EP2791836A1

EP2791836A1 - Method and device for solid design of a system

Info

Publication number: EP2791836A1
Application number: EP12826600.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Armand Nachef; François Terrier
Original assignee: Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives CEA
Current assignee: Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives CEA
Priority date: 2011-12-15
Filing date: 2012-12-13
Publication date: 2014-10-22
Also published as: FR2984561A1; WO2013087798A1; US20140350907A1; FR2984561B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method (40) for solid design of a system. The method comprises in particular a step (43) of constructing a solid model on the basis of solid bricks representing subsystems of the system, solid links representing relationships between the subsystems. The method furthermore comprises a step (44) of disembodying the solid model into a model suitable for being interpreted by a computer. The present invention applies in particular in the field of the production of industrial systems that are complex on account of their significant number of components, the various relationships between the numerous components.

Description

Method and device for solid design of a system

The present invention relates to a method and a device for solid design of a system. The present invention is particularly applicable in the field of the realization of complex industrial systems by their large number of components, the different connections between the many components.

In the field of designing systems including in particular multiple subsystems, it is common to use design software, such as computer-aided design software. Computer-aided design tools can use a graphical modeling language based on pictograms defined by a standard, for example the SysML standard, the English acronym for Systems Modeling Language, literally meaning system modeling language. The SysML language is a variant of the UML language, which stands for the Unified Modeling Language, literally meaning unified modeling language. SysML was created to be a universal visual design language. The power and interest of SysML comes from the fact that SysML standardizes semantics to describe the modeling concepts it uses. SysML is primarily a communication medium facilitating the representation and understanding of systems.

The increasing complexity of systems makes it increasingly difficult to represent a system on a screen or on a set of screens. Notably, the current computer screens are very small in size compared to the complexity of the system models. To remedy this problem, a zoom function can be used in design software. For example an object of the system can be represented by a name and it is necessary to enlarge it thanks to a function of zoom, to visualize the properties and function of the object. In the same way, it is necessary to enlarge each function to understand its behavior. In addition, systems modeling uses different points of view to model different facets of a system, such as its structure, the interactions between its components and the processes it performs. Each aspect can be modeled using a diagram specific, the different diagrams mutually complement each other. It has therefore become impossible to have an overview of a system that is sufficiently detailed. Thus, more and more systems are beyond the control of their designer and sometimes in the end a behavior that does not correspond to what the designer had wanted, or that does not meet the functional requirements to which it is subject. These design defects can only be detected later in the system test phases. A design defect detected once the system is made can be disabling for the system itself, said design defect being often impossible or very expensive to correct at this stage of the realization.

In addition, the architectural description is often represented by several views corresponding to different concerns (such as safety concerns, safety, performance, reliability, availability, maintenance capability, cost, lead time, cost-effectiveness, etc.). Each view is represented by dozens of models representing several abstractions of the system, of several levels. Each model in turn is represented by dozens of elements connected to each other with links of different natures. Each element or link also has dozens of properties taking values of various types. In addition, elements belonging to different models or views may similarly have matches together.

Because of this complexity, the exhaustive description of an architecture is represented in a database that quickly becomes very large and difficult to understand by a human. SysML diagrams are partial representations of this architectural description. These diagrams are used to help users understand the overall architecture of the system from snippets, and to complete system data entry using diagrams. However, existing SysML diagrams in their form and with the current tools may be ineffective. Indeed, the screens have limited dimensions that do not allow to represent the diagrams and their interactions exhaustively and exploitable. Moreover, the construction of SysML diagrams with available input devices (keyboard, mouse) remains very tedious work. An object of the invention is in particular to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for designing a system that comprises the prior construction of a solid model of the system, the solid model being constructed according to a solid meta-model, said solid model using solid bricks representing subsystems of the system, strong links representing relationships between subsystems of the system, solid bricks and solid links being physical objects associated with a respective identifier. The method comprises, in response to a modification of the solid model, a step of converting the solid model into a design model adapted to be interpreted by a computer, from the identifiers associated with each brick and each solid link, said conversion step comprising converting the solid model into a set of data representative of the solid model maintained in a solid model data structure. The first data structure is advantageously associated with a second data structure relating to the design model.

The method may further include converting the design template into assembly instructions for modifying the solid template in response to a modification of the design template.

The design template can be a SysML template.

The solid model can include static diagrams and dynamic diagrams, static diagrams defining the links between the solid bricks, dynamic diagrams defining successions of processing, message exchanges between the subsystems of the system.

In particular, the solid meta-model can define a grammar for the solid model, a context of use of the system, a mode of representation of the bricks and solid links according to their type.

Each solid brick and each solid link may have an identifying tag associated with its identifier.

In one embodiment of the invention, the identifiers of the bricks and solid links can be read using a digital device for reading and recognizing the solid model.

The solid model once read can be transcribed in a file containing data necessary for the description of the solid model and for the interpretation of the description data of the solid model by a computer.

According to one characteristic of the invention, the data structure associated with the solid model stores the physical characteristics of each solid block of the solid model.

The method may include a step of converting the data held in the solid model data structure into a mounting instruction to construct the corresponding solid model.

The step of converting the data maintained in the solid model data structure into a mounting instruction may include a step of transcribing the data maintained in the solid model data structure into a description file having data of the description solid model.

In addition, the method may comprise a step of identifying differences between the solid model and the data maintained in the data structure.

The solid meta-model can include representation concepts present in the SysML standard, the English acronym for Systems Modeling Language, literally meaning system modeling language.

The solid meta-model can include representation concepts present in the UML standard, which stands for Unified Modeling Language, literally meaning unified modeling language.

In particular, the method may comprise a software code generation step used by a software subsystem of the system.

