Excessive food waste (nearly 1.3 billion tons per annum) has exacerbated the world hunger crisis. This comprehensive review focuses on the food waste scenario, adverse effects, food waste management, existing waste management policies, and regulations in Bangladesh. Municipalities and urban centers generate 3.78 million tons of waste each year (15.96% of total food waste). This study utilized the national database to analyze food waste generation and projected growth by the year 2050. Yearly an estimated 17215.2 thousand acres of land and a significant amount of natural resources (water, energy) are being used to produce 23691.15 thousand tons of wasted food (45% of total food production). This study critically analyzed the waste management policy gap of Bangladesh and clearly identified each stage of the food loss production supply chain. The study assessed that yearly 481.6 MW energy could be generated from food waste. Focusing on effective policy and sustainability, a national food waste management model has been proposed for Bangladesh in compliance with sustainable development goals 12.3.1 global food loss. Food accumulates 16.7% to 20% of the world economy; therefore, any measures taken to reduce the food waste will be economically beneficial and environmentally sustainable. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This paper aims to establish consumers perception of electric waste recycling and management on a national scale in Bangladesh. The attitude, willingness to pay (WTP) and consumers behaviour were explored by conducting a questionnaire-based survey. The conclusions are based on 915 valid responses out of 2000 online survey invitations. Interestingly, 37.9% of the respondents indicated that they would accept to pay for electronic waste recycling. Analysis also shows that the preferred WTP would cover 5-10% of the recycling cost. Factors like environmental awareness, monthly income, and education level affect the consumers WTP. Nevertheless, most of the participants believe that the Government should share the recycling cost. The study suggests that e-waste recycling can be stimulated by promoting environmental awareness, educating the public about the benefits of recycling e-waste, and making e-waste recycling more convenient. However, additional measures will likely be needed to tackle the e-waste problem. Thus, support for environmental education is imperative in order to promote environmental awareness and increase the WTP of consumers. The study outlines key characteristics of consumer-focused e-waste management archetypes and proposes an effective road map for Bangladesh.

With the growing demand for sustainable and optimal packaging solutions, this study proposes a novel two-stage algorithm for the multi-container three-dimensional bin packing problem. The research addresses this problem within the context of a real-world industrial scenario and implements several practical constraints including: full shipment, customer positioning requirements, and product geometric interlocking, for increased stability and with the purpose of minimizing the use of plastic wrapping and/or additional supporting surfaces. The main optimization target is to minimize the total number of containers used in the palletization process of custom orders with varying degrees of complexity. The proposed algorithm includes two stages/phases of processing. In the first phase, the algorithm uses constructive heuristics to generate homogeneous product layers. The layers are then stacked to produce blocks, which are then placed on individual containers or pallets. The second phase packs the leftover items using a genetic algorithm. The performance of the proposed solution is benchmarked using real-world industrial data, as well as a more classic academic benchmark. It is demonstrated, across a very large set of orders, that the algorithm always achieves solutions for full palletization of the orders. The analysis shows that the approach is generic and the quality of the solutions generated is relatively even for both small and large, homogeneous and heterogeneous problem instances.

With the global demand for reliable water management infrastructure, Xylem has identified the need for improved cable handling to prevent failures and extend the lifespan of their stormwater equipment. This thesis explores the development of an improved cable suspension system for Flygt column pumps, focusing on enhancing durability and reducing installation complexity through design and product development. The focus of the research is to improve the reliability and functionality of the cable suspension system while ensuring compatibility with existing column and pump system designs. The thesis captures the insights of industry professionals through interviews and benchmarking of other existing solutions on the market. A literature study is conducted to provide the theoretical framework for the product development of a new system. In addition, an observational study of a pump installation is carried out to gain real-life experience of installation conditions. An analysis of the current situation and system design provides the necessary information to generate ideas and formulate design requirements. The ideation phase involved a brainstorming session and a SCAMPER session aimed at generating new and diverse concepts for the cable suspension system. Initial ideas included implementing multimedia instructions through QR codes, changing the position of the cables, and improving the transportation routine. Several product development methods were employed, including the use of morphological charts. Combined User Journey Maps and storyboards were created to refine the ideas into whole-package concepts. The concepts were evaluated against the project specifications through Pugh matrix analysis and by conducting final interviews to verify the results and findings. Finally, the research questions are addressed. These include an examination of the existing cable suspension systems currently in use, an analysis of the installation process and an investigation into the reasons why some clients do not adhere to recommended practices. The study concludes with recommendations for the design of Xylem's Flygt column pumps future cable suspension system. The study proposes a new concept for the cable suspension system that improves ease of maintenance and reduces the risk of cable damage during installation and transportation. The concept includes the use of multi-media instructions, simpler components and safer installation. The recommendations also include suggestions for future research and potential improvements based on findings from the research, ideation, and development phases.

To achieve progression in a product portfolio, companies employ industrial designers to aid in the development and creation of new products. Researchers have shown that industrial designers play a consolidating role at both strategic and operational management levels due to the need to incorporate requirements from several company functions, such as brand, research and development, production, economics and senior management. This article investigates how to expand the ways in which a product portfolio may be extended and updated, from an industrial design perspective. Seven product portfolio development strategies were identified. Inspired by studies of competitor's influence on an existing portfolio, a theoretical descriptive model was developed: the Industrial Design Product Portfolio Management model, which positions the suggested product portfolio development strategies in relation to existing and competing products. The findings may advance our current understanding of existing product portfolio management strategies and the connection between management and product design. Thus, it could be a useful framework for academics, teachers and professionals. 

The continuous management of a manufacturing company's product portfolio is a key aspect ofsuccessful product development. Managers determine when and which products should be updated orterminated. This process influences inhouse Industrial design teams, thus prompting a range ofdevelopment strategies they might deploy. In product portfolio management there is a tension betweenstandardisation and customisation. From a marketing perspective this is may be addressed through brandDNA, from engineering through modularization. The design perspective (merging those two) has beenill-explored, particularly from professional designers. Previously we proposed a theoretical modeldescribing different industrial design projects and how they influence industrial designers strategicthinking. It was developed through literature reviews and examples found in manufacturing industry.Through a multi-case interview study with 16 participants from five manufacturing companies withstrong brands, this article aims to empirically evaluate the proposed model. The results show that therespondents could describe all but one industrial design projects, the cause maybe that they had not beenexposed to saving a company by doing a total makeover.

This paper examines generation of novelty and creative dynamics in design teams that aim at arrivingat something truly novel. Looking at the works by Schumpeter, Campbell and March in explorationsfor solutions that go beyond what could be easily foreseeable and the works of Smith, Lindsey,Cardoso among others, in the field of design fixation, this paper explores an approach taken tointroduce elements of randomness in design exercises to prevent fixation and facilitate aimless andunguided explorations. The dynamic explained in this paper presents the utilization of a game-baseddynamic in design teams that facilitates the generation of novel ideas.

