Reinventing mechatronics

Mechatronics was initially conceived as a design based engineering concept which related to the impact of computing processing power and electronics on the design and operation of a wide range of mechanical systems. Since then, there have been dramatic changes in system functionality and capability, driven largely by developments in computing and information technologies, resulting in systems of increasing capability and complexity. More recently, the growth of system concepts such as that of Cyber-Physical Systems and the development of the Internet of Things and The Cloud have also impacted on the nature and role of mechatronics, creating opportunities for step-change improvement, particularly in respect of the provision of smart components and sub-systems and their configuration. These have brought with them new challenges in areas such as system modelling, user privacy and machine ethics, all of which relate to the need, and opportunity, for mechatronics to reinvent itself both contextually and conceptually while retaining its core concepts of system integration. The current chapter therefore brings together these and other issues to provide the framework for the subsequent chapters.