The invention further proposes a device for designing a system comprising:

- a computer device,

- a construction zone for the construction of a solid model according to a solid meta-model, the solid model using solid bricks representing subsystems of the system, strong links representing relationships between the subsystems of the system, the bricks solid and solid links being physical objects associated with a respective identifier, and

at least one device for reading the solid model, the device being able, in response to a modification of the solid model, to convert the solid model into a design model adapted to be interpreted by the computing device, from the identifiers associated with each brick and each solid link read by the reading devices, said conversion comprising the conversion of the solid model into a set of data representative of the solid model maintained in a first data structure relating to the solid model. The first data structure is advantageously associated with a second data structure relating to the design model.

The identifiers may be written on respective labels by means of digital pens each comprising a handwritten data reader system, the reading devices of the solid model being constituted by the handwritten data reader systems of the digital pens.

The identifiers may be carried by labels of RFID tag type for the English expression Radio Frequency Identification, literally meaning radio frequency identification, the reading devices of the solid model being RFID reader devices.

The reading devices of the solid model may comprise at least three RFID readers which determine, according to a triangulation method, an arrangement of the bricks and solid links in a representation space of the solid model.

Alternatively, the identifiers may be carried by barcode type labels, and in that the reading devices further comprise barcode reader devices.

The reading devices of the solid model are arranged to convert the read data into suitable data to be transmitted to a computer and to be interpreted by a computer.

The device may comprise a robot capable of constructing the solid model according to instructions generated by the computer comprising the description of the solid model. The main advantages of the invention are to allow simple design of complex systems.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent with the aid of the description which follows, given by way of illustration and not limitation, and with reference to the appended drawings which represent:

• Figure 1: an example of modeling a system according to the state of the art;

• Figure 2: a process for designing a system according to the state of the art;

FIG. 3: a schematic diagram of the method according to the invention;

FIG. 4: a diagram of different steps of the method according to the invention;

· Figure 5: An example of modeling basics

SysML according to the state of the art;

FIG. 6: a diagram of a conventional SysML model of a system, made with solid bricks according to the invention;

FIG. 7: a classic example in SysML of decomposition of the system into subsystems according to the state of the art, made with solid bricks according to the invention;

• Figure 8: a classic example of a SysML model of use of the system, made with solid bricks according to the invention;

FIG. 9: an example of connections with strings between different system design diagrams made with solid bricks according to the invention;

FIG. 10: an example of an activity diagram of a subsystem of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 11: a first example of an asynchronous sequence diagram of a use case of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 12: a second example of a synchronous sequence diagram of a use case of the system according to the invention; FIG. 13: an example of a relationship between the first example of a sequence diagram and the second example of a sequence diagram, according to the invention;

Fig. 14 shows the data structures maintained in the computing device according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 15 illustrates the interactions between two of the data structures of Figure 14;

Fig. 16 is a block diagram showing the design system according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart representing the various steps implemented in response to the addition of a solid block to the solid model according to one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representing the various steps implemented in response to the addition of a solid link to the solid model according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 represents an exemplary modeling of a system according to the state of the art. The system in question can be a car, an airplane, or any other system with many subsystems. The modeling of a system uses in particular design tools, in the form of computer-aided design software, which use some or all of the notations and semantics described by the SysML language. Design software can offer different modeling axes 1 such as:

A static modeling axis 2, in particular using block diagrams for a static representation of the system;

A functional modeling axis 3, using, for example, diagrams of representations of different use cases;

A dynamic modeling axis 4, notably using activity diagrams, sequence diagrams, state / transition diagrams to represent system operations.

The design tools thus allow a creation and a modification of diagrams according to the graphic notation of SysML by example. The design tools therefore represent the system as a superposition of multiple diagrams, each diagram being representative of a modeling axis 1. For systems with many subsystems, the design tools do not provide an overall view of the system that is both clear and precise.

Figure 2 shows schematically a design process of a system according to the state of the art. The system design processes notably use a "back and forth" process as shown in FIG. 2. The process starts from a first model of the system 5, for example using the SysML language to produce a system. a back-design can be performed to update the first model of the system 5 from the system 6. Each system design is an iterative process of refinement, revision, modification of the architectural details of the system 6. The process "back and forth" allows a designer to edit the system model 5 at any time, while taking into account changes made by a developer of the system 6. This shortens the delay between the design and the system. System Implementation 6. The absence of a sufficiently detailed overview of the system and difficulty in mapping the system model diagrams 5 "back and forth" design / build process is very complex to implement or not supported by existing design tools.

The "back-and-forth" scheme can be applied to a design whose object is not the realization of the system 6 but the specification of the system 6. In this case, the embodiment 7 is replaced by a generation of specification documents for example: a specification, a detailed design file. The reverse engineering 8, in this case, can input the specification documents and produce a model of the system.

The "back and forth" scheme shown in Fig. 2 may also be applied to a software system. The system model 5 in this case is a UML model, an acronym for the Unified Modeling Language expression, literally meaning unified modeling language. The realization can be for example an automatic generation of code of a software of the system 6. FIG. 3 represents a schematic diagram of the method of designing a system according to the invention. The method according to the invention can for example take as input a model of the system 9. The model of the system can be written in SysML language, or any other modeling language.

The design process according to the invention comprises a so-called "materialization" step 1 1, making it possible to construct a "solid" model representing the system 6. The materialization step is a step of creating a real physical representation, in two or three dimensions of the SysML model. For example, the step of materialization can be a step of building a "solid" model composed of solid bricks connected to each other by solid links of ways to translate different diagrams of the SysML model. Solid links are concretely represented, allowing them to be identified and identified. Solid bricks have a precise definition thus giving them a clear semantics. Each solid brick can be identified by a "label" to ensure its uniqueness in the solid model 10. The label can be a name or a unique alphanumeric identifier for each solid model 10. The materialization step 1 1 can be performed manually or automatically by a robot according to assembly instructions produced from the SysML 9 model. The editing instructions can be produced by a first adapted software, said first software being able to check the equivalence of the SysML 9 models and solid 10.

