Inter-Ing 2005

„INTERDISCIPLINARITY IN ENGINEERING”
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION,
TG. MUREŞ – ROMÂNIA, 10 -11 November 2005.

THE INTEGRATION CONCEPT IN THE DESIGN OF THE KINEMATIC

AXIS IN MECHATRONICS

BESOIU SORIN, HANCU OLIMPIU, BĂLAN RADU

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CLUJ-NAPOCA

Keywords: integration, mechatronics, kinematic axis, positioning system, microcontroller, control

Abstract: Mechatronics consists in integration of three fields in engineering: mechanics, electronics

and information technology. The paradigm of mechatronics is integration. The paper presents details
regarding the integration process for the kinematic axis in mechatronic. The example of the
positioning system based on dc motor and screw-nut transmission is analysed.

Introduction

The synergetic union of the mechatronic systems creates major interdependencies

among the involved engineering disciplines, which are proved in many ways, for example the
mechanical properties which can be combined with the control system characteristics which at
their turn are coupled with software properties.
Mechatronics defines the evolution from the past (traditional sequence engineering) to
the future (intelligent hiperintegrated systems). It’s the basic of the future and represents the
current technology challenges in engineering and education, so being the design technology of
intelligent hiperintegrated machines. Mechatronic designers have to face difficult tasks, such
as combining elements of mechanics, electronics, embedded systems and digital signal
processing, being concerned by miniaturization of components, flexibility, reliability, a high
grade of inteligence and adaptibility. This could be achived better by integrating one or more
functions or units in some of the components of the mechatronic system.
Continuing the developments in miniaturization and fabrication will provide further
challenges for mechatronics engineers and researchers. The demands of current and future
technologies require engineers that have interdisciplinary skills and will not only provide such
skill, but will enable them to effectively adapt to rapidly shifting technologies.

The integration concept

The paradigm of mechatronics is the integration concept, being the first step in the
design of complex mechatronic systems. The need for an integrated approach to the design of
complex engineering system has led to the growth of the concept of mechatronics [1][2][5].
Mechatronics is the backbone of the integronic approaches. The concept of integronics

261
is shown in figure 1.

Fig. 1. The concept of integronics

Integration gives the possibility of association to complementary elements, the

possibility of connecting, of forming cycles and networks. But integration also gives the
possibility of obtaining a surplus of elements, a structural redundancy. Integration therefore
gives the systems larger possibilities to maintain their identity despite the second principle of
thermodynamics. A special role is attached to information, since elements have to recognize
one another in order to be able to unite in increasingly organized systems. For this reason,
each element transports besides the substance and the energy it consists of, structural
information that can be recognized by the other elements. The necessity of integronics is
imposed by the unity of the world we live in, and also, by the unity of knowledge [1][2].

Integration of the basic function in a mechatronic system

Almost any mechatronic system is built-up with some basic units with basic functions
which are made to interact between them, to form a complex mechatronic system with a given
functionality. Basic functions of an intelligent system are shown in figure 2.

Basic function of an
Intelligent system

Perception Knowledge Execution

Fig. 2. Basic functions of an intelligent system

The perception function assures the necessary information about the present state of
the system and the environment in which the system operates. To accomplish this task sensors
or data acquisition systems are used.
The knowledge function consists in planning, programming and initiating the actions
of the system, taking in consideration the information assured by perception. Knowledge
refers at taking decisions about the actions that the system will perform. The term
“knowledge” is used only for those subsystems of machines who can take decisions upon

262
different or uncertain conditions.
The execution function consists in initiation, controlling, carrying on and finishing the
actions of the machines, based upon the information received from de knowledge and
perception function. The main elements of the execution subsystem structure are actuators[1].
There are no general methods to establish the borders between perception, knowledge
and execution. These distinct functions of an intelligent system are not always found as
physical component or different assembly; those can be integrated in a distinct unit or
assembly. A complex mechatronic system may have some or all these functions integrated in
a hardware unit but keeping the modularity of these functions through software subroutines or
units. The hardware of a mechatronic system may include conventional actuators and sensors.
The component which increases the performance of those is the control software which is
integrated in the electronic part of the mechatronic systems. For example, DC Motors can be
digital controlled by pulse width modulation technique, and for the analog to digital
converters which are used for analog sensors, in order to reduce noise, it is used a software
filter of the signal. This software filter can perform several conversions, eliminate the
minimum and maximum and calculate the average of the remaining values.

