Abstract
Individual mobility is a main precondition for economic development and breakthrough of new technologies or innovations. Automobile industry has been subject to substantial changes and mobile systems realizing individual mobility provide increasing trends of electrification as well as complexity increase, especially by the use of hybrid and electric powertrains. Beside common consideration of single components especially the overall concept and configuration have to be developed methodologically in order to fulfill required functionality and customer expectations. Thus, new requirements result, since new operating strategies for mobility systems, lightweight structures and efficient (low losses but vibration sensitive) components to ensure market relevant and customer oriented products. Besides dynamic aspects, interdependencies with customer (driver assistance) and environment (traffic and infrastructure) are relevant for product development. But these aspects can only be optimized by holistic approaches and detailed system view, even though requested methods and tools are not necessarily available, particularly in early stages of development.
Validation of the complete system’s required capability has to be enabled in early phases of product development, to ensure maximum efficiency of resources during the engineering process of mobility systems. The objective is to validate efficiency, reliability and driveabilty influenced by environmental conditions. The focus of this paper is especially set on validation in context of product engineering processes, as the authors argue that validation is the central activity of product engineering. Selected examples of validation methods and processes applied and conducted at IPEK (Institute of Product Engineering Karlsruhe) that include physical testing as well as simulations denote the impact of validation. Hence, applied simulated environment by the use of X-in-the-Loop (XiL-approach) in addition to high effort test drives is presented. Amongst validation, this approach supports derivation and definition of component-specific requirements, optimization approaches by the use of coupled methods as well as robust designs, since interdependencies of the complete systems are considered. The complex interactions and interdependencies of the product engineering process including validation can be described and visualized by the use of iPeM (integrated Product Engineering Model) that has been researched and developed by IPEK. This paper provides a picture of product engineering based on iPeM that shows the relevant elements for an improvement of engineering processes and therefore the mobility systems. This improvement is based on a common understanding of product engineering processes. The paper also addresses methods for functional description and visualization using abstract approaches that are independent from technical solutions, design and location of effect (regarding definite single components). This also includes possibilities for modularization of multidisciplinary mechatronic systems.
Keywords: Engineering Process, Customer Demands, System of Objectives, Validation Methods, Development Methods, Process Management