Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Approach to Design a Surgery Robot

Abstract

The product development process (PD) can be viewed as an optimization problem to minimize design loops. Nowadays, the complexity of the system components has increased due to technological progress. These complex interconnections between the different components of the system can complicate and prolong the design process. In such cases, the decision on the sequence of design steps can depend heavily on the experience of the designer. But, other methods can systematize the design process, and help designers and engineers to design more reliably and faster. In this study, we used the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) approach to design and develop a surgical robot mainly used in spine surgery. The main 50 parameters of the robot such as the number of degrees of freedom, motor torque, length of the links, and their relationships described by the kinematics and dynamics of the robot, were inserted into the matrix. These parameters are the minimum parameters required for the initial design of the mechanical structure of a robot. DSM determined the main design loops of our desired system. The most challenging loop of the robot was the one related to choosing motors whose parameters were tightly connected to other robot's parameters. After rearranging the order of parameters and simplifying, and decreasing the loops, a more rational and doable design road map was obtained. The result of the final model showed that it fully met the criteria and constraints of the simulation test for spine surgery.