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A methodology for the improvement of dependability of self-optimizing systems

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Abstract

The conceivable development of communication and information technology opens up fascinating perspectives which move far beyond current standards of mechatronics: mechatronic systems having inherent partial intelligence. We call such systems self-optimizing systems. Self-optimizing systems react autonomously and flexibly on changing environmental conditions. The design of dependable self-optimizing systems is challenging. The main reasons are the involvement of different domains and the integration of partial intelligence which leads to non-deterministic behavior. In particular, it has to be ensured that the self-optimization works dependable itself. In order to accomplish this, dependability engineering methods have to be used which are suitable to the underlying development task. In such cases the developers face a great number of methods, from which they have to manually select the appropriate ones. This selection is tedious and error-prone. In this contribution we introduce a methodology for the improvement of dependability of self-optimizing systems. It consists of a method database, a guide for selection and planning of dependability engineering methods and a software tool. The methodology supports the developers by search, selection and planning of dependability engineering methods (e.g. Fault Tree Analysis), which are suitable for their particular development task.

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Notes

  1. Avizienis et al. [1] define dependability as availability, reliability, safety, integrity and maintainability. In this contribution we apply this definition with the exception of the integrity aspect, which is not considered.

  2. In this work the following definition of methodology provided by Jayaratna is used:

    “an explicit way of structuring one’s thinking and actions. Methodologies contain models and reflect particular perspectives of reality based on a set of philosophical paradigms. A methodology must show, what steps to take, how those steps are performed […] the reasons, why the methodology user must follow those steps and in the suggested order” [9].

  3. CONSENS—CONceptual design Specification technique for the ENgineering of mechatronic Systems.

  4. The active structure describes the basic structure and operation mode of the system. It describes the subordinated system elements. Also the relationships between the system elements are described using material, information and energy flows. System elements represent a part of the system which has not been detailed yet. They are detailed in the course of the product development process and can be consolidated into modules, parts, assemblies and software components.

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Acknowledgments

This contribution was developed in the course of the Collaborative Research Centre 614 “Self-Optimizing Concepts and Structures in Mechanical Engineering” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Furthermore the authors thank the anonymous referees for their valuable comments which have led to a significant improvement of the paper contents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heinz Nixdorf Institute, University of Paderborn, Fuerstenallee 11, 33102, Paderborn, Germany

    R. Dorociak, T. Gaukstern, J. Gausemeier, P. Iwanek & M. Vaßholz

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  1. R. Dorociak
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  2. T. Gaukstern
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  3. J. Gausemeier
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  4. P. Iwanek
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  5. M. Vaßholz
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Correspondence to R. Dorociak.

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Dorociak, R., Gaukstern, T., Gausemeier, J. et al. A methodology for the improvement of dependability of self-optimizing systems. Prod. Eng. Res. Devel. 7, 53–67 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-012-0425-3

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