Mechatronics: A Study on Its Scientific Constitution and Association with Innovative Products

Abstract

Mechatronics as a science is a synergic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic control, and software design in product development and manufacturing processes. To understand how the field of knowledge that incorporates mechatronics in innovative products, given that it is not in itself a basic engineering discipline but an integration of fields of knowledge, has advanced, it was developed a bibliometric and qualitative study through systematic review with an analytical framework for the establishment of variables to subsidize the construction of the selected theoretical body. The results and conclusions of the sampled publications show that mechatronics performs one of the principal roles in innovation due to the multidisciplinary integration that the scope of innovation in product engineering is propitiating. The study classified five global scenarios: practical approaches aimed at product development, research that studies curricula and education in engineering, studies involving components of a mechatronic system, use of artificial intelligence, and methodologies for designing mechatronic systems. In addition to underscoring that the use of the term innovation associated with mechatronics in a large proportion of the publications extrapolates the operational level, characterizing an attribution to the term that is always associated with the applications, ramifications, and perspectives that the respective product, design, robot, or system could offer to the market or future research. Similarly, it was found that the results of many publications associate the term innovation with a return on investments or operational costs and emphasize the advantages of using the technology for commercial ends.