Mechatronics

Mechatronics includes mechanics, pneumatics, electronically controlled systems, programming, robotics, systems integration and development. It is the job of the mechatronics technician to combine these areas to design, build, maintain, and repair automated equipment, and programme equipment control systems.

As well as factory assembly lines, mechatronics is used in everything from bottling machines to cash dispensers and automated production lines.

This is normally a practical competition, for a team of 2, however, given the current social distancing rules the current competition cycle will run as an individual competition. This will test your understanding of logic circuits, design and fault finding skills in a challenging environment. To complete the tasks competitors are expected to apply their theoretical knowledge of fundamental principles of automation, pneumatic, electro-pneumatic, sensor and PLC technologies.

The skills that are tested in the practical competition include:

• Designing, building and testing pneumatic, electro-pneumatic circuits and PLC programmes for sequential and non-sequential tasks; system building and process optimisation
• Mechanically assembling a given set of components and sub-systems to a specification
• Electro-pneumatic circuit simulation
• Adding new functionality and operations to a given application.
• System integration of multiple modular production systems and optimisation
• General Impression and function.