ENGLISH FOR MECHATRONICS

Necessity of the combination of mechanical engineering with electronic and electrical engineering.. The term mechatronics is used to denote a rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAG ES DEP ARTMENT OF ENGLISH F OR SPECIF IC PURPOSES

-   -

NGUYỄN THỊ CẨM TÚ, M.A

Danang 2010

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO MECHATRONICS AND

MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

Warm-up

Think of the combination of the two words breakfast and lunch into one word, or

motorist and hotel Can you guess the two original words of smog, spork, knork, netizen, wikipedia, Vietlish or in non-standard English, jorts, skorts, jat?

Now this time, identify the two original words of mechatronics and say what you guess

it is

Reading skill SKIMMING FOR GENERAL IDEAS

Skimming is one of the useful reading skills to quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist' Run your eyes over the text, noting important information It's not essential to understand each word when skimming By using this skill, you can quickly discover which parts of the text you would like to read in more detail according to your reading purposes

EXERCISE A

Skim the text below to find which paragraph contains:

a General terms used in a system of measurement

b Basic equipment in a mechatronic system

c Necessity of the combination of mechanical engineering with electronic and electrical engineering

d Development of mechanical engineering due to industrial revolution

Reading Comprehension

Mechanical engineering experienced a surge of growth during the early 19 th century because it provided a necessary foundation for the rapid and successful development of industrial revolution At that time, mines needed large pumps never before seen to keep

their drafts dry; iron and steel mills required pressures and temperatures beyond levels used commercially until then; transportation systems needed more than real horse power

to move goods; structures began to stretch across ever wider abysses and to climb to dizzying heights; manufacturing moved from the shop bench to large factories

Now, more than a century later, we are witnessing a new scientific and social revolution known as the information revolution, where engineering specialization ironically seems

to be simultaneously focusing and diversifying To practice engineering today, we must understand new ways to process information and be able to utilize semiconductor electronics within our products, no matter what label we put on ourselves as practitioners

The term mechatronics is used to denote a rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field o f

engineering that deals with the design of products whose function relies on the systematic integration of mechanical, electrical, and electronic components connected by a control architecture It is one of the new and exciting fields on the engineering l andscape, subsuming parts of traditional engineering fields and requiring a broader approach to the design of systems that we can formally call mechatronic systems A mechatronic system designer must assemble analog and digital circuits, microprocessors an d computers, mechanical devices, sensors and actuators, and controls so that the final design achieves a desired goal Increasingly, digital circuits and microprocessors are embedded in electromechanical devices, creating much more flexibility and control possibilities in system design

A fundamental part of many mechatronic systems is a measurement system that is composed of the three basic parts illustrated in Figure 1.1

The transducer is a sensing device that converts a physical input into an output, usually a voltage The signal processor performs filtering, amplification, or other signal conditioning on the transducer output The term sensor is often used to refer to the

is an instrument, a computer, a hardcopy device, or simply a display that maintains the sensor data for online monitoring or subsequent processing

Fig.1.1 Elements of a measurement system

EXERCISE B Vocabulary check through rephrasing

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the words in italic with expressions from the text above which have similar meanings

1 A sudden increase in mechanical engineering occurred during the early 19 th century

2 Engineering specialization ironically seems to be focusing and diversifying at the

same time

3 We need know how to use semiconductor electronics within our products

4 This field of engineering is of covering more than one area of study

5 These components are in a systematic combination

6 If you are a mechatronic system designer, you must fit electromechanical and electronic equipment together in a system design

EXERCISE C Fact check through questions

Answer the following questions according to the text

1 How many important revolutions are referred in the text? When were they? In what

fields was the first one effective? (Focus on the punctuation for listing)

2 Name basic equipment in a mechatronic system To what kind of engineering does it

belong? (Focus on the bended word “mechatronic”)

3 How many basic parts in a measurement system?

EXERCISE D Grammar check – Reduced relative clauses

Develop the expressions in italic into full clauses in your own ways

TRANSDUCER

SIGNAL

1 Mines needed large pumps never before seen to keep their drafts dry

2 Iron and steel mills required pressures and temperatures beyond levels used

commercially until then

3 Digital circuits and microprocessors are embedded in electromechanical devices,

creating much more flexibility and control possibilities in system design

4 It is one of the new and exciting fields on the engineering landscape, subsuming parts

of traditional engineering fields and requiring a broader approach to the design of systems

Word study

WORD FORMATION 1-SUFFIXES When you are reading, you will come across unfamiliar words It is often possible to guess the meaning of these words if you understand the way the words in English are generally formed

An English word can be divided into 3 parts: a prefix, a stem, and a suffix Pre- means

“before”, a prefix, therefore, is what comes before the stem A suffix, on the other hand,

is what is attached to the end of the stem Both of them are referred to affixes (See more

in Appendix ….)

