The industrial trend is currently to increase product customization, and at the same time decrease cost, manufacturing errors, and time to delivery. These are the main goal of the e-FACTORY project which is initiated at Linköping university to develop a digital framework that integrates digitization technologies to stay ahead of the competitors. e-FACTORY will help companies to obtain a more efficient and integrated product configuration and production planning process.

This thesis is a part of the e-FACTORY project with Weland AB which main mission is the optimization of spiral staircase towards multiple disciplines such a scost and comfortability. Today this is done manually and the iteration times are usually long. Automating this process could save a lot of time and money.

The thesis has two main goals, the first part is related to develop a generic multi-objective optimization toolbox which contains NSGA-II and it is able to solve different kinds of optimization problems and should be easy to use as much as possible. The MOO-toolbox is evaluated with different kinds of optimization problems and the results were compared with other toolboxes. The results seem confident and reliable for a generic toolbox. The second goal is to implement the optimization problem of the spiral staircase in the MOO-toolbox. The optimization results achieved in this thesis shows the benefits of optimization for this case and it can be extended by more variables to obtain impressive results.

In order to meet today’s environmental standards, diesel vehicles must capture the soot and ash emitted from the engine in what is known as a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The continual ash loading of this filter and subsequent exhaust backpressure, increase in fuel consumption, etc. is seen as an unavoidable expense. Replacing the DPF is time consuming and costly, representing significant lost profits to the vehicle owner. However, by reducing the volume of ash in the DPF, the pressure drop and fuel penalty can be curtailed while simultaneously increasing filter life. The thesis paper has presented a study intended to select the ideal method for reducing DPF ash volume in the context of system level integration on a Scania truck.

By following an adaptation of the TRIZ method, this work has selected an ideal solution for improving DPF performance. A brief study of two experimental methods for ash volume reduction is presented. From this study, awide-ranging concept generation phase was undertaken to evaluate the ways these methods could be implemented on a vehicle. Through collaboration with industry experts at Scania, a system of criteria was established to select the most promising concept. One concept was chosen for demonstration: water injection into the DPF through a sensor hole in the silencer housing.

The proposed injection strategy is such that when the vehicle comes in for scheduled maintenance, this water injection tool can be used to improve vehicle performance and reduce filter changes. In keeping with the criteria and design constraints, this solution eliminates the complication of additional vehicle components, while still effectively reducing ash volume. An initial prototype and subsequent on-vehicle testing is presented which demonstrates that wetting the DPF in this manner is a viable means of reducing ash volume. The result of this test shows that this method can reduce DPF backpressure from ash by 60% after just 3 minutes of water injection. From these results, suggestion for future improvement to the performance and ergonomics of the injection tool is presented.

Product development processes are continuously challenged by demands for increased efficiency. As engineering products become more and more complex, efficient tools and methods for integrated and automated design are needed throughout the development process. Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is one promising technique that has the potential to drastically improve concurrent design. MDO frameworks combine several disciplinary models with the aim of gaining a holistic perspective of a system, while capturing the synergies between different subsystems. Among all disciplines, the geometric model is recognized as playing a key role, because it collects most of the data required to any other disciplinary analysis. In the present thesis, methodologies to enable multidisciplinary optimization in early aircraft design phases are studied. In particular, the research aims at putting the CAD geometric model in the loop. This requires the ability to automatically generate or update the geometric model, here referred to as geometry-based design automation.

The thesis proposes the use of Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) techniques to achieve design reuse and automation. In particular, so called High Level CAD templates (HLCts) are suggested to automate geometry generation and updates. HLCts can be compared to parametric LEGO® blocks containing a set of design and analysis parameters. These are produced and stored in libraries, giving engineers or a computer agent the possibility to first topologically select the templates and then modify the shape of each template parametrically.

Since parameterization is central to modelling by means of HLCts, a thorough analysis of the subject is also performed. In most of the literature on MDO and KBE two recurring requirements concerning the geometrical model are expressed: the model should be flexible and robust. However, these requirements have never been properly formulated or defined. Hence, in the thesis a mathematical formulation for geometry model robustness and flexibility are proposed. These formulations ultimately allow the performance of geometric models to be precisely measured and compared.

Finally, a prototyping and validation process is presented. The aim is to quickly and cost-effectively validate analytical results from an MDO process. The proposed process adopts different manufacturing techniques depending on the size and purpose of the intended prototype. In the last part of the thesis, three application examples are presented. The examples are chosen from research projects that have been carried out at Linköping University and show how the proposed theoretical results have been successfully employed in practice.

This thesis presents a design framework where analytical tools are linked together and operated from an efficient system level interface. The application field is aircraft conceptual design. Particular attention has been paid to CAD system integration and design optimization.

Aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary process. The goal is to search for the design that, in the best of possible ways, fulfills the requirements. It is therefore desirable to be able to effectively investigate and analyze solutions from a variety of points of view, weighting together the results and gathering a general figure of merit. At the same time, increasing competition on a global market forces to shorten the design process and to reduce costs. Thus a system that allows a tight and efficient integration of different disciplines and improving data flow and storage plays a key role.

Integrating a CAD system to the framework is of central relevance. The geometrical model includes most of the information; specific data, required to carry out particular analysis, can be extracted from it. This is possible adopting parametric associative models that are controlled from a spreadsheet user interface. Strategies for building CAD models with a very high degree of flexibility are presented. Not only the external shape can be changed, but also the internal structure can be completely modified. Structural elements can be added or removed, and their position and shaping changed.

In this work the design of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is used as test case for comparing three different optimization algorithms. The presented framework is also used for automatically design Micro Aerial Vehicles, starting from a short list of requirements and ending with a physical prototype produced by a rapid prototyping machine.

One branch of the current research in aircraft design at Linköping University is focused on fast concept evaluation in early design stages. This covers multidisciplinary optimization using tools of different level of complexity and low-cost subscale flight testing. In some cases a flight test will provide more answers than several computations ever could. In order to achieve this goal a methodology is required to allow fast creation of subscale flying concepts and to obtain as much reliable information as possible from the tests. The methodology is currently being developed. One important part of it is the scaling methodology and the imposed requirements on manufacturing. The present paper presents the latest subscale demonstrator from Linköping University that has been built as part of the study initiated by the Swedish Material Board on a Generic Future Fighter aircraft.

Aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary activity that requires different models and tools for various aspects of the design. At Linköping University a novel design framework is being developed to support the initial conceptual design phase of a new aircraft. In this work main attention has been paid to wing design, with respect to aerodynamic efficiency and loads, and to structural analysis. By linking together various modules via a user-friendly interface based on a spreadsheet, the framework allows multidisciplinary analysis and optimizations to be carried out. This paper will present the framework, give an overview of its development status and give an indication on the future work.

Aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary activity that requires different models and tools for various aspects of the design. At Linköping University a novel design framework is being developed to support the initial conceptual design phase of new aircraft. By linking together various modules via a userfriendly spreadsheet interface, the framework allows multidisciplinary analysis and optimizations to be carried out. The geometrical model created with a high-end CAD system, contains all the available information on the product and thus it plays a central role in the framework. In this work great attention has been paid to techniques that allow creating robust yet highly flexible CAD models. Two different case studies are presented. The first one is a hypothetic wing-box design that is studied with respect to aerodynamic efficiency and loads, and to structural analysis. In this study two approaches were compared. In one case the wing-box design was optimized with a fixed number of structural elements, where only dimensions and position were allowed to change. Then the same wing-box was analyzed allowing also the number of structural elements to vary. Thus only the parts that are required are left and a more efficient design can be obtained. In the second case study a mission simulation is performed on a UAV-type aircraft. Required data for the simulation are gathered from the CAD model and from aerodynamic analysis carried out with PANAIR, a high order panel code. The obtained data are then used as inputs parameters for flight simulation in order to determined hydraulic systems characteristics.  

In this study the use of a high-order panel code within a framework for aircraft concept design is discussed. The framework is intended to be a multidisciplinary optimization tool to be adopted from the very beginning of the conceptual design phase in order to define and refine the aircraft design, with respect to its aerodynamic, stability and control, structure and basic aircraft systems. The presented work is aimed at developing a module for aerodynamic analysis of concepts as a basis for a direct search optimization of the concept layout. The design criterion, used in the example presented here, is to minimize the maximum take-off weight required to fulfil the mission. Classic and simple equations are used together with the data generated by the panel code solver to calculate the aircraft’s performances. Weights are calculated by means of statistical group weight equations, but the weight could also be calculated from a CAD-model. The design of an Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle is used as test case for three different optimization algorithms: one gradient method based (Fmincon), one non-gradient based (Complex) and one Genetic Algorithm (GA). Comparison of results and performances shows that the Genetic Algorithm is best fitted for the specific problem, having the by far best hit rate, even if it is at a cost of longer computing time. The Complex algorithm requires less iterations and is also able to find the optimum solution, but with a worse hit rate, while Fmincon can not reach to a global optimum. The suggested optimized configuration for the aircraft is very similar to the Boeing X-45C and Northrop Grumman X-47B.

At Linköping University work has been done to automate the design process of Micro or Mini Air Vehicles. A design optimization framework that links together a CAD system for airframe design and panel code for aerodynamic design has been developed. This paper describes the experience made so far, and demonstrates a case study on fully automated design where a 3D printer is used for manufacturing.

A methodology for an automated design and fabrication of micro-air vehicles (MAVs) is presented. A design optimization framework has been developed that interfaces several software systems to generate MAVs to optimally fulfil specific mission requirements. By means of amulti-objective genetic algorithm, families of MAVs are tailored with respect to objectives such as weight and endurance. The framework takes into consideration the airframe and aerodynamic design as well as the selection and positioning of internal components. The selection of propulsion system components is made from a database of off-the-shelf components. In combination with a three-dimensional printer, physical prototypes can be quickly manufactured. A validation of the framework results from flight tests of a real MAV is also presented.

The presented work is centered on the evaluation of Micro or Mini Air Vehicles (MAV) that have been automatically designed and manufactured. An in-house developed design framework uses several coupled computer software’s to generate the geometric design in CAD, a well as list of off the shelf components for the propulsion system, and computer code for autonomous flight ready to upload in the intended autopilot. The paper describes the experiences made so far regarding automation of the design process and of manufacturing. Furthermore, it presents results from evaluation and analysis of the optimization algorithm and flight testing, and from continuing work with the framework to achieve deeper understanding of the process and to fine-tune the design automation performance. The flight data is correlated to the predicted performances to validate the models and design process.

Aircraft design is an inherently multi-disciplinary activity that requires different models and tools for various aspects of the design. At Linköping University a novel design framework is being developed to support the initial conceptual design phase of a new aircraft. Different modules are included, each one addressed to analyze and evaluate different aspects of the airplane, such as its aerodynamics, its weight and structure, its sub systems and its performances. All modules are easily accessible from a user-friendly interface based on an Excel spreadsheet. The link between all modules is based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and allows both distribution and integration of all functions. This paper will present the framework, give an overview of its development status and give an indication on the future work.

Aircraft design is an inherently multidisciplinary activity that requires integrating different models and tools to reach a well-balanced and optimized product. At Linköping University a design framework is being developed to support the initial design space exploration and the conceptual design phase. Main characteristics of the framework are its flexible database in XML format, together with close integration of automated CAD and other tools, which allows the developed geometry to be directly used in the subsequent preliminary design phase. In particular, the aim of the proposed work is to test the framework by designing, optimizing and studying a transport aircraft wing with respect to aerodynamic, geometry, structural and accessability constraints. The project will provide an initial assessment of the capability of the framework, both in terms of processing speed and accuracy of the results.

This paper explores novel methodologies for enabling Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) of complex engineering products. To realize MDO, Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) is adopted with the aim of achieving design reuse and automation. The aim of the on-going research at Linköping University is to shift from manual modelling of disposable geometries to Computer Aided Design (CAD) automation by introducing generic high-level geometry templates. Instead of repeatedly modelling similar instances of objects, engineers should be able to create more general models that can represent entire classes of objects. The proposed methodology enables utilization of commercial design tools, hence taking industrial feasibility into consideration. High Level CAD templates (HLCt) will be proposed and discussed as the building blocks of flexible and robust CAD models, which in turn enables high-fidelity geometry in the MDO loop. Quantification of the terms flexibility and robustness is also presented, providing a means to measure the quality of the geometry models. Finally, application examples are presented in which the outlined framework is evaluated. The applications have been chosen from three ongoing research projects aimed at automating the design of transport aircraft, industrial robots, and micro air vehicles.

With growing economies and better living standards in many parts of the world today, there is a need of expanding the capacity of generating electricity. The alternatives for renewable energy technologies are not fully developed and have still some problems to conquer.

The company Minesto has developed a technology that is called Deep Green. It is designed to gain electricity from tidal currents. Deep Green works in a similar way as a kite that is attached to the seafloor with a moving wire. It contains of a wing that moves due to the water current. The path of the movement is circular or a shape of an “8”. The turbine under the wing is powered by the water flow which in turn leads to generation of electricity by the generator.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the potential of using the Deep Green technology in ocean currents with respect to construction and economy. The site for the investigation is off the east coast of Florida where the Florida current streams with a speed of about 1, 5 m/s close to the surface. The major difference compared to the use in tidal currents is the deep waters of about 300 m and a oneway current direction.

A mooring construction was developed and optimized and with the use of carbon fiber ropes, buoys and foundations lets 9 Deep Greens operate between 20 and 79 m depth. The idea is to install 7 such clusters with a total of 63 Deep Greens on the site in Florida. This configuration generates a power of 24 MW and gives a production of 185 GWh/year.

Economic accounts were made with support of earlier made calculations regarding a park of 60 Deep Greens in a tidal current application. The results for the clustered configuration in ocean currents indicated a cost of 0,67 SEK/kWh with a discount rate of 8%. The required capital for the installation is about 780 mSEK (CAPEX). The operating costs (OPEX) are 43,3 mSEK.

