MECHATRONICS AND
CONTROL ENGINEERING
By Kyle Jiang
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Office: F36
Email: k.jiang@bham.ac.uk
This module is a combination of “Mechatronics” and “Control
Engineering”.
1.1 Teaching arrangement
Mechatronics will be delivered in the first five weeks, and
Control Engineering will be delivered in the latter five weeks.
1.1.1 Teaching Outcome of Mechatronics:
(Control Engineering part will be introduced in Week 7)
Students will
 understand the concept and working principle of
mechatronic systems correctly;
 have the knowledge in popularly used mechatronic
components;
 be able to use the concept of mechatronic systems in
engineering designs.
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE MODULE
1.1.2 Reference books of Mechatronics:
The Principle of Computer Hardware, Fourth edition, by Alan Clements,
Oxford University Express, 2006
Mechatronics and the Design of Intelligent Machines and Systems, by
D.A. Bradley, etc., CRC Press, 2000
Mechatronics, by W. Bolton, Fifth edition, Pearson, 2011
1.1.3 Past exam papers of Mechatronics
Available via my.bham Exam Past Papers under titles:
A22282 LI Applied Mechanics II (2009-10)
1.1.4 Delivery and Assessment of Mechatronics
– Lectures: Recorded lectures will be uploaded to Canvas
by each Monday and Thursday of the semester, except
Week 6, which is a reading week.
– 1.5 hour MCQ test for Mechatronics in the beginning of
Week 7 (50% of the module) and 1.5 hour written exam
for Control Engineering in May.
– Labs are suspended in this year.
1.2 Introduction to Mechatronics (Mechanical + Electronics)
 Mechanical Engineering (drive) + Electronic Engineering
(sensing & control)
 Definition by Industrial Research and Development Advisory
Committee of the European Community: Mechatronics is the
synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronic control and
systems thinking in the design of products and manufacturing processes.
 Mechatronic systems can be:
– Intelligent (AI),
– High precision,
– Compact,
– And cost effective.
MECHATR
Mechanical system: Watt’s fly-ball governor
Mechatronic system: sensor + control + motor
Tachometer
(sensor)
ADC and
controller
Motor (actuator)
An example of speed control:
 A mechatronic example:
A robot manipulator
– Six joints for six degrees of freedom to reach
any position in any orientation;
– Each joint has a motor, a sensor, and a
microprocessor for precision control of
positions;
– A central computer does kinematic
calculations and coordinates the movement
of every joint.
Mechatronic Systems and their contents:
A typical mechatronic system has a mechanical
drive, sensors, and a control unit. Communications
and display systems are optional.
Sensors and Transducers:
- Sensors: devices which measure and respond to a
particular change.
- Transducers: devices which convert energy from one
format into another.
- In many cases, sensors can be called transducers.
Control devices
- for information processing & decision making.
- Logic circuits, microprocessors/computers,
feedback controllers, op-amps, switches and
amplifiers.
Actuators
- electric motors, stepper motors, pneumatic
and hydraulic systems.
- Heaters, compressors, pumps, fans,
government policies
Teaching Flow Chart:
1. Introduction to
Mechatronics
3. Sensing Unit
2. Control
Unit 4. Drive Unit
5. Mechatronic
Systems Design
6. Summary
2. Digital Logic and Boolean Algebra
2.1 Fundamental Gates
 AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, EOR, and EXNOR.
 The concept of a gate: It takes in a combination of
inputs (1 or 0), but produces either 1 (on) or 0 (off).
 Gate names: Each gate name indicates a condition on
which the gate produces 1.
 Applications: digital logic gates form the fundamental
components of computers.
Section I. Control Devices and Systems
A 4 bit ALU
Circuit.
An op-amp chip.
 Seven essential gates:
– Three Basic Gates: AND, OR, NOT
– Two Derived Gates: NAND, NOR
– Two Exclusive Gates: XOR, XNOR
 Truth tables: To list the complete logic possibilities and
results of logic devices and circuits.
Q: What gates do the following truth tables represent
respectively?
2.2 Logic gates and truth tables
XNOR
XOR
 Op-amp comparator
– An op-amp voltage comparator compares the
magnitudes of two voltage inputs and outputs a digital
signal indicating which is larger.
– An illustration of the property of a comparator:
 Q: Design a safety circuit for a high pressure plant using
logic gates and comparators. When either temperature or
pressure is higher than required,. The plant will be shut
down.
An example of logic gate applications
 Example: If A=1010 and B=0001 in data registers, A + B = ?
 If data register D1 stores A=1011 0110, and data register D2
stores B=1001 1101, find the results of the following operations
in a computer:
(a) A · B=?
(b) A+B=?
(c)
Solutions:
(a) 1001 0100
(b) 1011 1111
(c) 0100 0000
A logic operation example in programming
?BA
A + B = 1011
Data registers:



















































































































































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