TVET PROGRAM TITLE: Mechatronics and Instrument

Servicing Management level IV

MODULE TITLE: Diagnosing and Troubleshooting

Mechatronics system
MODULE CODE: ELE MIS4 M07 0814

NOMINAL DURATION: 40hrs

MODULE DESCRIPTION: This module describes the

knowledge, skills and attitude needed to diagnose and
troubleshoot defects in Mechatronics system
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this module the trainer will be able
to
LO1: Plan and prepare for diagnosis of
faults in Mechatronics systems
LO2: Diagnose faults of Mechatronics
systems
LO3: Rectify/correct faults in the
Mechatronics system
LO4: Test the corrected Mechatronics
system
MODULE CONTENTS:
LO1: Plan and prepare for diagnosis of faults in Mechatronics
systems
•Occupational health and safety
•Personal protective equipment
•Types and functions of tools and equipment
•Operation of testing devices and instruments
•Equipment, testing devices and instruments signs, symbols and
conventions
LO2: Diagnose faults of Mechatronics systems
• Reading and interpreting the required work instructions
• Selection and use of proper tools and equipment
• System diagnostics and troubleshooting skills
LO3: Rectify/correct faults in the Mechatronics system
•Reading skills required to interpret work instructions
•Communication skills needed to interpret and define work procedures
•Selection and use of proper tools and equipment
•Applying System diagnostics and troubleshooting skills
•Problem solving in unplanned events
 LO4: Test the corrected Mechatronics
system
4.1Occupational health and safety
4.2 Instrumentation and control standards
4.3 Use of tools
4.4 Selection and use of proper tools and equipment
4.5 testing the rectify/corrected system
4.6 Problem solving in unplanned events
Diagnosis is the systematic approach to find where
and what type of fault occur in a system.
Trouble shooting/repair is the activity of correcting
the fault and enabling the system to restore to its normal
operation condition. Troubleshooting is a form of 
problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or
processes. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a
problem so that it can be solved, and so the product or process
can be made operational again. Troubleshooting is needed to
develop and maintain complex systems where the symptoms of a
problem can have many possible causes. Troubleshooting is used
in many fields such as engineering, system administration, 
electronics, automotive repair, and diagnostic machine.
Troubleshooting requires identification of the malfunction(s) or
symptoms within a system. Then, experience is commonly used to
generate possible causes of the symptoms. Determining the most likely
cause is a process of elimination - eliminating potential causes of a
problem. Finally, troubleshooting requires confirmation that the
solution restores the product or process to its working state. In
general; troubleshooting is the identification of diagnosis of "trouble"
in the management flow of a corporation or a system caused by a
failure of some kind. The problem is initially described as symptoms of
malfunction, and troubleshooting is the process of determining and
remedying the causes of these symptoms. A system can be described
in terms of its expected, desired or intended behavior (usually, for
artificial systems, its purpose). Events or inputs to the system are
expected to generate specific results or outputs. (For example selecting
the "print" option from various computer applications is intended to
result in a hardcopy emerging from some specific device).
Any unexpected or undesirable behavior is a symptom.
Troubleshooting is the process of isolating the specific cause
or causes of the symptom. Frequently the symptom is a
failure of the product or process to produce any results.
(Nothing was printed, for example).Corrective action can
then be taken to prevent further failures of a similar kind.
The methods of forensic engineering are especially useful in
tracing problems in products or processes, and a wide range
of analytical techniques are available to determine the
cause or causes of specific failures. Corrective action can
then be taken to prevent further failure of a similar kind.
Preventative action is possible using
failure mode and effects (FMEA) and 
fault tree analysis (FTA) before full scale production, and
these methods can also be used for failure analysis.
Any unexpected or undesirable behavior is a symptom.
Troubleshooting is the process of isolating the specific
cause or causes of the symptom. Frequently the symptom
is a failure of the product or process to produce any results.
(Nothing was printed, for example).Corrective action can
then be taken to prevent further failures of a similar kind.
The methods of forensic engineering are especially useful
in tracing problems in products or processes, and a wide
range of analytical techniques are available to determine
the cause or causes of specific failures. Corrective action
can then be taken to prevent further failure of a similar
kind. Preventative action is possible using
failure mode and effects (FMEA) and 
fault tree analysis (FTA) before full scale production, and
these methods can also be used for failure analysis.
Even most discussion of troubleshooting, and especially training in formal
troubleshooting procedures, tends to be domain specific, even though the basic
principles are universally applicable. Usually troubleshooting is applied to
something that has suddenly stopped working, since it’s previously working state
forms the expectations about its continued behavior. So the initial focus is often on
recent changes to the system or to the environment in which it exists. (For example
a printer that "was working when it was plugged in over there"). However, there is a
well known principle that correlation does not imply causality. (For example the
failure of a device shortly after it's been plugged into a different outlet doesn't
necessarily mean that the events were related. The failure could have been a matter
of coincidence.) Therefore troubleshooting demands critical thinking rather than 
magical thinking. It's useful to consider the common experiences we have with light
bulbs. Light bulbs "burn out" more or less at random; eventually the repeated
