PLM and early stages collaboration in interactive design, a case study in the glass industry

Product design activity is traditionally presented as a succession of four to six stages. In the early stages of design, during the search for concepts, multi-disciplinary teams are working together, sometimes on the fringe of the digital design chain. But it is during these stages, that most of the product development cost is committed. Therefore, collaboration should be emphasized, and PLM software should contribute to it strongly. This paper first defines the boundaries of the early stages of design. Then, we analyze designer collaboration in this stage and describe the knowledge necessary for efficient collaboration. Finally, we propose and test a concept for a tool to assist the early stages of design, to be integrated in a continuum with other existing digital design tools. A case study is presented in Verallia, specialized in the design and manufacturing of glassware

Proposition of a PLM tool to support textile design: A case study applied to the definition of the early stages of design requirements

The current climate of economic competition forces businesses to adapt more than ever to the expectations of their customers. Faced with new challenges, practices in textile design have evolved in order to be able to manage projects in new work environments. After presenting a state of the art overview of collaborative tools used in product design and making functional comparison between PLM solutions, our paper proposes a case study for the development and testing of a collaborative platform in the textile industry, focusing on the definition of early stages of design needs. The scientific contributions presented in this paper are a state of the art of current PLM solutions and their application in the field of textile design; and a case study where we will present, define, and test the mock-up of a collaborative tool to assist the early stages, based on identified intermediary representations

The use of early design tools in engineering processes : a comparative case study

Nowadays, product design is increasingly complex: not only must it answer customer needs through complex functions; it must also ensure traceability throughout the design process, keeping in mind that standards and stringent regulations must be complied with. Faced with new challenges, engineering practices have evolved to allow stakeholders to be able to manage projects in new work environments, especially during the early stages of design. After presenting a state of the art of early design tools used in product design and their integration in PLM context, we compare class diagrams for two of them : TDC software (Knowllence©) and RFLP module of CATIA V6 (Dassault Systems©). Then, our paper presents an experiment focusing on these tools, which aims to assess their usability, to evaluate and compare them. Users can raise issues, take note of which functionalities are appreciated, and provide qualitative feedback. We analyze the results obtained in this experiment and propose a comparison based on four topics: learnability, satisfaction of users, efficiency and error correction. Finally, we present some links between class diagrams and usability of the tools

PLM and design education: a collaborative experiment on a mechanical device

The authors would like to thanks Ms Andia Montes C. and Mr Nelson J. for their helpful suggestions received during this experimentThe shift from sequential to concurrent engineering has initiated changes in the way design projects are managed. In order to assist designers, numerous effective tools have been devised for collaborative engineering, which are also well suited to the business world. Faced with these new challenges, practices in design training must evolve to allow students to be mindful of these evolutions as well as to be able to manage projects in these new work environments. After presenting a state of the art of collaborative tools used in product design, our paper presents an experiment focusing on the codesign of a complex mechanical product. This experiment was carried out between two centers of the Arts et Metiers ParisTech School of Engineering, located in Paris and Angers. We analyze the results obtained in this experiment and discuss some ways to improve future projects for inter-centre training programs in design engineering.The shift from sequential to concurrent engineering has initiated changes in the way design projects are managed. In order to assist designers, numerous effective tools have been devised for collaborative engineering, which are also well suited to the business world. Faced with these new challenges, practices in design training must evolve to allow students to be mindful of these evolutions as well as to be able to manage projects in these new work environments. After presenting a state of the art of collaborative tools used in product design, our paper presents an experiment focusing on the codesign of a complex mechanical product. This experiment was carried out between two centers of the Arts et Metiers ParisTech School of Engineering, located in Paris and Angers. We analyze the results obtained in this experiment and discuss some ways to improve future projects for inter-centre training programs in design engineering

Mecagenius : An Innovative Learning Game for Mechanical Engineering.

International audienceThe present paper provides a description of Mecagenius, a learning game to teach mechanical engineering at an engineering faculty. Firstly, the Mecagenius game and learning content are introduced before practical ways of integrating this application in educational activities are explored in relation to the skills the teacher seeks to transmit knowledge. This is followed by a review of the literature on the educational effectiveness of serious games. Secondly, the learning game experience of Mecagenius on a course is reported, providing evaluations from both students and teachers. Interviews with teacher and students together with the collected computer records allow for an assessment of the advantages and drawbacks of teaching and learning with this kind of tool.Through a qualitative analysis of students’ game reports, the different strategies used in this educational environment are assessed

Multi-user interface for co-located real-time work with digital mock-up: a way to foster collaboration?

Nowadays more and more industrial design activities adopt the strategy of Concurrent Engineering (CE), which changes the way to carry out all the activities along the product’s lifecycle from sequential to parallel. Various experts of different activities produce technical data using domain-specific software. To augment the interoperability among the technical data, a Digital Mock-Up (DMU), or a Building Information Model (BIM) in architectural engineering can be used. Through an appropriate Computer–Human Interface (CHI), each expert has his/her own point-of-view (POV) of a specific representation of DMU’s technical data according to an involved domain. When multiple experts work collaboratively in the same place and at the same time, the number of CHIs is also multiplied by the number of experts. Instead of multiple CHIs, therefore, a unique CHI should be developed to support the multiview and multi-interaction collaborative works. Our contributions in this paper are (a) a concept of a CHI system with multi-view and multi-interaction of DMU for multiple users in collaborative design; (b) a state of the art of multi-view and multi-interaction metaphors; (c) an experiment to evaluate a collaborative application using multi-view CHI. The experimental results indicate that, in multi-view CHI working condition, users are more efficient than in the other two working conditions (multiple CHIs and split view CHI). Moreover, in multi-view CHI working condition, the user, who is helping the other, takes less mutual awareness of where the other collaborator works than the other two working conditions.Bourse de thèse de CSC (China Scholarship Council

