To support multidisciplinary communication in VR-based virtual prototyping of mechatronic systems

A typical mechatronic product includes mechanical parts, software techniques, electrical and electronic components. This interdisciplinary character significantly increases the complexity of mechatronic products. Therefore, inefficient communication between the engineers, who come from different domains, becomes one of the main challenges in the development of mechatronic systems. Although, innovations in the field of virtual prototyping can help the engineers to handle a complex system and then accelerate the development processes, the technique itself does not offer a solution to the problem of multidisciplinary communications. In this paper, we present a practical solution of supporting knowledge sharing and communication within a multidisciplinary developing group, whose members need to work cooperatively for doing virtual prototyping of mechatronic systems in VR environment.     

Virtual engineering at work: the challenges for designing mechatronic products

The product race has become an innovation race, reconciling challenges of branding, performance, time to market and competitive pricing while complying with ecological, safety and legislation constraints. The answer lies in “smart” products of high complexity, relying on heterogeneous technologies and involving active components. To keep pace with this evolution and further accelerate the design cycle, the design engineering process must be rethought. The paper presents a mechatronic simulation approach to achieve this goal. The starting point is the current virtual prototyping paradigm that is widely adopted and that continues to improve in terms of model complexity, accuracy, robustness and automated optimization. Two evolutions are discussed. A first one is the extension to multi-physics simulation answering the design needs of the inherent multi-disciplinarity of “intelligent” products. Integration of thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, haptic and electrical functions requires simulation to extend beyond the traditional CAD-FEM approach, supporting the use of system, functional and perception models. The second evolution is the integration of control functions in the products. Where current industrial practice treats mechanical system design and control design as different design loops, this paper discusses their integration in a model-based design process at all design stages, turning concepts such as software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop into basic elements of an industrial design approach. These concepts are illustrated by a number of automotive design engineering cases, which demonstrate that the combined use of perception, geometric and system models allows to develop innovative solutions for the active safety, low-emission and high-comfort performance of next-generation vehicles. This process in turn poses new challenges to the design in terms of the specification and validation of such innovative products, including their failure modes and fault-tolerant behaviour. This will imply adopting a model-based system engineering approach that is currently already common practice in software engineering.     

面向并行工程的虚拟样机设计方法研究

虚拟样机是一种能够反映实际产品特性的数字化模型,可有效支持并行工程和并行设计。在分析了虚拟样机与并行工程关系的基础上,提出了基于虚拟样机的产品研发方法,并阐述了虚拟样机设计方法一体化解决方案。     

复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台的初步研究与开发

该文主要研究并介绍了复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台研究项目取得的阶段研究成果，包括支撑平台体系结构及其关键技术等，尤其重点介绍了目前自行开发集成的，开放的，基于标准支持多领域复杂产品虚拟样机工程的支撑平台，并给了两个基于支撑平台的典型虚拟样机开发应用案例。初步实践表明复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台可看作为下一代企业协同应用各领域CAx/DFx工具的有效手段。最后，对进一步研究工作进行了展望。     

复杂产品虚拟样机数据管理研究

解决了复杂虚拟样机涉及的数据量大、人员分布广等问题,提出将产品数据管理运用到虚拟机床系统中的重要性.首先对虚拟样机,虚拟开发系统及产品数据管理做了概述.之后结合复杂产品虚拟样机的特点,总结出作为其支撑平台的产品数据管理系统所要具备的要求,针对这些要求重点研究了PDM系统的功能结构树.在对系统结构和功能分析的基础上,认为基于CORBA和Web的产品数据管理是适应复杂虚拟样机特点的有效手段,最后对其实现的技术路线进行了探索.     

