Mechatronics as Design Philosophy to Inspire Engineering Innovations

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The historical development of mechatronics is discussed to identify the challenges in applying existing mechatronic principles to accelerate engineering innovations in the digital era. There are emerging needs in advancing the theory of mechatronics to (1) expand design principles to promote innovations and knowledge transfer, (2) integrate rapidly developed artificial intelligence (AI), human robots interactions (HRIs) and digital technologies to design and operate complex systems and (3) develop systematic approaches to enhance a system's scalability, adaptability and sustainability. Mechatronic systems are characterised in terms of their novelties and innovations, the importance of innovative thinking in mechatronic designs is thoroughly examined and the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) is incorporated to facilitate mechatronic innovations. Five system engineering (SE) methods are introduced to stimulate innovations at different development phases of mechatronic systems. Finally, project‐based mechatronic design (PBMD) is proposed as a methodological framework to integrate these design methods in promoting innovations in a mechatronic design.