ABSTRACT
SUMMARY This chapter presents a theory of concurrent mechatronic design and the development steps of an evolutionary mechatronic design tool. The aim is to synthesize the structure of a mechatronic design solution from a very basic and high-level definition of the problem as given by an expert designer. The automated design tool is generated by integrating a bond graph-based modeling tool as an integrated modeling environment for mixed mechatronic systems, together with genetic programming as a powerful topology exploration and optimization tool. Advanced features of the tool are presented by using a two-loop design model as well as by incorporating a niching optimization scheme. An ultimate goal of this approach is to automate the intelligence that is provided by a human expert designer in evolving an optimal design for an engineering system.
