Synthesis of feedback-based design concepts for sensors

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• 作者：Biplab Sarkar ; Amaresh Chakrabarti ; G. K. Ananthasuresh
• 关键词：Conceptual design ; Computational design synthesis ; Functional modelling ; Indirect ; sensing ; Closed loop
• 刊名：Research in Engineering Design
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：28
• 期：1
• 页码：131-151
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Engineering
• 刊物主题：Engineering Design; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD, CAE) and Design;
• 出版者：Springer London
• ISSN：1435-6066
• 卷排序：28

文摘

We explore an approach to synthesize concepts of a class of sensors, where a quantity is sensed indirectly after nullifying its effect by using negative feedback. These sensors use negative feedback to increase the dynamic range of operation without compromising the sensitivity and resolution. The synthesis technique uses knowledge about existing phenomena to come up with an approach to synthesize concepts of sensors and also study their interactions with their surroundings, so as to generate robust designs. The approach uses a database of building blocks which are based on physical laws and effects that capture the transduction rules underlying the working principles of sensors. A simplified variant of the SAPPhIRE model of causality, which also uses physical laws and effects, has been adapted to represent the building blocks. SAPPhIRE model had been used earlier to understand analysis and synthesis of conceptual designs. We have adapted it here for automated generation of concepts. The novelty of the approach lies in the way and the ease with which it constructs a graph which is a super-set of the concept-space. The individual concepts are extracted out of the graph at a later point in time. The extraction of the concepts is done by using a modified breadth-first search algorithm which detects loops in the graph. The usage of breadth-first search algorithm for loop detection is novel, as we have demonstrated that it performs better than depth-first search algorithm for the specific problem. The technique has been implemented as a web-based application. For the sensor problems attempted, a number of existing patents were found that were based on the concepts that were generated by the synthesis algorithm, thus emphasizing the usefulness of the designs produced. The tool generated 35 concepts for accelerometers, out of which 2 concepts were found in patents. The synthesis approach also proposed new, feasible sensor concepts, thereby indicating its potential as a stimulator for enhancing creativity of designers. Automated generation of feedback-based sensor designs is a novel outcome of this approach.