A Signal Grammar to Guide Functional Modeling of Electromechanical Products

Nagel, Robert L.; Vucovich, Jayson P.; Stone, Robert B.; McAdams, Daniel A.

doi:10.1115/1.2885185

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Another approach to compare representations examines the vocabulary, structure, expression, purpose, and abstraction (Summers & Shah, 2004). Expanding upon that research, we propose that the representation comparison should include, but not be limited to the following: scope: the domain for which the function modeling approach is intended (Nagel, Vucovich, et al, 2008); flexibility: the ability to modify and adapt the representation to address new problems (Regli et al, 2000); indexing: support access to the right (or useful) knowledge when needed (Goel & Bhatta, 2004); consistency: enforce physics and other consistencies (Sen et al, 2011 b ); translationabilty: tied to other engineering models (Nebel, 2000); behavior: ability of the representation to simulation behavior (Qian & Gero, 1996); and scalability: support both simple and complex problem types (Chiang et al, 2001). …”

Section: Comparison Across the Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Function in engineering: Benchmarking representations and models

Summers

Eckert

Goel

2017

AIEDAM

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This paper presents the requirements and needs for establishing a benchmarking protocol that considers representation characteristics, supported cognitive criteria, and enabled reasoning activities for the systematic comparison of function modeling representations. Problem types are defined as reverse engineering, familiar products, novel products, and single-component systems. As different modeling approaches share elements, a comparison of modeling approaches on multiple levels was also undertaken. It is recommended that researchers and developers of function modeling representations collaborate to define a canonically acceptable set of benchmark tests and evaluations so that clear benefits and weaknesses for the disparate collection of approaches can be compared. This paper is written as a call to action for the research community to begin establishing a benchmarking standard protocol for function modeling comparison purposes. This protocol should be refined with input from developers of the competing approaches in an academically open environment. At the same time, the benchmarking criteria identified should also serve as a guide for validating a modeling approach or analyzing its failure.

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Section: Comparison Across the Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…scope: the domain for which the function modeling approach is intended (Nagel, Vucovich, et al, 2008);…”

Section: Comparison Across the Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Function in engineering: Benchmarking representations and models

Summers

Eckert

Goel

2017

AIEDAM

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“…Yet many of these databases or repositories are independently operated and do not necessarily support collaboration. Nagel (2007) and Nagel et al (2008) made efforts to move the FB taxonomy to a formal functional basis modeling language. Focusing on the signal flows, it is suggested that using a definitive grammar set improves communication between domains.…”

Section: Engineering Design and Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to quantitative engineering design methods via controls engineering

Lucero

Adams

Turner

2017

AIEDAM

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Functional modeling is an effective method of depicting products in the design process. Using this approach, product architecture, concept generation, and physical modeling all contribute to the design process to generate a result full of quality and functionality. The functional basis approach provides taxonomy of uniform vocabulary to produce function structures with consistent functions (verbs) and flows (nouns). Material and energy flows dominate function structures in the mechanical engineering domain with only a small percentage including signal flows. Research suggests that the signal flow gap is due to the requirement of “carrier” flows of either material or energy to transport the signals between functions. This research suggests that incorporating controls engineering methodologies may increase the number of signal flows in function structures. We show correlations between the functional modeling and controls engineering in four facets: schematic similarities, performance matching through flows, mathematical function creation using bond graphs, and isomorphic matching of the aforementioned characteristics allows for analogical solutions. Controls systems use block diagrams to represent the sequential steps of the system. These block diagrams parallel the function structures of engineering design. Performance metrics between the two domains can be complimentary when decomposed down to nondimensional engineering units. Mathematical functions of the actions in controls systems can resemble the functional basis functions with bond graphs by identifying characteristic behavior of the functions on the flows. Isomorphic matching, using the schematic diagrams, produces analogies based upon similar functionality and target performance metrics. These four similarities bridge the mechanical and electrical domains via the controls domain. We provide concepts and contextualization for the methodology using domain-agnostic examples. We conclude with suggestion of pathways forward for this preliminary research.

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“…Products are modeled functionally using the Functional Basis [26,40]. The Functional Basis has achieved significant evaluation and acceptance as a repeatable method for representing product function [41][42][43][44]. Actionfunction diagrams highlight those functions of a product in which the user is directly involved.…”

Section: Modeling the Product And The User-product Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting ADA Architectural Design Knowledge for Universal Product Design Using Association Rule Mining: A Function Based Approach

Sangelkar

McAdams

2012

Journal of Mechanical Design

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This paper focuses on creating guidelines for the design of products for persons with disabilities that are applicable during early stages of design. The research uses the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) to formally describe user activity, the Functional Basis to describe product function, and the actionfunction diagram as a framework to create a detailed understanding of the interaction between a user and a product. The main objective of this paper is to explore the transferability of the knowledge contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to universal product design. The design information contained in the ADA guidelines is abstracted using a function based approach; association rules are mined from this design information. The association rules obtained are statistically significant guidelines for universal design (UD). The existing examples of universal design are compared to their typical version to observe the design elements that improve the accessibility of a product. Association rules are also mined from the existing examples of universal design using the same methodology. Further, the applicability of ADA guidelines to universal product design is investigated based on the commonality between the association rules obtained from both the datasets. The results show that rules can be translated to a product having a degree of similarity based on the size and space relationship between the user and product without direct translation from an ADA based design guideline to a product design guideline.

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A Signal Grammar to Guide Functional Modeling of Electromechanical Products

Cited by 18 publications

References 24 publications

Function in engineering: Benchmarking representations and models

Function in engineering: Benchmarking representations and models

Introduction to quantitative engineering design methods via controls engineering

Adapting ADA Architectural Design Knowledge for Universal Product Design Using Association Rule Mining: A Function Based Approach

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