The positioning system based on screw-nut transmision

An example of the integration concept in the field of kinematic axis is the positioning
system. A positioning system with ball bearing screw-nut transmission based on a AVR
microcontroller and control from the PC was made. The flowchart from figure 3 shows the
steps which have to be seriously examined in the integrated design of the positioning systems.

Objectives Design of Selecting of Planning the Design of

mechanical proper sensors control software electronical
structure and actuators hardware

Programing the control software

according to tasks

Fig. 3. Integrated design of the positioning system

The objectives are to position a mobile carriage betweeen a distance of 200

millimeters with the micrometrical precision. The mechanical structure consists in a base with
two ball bearings which sustain the screw. It also has two sliding guides and an aluminium
rod which sustains the limitative sensors. The mobile carriage is made from aluminium and
includes de nut and balls from the ball bearing screw-nut transmision. The screw is actuated
by a 24V DC motor, with a reducing gear of 1/10 ratio, resulting a rotation speed of 340 rpm.
To the mechanical structure are attached two potentiometric sensors, one is the positioning
sensor which gives the control unit information about the current position, and the other one is
used to check up the estimated positioning precission. Those are the sensors and actuators,
simple and conventional but giving a high performance if digitally controlled with proper
control software [3]. In figure 4 it is showed the mechanical structure, sensors and DC motor.

263
 Fig. 4. Mechanical structure with sensors and DC motor

The next step is planning the control software acording to the objectives, mechanical
structures, sensors and actuators. Based on the control software that we have in sight we
design the electronical component. This is made on a test circuit board with the possibility to
program and control from the PC. If in the past were used electronic schematics without the
capacity to modify the functional parameters and/or control functions, or this changes were
limited, today, with the present electronic and information technology, it’s very easy and fast
to control a process, to program or modify tasks or to combine several processes with low cost
products and minimum investments in hardware and software. The electronical hardware that
this application uses consists in six non-independent units: DC motor control unit, analog to
digital converter unit for position sensor, control and processing unit, comunication with PC
unit, security unit and power supply unit (Figure 5).

Fig. 5. Electronic circuit board

264
 The DC motor control unit is based on a push-pull four channel drivers L293E IC with
an output current 1A max. It uses only two channels from this IC to control the DC motor in
both directions. The digital controlled trick is the chip enable input of the IC where the PWM
is applied. Therefore the drivers inputs may be used in bidirectional mode.
The analog to digital converter unit is based on a 13bit ADC MCP3301 with SPI serial
interface from Microchip. It has 100 ksps conversion rate at 5V. The reference voltage has
been set by a ajustable voltage regulator IC TL317 acording to position sensor measurement
of 200 milimeters establish by objectives.
The control and process unit consists in an 8bit AVR RISC microcontroller
Atmega8535 from ATMEL. Microcontrollers are used to reduce cost and to increase the
flexibility and reliability of most new products and system design. To create programs it is
possible to use both assembly and high level languages (C, Basic etc.). It is a good choice to
use a high level language because the application can be completed and implemented very
fast and by everybody, with minimum knowledge about computing and microcontrollers, and
they can develop their own applications. The program for microcontroller was written in
BASCOM AVR which is a BASIC language compiler for AVR family, providing a simulator,
a programmer and other useful resources.
The communication between microcontroller and PC is made by a communication unit
using a TTL-RS232 and vice versa converter with five electrolytic condensers. The cable is a
RS232 to 3,5mm Jack. Using the Delphi environment there was written a PC program to
control the system and communicate with the microcontroller through COM port. In figure 6
is shown one of the interfaces of the program. In the control program there was included a
Proportional-Derivative-Integrative (PID) controller, because this type of controller is very
efficient, it is not a very complex algorithm, it’s very easy to implement and has the
advantage of modularity. Also in the program there is included a system modelling and
optimization unit which generates a file with timestamps, current signal and current position,
usefull for MATLAB software, in system modelling and optimization tool.

