A Framework Supporting Collaborative Optimisation for Multi Professional Design Teams

Abstract

Today in industry, product development is becoming an increasingly complicated activity and design teams can be composed of people from different cultures who are geographically dispersed. This project investigates the problems caused when required to work between engineers from different domains (differing ‘professional cultures), in order to suggest new approaches and to develop a framework supporting collaborative global design. A general cultural study was made to analyse the product development processes within mechanical and electrical engineering that identified optimization as being a key stage in the development of electromagnetic products. Electrical engineers often use an analytical optimization environment to give dimensions to an ‘overall’ initial electromagnetic structure. Segregated analysis carried out by mechanical engineers at this stage can be very inefficient and ineffective. Analysing a specific example, the dimensioning of a spring in an electromagnetic plunger, has highlighted the advantages offered by improving collaboration. What has been proposed is an integrated approach to optimization, which involves mechanical and electrical engineers working together to jointly dimension a structure. An ICT (Internet Collaboration Tool) prototype supporting this type of work has been developed and optimization results can now be disseminated automatically to all of the designers in a global design team. This is a step in the development of a computer environment supporting collaborative design for multidisciplinary teams.