How can we use more of the materials and products that have already been produced? At the second hand shopping mall ReTuna in Eskilstuna, where circular flows are a reality, there are still many products going to waste. This master thesis project explores the possibilities of upcycle and repurpose driven design, and by that adding new value to existing products. The process of doing that is the basis of this report. 

ReTuna Återbruksgalleria is a place where people can leave products they do not want or need anymore.Everyday hundreds of products are left for reuse at ReTuna, which is connected to the overconsumptionthat results in copious amounts of second hand products. Much more than can be taken care of in today’s system. The resources put into every product needs to be valued accordingly to what they truly cost and emit. 

This master’s thesis project explores how to design within the planetary boundaries by taking care and responsibility for what already is produced.

The first phase of the project consists of observations and interviews to get an understanding of how ReTuna works. The framing of the project was decided after the research phase, which resulted in focus on one specific product, dining chairs. The next part of the project involves upcycling workshops, building of prototypes and an exhibition, all with a focus on increasing the value for second hand chairsand giving the material new areas of use. The last part of the project presents a design result, with an approach for involving more repurpose driven design and upcycling within design and product development.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a tool with great potential and is under constant development for use in new fields. The project Fabriksvisualisering (Factory Visualization), has within the digital factory field, developed a tool for companies to build their factories in Unreal Engine (UE) and VR. The tool gives companies the opportunity to test their factory layouts, before implementing in the real world, to avoid costly mistakes. The following report examines possibilities for users to simulate and visualize their factory workflows as a part of the project Fabriksvisualisering. To achieve this, different solutions for visualizing the flow of products, staff and vehicles have been explored. User tests were carried out to test how an effect from UE can be used to visualize a flow of products in VR. The result gives users the opportunity to experience the interactions with factory workflows and visualize how they flow in VR. 

The project resulted in two options that visualizes product flow and four options that visualizes workflow. Out of these six solutions, three were chosen and implemented to the project Fabriksvisualisering. These solutions are based on the construction of splines and include both alternatives for product flows and one alternative for workflows. The selection was based on functionality, user-friendliness and how realistic the outcome is. The result gives users the opportunity to experience the interactions with factory workflows and visualize how they flow in VR. 

The conclusion is that there are several ways to visualize four out of seven factory workflows. The flows that are possible to visualize are material handling of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products, as well as the transportation and movements of workforce. This can be visualized with the help of AI, a robot system within UE, the construction of splines and Niagara systems connected to splines.

Flexibility is often cited as a desirable key characteristic of modern production systems. In ultra-flexible production, machinery and layouts are in a constant state of adaptation to accommodate changing orders, varying products, or evolving conditions. Cyber-physical integration has been proposed as a potential approach to increasing system flexibility with Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) and Digital Twins (DT) as central concepts. While numerous architectures, frameworks and approaches have been proposed for CPPS and DT development, further research is motivated regarding the development of a requirement-based framework that links together the high-level system property of flexibility and lower-level system components, enabling the analysis, prescription and comparison of systems. Such a framework could enable manufacturers to continuously evaluate and improve manufacturing systems' flexibility as well as make informed design decisions. Ultimately enhancing system flexibility and responsiveness to changing production conditions. This study aims to initiate the development and formulation of such a requirements-based framework linking flexibility and lower-level system components. Additionally, it seeks to introduce the concept of a "cyber-physical continuum," which the study aims to define as a potential quantifiable indicator reflecting flexibility within production systems. This is achieved by leveraging prior CPPS research based on high-level system requirements. These requirements were expanded by branching each requirement into lower-level components creating a more granular scope and providing a finer lens for analysis and assessment. The framework was then applied to assess a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing scenario. Application of the preliminary framework in the case study indicates its potential utility in providing a useful view of the cyber-physical content of a system. Moreover, it serves as a valuable guide for pinpointing areas for improvement and development. By developing a framework that seamlessly links high-level flexibility requirements with detailed implementation requirements, systems can be comprehensively evaluated, methodically prescribed, and effectively compared. As future work, further refinement and validation of this framework will be crucial to ensuring its validity and applicability across diverse manufacturing contexts. (C) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

When working under water at great depths, or in tough environments, remotely controlled underwater vehicles, so called ROV:s, are a good tool too use. With the help of these robots it is possible to work for longer periods of time and at larger depths then with ordinary divers. Ocean Robotics is a company from Linköping, Sweden, that has over 40 years of experience with ROV:s. They produce several different models for different kind of jobs.

The purpose of this project was to develop a concept of a device that keeps the tension constant on the tether that connects the ROV with the operator. The tension needs to be constant when the tether is being rolled in on and out from the winch. The work was executed on behalf of Ocean Robotics and a prerequisite was that it should be possible to integrate the device with the winch system they have today.

The work have followed Ulrich and Eppingers method for product development and together with requirements from the contractor several concepts was generated. The concepts were validated in a decision matrix and the concepts with the highest score was modeled in the CAD-program CREO Parametrics. The concepts got further developed and was compared against each other once again. Which generated the final concept. Furthermore a couple of friction tests were executed to find appropriate materials for the construction.

The final concept will be mounted on the winch and connected to Ocean Robotics self reversing screw. To measure the tension on the tether a load cell is used and the tether is fed by a rubberized wheel that is driven by an electric motor. To adjust the force around the tether a trapezoidal thread is driven by another electric motor, which adjust the pinch wheels height. The tether goes as a tangent between the two wheels that has a profile that insures that the force goes around the tether.  

The object of this study is to establish the groundwork for a new safety standard on stirrups, more specifically, by developing a foundation for a test procedure. There are many situations when a safety stirrup is needed, both immediate safety and proactive safety. However, most important is to set standards and reassure the immediate safety.

Many consumers do not know that today, there is no requirement to commercially label safety stirrups. Since riding is a dangerous sport, safety is important to protect from risks and injury. The rising awareness of safety in society, combined with the many new models on the stirrup market, can make the customer wonder what is really safe. '

Through a survey, observations, and interviews, this study has defined the concept of safety in the context of stirrups and when it is needed. It has been established that the risk of getting stuck and dragged behind the horse can lead to severe injuries and is the most important event that immediate safety in the stirrup should prevent. Therefore, the study has focused on immediate safety, and that should be the main focus when developing the standards around safety stirrup. The secondary is proactive safety, which should not be forgotten. Proactive safety is which gives the rider better balance and prevents falling off. From these findings, a comprehensive testing procedure is proposed to evaluate these safety functions effectively. The test procedure has three categories: basic test, robot test, and simple test. This protocol aims to lay the foundation for a standardised safety assessment in the design and evaluation of stirrups, ensuring both immediate and proactive safety for riders.

Air intakes are complex components that are critical for the propulsion of the aircraft. The design has to consider requirements from several different departments, often contradictory. Additionally, the air intakes need to cooperate with other critical components. This makes testing of the models crucial, hence time-demanding. Design automation is a growing field which aims at minimizing repetitive work during product concept development. To follow the increasing digitalization, further investigations of design automation applied on air intakes are significant. 

