ABSTRACT
As an engineering discipline, mechatronics strives to optimally integrate mechanical, electronic, and computer technologies in order to create innovative products and processes. Optical sensors and actuators are being incorporated at an accelerated rate into mechatronic systems because these lightwave technologies provide components for high precision, rapid data processing, flexible circuits, and circuit miniaturization. Opto-mechatronics, a subset of mechatronic system design, focuses on the tools and technologies needed to create intelligent systems from optical
transducers
and
embedded control
systems. At first glance the concept of opto-mechatronics may appear to duplicate the goals of the more
established area of opto-mechanics, but this is a false impression. The role of opto-mechanical design is to maintain the proper shapes and positions of the various optical components that comprise precision instruments such as telescopes, microscopes, metrology instruments, and eyeglasses [Ahmed, 1997].
