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The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of shaped metal deposition (SMD). SMD is an additive manufacturing process which uses a robotic cell to create fully dense, near‐net shape, metallic parts directly from computer‐aided design files.

Research into optimising the SMD process was carried out as part of the 6th Framework RAPOLAC project. This included developing both robotic and weld models, creating a weld controller, and using a design of experiments approach to optimise parameters based on the resultant component microstructure and material properties. Extensive metallurgical analysis and mechanical testing was carried out.

A mechatronic model of the robot was produced and integrated with a novel controller to allow parts to be manufactured with little or no operator intervention. Computational models of the temperature field, microstructure, strain and stresses that occur during deposition were also developed. Variation in weld parameters was linked to part microstructure and mechanical properties.

This research focussed on a common titanium aerospace alloy (Ti‐6Al‐4V).

The SMD process is applicable to a variety of parts in a range of industrial sectors. It is cost‐effective for low‐volume parts and prototypes, but it is envisaged that its main use will be to add material to previously forged or cast components and therefore SMD will allow companies to reduce both the size of forgings and material waste. SMD as a repair technique is also being investigated.

The paper provides a summary of the latest advances in robotic manufacturing by SMD.

Mechatronics is a very important area of research in industrial applications. The purpose of this study is to find some of the most important components of the literature on this subject.

The analysis is based on the use of the database Compendex; it was searched in the broadest way for documents related to mechatronics. In addition, subject guides from libraries of universities with mechatronics programs were studied to find resources available in those areas.

The literature of mechatronics is extensive and multidisciplinary. Based on the results from Compendex, the following data were found: most productive authors, list of leading journals and conference proceedings, publishers and grant organizations, authors’ affiliations and other minor details. Based on the analysis of subject guides, the following types of resources were found: research databases, reference books and ebook collections.

Part of the analysis is based on a search performed in one technical database, Compendex; it was the database that generated the largest number of citations as compared to Inspec and the Web of Science. The results have a strong English language focus. It is possible that by using the results from multiple data bases, some additional sources could be obtained.

Mechatronics is a relatively new technological field comprising a number of scientific and engineering areas. The results obtained summarized a significant amount of bibliographic information.

The work is original; to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has analyzed the literature on this subject.

This paper reports on the findings of first of its kind to examine motorbike’s chain transmission, focusing on chain lubrication and its effect on the temperature, efficiency and vibrations of the transmission. The novelty of the paper is to investigate holistically the lubrication effect on the transmission by comparing its dynamic performances under three different lubrication conditions: chain not lubricated at all, chain lubricated with a spray polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) addicted lube and chain lubricated with a mineral oil at every minute of the test.

A novel mechatronic test rig has been designed and manufactured using a thermocamera, a dynamometer and an accelerometer respectively. The rig enables a multi-parameter dynamic and real-time sensing investigation of any motorbike chain system by recording temperature, transmission's efficiency and vibrations for any tests by. An experimental investigation has been conducted by running a chain under three aforementioned lube conditions at different speeds with the purposes of: (A) measuring the effect that each lube condition has on three critical parameters: temperature, vibrations and the efficiency of the transmission, and (B) identify the best conditions for practical use.

Results showed that proper use of lubricant can increase the efficiency of the system, by an estimated average of 4.1% is desirable. Additionally, using a continuous lubrication with a mineral oil lubricant leads to better transmission compared to the use of the spray PTFE from the efficiency and thermal points of view.

This work presents an experimental investigation on the effect of two different kinds of lubrication form motorbike chain on transmission’s efficiency. The findings are still valid for different applications of chain transmission in dirty environments. Novelty of the paper is highlighted as follows: this is the first work scientifically investigating the importance of lubrication on chain in harsh environments, particularly of motorbike chain. The work reports a comprehensive lete set experiments and analysis of thermal and mechanical effect because of the presence of lubricant has never been shown. Three kinds of lubricants have been used, and show their distinctive effects which are separately highlighted.

The purpose of the paper is to present modeling and control of a nonlinear mechatronic system. To solve the control problem, the modified state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) method is applied. The control problem is designed and analyzed using the nonlinear feedback gain strategy for the infinite time horizon problem.

As a new contribution, this paper deals with state-dependent parametrization as an effective modeling of the mechatronic system and shows how to modify the classical form of the SDRE method to reduce computational effort during feedback gain computation. The numerical example compares described methods and confirms usefulness of the proposed technique.

The proposed control technique can ensure optimal dynamic response, reducing computational effort during control law computation. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified via numerical simulation.

The authors introduced an innovative approach to the well-known SDRE control methodology and settled their research in the newest literature coverage for this issue.

Introduces the need for engineering knowledge management tools for storing past solutions and expert knowledge for the design of automatic precision machinery. The design of this type of machine, which is heavily utilised in modern manufacturing industry, is very complex, time‐consuming and potentially expensive. Describes the design and functionality of a novel computer aided rapid prototyping tool named Schemebuilder. The design is traced from its philosophical origins in the “Theory of domains” and how this can be used by the designer with the aid of the computer. The application of this underlining methodology for the design of precision machinery employing feedback control systems is also described. Finally an example is shown for the design of a control system for precise position control of a glass bottle making machine.

The aim of this work is to propose a logical‐based approach for deriving the critical scenarii from a differential predicate transition Petri nets model and proof tree, to evaluate diagnosis and safety of hybrid systems.

The new approach integrates the Petri net model and linear logic. The design process is twofold: first, it considers the specific translation from Petri net to linear logic, and, second, it studies the relationship between the order of the rule application in the sequent proof and the processes associated with the same reachability problem.

With linear logic and Petri net it is proved that, from a canonical proof tree, a partial order can be derived (based on causality point of view) of transition firing and focusing the search of the parts of the model that are interesting for safety analysis. Each scenario is given by a partial order between the events necessary for the occurrence of the feared event.

This paper deals with safety in design of hybrid systems. For this purpose, it is important to characterize feared behaviours (which are critical) in the early design stage.

Describes the current research into vision‐based control of remotely controlled vehicles. The research at Robotics and Mechatronics Research Laboratory (RMRL), Monash University, Australia, aims to establish the foundation for future studies in control actions on levers and joysticks for guiding remotely operated vehicles. Use is made of a remote‐controlled car which is tracked by an overhead camera. A frame grabber is utilized to process the images and pass the necessary information about the relative position of the vehicle to the computer. Two servo‐driven mechanical arms are controlled to move the joysticks on the remote control unit. Focuses attention on simplified strategies for tracking and the subsequent control of such vehicles. Describes experimental facility comprising of the mechatronic components and their integration within this research‐based apparatus. Also presents future work in this area.