What is mechatronics?

With the explosively increasing cost/size-effectiveness of computers, mechatronic systems are becoming common in any engineering discipline dealing with the modulation of physical power. In this article, I attempt a definition of mechatronics that will allow for its differentiation as an identifiable field of engineering and then follow this direction to discuss some of the associated design philosophy. The definition draws on the centrality of computing in mechatronic systems.