A co-modelling method for solving incompatibilities during co-design of mechatronic devices

• A co-modelling methodology supported by a co-simulation tool frame-work is proposed.
• Fault modelling and a layered structure with fault-tolerance mechanisms for the controller software are introduced.
• The introduced methods and tools are demonstrated on a practical mechatronic device.

The design process of mechatronic devices, which involves experts from different disciplines working together, has limited time and resource constraints. These experts normally have their own domain-specific designing methods and tools, which can lead to incompatibilities when one needs to work together using these those methods and tools. Having a proper framework which integrates different design tools is of interest, as such a framework can prevent incompatibilities between parts during the design process. In this paper, we propose our co-modelling methodology and co-simulation tools integration framework, which helps to maintain the domain specific properties of the model components during the co-design process of various mechatronic devices. To avoid expensive rework later in the design phase and even possible system failure, fault modelling and a layered structure with fault-tolerance mechanisms for the controller software are introduced. In the end, a practical mechatronic device is discussed to illustrate the methods and tools which are presented in this paper in details.