Editorial - Since the official registration of the word “Mechatronics” as a trademark by Yaskawa Electric Corporation in 1971, explosive growth has been observed in mechatronics research and product development activities. Nowadays, mechatronics and mechatronic design methodologies play increasingly important roles in computer, communication, control, and consumer product (4C) technologies. As such, it is fair to agree that mechatronics technology has profoundly affected almost all aspects of human life, particularly, of engineering realities ranging from rehabilitation devices to ground and underwater robots, and from unmanned aerial vehicles to intelligent manufacturing facilities, constituting a rapidly progressing frontline. @en

Compliant mechanisms (CMs), along with soft robotics devices formed therewith, may be defined as engineering systems achieving force and motion transmission via the deflection of flexible members. CMs have increasingly gained a strong foothold in the scientific arena owing to their hinge-less nature, shock resistance, potential single-piece manufacturability, safety in human–machine interaction, minimal maintenance requirements, and adaptability to work in unstructured environments. In parallel, current advances in the production of inherently compliant sensory-motor apparatus, as well as progresses in the development of robust control methods, are paving the way to practical CM adoption in a large variety of engineering fields, here including healthcare, manufacturing, inspection/maintenance, and agrifood.@en

In this paper, a novel design of a fully compliant locking device is presented, for possible application in robotic actuation systems. The synthesis method based on a rigid linkage mechanism is explained, a parametrization scheme is proposed, and an optimization procedure is conducted using kinetostatic flexible multi-body analysis in conjunction with global optimization techniques. The performance of the optimized locking device design is validated via numerical simulations.@en