Guest editorial introduction to the focused section on wireless mechatronics

Wireless mechatronic devices, services, and systems are experiencing fast growth in a variety of application fields, such as manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare. For instance, it is envisaged that service and personal care wireless mechatronic systems will become more and more prevalent at home in the near future and will be very useful in assistive healthcare particularly for the elderly and disabled. Another concrete example is radio-frequency identification-based devices and systems that are showing significant potentials in applications from manufacturing, security, logistics, airline baggage management to postal tracking. In an effort to disseminate current advances on wireless mechatronics, this Focused Section reports some of the latest theoretical developments and applications in this fast-growing area.