The design method according to the invention may also include a reverse engineering step called dematerialization step 12. The dematerialization step 12 starts from a "solid" model 10 previously constructed either manually or automatically by a robot by example. The purpose of the dematerialization step is to convert the physical solid model into a set of data representative of the solid model maintained in a data structure adapted in the computing device. This data structure relating to the physical model is associated with a data structure relating to the corresponding sysML model. The dematerialization stage includes a step of reading the "solid" model by an adapted reader, connected to a computer, to translate the "solid" model into a SysML model for example. A second adapted software program reads the solid model 10, the analysis and then automatically transposes it into a SysML 9 model, for example, using the respective data structures associated with the physical model and the SysML model. The second software program identifies the bricks by reading their label and determines the links that connect them depending on the type of solid link used. Figure 4 shows various possible steps for the design process 40 according to the invention.

A preliminary step to the use of the design method according to the invention may be a step of designing a solid meta-model. The solid meta-model defines a grammar and a context of use of the meta-model. The context of use of the solid meta-model can be that of the domain for which modeling 1 is carried out. The field may be the field of the automobile, avionics, for example.

For modeling using a SysML model, the solid meta-model may for example include SysML representation concepts. Each element of a SysML modeling has a solid representation in the solid meta-model. In the same way, each SysML diagram can have a representation according to the solid meta-model. In another exemplary implementation of the method according to the invention, the solid meta-model may comprise UML modeling concepts. The solid meta-model can also define other information, in addition to modeling concepts, such as three-dimensional geometric representation information.

Another step prior to the use of the method according to the invention may be a basic brick design and manufacturing step, bricks connections between the basic bricks. Basic bricks can be embellished with connection points, or nodes. The basic bricks and bricks of connections are built according to the solid meta-model. Each element of the solid meta-model can therefore have a solid representation corresponding to a solid modeling element. Basic bricks, connecting bricks can be built in two dimensions according to a credit card format for example, or in three dimensions. Examples of base bricks are shown in Figure 5.

A first step of the design process according to the invention can be a design and manufacturing step 43 of the solid model 10 of the system 6. The solid model 10 can in particular be composed of solid diagrams. The solid model 10 includes connections between the various solid diagrams, connections between the bricks contained in separate solid diagrams, connections between bricks contained in each solid diagram. The solid model 10 may include static block diagrams, defining the blocks making up the system 6 and describing the relationships between the blocks of the system 6. The solid model 10 may also include dynamic diagrams, describing the behaviors of the system 6 such as: state diagrams, sequence diagrams, communication diagrams, activity diagrams.

Each element of the solid model 10 can be identified and its characteristics defined using, for example, labels associated with each of the objects of the system 6, links between objects, diagrams, links between the diagrams, and the solid model 10. A labeling of the Objects and diagrams can be realized in several different ways: for example labels can be printed and then associated with each object or diagram. Labels can also be handwritten. Another way of making labels is to use electronic displays on solid bricks fed with current. Identification labels can also be made in the form of code: a series of letters, a barcode in one or two dimensions, a chip, an RFID tag, an acronym for the English expression Radio Frequency Identification, meaning literally radio frequency identification. For example, an RFID tag may be associated with each block, or object of the solid model 10. A link between two objects of the solid model 10 may also be identified by an RFID tag and by the two RFID tags of the objects that it connects. A link can therefore be identified by a passive RFID tag with a potential for storing data, in order to store the RFID tags of the solid objects themselves. finding at the ends of the link. For example, the storage of RFID tags of the objects can be done by using a device for reading an RFID tag that writes the read RFID tag in the memory of the RFID tag of the link, for example. The reading can be triggered by a contact between the reading device and the RFID tag.

When the labels have names, codes, they can be read, for example, by a digital converter reader device, such as a digital pen. The digital pen can be equipped for example with a miniaturized camera integrated into the tip of the digital pen. The digital pen may also include an internal memory capable of storing the data acquired by the camera. The digital pen may also include a data exchange interface for transmitting to another device, for example a computer, the data acquired and stored by the digital pen. The data exchange interface may in particular use a Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth being a registered trademark by the company Bluetooth SIG Inc., a USB interface, acronym for the expression Universal Serial Bus means computer bus in serial transmission, or any other means for exchanging data between two electronic devices. One advantage of using a digital pen is that this type of pen makes it possible to convert handwritten notes into alphanumeric data. Thus the user can write as usual, the mini camera integrated into the tip of the pen automatically scans the handwritten document and the data is immediately stored in a memory integrated in the pen, for example in the handle of the pen. The data saved in the pen can then be transmitted over a data link as mentioned above to a computer. The collected handwritten information is then converted to digital data structured by a write recognition engine for example. Such data can then be translated according to a meta-model adapted to the representation of the solid model by the computer. For example, the data can be translated according to a SysML meta-model.

Dynamic diagrams can be represented in an animated way using particular bricks fed by an electric current and comprising for example LEDs, acronym for the expression Anglo-Saxon Light-Emitting Diode, meaning light-emitting diode. For example, for a sequence diagram, a message sending can be represented by the lighting of LEDs of several solid objects involved in the construction and sending of the message. Such a representation advantageously facilitates a global understanding of the system 6. Such a representation thus makes it possible to correct design errors, to improve the performance of the system 6. Examples of solid diagrams are shown in FIGS. 6 to 13. Advantageously, a representation dynamic dynamics can identify any potential malfunctions of the system well before its realization.

A second step of the design method according to the invention may be a first dematerialization step 44 of the solid model 10. The first dematerialization step 44 of the solid model 10 is a step of recognition of the solid model 10 by computer. The solid model 10 can be read automatically in order to reproduce on a computer the different elements of the solid model 10, for example according to the SysML format. Labels associated with objects and diagrams can be recognized and interpreted by a text recognition program for example. The solid model 10 can also be read by optical recognition software from photos of the solid model 10 for example. The solid model 10 can also be dematerialized by a method of reading barcodes of its constituent elements, then of association of the codes read with photos of the solid model 10. In another embodiment, the RFID tags used in the solid model can be read and located in space thanks to three RFID readers whose measurements can be triangulated. The dematerialization methods mentioned above can be used alone or in combination with each other.

Once read by a suitable device, the solid model 10 can be

"Flattened" in a first description file of the solid model 10 using for example the XML standard, an acronym for the extensible Anglo-Saxon markup language, literally meaning extensible markup language. One objective is in particular to be able to represent both the logical and physical structure of the solid model 10 in a file exploitable by a computer. If the solid model 10 is compatible with the SysML language, the first description file of the solid model 10 can be described for example according to an XMI information exchange standard, acronym for the expression XML Metadata Interchange. The XMI standard defines a standard for exchanging SysML metadata in XML. Advantageously, the first description and exchange file can be used to store description information of the solid model 10, for example position information in the space of the objects of the solid model 10. Indeed, certain types of information are necessary for a possible reconstruction of the solid model 10 but can not be exported in a SysML model.

A third step of the design method according to the invention can be a step of conversion of the solid model 10 described in a second description file into a dematerialized solid model on a computer. The dematerialized solid model can for example be converted into a SysML model for example, or a UML model when the system 6 includes software programs. The work of converting the XML data into SysML or UML data is done by a simple deduction, the second description file containing all the SysML or UML model description concepts.

When the system 6 comprises software elements, a step following the conversion step may be a code generation step for the software of the system 6. In the same way, from the dematerialized solid model, it is possible to generate automatic way of specification documents, design, for example.

Code generation can also be envisioned from the solid model directly using the appropriate software tools. Thus it is possible to have a dematerialized view of the solid model 10 and a view of the software code simultaneously. Thus a loop design requiring round trips between the solid model 10 and the generated code can be achieved.

The design method of the invention may include a step of materializing a design model into a new solid model. The design model can be a SysML model, UML, or the previously dematerialized solid model 10. A first step of the materialization in solid model can be a step of conversion of the design model into a third XML description file, XMI for example. The third file of description of the solid model contains descriptions of objects necessary for the construction of the solid model. The design model does not necessarily contain all the data needed to build the solid model. For example, geometric description and object positioning data.

A second step of materialization 45 of the solid model can be a step of generating construction instructions of the solid model. Construction instructions can be generated as a solid model construction instruction manual. The construction instructions can be made manually or automatically by a robot for example. The object positioning description data can be generated by usual automatic object placement algorithms in a space, such as anti-recovery algorithms for example commonly used by graphical interfaces. Geometric descriptions of objects can be deduced from the solid meta-model that defines a representation for each type of object. For example, the instructions for use may include the following instructions: first place all the solid elements corresponding to blocks in a block diagram. The objects can then be connected to each other. Another way to build the solid model is to connect the solid blocks to each other as they are placed in the different solid model diagrams. Construction instructions can be provided to a robot to build the solid model.

The method according to the invention can also provide on demand or continuously a differential between the real solid model and the dematerialized solid model by identifying for example the differences between the second description file resulting from the materialization 45 of the solid model and the first one. Description file resulting from the dematerialization 44. For this purpose, the solid model can be scanned at any time of its construction to represent it according to a fourth XML description file for example. Then, the fourth description file can be compared to a reference file of the solid model, said reference file being able to represent the last saved state of the solid model. A criterion for evaluate the differences between the fourth file and the reference file can be the following: two description files are equivalent if and only if they can lead to the same model SysML, UML for example. A solid block shift without changing its connections for example is not considered a change in the solid model. When the fourth file is different from the reference file, new construction instructions can be generated for example to correct the solid model. Advantageously, the fact of being able to keep up to date a difference between a solid model and the dematerialized solid model can be used for collaborative work on the same model of teams of designers located in distinct geographic areas for example.

FIG. 5 represents an example of basic bricks 50 of the device according to the invention, modeled on a SysML model. For example, in FIG. 5, a first block 51 may be represented by a first card on which the word Block appears. The first block 51 may also be represented by a parallelepiped. The first block 51 may comprise several cartridges for example, each cartridge being able to define a part or a reference of the first block 51. A cartridge in the present description can be represented in the form of a box of a table, a stage of a parallelepiped. The different cartridges may for example have a distinct color depending on the type of information they represent.

A second brick 52 may represent a use case. A use case is a description of a possible use of the system 6. A use case may also be represented by a particular surface on which are placed bricks of description of the use case.

A third brick 53 may represent a package. A package is a set of blocks grouped according to a property criterion of each block. A package can also be represented by a box in which are gathered the blocks composing the package. A package may also be represented by a surface of a particular texture on which the bricks of the package 53 may be placed. A fourth brick 54 may represent an actor intervening for example in a case of use of the system. For example, an actor may be a user of the system. An actor can be characterized by a type, an identifier. Information to characterize and identify the actor can be represented on the fourth brick 54, or on a label attached to the fourth brick 54.

A fifth brick 55 may represent a state of the system for example in a use case.

A sixth brick 56 may represent an activity of the system 6. A seventh brick 57 may represent a dependency link, for example between two blocks. This link can be a string, a rope or a copper wire for example.

An eighth brick 58 may represent an association shared between two blocks, called "shared association" in English language.

A ninth brick 59 can represent an association part between two blocks, named part association in Anglo-Saxon language. In general, the aggregations may be represented by wires, rhombic tip pipes for example.

A tenth brick 500 may be a note to include comments in the solid model.

For the example, FIGS. 6 to 9 are based on examples of conventional SysML models, in order to simply expose the model construction method using solid bricks according to the invention.

FIG. 6 and following illustrate examples of use of the method according to the invention for producing, and more particularly for designing, a system 6. The system 6 used for the example is a vehicle 60. FIG. Automotive Modeling696 61. For example, the modeling diagram 696 represents the environment 697 of a motor vehicle 60. The environment 697 can be represented by a support of a defined texture and color. For example, in Figure 6, the environment 697 is represented by a metallic color support. To design a system 6, it is essential to identify all the elements external to the system 6 able to interact with this system. latest. In the case of an automobile system 60 or vehicle 60, the external elements may be occupants 62, 63, 64, baggage 66 and a physical external environment 65 comprising the route 69 entities, atmosphere 68, other external entities 67 like traffic lights, other vehicles. The automotive domain 61 can be represented in the form of a solid block diagram as shown in FIG. 6 for example.