虚拟样机三维表现系统设计与实现

虚拟样机是一种新型的基于一体化产品和过程开发策略的新的设计、开发手段。本文首先介绍了协同虚拟样机的基本概念和样机设计过程中对可视化的要求,接着对虚拟样机三维表现系统进行设计,最后对支持虚拟样机分布表现的虚拟样机软总线技术和同步技术进行分析。     

Multiphysics modeling and optimization of mechatronic multibody systems

Modeling mechatronic multibody systems requires the same type of methodology as for designing and prototyping mechatronic devices: a unified and integrated engineering approach. Various formulations are currently proposed to deal with multiphysics modeling, e.g., graph theories, equational approaches, co-simulation techniques. Recent works have pointed out their relative advantages and drawbacks, depending on the application to deal with: model size, model complexity, degree of coupling, frequency range, etc. This paper is the result of a close collaboration between three laboratories, and aims at showing that for “non-academic” mechatronic applications (i.e., issuing from real industrial issues), multibody dynamics formulations can be generalized to mechatronic systems, for the model generation as well as for the numerical analysis phases. Model portability being also an important aspect of the work, they must be easily interfaced with control design and optimization programs. A global “demonstrator”, based on an industrial case, is discussed: multiphysics modeling and mathematical optimization are carried out to illustrate the consistency and the efficiency of the proposed approaches.     

基于可视外部力/力矩隐喻工具的虚拟样机动力学交互分析方法

在虚拟样机动力学分析中，对施加的外部力／力矩的属性和作用进行了分析，实现了力／力矩隐喻(metaphor)工具在虚拟环境中的直观定义，并基于多刚体Lagrange动力学模型提出直观驱动的交互仿真方法，建立了可视化隐喻工具同虚拟样机间交互分析过程的动力学广义模型．简化了虚拟环境中用户同虚拟对象间的交互行为模型．最后．通过对汽车发动机曲柄活塞部分建立Lagrange动力学模型．并以建立的隐喻工具进行交互分析的实例论证了该方法的有效性以及隐喻工具的直观性．     

虚拟环境下机械装备故障预测理论与技术研究进展

在讨论故障诊断领域的研究现状的基础上,分析了机械故障预测技术的发展趋势,探讨了开展虚拟环境下机械故障预测技术研究的力学需求和动力学仿真需求,介绍了机械系统虚拟样机技术,分析了典型机械装备虚拟样机的建造方法及虚拟环境下的样机校核方法,提出了基于虚拟样机的故障仿真预测技术,设计了机械装备故障仿真预测系统的模块化结构,为实现机械故障的早期预测和预知维修开辟了新的思路,这是国际潮流的＂可持续发展思想＂和我国提出的＂清洁化生产模式＂在诊断工程中的具体体现,是现代诊断技术的＂可持续发展模式＂,具有良好的工程应用前景.     

快速原型虚拟逼真设计原理及体系结构

在分析设计的特点和发展趋势的基础上,提出快速原型虚拟逼真设计,并对其特点和原理进行了讨论,快速原型虚拟逼真设计是面向并行工具,基于虚拟原型和虚拟环境仿真的设计,强调虚拟原型的快速生成和演化,在关键技术,原型系统以及开发环境三个层次上论述了快速原型虚拟逼真设计的研究,提出快速原型虚拟逼真设计模型以及基于该模型的体系结构。     

Virtual design of multiengineering electronics systems

The authors describe a virtual reality prototyping (VRP) and virtual product design approach that uses a modeling strategy to design, test, and evaluate concepts and products in advance-before creating any physical design models. Their design decisions reflect solutions and practices derived from systems engineering and software engineering research. Close competition has forced companies to focus on tailoring technological products to meet customer preferences in user interface design, usability, and appearance. Often, implementing new features has assumed less importance than creating an optimal product variation for different customer segments in international markets. Modern computer-based systems result from a multidomain development process, and organizing this work requires developers to communicate, cooperate, and coordinate effectively with nonengineering teams. Early linking of product development to other company operations supports this activity. Geographically dispersed development teams must communicate and coordinate effectively. Extending the use of interactive, functional, and photorealistic 3D product models into other company domains can facilitate effective business practices that cover the entire value chain, from simulated product idea to Web-based customer support of the final product. This wider adoption of the VRP technology and process offers ample scope for further research     

Solid model reconstruction from engineering paper drawings using Genetic Algorithms

The wide applications of CAD/CAM technologies have promoted the development and application of many advanced technologies, such as digital manufacturing, rapid prototyping, enterprise resources planning, computer integrated manufacturing, concurrent engineering, virtual reality, and mass customization. These advanced technologies all need to be supported by three-dimensional (3D) solid models of products. Most enterprises, however, still organize their production using 2D paper drawings, which makes difficulties for the application of these advanced technologies. It is needed to convert engineering paper drawings into 3D solid models for applications. Based on holo-extraction of information from paper drawings, this paper develops a systematic 3D reconstruction method, which simulates an experienced human designer's thinking mode in transforming inaccurate outlines with inaccurate projection relationships in 2D drawings into 3D image, with the aid of Genetic Algorithms.     

