A Systems Engineering Environment for Integrated Automotive Powertrain Development

Abstract

Automotive powertrain control system (PCS) development faces tightening environmental requirements, shortening development cycle times and growing complexity. To cope with such an environment, PCS development is moving from a traditional evolutionary to a structured approach. The structured approach is supported by computerised structured analysis methods. However, these methods concentrate on the functional and interface requirements of the product. This paper aims to describe how a systems engineering environment (SEE) can be used for integrated PCS development by addressing not only product functional and interface requirements but also life cycle process and organisational requirements. The particular SEE used, a commercial software package, provides: · notations from different modelling paradigms, used for integrated functional, product, process and organisational modelling; · cross-references, used to link functional, product and life-cycle processes attributes; · frames to capture further information about each data items (e.g. CAD drawings). A major benefit of the application of the SEE for an integrated PCS development is the ability to investigate early in the product development/evolution process the interactions between requirements and attributes not only of the product but also of its life cycle processes and development organisation. It is demonstrated how an SEE can be used to provide better product quality, lower life cycle cost and shorter development time. The application of a systems engineering approach to a product, its life cycle processes and its development organisation in an integrated manner encompasses concurrent engineering. It provides a much broader scope for product development, in this case, the PCS subsystem.