Mechatronics Engineering | Overview

"To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge" Nicolaus Copernicus

A phrase that in my opinion captures the essence of mechatronic engineering.

I will give an overview of mechatronics saying that mechatronics IS an overview, mechatronics is directly associated with robotics and with process automation.

The word mechatronics means (Mecha) mechanisms and (tronics) electronics.

Engineer Tetsuro Mori used the term mechatronics for the first time on June 12, 1969 in a Mechatronics technical report in the Japanese electricity company Yaskawa Internal Tradework Application.

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Pros and cons:

Pros:

• Benefits in all areas of modern society: medicine, industry, education, government, science, and technology.
• Easy communication with experts in the different disciplines of engineering.
• Possibility to specialize quickly in any area of the mechatronics.
• Innovation, this usually occurs in those intervals in which different areas of study converge.

Cons:

• Compared to a specialist in a topic, usually, a mechatronic engineer will be at disadvantage.

My experience:

I studied this career at the Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica "Antonio Jose de Sucre" (UNEXPO), the only university in Venezuela that offers this degree.
^{NOTE: There are other universities that educate about mechatronics such as the Simón Bolívar University (USB) that offers postgraduate and has a mechatronics department, but I refer to the career.}

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From my point of view, mechatronic engineering is the engineering of multipotentiality, synergy, and integration.

When I tried to decide what I wanted to study, honestly, I didn’t know what mechatronic engineering was, I wanted to study systems engineering, but after knowing mechatronics, I fell in love.

In the first semesters (the most theoretical) I was interested in understanding in depth the causes of the phenomena that we consider every day, acquire a new kit of mathematical tools, the most beautiful thing is that while you advance studying notice how all the pieces fit together, and You see utility to everything you've seen, you understand how all the subjects you studied are related using the mathematical tools to control a system, be it hydraulic, electrical, or mechanical.

I highly recommend this career, personally, I think it is fundamental to have a general vision, understand how a system works and the number of ways in which it is possible to improve it.

In case you want to study it, I warn you that you should like math, physics, you really should like to study and learn a lot, if you like electronics, mechanics, programming and electricity, this is for you.