Risk adjusted, concurrent development of microsystems and reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Controlling uncertainties is a challenging aspect in design and manufacturing of microsystems. As microsystems are characterised by features in the micro domain, product development and manufacturing processes are applied at the boundaries of their operational areas. In combination with many disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, chemical etc.) and little standardisation, it causes microsystems development to be more time and cost intensive than products in the macro domain. Development of microsystems benefits from a concurrent approach of product and production design. Uncertainties may be addressed by application of methods for systems engineering (engineering design). Systems engineering applies models for the analysis of projects, usually a linear set of gates that need to be closed successively as the project evolves. Over the last ten years, models with an iterative approach of design and testing, gained in popularity due to their more agile characteristic that performs better in fast changing markets. Microsystems development benefits from the linear approach that performs well for their structured project control, but because of the high market dynamics, agile methods will speed up the process, which results in faster market introduction, advances the product life cycle, and increases return on investments. Currently, there are no known systems engineering models that combine linear and iterative monitoring of projects to gain the best of both methods, especially not in combination with the capability of concurrently monitoring the development of product and production design. This thesis investigates how existing ways of system engineering can be combined to: (RQ1) enable iterative and linear modelling of microsystems development, and (RQ2) merge these qualities into a combined model to monitor the development process concurrently. The first problem is addressed by (RQ1): i. Modelling development progression by execution of iterative cycles that alternately perform functional system decomposition and functional gating. ii. This iterative model is elevated with the method of Axiomatic Design to enable concurrent system decomposition. Implementation of elements from the V-Modell XT enable functional gating to index the concurrent development process iii. The ‘Theory of Complexity’ of Axiomatic Design is applied to realise an intelligent, knowledge based, gating function to be used as a continuous maturity measure; The results show that linear and iterative models can be merged successfully. With some extensions, the Theory of Complexity of Axiomatic Design can indeed be used for continuous monitoring of product and process development. The thus-obtained maturity measure can be applied for the analysis of project decisions. This was successfully done for retrospective analysis of two cases. To merge the qualities of analyses ‘i to iii’ into a combined model to monitor the development process concurrently, three tools for application have been developed (RQ2). iv. The first is a method for visualisation of the intelligent gating function, based on analysis ‘iii’. The method applies a newly developed ‘Maturity Diagram’ that plots the Design Axioms as continuous parameters v. The second is a method for assessment of reconfigurable manufacturing systems based on analysis ‘ii’. The method estimates the investigations needed to (re)configure a product specific manufacturing system vi. The third is a tool for roadmapping and monitoring that combines outcomes of analyses ‘i, ii, and iii’. This model is called ‘Constituent Roadmap’ and it is based on: (a) an iterative approach, (b) concurrent decomposition, (c) the advanced gating function, and (d) knowledge application to the product and process design. The Constituent Roadmap was applied for the development of a ‘smart dust’ sensor system. It was found to structure knowledge development and application. This increases the chances to satisfy the functional requirements of the design. In parallel, it functions as a communications tool between designers and managers. Together, a reasonably complete picture has emerged how the design of microsystems and their production means can be modelled, and how uncertainties may be categorised so they can be addressed in the best order

Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing; FAIM 2014

Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing, held May 20-23, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, and organized by the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems, University of Texas at San Antonio; Includes bibliographical references; Manufacturing technology can improve the turnover of a company if it enables fast market introduction for volume production. Reconfigurable equipment is developed to meet the growing demand for more agile production. Modular reconfiguration, defined as changing the structure of the machine, enables larger variation of products on a single manufacturing system; these solutions are called Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). The quality of RMS, and the required resources to bring it to reliable production, is largely determined by a swift execution of the reconfiguration process. This paper proposes a method to compare alternatives for the ways to implement reconfiguration. Three classes of reconfiguration are defined to distinguish the impact of the proposed alternatives. The procedure uses a recently introduced index method for development of RMS process modules. This index method is based on the Axiomatic Design theory. Weighing factors are used to calculate the resources and lead time needed to implement the reconfiguration process. Application of the method leads to quick comparison of alternatives in the early stage of development. Successful execution of the method was demonstrated for the manufacturing process of a 3D measuring prob

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Interview met Erik Puik over mogelijke toekomstscenario's rond computers en hun invloed op maatschappelijke ontwikkelinge

