Branch of mechanical engineering
Mechatronics
Where mechanisms meet sensors, motors, and code — machines that measure and react.
← Back to the latticeWhat it studies
Mechatronics fuses mechanical design with electronics and software: robots, drones, 3D printers, anti-lock brakes. A mechatronic system senses (encoders, strain gauges), decides (controllers), and acts (motors, actuators) — hundreds of times per second.
It meets our fields at smart materials and structural health monitoring: strain sensors laminated inside composite parts let a wing report its own loads, and piezoelectric polymers turn strain directly into signals.
Key ideas
sense → decide → actuate, in a loopfeedback control (PID) and stabilityactuators: motors, servos, piezosembedded strain sensing in compositesthe 3D printer: mechatronics making materials
Work in this branch on mpolyco
Go further (open resources)
More in the library · licenses on the acknowledgements page.