Mechatronics.
Surely at this time of great technological advancement, every day that show the
effort of engineers and scientists from around the world, people will still be
wondering what the word Mechatronics means. If you're one of them, you're on
you dive into a world of knowledge of history, definition of the term,
workplace, among several other things.
Mechatronics,
this word consists of the words "mechanics" and
"electronics". His field of study is based, as its name suggests, the
combination of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, but in turn, in
combination with the branch in Computer Systems and Control Systems. Its main
objective is the design and automation of machines, to make them
self-sufficient, and we further simplify our daily lives, that in the end, that
address each of the engineering in the world, that needs society demands of
them.
Although
the Mechatronics Engineering is relatively new (compared to other branches of
engineering), mechatronics as such arises because of the industrial revolution,
which resulted in the creation of machines increased quality and quantity of
products for mass use (as mentioned previously, to meet the demanding needs of
society at that time). Then, in the mid 40's, in what was called the
"second industrial revolution" was as important the introduction of
electronic components that were coupled to integrated circuits, which gave
birth to the digital computer. Countries that had such advanced technology to
those times, were put on top of the edge of society, including Japan, which has
always been a country that is known for its extraordinary technological
innovation in different branches of science.
The
term "mechatronics" was first introduced in 1969 by a Japanese
precisely, the Engineer Tetsuro Mori. The definition of the term, at first was
"the integration of mechanics with electronics in a machine or
product." Later, he established himself as a branch of engineering, which
integrated the elements of computing systems, the development of microelectronics
technology, the advancement of artificial intelligence, theory of control
systems, and other systems that related to computer science.
J.A.
Rietdijk defined the term Mechatronic as follows: "Mechatronics is the
synergistic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronics,
automatic control, and product design systems and processes." This
definition is widely accepted by the scientific and technological society.
Let's
talk about what is the workplace. The chances of finding work for Mechatronic Engineering
are very high, as there is a wide range of work. Some of these fields are:
Ø Automotive.
Ø Manufacturing.
Ø Petrochemical
Ø Metal-mechanics.
Ø Electromechanical.
The
activities can play in these different areas are in particular:
Ø Design.
Ø Manufacturing.
Ø Programming components.
Ø Programming of industrial systems.
Ø Etc.
As
you can see, is very broad field of work that exists for this specialty.
To
end this article, I will with an analogy of a Mechatronic Engineer with a duck.
"Ducks
are creatures that perform certain skills which make them be special animals.
The first of these skills is that they can walk, but not a great walker. The
second is that it can fly, but not a great flyer. And the third is to swim, but
not a great swimmer. "
Thus
a Mechatronic Engineer possesses sound knowledge in various branches of
science, but do not have full knowledge of them, as someone who only
specializes in one.
