Systems thinking for manufacturing: Distributed, multi-disciplinary simulations for graduate education

摘要

This project summary first discusses the methodology employed, distributed interactive simulation, then describes the architecture and some of the features of the project, and finally examines potential applications in graduate education. A distributed simulation is one composed of different modules that are resident on different computers. The top-level model consists of a number of integrated sub-models which exchange data. The sub-models are part of a functional whole; they are linked to each other by input and output parameters. A variable output by one sub-model is the input to one or more of the other sub-models, and vice-versa. Each sub-model depicts a separate facet of a complex system. This approach borrows conceptually from object-oriented programming, where each component is independent and encapsulated from the others, while exchanging data through a prescribed interface. The example used is a battery factory producing an advanced fuel cell for replacement of batteries in cellular phones.