The automotive field 61 is represented by a solid block. The automotive domain 61 is the highest level block. The automotive domain block 61 may be composed of other blocks such as the vehicle 60, a driver 63, zero or more passengers 64, a physical environment 65, one or more luggage 66. The composition links between the automobile domain 61 and the blocks 60, 63, 64, 65, 66 may be represented as solid arrows 601, 631, 641, 651, 661. In the same way, the physical environment block 65 may be composed of the road blocks 69, atmosphere 68, external entity 67. The composition links between the physical environment block 65 may be respectively represented by solid arrows 691, 681, 671.

In the example shown in Figure 6, the passengers 64, the conductor 63 may derive from a block representing an occupant 62. The bypass links can be represented by solid links 621, 622.

Each block 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 is identified by a label 600, 610, 620, 640, 650, 660, 670, 680, 690. Each label may include the name of the block, the number of object of the block that can compose the system in the form of cardinality as for the attached label 640 attached to the passenger block 64 which defines the following cardinality: from zero to four. In the same way, the cardinality associated with the conductor 63 and noted on a conductive label 630, is equal to one. Tags can also have block-specific data types to which they are attached:

A vehicle tag 600, attached to the vehicle block may include speed information expressed as a real number;

An atmosphere label 680, attached to the atmosphere block 68, may include temperature information in degrees Celsius, humidity in percent; • A road label 690, attached to the road block 69, may include friction factor information expressed by a real number, an inclination expressed in radian. Fig. 7 shows a block diagram 70 of a vehicle

60. The block diagram 70 makes it possible to represent subsystems that make up the vehicle. Vehicle 60 is shown in block diagram 70 as a container which can be represented as a carrier 87 of a particular color or texture, for example.

The vehicle is composed of the following subsystems:

• suspensions 71;

• brakes 72;

A chassis 86;

• an interior 73;

· A powertrain74;

A starter 75;

• a driving system 76;

• an electrical system 77;

A reservoir 78;

· A motor 79;

• a differential 80;

A mechanical transmission 81;

A wheel train 82;

• a processor and its controller 83.

Compositional links may be represented by rods which connect each subsystem to the vehicle 60. To represent the wheels of the vehicle 60, the wheel train subsystem 82 starts two composition links 820, 821, to represent each train of wheel: a front train, a rear train. The engine 79 can be made by two subsystems: a four-cylinder engine 85, or a six-cylinder engine 84. The alternative between the two types of subsystems 84, 85 is represented by a double composition link 850, 840 , the two links of composition 850, 840 being made integral with each other. FIG. 8 shows a solid brick construction according to the invention, of a conventional example of a SysML diagram, showing use cases of the vehicle system 60. The vehicle 60 is represented by a first support 21, the support 21 comprising cases of use of the vehicle 60. The use cases of the vehicle 60 may be the following:

• drive 23;

• control of accessories 24, such as turn signals, lights, mirrors, seats, a cigarette lighter;

• land 25;

· Board 26.

Each use case is connected to an actor outside the vehicle 60. For example the use of the driving case 23 is performed only by the driver 63. The control of the accessories can be implemented by any occupant 62 whose passengers 64 and In the same way, the use cases land 25 and embraquer 26 can be made by any occupant 62 of the vehicle 60 including the driver 63 and a passenger 64. The occupants 62, passenger 64 and driver 63 are represented on a support 22 representing the outside of the vehicle 60. FIG. 9 represents an overall view of the modeling diagrams 696 of the automobile domain 61, blocks 70 of the vehicle 60, use cases 20. In the figure 9 a first link 90 makes it possible to connect the different diagrams. The first link 90 in fact connects the vehicle object 60 present in each of the diagrams.

FIG. 10 represents an exemplary activity diagram 300 of a subsystem 302 of the vehicle system 60. FIG. 10 shows a simplified model 301 of an electrical system of the vehicle 60. The electrical system 301 notably comprises a processor 302. The activity diagram 300 represents an algorithm for controlling an ABS system, which stands for safety anti-lock, of the vehicle 60. The control algorithm of the ABS system can be implemented by the processor 302, by the intermediate of a software program implementing the algorithm. The input data of the algorithm is represented by a second link 303 connected to the activity diagram by an input point IN and connected to the processor 302. The output data of the algorithm are represented by a third link 304, connecting outputs, in particular two outputs OUT of the algorithm to processor 302. FIG. 11 represents a first example of an asynchronous sequence diagram 400 of a first use case of the vehicle system 60 according to the invention. In Figure 1 1, interactions between the conductor 63, the vehicle 60 and an electrical service station 401 are shown for the example. Thus, the driver sends a first start command 402 to the vehicle 60. The first order is received by a subsystem of the vehicle 60: a propulsion unit 403 for example. The power unit estimating that the energy is insufficient in a battery of the vehicle 60 to start, it emits a 404 energy demand at the 401 electric service station. Then, the driver can for example transmit a new order 405 to the propulsion unit, requesting the extinction of the vehicle 60. The first bars 406, 407, 408 respectively represent the driver 63, the vehicle 60, the electrical service station 401, evolving in time.

FIG. 12 represents a second example of a synchronous sequence diagram, the first case of use of the system according to the invention. In particular, FIG. 12 represents a diagram of events occurring in the propulsion unit 402. The synchronous sequence diagram 409 may represent an enlargement of the synchronous sequence diagram 400 to represent in more detail the treatments carried out inside the propulsion unit. 402. The synchronous sequence diagram 409 implements the following actors, subsystem of the power unit 402: a starter 410, a motor controller 41 1, such as an injection pump for example, a motor battery 412. Second bars 413, 414, 415 respectively represent a time evolution of starter subsystems 410, motor controller 41 1, motor battery 412, respectively. When the thruster block 402 receives a start command 403, the starter 410 transmits a start request to the motor controller 41 1 on the one hand 416 and on the other hand 417 to the battery of the engine 412. If the battery of the engine 412 is In operation, the motor controller 41 1 transmits to the engine battery 412 the start command 418. Optionally, if necessary, the motor battery can address a power request 419 which will be routed to the electrical service station 401 as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 represents an example of a relationship between the asynchronous sequence diagram 400 and the asynchronous sequence diagram 409 shown respectively in FIGS. 11 and 12. The relationship between the two diagrams 400, 409 may be represented by a link 420 between the propulsion unit 402 represented on the asynchronous diagram 400 and the same propulsion unit 402 represented on the synchronous diagram 402.

As the solid model is supplemented by different diagrams, an important number of objects may become necessary. In order to reduce the production costs of a solid model according to the invention, the solid objects can be made of a plentiful and inexpensive material that is easy to cut like foamed polyurethane foam boards. Expanded polyurethane also has the following advantages: it is dense, light, inexpensive and easy to cut and drill. The connections between the objects can easily be made by thin rods, for example, with a pointed tip capable of penetrating the expanded polyurethane to physically bind the objects together.

By way of example, by following the method according to the invention, all the solid brick models of FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 can be produced within two hours. , which is at least as fast as building these same models with existing SysML modelers.

Advantageously, the solid model can obey a solid meta-model for defining the bricks and links between the bricks. The meta-model can advantageously be adapted to the field of the system produced, for example in the automotive field. Thus, the solid model can be easily created, understood, validated, and modified by system domain experts who are not necessarily trained in the use of another modeling language, such as SysML, for example. Advantageously, the use of such a meta-model makes it possible to improve the facility of understanding of the system by the designers. Thus, the quality of the system and the productivity are improved by the design method according to the invention.

On the other hand, a solid design model according to the invention advantageously allows the understanding of the modeled system: indeed, naturally, the human brain assimilates and analyzes more easily tangible and palpable objects. It is enough to scan the solid model for a global vision. It is finally easy to change your point of view by moving around the model for example.

In addition to the advantages of understanding the system through the solid model according to the invention, such a solid model can be built very quickly. The time saving compared to the realization of the same model with a design software makes it possible to quickly represent concepts of construction of the system in order to make them comprehensible for all the designers of the system. In addition, there is no space limit with respect to the dimensions of the solid model, the latter can be built in a shed for example or in a meeting room at the desired level of detail.

Another advantage of using a solid model is that it can possibly serve as a support for the porting of the solid model from a first design software using a first meta-model to a second design software using a second meta-model. -model.

Figures 14 and 15 show the data structures 150 maintained in the computing device, according to one embodiment of the invention.

In this embodiment, the data structures of the computing device comprise a first data structure, for example a database, hereinafter referred to as "BD-BS", associated with the solid bricks. The BD-BS data structure can be read dynamically as solid bricks are built. It is initialized with information about the solid brick system. The BD-BS structure advantageously comprises an inlet for each solid brick of the chosen solid brick system. The BD-BS data structure associates with each solid brick available for use in the model solid a set of fields representative of the properties of bricks (eg fields "size", "shape", "materials", "color", "connection points", "photos", "constraints", etc.). In the embodiments of the invention, where each brick of the solid model is associated with a unique identifier (for example carried by an RFID tag or a barcode), this identifier can be used as the primary key of the inputs of the structure BD-BS.

The data structures 150 may further comprise a second data structure, hereinafter referred to as "BD-DA", associated with the architectural description of the system, including all the views, the models associated with each view and the correspondences between the models. . This BD-DA structure can be in particular in the form of a database. The BD-DA data structure advantageously contains the elements of the models which conform to the SysML standard.

The data structures 150 may also comprise a third data structure, hereinafter referred to as "BD-MS", for example in the form of a database. This BD-MS structure stores solid model data that complements the standard architectural description whose information is maintained in the BD-DA structure. BD-MS can therefore be used for the reconstruction of the solid model in the case, for example, where the BD-MS and BD-DA data structures are sent to another team.

When a given solid brick is used in a solid model, the entry that is associated with that brick in the BD-BS database is copied into the BD-MS structure. The BD-MS structure further contains fields representative of the positioning of the solid bricks in the solid model as well as other fields describing the characteristics of each solid connection (e.g., the properties of the fastener between two solid bricks).

Advantageously, the identifier associated with a solid brick is used as the primary key in the three data structures, which makes it possible to synchronize the information of the three structures.

The modeling of a system can thus be fully represented in the two data structures BD-DA and BD-MS, the first data structure BD-DA containing the standard SysML models while the second data structure contains the physical characteristics of the data. models having been built with solid bricks (Figure 15). In addition, the evolution of a model can be reflected dynamically in these data structures, by means of the design method according to the invention. Such data structures thus make it possible to pass from the physical solid model to the SYSML model or vice versa, in a transparent manner, and thus to benefit from the combined advantages of physical modeling and computer modeling.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is intended to associate with any element of the architectural description, whether a component or a link between two components, a unique identifier. The unique identifier is advantageously used to maintain a correspondence between the information maintained in the data structures 150 and the physical solid model. The identifier may be chosen as a series of bytes having a unique value for each element. The identifier can be associated with the solid bricks of the physical model by means of a suitable support such as a label stuck on the solid brick which contains the value of this identifier, a barcode (in 1D or 2D) stuck on solid brick, an RFID tag embedded in the solid brick, or any other medium making it possible to capture the information relating to the identifier by means of a suitable electronic or computer device.

The remainder of the description will be made with reference to a barcode-type support affixed to each solid brick and containing the identifier of the brick, as a non-limiting example.

The solid bricks that can be used for the construction of the solid model can be of different types, for example in the form of material blocks having a chosen shape (eg cubes, spheres, cones, tetrahedrons, wheels or any shape geometric in 3 dimensions).

The solid bonds may have any physical form representing a connection between two bricks (e.g., rigid rods, shape-changing wires, arrows, etc.).

