EcoMechatronics enabling technologies, and future prospects

EcoMechatronics is an interdisciplinary field that is evolving to have a holistic impact on the development of current and future smart technologies, methodologies, algorithms, techniques, products, processes, and systems. The key features of this evolution are the synergy of the new ideas, designs, and development with the new concepts of eco-design, sustainability, environment friendly, and circular economy supported by clean and energy-saving technologies. The aim is the implementation of Net-Zero EcoMechatronic systems which are the basis of sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective intelligent products, processes, and systems. This book on EcoMechatronics represents the latest research efforts in the field and it is presented in three sections. The first deals with the underlying issues of sustainability and enabling technologies. The second then looks at a range of its applications, including some, such as the built environment, that have not previously been considered as containing significant mechatronic elements. The final section of the book then focuses on educational concerns and issues. Finally, this chapter highlights some of the enabling and driving technologies contributing to the field of EcoMechatronics and also it introduces the future prospect of the field as projected through a range of open-ended research areas.