applications of mbe to automotive engineering -...

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email: info@Intercax.com

DirkZwemer,IntercaxLLC

Technote: Application of MBE to Automotive Engineering

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1

Syndeia.....................................................................................................................................................2

SystemArchitectureModel.....................................................................................................................3

Inter-modelConnections.........................................................................................................................5

VisualizingtheTotalSystemModel.........................................................................................................5

TheFutureofMBEforAutomotiveandTransportationApplications.....................................................7

AbouttheAuthor....................................................................................................................................7

Introduction Engineeringintheautomotiveindustryfacesabroadsetofchallenges:

• Rapidlychangingtechnologyencompassingmechanical,electronic,softwareandotherengineeringdisciplines

• Diversebodiesofrequirements:market,regulatoryandtechnical• Highproductmixandextensiveindividualcustomizationandintegration• Extendedsupplychainsacrossorganizationalandinternationalboundaries

Becauseofthesechallenges,automotiveengineershavebeenleadersindevelopingandadoptingadvancedtechniquesinsystemsengineering.Theirengineeringtoolneedsinclude

• Anarchitecturalframeworkinclusiveofstructure,behavior,requirementsandanalysis• Cross-vendorandcross-disciplineinteroperability• Easy-to-use,non-discipline-specificqueryandvisualizationcapabilities

Model-BasedEngineering(MBE)dependsonasingle,self-consistentdigitalmodelofthesystem,spreadacrossmultipleengineeringtoolsandrepositories,asillustratedinFigure1.ItextendstheconceptofModel-BasedSystemsEngineering(MBSE)ofcapturingasystem’sspecificationasamodel,ratherthanaseriesofstaticdisconnecteddocuments.AstheMBSEideadeveloped,itbecameclearthatasinglemodelinasingletool,forexample,aSysMLsystemarchitecturemodel,wasinsufficientforthepurpose.

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InModel-basedEngineering,allthedisciplinesandtoolsintheengineeringprocessareengagedinanongoingnetwork.

Figure1TotalSystemModelasaNetworkofConnectionsinsideandbetweenEngineeringSoftwareToolsandRepositories

Syndeia Syndeia™,fromIntercax,isaplatformforthepracticeofMBE.AsshowninFigure2,itusesasystemarchitecturemodelascentralhubandconnectsSysMLelementstoelementsinPLM,CAD,ALM(applicationlifecyclemanagement),projectmanagement,requirements,simulationandotherengineeringtools.

SysMLisaneffectivemediumforbuildingahigh-levelroadmapofthesystembecauseitprovidesarichlanguageforconnectingstructure,behavior,requirementsandanalysisconcepts,conceptsthatcanmaptocorrespondingconceptsinmorespecializedtools.Currently,SyndeiasupportstwoSysMLmodelingtools,MagicDraw(NoMagicInc.)andIBMRationalRhapsody,andavarietyofothertools,including

TeamcenterandNX(Siemens),WindchillandCreo(PTC),MySQL(Oracle),DOORSNG(IBMRational),Simulink(TheMathworks),JIRA(Atlassian),GitHub(GitHub,Inc.)andExcel(Microsoft).ContactIntercaxtolearnaboutsupportforothertools.

Figure2Syndeiaarchitecture

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System Architecture Model WebeginbydescribingasimpleSysMLmodel(availablefordownloadfromtheIntercaxwebsite)thatwillactasthecentralconnectionpointforourtotalsystemmodel.Structuraldecompositionforoursystem-of-interest,Vehicle(Figure3),showsmultiplesubsystems.ThesamediagramshowsthatsixdifferentspecializationsofthePowertrainsubsystemhavebeenidentified,includingseveralhybridvariants.

Figure3VehicleStructuralDecomposition,includingPowertrainvariants

Allsixsharemanyofthesamefunctionalelements(e.g.electricalstoragesystemESSorinternalcombustionengineICE),buthavethemconnectedindifferentways.ConnectivityfortheSeriesHybridPowertrainvariantisshowninFigure4.

Figure4SeriesHybridPowertrainconnectivityinSysMLinternalblockdiagram

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Thesystemarchitecturemodelcanalsoincludesystemrequirements,especiallywhereseparaterequirementtypesarerelatedtoeachotherortoothersystemelements.Figure5showsseveralexamplesofsuchrelationships,wheretechnicalrequirementsareshownasderivedfrommarketrequirementsandsatisfiedbystructuralelementsofthesystem.

Figure5SampleSysMLconnectivitybetweenmarketrequirements,technicalrequirements,andstructureThesystemarchitecturemodelalsodescribesthebehaviorsorfunctionsofthesystemanditsparts.InFigure6,theoverallfunctionoftheserieshybridpowertrainisdecomposedintoaseriesofsubfunctions(actions),eachofwhichisallocatedtoastructuralcomponent.Theseallocationdependenciesareindicatedbytheswimlanesintheactivitydiagram.

Figure6SysMLActivitydiagramforSeriesHybridPowertrain,withallocationstostructuralcomponentsAlltherelationshipsshowninthesefigures,representingcomposition,dependencyandflow,are“intra-model”connections,connectionscreatedandstoredwithinasinglesoftwaretool,inthiscase,theSysMLmodelingtool.ButmanyofthesesameSysMLelementsalsorelatetoelementsinother

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softwaretools.Theseare“inter-model”connections,whichwewillcreate,manageandusewithSyndeia,asdescribedinthenextsection.

