Research group Mechatronic System Design (MSD)

The MSD group educates and performs research on new technologies that are required for future developments on high precision motion systems for the high-tech industry.

The multi-disciplinary character of the group is emphasised by a broad range of subjects ranging from high speed motion stages to ultra precision active optical systems.

Education

The MSD group contributes to the educational programme in both the Bachelor and Master phase. In the Bachelor phase the focal point is on design education where standard mechanical design principles are combined with fundamental physics to explain the working principle of mechanical systems. The coordination of design education with teachers from different departments is also done by MSD.

The Master education focuses on the functional design of mechatronic systems by applying many different technological disciplines in a well balanced setting. These disciplines include mechanical dynamics, low- and high-power electronics, electromechanics, motion control, optics and metrology. The design aspect is emphasized by the drive to realise working prototypes during the final master assignment. For that reason often the entire last year is taken for this assignment to be able to accommodate the often long lead times.

MSD education

Research

Along the same multi-disciplinary principles as with education, the research of MSD focuses on several aspects that are expected to play a crucial role in future improvements on complex high-performance mechatronic systems. Rather than on fundamental analysis alone a strong emphasis is placed on practical realisation of integrated solutions for complex problems. Within the wide field of mechatronics four areas of research are chosen as anchor points for our research: High-Precision Positioning, Dimensional Metrology, Opto-mechatronics and Precision Robotics.