The application Imagine and Shape in 3D Experience CATIA handles subdivided surfaces. These surfaces are both flexible and provide a high order of continuity, which is often desired. While design automation in CATIA is well investigated, design automation in Imagine and Shape is not. 

Knowledge based engineering techniques are often used to implement design automation. The methodology MOKA is frequently used when developing knowledge based engineering applications. This master thesis has followed MOKA in combination with Scrum. 

The master thesis has resulted in a method to allow automation in Imagine and Shape by linking mesh nodes on subdivided surfaces to reference points that are parameterized. Further, a method for generating air intake configurations as well as the integration with a fuselage has been developed. The method includes wireframe models in Generative Shape Design, subdivided surfaces in Imagine and Shape, scripts in EKL as well as UserForm and scripts in VBA. Additionally, the order of continuity for an integration between air intakes and fuselage has been analyzed using tools in 3D Experience CATIA. 

A conclusion drawn is that the method for generating air intakes cannot be completely automated. Instantiation and dimension of components can be automated, but manual work is required when using tools in Imagine and Shape during the integration between the components and the fuselage.Two methods for linking mesh nodes to reference points have been identified, one manual and one semi-automatic. The automatic method saves time and mouse clicks by utilizing VBA scripts. Further, the achieved order of continuity of an integration between subdivided surfaces depends on the individual components.

This Master's Thesis was performed at SkyMaker AB in Linköping during the spring of 2024. SkyMaker is a company specializing in CAD automation, and this project explores the integration of Procedural Content Generation (PCG) principles into Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to evaluate their potential benefits for CAD users. The focus of the study is on transitioning from Engineer-to-Order (ETO) to Configure-to-Order (CTO) products.

The project has been conducted following a structured research and development process. This included a comprehensive literature review, comparisons of game modelling software, and practical development on the DynaMaker platform. The central aim was to assess the applicability of various PCG techniques in CAD.

Concepts were developed and evaluated to determine the feasibility and benefits of integrating PCG principles into CAD software, specifically for designing a colony on Mars. The results highlight the potential of combining CAD with PCG, though at a somewhat simplified and foundational level.

Through an iterative process, the project demonstrated the feasibility of PCG in CAD design and its potential benefits. Supported by these findings, the influence of PCG on the shift from ETO to CTO was also presented. The findings and methodologies have been thoroughly documented to support further development in this innovative area. 

Public sector organizations have been increasingly turning to design in their pursuit to innovate and address pressing challenges that seem intractable through their existing ways of working. Design’s presence in the public sector is still a relatively recent phenomenon ridden with many challenges. Through a study of three municipalities in Sweden, we present tensions designers face as they work their way to build design capacity. We argue that making a place for design in organizational systems and their ways of working requires skillfully navigating these tensions. We describe each tension in terms of their contradictions embedded in dualities and discuss designers’ ways of managing them. Practical applications for design and public administration are also discussed.

Aircraft structural layout concept design at Saab Aeronautics utilize thickness optimizationto evaluate astructural layout concept. The thickness values can be used to compare conceptsto each other,and the bestonecan be further developed. Today, most ofthe creation and evaluation of structural layout concepts is manual work. Therefore, there is an ongoing investigation on how to implement design automation to reduce this manual and repetitive work.

The investigationaims to achieve rapid exploration of the design space to find a good base for a new aircraft development. This includes investigating how the synchronization between a structural layout model (SLM) and a global finite element model (GFEM) can be improved.

This thesis contributes to the investigation by exploring the possibilities to implement design automation in the creation of the SLM regarding the fuselage structure. Further, exploring the implementation of design automation in the creation of the GFEM to enable automatic evaluation of concepts. The thesis also explores how the synchronization between the models can be improved.

To structure the thesis work, the software development methodologies of MOKA and RAD weremodified and combined. The execution of the thesis was carried out in the software of 3DEXPERIENCE, particularly using the applications CATIAand SIMULIA.

This thesis work resulted in a methodfor developing and evaluating aircraft structure concept designs with design automation. The new method includes two models with corresponding scripts. The first model developed is a tool for a conceptualdesignerthat enables the creation of aircraft fuselage SLM from user defined inputs. The second model is generated by script which results in a GFEM with a direct connection to the SLM.

To conclude, the developed method enables a faster iteration work of fuselage structural concept designs compared to the current method. The detail level is lower but more consistent and uniform. The GFEM was not able to fulfil its purpose in the developed method due to time limits and software limitations. However, the synchronization between the SLM and GFEM was implemented successfully and contained all critical elements.

This master thesis report describes the development process of a modernized handguard for the AK4B battle rifle, which is the main armament for the Swedish Home Guard. The project was carried out in cooperation with ALTEN Sweden AB. The goal of the project was to develop a new, competitive handguard design and to establish a complete design documentation as a foundation for production. This documentation consisted of a final material selection, process plan with suitable manufacturing methods and engineering drawings. The project was initiated with a problem definition to establish a thorough understanding of the product to be improved and enabling a determination of aspects that might be of importance to the product development. From this, research areas could be selected and studied to acquire necessary insights to complete the project goals. The product development process implemented is mainly inspired by Ulrich & Eppinger, and includes the stages concept development, detail design and testing & refinement. Thus, well-established methodology was implemented, ensuring credibility and a qualitative result. Throughout the stages ofthe product development process, a product specification was established, before generating concepts and selecting a final candidate which were refined based on the selection of materials and elaborated process plan. Finally, a verification of the requirements was concluded using several methods to prove the performance of the product. The results presents a developed product fulfilling established requirements and includes required documentation for production. Overall, the product is considered to have great potential for customer satisfaction, and to perform well in a final testing according to military standards.  

Military aircraft face several contemporary challenges. From a thermal management perspective, they include the more extensive use of electrically driven technologies and more power-hungry tactical systems. These systems demand more cooling power from the aircraft thermal management system. Thermal management systems of modern aircraft face another challenge with shrinking heat sink capability. This is because of platform design aspects. Increasing use of composite materials for airframe skin over traditional metals impedes the dissipation of waste heat through skin. Infrared and radar cross-section signatures are minimised to improve aircraft stealth by minimising the cross-sectional areas of ram air intakes. This reduces the amount of waste heat that can be dumped over-board through ram air. And there are only two options for heat sinks, air (ram or engine fan) and fuel. All these contemporary challenges create a strong need to carry out thermal management design effectively at the aircraft concept stage.

A framework is presented in this thesis that demonstrates how effective thermal management design at the concept stage can be conducted at an aircraft developer like Saab. The framework was created with data collection through workshops, document studies, interviews, and group discussions conducted at Saab. Therefore, the framework is based on industrial reality. It can be tested for application at the aircraft concept stage of Saab projects. Further, the methods created in this thesis can be used in a broader context that transcend their primary application in thermal management design. They can also complement other methods presented in literature on aircraft thermal management. Thus, this thesis makes industrial and scientific contributions to aircraft thermal management design.

