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MBSE for Electrical and Electronic Design
As companies transform and adopt Digital Engineering practices to improve product development processes, Zuken is also transforming. With the acquisition of Vitech Corporation, an industry leader in Model-Based System Engineering technology, Zuken can now combine detailed design with model-based design.
Benefits of Digital Engineering
The model-based design offers multi-discipline requirements, behavior, and architecture defined in a single source of truth
Through communication tools, conversations can be associated with technical data packages for signoff and traceability.
A key function of the Digital Thread is to enhance communication through online conversations spanning internal and external organizations.
Digital Engineering Fundamentals
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Model-Based Design
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Digital Engineering begins with the construction of a product model by the Systems Engineering team. The model is comprised of architecture, requirements, and behaviors creating a design envelope for the electrical and electronic components of the product.
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3D Detailed Design
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A major obstacle to model-based design is making the model relevant throughout the product lifecycle. The electrical and electronic design tools need to import the model architecture and expose the requirements to the detailed design team.
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Digital Thread
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Maintaining a robust digital engineering design process requires a digital thread to capture digital conversations for traceability. The digital conversation can span internal and external organizations and involve procurement, vendors, design, manufacturing and field service.
Model Relevance Through The Product Life Cycle
The model must remain relevant throughout the product life cycle. This is one of today’s biggest challenges. The model typically becomes a Systems Engineering artifact and has limited use through the development and manufacturing process. A Digital Engineering process keeps the model relevant through the product life cycle providing ROI benefit.
Creating The Design Envelope
The system-level model is decomposed into electrical and electronic subsystems for implementation. Each subsystem is composed of sensors, ECU’s, interconnects, etc. Each of these design elements must be defined in terms of a design envelope which provides the design teams with the implementation parameters. Verification requirements are made against the design envelope to assure that the implementation fulfills the intent of the model.
Design Verification Gates
The model-based design has verification gates to ensure that the implementation reflects the model definition. The verification gates are comprised of design reviews, trade-offs, changes and ultimately approval. The digital conversations behind those activities and approvals become part of the digital thread. Verification gates are placed at critical design phases that include architecture, design, first article, and subsystem. Each gate requires a status update in the model.
Digital Thread Communication
Digital Engineering requires a digital communication mechanism to replace paper trails and documentation. A robust digital thread implementation provides a browser-based communication built on activities, conversations, groups, and data. All digital activity that can span the product life cycle is captured and can provide traceability.
Digital Engineering Process
Model Based Design
The process is based on a model built upon relationships. The model replaces a document-based design. The model is typically created by the Systems Engineering team who converts system purpose into structure, behavior, and requirements. The model is considered the single source of truth.
Model Relevancy
The model must remain relevant throughout the product life cycle. This is one of today’s biggest challenges. The model typically becomes a Systems Engineering artifact and has limited use through the development and manufacturing process. A Digital Engineering process keeps the model relevant through the product life cycle and operates as a single source of truth.
Model Decomposition
For the purpose of realizing the model in the electrical and electronic domains, the model must be decomposed into E/E subsystems. These subsystems are further decomposed into functional elements as Electronic Control Units (ECU), sensors, busses, and connections.
Model Creation and Content
Realizing the model in the electrical and electronic domain requires a logical structure of design elements with the associated behavior and requirements. Model creation can be done with Vitech’s GENESYS product with the appropriate guidelines for model content. For instance, the model does not typically contain specific component identification such as part numbers.
Design Envelope
When the design transitions from System Engineering to the implementation team, a design envelope must be clearly defined. The design team then knows what are the acceptable parameters in terms of cost, weight, size, power, etc.
Architecture Verification
Architecture verification is a design step prior to a detailed design where a partial detailed design is used to verify model requirements that can be met at high confidence. If a requirement can not be met at this phase, Systems Engineering must alter the model in the context of the entire system to enable a realizable implementation of the mode.
Transitioning to Detailed Design
Once the design is verified at the architecture level meaning the verification requirements are met with high confidence, the design can move to detailed design. At this point domain-specific electronic and electrical design practices and tools are used to design a manufacturable product. Learn more about transitioning to electrical design.
Design Verification Gates
The model must remain relevant through the product development process. This is accomplished through verification gates which are comprised of a set of verification requirements. The design can not proceed to the next development phase until the gate requirements are satisfied. This ensures the product is consistent with the model.
Model Verification Status
As the design moves through each verification gate, the model must be updated to reflect the verification requirement status. This allows Systems Engineering to monitor the design progress in terms of meeting verification requirements. As the design progresses through the implementation process, Systems Engineering has a window into its model consistency.
Digital Thread
Throughout the Digital Engineering process, discussions that lead to decisions must be recorded and retained for traceability. The Digital Thread provides the mechanism to hold those critical digital conversations.
Related Resources
- Webinar
June 04, 2020
The Power and Promise of GENESYS: A Model-Based Systems Engineering Tool for Our Time
As digital engineering changes the way we live and work, systems engineers are turning to model-based engineering software to help them navigate the complexity. GENESYS—an enormously powerful model-based systems engineering tool—addresses our 21st-century challenges with an underlying systems metamodel..
Read now
- Webinar
June 03, 2020
Solving the Systems Engineering, Digital Engineering, and MBSE Puzzle
This webinar will discuss the relationship between systems engineering, digital engineering, and MBSE in creating the framework we need to deliver complex products.
Read now
- Press Release
August 13, 2019
Zuken Completes Vitech Corporation Acquisition
Press Release, Vitech
- Press Release
February 26, 2019
Zuken to Acquire Vitech Corporation
Press Release, Vitech