Zi

mbabweJour
nal
ofSci
enceandTechnol
ogypp117-
127 Vol.
12[2017]
e-
ISSN2409-0360
Zi
mbabwej.
sci.
technol
Met
hodol
ogi
esf
orMechat
roni
cSy
stemsDesi
gn:
Att
ri
but
esandPopul
ari
ty
a a a a b
Powel
lMl
ambo,DoubtSi
mango,Eugeni
aChi
weshe,Humphr
eyDer
a, Enock
Jonat
han
a
DepartmentofMechat roni
cEngineeri
ng
SchoolofEngineeri
ngSci encesandTechnology
ChinhoyiUni
v er
sit
yofTechnology
b
SchoolofNatural
SciencesandMat hemati
cs
ChinhoyiUni
v er
sit
yofTechnology
Email:pmlambo@gmai l
.com

ABSTRACT
Thenumberofconnect edel ementsi nengi neeringar egreatlyincreasingwi thpr
oblemsget ti
nghar der,broader ,anddeeper .These
problemsar emul ti
discipli
narythusr equireanengi neeri
ngsy stemsappr oachwhichismul ti
discipl
inaryi nnat ur
et osolv ethem.
Suchmoder nmul ti
discipli
narysyst emsar ecal l
edmechat r
onicssy stems.TheV- model,itsvar i
antsandt hehi erar
chicaldesign
met hodhasbr oughtaboutanumberofbenef it
si nthedesi gnofcompl exmechat r
onicsystemsandal sopr ovideanef fect
ivewayof
presenti
ngmacr olev elandmi crol ev elcollaboration.Thispaperseekst oeval
uateandexposet hel ev elofadopt ionoft hese
met hodol
ogiesasusedi nthedesi gnofmechat ronicsy stems.Ar ev i
ewoft heVDI2206,RFLPmet hodandt hehi er
archaldesign
met hodwascar r
iedout .Googl eschol arwast henusedt oidenti
f ypubl i
cati
onswithinthecust om rangeofper i
od2003t o2016,
wher ethemet hodswer eadopt ed.Anev aluati
onoft heprosandconsofeachmet hodwast hencar riedouti nadditi
ont oan
analysi
soft hepubl ications.Ast atisti
calpr esentat i
onofpubl i
cationswher et
hesemet hodswer eappliedwast henpr esented.
Possiblereasonswer eout l
i
nedandexpl ai
nedf ort heobser vedtrends.I nconcl
usion,amet hodologyi srecommendat i
ont hatcan
bebestsui t
edi nsol
vingsomeoft hecur r
entdesi gnchal l
enges.

Key
wor
ds:
Mechat
roni
cs,
V-model
,VDI2206,
RFLPMet
hod,
Hier
archal
Desi
gnMet
hod.
Recei
ved:16.
08.
17.Accept
ed:21.
05.
18
1.I
NTRODUCTI
ON unsui tableformoder nmechat r
onicdesi
gns
as i ti ntr
oduces desi gn chall
enges by
The demand f ori nnovat i
ve pr oduct s has i
ncr easing desi gn cost s, devel
opment
resul ted i n adv ancement of i nformat i
on l
eadi ng-time and hi gh l evel
s of effor
t
technol ogyanddeci si
onmaki ngaswel las without r eaching high pr oduct qual
it
y
the sy ner getic i ntegration of di fferent (ChristophKi lger2014;Zhengetal .2014).
fundament alengi neer i
ngdomai ns( Jür gen Bradl ey ( 2010) i n his explorat
ion of
and St efan 2003) .Moder n pr oduct s ar e mechat ronicsy st
emsst atesthatsomeof
mechat roni c in nat ure si nce t hey ar e ther easonsf ordesignfail
urearedueto;
compr ehensi ve mechani calsy stems wi t
h
full
y i nt egrated el ectronics, i ntelligent  A mi sunderst
anding of t he
cont rolsy stem andi nformat i
ont echnol ogy . r
elat
ionshi
ps bet ween sy st
em
Mechat roni c engi neers ar e r equi red t o t
echnologi
es parti
cular
ly sof
tware
desi gn engi neer ing sy stemschar act erized r
elat
edandot her
s,
by hi gh l evels of sy ner gy bet ween
engi neer ing domai n and i ntegrat i
on wi t
h  Probl
em compl
exi
ty and
i
nt ent i
onsofachi ev i
ngconst rai
nssuchas communi cat
ions bet
ween
efficiency ,hi gherper formance,pr eci sion, di
scipl
ines,
speedandl owercost sbybei ngi mmedi ate,
 Anov
eremphasi
soncor
edi
sci
pli
nes.
