MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING ON THE EXAMPLE OF AN INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION VEHICLE

This paper presents insights concerning a design methodology for mechatronic products. In general, it follows VDI Guideline 2206 [I] and proposes the use of the well-known V-model at the macro-level and the general problem-solving cycle of systems engineering at the micro level. The V-model is customized for the mechatronic systems under development and can be used to describe the whole system (the product) or the subsystems. The paper delivers a background on mechatronics engineering in its second section and presents two mechatronic development projects in the following ones. The third section is dedicated to the product development of an Industrial Robot while the fourth section is focused on an outdoor robot called MAX 3D. Both projects originate from an innovative driving and steering solution developed in one of the previous projects. In these two sections the robot designs are presented together with occurring design problems and observations made during the mechatronic product development of these robot designs. The description of these problems and observations serves for a further development of the development methodology for mechatronic systems.