Developing high-performing products at a low cost while keeping development time down is increasingly important in today’s competitive market. The current state presents a need for efficient product development processes. One of the challenges is knowledge often being limited in early stages where the cost of making changes is still relatively low. As the process progresses more knowledge is gained to better support decisions; however the cost of making changes increases, limiting the design freedom. To increase knowledge while retaining design freedom, several computer-based tools are available to both generate and evaluate designs in order to make iterations faster and more accurate.

Design Optimization (DO) can be utilized to explore the design space and find optimal designs. A Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model is often required as input to analysis tools evaluating the designs. By utilizing Design Automation (DA) several tasks involved in creation and modification of CAD models can be automated. For this reason, DA is sometimes considered an enabler for DO although its use is far wider, covering several aspects of the design process mainly focusing on automating repetitive and routine tasks.

Machine Learning and other data-driven methods are becoming increasingly viable in the context of DO and DA. This thesis explores the use of data-driven methods to enhance the usability of DO in different ways such as a faster process, new use-cases, or a more integrated and automated process.  

Literature in the area is reviewed, identifying applications, trends and challenges. Furthermore, two support tools are developed, incorporating data-driven methods tied to an industrial case. The applications focus on parameterizing geometry and predicting design performance respectively. Potential benefits, limitations, and challenges are discussed based on the literature review and insights from the two support tools. The focus of the thesis is mainly on how data-driven methods can facilitate automation and integration in the design process, specifically for complex products requiring significant engineering efforts.  

Cable and hose routing is a complex and time-consuming process that often involves several conflicting objectives. Complexity increases further when routes of multiple components are to be considered through the same space. Extensive work has been done in the area of automatic routing where few proposals optimize multiple hoses together. This paper proposes a framework for the routing of multiple pre-formed hoses in an assembly using a unique permutation process where several alternatives for each hose are generated. A combinatorial optimization process is then used to find Pareto-optimal solutions for the multi-route assembly. This is coupled with a scoring model that predicts the overall fitness of a solution based on designs previously scored by the engineer as well as an evaluation system where the engineer can score new designs found through the use of the framework to update the scoring model. The framework is evaluated using a testcase from a car manufacturer showing a severalfold time reduction compared to a strictly manual process. Considering the time savings, the proposed framework has the potential to greatly reduce the overall routing processes of hoses and cables.

In order to enable easy modification of results from a design optimization process in a CAD tool, a flexible representation of the geometry is needed. This is not always trivial however, since many file formats are not importable as modifiable geometry into the CAD tool, and if they are, they might not represent the geometry in a way that enables easy modification. To mitigate this problem a design automation (DA) and a machine learning (ML) approach are developed and compared using a test case from an optimization process used to optimize hose routing in tight spaces. In the test case used, the geometry from the optimization process consists of center curves represented as a large number of points. To enable easy modification a more flexible representation is needed such as a spline with a few well-placed control points. Both the DA and ML approach can approximate center curves from the optimization process as splines containing a varying number of control points but do show different properties. The DA approach is considerably slower than the ML but adds a lot of flexibility regarding accuracy and the number of control points used.

Material Driven Design, or MDD, is a new way of realizing products starting in the understanding ofthe material rather than the need-driven approach that can be used to describe classic productdevelopment methodology. While new, MDD has potential to encourage more sustainable productsbeing developed and is a useful tool for new designers and engineers to learn. In this paper, the authorpresents some lessons learned from teaching MDD to students in design and product development at aSwedish university. These students have experience from design and product development projects buthave not done material-driven projects before. In general, the author concludes that the students areremarkably well-prepared in terms of tools and knowledge to do MDD, but that course coordination canmake the projects less efficient if this is not solved early on. In master thesis projects or courses withfew in-process deliverables, the implementation seems easier and can give students another path to solveproblems in industry.

On the path towards a circular economy, new ways of making and producing must be implemented on an industrial level. While there are methods for remanufacturing, the topic of repurposing on an industrial scale is still not fully explored and systematized. Repurposing, in this paper defined as the process of re-using products or components but with other functions, or modifying products or components for use in other products, will have a distinct effect on the production system and will challenge the current idea of production system development. In this paper, the authors use four different cases (three implemented in industry, one current design project in an academic-industrial partnership) to reflect on how the production system will be affected by certain aspects of repurposing. In total, five topics of production system development (Material classification, Product definition, Logistics & material handling, Manufacturing processes & planning and Processing window) are highlighted in the analysis, and some concluding remarks about flexibility needs and integrated development processes are presented. This paper does not provide clear answers or methods on how to implement repurposing but highlights multiple areas where further research is needed in order to make repurposing easily accessible and possible to implement for small and medium-sized manufacturers in their regular, daily work.

Within the Master’s program in mechanical engineering at Linköping University, this thesis project unfolds in collaboration with Metso Sweden, specifically at their Sala factory. Focused on addressing challenges in packaging processes for Metso’s VASA-line slurry pumps, the project endeavors to devise a concept that not only meets global shipping requirements but also enhances factory output.

The research unfolds with an exploration of the background, emphasizing the complexities of manufacturing large-scale pumps for heavy-duty industries. Operating in 45 countries with a workforce of approximately 16,000 employees, Metso’s site in Sala specializes in pump production, particularly for the mining industry. The unique nature of slurry pumps, designed to handle liquid solutions containing solid particles, necessitates a tailored approach to packaging.

The identified problem lies in the high variation of pump configurations, demanding flexibility in production and packaging. Currently, custom-made packages are crafted by experienced operators, who are lacking feedback on their performance. The packaging process involves standard pallets or custom-made packages, with the latter lacking standardization and documentation, introducing uncertainties in transport.

This study aims to improve overall efficiency at Metso by addressing bottlenecks and knowledge gaps in packaging, focusing on the VASA-line slurry pumps. The goal is to present a concept that aligns with global shipping requirements and has the potential to significantly increase factory output. The findings, supported by production analysis and a detailed implementation plan, estimating a 3.38-fold increase in current production capacity.

The thesis utilizes production analysis methods in supporting product development and optimizing packaging processes. It further highlights the influence of global shipping requirements on production dynamics, necessitating additional steps in package assembly. With a focus on time rather than costs, this thesis positions itself as a practical guide for enhancing production efficiency within a constrained time frame.

In summary, this thesis unfolds as an exploration of packaging challenges, offering tangible insights for product development in a production setting and package development, especially in the context of global shipping.

The remanufacturing industry currently relies significantly on manualwork when, for example, sorting and disassembling. Due to several issues, includingprocess time and sequence, operations number, disassembly planning andscheduling, process cost, and performance measurement, it is challenging to staycompetitive. Based on this, it is assumed that more extensive use of robots andautomation in these industries can facilitate higher efficiency and better workconditions. This research paper aims to explore how remanufacturing of carcomponents can be made automatic. The paper describes a case where a specific carcomponent was selected and a specific step in its remanufacturing process exploredfrom the perspective of automating that task. When conducting remanufacturing ofthe selected car component, some machines are used for the testing, cleaning, andgrinding of materials. However, all assembly work is done manually. Incollaboration with the case company, the process step of applying sealant for theassembling of a lid that covers electronic components was selected. Thedemonstrator shows that it is possible to apply sealant with a human-robot layoutwith a good result. One of the advantages of using a robot for this step is that a highquality result was achieved. 