i
nnov at i
v e, i ntegr ativ
e, concept ual, and
mul tidisci pli
nary .Theuseoft hesequent i
al The mechatr
onic sy
stem design process
desi gn pr ocesses whi ch st i
llr emai ns a should address these challenges by
standar di nmanyi ndust r
iesi spr ov i
ngt obe fol
lowing an i nterdi
sci
pli
nary desi gn
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
letal
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133

procedur e, whi ch i ncl udes ev aluat i

on, adapt
ation in indi
v i
dual design t asks,
i
nt egr ation,andopt imi zationoft hesy stem suppl
ement i
ngexist
ingguideli
neswi tht he
andi tssub- sy st emsandcomponent sasa l
atestfindi
ngs ofdesign research(
Jürgen
whol e concur rent l
y.The desi gn pr ocess andStefan,2003)
.Themai nelementst hat
shoul dal soenabl eallt hedesi gndi scipline arepr
esentedfortheproceduralmethodas
teamst owor ki npar allelandcol l
abor at i
v ely apartoft henew gui del
inesf ortheVDI
throughoutt he desi gn and dev el opment 2206are:
processsoast opr oduceanov er allopt i
mal
desi gn wi t
h no af ter -
thought add- ons  A gener
alcycl
eofpr
obl
em sol
vi
ng
all
owed( Far han2013) . Theneedf orsof t onthemicr
o-l
evel
,
cont rolal gor ithmsi sal soev erincr easi ngi n  V-
shapedmodel
ont
hemacr
o-l
evel
,
the cont ext of moder n i nter disci plinar y
product dev elopment .Al lt his makes i t  Macro-
cycl
es accor
ding t
o t
he
essent ial t o i ncr ease t he t ranspar ency degr
eeofmatur
it
y
bet weendomai nswi thint hedesi gnpr ocess
by expandi ng t he desi gn met hodol ogy  User-
speci
fi
c process modul
es f
or
towar dsmet hodst hatar ecompat iblewi t
h recur
ri
ngoperat
ionsteps.
sof t
war eengi neer i
ng.( Eigneretaln. d) .To Thedesi gnpr ocessdi sti
ngui shesbet ween
meett he r equi r ement sf orcol labor ation the pr oblem sol v i
ng pr ocess of t he
when desi gni ng mechat ronic sy stems, i
ndi vi
dual desi gner ( micro-lev el) which
manydesi gnmet hodshav ebeendev eloped. comesf rom sy stemsengi neer i
ngandt he
These desi gn appr oaches hav e been genericpr ocessr elatedt o desi gnphases
der i
v edf rom t radi tionalsequent i
aldesi gn, andcor respondi ngpr oductst at es(macro-
concur rent engi neer i
ng or l ean pr oduct l
ev el)
. At mi cro-level the desi gner is
dev elopment . Howev er many desi gn suppor ted i n an act i
on- oriented way :
met hods st illr emai n poori n suppor tof alter
nat i
ng bet ween sy stemat i
c and
technol ogy integrat ion and the associ ativeway sofpr oceedi ngorr eact
ing
mul tidisci pli
nar y per spect ives i
n from unforeseen si t
uat ions whi l
st
mechat roni csy st emsdesi gn( Zhengetal .
, structuring design sub- tasks.The macr o-
2014) . Of t he pr oposed met hodol ogi es l
ev elai ds in sur vey oft he t otaldesign
thosebasedont heV- modelv ar i
ant shav e process:set ti
ngofmi l
estones, planni
ngand
broughtaboutanumberofsol ut i
onst hat controlli
ngt hedesi gnpr ogresset c.
arer equi redi nt hedesi gnofmechat ronic
syst ems.Thi spaperf ocusesont hedesi gn 2.
1. TheV-
model
processes based on t he VDI 2206
guidel ines,RFLP met hod and Hi erar chal The V-modeli s wellest abl
ished int he
desi gn met hod as t hese met hods hav e domainofsof twar eengineeri
ngwhi chwas
attract edmuchi nterestwi thi nthesci ent ifi
c adapted to mechat r
onics as i t clear l
y
communi ty( Hof mannetal .2010)( Zhenget adopts the t op-down-approach ( system
al.2014). desi
gn) and t he bot t
om- up-
approach
(sy
stem i
nt egr
ation)(NabilandGov ar
dhan,
2010,Far han 2013,Jür gen and St efan
2003).
