| Overview | MSc info | MSc program | MSc topics | ET | TN | WBMT |
| WB2414-09: | Mechatronic System Design |
| ECTS: | 4 |
| Responsible Instructor: | Prof.ir. R.H. Munnig Schmidt |
| Contact Hours / Week x/x/x/x: | 0/4/0/0 |
| Education Period: | 2 |
| Start Education: | 2 |
| Exam Period: | 2, 3 |
| Course Language: | English |
| Required for: | All PME students |
| Expected prior knowledge: | Bsc Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering. Bsc students of Electrical Engineering or Physics can also follow the course if they have a comparable background knowledge on the fundamental mechanical disciplines like structural design, control, statics and dynamics. This can be accomplished by following a free minor that at least includes "Dynamica II (WB1216-06)" |
| Course Contents: | Mechatronic system design deals with the design of controlled motion systems by the integration of functional elements from a multitude of disciplines. It starts with thinking how the required function can be realised by the combination of different subsystems according to a Systems Engineering approach (V-model). Some supporting disciplines, like electronics and electromechanics, are not part of the BSc program of mechanical engineers. For this reason this course introduces these disciplines in connection with PID-motion control principles to realise an optimally designed motion system. The target application for the lectures is on the realisation of precision movements that range from standing still with high stability to high speed movements with extreme precision, all at sub nm level. The course covers four main subjects grouped around an example application: 1: Dynamics of motion systems in the time and frequency domain, including analytical transfer functions that are represented in Bode plots. 2: Motion control with PID-feedback and model-based feedforward control-principles that effectively deal with the mechanical dynamic anomalies of the plant. 3: Electromechanical actuators, mainly based on the electromagnetic Lorentz principle. Reluctance force and piezoelectric actuators will be shortly presented to complete the overview. 4: Analogue electronics with low power operational amplifier circuits that are used in measurement systems and power electronics that are used for driving actuators. The most important educational element that will be addressed is the creation of common sense when judging results from simulation software. This requires an enhanced capability to easily and continuously match simulation models with reality, to translate a real system into an as simple as possible dynamic model and use the found simulation results to design a suitable, practically realiseable controller. This course increases the understanding what a position control system does in reality in terms of virtual stiffness and damping that are added to the mechanical plant. It is shown how a motion system is analysed and modelled top-down, starting with a global overview. By the use of approximating (scalar) calculations by hand, a sufficient feel of the problem is obtained that enables to make valuable concept design decisions in an early stage. With this method students learn to work more efficiently by starting their design with a quick and dirty global analysis. Detailed calculations with the help of a finite element computer program are only necessary to a limited extent as a last step to investigate specific problem areas. |
| Study Goals: | The student will learn to design concept solutions for mechatronic problems in a structured way, starting with the required function. The student will learn to act with a healthy critical attitude to the results of simulation software based on an engineering "feel" for the estimated behaviour of a motion system. The student will be able to understand the role of the different disciplines that are applied in precision motion systems. The student will be able to globally analyse the expected performance of dynamic motion systems by means of bode diagrams of the transfer function of the mechanical plant. The student will be able to determine the optimal PID-controller settings for a given mechanical plant. |
| Education Method: | Lectures are given in 14*2 lecture hours with presentations on theory and practice of active-controlled motion systems. The material is based on a reader/book that is made available both on blackboard with limited resolution images and in printed form as a book. The lectures are targeted to create access to and basic understanding of the contributing disciplines in mechatronics by means of practicing in five exercises, spread over the quarter. The attention and involvement of the students is enhanced by the intensive use of "clickers" to obtain real-time feedback during the lectures on the presented material. Cooperation between students on the exercises is encouraged as long as their individual goals are aimed to learn from each other. Each student should however deliver their own assignment form, so no copies are allowed. Note that so called "lifters" are in practice easily recognised in the oral examination session. |
| Computer Use: | No computers will be used nor will the emphasis lay on exact calculated values. The application of MATLAB for the creation of Bode and Nyquist plots is allowed but not required. |
| Literature and Study Materials: | The book is published on blackboard with low quality images but is also available in hardcopy (see books) The presentations, assignments and grades will also be published on blackboard |
| Books: | "The Design of High Performance Mechatronics" by R. Munnig Schmidt, G. Schitter and J. van Eijk. Delft University Press, ISBN 978-1-60750-825-0 For sale at Leeghwater for €45 (listprice €135) |
| Assessment: | During the lectures five exercises have to be made as homework. Each assignment can score a grade of: 1,4,7 or 10. An average grade of all assignments >= 5 grants access to the oral examination. The oral examination is based on a sixth assignment about controlling the motion system that is introduced in the first lecture and that is used during the other lectures as connecting element. This system combines all that is learned in the course and the 30 minutes examination shows to be very well suitable to determine the level of understanding of the material. For this reason the final grade is the average of two grades, the average grade of all assignments and the oral examination grade, while the oral examination grade is not allowed to be lower than 5. A lower grade for the oral examination would prove that the subject is not sufficiently mastered, even with sufficient grades for the assignments as these can be based on cooperation with other students (lifters). |
| Permitted Materials during Tests: | During the oral examination the student is allowed to bring with him/her the book and the material that is used for preparation and use it for the explanation of the answers. |
