Flexible Manufacturing System
Nowadays customers are demanding a wide variety of products. To satisfy this demand, the manufacturers’ “production” concept has moved away from “mass” to small “batch” type of production. Batch production offers more flexibility in product manufacturing. To cater this need,Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) have been evolved. As per Rao, P. N. , FMS combines microelectronics and mechanical engineering to bring the economies of the scale to batch work. A central online computer controls the machine tools, other work stations, and the transfer of components and tooling. The computer also providesmonitoring and information control. This combination of flexibility and overall control makes possible the production of a wide range of…
Tool monitoring systems
Uninterrupted machining is one of the challenges in front manufacturers to meet the production goals and customer satisfaction in terms of product quality. Tool wear is a critical factor which affects the productivity of a machining operation. Complete automation of a machining processrealizes when there is a successful prediction of tool (wear) state during the course of machining operation. Mechatronics based cutting tool-wear condition monitoring system is an integral part of automated tool rooms and unmanned factories. These systems predict the tool wearand give alarms to the system operator to prevent any damage to the machine tool and workpiece. Therefore it is essential to know how the mechatronics is helping in monitoring the…
Computer numerical control (CNC) machines
CNC machine is the best and basic example of application of Mechatronics in manufacturing automation. Efficient operation of conventional machine tools such as Lathes, milling machines, drilling machine is dependent on operator skill and training. Also a lot of time is consumed inwork part setting, tool setting and controlling the process parameters viz. feed, speed, depth of cut. Thus conventional machining is slow and expensive to meet the challenges of frequently changing product/part shape and size.…
Mechatronics: products and systems in manufacturing
Mechatronics has a variety of applications as products and systems in the area of ‘Manufacturing automation’. Some of these applications are as follows: 1. Computer numerical control (CNC) machines 2. Tool monitoring systems 3. Advanced manufacturing systems a. Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) b. Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) 4. Industrial robots 5. Automatic inspection systems: machine vision systems 6. Automatic packaging systems…
What do Mechatronics Engineers do?
Mechatronics combines mechanical, electrical and software engineering in the design, development and…
Key Elements of Mechatronics
The study of mechatronic systems can be divided into the following areas…
What is Mechatronics
Mechatronics is a concept of Japanese origin (1970’s) and can be defined as the application of electronics and computer technology to control the motions of mechanical systems (figure 1.1.1). Figure 1.1.1 Definition of Mechatronics It is a multidisciplinary approach to product and manufacturing system design (Figure 1.1.2). It involves application of electrical, mechanical, control and computer engineering to develop products, processes and systems with greater flexibility, ease in redesign and ability of reprogramming. It concurrently includes all these disciplines. Figure 1.1.2 Mechatronics: a multi-disciplinary approach Mechatronics can also be termed as replacement of…
