This book presents part of the iM3F 2020 proceedings from the Mechatronics track. It highlights key challenges and recent trends in mechatronics engineering and technology that are non-trivial in the age of Industry 4.0. It discusses traditional as well as modern solutions that are employed in the multitude spectra of mechatronics-based applications. The readers are expected to gain an insightful view on the current trends, issues, mitigating factors as well as solutions from this book.

Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary branch of engineering combining mechanical, electrical and electronics, control and automation, and computer engineering fields. The main research task of mechatronics is design, control, and optimization of advanced devices, products, and hybrid systems utilizing the concepts found in all these fields. The purpose of this special issue is to help better understand how mechatronics will impact on the practice and research of developing advanced techniques to model, control, and optimize complex systems. The special issue presents recent advances in mechatronics and related technologies. The selected topics give an overview of the state of the art and present new research results and prospects for the future development of the interdisciplinary field of mechatronic systems.

This book presents part of the proceedings of the Manufacturing and Materials track of the iM3F 2020 conference held in Malaysia. This collection of articles deliberates on the key challenges and trends related to manufacturing as well as materials engineering and technology in setting the stage for the world in embracing the fourth industrial revolution. It presents recent findings with regards to manufacturing and materials that are pertinent towards the realizations and ultimately the embodiment of Industry 4.0, with contributions from both industry and academia.

Mechatronics has evolved into a way of life in engineering practice, and indeed pervades virtually every aspect of the modern world. As the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems, the successful implementation of mechatronic systems requires the integrated expertise of specialists from each of these areas. De

In Industry 4.0, industrial productions are adjusted to complete smart automation, which means introducing self-automation methods, self-configuration, self-diagnosis of problems and removal, cognition, and intelligent decision making. This implementation of Industry 4.0 brings about a change in business paradigms and production models, and this will be reflected at all levels of the production process including supply chains and will involve all workers in the production process from managers to cyber-physical systems designers and customers as end-users. The Handbook of Research on Integrating Industry 4.0 in Business and Manufacturing is an essential reference source that explores the development and integration of Industry 4.0 by examining changes and innovations to manufacturing processes as well as its applications in different industrial areas. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics such as cyber physical systems, integration criteria, and artificial intelligence, this book is ideally designed for mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, manufacturers, supply chain managers, logistics specialists, investors, managers, policymakers, production scientists, researchers, academicians, and students at the postgraduate level.

Rotor dynamics is an important branch of dynamics that deals with behavior of rotating machines ranging from very large systems like power plant rotors, for example, a turbogenerator, to very small systems like a tiny dentist’s drill, with a variety of rotors such as pumps, compressors, steam/gas turbines, motors, turbopumps etc. as used for example in process industry, falling in between. The speeds of these rotors vary in a large range, from a few hundred RPM to more than a hundred thousand RPM. Complex systems of rotating shafts depending upon their specific requirements, are supported on different types of bearings. There are rolling element bearings, various kinds of fluid film bearings, foil and gas bearings, magnetic bearings, to name but a few. The present day rotors are much lighter, handle a large amount of energy and fluid mass, operate at much higher speeds, and therefore are most susceptible to vibration and instability problems. This have given rise to several interesting physical phenomena, some of which are fairly well understood today, while some are still the subject of continued investigation. Research in rotor dynamics started more than one hundred years ago. The progress of the research in the early years was slow. However, with the availability of larger computing power and versatile measurement technologies, research in all aspects of rotor dynamics has accelerated over the past decades. The demand from industry for light weight, high performance and reliable rotor-bearing systems is the driving force for research, and new developments in the field of rotor dynamics. The symposium proceedings contain papers on various important aspects of rotor dynamics such as, modeling, analytical, computational and experimental methods, developments in bearings, dampers, seals including magnetic bearings, rub, impact and foundation effects, turbomachine blades, active and passive vibration control strategies including control of instabilities, nonlinear and parametric effects, fault diagnostics and condition monitoring, and cracked rotors. This volume is of immense value to teachers, researchers in educational institutes, scientists, researchers in R&D laboratories and practising engineers in industry.

