Complexity demands a new engineering mindset

摘要

Mechatronic system design involves integration. From the very start of the design process, engineers combine a physical system with sensors, actuators, computer control, and human interfaces to give the system some intelligence and decision-making capability.rnAt its very heart, system complexity is synonymous with power. This power can be good or bad. If the complexity in any system is not tamed, the consequences can be devastating. We have witnessed some of the consequences of untamed complexity in the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in 1986, the recent world financial meltdown, and now the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. All are examples of systems of unimaginable complexity-intended or not-that were left unman-aged without common-sense, human-centered checks and balances, resulting in catastrophes of immense scope.