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All-wheel driveline systems with electronic torque control on each and all wheels, torque vectoring and torque management devices, hybrid electro-mechanical systems, and individual electro (hydraulic) motors in the wheels have been gaining a bigger interest in the industry for recent years. The majority of automotive applications are in vehicle stability control that is performed by controlling the vehicle yaw moment. Some devices also improve vehicle traction performance. The proposed paper develops a methodology that includes the key-principles in all-wheel driveline systems design and is based on the wheel power management as a broader analytical approach. The proposed principles relate to the optimization of power distributions to the drive wheels in both rectilinear and curvilinear vehicle motion. Inverse dynamics is the basis for the developed methodology.

A new inter-disciplinary degree program has been developed at Lawrence Technological University: the Master of Science in Mechatronic Systems Engineering Degree (MS/MSE). It is one of a few MS-programs in mechatronics in the U.S.A. today. This inter-disciplinary program reflects the main areas of ground vehicle mechatronic systems and robotics. This paper presents areas of scientific and technological principles which the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Math and Computer Science Departments bring to Mechatronic Systems Engineering and the new degree program. New foundations that make the basis for the program are discussed. One of the biggest challenges was developing foundations for mechanical engineering in mechatronic systems design and teaching them to engineers who have different professional backgrounds. The authors first developed new approaches and principles to designing mechanical subsystems as components of mechatronic systems.