In an era where food packaging plays a dual role in both reducing food waste and contributing to global packaging waste, this study presents an analysis of packaging-free systems. As governments and organizations attempt to address the environmental impact of single-use packaging, packaging-free alternatives have emerged as a promising solution. However, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of environmental sustainability and its alignment with consumer behaviours and preferences in this growing type of grocery system. Considering this need, this study employs an integrative literature review process, selecting 51 research articles. This selection was classified into three principal areas: the characteristics of packaging-free services, the dynamics of consumer behaviour and patterns from a household perspective. This review evaluates the effectiveness of packaging-free systems, exploring the factors that drive consumer adoption, the obstacles to transitioning and the relevance of theoretical frameworks like the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and practice theory (PT) in understanding and assessing the sustainability of these alternatives. The result of this study is the identification of significant research gaps and opportunities, leading to a comprehensive research agenda. This agenda emphasizes the need for a more refined understanding of consumer classifications that extend beyond standard demographic metrics, delving into aspects like household structures, dietary preferences and regional variations. The study highlights the limited scope of existing literature by advocating for a holistic grocery analysis that blends packaging-free and conventional shopping practices to understand more realistic grocery scenarios, as not all products are available in packaging-free alternatives. It also underscores the importance of integrating environmental assessments with consumer behaviour studies to see the sustainability of the systems beyond reusable containers. Additionally, this research sheds light on the relatively unexplored area of online packaging-free services, questioning the sustainable implication of incorporating online alternatives in grocery practices, and suggests a broader application of theoretical frameworks, including activity theory (AT) as a new perspective to achieve a new understanding of these systems. Lastly, contributing to the overall understanding of packaging-free systems, the study concludes with a SWOT analysis that briefly identifies strengths in environmental sustainability and consumer awareness, balanced against weaknesses like data gaps and complex consumer decision-making processes.

Drying is a complicated phenomenon involving a combination of transport, deformation, and chemical kinetics. It is an energy intensive lengthy process and results in deterioration of food quality. The glass transition temperature (GTT) significantly affects the internal mass transfer mechanism and hence significantly affects the drying kinetics. Moreover, the rheological and transport characteristics of food materials are remarkably impacted by GTT, which has an influence on the energy consumption and quality of food products during drying. Similarly, molecular weight and drying conditions also affect the GTT. This comprehensive review uncovers the fundamental understanding of GTT and demonstrates its crucial relationship with physio-structural and transport properties of food items. It has been demonstrated that a clear understanding of the glass transition temperature may help in determining appropriate drying conditions while ensuring great food quality.

Assembly is crucial in the automotive industry, and regulations aimed to increase circularity impact the production systems. From this perspective different strategies are emerging related to sustainability and to the End-of-life Vehicles directive, perspectives often captured by “R-words” like Reuse, Recycle, Rethink etc. This paper is based on a literature search inspired by different R-words related to circularity and assembly in the automotive industry in combination with industrial workshops on the same theme. The results explore what challenges to manage during the ongoing green transition in the context of assembly in automotive. Recover, Repair, Reuse and Recycle are the most common terms found in the literature. Furthermore, Remanufacturing stands out as of particular interest to the automotive industry. However, based on the industrial workshops, Rethink as a collective word is an important perspective as well. The conclusions indicate that digitalization can be an enabler but also that there is a need for developing a common understanding about definitions and utilization of engineering tools supporting circularity.

Under våren 2023 utfördes detta examensarbete på Väderstad AB, ett företag som tillverkar högpresterande jordbruksmaskiner, däribland såmaskiner, precisionssåmaskiner och jordbearbetningsmaskiner. En av dessa är tallrikskultivatorn Carrier XL, vilken kan utrustas med den monterbara såmaskinen BioDrill 360 för att kunna så frön samtidigt som jorden bearbetas. På senare tid har det uppstått ett behov att även kunna montera en större sålåda, BioDrill 500, på Carrier XL. Målet med detta arbete blev därför att ta fram ett konstruktionsförslag på hur BioDrill 500 kan implementeras på Carrier XL 425-725, med hänsyn till Väderstads produktion, fungerande frötransport, utrymmeskrav samt krav på hållfasthet.

Arbetet har bestått av teoriundersökning, konceptgenerering och utveckling i flera iterationer samt CAD-modellering i Creo. Dimensionerande beräkningar har utförts i form av FEM-analyser och andra hållfasthetsberäkningar på maskinens drag och hjulaxel. Dessutom har en undersökning av produktarkitektur utförts för att se till vilken grad modularitet och funktionsdelning kan implementeras på infästningen för att göra den fördelaktig ur ett tekniskt och ekonomisk perspektiv. 

Arbetets resultat består av en ställning som monteras på hjulstället till Carrier XL som gör att toppen av sålådan konstant hålls parallell med marken tack vare ett parallellänkage. En plattform utvecklas och placeras vid sidan av BioDrill 500 för att tillgodose tillgänglighet för användaren och två fördelarhuvuden monteras i parallellänkaget framför BioDrill 500 för att möjliggöra en fungerande frötransport. Produktariktekturen anpassas genom att implementera en kombination av modulära och integrerade lösningar samt funktionsdelning. För att passa i produktionen på Väderstad används mestadels plåtar och rör av stål som främst bearbetas genom laserskärning och bockning samt mindre inslag av svets. Dessutom anpassas infästningen med hjälp av Design for Manufacturing och Design for Assembly för att underlätta tillverkning och montering. 

Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon based material with unique properties, such as electrical and thermal conductivity. When a textile is coated with graphene, it becomes conductive, while remaining low weight, soft, breathable, flexible, and stretchable. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what products are suitable to be made with graphene textiles, by using the method Material Driven Design (MDD). Reflections are also made to determine how this method is affected by being applied to a two-dimensional material. To help with this, three kinds of graphene textiles from the company Grafren AB are investigated; conductive textiles, heatable textiles, and textile sensors. The product goal is to develop a portfolio containing 5-8 conceptual products based on these graphene textiles.

The process includes conducting an investigation of the technical properties of the material, a user study, and a benchmarking study. This is done to understand the limitations and opportunities of the material, how it is perceived, and what similar materials there are on the market. After that, the material's characteristics are reflected upon to establish a vision for how it should be used in future applications. Then, to follow that vision, a user study is conducted to investigate how people perceive different materials and products, in order to create design guidelines to ensure that the material and product are perceived as intended. Next, concepts are developed according to the previously determined guidelines. To achieve this, idea generating workshops are conducted, where 14 concepts are selected for further development. The portfolio is then created, meant to inspire further usage of the material. It contains the following seven concepts.

1. A heatable textile meant for cooking on camping trips.
2. A fabric containing sensors that can notify when it is damaged.
3. A keyboard made of fabric, for an easy and comfortable use and transportation.
4. A stroller with sensors and heaters, for a more comfortable and safe user experience.
5. A conductive jacket that can electrocute mosquitoes that come in contact with it.
6. Pressure sensors in a carpet that can keep track of the people inside and provide assistance in emergencies.
7. Gloves with sensors in them that can translate sign language live to text or speech.

