as patient monitoring systems and wearable medical devices.
4. Industrial systems such as predictive maintenance systems and supply chain
management systems.
5. Transportation systems such as connected cars and autonomous vehicles.

Characteristics of the Internet of Things :

The Internet of Things (IoT) is characterized by the following key features:
 Connectivity –
Connectivity is an important requirement of the IoT infrastructure. Things of IoT should
be connected to the IoT infrastructure. Anyone, anywhere, anytime can connect, this
should be guaranteed at all times. For example, connection between people through
internet devices like mobile phones ,and other gadgets, also connection between
Internet devices such as routers, gateways, sensors, etc.

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 Intelligence and Identity –

The extraction of knowledge from the generated data is very important. For example, a
sensor generates data, but that data will only be useful if it is interpreted properly. Each
IoT device has a unique identity. This identification is helpful in tracking the equipment
and at times for querying its status.

 Scalability –
The number of elements connected to the IoT zone is increasing day by day. Hence, an
IoT setup should be capable of handling the massive expansion. The data generated as
an outcome is enormous, and it should be handled appropriately.

 Dynamic and Self-Adapting (Complexity) –

IoT devices should dynamically adapt themselves to the changing contexts and
scenarios. Assume a camera meant for the surveillance. It should be adaptable to work
in different conditions and different light situations (morning, afternoon, night).

 Architecture –
IoT architecture cannot be homogeneous in nature. It should be hybrid, supporting
different manufacturers ‘ products to function in the IoT network. IoT is not owned by
anyone engineering branch. IoT is a reality when multiple domains come together.

 Safety –
There is a danger of the sensitive personal details of the users getting compromised
when all his/her devices are connected to the internet. This can cause a loss to the user.
Hence, data security is the major challenge. Besides, the equipment involved is huge.
IoT networks may also be at the risk. Therefore, equipment safety is also critical.

 Self Configuring – This is one of the most important characteristics of IoT. IoT devices
are able to upgrade their software in accordance with requirements with a minimum of
user participation. Additionally, they can set up the network, allowing for the addition
of new devices to an already-existing network.
 Interoperability: IoT devices use standardized protocols and technologies to ensure
that they can communicate with each other and with other systems. Interoperability is
one of the key characteristics of the Internet of Things (IoT). It refers to the ability of
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different IoT devices and systems to communicate and exchange data with each other,
regardless of the underlying technology or manufacturer.
Interoperability is critical for the success of IoT, as it enables different devices and systems
to work together seamlessly and provides a seamless user experience. Without
interoperability, IoT systems would be limited to individual silos of data and devices,
making it difficult to share information and create new services and applications.

To achieve interoperability, IoT devices and systems use standardized communication

protocols and data formats. These standards allow different devices to understand and
process data in a consistent and reliable manner, enabling data to be exchanged between
devices and systems regardless of the technology used.

Examples of standards used in IoT include:

1. MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) – A publish/subscribe communication

protocol used for IoT device communication.
2. CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol) – A lightweight communication protocol for
IoT devices with limited resources.
3. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) – A wireless communication technology used for IoT
devices with low power consumption requirements.
4. Wi-Fi – A wireless communication technology used for IoT devices that require high
data transfer rates.
5. Zigbee – A low-power, low-cost wireless communication technology used for IoT
devices.

Physical Design of IoT:

A physical design of an IoT system refers to the individual node devices and their protocols
that are utilised to create a functional IoT ecosystem.
Each node device can perform tasks such as remote sensing, actuating, monitoring, etc., by
relying on physically connected devices. It may also be capable of transmitting information
through different types of wireless or wired connections.
The things/devices in the IoT system are used for:

 Building connections
 Data processing

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 Providing storage
 Providing interfaces
 Providing graphical interfaces

The devices generate data, and the data is used to perform analysis and do operations for
improving the system. For instance, a moisture sensor is used to obtain the moisture data
from a location, and the system analyses it to give an output.

IoT Protocols:
The set of rules governing all direct or indirect exchange of data between computers on a
network. These rules are formulated at the application level and are used collectively to
define how devices communicate interoperably, irrespective of differences in their internal
designs and operations.
IoT protocols help send commands and data between a network of devices controlled by
sensors or other physical attributes like motion, temperature, or vibration. Network protocols
help achieve reliable data transfer across all layers like the application, transport, network,
and link layer.

Logical Design of IoT:

A logical design for an IoT system is the actual design of how its components (computers,
sensors, and actuators) should be arranged to complete a particular function. It doesn’t go into
the depth of describing how each component will be built with low-level programming
specifics.
IoT logical design includes:

IoT functional blocks:

IoT systems include several functional blocks such as Devices, communication,

security, services, and application. The functional blocks provide sensing,
identification, actuation, management, and communication capability.These
functional blocks consist of devices that handle the communication between the
server and the host, enable monitoring control functions, manage the data transfer,

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secure the IoT system using authentication and different functions, and provide an
interface for controlling and monitoring various terms.
IoT communications models

There are multiple kinds of models available in an Internet of Things system that is
used for communicating between the system and server, such as:

 Request-response model
 Push-pull model
 Publish-subscribe model
 Exclusive pair model

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