Property Model Methodology: A case study with Modelica

International audienceThe aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it is intended to demonstrate the relevance of the Property Model Methodology (PMM) to specify, validate, design and verify continuous multi-physics systems. Secondly, it aims at verifying the compatibility of PMM concepts with the Modelica simulation language. We will be using the case study of an aircraft landing gear to show how to translate the theoretical concepts of PMM into executable Modelica models. This article proves the fundamental concepts of PMM and provides a starting point for further research so as to not only model other types of engineered systems such as discrete and hybrid systems, but also support additional systems engineering activities, such as safety-reliability

Uncertainty propagation in multi-agent systems for multidisciplinary optimization problems

International audienceBecause of uncertainties on models and variables, deterministic multidisciplinary optimization may achieve under-sizing (without design margins) or over-sizing (with arbitrary design margins). Thus, it is necessary to implement multidisciplinary optimization methods that take into account the uncertainties in order to design systems that are both robust and reliable. Probabilistic methods such as reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) or robust design methods, provide designers with powerful decision-making tools but may involve very time-consuming calculations. New optimization approaches have been developed to deal with such complex problems. Auto-adaptive Multi-Agent Systems (AMAS) is a new approach developed recently, allowing to take into account the various aspects of a multidisciplinary optimization problem (multi-level, computation burden etc.). This approach was suggested for solving complex deterministic optimization problem. Now, the question of the integration of uncertainties in this multi-agent based optimization arises. The aim of this paper is to propose a new methodology for integrating the treatment of uncertainties in an adaptive multi-agent system for sequential optimization. The developed method employs a single loop process in which cycles of deterministic optimization alternate with evaluations of the system reliability. For each cycle, the optimization and the reliability analysis are decoupled from each other. The reliability analysis is carried out at agent level and only after the resolution of the deterministic optimization, to verify the feasibility of the constraints under uncertainties. Following the probabilistic study, the constraints violated (with low reliability) are shifted to the area of feasibility by integrating adaptive safety coeficients whose calculations are based on the agent-level reliability information. The method developed is applied to a conceptual aircraft design problem

Social parasitism and the molecular basis of phenotypic evolution

Contrasting phenotypes arise from similar genomes through a combination of losses, gains, co-option and modifications of inherited genomic material. Understanding the molecular basis of this phenotypic diversity is a fundamental challenge in modern evolutionary biology. Comparisons of the genes and their expression patterns underlying traits in pairs of closely related species offer an unrivalled opportunity to evaluate the extent to which genomic material is reorganised to produce novel traits. Advances in molecular methods now allow us to dissect the molecular machinery underlying phenotypic diversity in almost any organism, from single-celled organisms to the most complex vertebrates. Here we discuss how comparisons of social parasites and their free-living hosts may provide unique insights into the molecular basis of phenotypic evolution. Social parasites evolve from a social ancestor and are specialised to exploit the socially acquired resources of their closely-related, free-living social host. Molecular comparisons of such species pairs can reveal how genomic material is re-organised in the loss of ancestral traits (i.e. of free-living traits in the parasites) and the gain of new ones (i.e. specialist traits required for a parasitic lifestyle). We define hypotheses on the molecular basis of phenotypes in the evolution of social parasitism and discuss their wider application in understanding the molecular basis of phenotypic diversity within the theoretical framework of phenotypic plasticity and shifting reaction norms. Currently there are no data available to test these hypotheses, and so we also provide some proof of concept data for our conceptual model using the paper wasp social parasite-host system (Polistes sulcifer - Polistes dominula). This conceptual framework and first empirical data provide a spring-board for directing future genomic analyses on exploiting social parasites as a route to understanding the evolution of phenotypic specialisation

Identification of Burkholderia spp. in the clinical microbiology laboratory: comparison of conventional and molecular methods

Cystic fibrosis (CF) predisposes patients to bacterial colonization and infection of the lower airways. Several species belonging to the genus Burkholderia are potential CF-related pathogens, but microbiological identification may be complicated. This situation is not in the least due to the poorly defined taxonomic status of these bacteria, and further validation of the available diagnostic assays is required. A total of 114 geographically diverse bacterial isolates, previously identified in reference laboratories as Burkholderia cepacia (n = 51), B. gladioli (n = 14), Ralstonia pickettii (n = 6), B. multivorans (n = 2), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 3), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 11), were collected from environmental, clinical, and reference sources. In addition, 27 clinical isolates putatively identified as Burkholderia spp. were recovered from the sputum of Dutch CF patients. All isolates were used to evaluate the accuracy of two selective growth media, four systems for biochemical identification (API 20NE, Vitek GNI, Vitek NFC, and MicroScan), and three different PCR-based assays. The PCR assays amplify different parts of the ribosomal DNA operon, either alone or in combination with cleavage by various restriction enzymes (PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism [RFLP] analysis). The best system for the biochemical identification of B. cepacia appeared to be the API 20NE test. None of the biochemical assays successfully grouped the B. gladioli strains. The PCR-RFLP method appeared to be the optimal method for accurate nucleic acid-mediated identification of the different Burkholderia spp. With this method, B. gladioli was also reliably classified in a separate group. For the laboratory diagnosis of B. cepacia, we recommend parallel cultures on blood agar medium and selective agar plates. Further identification of colonies with a Burkholderia phenotype should be performed with the API 20NE test. For final confirmation of species identities, PCR amplification of the small-subunit rRNA gene followed by RFLP analysis with various enzymes is recommended