Start of the DFG-funded project on cross-domain optimisation for the automated adaptation design of mechatronic adjustment systems in February 2024
Mechatronic systems have become increasingly important in recent years and have become an integral part of our lives today. They are characterised in particular by the combination of the fields of mechanics, electrical engineering and information technology. To date, the development of mechatronic systems is complicated, partly due to the consideration of interdisciplinary system interrelationships as well as the varying requirements of the three disciplines, which usually results in a time-consuming iterative procedure. Since in most cases a product with similar fields of application already exists and a new development is often associated with a high level of effort, adaptation design is increasingly being used, in which the product is merely adapted to changed requirements. So far, however, numerous manual and therefore time-consuming interventions have also been necessary during development, which is due to the lack of methods for automating the necessary sub-steps. There is potential for reducing the development effort, for example, by reusing knowledge from previous development cycles or optimisation runs as well as applying known work steps. In the case of adaptation design, this has so far been limited due to the lack of methods for recording, linking and provision.
Based on the current gap in the research landscape, this research project aims to scrutinize a continuous concept for the automation and optimisation of mechatronic system development. By automating individual sub-processes, time-consuming iterations in the adaptation design of adjustable mechatronic systems should be avoided, thus enabling cross-domain optimisation by reusing information and knowledge gained from previous product development processes.