Mechatronic modularization of intelligent technical systems

A successful transformation of mechanical engineering products toward Intelligent Technical Systems (ITS) requires an interdisciplinary and modular system architecture as well as an interdisciplinary understanding of the system for all stakeholders. Different approaches for the development of modular product structures as well as for generating interdisciplinary understanding of the system for all stakeholders exist. There is, however, a lack of a method which is consistent with the approach of Model- Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and takes the aspects of all the disciplines involved in the ITS context into account. This contribution shows an approach for improving the development processes of Intelligent Technical Systems with modularization combined with MBSE. The approach is divided into five phases: Target Definition (Phase 1), System Modelling (Phase 2), System Analysis (Phase 3), Identification of mechatronic Modules (Phase 4) and Restructuring of mechatronic Modules (Phase 5). In addition, the results are validated by an industrial separator. The results clarify the benefits of modularization combined with MBSE to improve the development processes of ITS