Mechatronic design quotient as the basis of a new multicriteria mechatronic design methodology

A concurrent, integrated, and, multicriteria methodology is presented for the conceptual design of mechatronic systems. It uses an evaluation model called mechatronic design quotient (MDQ) to facilitate decision-making in the design process. A nonlinear fuzzy integral is used for the aggregation of criteria in MDQ, thereby accommodating possible correlations among them. The performance of the developed methodology is validated by applying it to an industrial fisk cutting machine called Iron Butcher-an electromechanical system that falls into the class of mixed or multidomain systems.