Art Investigation Techniques

Andrea Aganetti
Registration Number: 201351933

DESIGN METHODS FOR
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
A State Of The Art Investigation

“I declare that this submission is entirely my own original work. I declare that, except where fully reference direct quotations have been included, no aspect of this submission has been copied from any other source. I declare that all other works cited in this submission have been appropriately referenced. I understand that any act of Academic Dishonesty such as plagiarism or collusion may result in the non-award of my degree.”
Glasgow, 08.11.2013

DESIGN METHODS FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: A State Of The Art Investigation

Andrea Aganetti

Index

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................3
8

DESIGN METHODS FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: A State Of The Art Investigation

Andrea Aganetti

Analyzing the ASM from the “roof” on the top side, we will find the interconnections between physical components. The purpose of the information contained in the roof, is to provide directions to designers when applying changes to the system. Illustrating this, we can refer to Fig. 10 and infer that the belt and brash are in relation. Therefore, a decision to replace the belt with one of a different kind, or to change the transmission technology, should take into account the consequences it will have on the brash.
If we drive our attention to the roof on the left side, we can notice that it highlights the relationships among affordances. This can be a powerful tool if used attentively. In fact, it is possible that the changes applied to improve one affordance may bring positive consequences to other affordances at the same time.

Fig. 9. Overview of the affordance-based design process [6]

For the vacuum cleaner example, if we improve the AAA named “loss of cleanability by blocked air flow path”, we are likely to improve also the “overheating” AAA allowing the air to
One consistent advantage of the affordance based methodology is that it allows to improve solve more issues concurrently with consequent gain in efficiency
11

DESIGN METHODS FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: A State Of The Art Investigation

Andrea Aganetti

of the design process (Sect. 4.2.2). In parallel, one asset of PLC method is the good reflection it has on the supply chain of the company (Sect. 4.1.3).
In addition, the PLC design method is more suitable for the early stages of design, whereas the affordance based one is more advisable for the later stage of design process or to redesign a product that already exists. This argument lead to the suggestion that the two methods would very effective and suitable to be used one after the other during the design and integration processes of a product. A Venn diagram for a graphical representation of the differences and commonalities is proposed below (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11. Venn diagram for comparison between PLC and Affordance based design methods

12

DESIGN METHODS FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: A State Of The Art Investigation

Andrea