Enabling control software generation by using mechatronics modeling primitives

Mechatronic systems are characterized by the synergetic integration of mechanic, electronic, software and control design aspects. The development of control software requires data and information from all design domains in order to create the required integrated functionality. This paper proposes a method that combines function modeling and multi-domain modeling primitives to generate control software automatically. An architecture model, based on the Function-Behavior-State modeling paradigm, provides the decomposition and flow of both functionality and implementation, which serves as input to a knowledge-based engineering application. The control software is subsequently extracted from a virtual product model composed of instantiated modeling primitives. A case study of a mobile robot shows how for a specific application the modeling are defined and how a high-level function model for an environment mapping mission is translated into directly implementable software code. This approach could be extended to real-life mechatronic products, and will improve consistency and reduce development time and cost.     

虚拟样机产品信息集成技术研究与应用

在虚拟样机技术实施过程中,CAD模型信息的集成与管理一直是一个瓶颈问题。在分析现有虚拟样机产品信息集成方案的基础上,采用了CAD二次开发技术进行信息提取,并基于XML进行信息集成,为虚拟样机产品信息集成提供了一条实现途径。     

虚拟制造环境下VE型分配泵的研发

介绍了虚拟制造技术及其分类，探讨了以设计为中心的虚拟制造技术在汽车零部件研发中的实践．利用该技术，以柴油发动机VE型分配泵为研究对象，重点分析了传动部件易断裂问题，研究内容涉及产品全生命周期的各个阶段，包括虚拟样机设计、虚拟样机运动学动力学仿真、虚拟装配、有限元分析和零件虚拟加工仿真等，并对研究结果进行了实验验证．结合企业实际，给出了解决方案．     

Rapid prototyping and the human factors engineering process

Rapid prototyping or 'virtual prototyping' of human-machine interfaces offers the possibility of putting the human operator 'in the loop' without the effort and cost associated with conventional man-in-the-loop simulation. Advocates suggest that rapid prototyping is compatible with conventional systems development techniques. It is not clear, however, exactly how rapid prototyping could be used in relation to conventional human factors engineering analyses. Therefore, an investigation of the use of the VAPS virtual prototyping system was carried out in five organizations. The results show that a variety of task analysis approaches can be used to initiate rapid prototyping. Overall, it appears that rapid prototyping facilitates an iterative approach to the development of the human-machine interface, and that is most applicable to the early stages of systems development, rather than to detailed design.     

Integrative development of product and production system for mechatronic products

The increasing penetration of mechanical engineering by information technology enables considerable benefits. The arising new discipline is referred to by the term mechatronics, which expresses the close integration of mechanics, electrics/electronics, control engineering and software engineering. Hence, the design and production of such systems is an interdisciplinary and complex task. An effective and continuous cooperation and communication between developers from different domains during the whole development process is required. Moreover, the multidisciplinary and synergetic effectiveness of mechatronic systems as well as new production technologies cause strong interdependencies between system parts, which are to be produced. As a consequence, the production system determines the product concept. Restrictions by manufacturing technologies have to be considered already during the early stages of the product development. This contribution deals with the stated problem by providing both, a generic procedure model and a specification technique for the integrative development of mechatronic products and their production systems.     

基于电子装备虚拟样机的故障诊断训练设计

针对电子装备难以实现维修训练的问题,提出一种基于虚拟样机的故障诊断训练设计方案,介绍面向训练的虚拟样机模型及虚拟样机的三维几何建模、二维图形建模和信息建模方法,给出故障诊断训练的基本思路及基本训练流程,采用2种不同的训练模式,使训练更具针对性,从而达到提高维修人员工作能力的目的。