Suffixes change the part of speech of the word For example, -ly added to the adjective

commercial gives the adverb commercially

SUFFIXES MEANINGS EXAMPLES

 Noun- forming suffixes:

-ance state importance, resistance

-ence quality of independence, existence

-er /-or a person who / a thing which operator, amplifier

-ist a person who chemist, dentist

-iron action / state corrosion, expansion

-ing activity welding, drilling

-ment state / action measurement, treatment

-ily state / quality ductility, elasticity

-dom condition freedom

-ship condition / state relationship, friendship

-age state leakage, shrinkage

-full containing lots of handful, teaspoonful

 Verb- forming suffixes:

-ize / -ise industrialize, liquidize

-ate activate, calculate

-fly to make solidify, amplify

 Adjective- forming suffixes:

-ar have quality of circular, rectangular

-ic / -ical hydraulic, logical

-able / -ible capable of being flammable, combustible

-ous / -ious like, full of ferrous, dangerous, obvious

-full characterized by useful, colourful

-less without useless, colourless

-ish like childish, bookish

-ive quality of interactive, explosive

-ing making or doing melting, processing

EXERCISE E

Read the following sentences and circle the suffixes Underline the stem if it can be used

on its own The first one has been done for you

1 A programmer designs, writes, and tests programs for performing various tasks

on a computer

2 A systems analyst studies organizational systems and decides what action needs to

be taken to maximize efficiency

3 Laser printers are preferable to other types of printing devices because of their speed and quietness

4 The microcomputer we have purchased does not have a FORTRAN complier It is programmable in BASIC only

5 We have found that operators who have the freedom to take short breaks during the day greatly improve their performance

6 The number of shipments will increase over the coming months

7 We decided to computerize the entire plant to give each division more independence

8 Spooling is a way of storing data temporarily on disk or tape until it can be processed by another part of the system

9 Turning your office into a paperless environment may be expensive at the beginning but can produce big saving in the long run

10 Software developers are producing increasingly sophisticated applications for a growing global market

Now, for each word that has a suffix, indicate what part of speech the word is (e.g noun, verb, etc.)

EXERCISE F

Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of the word in brackets

The (melt)………point of a material has a number of indirect effects on

(manufacture) ………(operate) ……… The choice of a material for high

temperature (apply) ………is the most obvious (consider) ………, such as with high (slide) ………speeds of machine components (Slide) ………down a rope

or (rub) ………you hands together (quick) ………is a simple (demonstrate)

……… of how high temperatures can become with (increase) ……… (slide)

………speed

Language study

EXPRESSING THE LINK

Look at the following columns What is the link between column A and column B?

mechanical machines electrical electricity

Column A lists a branch of engineering or a type of engineer Column B lists things they

are concerned with We can show the link between them in a number of ways:

1 Mechanical engineering deals with machines

2 Mechanical engineers deal with machines

3 Mechanical engineering is concerned with machines

4 Mechanical engineers are concerned with machines

5 Machines are the concern of mechanical engineers

EXERCISE G

Match each item in the right column with an appropriate item from the left column and link the two in a sentence

3 heating and ventilating C body scanners

4 electricity generating D cables and switchgear

5 automobile E communications and equipment

8 electrical installation H cars and trucks

Information transfer

EXERCISE H

Use information from the following text to complete the blanks in the diagram below

ENGINEERING- WHAT‟S IT ALL ABOUT?

