PublicationSep 11, 2023
Quality assurance of digital twins: an experience report in the automotive industry
Digital twins are becoming increasingly important for the efficient and effective development and operation of cyber-physical systems. However, digital twins are only useful if they reflect the real-world system accurately enough, i.e. their quality is high enough. This claim entails the question, of what the term quality in the context of digital twins means and how it can be measured. In this article, the authors presented their experience with the quality assurance of a digital twin for an assembly line in the automotive industry. Authors explained the preliminary definition of digital twin quality, which authors derived from classical quality models for general software systems. Furthermore, authors described quality issues, which they were able to detect in a digital twin of an assembly line in the automotive industry. Finally, authors concluded how to leverage their experience in different contexts and how to generalize the …
PublicationJun 28, 2016
MaCon: Consistent Cross-Disciplinary Conception of Manufacturing Systems
Conceptual designs of manufacturing systems contain input from all engineering disciplines involved in the life cycle of such systems. For their efficient and consistent conception, information about the elements of a conceptual design and their relationships have to be sufficiently precise but preferably abstract. We employ a cross-disciplinary modeling technique to capture this information together with consistency checking including simulation to accomplish such a challenging task. In this paper, we demonstrate our approach with a tool prototype. Based on an industrial example, we highlight how the features of the tool prototype can effectively support tasks in conceptual design. To illustrate this effectiveness, we visualize the modeling work flow and the results of the consistency checks based on data collected during tool usage.
PublicationFeb 1, 2016
From Conception to Refinement in Mechatronic Systems Engineering
The complexity of mechatronic systems increases constantly due to market requirements. Traditional engineering approaches have troubles coping with the desired functionality. A major problem is the early and continuous integration and coordination of engineering disciplines (i.e. mechanic, electric, and software). To address this situation and to enable a concurrent engineering of participating disciplines, a model-based approach to early conception and subsequent refinement of mechatronic systems is proposed in this paper. This approach allows specifying a high-level mechatronic concept within a single editor and the refinement of this concept by integrating it with established engineering tools. In particular, the paper outlines the technical and methodical integration of discipline-specific tools such that refinement steps can be tested automatically and continuously. The suitability of the approach is shown along selected examples. Finally, the paper finishes with a reflection on the current state and an outlook on future research activities.
PublicationDec 13, 2015
Integrated Requirements and Systems Modeling in the Mechatronic Development Process
Manufacturing systems continuously increase in complexity due to higher customer expectations regarding their purpose and flexibility of use. In addition, the growing meaning of electronic and software components in manufacturing systems complicates the engineering since the interaction of different disciplines leads to increasing coordination efforts and problems regarding the interfaces between these disciplines. For these reasons, development processes in this context need to be adapted continuously to the present situation. To face these challenges, the suitable handling of arising requirements is one key factor for the success of engineering processes. Therefore, a modeling technique for an integrated requirements and systems modeling in the mechatronic development process is presented in this paper. After a summary of approaches for model-based development and requirements engineering in the context of mechatronic systems, the modeling technique is illustrated on a meta-model level. To demonstrate the feasibility, the proposed approach is applied to a miniaturized packaging machine, which is currently developed at the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb) of Technische Universitaet Mueunchen for benchmarking engineering methods and tools. Excerpts of this application are outlined in this paper as well as the results of a discussion with experts from the machine tools industry regarding the presented modeling approach. Finally, an outlook with respect to possible enhancements of the modeling technique is given.
PublicationSep 30, 2015
Modellbasierte Konzeption von Benutzerschnittstellen im Entwicklungsprozess von mechatronischen Systemen
Aufgrund der juengsten Entwicklungen im Konsumgueterbereich ruecken Benutzerschnittstellen (HMIs) zunehmend in den Fokus des Maschinen- und Anlagenbaus. In etablierten Vorgehensmodellen der Entwicklung stellen HMIs jedoch lediglich ein Randthema dar, was die Realisierung intuitiver Bedienkonzepte erschwert. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird im folgenden Beitrag ein integrativer Entwicklungsansatz vorgestellt, der bereits in der fruehen Phase des Entwicklungsprozesses eine Konzeption von HMIs unterstuetzt. Dazu wird eine bestehende Modellierungstechnik zur Abbildung mechatronischer Systeme um HMI-relevante Elemente erweitert. Anhand eines industrienahen Fallbeispiels wird der Umgang mit dem neuen Entwicklungsansatz verdeutlicht sowie die praktische Anwendbarkeit evaluiert. Auf dieser Basis werden in einem Ausblick Potenziale zur Optimierung und Anpassung des Ansatzes abgeleitet.
PublicationNov 28, 2014
Interface Behavior Modeling for Automatic Verification of Industrial Automation Systems' Functional Conformance
To facilitate engineering and evolution of automation systems, ensuring the correctness of the design models is an important topic. Industrial automation systems are composed of various heterogeneous elements designed by different disciplines such as mechanical, electrical/electronic and software engineering. In this contribution, an approach for modeling industrial automation systems is presented which is based on interface behavior modeling of design artifacts and which supports automatic verification of their functional conformance while considering information from various disciplines.