MECH 207 -Advanced Mechatronic Systems I

Fall 2009
Examination
This exam is intended to serve as a simple yet comprehensive review of the primary concepts discussed in this
course. In general, the questions presented here are things that a mechatronics engineer should generally be able to
know without referring to a reference book. Your working knowledge of more complex mechatronic knowledge
and skills are not being tested through this exam; rather, these capabilities are assessed through class assignments
and projects. Because the exam is intended to test your knowledge on a limited portion of class material, the
questions are intended to be fairly basic and straightforward. I am not trying to trick you, and the questions I ask
will tend to focus on the things that I think are truly important.
Write clearly if I cant understand your answer then no credit will be given. Place a box around the final answer
(and do not give me two or more choices for an answer).
The exam is closed book, although you are permitted to use a single 8.5x11 page of notes (both sides of the paper is
acceptable) as long as they are YOUR notes and not a copy of somebody elses assembled notes.

Introduction to Mechatronic Systems & Mechtronic Analysis

1. What are the three essential, primary elements of a generic mechatronic system?
sensor controller - actuator
2. State Newtons 2nd Law. Be precise. State any assumptions, but do NOT assume a constant mass system. I
recommend that you do NOT simply write an equation unless you define all variables in the equation.
F=d/dt(mv) where F is sum of ext forces, mv is momentum. For constant mass, F=ma where m is
mass and a is acceleration.

3. State either of Kirchoffs Laws for basic circuit analysis. Note which law you are stating. Be precise.
State any assumptions. I recommend that you do NOT simply write an equation unless you define all
variables in the equation.
KVL: for a closed circuit, the sum of voltages around a closed loop is zero.
KCL: for a closed circuit, the sum of all currents into a node is zero

Electric Components and Circuits

4. For each of the following statements, state whether the relevant component is a RESISTOR, a
CAPACITOR, or an INDUCTOR:
a. ______________ Voltage is proportional to the rate of change of current

INDUCTOR

b. ______________ Energy is dissipated

RESISTOR

c. ______________ Voltage is proportional to current

RESISTOR

d. ______________ Energy is stored as an electric field

CAPACITOR

5. For each of the following statements, state whether the critical value will INCREASE or DECREASE
(assuming all other component parameters remain constant):
a. ______________ If the cross-sectional area of a wire increases, its resistance will

DECREASE

b. ______________ If the area of the plates increase for a plate capacitor, its capacitance will

INCREASE

c. ______________ If the length of a coil inductor increases, its inductance will

DECREASE

d. ______________ If the number of capacitors in series increases, the net capacitance will

DECREASE

e. ______________ If the resistance increases in an RC circuit, the time constant will

INCREASE

f. ______________ If the capacitance increases in an RC circuit, the cutoff filter frequency will DECREASE

Orange
Black
Yellow

Silver

Orange
Black
Yellow

Silver

Silver

Color codes
0=Black
1=Brown
2=Red
3=Orange
4=Yellow
5=Green
6=Blue
7=Violet
8=Gray
9=White
5%=Gold
10%=Silver
20%=Nothing

Yellow
Violet
Orange

6. What is the total resistance of the circuit shown?

Yellow-Violet-Orange = 47 x 103 ohms = 47,00 ohms +/- 10%

Orange-Black-Yellow = 30 x 104 ohms = 300,000 ohms +/- 10%
Parallel combination of the right two resistors: Req = 1 / { 1/300,000 + 1/300,000 } = 150,000 ohms
Series combination of this and the left resistor: Rtot = 47,000 + 150,000 ~ 197,000 ohms +/- 10%
7. For the circuit below, choose a value of R such that Vout = 3.75 V.

R2 = 3 k

Semiconductor Electronics
8. Consider the diode circuit below. Vs is a sine wave, and max(Vs)> V1>V2. Plot the output voltage Vo over
time be explicit with voltage levels when plotting. You may assume an ideal diode.

-V2

V1

V1

Solution: For relatively small positive or negative

values of Vs, the signal is passed from Vs to Vo.
If Vs>V1, then the diode conducts and Vo is held
at V1.
If Vx<V2, then the diode conducts and Vo is held
at V2

-V2

9. In the circuit below, a transistor is used to turn on an LED. A controller supplies the control signal with a
voltage of either 0 V or 5 V. The LED operates at a voltage of approximately 2V when on and requires about
25 mA when fully on. The transistor has a gain of =100 when operating in the linear region. Answer the
following questions relating to the design and use of this circuit:
a. Why is the resistor R1 included in a serial configuration with the LED?
To allow a voltage drop and to limit current through the LED.

b. If the 5V ON control signal didnt fully light the LED, how would you
adjust the value of R2 in order to ensure that the transistor was in
saturation for an ON signal?
Lower R2 to allow more current into base of transistor

R1

R2

Operational Amplifiers
10. For the op-amp circuit below, develop an expression for the output voltage as a function of the input
voltages and resistor values. What kind of mathematical function does this circuit perform (e.g., Im looking
for some sort of functional designation for the circuit, like an adder, subtractor, multiplier, integrator, or
something similar)?

Given the rules for an op-amp in negative feedback: a) no current goes in the positive inputs, so the input
voltages are V1 and V2, b) therefore the voltages on the negative inputs are also V1 and V2. This makes
the circuit equivalent to the one shown below. A simple circuit analysis allows an expression for Vo to be
developed.