2.THEVDI2206GUI
DELI
NES
Italso al l
ows poi nti
ng outt he need of
The VDI2206 r epresents gui
del i
nes for permanentv eri
ficati
on/val
idati
on between
mechatr
onicsy st
emsdesi gnworkedoutby the requirements/specif
ied funct
ions (
left
the commi t
tee of t he Associ ati
on of handsi de)andtheact ual(v
irt
ualand/orreal
)
GermanEngineers( VDI )inthey ear2003. syst
em ( ri
ghthandsi de).
Theseguidel
inespr ovidesaf r
amewor kfor
mechatr
onic specific design procedures,
methodsand t oolswhi ch areflexibl
ef or
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
letal
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133

specif
ic domains areint
egr
ated i
nt o an
overal
lsystem anal
yzi
ngthei
nter
rel
ati
ons.
The“ endpr oduct ”i sther esultofamacr o-
cyclesuccessf ull
ypassedt hrough.Itdoes
notexcl usi
v elymeant hef inishedpr oduct
but an ongoi ng cr eation of t he fut ure
product i n t erms of pr oduct mat urity.
Degr ees of mat urit
y ar e, f or exampl e,
conceptmodel ,f uncti
onalmodel ,phy sical
protot y
pe et c.The i ntroduced v -
shaped
modelon t he macr o-leveli s a gener i
c
procedur e pat tern, howev er a compl ex
mechat r
onicpr oductwi llnor mallynotbe
fi
nishedwi thinonemacr o-cy cl
ebutsev er al
passes ( macr o-
cy cl
es) and i ncreasi ng
product mat urity( Vasi l
ij
e and Lazar ev i
ć
2008) .
Themai nphasesi nt heV- modelar enot
Fi
gure1-V-
model(
Vasi
l
ij
eand Lazar
evi
ć, specifi
edindet ailasthei ndividualdesi gner
2008) or team does t his.Desi gn pr ocedur es,
whichoccurr egularlydur i
ngt hedesi gn, can
The r equirement s def ine and cl arify bedescr i
bedi nt ermsofpar tlypredef ined
i
ndi vidual desi gn t asks ai mi ng at process modul er epresent ing pr ocedur es
establ i
shing a cr oss-domai n sol ution and and met hods f ordi fferentdesi gn t asks.
also pr ov i
de a sy st em t est pl an f or Accordingtot hei ndivi
dualdesi gntaskt he
evaluat i
onoft hepr oductl ater.Thet estpl an designer can choose t he appr opr i
ate
focuses on ev aluating and v alidat ing t he processmodul esmeet i
nghi sr equir
ement s
funct i
onal i
ty speci fied dur ing the andadaptt hem oral t
er natively,createnew
requi r
ement sgat hering.Thi sal soi ncludes ones.
ani ntegrationt estpl anf orev aluat ingt he
combi nedel ement soft hesy st em.Sy stem
desi gn def ines a cr oss- domai n sol ut i
on 2.
2. Ev
aluat
ionoft
heVDI2206
concept ,whi ch descr ibes t he essent ial
phy sicalandl ogicalchar acter isticsoft he Thesegui delinesprovideasi mpleandeasy
futur e product .The ov erallf unct ion ofa to use pr ocedure where each phase has
syst em i s di v i
ded i nto sub- funct ions t o specif
icdel i
verables.I
thasahi ghchanceof
whi ch sui table wor king pr inci ples and/ or successduet ot heear lydevelopmentof
solut i
onel ement sar eassi gned, f ulfi
llingt he testplansdur ingthedev elopmentli
fecycl
e
funct i
ons r egar ding t he ov er all sy stem and wor ks wel l f or pr oj
ects where
cont ext.Domai nspeci ficdesi gnal lowst he requir
ement s ar e easil
y understood.The
solut i
onconceptt obedev elopedconj ointly VDI 2206 has been successf ul
ly
byt hei nv olveddomai nsandwor kedouti n i
mpl ement edi nthedesi gnofanumberof
detai lmost l
ysepar atelyi nt heconcer ned mechat ronicsy st
emswhi chincl
ude( Pawel
domai ns.Thedescr i
bedphasesar ef lanked etal.2009,Mar ekandRal f2008,Vasili
j
e
byt hemodel i
ngandanal ysisoft hesy stem andLazar ević2008) .
