MBSE meets Virtual Vehicle Development

Tim Weilkiens MBSE 19. April 2012 | 0

Virtual Vehicle development is an exciting new technology. This week I’ve visited the 5^th Graz Symposium Virtual Vehicle in Graz (Austria). I was very impressed by the engineering methods & tools that were already reality. An important missing link for the virtual vehicle development is the combination of all the single models
and simulations in a comprehensive system model. MBSE is definitely an enabler for the virtual vehicle and essential for the automotive industry to handle the incredible challenges they were facing in the next year.

There is a huge demand for MBSE. Again it shows that it’s a hot race between existing capabilities of MBSE and the demand of the industry. We must keep moving at high speed to improve the MBSE methods & tools. The INCOSE challenge and activity teams are an important piece for this task.

The conference chair of the symposium invited me to moderate the MBSE Action Table. Ca. 15 automotive experts discussed 90 minutes about the challenges and opportunities of MBSE. I remember the following key outcomes of the discussion:

The system model does not replace existing models, but integrates them on the system level (requirements model, CAD, Modelica, and so on).
MBSE requires organizational changes.
Broad MBSE knowledge is missing in the automotive domain and MBSE is not sufficiently teached at universities.
MBSE enables virtual vehicle development.
MBSE enables interdisciplinary communication.
MBSE is important for safety aspects, e.g. regulatory rules from ISO 26262 (Road vehicles – Functional safety).
It is unclear how MBSE changes the traditional engineering roles like mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and so on.
The mindset of MBSE is hard to understand for mechanical engineers.
We need interoperability standards for data exchange between different engineering tools and the system model tool.

I’ve enjoyed the discussion very much. Thanks to all contributors.