The design seems reasonable in many respects and it operates in a continuous ocean current with good electricity generation. The use of Deep Green in ocean currents speaks for being a profitable application. Though, it will be a large‐scale economic project, mainly because installations in a small scale will not be profitable due to costs such as grid connection.

Critical issues to look at in a further development was considered to be surveys of the installation site, the displacement and movements of the mooring, the buoyancy‐system and the installation procedure.

Innovation is a difficult, yet vital factor for any given organization. This has led to a new type of organizations; the intermediaries of open innovation. These provide a service offering by creating interchange between seekers with innovation problems, and third party problem solvers. This study focus on the specific case of one innovation intermediary; Demola East Sweden. They connect seekers of like big organizations or private persons, with student solvers from Linköping University. Demola East Sweden has grown quickly since the start in 2012, and now recognizes a need for evaluation. The purpose of this study is to examine the user experience of the Demola East Sweden innovation intermediary project process. This through the perspective of what adds values to it, and what could improve to the experience. The study was conducted as a case study in four phases of planning, mapping, analyzing, and conclusion. The planning phase defined the practical framework of the study, and three main areas of theory were chosen: the service of innovation intermediation, the structures behind innovation management, and the practical implementation of innovation. The mapping phase included observations and interviews for collecting data. As an initial step, insight on the context and operations of Demola East Sweden and the general project process was attained. Four project cases were then chosen to examine further. This included interviews with the seeker, the solvers, and the Demola East Sweden project facilitator of each case.

The results were analyzed by answering specified research questions, defined by connecting the three theory areas to the purpose of the study. From this, conclusions for the study then could be drawn.The results generated an overview of the general project process of what happens before, during, and after the project conduct. Before project start, the process is mainly about screening the seekers and their projects ideas, and the solvers applying to participate. The analysis show that this initial screening process is important for assuring quality to the projects, and making sure the user expectations matches the service provided. During the projects the seekers are not involved much. The solvers on the other hand, are parallel to the project work also provided with mandatory events from Demola East Sweden and Linköping University. This e.g. includes pitch events where the solvers present and attain feedback on their projects, and coaching sessions on ethics and project goals. The analysis shows that the mandatory events are critical decision points, and are crucial for detecting problem areas in process. When the final results are presented and delivered to the seekers, they can choose if they want to buy it or not. If they choose not to, then they still own the initial project idea, but solvers own the generated results. The analysis shows that the results rarely go further than to concept solutions or prototypes, but also that these issues do not define the success rate of the projects. This is instead measured from the values attained from the experience of the project process. Regarding the expectations and the actual user experience, a common aspect for participation for both seekers and solvers, is the potential of recruitment. Otherwise, the seekers also expect the opportunity for low risk business investment, where they do not need to put in resources or commitment, but still maintain potential for innovation. For the solvers the expectations is also about attaining experience from real projects, where they at the same time gain course credits from the mandatory project events provided by the university. In general the expectations often match the actual experience. The issues on improvement is instead about e.g. the project process including too many mandatory events, lack of coordination between Demola East Sweden and Linköping University, and maintaining a balance of the important mutual interchange between the seekers and the solvers.

Scania has identified a problem among certain costumers in very dusty environments. The air filters for their truck’s climate system need extensive maintenance, replacement or manual cleaning, because of dust frequently loading up the filters. In this thesis the problem has been analyzed in order to find a solution. The process was initiated by the usage of the black box method, where needed transformations were found, resulting in three needed technical systems. Thereafter, brainstorming was used to find concepts for each technical system. Concepts were compared and ranked against each other. For the most critical of the three systems, the cleaning action, prototypes were built of the four highest ranked concepts. These prototypes were then used to compare the performance between the concepts.

The selected filter cleaning device consists of a method to analyze filter blockage, alert the driver when cleaning is needed and a system to clean the filter for the Scania climate system. The system consists of a pressure sensor used to measuring filter blockage, an air pulse system which cleans the filter and a controller unit to control the cleaning cycle and to inform the driver. The air pulse system has two main parts, a pulse valve and an air tank. The pulse valve is used for releasing the air accumulated in the air tank. The complete system is supplied with 8.5 bar from the internal air pressure system in the truck and a 24 V power supply, also located in the truck.

A suggestion on how a final implementation can be done has been developed, with a minimized number of variants and modifications of parts already in production. A proof of concept was built and mounted in a truck to validate the complete system. Numbers on cleaning performance and sound levels have been produced. The proof of concept manages to remove the restriction created from dust by approximately 50 %.

Aside from developing a suitable filter cleaning device, figures on when the filter needs to be cleaned have been identified. To keep a good working environment within the cab a pressure drop over the filter of 936 Pa is recommended as a point of cleaning. This is to maintain the needed airflow of at least 123 m3/h with two persons seated in the cab to not exceed regulated levels of CO2 within the truck cab.

Aircraft developers like other development and manufacturing companies, are experiencing increasing complexity in their products and growing competition in the global market. One way to confront the challenges is to make the development process more efficient and to shorten time to market for new products/variants by using design and development methods based on models. Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is introduced to, in a structured way, support engineers with aids and rules in order to engineer systems in a new way.

In this thesis, model based strategies for aircraft and avionics development are studied. A background to avionics architectures and in particular Integrated Modular Avionics is described. The integrating discipline Systems Engineering, MBSE and applicable standards are also described. A survey on available and emerging modeling techniques and tools, such as Hosted Simulation, is presented and Modeling Domains are defined in order to analyze the engineering environment with all its vital parts to support an MBSE approach.

Time and money may be saved by using modeling techniques that enable understanding of the engineering problem, state-of-the-art analysis and team communication, with preserved or increased quality and sense of control. Dynamic simulation is an activity increasingly used in aerospace, for several reasons; to prove the product concept, to validate stated requirements, and to verify the final implementation. Simulation is also used for end-user training, with specialized training simulators, but with the same underlying models. As models grow in complexity, and the set of simulation platforms is expanded, new needs for specification, model building and configuration support arise, which requires a modeling framework to be efficient.

This paper defines the challenges and needs related to Configuration Management of large scale aeronautical simulation systems, where the MBSE approach is a guiding force. The basic problem is to support modeling and simulation of all variants of a product line. The simulation models may be used in (at least) three different contexts; development, verification and training, each with their specific objectives.

Assumptions and basic components of the research issue are as follows: There exists a defined product line. The product line is modeled with respect of

• Configuration; for certification, delivery, and maintenance in a PDM/PLM context
• Behavior; for development, verification and training in a simulation context

Configurable simulation models are developed and maintained to represent parts/modules of the product line as well as the environment where the products operate. Each simulation model included in any utilized simulation system can be viewed as a module in a (simulation product) platform. The modular models are stored in a model library for easy access and inclusion in a simulation system. Every model must be configurable in at least three dimensions; representation, usage and implementation. They will represent a specific product within the product family, they will be used in some of the three contexts (development, verification and training) and they will be implemented in a specific simulation platform/architecture.