char acteristics wi th i
nt ent ions of
Studieshaveshownthatthedevelopment
i
nv est i
gatingsy stem pr oper ti
eswi t
ht heai d
processdescr
ibedbytheV-modelcanlead
ofmodel s and comput er-aided t ool sf or
to pr obl
ems when appl i
ed i n t he
simul ation.Fi nallyt he desi gns f rom t he
developmentof hi
ghl
yint
egrat
edsy st
ems
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
letal
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133

wi t
hint he domai n speci fic dev elopment v
iew,
Logi
cal
viewandPhy
sical
view.
phaseduet otheoccur rencesofdev iations
from t hecommonsol uti
onconcept( Rol and
and Rei ner 2013) . Ther e i s nei ther
communi cation nor anal ysis of t hese
dev i
at i
onsf orcr ossdomai nef fect swhi ch
resultsi nl atedet ectionoft hecr oss- domai n
consequencest hati sdet ect iondur i
ngt he
i
nt egration phase. Thi s del ay i n
communi catingoranal yzingt heseef fects
callsf oraddi ti
onali t
erat i
ons wi thint he
domai n speci f
ic dev elopment phase
resultingi nl atei ntegrati
onandf inallyt he
procedur e becomes cost ly and t i
me
i
nef fi
cient . To t ackle t hese pr obl ems
appr oaches wher e t here i s ear l
y
consi der ationoft hepossi blecr oss- domai n
dependenci eshav et obeappl i
edandsuch
met hodsar eusual l
ybasedont heconcept s
ofsy stemst heor y.Thi sbasi cal l
yi nv olves
i
dent ifyingi ndivi
dualcomponent swi thina
compl ex sy stem t hen consi der s t hei
r
relati
onshi pt o one anot her.I ti s al so
i
mpor tantt oi dentifyaddi ti
onalmet hodst o Fi
gur
e2TheRFLPdesi
gnmet
hod
cont rol sy stem and model compl exity
.
Byf ol lowi ngt hisdesi gnpr ocesst heRFLP
Ther ei s al so need t of ocus on how t o
all
owsconcur r entengi neer ingt ocoor dinat e
i
mpr ov ecol l
aborat i
onbet weent hedi fferent
the i ndi vi
dual act ivi
ties and v iews of
domai nsdur i
ngt hedomai nspeci ficdesi gn
distribut eddesi gnt eams.Ther equir
ement
phase and t o of fer sol utions wher e
engineer ing v iew al l
ows cl arifi
cati
on of
i
nt egration ofspeci ali
zed domai n-speci fi
c
user s’r equi r
ement s.Int hef unct i
onalv iew,
toolsi sconsi dered.
thei nt endeduseoft hemechat ronicsy stem
i
sdef ined.I nt hel ogicalv i
ew,t hel ogical
archit ectur e, connect ions, t he behav ior
3.RFLPMETHOD (discr etebehav i
ors,phy sicsbehav iors,and
Thi smet hod wasi ntroduced byDassaul t hybr i
dbehav i
or s)ofmechat r
oni csy stems
Sy st
èmesi n2008anddev elopedaccor ding willbe def i
ned.Fi nall
yt he phy si
calv iew
toModelBasedSy stem Engi neering( MBSE) def i
nesav ir
tualdef i
niti
onoft her ealwor ld
view orv iewpoi
ntappr oach ( Beckmann- product .TheRFLPmet hodi si mplement ed
Dobr evetal .2015)( Siri
netal .2015) .A i
nt heCATI A Sy stem v 6sof twar eandso
viewpoint descr i
bes how a set of can be consi dered as a commer cial
stakeholdersperceiveapar ticul
ari nter
est, mechat ronic desi gn appr oach.Si nce t hi s
whi l
eav i
ew isafixedpackaget hatissaid met hod i s i ntegr at
ed i n t he CATI A
to conform t othe v i
ewpoi nt( Siri
n etal. applicat ion i tal lows st or age,shar e and
2015) . The RFLP (Requi r
ements/ exchangeofi nformat ionanddat asuchas
Funct i
onal/Logical/Phy sical)met hodisa shar i
ngMCAD orE- CAD dat at ypeamong
specifi
c V- modeladapt ed t o desi gn of engineer sofdi ff
erentdi sci pli
nes,
mechat ronicsyst
em ( Zhengetal .2014) .I
t 3.
