Deep Neural Networks (DNN) will emerge as a cornerstone in automotive software engineering. However, developing systems with DNNs introduces novel challenges for safety assessments. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in verification and validation of safety-critical systems that rely on machine learning. Furthermore, we report from a workshop series on DNNs for perception with automotive experts in Sweden, confirming that ISO 26262 largely contravenes the nature of DNNs. We recommend aerospace-to-automotive knowledge transfer and systems-based safety approaches, e.g., safety cage architectures and simulated system test cases.

A platform is commonly used as a basis for generating a number of derivative products, after which it is replaced by a new platform. For some companies, a more viable approach is to adopt a continuous platform that is sustained and expanded over time. This applies to companies that have to provide highly customized products while not in control of interfaces, suppliers in the aerospace industry, for example. For them, the traditional part-based generation of platforms is not sufficient, and more flexibility must be built into the platform. This article proposes an approach for continuous platform development, based on an integrated artifact model and connected development processes. The processes apply set-based concurrent engineering to develop derivative products and to extend the bandwidth of the platform. The artifact model serves as a basis for development and connects products and manufacturing systems to enable informed design decisions that span across the lifecycle. The proposed approach incorporates two modes of platform use. Mode I is applied for configuring products to order within the bandwidth of the platform. This includes automatic concept evaluation using a pallet of computer-aided engineering tools and supporting tools. Mode II is applied when the bandwidth does not suffice to cover the required functionality and therefore needs to be expanded. This article exemplifies the approach through a case from a supplier in the aerospace industry.

Platforms may enable offering a variety of products to the market while keeping the development cost down. Reusing design knowledge is a key concept, whether manifested as reusing parts, ideas, concepts, or technologies. This article describes processes and information technology solutions for holistically working with both technology platforms and product platforms. A platform framework was developed for managing information and to support the processes. The use of the framework is illustrated through a case study performed at a subsupplier in the aerospace industry focusing on technology development, platform-based product development, and platform configuration. A wiki system supports the technology platform, containing electronic guidelines, methods, and information about the technologies. To support the product platform, a product lifecycle management architecture is created. A turbine rear structure from a turbofan engine is used as an example, requiring several different analysis technologies to be used and coordinated when creating a variant. The solution is a product lifecycle management architecture created based on the technology platform. It integrates a product data management system, a computer-aided design tool, two computer-aided engineering tools, and a configurator.

One problem in incremental product development is that geometric models are limited in their ability to explore radical alternative design variants. In this publication, a function modeling approach is suggested to increase the amount and variety of explored alternatives, since function models (FM) provide greater model flexibility. An enhanced function-means (EF-M) model capable of representing the constraints of the design space as well as alternative designs is created through a reverse engineering process. This model is then used as a basis for the development of a new product variant. This work describes the EF-M model's capabilities for representing the design space and integrating novel solutions into the existing product structure and explains how these capabilities support the exploration of alternative design variants. First-order analyses are executed, and the EF-M model is used to capture and represent already existing design information for further analyses. Based on these findings, a design space exploration approach is developed. It positions the FM as a connection between legacy and novel designs and, through this, allows for the exploration of more diverse product concepts. This approach is based on three steps – decomposition, design, and embodiment – and builds on the capabilities of EF-M to model alternative solutions for different requirements. While the embodiment step of creating the novel product's geometry is still a topic for future research, the design space exploration concept can be used to enable wider, more methodological, and potentially automated design space exploration.

Product platforms are used to enable mass customisation to serve a large number of different market segments. The products are configured-to-order, meaning they are compiled using a variety of pre-developed building blocks. However, the building blocks that make up a traditional platform can only serve customer requirements that are known. Engineering-to-order (ETO) development serves companies where customer requirements vary frequently. Here, designs are tailored to fit specific customer requirements upon request, an approach which is time consuming if serving a large number of different customers. This paper presents an approach for ETO configuration design. It comprises a two-stage model that enables design reuse while simultaneously maintaining flexibility to manage changes in customer requirements. The proposed artefact model is configured modularly to progress the design work and to create an architecture to work with, and scalable flexibility is maintained until the customer requirements are considered stable enough to optimise the final design. An illustrative case shows the approach's feasibility to a twostage configuration of a rear frame of a jet engine. While using overall design considerations to select modules, trade-off curves are used for final scalable configuration. A change in customer requirements is accommodated by scalable flexibility, thereby creating an adaptable product platform.

There is a trend toward increased customization of goods to satisfy a wide range of customers using product platforms. However, there is an erroneous notion that product platforms can only be used to provide economic viability in production thanks to the reuse of physical components among a family of products. Yet, this is a limited perception of the potential of a product platform. In this article, an object-oriented approach to support the development of product platforms is proposed to increase efficiency through reuse and flexibility of designs among a family of products. Two modes of the platform development process are addressed: platform preparation and platform execution. Platform preparation prescribes the methods needed to model platform objects, using enhanced function-means models and set-based concurrent engineering processes. During the platform execution process, sets of design alternatives can be configured concurrently throughout the conceptual, system, and detailed phases of the platform development. Three cases illustrate how the same approach may be used in different design scenarios: design space exploration and extension, supply-chain collaboration, and configure-to-order. The approach supports system architects and design engineers in making design decisions that propel the platform development work by enabling analysis in stages where designs are immature and evaluating the goodness of the alternatives early. Ultimately, product platforms can be efficiently developed for modularity and scalability to find feasible product variants and meet the needs of a multitude of customers.

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Assembling products to order or applying straightforward configuration, such as scaling, allow the reuse of ready-designed physical components in high volumes. However, not all companies can exploit economies of scale in this way. They are burdened with additional design work, as requirements on functionality and performance differ among product variants or change over time. Such companies need artifact models and engineering processes that help them manage and develop for variety. Set-based concurrent engineering has been proposed for dealing with a variety of concepts during development that lead to a single product while storing knowledge gained. This paper adapts this thinking to the preparation and use of product and manufacturing system platforms. Here, the output is not a single product. Rather, a set of design solutions for products and manufacturing systems is designed that delivers flexibility in functionality and performance. In this paper, we call this built-in flexibility design bandwidth. The paper builds on an integrated artifact model for products and manufacturing systems. The model captures the rationale behind existing designs with their functionality. Here it is combined with principles of set-based concurrent engineering to outline a process for its preparation and use in cases of insufficient bandwidth that require additional designing. The preparation and use are illustrated by applying the model to an example where bandwidth is expanded and preserved.