TRAINING

Mechatronics for household appliances

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Branch of the engineering that integrates notions and principles of mechanics and electronics applying them to products, about ten years ago mechatronics joined the industry of household appliances assuming growing importance. The R&D Whirlpool team, which operates in the site of Cassinetta di Biandronno, constantly develops new concepts making a massive use of mechatronics, that’s to say exploiting the capability of electronics of measuring through the sensors the signals coming from the machine board and adapting the control to minimize the use of resources and to maximize the performances. “At Whirlpool mechatronics has become a core discipline, a distinguishing factor of our products, resulting then in a competitive advantage – explains Paolo Crosta, Whirlpool Innovation manager for washing-. Mechatronics and automatic controls are today a heritage of fundamental knowledge for our engineers called to develop cutting-edge products that meet in more and more punctual way the user’s needs. To have succeeded, for instance, in developing a “smart” washing machine, able to measure the load quantity and to determine the optimal quantity of detergent for washing with a system of virtual sensors has resulted in an advantage for the final user, who purchases a product with higher performances without that cost increase that a real weighing device would generate”. Not by chance, then, Whirlpool is partner of the second-level master in Mechatronics & Management – MEMA organized by LIUC – Cattaneo University, scheduled from October 2013 to July 2014. In the second part of the master Whirlpool will house, since February 2014, some participants for the canon stage period.