Early Development of Weight-Optimized Mechatronic Products

Abstract

Existing process models for the development of mechatronic products are not considering the task of weight optimization – weight reduction and weight distribution – in a specific and sufficient way. The weight optimization is mostly applied at the end or in the late phases of the development process with the consequence that a large number of macro-iterations are necessary when design changes regarding the weight have to be done. These points result in an increase of development costs and time. In previous work, the authors propose a process model which exposes the task of weight optimization as an in-process development goal beside the goal of functionality. In this paper, a detailed procedure for the design of weight-optimized mechatronic products in early phases is proposed. The process is supported by a set of different methods based on suitable lightweight strategies.