The term “mechatronics” was coined in 1969, merging “mecha” from mechanism and “tronics” from electronics, to reflect the original idea at the basis of this discipline, that is, the integration of electrical and mechanical systems into a single device. The spread of this term, and of mechatronics itself, has been growing in the years, including new aspects and disciplines, like control engineering, computer engineering and communication/information engineering. Nowadays mechatronics has a well-defined and fundamental role, in strict relation with robotics. Drawing a sharp border between mechatronics and robotics is impossible, as they share many technologies and objectives. Advanced robots could be defined as mechatronic devices equipped with a “smart brain”, but there are also up-to-date mechatronic devices, used in tight interaction with humans, that are governed by smart architectures (for example, for safety purposes). Aim of this book is to offer a wide overview of new research trends and challenges for both mechatronics and robotics, through the contribution of researchers from different institutions, providing their view on specific subjects they consider as “hot topics” in both fields, with attention to new fields of application, new challenges to the research communities and new technologies available. The reader of this book will enjoy the various contributions, as they have been prepared with actual applications in mind, along a journey from advanced actuators and sensors to human-robot interaction, through robot control, navigation, planning and programming issues. The book presents several state-of-the-art solutions, like multiple-stage actuation to cope with conflicting specification of large motion-spans, ultra-high accuracy, model-based control for high-tech mechatronic systems, modern approaches of software systems engineering to robotics, aand humanoids for human assistance. The reader can also find new techniques in approaching the design of mechatronic systems in some possible industrial and service robotics scenarios, with a particular attention for the interaction between humans and mechanisms.

FAO is a global knowledge broker for the agri-food industry, including technologies for production and processing. In particular, the Agro-Industries Programme of FAO is increasingly tending to focus on appropriate input supply, innovation and value chain development. Improvements in these areas have the potential to sustain and improve livelihoods and well-being at whatever scale and in whatever region of the world. Within the World Congress on "Agricultural Engineering for a Better World," as a preparation for the challenges of the twenty-first century, FAO conducted two workshops. The first targeted the subject of "challenges for agricultural mechanization in sub-Saharan Africa," and the second focused on "using technology to add value and increase quality." This report contains the results of the Congress, and encourages both readers and decision-makers to consider the important role of engineering technologies for development and, indeed, for a better world. (Also available in French and Spanish)

The changing manufacturing environment requires more responsive and adaptable manufacturing systems. The theme of the 5th International Conference on Changeable, Agile, Reconfigurable and Virtual production (CARV2013) is "Enabling Manufacturing Competitiveness and Economic Sustainability. Leading edge research and best implementation practices and experiences, which address these important issues and challenges, are presented. The proceedings include advances in manufacturing systems design, planning, evaluation, control and evolving paradigms such as mass customization, personalization, changeability, re-configurability and flexibility. New and important concepts such as the dynamic product families and platforms, co-evolution of products and systems, and methods for enhancing manufacturing systems' economic sustainability and prolonging their life to produce more than one product generation are treated. Enablers of change in manufacturing systems, production volume and capability, scalability and managing the volatility of markets, competition among global enterprises and the increasing complexity of products, manufacturing systems and management strategies are discussed. Industry challenges and future directions for research and development needed to help both practitioners and academicians are presented. About the Editor Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael F. Zaeh, born in 1963, has been and is Professor for and Manufacturing Technology since 2002 and, together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gunther Reinhart, Head of the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb) at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM). After studying general mechanical engineering, he was doctoral candidate under Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Milberg at TUM from 1990 until 1993 and received his doctorate in 1993. From 1994 to 1995, he was department leader under Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gunther Reinhart. From 1996 to 2002, he worked for a machine tool manufacturer in several positions, most recently as a member of the extended management. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael F. Zaeh is an associated member of the CIRP and member of acatech, WGP and WLP. His current researches include among others Joining and Cutting Technologies like Laser Cutting and Welding as well as Friction Stir Welding, Structural Behaviour and Energy Efficiency of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Processes like Additive Manufacturing.