Mechatronics Glossary
25 essential terms — because precise language is the foundation of clear thinking in Mechatronics.
Showing 25 of 25 terms
A device that converts energy into mechanical motion to perform work in a system.
A circuit that converts continuous analog signals into discrete digital values for processing by a microcontroller.
A frequency-response graph showing magnitude and phase of a system's transfer function versus frequency.
Controller Area Network, a robust serial communication protocol used for real-time data exchange among electronic control units.
A control strategy that uses feedback from sensors to compare actual output with the desired setpoint and correct errors.
A circuit that converts digital values into corresponding analog voltages or currents.
The number of independent parameters needed to define the configuration of a mechanical system or robot.
A dedicated computer system within a larger product designed to perform specific real-time control or monitoring tasks.
A sensor that converts rotational or linear mechanical position into electrical signals, either incremental or absolute.
The return of a portion of a system's output to its input, allowing the controller to detect and correct errors.
The steady-state response of a system to sinusoidal inputs over a range of frequencies, used to evaluate dynamic behavior.
An electronic switching circuit that enables bidirectional control of a DC motor by reversing the polarity of voltage applied to it.
The hardware and software through which a human operator interacts with, monitors, and controls a machine or system.
The mathematical process of calculating the joint parameters needed to place a robot's end-effector at a desired position and orientation.
The interdisciplinary engineering field that combines mechanical, electronic, computer, and control engineering to design intelligent systems.
A compact integrated circuit with a CPU, memory, and I/O peripherals used for embedded control applications.
A control loop mechanism employing proportional, integral, and derivative terms to minimize error between a setpoint and a measured process variable.
A technique that controls average power delivery by varying the duty cycle of a digital signal.
An operating system that guarantees a certain capability within specified time constraints for processing data and events.
A device that detects changes in a physical quantity and converts them into a signal that can be measured or recorded.
A motor with integrated feedback for precise control of position, speed, and torque.
A mathematical representation of a system using a set of first-order differential equations defined by state, input, and output matrices.
A brushless DC motor that moves in discrete angular steps, enabling precise open-loop position control without feedback.
The process of creating mathematical or computational representations of physical systems to predict their behavior.
The Laplace-domain ratio of a system's output to its input, characterizing its dynamic behavior for linear time-invariant systems.