Introduction to Mechatronics

The course objective is to introduce the student to the interdisciplinary field of Mechatronics, including its current trends. It also intends to motivate the student to become engaged in continuing self, or organizational, hands on studies and product development projects.

The lectures start with examples of traditional Mechatronics systems in which the lecturer was involved with. It continues by highlighting common Mechatronics engineering disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, software and communication, with an overview of their interconnectivity. It then presents the trends in Mechatronics product development, including Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning features. These trends are integral components of our current "Technological Singularity" era, where innovative technical solutions to existing problems in all areas, around the globe, develop at an exponential rate. The lectures end with short discussions of related project management and business development aspects, which are required to bring an innovative idea to the market place and protect its intellectual property (IP).

The second part of the course presents an example of an innovative Mechatronics solution to a post surgery therapy problem using machine learning features. The example presents a "Provisional Patent Coverage" for IP protection, and a Proof of Concept (POC) video, which shows one way of how the product may be used. An optional follow-up exercise for the student to try, includes planning for a business development project of an innovative Mechatronics solution for any real problem of the student's interest.

This short course is not intended to make the student an expert in Mechatronics. It takes years to get there. However, it is hoped that the student will find interest in Mechatronics related fields to the extent of attempting an hands on project of any problem, and using it in making a better decision for the next best course of action.