Theory of technical systems and engineering design synthesis

Abstract

“Engineering” or designing a technical system means anticipating its usage, construction, etc A “technical system” is a designed artefact with a substantial technical content. The scope and contents of design science are outlined, showing the role and context of the theory of technical systems. Designing is discussed as a mixture of systematic and intuitive processes. The systematic design processes are based on the theory of technical systems, suitably adapted to the design situation for the particular design problem. This systematic process is described in relation to the theory and to some other known methods. Its major application is for conceptualising products at various abstract levels of modelling, and allowing a wide search for alternatives at each level. The procedure then reaches into the layout and detailing stages. The systematic process is not only applicable to novel design problems (although it is set up for that task), but can also be applied to redesign problems.