heating and cooling of its filament, and fluctuations in the power supplied to it
cause the filament to crack or vaporize. The same principle applies to most other
electronic devices and similar principles apply to mechanical devices. Some failures
are part of the normal wear-and-tear of components in a system.
A basic principle in troubleshooting is to start from the simplest and most probable
 possible problems first. A trouble-shooter could check each component in a 
system one by one; substituting known good components for each potentially
suspect one. However, this process of "serial substitution" can be considered
degenerate when components are substituted without regard to a hypothesis
concerning how their failure could result in the symptoms being diagnosed. Simple
and intermediate systems are characterized by lists or trees of dependencies
among their components or subsystems. More complex systems contain cyclical
dependencies or interactions (feedback loops). Such systems are less amenable to
"bisection" troubleshooting techniques. A common cause of problems is bad 
design, for example bad human factors design, where a device could be inserted
backward or upside down due to the lack of an appropriate forcing function (
behavior-shaping constraint), or a lack of error-tolerant design. This is especially
bad if accompanied by habituation, where the user just doesn't notice the
incorrect usage, for instance if two parts have different functions but share a
common case so that it isn't apparent on a casual inspection which part is being
used.
Troubleshooting can also take the form of a systematic checklist,
troubleshooting procedure, flowchart or table that is made before a
problem occurs. Developing troubleshooting procedures in advance
allows sufficient thought about the steps to take in troubleshooting
and organizing the troubleshooting into the most efficient
troubleshooting process. Troubleshooting tables can be
computerized to make them more efficient for users. The technician
can either answer additional questions to advance through the
troubleshooting procedure, each step narrowing the list of solutions,
or immediately implement the solution. These services give a rebate
if the technician takes an additional step after the problem is solved:
report back the solution that actually fixed the problem. The
computer uses these reports to update its estimates of which
solutions have the highest probability of fixing that particular set of
symptoms. Efficient methodical troubleshooting starts with a clear
understanding of the expected behavior of the system and the
symptoms being observed.
From there the troubleshooter forms hypotheses on
potential causes, and devises (or perhaps references a
standardized checklist of) tests to eliminate these
prospective causes. Two common strategies used by
troubleshooters are to check for frequently encountered
or easily tested conditions first (for example, checking to
ensure that a printer's light is on and that its cable is
firmly seated at both ends). This is often referred to as
"milking the front panel." Then, "bisect" the system (for
example in a network printing system, checking to see if
the job reached the server to determine whether a
problem exists in the subsystems "towards" the user's
end or "towards" the device).This latter technique can be
particularly efficient in systems with long chains of
serialized dependencies or interactions among its
components.
 Symptoms
Some of the most difficult troubleshooting issues relate to 
symptoms which occur intermittently. In electronics this often is the result of
components that are thermally sensitive (since resistance of a circuit varies
with the temperature of the conductors in it). Compressed air can be used to
cool specific spots on a circuit board and a heat gun can be used to raise the
temperatures; thus troubleshooting of electronics systems frequently entails
applying these tools in order to reproduce a problem. In computer
programming race conditions often lead to intermittent symptoms which are
extremely difficult to reproduce; various techniques can be used to force the
particular function or module to be called more rapidly than it would be in
normal operation (analogous to "heating up" a component in a hardware circuit)
while other techniques can be used to introduce greater delays in, or force
synchronization among, other modules or interacting processes. Isolating
single component failures which cause reproducible symptoms is relatively
straightforward. However, many problems only occur as a result of multiple
failures or errors.
This is particularly true of fault tolerant systems, or those with
built-in redundancy. Features which add redundancy, fault
detection and failover to a system may also be subject to failure,
and enough different component failures in any system will "take it
down."Even in simple systems the troubleshooter must always
consider the possibility that there is more than one fault.
(Replacing each component, using serial substitution, and then
swapping each new component back out for the old one when the
symptom is found to persist, can fail to resolve such cases. More
importantly the replacement of any component with a defective
one can actually increase the number of problems rather than
eliminating them).Note that, while we talk about "replacing
components" the resolution of many problems involves
adjustments or tuning rather than "replacement." For example,
intermittent breaks in conductors --- or "dirty or loose contacts"
might simply need to be cleaned and/or tightened. All discussion
of "replacement" should be taken to mean "replacement or
adjustment or other maintenance."
diagnostic and repair
Mechatronics is synergistic integration of
mechanical engineering, with electronics
and intelligent computer control in the
design and manufacturing of industrial
products and processes. Automobile (auto
car, motor car or car is a wheeled motor
vehicle used for transporting passengers,
which also carries its own engine or motor)
is a mechatronic system which served as
major means of transportation around the
world. Virtually all community has a need
to the diversification of skill in diagnosing automobile
faults and approaches in solving some problems and
innovation in automobile industry. It is appropriate to