Since MDD heavily focuses on the sensorial qualities and physical characteristics of the material, the method needs to be adapted to become useful when working with such a versatile two-dimensional material. Fortunately, most adaptations can be made fairly easily. The timing of each step should also be considered, to ensure that the vision and guidelines can be made specific enough to be useful.

Scania is known as a front-runner in the development of power trains for heavy vehicles, marine, and general industrial applications. As the regulations on emissions for combustion engine vehicles are getting tougher with increasing awareness on sustainable solutions and reducing environmental impact, the goal at Scania is to develop combustion engines to achieve low-pollutant emissions whilst achieving higher efficiency. Consequently, the exhaust after-treatment systems must continuously evolve to meet changing legislative requirements and customer demands.  To achieve this goal in this competitive market, Scania must adapt to these changes within a short period of time.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and improve the existing development process for the exhaust after-treatment system particularly for Large silencer platform by introducing design automation intended for computational fluid dynamics simulations. The objective was to introduce a method to reduce development time and allow designers to generate CFD models as effectively as possible.

Two new methods were developed and proposed to create geometries intended for CFD simulation. The first method focuses on the extraction and splitting of internal volume/fluid region and these models will be utilized in the simulation solvers to perform CFD simulation. The second method was to standardize the naming of extracted surfaces specific to CFD simulation since every surface is treated differently in the simulation solvers. A simple user-friendly graphical user interface was created for easy operation and faster adaptability.

Finally, the developed methods were evaluated and it was shown that it has the potential to save a significant amount of time during the pre-processing of the development phase and thus allow the engineers to focus on other value-adding and important task.

Harvesting heads are an essential part of today’s forestry industry, enabling a high rate of tree felling from a single operator. Requirements for the forestry machine they are attached to are strongly linked to the weight of the harvesting head, providing an incentive to make the heads as light as possible. This can be done in various ways, of which one is switching the material to one that is lighter.This thesis examined the feasibility of producing the frame of a harvesting head in carbon fiber reinforced polymer. This was done through a redesign approach in several phases. The design and requirements of the existing harvesting head were detailed, the strengths and weaknesses of the material were studied, and topology optimization was utilized as a tool for better understanding the load paths and possible material placement. Concepts aimed at enabling production and use of the new frame while keeping features necessary for component attachment and function was then generated.The results showed a frame made largely from carbon fiber reinforced polymer, but with elements of steel, and with a total weight reduction of 45% compared to the original design. The conclusions of the thesis, within the established delimitations, is that a frame from this material is possible but complex to produce.

The field of design automation aims to automate repetitive tasks in a workflow in order to free up time for more productive work. In this thesis, design automation with the help of AI techniques is investigated to streamline the pre-production work of expanded metal facades. 

Two different problems concerning pre-production work are investigated in this thesis. The first one focuses on how to translate architectural drawings in pdf format to a bill of material. The second problem aims to develop a non-linear method for calculating the free area of the expanded metal facades.

The method used for this project is an adaptation of the product development process with the inspiration of knowledge-based engineering. 

For the first project, the AI method template matching was successfully used. With a script using this method, most of the panels are identified, except for panels where the drawings do not provide clear lines or where lines around the panels do not exist. The line quality in the architectural drawings was shown to impact the size estimation of the panels.

In the second project, a non-linear machine learning model was developed. However, it was not managed within this project to get a good enough accuracy. The main reason for this is that it is suspected that the data is not accurate enough, nor are the 78 data points enough to train the model.

In recent years, generative AI has made significant strides, likely leaving an irreversible mark on contemporary society. The launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT 3.5 in 2022 manifested the greatness of the innovative technology, highlighting its performance and accessibility. This has led to a demand for implementation solutions across various industries and companies eager to leverage these new opportunities generative AI brings. This thesis explores the common operational challenges faced by a small-scale Tech Enterprise and, with these challenges identified, examines the opportunities that contemporary generative AI solutions may offer. Furthermore, the thesis investigates what type of generative technology is suitable for adoption and how it can be implemented responsibly and sustainably. The authors approach this topic through 14 interviews involving several AI researchers and the employees and executives of a small-scale Tech Enterprise, which served as a case company, combined with a literature review. 

The information was processed using multiple inductive thematic analyses to establish a solid foundation for the investigation, which led to the development of a Proof of Concept. The findings and conclusions of the authors emphasize the high relevance of having a clear purpose for the implementation of generative technology. Moreover, the authors predict that a sustainable and responsible implementation can create the conditions necessary for the specified small-scale company to grow. 

When the authors investigated potential operational challenges at the case company it was made clear that the most significant issue arose from unstructured and partially absent documentation. The conclusion reached by the authors is that a data management system powered by a Retrieval model in a LLM presents a potential path forward for significant value creation, as this solution enables data retrieval functionality from unstructured project data and also mitigates a major inherent issue with the technology, namely, hallucinations. Furthermore, in terms of implementation circumstances, both empirical and theoretical findings suggest that responsible use of generative technology requires training; hence, the authors have developed an educational framework named "KLART". 

Moving forward, the authors describe that sustainable implementation necessitates transparent systems, as this increases understanding, which in turn affects trust and secure use. The findings also indicate that sustainability is strongly linked to the user-friendliness of the AI service, leading the authors to emphasize the importance of HCD while developing and maintaining AI services. Finally, the authors argue for the value of automation, as it allows for continuous data and system updates that potentially can reduce maintenance. 

In summary, this thesis aims to contribute to an understanding of how small-scale Tech Enterprises can implement generative AI technology sustainably to enhance their competitive edge through innovation and data-driven decision-making. 

The thesis detailed in this report was carried out on behalf of the company Xperdi AB, designautomation experts whose goal for the project was to demonstrate the effectiveness of designautomation. The project proposal includes development and use of an automation framework for automatic generation of unique hydraulic cylinder models based on specific design requirements. To execute the work, various tools and methods were combined. The model's subcomponents were constructed in the CAD program SolidWorks and supplemented with the necessary data to prepare the CAD files for configuration. XCC (Xperdi CAD Configurator) is a configuration tool that manages data from CAD and offers external control and configuration of the CAD model. To automate the configuration enabled by XCC, an interface for design choices and various executive operations was created in the Visual Studio program, with accompanying code written in the object-oriented language Visual Basic. The code in Visual Studio communicates with XCC and contains configurative instructions for the model based on selected inputs, as well as directly with SolidWorks to perform specific SolidWorks functions. The project has resulted in an adaptive hydraulic cylinder model whose specifications are controlled from the interface, with functionality for automatic generation of hole patterns and drawings for all unique configurations in the design space. The time savings of design automation have also been examined. The results indicate that the work of establishing an automation framework has significant benefits, both in terms of the speed of design changes measured and the added value that comes from reducing repetitive work. However, it should be noted that the benefits of design automation should be weighed against the resource investments required.

