Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary branch of engineering combining mechanical, electrical and electronics, control and automation, and computer engineering fields. The main research task of mechatronics is design, control, and optimization of advanced devices, products, and hybrid systems utilizing the concepts found in all these fields. The purpose of this special issue is to help better understand how mechatronics will impact on the practice and research of developing advanced techniques to model, control, and optimize complex systems. The special issue presents recent advances in mechatronics and related technologies. The selected topics give an overview of the state of the art and present new research results and prospects for the future development of the interdisciplinary field of mechatronic systems.

Most modern systems involve various engineering disciplines. Mechatronic systems are designed to be dependable and efficient; however, mechatronics engineering faces multiple challenges at the design and exploitation stages. It is essential for engineers to be aware of these challenges and remain up to date with the emerging research in the mechatronics engineering field. Trends, Paradigms, and Advances in Mechatronics Engineering presents the latest advances and applications of mechatronics. It highlights the recent challenges in the field and facilitates understanding of the subject. Covering topics such as the construction industry, design optimization, and low-cost fabrication, this premier reference source is a crucial resource for engineers, computer scientists, construction managers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

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.

This book consists of select proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (ICETMIE) 2019. It covers current trends in thermal, design, industrial, production and other sub-disciplines of mechanical engineering. This volume focuses on different areas of design engineering including computational mechanics, computational fluid dynamics, finite elements in modelling, simulation, analysis and design, kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies, micro- and nano-mechanics, solid mechanics and structural mechanics, vibration and acoustics, applied mechanics, and biomechanics. It also covers various topics from thermal engineering including refrigeration plants, heat exchangers, heat pumps and heat pipes, combined heat and power and advanced alternative cycles, polygeneration, combustion processes, heat transfer, solar cells, solar thermal power plants, and the integration of renewable energy with conventional processes. This book will be useful for students, researchers as well as professionals working in the area of mechanical engineering, especially thermal engineering and engineering design and other allied areas.

This book comprises select proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Mechanical Engineering (ICETME 2018). The book covers various topics of mechanical engineering like computational fluid dynamics, heat transfer, machine dynamics, tribology, and composite materials. In addition, relevant studies in the allied fields of manufacturing, industrial and production engineering are also covered. The applications of latest tools and techniques in the context of mechanical engineering problems are discussed in this book. The contents of this book will be useful for students, researchers as well as industry professionals.

The book presents the select proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (ICETMIE 2022). It covers the latest trends in the area of mechanical engineering. The broad topics covered in the book are engineering design, industrial and production engineering, Industry 4.0, energy and process engineering, mechatronics, control and robotics, material science, and automotive engineering. The book is useful for students, researchers, and professionals working in the various areas of mechanical engineering.