Methodology for rapid mechatronic product development and manufacturing

In today competitive world, products need to be designed to satisfy all the customer requirements that it is possible with specifications that will fulfill their needs. The design of these mechatronic products requires different disciplines because they integrate mechanical, electronic and software components which allow them to be more customers oriented. This thesis proposes an integrated methodology for Rapid Mechatronic Product Development and Manufacturing which includes the activities from product planning to prototyping and the engineering activities of the design process (Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation). This methodology helps the designer in the product development process by specifying detailed activities, the flow of product information, methods that can be applied in each phase, and some other organizational issues. This methodology sets the foundation to create a generic template in order to allow the integration of the design methodology to the company own design process and also to pursue and automation of the process. The results obtained with this research are: (1) A classification of many applicable design methods and techniques by design phase and type of activity: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. (2) A methodology for rapid mechatronic product development and manufacturing. (3) A reconfigurable methodology depending on the special characteristics of the product to be developed. (4) An evaluation of design methodologies. (5) An information organization chart of the product development process for the three disciplines. A case of study of a mechatronic product was carried out in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology.