Securing the reliability of tomorrow´s systems with Self-Optimization

The conceivable development of communication and information technology opens up more and more fascinating perspectives, which move far beyond current standards of mechatronics: mechatronic systems having inherent partial intelligence. We call these systems “Self-Optimizing Systems”. Self-Optimizing Systems can react autonomously and flexibly on changing operation conditions: During the operation of the system an endogenous adjustment of its objectives and of the corresponding behavior takes place in a closed-loop process. With Self-Optimization tomorrow´s mechatronic system can thus be made more reliable. In this contribution a method for the design of the system of objectives - the backbone of Self-Optimization - in the early engineering phase of the conceptual design is presented. Using the method objectives of the system, their relationships to each other and potential conflicts are identified based on the principal solution of the system. In particular, objectives are found, which may be in conflict with the objective “max. reliability” during the operation of the system. These are analyzed, recognized and mitigated and the system is made more reliable. Altogether the method supports developers by the design of the information processing of the system, which then realizes the Self-Optimization. The advantages of the method are shown in a case example from the field of railway technology - the autonomous railway vehicle RailCab.