Concept Evaluation |  |
Chapter Summary| The feasibility of a concept is based on the design engineer's knowledge. Often it is necessary to augment this knowledge with the development of simple models.In order for a technology to be used in a product, it must be ready. Six measures of technology readiness can be applied.A go/no-go screening based on customers' requirements helps filter the concepts.The decision-matrix method provides means of comparing and evaluating concepts. The comparison is between each concept and a datum relative to the customers' requirements. The matrix gives insight into strong and weak areas of the concepts. The decision-matrix method can be used for subsystems of the original problem.The advanced decision matrix method leads to robust decisions by including the effects of uncertainty, incompleteness, and evolution in the decision-making process.Belief maps are a simple yet powerful way to evaluate alternatives and work to gain team consensus.Product safety implies concern for injury to humans and for damage to the device itself, other equipment, or the environment.Safety can be designed into a product, it can be added on, or the hazard can be warned against. The first of these is best. A hazard assessment is easy to accomplish and gives good guidance. |
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education