Solid containers that represent the concept of packages or namespaces can have any structure adapted to contain or support a set of bricks (eg boxes, trays, etc.). Solid diagrams have a semantics different from solid containers in that they correspond to a partial solid representation of the system architecture. They can be constructed using any suitable physical element such as jars or trays. The chosen representation may be such that it makes it possible to distinguish between structure and behavior diagrams (activities, use cases, sequences, communications, automata, etc.).

The following description will be made with reference to an embodiment in which the solid connections are configured to connect two solid blocks together, by way of non-limiting example. According to this embodiment, there are thus predefined connection points on each solid brick for connecting a solid connection with a solid block. In the remainder of the description, two categories of solid bricks for illustration purposes will also be distinguished: solid blocks and solid connections.

In the solid model, each solid block has a given position in the physical space, for example a position represented by the coordinates (x, y, z) where x, y, z are integers. Of course, those skilled in the art will understand that different arrangements of solid blocks in space are possible (they can be for example superimposed using trellis).

Figure 16 shows the architecture of the design device 160 according to one embodiment of the invention. It comprises at least one server 1600 that can be equipped with a monitor housing the data structures 150 (BD-BS, BD-MS and BD-DA), a set of 1602 information capture devices (also known as reading in the present description) fixed or mobile configured to read the identifier of the solid elements of the model, such as for example one or more tablets provided with a barcode reader and provided to the participants in the modeling. The information capturing devices 1602 may further be provided with a position detection module configured to detect the position of a new solid model element. The information capture devices 1602 are connected to the server 1600 and are arranged in a physical zone dedicated to the construction of the solid model 62, also called the construction zone, so as to be in the range of the selected supports on the bricks. In the construction zone, the participants (technical experts, architects, etc.) have a set of solid elements (in the form of a kit) containing a plurality of solid blocks and solid links (1608) associated with the BD-BS data structure pre-installed on the 1600 server. These elements can be added to the solid model (1606) as the design progresses, while the server will dynamically capture this information to update the SysML model.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing the various steps implemented by the design method, in response to the addition of solid blocks in the solid model, according to an embodiment of the invention.

In step 1700, in response to adding a solid block to the solid model at a given location of the construction zone, the capture devices 1602 (or reading devices) determine the identifier associated with the solid block, for example by reading the barcode associated with this block when the capture devices are of the barcode reader type connected to an electronic tablet. Alternatively, the identifier may be captured dynamically in embodiments where the capture devices are adapted to detect media in a range (e.g., RFID readers arranged to cover the area of construction).

In step 1702, the capture devices 1602 transmit the information to the server 1600.

In step 1704, the server reads the identifier and creates an entry associated with this identifier in the two data structures BD-DA and BD-MS.

In step 1706, it selects the entry corresponding to the identifier in the BD-BS data structure, and copies the part of the fields associated with this entry that represent solid properties of the block, such as physical properties (for example, for example, size, shape, photo, alloy, etc.) in the input of the BD-MS data structure whose primary identifier is the read identifier (input created in step 1704). In step 1707, the server copies the other part of the fields of the BD-BS entry that correspond to SysML properties into the entry of the data structure of BD-DA which has as the primary key the received identifier (entry created in step 1704). The identifier of the solid block thus makes it possible to associate the fields linked to this block in the three data structures of the data structures 150.

In step 1702, the capture devices 1602 can also identify the position (x, y, z) of the solid block when it is positioned in the solid model and transmit it to the server 1600, in embodiments where the Information capture devices include a position detection module. The server will then store these coordinates in the entry corresponding to the identifier of the block in the data structure BD-MS in step 1706.

As an alternative, for example when the information capturing devices 1602 are in the form of at least one tablet provided with a bar code reader, the server can generate the display of a control tool having an interface graphic allowing interactions between the user or users and the server in a step 1708. The control tool can be displayed on a computer equipment other than the capture devices (for example central monitor) and / or on an associated display device capture devices, for example on the screen of the user's tablet that read the identifier when the capture devices are of the tablet type. The display on a central monitor allows other users possibly present in the construction zone, which may for example be a table, to follow the evolution of the modeling. The user can use this control tool to declare the properties of the solid block and / or SysML properties associated with this solid block if they were not initially stored in the BD-DA data structure. In response to such data entries, the server updates this information in the BD-DA data structure in step 1710.

The user can then position the solid block in the solid model and enter the position coordinates (x, y, z) of this block on the graphical interface of the control tool. These coordinates are then transmitted to the server at step 1712 which stores them in the BD-MS data structure.

Steps 1700 to 1712 are repeated for each solid block positioned in the model. When a user introduces a solid link between two solid blocks previously positioned in the solid model, in the physical construction area, the information capturing devices 1602 are configured to read the bar code of the solid link to extract the identifier. of the link at step 1800. The identifier of the link is sent to the server which by access to the database BD-BS determines that it is a connection element in step 1802. It then sends an instruction to read the identifiers of the solid blocks connected by the solid link. The capture devices 1602 then read the identifiers associated with the blocks connected by the solid link at step 1804, and transmit to the server at step 1806. At step 1808, the server creates an entry associated with the link in the BD-DA and BD-MS data structures whose primary key is the identifier of the link. In step 1810, the server copies the fields of the entry corresponding to the identifier of the link in the data structure BD-BS to the structure BD-MS when they relate to physical properties of the link and to the BD-DA data structure when relating to SysML properties (step 1812). The identifier of the link makes it possible to associate the fields linked to the link in the 3 data structures. The server further updates the connection information between the solid blocks in the data structure BD-DA and the data structure BD-MS in response to the reading of the 2 identifiers associated with the blocks connected by the current link to the step 1814

The user can enter the properties of the connection points in the control tool. They will then be forwarded to the server that will store the properties in the BD-MS data structure.

Steps 1800 to 1814 are repeated for each solid link positioned in the physical model.

