Integrated mechanical electronic systems emerge from a suitable combination of mechanics, electronics and control/information processing. Thereby, these fields influence each other mutually. First, a shift of functions from mechanics to electronics is observed and then the addition of extended and new functions. Finally, systems are being developed with certain intelligent or autonomous functions. For these integrated mechanical electronic systems, the term “mechatronics” has been used for several years.
A mechatronic device is one that is able to perceive the surrounding environ- ment, make appropriate decisions based on that information, and execute those decisions.