Management of configurable simulation models in the described context is an increasingly challenging activity. Supporting systems and methods for configuration and integration of models and simulation systems are not mature and do not scale up. To view the model set as a Software Product Line representing the Product Line of the end products is an approach to more stringent map the simulation models to the real product/system. A concept of a structured ConfiguratioN datA object (CNA-string) is introduced as a means to integrate configuration information and to be used for simulation set-up purposes. Application example in the work is the light weight fighter aircraft Saab 39 Gripen.

AIRCRAFT DEVELOPERS, like other organizations within development and manufacturing, are experiencing increasing complexity in their products and growing competition in the global market. Products are built from increasingly advanced technologies and their mechanical, electronic, and software parts grow in number and become more interconnected. Different approaches are used to manage information and knowledge of products in various stages of their lifecycle.

"Reuse" and "Model Based Development" are two prominent trends for improving industrial development efficiency. The product line approach is used to reduce the time to create product variants by reusing components. The model based approach provides means to capture knowledge about a system in the early lifecycle stages for usage throughout its entire lifetime. It also enables structured data  management as a basis for analysis, automation, and team collaboration for efficient management of large systems and families of products.

This work is focused on the combination of methods and techniques within;

• modeling and simulation-based development, and
• (re)use of simulation models through the product line concept.

With increasing computational performance and more efficient techniques/tools for building simulation models, the number of models increases, and their usage ranges from concept evaluation to end-user training. The activities related to model verification and validation contribute to a large part of the overall cost for development and maintenance of simulation models. The studied methodology aims to reduce the number of similar models created by different teams during design, testing, and end-user support of industrial products.

Results of the work include evaluation of a configurator to customize and integrate simulation models for different types of aircraft simulators that are part of a simulator product family. Furthermore, contribution comprises results where constraints in the primary product family (aircraft) govern the configuration space of the secondary product family (simulators). Evaluation of the proposed methodology was carried out in cooperation with the simulator department for the 39 Gripen fighter aircraft at Saab Aeronautics.

This handbook describes a framework for development, validation, and integration of multipurpose simulation models. The presented methodology enables reuse of models in different applications with different purposes. The scope is simulation models representing physical environment, physical aircraft systems or subsystems, avionics equipment, and electronic hardware.

The methodology has been developed by a small interdisciplinary team, with experience from Modeling and Simulation (M&S) of vehicle systems as well as development of simulators for verification and training. Special care has been taken to ensure usability of the workflow and method descriptions, mainly by means of 1) a user friendly format, easy to overview and update, 2) keeping the amount of text on an appropriate level, and 3) providing relevant examples, templates, and checklists. A simulation model of an aircraft Environmental Control System (ECS) is used as an example to guide the reader through the workflow of developing and validating multipurpose simulation models.

In development and support of complex products such as power plants, automotive vehicles, or aircrafts, modeling and simulation has become an important activity as a basis for knowledge capture. Simulation is used in several steps of the product lifecycle; for evaluation of early design, for system verification, and for user training. With emerging techniques such as tools for high-level modeling, multi-core computing, and visualization, the number of useful models is growing. This paper focuses on reuse of multipurpose models and configuration support in a product line context. A configurator prototype system is presented. The simulator set created from validated models is considered to be a secondary product line. The product set which the simulation models represent is considered to be the primary product line. The Saab Gripen fighter aircraft, together with simulators in which the aircraft behavior, performance, and handling qualities are represented, is used to exemplify application. Integration principles of the systems for simulator configuration, Software Configuration Management, and Product Data Management (PDM) are studied. Preliminary results show that a configurator tool can be used, but there is need to map structures between the simulation and PDM domains.

A Unified Modeling Language/Systems Modeling Language (UML/SysML) subset was the modeling notation selected for an aerospace systems engineering project at Saab Aerosystems. In this paper, the rationale for selecting UML/SysML is given, along with a description of the situation at the project planning stage regarding business conditions, method and tools support. The usage of use case, sequence, and activity diagrams are described as well as definition of functional chains with SysML. Furthermore, the connections to system implementation activities including code generation and simulation are discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of using UML/SysML from experience in an industrial context are reported.

It is also described how UML/SysML is related to industrial research projects in the Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methods and tools area. Introducing UML/SysML with a methodology and a supporting toolset in an operative organization require a clear strategy, including planning, just-in-time training, and mentor support. Finally, industrial needs for further development of SysML are discussed.

Context: "Reuse" and "Model Based Development" are two prominent trends for improving industrial development efficiency. Product lines are used to reduce the time to create product variants by reusing components. The model based approach provides the opportunity to enhance knowledge capture for a system in the early stages in order to be reused throughout its lifecycle. This paper describes how these two trends are combined to support development and support of a simulator product line for the SAAB 39 Gripen fighter aircraft.

Objective: The work aims at improving the support (in terms of efficiency and quality) when creating simulation model configurations. The objective is to increase the level of reuse when combining and customizing models for usage in a range of development and training simulators.

Method: The research has been conducted with an interactive approach using prototyping and demonstrations, and the evaluation is based on an iterative and a retrospective method.

Results: A product line of simulator models for the SAAB 39 Gripen aircraft has been analyzed and defined in a Product Variant Master. A configurator system has been implemented for creation, integration, and customization of stringent simulator model configurations. The system is currently under incorporation in the standard development process at SAAB Aeronautics.

Conclusion: The explicit and visual description of products and their variability through a configurator system enables better insights and a common understanding so that collaboration on possible product configurations improves and the potential of software reuse increases. The combination of application fields imposes constraints on how traditional tools and methods may be utilized. Solutions for Design Automation and Knowledge Based Engineering are available, but their application has limitations for Software Product Line engineering and the reuse of simulation models.

Support for configuration and instantiation of large-scale aircraft simulations has become a major issue as the numbers of models grow, model fidelity increases and there is a trend to design models to allow reuse between simulation environments. In this work a method for configuration support is presented that is based on the Product Line principles with structures and data inherited from the Product Data Management system. An XML-based information object to carry product configuration data and knowledge between tools, called a CNA-string is introduced. A rule-based method to support specification of consistent configurations is adopted from the sales configuration domain. The application example is configurations of the Gripen fighter aircraft simulation models.

This paper describes a method and an integrated environment for model based design,simulation and analysis of aircraft flight control systems. Design of flight control systemsinvolves domain knowledge from several different disciplines such as mass & inertia,aerodynamics, hydraulics and electronics which requires a structured method aswell as a powerful environment to succeed in the control system design. The core tool inthis design environment is the model editor SystemBuild which is based on functionalflow block diagrams. The presented method is illustrated using the development of theGripen fighter aircraft flight control system as an example.

In the planning and concept study phases of the next generation Gripen fighter aircraft, methods and tools studies have been performed. Capabilities and limitations of the Simulink toolset have been evaluated to explore how it can support model based systems/software engineering. In this paper, three different approaches of Simulink usage for functional development are presented:

1. The functional oriented systems modeling and simulation approach where the function is in focus; complete enough to be simulatable, but abstract from an implementation point of view.
2. An implementation oriented specification approach that is based on a modeling framework with predefined system architecture, scheduling, data types and rules for discretization. The resulting embedded software is hand coded using the model as specification.
3. Similar to approach two but here the embedded software is automatically generated using a high quality code generator.