A review on information design

from the article: ABSTRACT Independence of design, information and complexity are the basic concepts of Axiomatic Design. These basic concepts have proven to be generic; axiomatic design was successfully applied in many markets and on a broad range of products and services. Information, or entropy, plays a central role in Axiomatic Design. In this paper an attempt is made to organise the different kinds of information, understand them, and evaluate the consequences of the ways they can be applied. A number of six kinds of information are reduced to two most determining kinds of information for the design. Unorganised information is about choosing the right and independent design relations. Axiomatic information is about further optimisation of these design relations. This paper leads to the confirmation that axiom 1 & 2 are in fact corollaries of the complexity axiom that is constituted of the two kinds of information. Though this revises the foundation of Axiomatic Design, the operation and practical application are not much affected for a number of reasons. One of them is that a higher axiom does not alter the basic ideas behind Axiomatic Design; it remains axiomatic

Application of Axiomatic Design for Agile Product Development

Agile, and iterative, development methods for new product development are gaining in popularity under product engineers; where it initially was just applied for software development, now larger adoption takes place for product development in general. The design rules of agile development are somewhat conflicting with the guidelines of Axiomatic Design. In this paper, it is investigated why this is the case, what can be done about it, and how can the strengths of agile development be combined with Axiomatic Design to optimise methods for product design. It is shown that the methods are indeed advising on different and conflicting strategies, however, by attenuating the agile design rules in the early stage of design, and doing the same for AD in the later stage of design, best of both worlds can be combined

The quality of a design will not exceed the knowledge of its designer: an analysis based on Axiomatic Information and the Cynefin Framework

From the article: Abstract Knowledge is essential to the product designer. It contributes to a better understanding of the difficulties in a design. With the right knowledge, design errors can be recognised in the early stage of product design, and appropriate measures can be applied before these errors escalate and delay the project. The axiomatic complexity theory, part of the Axiomatic Design methodology, can warn the designer in this process by disclosing his lack knowledge to fully understand the design. The Cynefin framework is a sense-making framework that distinguishes an organisational situation within four contexts. The state of relevant knowledge is the most important parameter to determine the actual context where an organisation, system, or design process is currently located. When knowledge is acquired, the context changes. Axiomatic Design and the Cynefin framework are applied in this paper to characterise the relation between the quality of the design and the knowledge of its designer. It is investigated if one follows the other, and how prompt that relation is. The outcome is that the quality of a design is proportional to the accumulation of applied knowledge to the product design. Therefore the quality of the design follows knowledge implementation but does not exceed the level of relevant knowledge of the designer. Knowledge should not be restricted to the designers only. Other people, e.g. production and maintenance-engineers, will also need the knowledge to take care of the product as the life cycle advances

Axiomatic product design in three stages: A constituent roadmap that visualises the status of the design process by tracking the knowledge of the designer

Author supplied from the article: ABSTRACT Increasing global competition in manufacturing technology puts pressure on lead times for product design and production engineering. By the application of effective methods for systems engineering (engineering design), the development risks can be addressed in a structured manner to minimise chances of delay and guarantee timely market introduction. Concurrent design has proven to be effective in markets for high tech systems; the product and its manufacturing means are simultaneously developed starting at the product definition. Unfortunately, not many systems engineering methodologies do support development well in the early stage of the project where proof of concept is still under investigation. The number of practically applicable tools in this stage is even worse. Industry could use a systems engineering method that combines a structured risk approach, concurrent development, and especially enables application in the early stage of product and equipment design. The belief is that Axiomatic Design can provide with a solid foundation for this need. This paper proposes a ‘Constituent Roadmap of Product Design’, based on the axiomatic design methodology. It offers easy access to a broad range of users, experienced and inexperienced. First, it has the ability to evaluate if knowledge application to a design is relevant and complete. Secondly, it offers more detail within the satisfaction interval of the independence axiom. The constituent roadmap is based on recent work that discloses an analysis on information in axiomatic design. The analysis enables better differentiation on project progression in the conceptual stage of design. The constituent roadmap integrates axiomatic design and the methods that harmonise with it. Hence, it does not jeopardise the effectiveness of the methodology. An important feature is the check matrix, a low threshold interface that unlocks the methodology to a larger audience. (Source - PDF presented at ASME IMECE (International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Expositio

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IMPACT FORCES REDUCTION FOR HIGH- SPEED MICRO-ASSEMBLY

Abstract During the placement of components in micro-assembly, high impact forces occur. The current approach is to reduce these impact forces by coupling the gripper to the drive unit of the placement device with 5 DOF, wherein the gripper that contacts the component has a relatively low mass. To prevent the gripper from bouncing back at the end of the placement collision a force must be exerted between gripper and drive unit, which can significantly increase the impact forces. A solution has been found to realise an adequate force build-up between gripper and drive unit such that a rebounce of the gripper is prevented without significantly increasing the impact forces. This solution can be implemented relatively easily by placing a spring between gripper and drive unit combined with a force limiter