The Space of Mechatronics in Modern Technology (Research Paper Sample)

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Introduction
Mechatronics is a branch of engineering that aim to solve technological problems using mechanical engineering, electronics and computer technology interdisciplinary knowledge. The key elements of mechatronic system include electronics, digital controls, sensors and actuators, and information technology. Mechatronics systems include domestic appliances such as microwave ovens, fridges, vacuum cleaners and many more; however mechatronics systems are heavily employed in the manufacturing industry through the numerical controlled tools and the robots to ease the manufacturing processes and provide accuracy and precision (Onwubolu 4).
The Pick and Place Robot
Interesting and rather complex mechatronic systems are the autonomous, pick and place robots with mobility; often employed in the manufacturing industry.


Figure1: The Hen, a mobile pick and place robot.
During the design for this kind of pick and place robots, some requirements have to be meet. The robot must move towards the direction of the object to be picked up. The robot has to search for an object to be picked up with certainty, and lastly it has to pick the object and place it accurately at the destination point. Thus, the movement, navigation, recognition of the object, grasping and holding of the object, and place and release will be the key design issues. To provide for these requirement microcontroller or microprocessors, servomotors, infrared sensors and actuators would be used. A good example of a mobile pick and place robot is the Hen which is a manufactured by Tinkernology. The Hen has three Lego PF motors and a small Lego M and uses infrared red sensors for navigation (Truszkowsk 167).
The robot is run by a program that is often programmed in a microprocessor or a microcontroller. Microcontrollers are used in those robots that their program does not need to be changed after manufacturing, they are, however, cheaper than microprocessors. The mobile, pick and place algorithm would ensure that the robot follow a line by the help of the infrared sensors, until it hit a bumper that triggers the bump switch for the robot to stop. The arm of the robot would then drop to pick up the object using the grippers at its end. When the object is well held the robot follows the line and places the object, this process is repeated until all the objects are picked and placed. (Shilwa 10).
Servomotors
Servomotors are used in robot joints to provide servo control. A servomotor will contain a gear system, some control electronics and a position sensor which commonly is a potentiometer.


Figure2: A Pentiometer circuit (Kumal 3).
The servo motor is connected to gear system that provides feedback to the position sensor. The servo motor rotate to a maximum angle of 180o and its movement is provided by feeding the control wire with a pulse width modulated signal (PWM). The PWM signal help move the servo motor to the desired position by converting the pulse width to an equivalent voltage that is compared to the potentiometer’s signal in an error amplifier. The PWM signal is often from specific ports of the microprocessor that are PWM enabled (Kumal 3).
Infrared Sensors
To provide the linear motion of the pick and place robot, three IR sensors would be used. These sensors would be placed at the robot’s front to sense the line and avoid any obstacle. The IR sensor is usually based on the emitter receiver principle, and when the IR emitter emit the infrared continuously as long as there is a power supply, the receiver remains connected and act as a voltage divider. The output of the receiver will vary with the intensity of the IR light. These intensity variations are interpreted by a microprocessor to provide the collect movement of the servomotor for the collect movement within the line (Cytron Technologies 2).
Other important circuitry components for the robot include the bump switches that are used to reset the microprocessor. The microprocessor would stop executing the program and the robot stops.
Design for the Pick and Place arm
The arm of the robot has three types of movement with different maximum angle and speed.


Figure3: A Pick and Place arm (Hague 4).
The waist movement has a maximum angle of 360o and a speed of 0 to 27o degrees per second. The spur gear mechanism would be used to control the waist movement of the robot. The first arm movement has a maximum angle of 270o and a speed of between ...