The driver for choosing approach is threefold; high quality, short development time and low cost. Some experiences based on these prerequisites are presented, mainly concerning the aspects of scalability, such as; model architecture, license model and project ramp-up challenges. The results are also compared to the existing SystemBuild based development environment. When introducing high-end engineering practices and tools such as Simulink in an organization developing safety-critical products, it is important to make sure that also basic management practices (e.g. Requirements-, Configuration- and Change Management) are thoroughly handled.

In this paper, a new multiobjective genetic algorithm is employed to support the design of a hydraulic actuation system. First, the proposed method is tested using benchmarks problems gathered from the literature. The method performs well and it is capable of identifying multiple Pareto frontiers in multimodal function spaces. Secondly, the method is applied to a mixed variable design problem where a hydraulic actuation system is analyzed using simulation models. The design problem constitutes of a mixture of determining continuous variables as well as selecting components from catalogs. The multi-objective optimization results in a discrete Pareto front, which illustrate the trade-off between system cost and system performance.

This work has been done in collaboration with Camatec Industriteknik AB, who wanted to investigate how to manufacture hydraulic valve blocks, safety blocks, according to ISO 13849 and the PL scale. As this standard is being increasingly implemented in everything from industrial machines to mobile hydraulics, it is desired to conduct an early investigation on the possibilities of producing valve blocks in compliance with this standard. The work lasted for a period of 10 weeks and was carried out at LiU (Linköpings Universitet) and Camatec's office in Karlstad. It started by determening whether a design could comply with the PL scale from the standard and if so, how. A requirement specification was compiled based on the requirements that concerned the block itself. An existing concept proposal was iterated and formed the basis for a calculation model. With a preliminary stress-value, several materials were found based on recommendations and databases that met the set requirements. The materials were weighted in a weighting matrix and two final materials was determined. A final concept was made including a fatigue analysis with the selected materials. When material selection, construction and calculation were completed, a drawing was created that was used for manufacturing quotes. The result was a construction with two different material proposals. One version is designed for an MTTFD value of 150 years and the other for an infinite MTTFD. Depending on other components of a system, these safety blocks are compatible up to PLe, the highest level in the scale. When implementing this safety block, other parts of the system must meet the set requirements, it is recommended that the development of ISO 13849 is carefully followed in the future.

The material handling industry is facing new challenges with the divergence from the established EUR-pallet. In correlation with the autonomous technology which is becoming more advanced, available and affordable than ever before, new demands are created. The industry calls for innovative material handling automated guided vehicles to meet the requirements. These vehicles will increase the owners profit by being more efficient in terms of time, size and cost. The aim for this study is to develop suitable lifting mechanisms for an ultra-compact automated guided vehicle. A generic product development process is utilized. The requirements for the lifting mechanism is defined and presented in a specification. A selection of employees are involved in the ideation and concept generation to add in-house knowledge and experience. The concepts are developed with component research, 3D visualizations and concept descriptions. The concepts are evaluated and the most promising are selected. The selected concepts are further developed with CAD-models, calculations and a selection of components. The concepts are compared with each other and the initial specification to assess the most suitable lifting mechanism. The single acting hydraulic system, including a Micro Power Pack and four small hydraulic cylinders, is considered the best suitable choice for an ultracompact material handling automated guided vehicle.

The interest in seamless steel tubes with large outside diameters in relation to thin wall thickness has increased along with the strength improvements in various steel grades. This makes it possible to produce lighter, cheaper and more material-efficient steel products with the same or greater strength as before.

These new development directions bring changes and challenges in one of the company Ovako's production lines in Tube Mill 5 Hofors, which they need to cooperate with the design agency BEKAB to evaluate and develop.

In Ovako's production line in Tube Mill 5 there is a part of an assel mill called "förreducerare". Ovako sees a lot of interest in evaluating and developing this part of the assel mill in order to better adapt to the new development directions. A well-known challenge of the existing reduction equipment is that it was initially developed to reduce a quality issue with the tube products called funnel formation. The project therefore immerses itself into the funnel formation in order to better understand the foundations of the current design of the reduction equipment and to then implement a redesign of the reduction equipment.

A situation analysis of the current reduction equipment reveals a number of different production issues with their accompanying quality issues in the tube products. The project thus chooses to focus on the production issues that would have the greatest impact on the reduction equipment if they were resolved. This results in a new product concept of the reduction equipment in the form of a visual 3D-CAD-model with associated strength calculations and material optimization.

The study covers topics such as design, engineering, product development, material strength calculations and material optimization.

Competition among companies that produce complex or large product portfolios has created a need to use modularity strategies not only to flexibly manage technical complexity in a cost-effective manner but also to produce visually appealing products. This research aims to understand how the visual appearance of products is affected by modular product development strategies and creates coherent product brands. Thus, this study examines the intersection of design aesthetics, product portfolio management, product brand management, and design management. Specifically, this study aims to understand how such strategies constrain and generate possibilities when the industrial design process concerns itself with visual appearance. 

The main research approach has been qualitative multi-case methodology (Miles et al, 2014; Eisenhardt, 1989) and design theory building (Chakrabarti and Blessing, 2016) that collects data through interviews, experimentation, and theoretical studies based on findings in the literature. Sixteen face-to-face interviews were conducted with design vice presidents, senior designers, and senior design engineers at five Swedish manufacturers from the automotive, MedTech, consumer goods, commercial vehicles, and materials handling industries. 

This approach has resulted in the description of three theoretical models and a design method, product gist, for investigating prototypicality in a product category. Aesthetic flexibility reflects the requirement that under certain circumstances an industrial designer has to plan for future (as yet unknown) changes in a design. 

Each of the three theoretical models has a different focus: one model describes three ways manufacturing companies organise a strategic in-house design function; one model describes how design decisions are made on a general level through an intuitive and knowledge-based judgment process; and one model describes the strategies a manager needs to consider when developing an existing product portfolio and how the strategies influence industrial design practice. 

Understanding visual flexibility serves as a starting point for further investigations of how development strategies affect visual product design. This understanding provides industrial designers insight into how they can develop product systems that share design components across product lines to promote brand identity. The findings of this work illustrate and explain a complex and multi-facetted design phenomenon that many designers manage more or less intuitively today; therefore, this study advances the understanding of the field for academics, teachers, and professional designers. 

The increase in competition amongst companies that produce complex or large product portfolios has created a need to utilise modularity strategies not only to flexibly manage technical complexity in a costeffective manner but also for visual appearance. This research aims to understand how the visual appearance of products is affected by modular product development strategies. Specifically, the aim is to understand how such strategies induce constraints and generate possibilities for management of visual appearance in the design process.

Five studies have been conducted during the course of this licentiate thesis. Two were conducted with professionals and students in design, while the remaining three are theoretical studies based on findings in the literature, theory building, and experimental research. The goal has been to investigate how designers work when they are put to the task of changing and developing the designs of complex products that are part of a portfolio. The challenge has been to study what suitable strategies exist that manage complex products and product brands, then investigate how these influence designers’ practices.

