A Design Representation to Support the Automatic Dynamic Evaluation of Electromechanical Designs

Abstract

This paper introduces research leading to a computer-aided design tool in which engineering designers can test various concepts in an environment equipped to automatically model the dynamics and then optimize the chosen components to best meet the specifications of the design problem. The input to the system is a graph of components where the components either include defined parameter values or are left as variables for the subsequent optimization. In this paper, “conceptual dynamics” is introduced with the goal of revealing the qualitative information of the system states, energy flow patterns, possible operation modes, degrees of freedom, etc. The dynamics of a system are captured in a multi-domain representation referred to as a conceptual dynamics graph (CD-Graph), which is composed of components and virtual couplers. The components feature both detailed multi-complexity models (bond graphs) and qualitative dynamics information (Conceptual Dynamics Matrices), and the virtual couplers include information on the interconnections of the eight domains (three translational, three rotational, electrical, and hydraulic). The Conceptual Dynamics Graph provides a platform for various design automation approaches and further dynamics performance optimization. This paper discusses an automatic approach that extracts the partial configuration of a complete design structure that contributes to the system dynamics. This allows designers to better understand the system and focus on the functional aspects that meet certain dynamic specifications. Finally an automatic model generation approach of CD-Graph is briefly illustrated.