Intermittent microwave-convective drying (IMCD) is an advanced drying technology that overcomes the shortcomings of microwave, convective, and microwave-convective drying. Research on the feasibility study of solar-assisted IMCD along with investigating its microstructure change, nutritional analysis, and appearance of dried food materials is inadequate. This research aims to investigate the effects of microwave intermittency-on quality attributes and structural changes of potato slices. In addition, optimization of pulse ratio has been performed in this study. Drying experiments, namely convective drying (CD) and IMCD, were conducted to assess the quality of dried potato slices. It was found that IMCD took only 12 min to complete the drying process, whereas CD took approximately 300 min. The optical (colour) and nutritional (vitamin C) properties of the IMCD dried potato slices appeared better than those of hot air-dried samples. The overall techno-economic analysis indicates that the proposed solar-assisted IMCD can dry an equal amount of potato while consuming one-tenth of the required energy of CD. Therefore, successful industrial application of the proposed drying system might be a stepping stone in the way to the advancement of energy-efficient food drying systems.

The AK4 rifle serves as the primary weapon for the Home Guard, an integral part of the Swedish Armed Forces. Introduced in 1964, the AK4 is the Swedish version of the Heckler & Koch G3 and functions as a fully automatic assault rifle. Among its components, the handguard holds significant importance, providing stability, improving accuracy and control, and protecting the user from heat generated by the barrel. Recognizing the need for optimization, an employee from the ALTEN Group, possessing military experience and expertise in the AK4, launched a project to enhance the ergonomics and versatility of the handguard in a cost-effective manner. This initiative stems from the excessively high cost of commercially available handguards, making them financially unviable for replacing the original handguard of every AK4 used by the Home Guard personnel.

This project aims to design and develop a next-generation handguard for the AK4 rifle that addresses the current limitations of the existing handguard. The primary focus is improving the shooter’s performance by establishing a comfortable shape of the handguard, reducing the weight, and enhancing its compatibility with accessories. Additionally, the aim is to ensure the handguard is cost-effective for mass production and meets the requirements set by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration. To achieve the aims, interviews and a comprehensive user testing study was conducted, collecting quantitative data in the form of participant ratings and rankings for different design concept while also gathering qualitative data through participant feedback that highlighted specific design features contributing to comfort. Additionally, a systematic material selection process was performed, involving the analysis and ranking of various materials based on properties such as weight, price, and specific mechanical properties. Furthermore, the manufacturing analysis relied mainly on conversations with industry experts possessing expertise in the field of plastic manufacturing.

Upon conducting a detailed analysis, it has been determined that the ideal configuration for the final product is an octagonal shape. After careful evaluation, Polyamide 6 reinforced with 30% glass fibers has emerged as the most suitable material choice for the handguard. This material had the optimal balance between mechanical properties, thermal performance, durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact. To produce 50,000 handguard units, the recommended manufacturing method was injection molding due to its compatibility with mass production and the advice received from industry experts. Considering the design and selected material, a substantial number of the requirements outlined by FMV could be fulfilled by conducting both theoretical analyses and practical experiments.

In today’s fast-paced industrial landscape, the drive for greater efficiency and flexibility in product development has sparked significant interest in innovative automation technologies. This thesis explores the usefulness of various automation techniques for customized products such as Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE), Multidisciplinary Optimization (MDO) and machine learning frameworks.

The research begins by establishing an automated framework for fixture design, combining design automation and MDO to streamline the design process. It then moves to optimizing gas turbines, introducing an automation framework that merges CAD templates with KBE principles.

For complex and unstructured production, this thesis explores the use of Reinforcement Learning (RL) to tackle challenges in unstructured manufacturing. By utilizing lightweight physics-based engines and RL, the research advances automated assembly validation and mobile robot operations, pushing the boundaries of adaptive production automation. Furthermore, a framework is developed, which integrates smoothly with industrial robotic platforms showcases practical automation solutions and highlights the adaptability and applicability of digital twin technology in real-world situations.

This thesis contributes to the field of product development by providing innovative solutions that are rooted in multidisciplinary research. It bridges the theoretical and practical aspects of automation with solutions that overcomes the obstacles to realize seamless integration between digital and physical realities in a manufacturing context.

This paper presents a framework to develop the automated design of fixtures using the combination ofdesign automation (DA), multidisciplinary optimization and robotic simulation. MDO necessitates the useof concurrent and parametric designs which are created by DA and knowledge-based engineering tools. Thisapproach is designed to decrease the time and cost of the fixture design process by increasing the degree ofautomation. AutoFix provides methods and tools for automatically optimizing resource-intensive fixturedesign utilizing digital tools from different disciplines.

In the quest to enhance the efficiency of gas turbines, there is a growing demand for innovative solutions to optimize high-pressure turbine blade cooling. However, the traditional methods for achieving this optimization are known for their complexity and time-consuming nature. We present an automation framework to streamline the design, meshing, and structural analysis of cooling channels, achieving design automation at both the morphological and topological levels. This framework offers a comprehensive approach for evaluating turbine blade lifetime and enabling multidisciplinary design analyses, emphasizing flexibility in turbine cooling design through high-level CAD templates and knowledge-based engineering. The streamlined automation process, supported by a knowledge base, ensures continuity in both the mesh and structural simulation automations, contributing significantly to advancements in gas turbine technology.

Implementation of Machine Learning (ML) to improve product and production development processes poses a significant opportunity for manufacturing industries. ML has the capability to calibrate models with considerable adaptability and high accuracy. This capability is specifically promising for applications where classical production automation is too expensive, e.g., for mass customization cases where the production environment is uncertain and unstructured. To cope with the diversity in production systems and working environments, Reinforcement Learning (RL) in combination with lightweight game engines can be used from initial stages of a product and production development process. However, there are multiple challenges such as collecting observations in a virtual environment which can interact similar to a physical environment. This project focuses on setting up RL methodologies to perform path-finding and collision detection in varying environments. One case study is human assembly evaluation method in the automobile industry which is currently manual intensive to investigate digitally. For this case, a mannequin is trained to perform pick and place operations in varying environments and thus automating assembly validation process in early design phases. The next application is path-finding of mobile robots including an articulated arm to perform pick and place operations. This application is expensive to setup with classical methods and thus RL enables an automated approach for this task as well.