The first study examined how coherence towards a product category influences the design of new products. The outcome of the study was a method to explore visual coherence and diversity in the appearance of a product category.

The remaining four studies investigated how modularity, brand management and the redesign of product portfolios influence a design process. The second study described a design phenomenon known as aesthetic flexibility, which was further explored in studies three and five. The outcome from these studies was a proposal for four aesthetic flexibility strategies.

The fourth study investigated in what way portfolio extension strategies found in brand management and design research are related, and how such strategies influence aesthetic flexibility. The results from study four were illustrated as a model.

The main contribution of this work is the phenomenon of ‘aesthetic flexibility’, which helps understand the factors that influence designers when working with branded modular products. Understanding visual flexibility serves as a starting point in further investigations of how different development strategies affect the possibilities for visual product design.

The findings of this work serve to illustrate and explain a complex and multi-facetted design phenomenon which many designers manage more or less intuitively today, thus advancing academics’, teachers’ and professional designers’ understanding of the field.

This paper will investigate the strategic design decision-making of an in-house designer in a company with a large product portfolio, with respect to how designers plan for future visual alterations of the product. In-house designers have to think strategically about the creation of recognition and differentiation through design because they influence the company’s overall strategies. Therefore, while balancing aesthetic and semiotic qualities of the product, designers have to consider current as well as future needs for recognition and product differentiation. The ability to do so is affected by cost and brand positioning strategy. An exploratory study was setup to investigate what design strategies could be found in an industrial design team employed by a company. The study exposed how in-house designers could strategically incorporate aesthetic flexibility in product parts in order to create opportunities for faster facelifts or redesigns. The importance of managing carry-over details in larger product portfolios was also discovered. To carry over parts from different products is an important way for a company to save money, development time and at the same time increase brand recognition through repetition. Carry-over can be an aid to enhance visual recognition, but it can also be a hindrance when the designer needs to create differencing design values. Most products have a lifespan before they need to be updated or redesigned, which depends on the competition in a product segment. This makes it extra important for designers to have an understanding of when to incorporate carry-over details and when not to. A model was created to describe how carry-over details, design cues and aesthetic flexibility could be managed in a product portfolio. The model is based on Rune Monö’s works and brand management literature, with an emphasis on the brand positioning framework of Point of Difference, Point of Parity and brand extension by Keller et al.

In today's competitive market it is essential for companies to have a clear brand identity towards it consumers and users in order to be successful. Consumers have often a variety of products to choose from and the challenge for a company's products is to be discovered and remembered. An important factor is recognition of a product and how it is conceived through our perception which is mainly an identification process based on familiarity, resemblance or similarity. Furthermore, the visual part of the brain organizes the surrounding into patterns which are used as a guide for us, and to capture the surrounding is called getting its gist. The process of finding resemblance in a design space is often done by the designer as an implicit part in the design process. If this implicit knowledge could be more objectively visualised it might be a helpful tool to create a visual baseline of how consumers would experience the product segment. To show similarities and differences of design features quantitatively can facilitate the communication in a design development project. This paper explores how the concept of a product gist may be used to create a conceptual product sign and also how it could be used to analyse what the design space looks like in a given product segment. By quantitatively overlaying transparent pictures in a product segment visual pattern emerges that can be used as a communication tool in a design process when discussing brand recognition. In this paper a power drill is used as a simple application to illustrate the usage of the proposed product gist.

This paper describes a workflow for designing experiences whileinteracting with an advanced driver assistant system. Future driver assistancesystems that utilize sensors and Car2X-communication in order to detect threatsin the car environment can help the driver to avoid collisions. To increase theacceptance of such a system, the interaction between the driver and the systemshould be able to generate positive experiences. To generate those experiences,a story-based design workflow was used. Concepts created with this workflowshould be able to address specific psychological needs of the driver. Theimplementation of this workflow revealed different schemes of positiveexperiences during driver interaction in critical situations.

A nominal setup at Volvo Cars Corporation is the placement determination for two adjacent exterior parts on the car. To place the parts in optimal positions, nominal values for gaps and flushes are determined. When a nominal setup becomes more complex, VSA (Vehicle System Architect) is summoned. These appearing situations regard the involvement of several attributes and the need for a combination of vari- ous contributions. There are static, dynamic (overslam or dynamic movement) and thermal contributions that are combined into nominal values of gap and flush dis- tances. The determination process of a nominal setup contains both calculation for each contribution, as well as the combination method which takes place at the VSA meetings. This Master Thesis project consists of the development of an improved determination process for nominal setups.

The current determination process has a low level of transparency within the differ- ent group’s methods. Another issue is the insecurity of the probability estimations made when combining the contributions. Therefore, the focus of the project was to infuse a greater understanding of the contribution derivations, and greater insight into the probability of the taken risks. To achieve that, the project was divided into three parts; mapping of the determination process, individual contribution improve- ments and finally, improvements to the combination method. In contemplation of improving a process, plenty of knowledge needs to be gathered, regarding methods, simulations and possibilities. This was executed by interviewing experts within spe- cific areas at the different groups at VCC. Development of the improvements was done by interviews and various studies.

It was shown that the mapping of the determination process increased the trans- parency between the groups as it increased the understanding of individual groups’ work. Contribution improvements lead to more realistic load cases used for dimen- sioning. A performed overslam clinic, where closing velocity data of a tailgate were collected, lead to a greater statistical base for which load case should be used. For dynamic movement, another method is proposed that considers relative movement instead of applied accelerations. For the thermal contribution, the approach of ge- ographically gathered temperature data was proposed. The improved combination method generates combinations with regard to three input values instead of one, from each contribution, to create different combination scenarios. The probabilities of the scenario occurrences are estimated which gave VCC a greater understanding of what risks that are taken. Furthermore, the combination method also educates the VSA meeting attendees by exhibiting the derivations and bases for each contri- bution.

A long-haulage truck cab from Scania is an environment that involves various activities and combines a working place with compact living which sets different requirements on the lighting environment depending on the activity. Truck drivers have different requirements in means of visual ergonomics and preference on the lighting design. A conclusion in this thesis is that different user in various activities sets different requirements on lighting design in a truck cab. 

Lighting planning in a truck cab with new lighting technologies such as LED (Light Emitting Diode) and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) stands for a paradigm shift in lighting planning and lighting design. The new technologies enables more integration in the interior, more diverse lighting which means more effort is needed to succeed in good visual ergonomics, light distribution, aesthetic expression and branding. 

Studies have shown that by blue enriched light can be used as a tool to affect the humans’ sleep-awake rhythm. With the new paradigm shift with LED and OLED comes an opportunity to change the colour temperature of the lighting and use blue-enriched light as a tool to possibly create a better working environment for shift working truck drivers using warmer light at night and colder light in the morning. 

In this thesis two main studies has been conducted, the first was regarding product and user knowledge and the second was a lighting study. From these studies we have concluded three analyses and suggested a lighting planning guide for Scania that takes into account future lighting planning with new technology for a better working environment for long-haulage truck drivers.

