ABSTRACT
Whether designed from an original idea or on the basis of an adaptive or variant system, discrete products are first analyzed according to the system-engineering principle. The discrete product is a system that is divided into subsystems, and each subsystem performs a function (process) in response to an initial input and yields an expected output. The input may be provided by another subsystem or by an external source and the output may be supplied to another subsystem or to an external sink. The input or procedure to provide the input to the process, the process details, and the output or the procedure to receive the output from the process is generally based on the relevant principles of mechanical engineering, control engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, and computer engineering or computer science. Expanding further, the relevant principles of mechanical engineering, for example, may derive from solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics. See Figure 1.4 to Figure 1.6 for the basic layout for the input, process, and output principles that apply to discrete components, structures, assemblies, mechanisms, machines, and various types of processes.