The microcontroller reads the conversions from the external ADC who gives
information about the current position of the mobile carriage, passes through a software filter
to reduce the noise of conversions and sends the result to the PC. The result is taken by the
PID controller, then it is compared with the reference position and it takes a decision. That
decision actually represents a value for the motor speed which is sent to the microcontroller.
The microcontroller converts that value to a PWM signal which is sent to the DC motor

265
control unit.
The security unit provides restrictions concerning users who have acces to the
positioning system or settings. The PC can record files with time, date and users who acces
the system or make any changes. This function is implemented in the microcontroller who can
comunicate through 1-wire serial protocol with a „key” that a registered user should have. The
„key” is in fact a DALLAS DS1990A 64bit EPROM with a unique serial number. The serial
is read by the microcontroller, validated if it’s OK and sent to the PC.
The power supply unit is composed by two 1A voltage regulators, L7824 and L7805,
which provide both 24V and 5V to the DC motor and electronic board, in order for these to
work [3][4].
The positioning system that was made proved that has a lot of advantages like the
improvement of the dynamic behavior, flexibility, improvements in the positioning precision,
shorter response and positioning time, easily adapts to the environment variables like metal
dilatation, usage, lack of grease and not the last, modularity of the control software, all of that
thanks to the integration of the information component included in software. The positioning
system also may be used in education, where the students can understand the need of
integration, study the PID algorithm, learn how a PC comunicate with a microcontroller and
how to program it, they can write their own programs for the positionig system to acomplish
diferrent tasks and so on.

Conclusions

This paper presents details about the integration concept in the design of kinematic
axis and integrations of the basic function of a complex mechatronic system. In this paper it is
analysed a positioning system with ball bearing screw-nut transmission actuated by a DC
motor and controlled by a microcontroller and a PC, to understand the need of integration in
the design of mechatronics systems, for research and educational purposes.
The paradigm of mechatronics is the integration concept, being the first step in the
design of complex mechatronic systems. The need for an integrated approach to the design of
complex engineering system involving electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and
computing has led to the growth of the concept of mechatronics.
All these represent new openings regarding the design of complex mechatronic
systems.

References

[1] Mătieş, V., Mândru, D., Bălan, R., Tătar, O., Rusu, C., Tehnologie şi educaţie
mecatronică, Ed. Todesco, Cluj-Napoca, 2001.
[2] Mătieş, V., Bălan, R., Hancu, O., Mătieş, M., Mechatronic Philosophy a Challenge for
New Horizons Opening in the Study of Mechanisms, Proceedings of the 11th World Congress
in Mechanism and Machine Science, Tianjin, China, 2004.
[3] Besoiu, S., Optimizarea interfeţei şi a algoritmului de control pentru o axă cinematică
acţionată prin motor de curent continuu, Lucrare de Disertatie, UTCN, Cluj-Napoca, 2005.
[4] Besoiu, S., Proiectarea şi realizarea sistemului de control pentru un mecanism de
poziţionare, acţionat electric prin motor de curent continuu, Proiect de Diploma, UTCN, 2005.
[5] Szabo, F., Mătieş, V., Besoiu, S., Information Links, Flexibility And Reconfigurability Of
The Mechatronic Systems, The Ninth IFToMM International Symposium On Theory Of
Machines And Mechanisms, September 1 - 4, SYROM, Bucharest, Romania, 2005.

266