436-371 Mechatronics Design and Laboratory 4

Students will be expected to be familiar with material covered in 431-204 Digital Systems 2: System Design, 431-210 Circuit Analysis, 436-353 Mechanics 2, and 436-381 Mechatronics Design and Laboratory 3.

Unit 1, Engineering Design: Upon completion of this unit, students should have gained an appreciation for synthesising solutions to open-ended design problems at an intermediate level of complexity in mechanical and manufacturing engineering; a deep understanding of the concepts and methods of designing for system and component integrity under conditions of fatigue and wear; and a deep understanding of information-based techniques for the management of engineering design.

Topics covered include general concepts of function, integrity, value, quality, efficient use of resources in the synthesis of solutions to design problems; design for fatigue: characteristics of fatigue fracture, 2-D and 3-D stress conditions, cumulative damage hypothesis, Weibull distribution; design for wear: surface phenomena and tribology in design, application to bearings and seals; and management of the design process: initial appreciation, information flows and networks, characteristics of manufacturing processes affecting product design.

Unit 2, Control: Upon completion of this subject, students should be able to apply a systems approach to the design and specification of data acquisition and control systems; have an appreciation of the characteristics of a range of sensors and actuators; and have gained experience in system identification and control.

Topics covered include structure of computer-controlled systems; characteristics of some common analog and digital sensors and actuators; signal conditioning, amplification and filtering; analog-to-digital conversion, sample rates and aliasing; signal processing, digital filtering, implementation of simple control algorithms; programming for real-time operations, interrupts; andcases studies in system identification and control, including the effects of common nonlinearities.

Two examination papers not exceeding two hours each; tests, continuous assessment of projects, assignments and laboratory reports not exceeding 40 pages. All components of assessment must be satisfactorily completed to pass the subject. Students will be notified of the weighting of assessment components at the beginning of semester.