Linking analytical target cascading to engineering information systems for simulation-based optimal vehicle design

An environment for simulation-based analysis, design, and product development is presented in this article. Specifically, we integrate the analytical target cascading (ATC) methodology for optimal design with the Active Mediator Object System (AMOS) II information management tool to represent and exchange engineering data in distributed and heterogeneous environments. The ATC process is applied to the design optimization problem of a vehicle model with many design variables. The vehicle model is decomposed into system models, and vehicle design targets are translated to system specifications. The ADAMS software is used to develop the necessary simulation models. AMOS II is used to enable the data exchange among the vehicle dynamics simulation software that is distributed on different computers connected by a network