Inter-model Connections Inter-modelconnectionsaremadeusingtheSyndeiadashboard(Figure7)usingavarietyofdrag-and-dropmechanisms.Inoursamplemodel,

• MarketandtechnicalrequirementsweredraggedfromtwodifferentPLMrepositoriesintotheSysMLmodel,retainingtheirhierarchicalstructures;

• Structuralconnectivity(e.g.Figure4)weredraggedfromSysMLintoMATLAB,creatingaSimulinkblockstructure(blocks,portsandsignals,butnointernalMATLABcode);

• SinglereferencelinkswerecreatedfromSysMLactivitiestosoftwarefoldersinGitHub.

Figure7SyndeiadashboardshowingSysMLandTeamcenterPLMrepositorycontentssidebyside.

Ineachcase,theelementsremainconnected,linkingthemodelsindifferenttoolsintoasinglesystemmodel,theultimateobjectiveofMBE.Dependingonthenatureoftheconnection(andthecapabilityofthetoolsinvolved),theseconnectionscansupportusecasesofpracticalvaluetoengineering,including

• CompareandsynchronizeSysMLblockstructurewithPLMbill-of-materialsorSimulinkblockstructureastheyevolveovertime

• UpdateSysMLrequirementsfromamasterrequirementsrepository• OpenandviewCADmodelsorprojectmanagementissuetrackersdirectlyfromthesystem

model

Visualizing the Total System Model Asthenumberofconnectionsgrows,ourabilitytounderstandthescopeandcomplexityofthetotalsystemmodelandtoidentifyextendedlinkagesbetweenelementsdiminishes.Weneedtobeableto

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viewthesystemmodelgloballyandtotraceconnectionslocally.Syndeia3.0offersbothforautomotiveapplications.

Figure8showsaglobalviewoftheinter-modelconnectionsinachordplot.Theupperrightboxreportsthat73elementsareconnectedby42Syndeia-managedconnections.TheelementsontheperipheryofthecirclerepresentSysML(orange),Teamcenter(red),Simulink(blue),GitHub(green)andJIRA(beige)elements.Thenodesandthelinesbetweenthemcanbeinteractivelyhighlightedandidentifiedinthelightblueboxontheupperright,andtheentireplotcanbesearchedandfiltered.Usingthis,thesystemengineercanseeataglancethetypesofelementsbeingconnectedandthedensityofconnectionsinthecurrentstateofthemodel.

Figure8ChordplotofInter-modelConnections–GlobalVisualizationWhiletheglobalviewinFigure8givesthebigpicture,manyusecasesinvolvetracingextendedlinkagesoverbothinter-modelandintra-modelchains.Alternategraphingtechniquescanmakethistasksimpler.OneexampleisshowninFigure9,atreeplotinitiatedfromaspecificmodelelementintheSysMLmodelortheSyndeiadashboard.LaunchedfromaSysMLactivity,DriveGenerator,itimmediatelydisplaysthreenearestneighbors,aJIRAissueandaGitHubsoftwarefolderconnectedbyinter-modelconnections(showninblack)andaSysMLblock,ICE,connectedbyanintra-modelconnection(showninorange).Thislastnodecanbefurtherexpandedbyclickingonit,showinganadditionalfournextnearestneighborsandtheprocesscanbecontinuedselectivelyuntilthechainisterminated.Intheresultingplot,theextendedlinkagebetweentheTeamcenterrequirementatthebottomleft,theSysMLfunctionitimpacts,andtheJIRAissuethatrecordsthatimpact,istracedoverfiveconnectionsacrossthreetools.Considerthevalueoftheseapproachesinexpeditingdesignreviews,withexplicitconnectionsbetweensystemelementsandtheabilitytoopenthoseelementsintheirnativetoolsfromacentralhigh-levelroadmapofthesystem.

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Figure9TreeplotofInter-modelandIntra-modelConnectionsdemonstratingtraceabilityacrossgraph

The Future of MBE for Automotive and Transportation Applications ThefieldofModel-BasedEngineeringisevolvingrapidly.DrivenbynewtechnologiesliketheInternet-of-ThingsandSmartGridenergysystems,engineeringsoftwaretoolsarebeingpushedtothelimits.Automotivesystemsengineers,workingoninnovationslikeAutonomousVehicles,willneedtobeattheforefrontofthesedevelopments.

Tomeettheirneeds,MBEtoolswillneedtoevolve,aswell.ASysML-centricarchitecture,asillustratedbySyndeia,willbenomoreeffectivethanaPLM-centricoraCAD-centricone.MBEtoolswillfunctionaswebservices,providingacompletepictureoftheTotalSystemModelfromanypositionintheengineeringprocess.Powerfulgraphdatabaseswillprovidescaleabilityandsophisticatedquerycapabilityforidentifyingextendedconnections.Userscaninteractwiththegraphthroughsophisticatedmodelingtoolsorsimplifiedwebinterfaces,usingtheirchoiceoflaptop,tabletorhandhelddevice.

About the Author Dr. Dirk Zwemer (dirk.zwemer@intercax.com) is President of Intercax LLC (Atlanta, GA), a supplier ofMBEengineeringsoftwareplatformslikeSyndeiaandParaMagic.Heisanactiveteacherandconsultantin the field and holds Level 4 Model Builder-Advanced certification as an OMG System ModelingProfessional.Forfurtherinformation,visitusatwww.intercax.comorcontactusatinfo@intercax.com.