A Reference Model Instantiation to Develop a Methodology from Mechatronic Product Desig: In Wireless Sensor Network Application -Edición Única

Abstract

Currently the process of manufacturing has been changed according to the customer’s requirements. Actual trends in manufacturing, such as mass customization, shorter product life, frequent of changes of design, small inventory restrictions, legal restrictions (energy, environment pollution), etc., presses to companies to employ different technologies in order to be more competitive and efficient. Recently, the industry has been developed some concepts to overcome current currently challenges. For example: process automation (PA), factory automation (FA), flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) etc., but these concepts need some technologies for achieving the best performance and ensuring product quality. Sensors are fundamental devices or systems in the automation process. Sensors and the sensor systems must work with some performance; the performance are based in electrical, electronic and mechanical characteristics (accuracy, repeatability, small size, low power consumption, practical installation, frequency bandwidth, ration noise, linearity, etc.), but of single sensor is not enough for multivariable detection and conversion of industrial variables, because the number of parameters is relatively large. The Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have a lot of features that make them attractive such as an instrument of solution for different challenges in the actual industry or factory. This technology can achieve the new requirements in futures aspects of the manufacturing. This thesis proposes an integrated methodology for Mechatronic Product Development using the Wireless Sensor Network technology. The methodology allows to create a mechatronic product from the reference and partial model to a particular model through instantiation. The methodology is based in stages, each stage has activities performed to achieve a result in a specific process. The stages are from product planning to prototyping (product planning, conceptual design, embodiment design and prototyping) and the activities of the design process [(1) Analysis: are oriented to diagnose, define and prepare information, (2) Synthesis: are oriented to put all elements together to produce new effects and to demonstrate that these effects create an overall order. (3) Evaluation: are oriented to test those solutions against the goals and requirements] in each stage. This methodology emphasized in the coupling between each area (mechanical, electronic and software) and the electronic design. The case of study was the development a mechatronic product to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology. The mechatronic product was an integrated product for monitoring remotely pneumatic pressure in industrial pipelines using commercial WSN, the system developed covered the mechanical design of the attaching system for the sensor. The conditioning of the electrical signal from the sensor and the programming of the sensor capabilities for remote data access and management using real-time operating system called TinyOS. The data gathered from the WSN were displayed in a personal computer (PC). The principal results obtained on this research thesis were: (1) A methodology to develop mechatronics products form the reference and partial model to particular model through instantiation (2) A case study was developed to demonstrate how to use the methodology to develop mechatronics products using Wireless Sensor Networks technology, (3) A mechatronic product for monitoring remotely pneumatic pressure in industrial pipelines with following features: small size, low power consumption, wireless data transmission, “ad- hoc” network, etc. VI Some conclusions obtained from this thesis were: (1) Although the concept of measurement physical variables using wireless technologies has been applied, the proposed solutions have not been integrated with the methodology to develop mechatronics products using Wireless Sensor Networks nor the signal conditioning and power management to integrate new Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) (2) The methodology provides some benefits: fulfills the customers needs, solves some design problems, prevents some failures in design, reduces the time of design, etc. (3) The literature review showed that there are a lot of methodologies to product design. These methodologies do not provide a particular model to mechatronic product or mechatronics product based in wireless sensor network technologies (4). The case of the study helped to identify important areas of further work in power management, data sampling, communications, and software design. (5) The methodology, in this case of study, fulfilled with the objectives, but the correct validation will be based in more case of study