This report presents the primary development process of an innovative milk foamer. The project is structured as the primary development process that is used at Electrolux Floor Care and Small Appliances AB, Global Primary Development and Innovation department in Stockholm, Sweden. The aim was to develop a milk foamer with innovative solutions to provide Electrolux with a unique product. The objective was to create a product that highly meets customer requirements and in the same time is feasible to develop into a selling product. All the aspects regarding a consumer product had to be considered. To create innovative solutions thorough investigations of the physics behind foaming and foam are studied and documented. The difference in foam quality when using different ways of foaming is documented and possible explanations is discussed. The primary development process range from pre-study and customer research to designing prototypes and verifications. Most of the report deals with standalone solutions but there is also a part of the report that deals with integrated solutions and cooperating solutions that would be used together with espresso machines. The result is a variety of concepts and four fully working standalone prototypes. Two prototypes are further developed and are highly interesting to Electrolux.

One of the key points to reduce the world dependence on fossil fuels and the emissions of greenhouse gases is the use of renewable energy sources. Recent studies showed that wind energy is a significant source of renewable energy which is capable to meet the global energy demands. However, such energy cannot be harvested by today’s technology, based on wind towers, which has nearly reached its economical and technological limits. The major part of the atmospheric wind is inaccessible to the conventional wind turbines and wind at higher altitude is the major source of potential energy which has not been fully exploited yet. The thesis paper has presented a study aimed to devise a new class of wind generator based on extracting energy from high altitude wind.A brief theoretical study is presented to evaluate the potential of an innovative high altitude wind power technology which exploits a tethered airfoil to extract energy from wind at higher altitude. Among the various concepts proposed over last few decades, a kite power system with a single kite is selected for the design purpose.The designed ground station is an improvisation over existing prototypes with an energy reservoir for having a continuous power output. A flywheel is used as the energy storage system which stores the extra energy during traction phases and supplies it during recovery phases and thus giving a continuous power generation regardless of the kite’s motion and keeping the rotor speed in a permissible range defined by the design constraints. Manufacturability of the structure, availability of the components, safety and maintenance criteria have been taken into account while building the ground station CAD model.A dynamic simulation model is developed to investigate the power transmission system of the kite power unit which reflects the torque, speed and power behaviour of the modelled ground station driveline. The functionality of the designed model for the selected concept is tested with several numerical and graphical examples.

The thesis work investigates the possibility of replacing the Body-In-White (BIW) sections used in a physical test with a fixture. Volvo-cars perform several sub-system tests on its car components taken from various car models for different issues. Squeak and Rattle in Cockpits is one such important phenomenon investigated through its sub-system tests. Currently, the Body-in-White (BIW) sections taken from car body are used in holding the cockpits for Squeak and Rattle physical testing on a vibrating rig, the idea is to design a fixture that can replace these BIW sections for the test. Additionally, it is ensured that the fixture is designed to accommodate a variety of cockpits through the flexibility in its structure. Models from two different car segments were considered for performing the thesis.

The development process started by researching the theory behind squeak and rattle along with investigating the important design parameters which would determine the requirements on the fixture. This is followed up with benchmarking the parameters and a physical test which would help later in comparison and evaluation of fixture performance against the BIW. The result from benchmarking were then used for topology optimization in obtaining a material layout to provide a basis for fixture design. Then, a basic CAD model is generated which is adapted to provide flexibility using Aluflexmechanisms.

The final design comprises of a sufficiently rigid main structure made of hollow steel beams upon which Aluflex mechanisms are attached to provide flexibility in accommodating a variety of cockpit models. The fixture is analyzed and evaluated by comparing with benchmarked data.

With the thesis, a fixture with generic (flexible) features which is manufacturable has been designed. It was concluded that at its current stage it cannot completely replace the BIW since the fixture is performing better than BIW in some respects and failing to conform to the requirements in others. The possible reason for the fixture failing to meet the requirements in the few aspects has been explored.

As future work, it was proposed to explore into stiffness varying mechanisms (spring mechanisms) that could alter the stiffness requirements on the fixture as per the cockpit used for testing. It was also suggested to look for alternatives to Aluflex which would provide better stiffness at the connection points. Further, it was suggested to look for alternatives in the design concept which would avoid the connection part in extending too much away from the main structure thereby retaining high stiffness at the connection point.

Strömsholmen is a world leading manufacturer of gas springs and gas hydraulic systems. They market their gas springs under three brands; Kaller, Hyson and Fibro. Strömsholmen offer their customers to buy service gear to repair and maintain their gas springs. In this gear there is a service tool kit. In this master thesis the service tool kit has been developed further and redesigned to be more user friendly, better represent the brands and to be more cost effective. The focus of the project was the tool case and the lock ring tool.

The first half of the project was an extensive research phase where the goal was to learn more about the service process, who performs it, why there is a need for service of gas springs and what the context for service looks like. This was done through interviews, observations and usability tests. The information gathered was then analyzed and a list of product requirements was made. The concept development phase was executed through a series of methods to help generate ideas and select a concept for the service system of the new tool kit. The detail development phase mainly focused on the lock ring tool’s form and function and the appearance of the case. However, the other tools were also developed in a varying degree of detail.

The result was reviewed based on the product requirements. Most requirements were fulfilled.

As a part of Linköping University’s master program course curriculum, current thesis is performed at Tools and fixtures department (MPCT) of Scania, Oskarshamn. The aim of this master thesis project is to develop a complete construction of the station in CAD which calculates the weight and center of gravity of all the different cabs produced in Scania CV AB.

To accomplish this project a generic product development process described in product development textbook by Ulrich and Eppinger (2012), fifth edition and The mechanical design by David G Ullman, fourth edition were extensively used. The whole function from a black box is decomposed into several sub functions and different solutions were identified for these individual functions. By using morphology matrix and proper combinations from these solutions five different concepts were developed and presented to Scania CV AB.

The team along with technical design experts in the MPCT department evaluated all the concepts and one concept was chosen for further development. Protecting the weighing scales during loading of cab from forklift onto the station and safety for the cab during tilting are the two main challenges faced during detail design phase. We were able to achieve these operations by incorporating a lifting table into the station design. Thanks to the custom made multi-tasking lift table which is manufactured and supplied by HYMO.

With the help of sensors, speed of the lifting table can be controlled with two operating speeds-High & Low. Lifting table moves in its lowest speed whenever it approaches the weighing scales. Incorporation of Jacob safety into the lifting table allows the table to always operate in low speed when the lift link is in action. These sensors ensure high safety for the cab and weighing scales. Apart from this, an emergency stop has been provided to stop the entire operation in case of emergencies.

In this proposed design, the center of gravity values will be determined in two stages and the weight readings are recorded in computer during these stages. For determining the longitudinal and transverse distances of CG, weight readings from all the weighing scales is essential once the cab is loaded on the station from the forklift. For determining the vertical distance of CG, two weight readings and measured tilt angle is required. A calculation module will allow the user to enter these values and obtain the result in no time.