1. Ev
aluat
ionoft
heRFLPmet
hod
focusesont hel
eft-
handdescendi ngbranch
oft he" V-model"dividing itinto4v i
ews: Researchersuphel
dtheprovi
dedsolut
ions
Requi r
ementengi neering v i
ew,Funct i
onal to chal
lengesintheV-modelthr
ought he
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
letal
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133

i
ntegr ation of exper t know- how,
i
nteroper abil
it
y ofCAx appl ications.The
RFLP hel pi nf ormal i
si ng t he cust omer
needs,t echnicalr equi r
ement sandal soin
performi ng gl obal pr oduct t raceabil
it
y
across t he whol e pr oductdef initi
on.The
met hodal sopr ov i
desameanst ousemul ti
domai nmodel i
ngmet hodsi nsuppor tofthe
macr ol ev elcoll
abor at i
on.Thei ntegr at
ionof
mult i
disci pl
inaryf ields t hrough si mulati
on
applications and t he l imi tati
on of t he
numberofdesi gn l oops i mpr ov e design
ti
me management and qual i
ty of dat a
exchange. Howev ert hei nt
egr ationoft he
softwar edomai nst illremai nsachal lenge
Fi
gure3-Mechat
roni
cmodul
e(Hehenber
ger
(Zhengetal .2014) .SinceRFLPi sjustthe
etal
.2010)
descendi ngsideoft heV- model ,ithasbeen
overshadowed byt he V- modelmaki ng it Thi s appr oach meet s t he model i
ng
dif
ficultt ohighlightitssi gni f
icance. chal l
engebyf oll
owi ng a modul ardesi gn.
The i nterfaces wi thin a modul ardesi gn
shoul dbewel ldefinedandar eshar edonl y
4.HI
ERARCHI
CALDESI
GNMETHOD withaf ew ot hersubsy stems,whi chi nt his
casear et heot hermechat ronicmodul es.A
Thehi erarchi caldesi gnmet hodconsi ders technicalsy stem’s phy sicalbehav ior i s
the i ntegr ation of t he mechat ronic det ermined by t he pr oper ti
es of t he
disciplinesf r
om t hev erybegi nni
ngoft he subsy stemsand t hei rinter nalorext ernal
desi gnpr ocess.Thi sdesi gnmet hodhel ps i
nt eracti
ons,whi chdescr i
bet heconnect i
on
i
ndescr i
bi ngpr oductmodel sanddat af rom bet ween t he element s orr epresentt he
differentv iewpoi nt s.Thepr oposedmodel s connect ionsacr osst hesy stem boundar ies
may r epr esent st ructural knowl edge, respectively. The axi omat ic desi gn
behav i
oral knowl edge or f unctional appr oachcanbeappl i
edt omi nimi zet he
knowl edge.Byf ollowi ng t hismet hod,t he componentandsubsy st
em dependenci es.
mechat r
oni csy stem i sbr oken down i nto
mechat r
oni c modul es,whi ch aref urther Classi fi
cationofdesi gnmodel si sbasedon
brokeni nt odi sci pline-speci fi
csubsy stems thef ourdesi gnst ages,whi char eprobl em
wi th each subsy st em char acteri
zed bya def i
nition,concept ualdesi gn,pr eli
mi nar y
model pi llar. These model s allow t he desi gn,and det ail
ed desi gn.A gener al
sy stem t o hav e di ff
erent degr ees of descr ipti
onoft hesest agesi sgi venbyPahl
det ail
ingandv iews,whi chi nt urntranslates and Bat es ( 2006) . An i nterdisci
plinar y
from ahi er archyofmodel st oahi erarchyof def i
nition,descr i
ption,andpr esentati
onof
desi gn par amet ers.Fi gur e 3 shows an product i nfor mat i
on i s r equired f or
exampl eofamechat ronicmodul e. successf ulpr oductdev elopment ..Solution
principlesf rom di fferentdi scipli
nesshoul d
bepr oper l
ycombi nedandut i
lizedsoast o
creat e an ext ended and qual i
ty pr
incipal
solut i
on.Hi erar chicalmodel sser veasv er y
i
mpor t
antt ool sf orcompl exdesi gnt asks.
