Risks in Mechatronic Systems

Control and information techniques are these days a part of the majority of machinery equipment and systems. 

If there is a failure of electronic components, a car will not start, power plants will shut down, power supplies will be cut off, and it will be impossible to use transport and handling equipment within complex logistic systems. The electronic system in Daimler Benz s (GER) Maybach car consists of seventy-seven electronic control elements with 200 electronic contacts used to interconnect various internal systems of the car. Top-class models of BMW and Audi use a similar amount of electronics, and VW s Phaeton uses sixty electronic control elements. Modem intralogistic 

Mechatronics as a discipline of engineering is built on the fact that, as a result of mutual actions of various technologies, new functions come into existence. Based on the integration of mechanics, IT, and electronics, it is necessary for information techniques, elements of control and regulation techniques, material engineering, and linking building techniques to be added to the mechatronics systems. 

The solution for product development based on user requirements is an exact definition of the system being designed. This gets rather complicated with mechatronic systems, since with these interconnected structures there are a number of mutual 

Provided that the software takes over the control functions of mechatronic systems to a large extent, the failure and risk analyses must be based on different principles than with the standard mechanical systems in use, for example, steel supporting structures. The mechatronic system could include several intermediate states that may cause the system to return to the initial position. It is important to know that during the technological lifespan of the mechatronic systan, there may appear multiple time-independent failure events. 

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Sinay, J., Majer, L, and Hoebom, G. Risk in mechatronics systems , XVIII. World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, June 29-July 2,2008, Seoul Korea, Sektion 26. Sicherheit von High-Tech Kontrollsystemen iibemehmen die Fiihrung bei der Sicherheit am Arbeitsplatz. 

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