Engineering is largely a practical activity Civil engineering is concerned with making bridges, roads, airports, etc Mechanical engineering deals with the design and manufacture of tools and machines Electrical engineering is about the generation and distribution of electricity and its many applications Electronic engineering is concerned with developing components and equipment for communications, computing, and so on Mechanical engineering includes marine, automobile, aeronautical, heating and ventilating, and others Electrical engineering consists of electricity generating, electrical installation, lighting, etc Mining and medical engineering belong partly to mechanical and partly to electrical

Electrical installation

Mechanical engineering is _ _ machinery of all kinds This branch of engineering includes _, _, aeronautical, and heating and ventilating The first three are _ with transport: _, cars and planes The last _ with air-conditioning, refrigeration, etc

Electrical engineering deals with _ from generation to use Electricity generating is concerned with _ stations Electrical installation deals _ cables, switchgear, and connecting up electrical equipment

Two branches of engineering are the _ _ both _ and medical engineers These are mining and medical engineering The former _ with mines and mining equipment, and the later with hospital _ of all kinds

WORD LIST Unit 1

1 (V) & (N): increase suddenly and intensely

E.g There’s a in electricity demand around 7 p.m

2 (N): unit for measuring the power of an engine (550 foot-pounds per second, about 750

watts)

E.g A twelve engine

3 (N): a hole so deep that it seems to have no bottom

4 (V): be present at (sth) and see it

5 (Adj) causing people feel as if everything is spinning around, unbalanced

6 (V): include sth in a particular group or class

7 (V): combine sth with sth

8 (N): a circuit that operates like a switch in which it has only two states: either ON or OFF

9 (N) & (Adj): a continuous representation of a physical phenomena, such as a signal

10 (N): (abbreviated to MPU) a central process unit on a single large integrated circuit chip,

required for processing data

11 (N): elements in a mechatronic or measurement system that acquires a physical parameter

and changes it into a signal that can be processed by the system

12 (N): devices used to produce the motion or action in a mechatronic system, which is

crated by a force or torque that results in acceleration and displacement

13 (N): a general term for any device that converts energy from one form to another, as from

sound energy to electric or mechanical energy Some examples of this are loudspeakers, microphones, recording heads…

* Example of mechatronic systems include: an aircraft flight control and navigation system, automobile electronic fuel injection and antilock brake systems, automated manufacturing equipment such as robots and numerically controlled (NC) machine tools, smart kitchen and home appliances such as bread machines and clothes washing machines, and even toys

UNIT 2 LASERS

Warm-up

Have you ever seen a live musical performance with laser lighting display? What kind of surfaces are the patterns and images drawn on? Now, think of other applications of lasers

in addition to entertainment purposes

Reading skill Predicting

It is important not to start reading a text immediately One way to help your reading is to think about what you are going to read The title might help to focus your thoughts The first sentence of each paragraph also might guide your prediction If you understand the structure of the text based on the facts at hand, you can make a logical prediction

EXERCISE A

Based on the last sentence in paragrph 2 of the following text, predict what you are going

to read next Read the text quickly and check what you have guessed Try to give more subtitles to the other paragraphs

Paragraphs Subtitles

1

2

3

4

5

6

Definition of lasers Military applications of lasers

………

………

………

………

Reading Comprehension

Lasers (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) are devices which amplify light and produce beams of light which are very intense, directional, and pure in colour They can be solid state, gas, semiconductor, or liquid

When laser were invented in 1960, some people thought they could be used as „death ray‟ In the 1980s, the United States experimented with lasers as a defense against nuclear missiles Nowadays, they are used to identify targets But apart from military uses, they have many applications in engineering, communications, medicine, and the arts

In engineering, powerful laser beams can be focused on a small area These beams can heat, melt, or vaporize material in a very precise way They can be used for drilling diamonds, cutting complex shapes in materials from plastics to steel, for spot welding and for surfacing techniques, such as hardening aircraft engine turbine blades Laser beams can also be used to measure and align structures

Lasers are ideal for communications in space Laser light can carry more information channels than microwaves because of its high frequency In addition, it can travel long distances without losing signal strength Lasers can also be used f or information recording and reading Compact discs are read by laser

In medicine, laser beams can treat damaged tissue in a fraction of a second without harming healthy tissue They can be used in very precise eye operations

In the arts, lasers can provide fantastic displays of light Pop concerts are often accompanied by laser displays

