Mechatronic Systems Engineering - Theory and Automotive Practice

Paper in proceeding, 2010

Over a century, automotive engineering was a mainly mechanical principle. Mechanical engineering has a much longer history, with methodology research coming up around 150 years ago. Only in recent years mechatronic thinking has been entering the scene, leading to first mechatronics-based process models, which are however not consistently applied in industrial practice, yet. This paper investigates how state-of-the-art systems engineering methodology can be brought closer together with automotive practice. It proposes steps towards a better theory/practice fit of engineering methodology.