Complexity Miniproject for 2010
Self-Resilient Production Systems: Going Beyond Design Robustness
Professor Darek Ceglarek
Digital Laboratory, WMG, University of Warwick
E-mail: d.j.ceglarek@warwick.ac.uk; Ph. (0)24 765 72681; Website: digiPLM.org
The increase in complexity of modern systems means that achieving dependability of current
and future interconnected industrial systems, such as production systems and emerging digital
technologies, will require tremendous advances in system engineering methods. Generally, highperformance engineering leads to systems that are robust to errors for which they were designed
but fragile to unforeseen events. Industrial system performance or yield optimization can lead to
catastrophic outcomes as was the case in a USA power grid failure in 2003 which resulted in a
massive widespread power outage throughout North-eastern and Midwestern United States and
Ontario, Canada or current Toyota recall.
This project aims to introduce a method for generating power law distributions, referred to as
self-resilient system, which is triggered by failures that occur in advance engineering
technologies. The focus is on systems which are optimized through engineering design to
provide robust performance despite uncertain environment -- design-for-uncertainty.
Background: applied statistics, control theory (helpful); percolation models (helpful); interest
in simulation/analysis of engineering systems
Prospective deliverables:
(1) modeling of complex engineered system - such as aerospace automotive structure (1000 or
more components) in the form of cellular automata or 3D lattice. Necessary information for
development of the model will be provided.
(2) develop a discrete spectrum of faults propagation models characterized by increasing design
degrees of freedom ~DDOF’s. and in presence random risks.
Potential follow-up Ph.D. project: The suggested miniproject can lead to development of a generic selfresilient framework for simulation of complex products which will expand current limitations of design
robustness.