FRAMING THE CONCEPT OF AUTONOMY IN SYSTEM DESIGN
DS 92: Proceedings of the DESIGN 2018 15th International Design Conference
Year: 2018
Editor: Marjanović D., Štorga M., Škec S., Bojčetić N., Pavković N.
Author: Beernaert, Torben Frans; Bayrak, Alparslan Emrah; Etman, L. F. P.; Papalambros, Panos Y.
Series: DESIGN
Section: SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND DESIGN
Page(s): 2821-2832
DOI number: https://doi.org/10.21278/idc.2018.0281
Abstract
Advancements in multiple domains have led to a focus on autonomy in engineered systems. This focus necessitates a clear definition of the term ‘autonomy’ and its implications for system design. To this end, we present a framework that defines autonomy mathematically as a function of independence and task complexity. A deeper understanding is established by generating design principles that can be used to influence autonomy. We illustrate these concepts on autonomy quantification for a coffee machine and on a qualitative retrospective assessment of the evolution of autonomy for the automobile.
Keywords: autonomy, independence, complexity, characteristics and properties, design guidelines