Well-accepted in quality domain, traditional Robust Design offers a widely appreciated approach for the parametric exploration of the design space in order to reduce a product's sensitivity to variation from manufacture/assembly tolerances, material properties, loading conditions, ambient use conditions, or time related changes such as creep and wear. From the perspective of design research however, the exclusive focus on (physical/virtual) experimentation strategies and sensitivity studies is a significant hurdle to the overall potential of RD thinking, as it is focusing almost exlusively on largely matured products, devices and production equipment so that their performance and function is insensitive to variance, where the variance can come from
DTU's Robust Design research group therefore promotes a new, design-oriented perspective on Robust Design. Aiming at a suitable support for all development phases (a coherent Robust Design Methodology), we develop new methods, and simulation tools that allow for a targeted analysis and improvement of a variety of systems. A specific focus lies on suitable design options for highly integrated products, such as medical devices or IoT devices:
- Early Stage Robustness approaches and indicators
- Design Trade-offs in highly integrated systems
- Development of integrated IoT devices
- Virtual Robustness Assessments and Variation Simulation
- Generative Robust Design approach