………

………

………

Treating damaged tissue

………

………

………

Word study

WORD FORMATION 2 -PREFIXES

Prefixes usually change the meaning of the word For exam ple, non- makes the meaning

of the word negative

 Prefixes of Negative and positive meaning:

ir- not connected with irregular, irrelevant

non- non-conductor, non-flammable

mis- bad, wrong mislead, mismatch

dis- opposite action disassemble, discharge

anti- against anti-virus, anti-corrosion

under- too little underload, underheat

over- too much overload, overcurrent

 Prefixes of Size:

semi- half, partly semi-conductor, semi-final

hemi- / demi- half hemisphere

equi- equal equiaxial

maxi- / macro- big maxicomputer

mini- / micro- small minicomputer

 Prefixes of Location:

inter- between, among interface, interdisciplines

super- over superconductor, supersonic

trans- across transform, transport

extra- beyond extraordinary

sub- under / secondary submarine, substation

infra- beyond infrared

under- below underground, underloaded

 Prefixes of Time and Order:

pre- before preheat, pre-ignition

prime- first prime-minister

post- after post-war, post-graduate

 Prefixes of Numbers:

mono- one monolingual

tri- three triangle

quad- four quadrangle, quadruple

penta- five pentagon

hex- six hexadecimal

EXERCISE C

Read the following sentences and circle the prefixes For each word that has a prefix, try

to decide what the prefix means

1 Floppy disks are inexpensive and reuseable

2 If a printer malfunctions, you should check the interface cable

3 The multiplexor was not working because someone had disconnected it by mistake

4 Improper installation of the antiglare shield will make it impossible to read what is

on the screen

5 After you transfer text using the „cut and paste‟ feature, you may have to reformat the text you have inserted

6 You can maximize your chances of finding a job if you are bilingual or even trilingual

7 Peripheral devices can be either input devices (such as keyboards) or output devices (such as printers)

8 Your pay rise is retroactive to the beginning of June and you will receive a biannual bonus

9 The octal and hexadecimal systems are number systems used as a form of shorthand in reading groups of four binary digits

10 As the results are irregular, the program will have to be rewritten

EXERCISE D Fill in each gap with the correct prefix from the following list

auto

maxi

mono

de mega multi

dec micro semi

inter mini sub

1 Most people prefer a colour screen to a _chrome screen

2 _script is a character or symbol written below and to the right of a number or letter, often used in science

3 A _byte equals approximately one million bytes

4 Once you finish your program, you will have to test it and _bug it to remove all the mistakes

5 The introduction of _conductor technology revolutionized the computer industry

6 If a computer system has two or more central processors which are under common control, it is called a _processor system

7 The _imal system is a number system with a base of 10

8 When the user and the computer are in active communication on a graphics system, we refer to this as _active graphics

9 A _ processor is very small but powerful

10 A cash machine without requiring a human operator is called an Teller

Language study

EXPRESSING THE PURPOSE / FUNCTION

Study these examples of laser applications:

1 Laser beams can be used to measure and align structures

2 They can be used for drilling diamonds

3 They can be used for light displays

When we ask about the functions of some device, we can use the following structures:

What does it do?

What is its function?

Can you find any other ways to express the purpose / function in the following text?

James Bond‟s watches have a lot of useful features First of all, they have a button that turns on a very bright blue light This is useful for seeing in the dark Secondly, they have

a laser beam This enables you to cut holes in walls to get away from people you don‟t like The third feature is useful if you want to blow up a building It‟s a detonator, so it enables you to leave before you set off an explosion But the best feature is the hook It‟s attached to a very thin strong wire and it‟s for lifting you up off the floor First you fire

the hook at the ceiling Then you press another button and the wire pulls you up James Bond‟s watches always have one other feature too You can use them to tell the time

The first column contains the items in a secret agent’s kit The second column contains some of their possible uses rather than the normal ones Work in pair and match them in possible ways, using the structures you have learned

1 binoculars a tiny camera / photograph some documents

2 comb b X-ray vision / see if people have guns in their pocket

3 shirt button c bug detector / find listening devices in his room

4 torch d laser beam emitter / cut through anything and escape

5 pen e telephone / make a phone call

Writing

DESCRIBING A PROCESS When you write about a process, you have to:

1 Sequence the stages

2 Describe what happens at each stage

3 Explain what happens at each stage

Study the stages in the operation of a washing machine

1 The drum is filled with water

2 The water is heated to the right temperature

3 Soap is added

4 The drum is rotated slowly

5 The dirty water is pumped out

6 Clean water is added

7 The drum is rotated much faster and the water pumped out

8 The clean clothes are removed