Theconcept ualdesi gnphasei swher emost
oft hedesi gnaspect ssuchashi erar
chyof
par amet ersand modul ari
tyoft he desi gn
are anal yzed.Thi s phase i s wher et he
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
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133

l
ar gestpar toft hel aterr esul t
ingpr oduct met hodf orunder st andi ngandr epr esent i
ng
structureadcost sispr edet erminedorev en anov er allproductf ocusi ngont hef lowsof
fi
xed.The concept ualdesi gn phase i s mat er ial,ener gyandsi gnal s.Thepr i
mar y
divided i nto f uncti
onaldesi gn,pr i
nci
ple taski st osuppor tt hepr ocedur eoff inding
desi gn and ar chi
t ectural desi gn. The suitabl e sol utions i n desi gn by cr eat i
ng
hierarchicaldesi gnmet hodcant husbesai d discipl i
ne- i
ndependentf unct ionalmodel sof
to const i
tut
e of si x st ages, namel y
, thepr oduct .Af unct ionalmodelcont ai nsan
requi r
ement desi gn, f unct i
onal desi gn, abst ractdescr i
pt ionoft hemai ngoalofa
principle desi gn, ar chitectural desi gn, product by st ating i ts ov erallf unct i
on.
preliminar y desi gn and det ai
led desi gn Funct ionalmodel swi t
ht headdi ti
on ofa
(Follmer et al . 2011) . The expanded funct ionalbasi s,pr ov idedesi gnt eamswi th
concept ual desi gn phase i s of gr eat asol ut i
ont osi mpl ifydesi gnpr oblemsand
i
mpor tancesi ncemostdesi gnaspect sare tomakecr i
ticaldeci sionsear lythrought he
consi deredher eandasar esultt hescope realizat i
on of modul es.Combi ning sub-
fordesi gn isl imited t o mer el y small
er funct ionsf r
om af unct ionalmodelcr eat esa
changesi nthesubsequentdesi gnstages. modul ar ar chitect ur e. Appl y i
ng concept
Tof ull
yunder standt hehi er archicaldesign gener at i
ont echni queswher et hemodul es
met hod the problem defi
nit
ion i
dent i
fyoppor tuni tiesf orf unct ion shar i
ng
(requirement s desi gn) and concept ual by component sr esul tsi n a numberof
desi gn( functi
onaldesi gn,pr i
nci pledesign alternat ivesol utions.Thecr eat edf unct i
onal
and ar chitectural desi gn) hav e to be struct ure must f ulfil
l t he speci f i
ed
discussed. requi rement s.I fi ti s assumed t hatf or
compl ex t echni cal sy st ems a cer t ain
Ther equi rement sdesi gnst agef ocuseson numberofel ement aryf unct i
onsexi st,t hen
the def i
nition of t he i ni
t i
ali nformat ion thisf unct i
onalst ruct urei sasar esul tof
related t ot he sy st em and t he sy stem cooper ation bet ween t hese el ement ary
subdi vision i nto modul es.Anal yzing t he funct ions.Anal y sisoft hei nt erconnect i
ons
i
ni t
ial r equi rement s spawn f urther bet weenf unctionalpar amet er sal lowseasy
requi r
ement s,and cr eat es a hi erar chyof struct uring of t he desi gn pr ocedur e
syst em obj ectives. Anal y sis of t he reduci ngunnecessar yi terat i
onl oops.
requi r
ement si scar riedoutoncet heyar e
classified i nto gr oups ei ther gl obal ly, Principle design f ocuses on def ini
ng a
cumul atively,speci fic or i nter connect ed. solution t hat speci fi
es t he oper ating
These r equi rement s al so cont ai n t he principl
es of t he sy stem under
def i
nitionoft hesy st em boundar i
esandt he consider ati
on.The sol utions wi l
lhowev er
expect ed sy stem behav i
or.Consequent ly, bedef ined veryr oughlybecausedet ai l
ed
the r equir ement s appl y t o t he ov eral
l dimensi onsar enotav ailableatt hi
sst age.