In addition, the design device according to the invention allows any user in the construction zone to check the properties of a solid element via the graphical interface of the control tool by scanning the identification medium of the solid element (for example barcode of this brick).

In addition, auxiliary labels can be affixed to solid bricks to facilitate understanding of the solid model. The information carried by these labels is then transmitted to the server via the control tool or by any suitable means so that the server 1600 stores this information in the BD-MS data structure.

Thus, in the same architectural description, several solid models of the same system can be constructed according to the invention with different users in order to take into account different approaches. The design device according to the invention makes it possible to maintain an almost real-time correspondence between the physical model and the SysML data, and thus exploit both the real modeling environment and the computer modeling environment to achieve an optimized and complete model.

The design apparatus of the invention allows users (designers, architects, etc.) to specify modeling inputs in an unrestricted real space that provides a clear view of the model being constructed, while having computational resources computer modeling system. The synchronization between the two work environments is almost transparent, and requires a minimum of operations on the part of the users.

By directly manipulating the robust model whose information is captured by the server in near real time, users can collaborate more efficiently while having the resources of computer modeling tools. The SysML model is captured in parallel and evolves almost dynamically with the solid model. However, SysML modeling and physical modeling data are maintained in separate data structures that can communicate with one another through solid block identifiers. The architect can at any time add SysML (non-physical) diagrams to support the solid model, without this affecting the DB-MS database linked to the solid model. The result of dematerialization of the solid model (capture of the physical model by the server) is maintained in the DB-MS data structure. This data structure can be transmitted on request to any geographic location for the reconstruction of the solid model (materialization).

Claims

1. A method of designing (40) a system, characterized in that it comprises beforehand the construction (43) of a solid model of the system, said solid model (70) being constructed according to a solid meta-model, said model solid (70) using solid bricks (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77) representing subsystems of the system, solid links (710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770) representing relationships between the subsystems of the system, solid bricks and solid links being physical objects associated with a respective identifier, and in that it comprises in response to a modification of the solid model, a conversion step (44) from the solid model (70) to a computer-readable design model from the identifiers associated with each brick and each solid link, said converting step including converting the solid model into a set of data representative of solid model may in a first data structure relating to the solid model, said data structure being associated with a second data structure relating to the design model. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises converting (45) the design model into assembly instructions to modify the solid model in response to a modification of the design model (45). 3. Method according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the design model is a SysML model.

4. A method of designing a system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the solid model comprises static diagrams (696, 70, 20) and dynamic diagrams (300, 400, 409), the static diagrams (696, 70, 20 defining the links between the solid bricks (710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770), the dynamic diagrams defining successions of processing (403, 404, 405), message exchanges between the subsystems of the system.

5. Method for designing a system according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the solid meta-model defines a grammar for the solid model, a context of use of the system, a mode of representation of the bricks and strong links according to their type.

6. A method of designing a system according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each solid brick (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77) and each solid link (1820, 1821) has an identification tag associated with its identifier.

7. Design method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the identifiers of the bricks and solid links are read by means of a digital reading device and recognition of the solid model.

8. Design method according to claim 7, characterized in that the solid model once read is transcribed in a file containing data necessary for the description of the solid model and the interpretation of the description data of the solid model by a computer. .

9. A method of designing a system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data structure associated with the solid model stores the physical characteristics of each solid brick of the solid model.

10. A method of designing a system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises a step of converting the data maintained in the data structure relative to the solid model assembly instructions to build the corresponding solid model.

1 1. A method of designing a system according to claim 10, characterized in that the step of converting the data maintained in the data structure relating to the solid model into assembly instructions comprises a step of transcribing the data maintained in the solid model data structure into a description file including data from the solid model description.

13. A method of designing a system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it comprises a step of identifying differences between the solid model and the data maintained in the data structure.

14. A method of designing a system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the solid meta-model comprises representation concepts present in the SysML standard, acronym for the English expression Systems Modeling Language, literally meaning system modeling language. 15. A method of designing a system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the solid meta-model comprises representation concepts present in the UML standard, acronym for the English expression Unified Modeling Language, literally meaning unified modeling language.

16. The method of claim 1 5, characterized in that it comprises a software code generation step used by a software subsystem of the system. 17. Device for designing a system (60), characterized in that it comprises:

a computer device,

a construction zone for the construction of a solid model according to a solid meta-model, said solid model (70) using solid bricks (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77) representing subsystems of the system, solid links (710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770) representing relationships between the subsystems of the system, the solid bricks and the solid links being physical objects associated with a respective identifier, and at least one device for reading the solid model, said devices converting information describing the solid model into digital data,

the device being adapted, in response to a modification of the solid model, to convert (44) the solid model (70) into a design model adapted to be interpreted by the computing device, from the identifiers associated with each brick and each a solid link read by the reading devices, said conversion comprising converting the solid model into a set of data representative of the solid model maintained in a first data structure relating to the solid model, said first data structure being associated with a second data structure; design model data.

18. Apparatus for solid design of a system according to claim 17, characterized in that the identifiers are written on respective labels using digital pens each having a handwritten data reader system, the reading devices of the solid model being constituted by handwritten data reader systems of digital pens.

19. Device for solid design of a system according to claim 17, characterized in that the identifiers are carried by RFID tags type tags for the English expression Radio Frequency Identification, literally meaning radio frequency identification, and in that the reading devices of the solid model are RFID reader devices.

20. Device according to claim 19, characterized in that the reading devices of the solid model comprise at least three RFID readers which determine, according to a triangulation method, an arrangement of the bricks and solid links in a representation space of the solid model.

21. Device according to the claims, characterized in that the identifiers are carried by barcode type labels, and in that the reading devices further comprise barcode reader devices.

22. Device according to any one of claims 17 to 21, characterized in that the reading devices of the solid model are arranged to convert the read data to suitable data to be transmitted to a computer and to be interpreted by a computer.

23. Device according to any one of claims 17 to 22, characterized in that the device comprises a robot capable of constructing the solid model according to instructions generated by the computer comprising the description of the solid model.