Page 16 - Mechatronic Components Roadmap to Design

Chapter 2

Use of This Book: Mechatronic

Components: Roadmap to
Design

Design concept requires creativity and knowledge. The designer is presented
with a vaguely defined problem. He will need to imagine a solution and use
the engineering knowledge to design and build the prototype system.
Almost all the time the problem can be explained in one or two sentences,
mostly by nonengineers. Let us say that the problem is to have a device to har-
vest energy from the water flowing in a creek. The user lives in a remote area
and would like to have energy source for his home. From the user’s perspective
the problem is quite simple, but from the mechatronic engineer’s point of view
the limitations of the problem should be defined (the boundary conditions). This
means that the designer should know the speed of the water, the depth and width
of the creek, hourly need of the power requirements of the house, and energy
storage system requirements for the times when the system is not in use. This
engineering definition is very important and sets base for the calculation of the
system. When the necessary calculations are carried out the designer can find
the properties of the parts that should be used.
Since the concept of mechatronics is so wide, with the possibilities of dif-
ferent machines for different purposes, there are many choices in front of the
designer to choose from. Let us consider transmission of rotational energy from
one point to another. River flow energy harvester, Fig. 1, has a wheel which is
rotated by the flow of the water and this rotation is transmitted to the electric
generator shaft via belt system. However, for the transmitting of rotation from
one shaft to another, the designer can use a belt, a chain, or a shaft system. Each
of these different solutions is valid, but they naturally have advantages and
disadvantages.
The purpose of this book, Mechatronic Components: Roadmap to Design,is
to help a designer to choose from different subsolutions to solve his design prob-
lem. This book is basically a guidebook where the reader can learn different
types of transmission systems and can decide which one to choose. Especially
all the concepts are explained via block diagrams so that the designer can follow
the system requirements to find the necessary solutions.

Mechatronic Components. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814126-7.00002-5
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 5