syst em, ev ery si ngl e subsy stem and The i mpor tantpr oper t
ies ofa t echni cal
i
ndi vidual subsy st ems. A r equi rement s system,whi chi ncludef unctions,st ruct ure,
model and a met hod f or t racki ng andbehav i
or,hav et obeev al uated.Si nce
i
mpl ement at i
onoft her equir ement si sset systems char act eri
stics ar e dr awn f rom
withhi ghpr i
or i
tyr equi rement sdet er mined thesepr operti
es,t heyal sof or mt hebasi s
(Hehenber ger 2014) . The i nformat ion forassessi ngt hesy stem.Si mul ati
onscan
gainedatt hisst agehasgr eati nfl
uenceon also be used t o check whet her al l
the or igi
nalpr oduct i dea.Requi rement s requirement s hav e been t ransl ated i nt o
shoul d al way s be r e-evaluat ed,pr oper l
y signifi
cant pr oper t
ies of t he pr i
nci ple
select ed,speci fi
ed i n det ailand f i
nal l
y solution.Sel ecting t he pr inci ple sol ution
structur ed accor di ng t o t he r el ati
ons givest hef undament alest imat i
onsoft he
bet weent hem. signifi
cantpr oper ti
esoft hesy stem t hatar e
def i
nedbyt hesel ect edt echnol ogi es.
Funct
ionalmodel
i
ng pr
ovi
desan abst
ract
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
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133

Thear chitecturaldesi gnst agef ocuseson communi cati

onacr ossdomai nboundari
es.
combi ni
ngt hesol ut
ionst hathav eal r
eady Though t he iteration loops cannot be
beenpr oposedi ntowor kablemodul es.The avoidedcompl etely,theyar eshif
tedfrom
modul es ar e t hen ar ranged wi t
hin the the mechat ronicl eveldown t othe intr
a-
solut
ion env i
ronmentwi t
ht he interf
aces domai nlevel.Thehi erar
chicaldesi
gnmodel
(connect i
ons,por ts,geomet r
y,et c.
)oft he i
st husv eryef fectivefort he mi
crolevel
i
ndividualmodul es bei ng def i
ned whi lst coll
aboration.
putti
ng i nto consi deration t he possi ble
alt
ernatives.Thei nt
erfacesmustbesuch 5.TRENDSONTHEADOPTI
ONTHEOF
thatt herei s mi nimum dependency and DESI
GNMETHODS
i
nteractionbet weent hemodul es. Asur v eyont hel iter
at urewher et hedesign
4.
1. Eval
uat
ion of t
he Hi
erar
chi
cal met hodswer ecitedwasal socar r i
edout.In
desi
gnMethod ordert ogathert hest ati
sticsoft hecited
wor ks,googleschol arwasusedt osearch
Thehi erarchi calst r
uct ureal l
owsr eflect ion outt hel i
ter
at urebyi nput t
ingkeywor dsin
oft henat ureoft het asksi nvolv edateach the sear ch toolbarwhi ch incl uded “VDI
i
ndi vi
duall ev elwi thint he ov erallsy stem. 2206” ,“hi
erarchicaldesi gn+mechat r
onics”
,
Ther ei sa mov eawayf rom t hedet ailed “RFLP+mechat ronics” .Sincet heVDI2206
design and oper at ion of t he desi gn guidelines wer e publ i
shed i n 2003 onl y
component st ot he managementoft he l
iteratureobt ainedf rom t heper i
od2003–
i
nf ormat i
on i nf r
ast ruct ur es r equi red t o 2016wasused.I tshoul dalsobenot edthat
achiev e ov erallsy st em f unct i
onal i
ty and theRFLPmet hodwasi nt r
oducedi ntheyear
per f
ormanceear lyi nt hedesi gn pr ocess. 2008.Fi gure4wast hengener atedt oshow
This appr oach al so makes i tpossi blet o the appear ances oft he VDI2206,RFLP
design i nnov ative mechat r
oni c sy stems met hodandHi erarchicalDesi gnMet hodin
with hi gh f l
exi bil
ity and speed and t hat period2003- 2016
prov i
de answer s t o non- rout i
ne desi gn
quest i
onsbyr elyingonamodul ardesi gn
architectur e.Modul ar ityal l
ow managi nga
l
ar ge number of i nt erfaces and t hisi s
i
mpor tantf orst ructur ingdesi gnknowl edge,
compl exity management , upgr adi ng,
evolvabi l
ity,par allelwor ki ngoft eams,and
replacement of par ts of t he sy stem
(Whi t
field etal .2002;Bal dwi n and Cl ark
2006;Hol mqv i
standPer sson2003) .Good
modul ari
zat ioni sar equi rementf rom t he
startofpr oductdev elopment .Theabi l
ityt o
decompose a desi gn t ask pr ov i
des t he
basist oachi ev ingcr eat ivedesi gnsol ut i
ons
(Komot oandTomi yama2012) .
