Conceptual Design of Multi-Domain Dynamics for Actuation Systems Using a Bond Graph Automated Procedure

The conceptual design stage is an early stage in the design process that is well suited to determining the functional interaction between different subsystems. In the conceptual design stage one generally comes up with a model with too many parameters and too little knowledge to estimate appropriate parameter values. Model simplification and reduction techniques can be applied to reduce the number of parameters and the model order. The parameters in this reduced order model are a combination of the parameters of the original model. A Bond graph is domain independent, allows free composition, and is efficient for classification and analysis of models, allowing rapid determination of various types of acceptability or feasibility of candidate designs. This can sharply reduce the time needed for analysis of designs that are infeasible or otherwise unattractive.