The term "mechatronics" was coined in 1969, merging "mecha" from
mechanism and "tronics" from electronics, to reflect the original idea
at the basis of this discipline, that is, the integration of electrical
and mechanical systems into a single device. The spread of this term,
and of mechatronics itself, has been growing in the years, including new
aspects and disciplines, like control engineering, computer engineering
and communication/information engineering.
Nowadays mechatronics has a well-defined and fundamental role, in strict
relation with robotics. Drawing a sharp border between mechatronics and
robotics is impossible, as they share many technologies and objectives.
Advanced robots could be defined as mechatronic devices equipped with a
"smart brain", but there are also up-to-date mechatronic devices, used
in tight interaction with humans, that are governed by smart
architectures (for example, for safety purposes).
Aim of this book is to offer a wide overview of new research trends and
challenges for both mechatronics and robotics, through the contribution
of researchers from different institutions, providing their view on
specific subjects they consider as "hot topics" in both fields, with
attention to new fields of application, new challenges to the research
communities and new technologies available.
The reader of this book will enjoy the various contributions, as they
have been prepared with actual applications in mind, along a journey
from advanced actuators and sensors to human-robot interaction, through
robot control, navigation, planning and programming issues. The book
presents several state-of-the-art solutions, like multiple-stage
actuation to cope with conflicting specification of large motion-spans,
ultra-high accuracy, model-based control for high-tech mechatronic
systems, modern approaches of software systems engineering to robotics,
aand humanoids for human assistance. The reader can also find new
techniques in approaching the design of mechatronic systems in some
possible industrial and service robotics scenarios, with a particular
attention for the interaction between humans and mechanisms.