Thehi erarchi
caldesi gnmet hodal soallows
uti
l
ization and pr oper combi nati
on of Fi
gur
e4-Appear
ancesoftheVDI2206,
sol
ution pr inci
ples f rom di
fferent RFLPmethodandHier
archi
calDesi
gn
mechat ronicdomai nsext endingt hequal it
y Methodinper
iod2003-2016
andv arietyoft
hepr incipal soluti
on.Ther eis
minimizat i
on oft he numberofi t
eration Ar elat
ivelyincreasi
ngtr
endoftheci tati
on
l
oops,whi char eprev alenti nmanydesi gn ofallmet hodologieswasobser
ved.At otal
methods.These l oops ar e howev er,time of15700,1470,and 65 appear ances in
consumi ng and r
equir e i
ntense l
it
eraturewer eobservedfort
hehierar
chical,
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
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133

VDI2206andRFLPgui del i
nesr espect ively
. harnesstheadv ant
agesofeachi ndivi
dual
Thel i
ter aturegat her eddemonst rat esav ery met hod.Suchcaseshasbeenbeobser ved
high popul ari
tyoft he hi er archicaldesi gn i
n t he design met hods presented by
met hodwi t
ht her esear chcommuni tywi th (Fol
lmeretal .2011)and(Zhengetal.2017)
thel eastpopul arbei ngt heRFLPmet hod.I t asshowi nfigure4andf i
gure5respecti
vely
.
wasal soobser vedt hatt heper iodbet ween
2003- 2009 an number of desi gn wer e
car r
ied outusi ng t he VDI2206 desi gn
met hods, howev er t her eaf ter t he
appear ancesoft hemet hodwer er elatedt o
solv i
ngsomeoft hechal lengesi tpr ov ided.
TheRFLPmet hodgott hel eastpopul arity
.
Though t he met hod i ntegr ated sy st ems
engi neer ingt oolsandai medatmi nimi zing
cross domai n communi cat i
on i tst illhad
chal l
enges bet ween sof twar e and ot her
domai nst husv eryf ewdesi gnsat tribut edt o
i
tsappl i
cat i
on.Thi sl owupt akebydesi gner s
canal sobeat t
ribut edt ot hef actt hati sj ust
thedescendi ngsi deoft heV- modelt husi t
hasbeenov ershadowedbyt heV- .Ashas
alreadybeendi scussedt hegener alupwar d
trendsi nt heaccept anceoft hehi er archi cal
desi gnmet hodcanbeat tributedi ni tbei ng
a met hod whi ch f acil
itates t he desi gn
engi neer ing syst ems sol vi
ng pr obl ems of
i
ncr eased compl exi tyand communi cat ion
bet weendomai nswi thoutanov er emphasi s Fi
gure5-I
ntegr
ati
onoft
hehi
erar
chaldesi
gn
oncor edi scipl
ines.Thehi erarchi caldesi gn phases i
ntothe V-
model(
Foll
meretal .,
met hodsal soshowshi ghaccept anceasi t 2011)
facilit
at ed sy stems decomposi ti
on,
mi nimi zingnumberofi ter ati
onl oopsand
alsopr ov i
despossi bi lit
yi nt hedesi gnofl ow
cost sy stems whi ch i sf undament ali n
moder ndesi gns.
6.CONCLUSI
ON
Thehi erarchicaldesi gnmet hodhasbeen
obser ved t o be a power f ulappr oach in
solving the desi gn chal l
enges ofmoder n
mechat r
oni csy stems.Wi t
hi nt heresearch
communi t
yi thast hegr eatestpopul ari
tyin
the desi gn of mechat ronic sy stems.
Howev ert he lev elt o which t he V-model
defines an i ntegrated desi gn pr ocess,
represent s concur rent engi neeri
ng and
unifi
esdomai nspeci f
icdesi gnwi t
hmacr o
l
ev elcollabor ati
oncannotbei gnored.Itis
thereforer ecommendt oconsi dermet hods
thatintegratebot hdesi gnmet hodssoast o
ZJST.Vol
.12[
2017] Powel
letal
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133

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