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MODELLING TECHNICAL SYSTEMS IN THE EARLY PHASE: PROPOSING A FORMAL DEFINITION FOR THE SYSTEM CONCEPT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Albert Albers ,
Sebastian Hünemeyer ,
Alexander Kubin ,
Felix Pfaff ,
Michael Schlegel  and
Simon Rapp
Albert Albers*
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Sebastian Hünemeyer
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Alexander Kubin
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Felix Pfaff
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Michael Schlegel
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Simon Rapp
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
*
Albers, Albert, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, albert.albers@kit.edu

Abstract

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The task of developing “concepts” is common in all fields of engineering, especially in the early phases of product development. However, an in-depth literature analysis showed that authors - often depending on different contexts in design research, education, and industry - define the term “concept” in differing ways. The aspect of reference-based development is rarely addressed in existing definitions. This indicates that there is a need for an updated and concise concept definition. In this paper, the authors propose a new definition of the term “system concept” within the context of SGE - System Generation Engineering that incorporates the findings from the literature analysis. The definition was reflected on in two case-studies. The first one contained the system concept for automotive display and operating systems, the second one the system concept for a kinesthetic-haptic VR interface. The proposed definition contains the relevant characteristics identified from the literature review and supports both current activity-based process models and reference-based development, as practical application has shown.

Keywords

Design methodsDesign managementProduct modelling/modelsProduct architecture

Information

Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 2695 - 2704
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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