mechatronics

Mechatronic systems have to fulfill increasingly advanced functions and requirements to serve future customer needs and create reliable, resource-efficient and user-friendly systems. To realize tomorrow’s technical systems, solutions in context of self-optimization can be used. Thus, intelligent behavior can be integrated in technical systems. These systems are able to adapt their behavior autonomously and react to outer influences. The Leading-Edge Cluster “Intelligent Technical Systems OstWestfalenLippe (it’s OWL)” focuses on the described innovation leap from mechatronics to intelligent technical systems. Within this contribution we explain the capabilities of solutions in context of self-optimization on the example of machine learning methods. Furthermore, an approach for the identification of potentials for the integration of self-optimization in mechatronic systems will be introduced.

The information and communication technology distinguish the modern mechanical and automotive engineering. This is described by the term mechatronics. The development progress of information and communication technologies open up further fascinating perspectives: mechatronic systems with inherent partial intelligence. The term Self-optimization characterizes this perspective. Self-optimizing systems are able to react on changing environmental conditions and to optimize their behaviour autonomously. This contribution presents the paradigm of Self-optimization. The potential of Self-optimization is explained by two examples from the system RailCab.

The use of virtual engineering techniques in the field of product development requires a continuity of all digital development processes, workflows, tools and data. While this continuity is state-of-the-art on a level of geometric description it is still not achieved on a functional description level of product features. This paper analyses the state of the development and current problems in the process of introduction of virtual engineering in machine and plant engineering enterprises. Furthermore, the authors present their current research works in development of continuous digital process chains for product development.

Today, most modern mechanical engineering products are strongly driven by information technology. Therefore, the degree of complexity increases, which can reduced by a consistent modularization of the product. This contribution describes which challenges arise especially for the modularization of mechatronic systems, how the product structuring can be conducted and how the product development process is affected.