Digital Circuits
11. Convert the decimal number 10110101 to decimal.
10110101 = (1x128) + (0x64) + (1x32) + (1x16) + (0x8) + (1x4) + (0x2) + (1x1) = 181

12. For the combinatorial circuit below:

a) fill in the Truth Table
A
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1

B
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1

C
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

D
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1

E
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0

F
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1

G
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0

b) Provide the simplest Boolean expression that logically defines the behavior of the circuit
[not(B)] AND [not(C)]

13. 2-bit multiply Your task is to design a combinatorial logic circuit that multiplies two numbers. Each
number has two bits, which means that each of the two input numbers is in the range [0-3] in decimal. The
output is a single 4-bit number (since 4 bits are required to represent the highest possible output of 9). Inputs
A and B are the high-bit and low-bit, respectively, of the first input number. Inputs C and D are the high-bit
and low-bit, respectively, of the second input number. So, for example, if the first number is two, then A=1
and B=0. The outputs E, F, G, H are the four outputs ordered from MSB to LSB. Overall, the circuit has 4
input lines (two for each of two inputs) and 4 output lines (which are the four bits of the product).
a) Write the truth table for the 2-bit multiplier circuit.
A
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

B
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1

C
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1

D
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

E
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1

F
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0

G
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0

H
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1

b) Provide a simplified Boolean expression for each

output as a function of the inputs.
E=ABCD
F=ABC + ABCD
G=ABC + ABD + ABCD + ABCD
H=ABD + ABD = BD

c) Draw the circuit for output H using standard symbols

for the combinatorial logic gates.
Draw H=AND(B,D)

Sensors & Data Acquisition

14. Your task is to develop a differential sensor using two Sharp IR range sensors. These sensors will be used
to measure the position of a ball in a tube. One sensor is mounted in one end of the tube and looks down the
tube. The other sensor is mounted to the other end of the tube and also looks down the tube. In effect, the
sensors are pointed at each other, although there is a ball in between them that blocks the signal of one from
the other (so, there is no interference). Each sensor is connected to a circuit such that the individual analog
outputs of the sensor circuits are as shown in the figure (note this plot shows real data for these sensors).
Answer the following questions and perform the following tasks:

a) There are two specific problems with using only one of these sensors to
measure the position of the ball. These are the two problems we discussed
in class and which are often the reasons we eventually consider the use of
differential sensing. What are these problems?
Nonlinear and multi-valued

b) In the space below, plot by hand the output of a differential sensor that
uses two of these range sensors in the given configuration and given the
data in the plot.
c) If your differential sensor gave an output of 0.85V, what is the position
of the ball? Assume no amplification of the range sensor analog signals or
of the differential output.
At 20 cm (or 60, depending on which sensor was subtracted from
which), your differential output is 1.4V 0.55V ~ 0.85V.

15. You must sample the output of a sensor such that the quantization error is less than 5 mV. The signal of
interest has a range of +/- 4 V. The sensor produces a signal of interest with frequencies from 0 to 10 Hz, but
the sensor output also has noise in the 0-15 Hz range. Given the availability of 8-bit, 10-bit and 12-bit A/D
converters with each more expensive than the previous one, which is least expensive chip that meets
requirements? What is the minimum sampling frequency required to allow the signal of interest to be
properly reproduced?
N=8/.005=1600, so 8-bit (w/256) and 10-bit (w/1024) converters arent good enough. Choose 12-bit with 4096
states. Check: Q=8/4096 =1.9 mV, which works.
Min sampling frequency is 2x15Hz = 30 Hz. You must sample twice as fast as the highest frequency component in
the signal (not just the portion that interests you) or you will get aliasing that will corrupt your signal (to include the
portion that interests you).
Actuators
16. When controlling a motor through the use of a single transistor in a common-emitter configuration:
a. Can you electronically turn the motor on and off? yes
b. Can you electronically control the speed of the motor? Yes via PWM
c. Can you electronically change the direction of the motor? No
d. Can you electronically control the gear ratio of the motor? No

21. Assume you have a permanent-magnet DC motor that, when connected to 10V, has a stall torque of 50 inoz and a no load speed at 1000 RPM. The motors armature resistance is 5 ohms.
a.

What is the motors stall current.

Is=V/R=2.4 amps

b.

On the plot to the right, draw the Torque-speed curve for

the motor in this configuration. Label the curve 10V to
denote the 10V configuration.

c.

Draw a modified plot of the same motor operating with a

15 V supply. Label the curve 15V. Make sure the
diagram is to scale.

d.

Now assume the motor operates at 15V and with a 1:2

gear box. Draw the modified Torque-speed curve for this
configuration and label the curve 15V geared. Make
sure the diagram is to scale.

15V geared

12V

15V
w

e.

What are the stall torque and the no-load speed for the 15V geared configuration?
150 in-oz and 750 rpm

f.

For the 15V geared configuration, at what speed should the motor be operated in order to deliver maximum
mechanical power?
Wnl/2 = 375 rpm

g.

For the 15V geared configuration, if you wanted to operate at the point 200 rpm and 60 in-oz, what PWM level
would you select for controlling the motor?
67% PWM would put the curve through 100 in-oz and 500 rpm, and the 200/60 point is on this line