Mechatronics

Overview

Mechatronics combines skills in mechanics, pneumatics, hydraulics, electrics, electronics, computer technology, robotics, production digitalization technology (industrial IoT: RFID, NFC, wireless communication, PLC web-server, Cyber Security, Vision Systems etc), systems development and integration.

It is the  job of the mechatronics engineer to combine these skill areas to design, build, maintain, and repair automated equipment, and programme equipment control systems. As well as factory assembly lines, mechatronics is used in everything from bottling machines to cash dispensers and automated production lines.

This is a practical competition, for a team of two. This will test your understanding of logic circuits, design and build of production systems, systems integration and optimisation and fault-finding in a challenging environment.

Competitors who are age eligible and have achieved the benchmark score will be invited to opt into Squad UK during December 2025 for the WorldSkills International Japan 2028.

The skills that are tested in the practical competition include:

Designing, building and testing of pneumatic, electro-pneumatic circuits and associated PLC programming techniques for sequential and non-sequential tasks; system building, integration and process optimisation.
Mechanically assembling a given set of components and sub-systems to a specification.
Adding new functionality and operations to a given application.
System integration of multiple modular production systems and its optimisation.
Integrating distributed devices using appropriate industrial protocols such as IO-Link and smart devices.

Full list of core competencies required can be found in the Technical Handbook within the useful resources section.

Competitors who have taken part in the Automation competition are encouraged to consider taking part in Mechatronics or Industry 4.0 competitions in subsequent years, with a view to progress their skills set further and also benefit from having access to international competitions.

The skills you need to demonstrate

Analytical skills
Problem-solving
Time-management
Critical thinking
Decision-making
Logical
Technical skills
Judgement

Useful resources

Contact details

M.Karamanoglu@mdx.ac.uk

Entry criteria

This is a team activity (teams of two).
Team of competitors must have their own PLC and programming software for National Qualifier and National Final stages – see Technical Handbook for minimum specification.
Competitors must be available for the National Qualifiers and National Finals.
There is no limit to the number of entries per organisation.
Competitors must be familiar with the core competencies (these can be found in the National Standard of Excellence in the ‘Useful resources’ section).
Competitors should currently be in education, training, employment, or be enrolled in a program of study at level 4 or an equivalent qualification.

How it works

1. Register

Registrations open 09:00am Monday 3rd of March and will close midnight Friday 28th of March.

2. Entry Stage

Entry Stage will be released between Monday 3rd of March with a final deadline of 2nd of May 2025 (Exact dates will vary by competition).

3. National Qualifiers

Qualifiers will take place between 5th of May 2025 to 27th of June 2025 (Exact dates will vary by competition).

4. Training and Development

To help finalists prepare ahead of the UK Final, we will provide relevant technical training and share mindset development techniques, to support them to remain focused on achieving success.

Prepare students and apprentices by engaging with our benchmarking resources to master their skills and mindset masterclasses to build confidence and resilience on the WorldSkills UK Learning Lab.

5. National Finals

The National Finals are scheduled to take place in Wales during the week beginning 24th November 2025.

6. Squad UK

Competitors who are age eligible and have achieved the benchmark score will be invited to opt into Squad UK during December 2025 for the WorldSkills 2028 Cycle, subject to the skill progressing to the international competition cycle.