Washing Machine: An example of mechatronics system
The washing machine is an example of a sequential control system. A system operating with sequential control is one where a number of preset operations are performed in sequence. The control may be implemented as event-based, where the next action cannot be performed until the previous action is completed. Another mode of sequential control is termed "time-based", where the operations are sequenced with respect to time. Example: An example of a time-based sequential control system is shown in the following Figure 1. The pump (fill valve) is switched ON for a particular time to fill enough water into the tank to fill it to approximately the correct level. Following this, the pump is switched OFF. Figure 1: Time-based sequential control Among these two modes, event-based control is intrinsically more reliable than time-based control. An example of an event-based sequential control syste...