Vukica M. Jovanovic

Experiences in developing labs for a supervisory control and data acquisition course for undergraduate Mechatronics education

This paper describes the course Systems for Supervision and Process Visualization that is conducted at the undergraduate studies of Mechatronics at University of Novi Sad, the scope, tasks, labs and hands on activities. In addition, it presents the student evaluation of the course that provided valuable feedback for further improvements.

Collaborative Design in The Assembly Systems

Today companies are specialized for partial technology processes. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands of collaborative processes depend on workers interaction and communication in product assembly and disassembly phase. With intensive coordination during all manufacturing phases of designing of one product and technology documentation are produced, in digital form, on CAx workstation. Product Lifecycle Management can be achieved by using specialized software solutions. Some of the Product Lifecycle Management solutions offer integrated portfolio for engineering design and production of products and services, which enables companies to create their own digital ebusiness projects. In this paper it will be given a representation of the contemporaneously solutions for collaborative design and the example of using solutions in the industry.

Early problems identification in collaborative engineering with different product data modelling standards

Since activities during collaborative projects in global engineering teams depend greatly on efficient exchange of current and accurate data, establishing procedures for successful data exchange is needed for effective product design and realisation projects. The work found in this study benefits a collaborative engineering strategy for testing available software applications, and their neutral exchange file types, which will be used in a bigger project among stakeholders in the product design or manufacturing phase. A collaborative methodology for future larger scale projects that would be done with a team, who has access to different software, has been tested on a smaller example in this study using a cordless hand drill reverse engineering project. This research aimed to establish a model for the start-up and testing of a virtual collaborative tool set-up for a future engineering collaboration on product design and realisation projects. A real case study was considered in this project to simulate a real situation, not uncommon for modern design and manufacturing projects, especially while collaborators are from mid-sized companies and working for a larger supplier. The proposed approach is a possible solution to accelerate the identification of possible problems in data conversion as early as in the design phase.

Using Senior Design Project to Teach Design for Use of a Mechatronic Device

Recent innovations have focused on the development of products which have embedded features such as sustainable energy power sources and intelligent controls which take into account energy efficiency and environmental variables that drive the total cost of the product ownership. The primary purpose of such efforts is to promote products that are more energy efficient and that are making smaller environmental footprint during their lifecycle. Lower cost, easy assembly and better manufacturability are some of the parameters that are part of the Design for Excellence (DfX) methodology. One of the most significant expenses that customers will face will occur during the use stage of the product lifecycle. This paper discusses the application of Design for Use (DfU) strategies on a conceptual design and prototype of a solar skimmer for a swimming pool. A group of senior students in mechanical engineering technology program completed this project as their requirement for graduation.

Applications of electro-hydraulics actuators

Electro-hydraulic systems can be used in robust robotics systems that have to carry heavier loads efficiently. Electrical drives have proven to be reliable and easy to control, but they may have problems when it comes to holding a position under load for a long period of time. Hence, electro-hydraulic systems are gaining more attention in applications that need good positioning and force feedback.

Comparison between Newton-Euler and Automatic Separation Method for SCARA dynamic modeling

Dynamic modeling of robotic systems is always a challenge, not only because of the calculation complexity, but also because of the difficulties in separating basic elements of the system mass matrix, matrix of Coriolis torques, matrix of centrifugal torques, and the matrix of gravity torques. Automatic Separation Method (ASM) is applied and compared with the traditional Newton-Euler (N-E) recursive procedure using the SCARA robotic system with three Degrees of Freedom (3 DOF). In the comparison of the two methods, it is significant that using the N-E method will require additional computing time and effort to manually separate metrics elements, while the ASM takes no time to achieve the same result. The benefits of ASM can be important for more complex robotic systems, such as industrial robots with 6 or 7 DOF. The results achieved by ASM can be easily written in the form that the N-E recursive procedure delivers, but vice versa is very hard.

Single axis solar tracker actuator location analysis

Current trends in energy power generation are leading efforts related to the development of more reliable, sustainable sources and technologies for energy harvesting. Solar energy is one of these renewable energy resources, widely available in nature. Most of the solar panels used today to convert solar energy into chemical energy, and then to electrical energy, are stationary. Energy efficiency studies have shown that more electrical energy can be retrieved from solar panels if they are organized in arrays and then placed on a solar tracker that can then follow the sun as it moves during the day from east to west, and as it moves from north to south during the year, as seasons change. Adding more solar panels to solar tracker structures will improve its yield. It would also add more challenges when it comes to managing the overall weight of such structures, and their strength and reliability under different weather conditions, such as wind, changes in temperature, and atmospheric conditions. Hence, careful structural design and simulation is needed to establish the most optimal parameters in order for solar trackers to withstand all environmental conditions and to function with a high reliability for long periods of time.

The reconfigurable machinery efficient workspace analysis based on the twist angles

A novel methodology for the calculation, visualisation and analysis of the Reconfigurable Machinery Efficient Workspace RMEW, based on the twist angles, is presented in this paper. The machinerys kinematic parameters are used for calculating the workspace, while the efficient workspace is associated with the machinerys path and includes the end-effector position and orientation. To analyse and visualise many different machinery efficient workspaces at the same time, the calculation is based on the previously developed and validated complex reconfigurable machinerys kinematic structure named n-DOF Global Kinematic Model n-GKM. An industrial robot is used as an example to demonstrate an application of n-GKM model. It is calculated only for the tools perpendicular orientation relative to the floor. Four different kinematic configurations based on twist angles α

Mechatronic Education at the Faculty of Technical Sciences Novi Sad

The emerging engineering field of mechatronics has caught the attention of many engineering professionals, academics and government officials in recent years, nationally and globally. The main reason for this is that many modern products are no longer purely electrical and electronic or mechanical. Moreover, they are integrated multidisciplinary products which are made from subsystems which require engineering knowledge of different disciplines. Hence, increasing number of universities is offering courses, certificates and programs at undergraduate and graduate levels in the area of mechatronics. This paper presents an educational program in mechatronics at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. In addition, student evaluation of the mechatronics program is presented. The conducted survey enabled faculty to gain more insight into student opinions about this program which provided valuable feedback for further program improvements.