This developed 3-D CAD model with 2-D drawings are presented to Scania and the obtained results of this work fulfilled the set of requirements set for this master thesis.

The objective of this master thesis is to develop a post-mountable whiplash protection device for the BMW 5 Series. The reason for this is that the model has, in comparison to other models in the same price range, performed porely in two independent whiplash tests.

The outcome of the project is a protection device that can be mounted in an easy and safe way on the headrests in the car. The protection device will reduce the risk of a whiplash injury by decreasing the critical distance between the head and the headrest. The protection device's design is simple, but engineered to prevent the device from moving out of position in case of a collision.

In order to reach the result, a design method suitable for this kind of work has been used. The design method involves different processes like brainstorming and the use of an evaluation matrix.

The result of the thesis is only conceptual, and further development is necessary to reach a final product.

Multidisciplinary frameworks are needed to develop products that fit the human. Ergonomics is a multifaceted field that encompasses physical, cognitive and organizational aspects, and it is therefore a suitable subject to be taught to design engineering students.

The objective of this paper was to describe and reflect upon how a systems perspective on Ergonomics is developed and conveyed in a course in Product Ergonomics to engineering students at the Design and Product Development (DPD) programme at Linköping University, Sweden. The paper is based on the authors’ experiences from teaching the course in Product Ergonomicsas well ason 52 students’ written reflections about their view on Ergonomics before and after taking the course.

Means and ideas for teaching Ergonomics with a systems perspective included organizing a theoretical introduction into weekly themes and thereafter integrating and applying these themes in a product concept project under supervision of a multidisciplinary teacher team.

The paper also reflects on how the systems perspective of Ergonomics is planned for and realized in the intended, implemented and attained curriculum.

One fundamental challenge in choosing an examination form to assess student achievements is to find an examination which, both encourages students to continuously elaborate the course content and constitutes a learning process itself. The objective of this paper is to share and reflect on the development and implementation of a new theme-based examination in a six credit course in Product Ergonomics given in the engineering programme Design and Product Development at Linköping University, Sweden. The course runs during four months and has two parts: one theoretical and one applied. The former focuses on theoretical ergonomic topics, models and methods while the latter is a project aiming at consolidating the students’ understanding of the theory by implementing the knowledge in a product development case. To encourage the students to adapt a deep learning approach, the traditional written mid-term exam for the theoretical part was abandoned and another concept developed. In the new concept, the theoretical part was split onto six weekly themes. Each theme was introduced at the beginning of the week by high-lighting main theories and models followed by a group-work assignment to be elaborated on by the students during the week. The theme was examined at the end of the week through a short written exam and a seminar to discuss and reflect upon the theme. From a student perspective, the positive outcome of the theme-based examination was peer learning and a more active learning style. The students appreciated the theme-based structure of the course. Occasionally, some students commented that weekly examinations could be perceived as stressful. The teachers perceived the students to be more acquainted with ergonomics theory and methods which increased the quality of the course project. The reported theme-based assessment is one example of implementing among others the CDIO syllabus parts 2.2 and 3.1and CDIO standards 8 and 11.

Materialhantering är en växande bransch som medför att både antalet anställda och arbets-tempot ständigt ökas. En konsekvens av detta är att antalet olyckor med fallande objekt har ökat i samband med användning av truckar.

I detta examensarbete har därför en undersökning av skyddstaket till truckserien staplare (Stacker, Pedestrian with platform, Electrically powered) genomförts. Syftet är att undersöka möjligheterna att ta fram en ny konstruktion på skyddstaket som, jämfört med den befintliga konstruktionen, kan absorbera energin från en fallande last på ett bättre sätt samt minskar den kvarstående deformationen. Detta för att kunna öka säkerheten för föraren ytterligare men även för att kunna öka produktiviteten av trucken genom att minimera servicetiden av taket efter större lastfall.

Målet med arbetet är att ta fram en CAD-modell på en ny konstruktion av skyddstaket som ska kunna utgöra underlag för framtagning av en testprototyp. Projektet har följt en systematisk produktutvecklingsprocess i vilken det första steget är att ta fram en kravspecifikation på konstruktionen. Nästa steg är att arbeta fram idéer på olika lösningar som sedan utnyttjas i framtagningen av ett antal koncept. Därefter utvärderas koncepten och ett val genomförs om vilket koncept som ska vidareutvecklas.

Resultaten visar att genom att använda en konstruktion innehållande stötdämpare kan stötkraften från den fallande lasten reduceras, dock kräver det att taket har möjlighet att flexa under själva lastfallet. Då stötkraften minskar medför det att spänningarna i skyddstakets komponenter också minskar vilket ger en reducerad kvarstående deformation i konstruktionen.

Konceptet som tagits fram består av en takkassett som är monterad i skyddstakets sidostolpar genom leder som möjliggör rotation. Takkassetten hålls uppe med hjälp av två tvärbalkar som är monterade mellan takkassetten och infästningarna i stativet där tvärbalkarna dämpas av hydrauliska stötdämpare. Även tvärbalkarnas båda infästningar sker genom roterande leder.

During the last decades, the production enterprises have gone through a strong global change in terms of shorter product life cycles, fluctuations in the order income and increased demand of customized products. Basically, a company needs to develop appealing products in terms of cost and quality that are brought to the market in timely manner. As many studies show that over 70% of the total life cycle cost of a product is determined at the early design stage, this thesis work are focused on analyzing how the total cost of robot families can be affected in the early design stage through changing the component commonality level. More specifically, a cost estimation model in excel has been built to see how the total costs of robot family IRB 6640 are affected when choosing different gears for joints one, two and three. Also, a more general analysis has been done where it is investigated how ABB can take benefit of a product configuration system integrated with a robot platform and cost estimation model.The result of this study shows that the traditional opinion on “higher commonality means lower costs” is not applicable in all cases. For instance, considering the commonality of gears within a robot family, the optimal solution out of a cost perspective do no longer exists at the highest commonality possible but at a slightly lower commonality level, lying between 0,7<CI<0,9 using the measurement commonality index (CI). This is because the gears tend to be over dimensioned, and thereby more expensive for certain joints when commonality increases. The analysis also shows that fix and variable costs are not linear to each other, which complicates the situation when trying to describe the change of total costs with one commonality index. Consequently, two different commonality indices are needed: CI to describe the fix costs and CIC (component part commonality index) to describe the variable costs.

In this paper, an approach for modular design of industrial robots is presented. The approach is to introduce an objectoriented simulation model of the robot and combine this with a discrete optimization algorithm. The simulation model of the industrial robot is developed in Modelica, an object oriented modeling and simulation language, and simulated in the Dymola tool. The optimization algorithm used is a modification of the Complex method that has been developed in Matlab and connected to the simulation program. The optimization problem includes selecting components such as gearboxes and motors from a component catalogue and the objective function considers minimization of cost with constraints on gear box lifetime. Furthermore, the correctness of the model has been verified by comparison with an in-house simulation code with high accuracy.

The process parameters for an automated, three-dimensional ultrasonic cutting process of RTM-preforms are examined in order to find how they affect the cutting quality.