This thesis covers the process of automating the design of coolant nozzles used for cylindrical grinding. Coolant nozzles are used to supply coolant, an oil and water mixture used to cool the metal workpiece and lubricate the grinding wheel. In the automotive industry, grinding is used to reduce the surface roughness of the workpiece. However, a large amount of heat is generated, risking the heat treatment of the steel to be compromised, for this, coolant is supplied to minimize the heat caused by friction. A nozzle is used, aiming a jet to the zone that generates heat. Commonly used nozzles are adjustable, leading to variation in cooling performance if misaligned. The design of fixed nozzles is developed in this thesis to reduce variation and automatise the design for multiple applications. The automatically designed nozzles are fused deposition modeled and tested. The design automation tool is tested repeatedly and improved successively in the span of the thesis. This lead to a great extent of implementation of design automation. Which lead to a facilitation in reaching of the work zone and avoid obstacles. Also, the tool managed to create nozzle tubes for a multitude of machines. The tool is able to generate, aim, orient, and individually dimension multi-nozzle tubes. Design of Experiment methodology is implemented to find nozzle designs with improved velocity and flow rate and minimize the air mixture with the coolant. Several nozzle designs are tested and fitted into a surrogate model that is, in turn, optimized. The results of the tests led to a greater understanding of how the nozzle geometry restricts the flow rate when attempts of reaching higher velocities of the coolant jet are made. The surrogate models created, also made it possible to find the range of designs which best suits different applications, whereby a Pareto front was able to be populated with a range of different designs alternating in flow rate, velocity and coherency ratio.

Introduction: As the increase in electrification poses new demands on power delivery, the quality of the distribution system is paramount. Substations are a critical part of power grids that allow for control and service of the electrical distribution system. Substations are currently developed in a project-based and manually intensive manner, with a high degree of manual work and lengthy lead times. Substations are primarily sold through tenders that are accompanied by an inherent need for engineering-to-order activities. Although necessary, these activities present a paradox as tender processes must be agile and fast. To remedy this shortcoming, this article outlines a knowledge capture and reuse methodology to standardize and automate the product development processes of substation design.Methods: A novel framework for substation design is presented that implements knowledge-based engineering (KBE) and artificial intelligence methods in computer vision to capture knowledge. In addition, a product configuration system is presented, utilizing high-level CAD templates. The development has followed the KBE methodology MOKA.Results: The proposed framework has been implemented on several company cases where three (simplified) are presented in this paper. The framework decreased the time to create a 3D model from a basic electric single line diagram by performing the identification and design tasks in an automated fashion.Discussion: Ultimately, the framework will allow substation design companies to increase competitiveness through automation and knowledge management and enable more tenders to be answered without losing engineering quality.

The aerospace industry has a long tradition of using Model Based Systems Engineering in its development processes. Throughout the years an extensive library of system simulation models has been created, expanding with every new model being developed. Nevertheless, modelling and simulation engineers prefer developing their own models from scratch, as the reuse of legacy models seems cumbersome, leading to the simultaneous existence of multiple simulation models of the same system in a project. Not only does the development, verification and validation and maintenance of these multiple simulation models incur extra costs, but they also represent a potential threat to the aircraft development, as data consistency is more difficult to be ensured. 

The aim of this thesis is to investigate simulation model reuse during the aircraft development process, with the goal of creating an easy-to-reconfigure simulation framework, allowing for the inclusion of simulation models of various levels of fidelity. Through an industry-as-laboratory approach, the inclusion of industry-grade legacy system simulation models is investigated, with the help of simulation model integration standards such as Functional Mock-up Interface and System Structure and Parametrisation. 

The results of the work include the development of a proof-of-concept simulation framework that enables the aggregation, integration and reuse of simulation models from different technological domains and with different levels of fidelity. Moreover, the work proposes a workflow that streamlines the decision milestones when faced with the possibility of selecting between creating a new system simulation model or reusing a legacy one, and highlights the challenges associated with model reuse from both a technical and an organisational perspective. 

This paper presents and analyses the research front on development methodologies that can be applied to flight simulations for development purposes. This field includes any flight simulator used during the development phase of an aircraft, when flight test or other validation data is still scarce. A review of the literature published between 1999-2019 is performed. As flight-specific literature on the topic is limited, a broader view on flight simulators is adopted. Simulators are regarded as risk-averse scientific software; that is, software created to understand a phenomenon and whose primary goal is to be correct. This perspective highlights the lack of suitable established software development methodologies (SwDev) for this software type. Two solutions to this problem have been identified: one treating scientific SwDev as a knowledge acquisition process, and another one treating it as development of enabling systems, following the established product development processes. These solutions need to be completed with methodologies to deal with the multidisciplinarity of the flight simulation problem, such as model exchange standards or workflows for multidisciplinary collaboration.

This study presents a solution for connecting system simulation and aircraft concept development using solely open standards. An easy-to-use optimisation framework for aircraft concept development is created with the help of the Modelica, Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI), and System Structure and Parameterization (SSP) standards, and the open source tools OpenModelica and OMSimulator. The framework allows for conceptual aircraft design accounting for transient phenomena by means of standardised integration of dynamic simulation models of aircraft subsystems. The framework is applied to an industry-relevant use case concerning the concept development of a generic fighter aircraft. The generality and modularity of the framework and its straightforward implementation enables tailoring of the optimisation goals to the user needs and requirements. The adoption of industry-wide standards allows for the inclusion of system simulation models developed in the modelling tool best suited for each discipline, thus integrating dynamic system simulation already at the aircraft conceptual design stage.

Increased industrial interest in mass customisation causes designers and manufacturers to seek cost-effective methods to continuously rationalise product development and production processes in order to accommodate for customisation on a large scale. Particularly in the case of complex products this requires significant engineering efforts. 

Mass customisation in an engineer-to-order context includes customers in early stages of product development, providing designers and manufacturers with certainty in decision making. A large portion of design tasks associated with design and production preparation stages during the product development process are routine-like and repetitive, amounting to vast time costs and errors. By utilising knowledge-based design automation techniques, these tasks can be supported to allow for iterative design processes as well as improved integration and communication between development phases. This  work explores how the use of design automation in the form of product configuration systems can facilitate integration throughout the product development process of engineer-to-order products and allow the industry to rise to the challenge of mass customisation.

This licentiate thesis describes the development of a framework incorporating product configuration systems based on High Level CAD templates (HLCt) together with auxiliary design optimisation and production preparation tools. Leveraging on the reuse of product knowledge, it focuses on rapid configuration of light-weight conceptual designs for quotation in dialogue with customers, and support of detailed design and generation of production data for confirmed orders. Based on the findings from implementation of such framework in an SME context of mass customisation of spiral staircases as well as engineering education, the challenges and possibilities are discussed with an eye on the future of design automation for mass customisation.

Maintaining high product quality while reducing cost is essential for mass-customised products, requiring continuous improvement of the product development process. To this end, design automation should be utilised in all stages of a product’s develop process and lay the foundation for automation of repetitive tasks throughout the process from interaction with the customer to design and production in order to mitigate errors and minimise costs. In this paper, a design automation and production preparation framework is proposed that can facilitate automation from initial stages via CAD to production. Examples of the framework are shown in the shape of proof-of-concepts systems developed by master students in the context of a course in design automation at Linköping University. Included disciplines such as automated planning of robot assembly paths, CNC manufacturing files and production drawings are described, based on design automation, Knowledge-Based Engineering, and design optimisation. Additionally, variations of the framework are implemented at three SMEs, and the results thereof are presented. The proposed frameworks enable interaction and connection between the "softer", human centred, aspects of customer interaction within sales, with more traditional "harder" engineering disciplines in design and manufacturing.