say that repair and diagnostic of automobile will be
better enhanced if community has opportunity of
sharing knowledge and idea globally.
An automobile, auto car, motor car or car is a
wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting
passengers, which also carries its own engine or
motor. Most definitions of the term specify that
automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to
have seating for one to eight people, to typically have
four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the
transport of people rather than goods. Mechatronics is
A diagnostic program is a program written for the express purpose of
examining the state, or locating problems with the hardware, or 
operating system environment that it is running on/in.
A diagnostic program is a program written for the express purpose of locating
problems with the software, hardware, or any combination thereof in a system,
or a network of systems. Preferably, diagnostic programs provide solutions to
the user to solve issues.
Modular diagnostic, which combines sets of single-purpose diagnostics into an
environment that is easily tailored for particular requirements. Knowledge-
Driven diagnostic system (such as a technician or diagnostician) where the
knowledge acquired over time is used as a "mental model" of the system's
operation and informs the diagnostic system through logical reasoning to one
or more possible or likely causes for a situation to exist. In some cases
hardware components have specific features to assist a diagnostic program to
test it. For example, most modern hard drives have commands that provide
information about some permanent error conditions. Also, some systems with
ECC memory will log memory failures that were automatically corrected.
 Diagnosability Problem
The complex electromechanical systems that compose modern-day machines
are more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable than those of only a few years
ago. Many systems today are integrated in such a way that components have
multiple functions and are managed by sophisticated computer control
systems. While the benefits of this evolution in system architecture are
numerous, such as increased reliability and simpler, more efficient designs,
there is a significant drawback we seek to address in this research project.
Because of the many component interdependencies in today.s integrated
systems, causes of failure are often difficult to distinguish. Thus, because of
this increased complexity, more errors are made in the diagnosis and repair of
electromechanical systems. This is a problem in diagnosability, the system
characteristic defined as a measure of the ease of isolating faults in a system.
There are two approaches to alleviating problems with fault isolation. The first
is to make improvements to the diagnostic process for systems already
designed and in-service. This approach includes developing maintenance and
diagnostic procedures and processes and incorporating electronic diagnostics
into system design. There has been much research and application in this area
of diagnosis.
Fault Detection and Diagnosis
For the improvement of reliability, safety, efficiency, of supervision, fault
detection and diagnosis (FDD) become increasingly important for many
technical and industrial processes, such as power plants, chemical plants, steel
mills, and airplanes heating equipment. The early detection of faults is critical in
avoiding product deterioration, performance degradation, major damage to
machinery and human health, or even loss of lives. For centuries the only way
to learn about malfunctions and their locations was biological senses: looking,
listening, touching and smelling. A dramatic development took place with the
arrival of the computer and proliferation of its real-time applications. Regardless
of the degree of automation, pneumatic components and systems can be
monitored and diagnosed under desired parameters in order to reduce service
costs, improve the
Effectiveness of maintenance support teams, and preventive maintenance
programs.
Fault diagnosis is defined as the determination of the kind, size, location, and
time of detection of a fault. It follows fault detection which includes fault
detection and identification.
Mechanical process and information processing develop towards a mechatronic system
Mechatronics: synergetic integration of
different disciplines
(1) Mechanical systems (mechanical elements,
machines, precision mechanics);
(2) Electronic systems (microelectronics, power electronics,
sensor and actuator technology);
(3) Information technology (systems theory, control and
automation, software engineering, artificial Intelligence). If the
electronic and the mechanical systems are merged to an
autonomous overall system, an integrated mechanical-electronic
system results, called mechatronic system from conjoining
MECHAnics and Elec TRONICS. The word “mechatronics” was
probably first created by a Japanese engineer in 1969, (Kyura and
Oho, 1996).
Mechatronics and Industrial Manufacturing Technology training systems
 Summary
1. OH & S policies and procedures are followed in line with job requirements
2.Tools, equipment and testing devices needed to carry out the work are obtained in
accordance with established procedures and checked for proper operation and
safety.
3.Appropriate personal protective equipment is used in line with standard procedures must be
use.
•Faults diagnosis results are recorded
•Defective components or parts are replaced or corrected without damage to the surrounding
environment or services
•Rectified/corrected defects/ malfunctions and replaced components and measures taken are
recorded
•Diagnosis of faults is planned and prepared in line with job requirements
•Appropriate personal protective equipment is used and OHS policies & procedures are
followed
•Fault or problem in the Mechatronics system is diagnosed in line with the standard
operating procedures and technical requirements.
•Unplanned events or conditions are responded to in accordance with established
procedure
•Mechatronics system and associated equipment are tested using specified testing
procedures from the manufacturer’s instructions.
•Mechatronics system and associated equipment are checked to ensure safe
operation.