Prototyping Of Mechatronic Systems Research Articles

A Contribution for Virtual Prototyping of Mechatronic Systems Based on Real-Time Distributed High Level Architecture

Mechatronics is the integration of different sciences and techniques of mechanical engineering, automatic control, electronics, and informatics. The rapid evolution of the market competitors requires the reduction of development time of a product while increasing the quality and performance. It is, therefore, necessary to increase the efficiency of the design process. To meet this need, simulation and, especially, virtual prototyping have become a key technology. It is difficult to find simulation tools are able to analyze multidependent systems of different areas. However, an environment that allows a simulation integrating multidisciplinary mechatronic systems is necessary. This paper describes a method of design and simulation of mechatronic systems. First, we identify the behavior model and its associated 3D geometric model. The behavior model is seen as a dynamic hybrid system of two coupled hybrid automata (operative part and control part). Then, we present OpenMASK and OpenModelica simulators, the IEEE1516 standard HLA and work related to this distributed architecture for simulation. In a top-down approach, we present our method and experiments to integrate HLA functionalities in these simulators and to distribute the modeling elements of mechatronic systems. Also, we propose extensions to integrate real-time for interactive simulations. Finally, we apply our approach on a representative example of a mechatronic system.

Integrated structure/control design of mechatronic systems using a recursive experimental optimization method

A recursive experimental design method for simultaneously optimizing both mechanical structure and control is presented in this paper. Control gains are optimally tuned for a given prototype of mechatronic system, and its mechanical structure is physically modified so that control performance can be further improved. The entire control tuning, evaluation, and structure alteration process is repeated until the desired performance goals are achieved. In each iteration, incremental design changes are determined based on a sensitivity Jacobian relating structural changes to performance improvements. The sensitivity Jacobian is updated during the recursive process using the actual data of the design changes. To estimate the Jacobian despite few data points, a pseudoinverse method and a parameter perturbation algorithm, termed singular-value excitation, are developed. The mechanical structure is modified recursively and quickly by using structure reinforcement and rapid prototyping techniques. The feasibility of mechanical structure changes is taken into account in determining the design changes. The proposed methodology is verified through simulation and applied to the design of a robot positioning system. The robot arm structure is modified with regard to stiffness and damping by using steel reinforced epoxy. PD control gains are optimized every time the structure is modified. Through the recursive procedure, an optimal combination of the arm structure and control gains is obtained.