Development of a modular architecture for complex mechatronic systems

Against the backdrop of the climate crisis an urgent need for solutions to reduce the human impact on the global ecosystem is indispensable. The mobility sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and the demand for sustainable mobility systems is rising rapidly. While battery electric passenger cars are rising in popularity, the application of zero-emission technology in other means of transport is not common yet. This is based on still existing physical limits, but also on the high complexity of rethinking such systems, taking their individuality into account, and creating solutions that can be quickly adapted and widely used. A common approach to solve this conflict is modularisation. Widespread methods to modularise products based on the functional architecture cannot successfully be used for complex mechatronic systems such as ships. During the development of a customized method for the modular design of a ship it became obvious, that the requirement definition of not only one ship but a complete ship class is a major challenge. This paper therefore presents a three-step procedure which analyses the customer needs and specifies the requirements as first phase of an overlaying method for designing a modular ferry.