what is mechatronics?

I'm guessing about how your friends are using this term but to me it means a blend of mechanics, electronics and computer science. What this might mean for a mechanical engineering course would be to focus on the mechanical design and kinematics aspects of engineering and take less thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and power engineering. As an undergraduate I studied all four areas of mechanical engineering -- kinematics, power, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics -- but in graduate school I took a broader range of engineering that included some electronics, some industrial engineering and some engineering science to complete an Master of Science in Engineering.

Look into mechatronics -- it sounds interesting and may open areas of opportunity that would be closed to someone from a narrower field of study. One thing to remember is that the skills you learn as an engineer can be applied to almost any field that involves things. people and money. Engineers even make good doctors -- if they go to medical school!

Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary field of engineering that includes a combination of systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering.

A mechatronics engineer unites the principles of mechanics, electronics, and computing to generate a simpler, more economical and reliable system.

I recommend you check out an institution near you which offers you a course in Mechatronics to understand it better. All the best, Good luck!

in simple words mechatronics is about mechanics and electronics working together. typically applied in robotics and automation, mechatronics relates to controlling mechanical movements with electronics and electronic data collection from mechanical movement. a major part of the topic would consist of study of sensors that are designed to provide data on mechanics, e.g. gyro sensors to detect tilting of an object, bend sensors to detect mechanical movement along a flexible joint. all these sensors work with the electronics in mechatronics to help a computing device control movement using servos or actuators. if you are looking for a career in mechatronics, you would need to learn electronics, mechanics, and programming (typically machine language). For starters you can work with devices like Arduino, raspberry pi or beagle bone. these are programmable interface boards and are available with a range of different sensors, actuators and tutorials.