The introduction of digital products in mechanical engineering has its roots in mechatronics, an interdisciplinary field that combines mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science. Since 1995, mechatronics has been an integral part of research and teaching within the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Since 2009, the Institute for Mechatronic Systems (IMS) has focused on the areas of vehicle systems, energy systems and actuated systems. In 2019, the field of robotic systems was added, which today forms the central focus of the new Institute for Robotic Systems in Mechanical Engineering (IRM), in which the research fields of energy systems and actuated systems are also synergistically integrated.

The research topics in the field of vehicle systems at the IMS will in future be combined with the activities of the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Vehicle Drives (VKM) and brought together in the equally new Institute for Vehicle Drive Systems (FAS).