Establishing
Product Function
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Why Functional Decomposition
Number of limitations to seek from existing product.
Seek directly from previous experience of design
team
Concentrates on What has to be achieved by a
new concept & not How it is to be achieved
Basis for organizing design team, tasks & process
Creativity enhancement
Abstraction
More acceptable solutions can be generated with
mapping Needs to Function & then to Form
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Functional modeling basics
Function
Statement of clear, reproducible relationship between
available input & desired output of product, independent
of any particular form
Product Function
Intended overall function of product just a noun & an
active verb
Sub function
Component of product function corresponding to
subtasks
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Black Box
Input Product Function Output
Intended form is unknown
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Functions and Constraints
Constraints
Is a statement of clear criterion that must be satisfied by a
product & requires consideration of entire product to
determine the criterion value
Functions are satisfied through operation of product
Constraints are satisfied by properties of entire
product
Includes criteria of cost, compactness, mass & reliability
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Functional Modeling
Systematic process of transforming needs to a clear
specification of design task
Initiates conceptual design phase
Function Hierarchies (trees) or Function Structures
(task listing) used to model products function
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Functional Trees
Decompose the Prime function hierarchically into sub
functions
Fast & Simple to construct
Function Analysis System
Understanding the interactions between expanded sub
Technique
functions is vital
Less effective in establishing specifications & structuring
of development process
FAST Method (top-down approach)
Subtract & Operate Method (bottom-up approach)
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Function Analysis System
Technique (FAST)
Displays function in a logical sequence, Prioritize them
and tests their dependency
HOW-WHY analysis
Basic function?
Secondary function?
Higher order function?
Critical path?
Each right node in critical path must answer how the
left node is achieved, every left node should answer
why right node is being achieved
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
FAST diagram: Coffee Mill
Support Loads
Create Aesthetic
Reduce noise Compact System Appeal
Convert EE to Provide
Grind Coffee Chop Beans Driving Power
Rotation Electricity
Seal for Chopping Transmit Torque Connect Electricity
Contain Beans Dampen
Vibration
Hold Beans
Generate Noise
Accept Beans
Reduce Noise
Generate Noise
Reduce Noise
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Subtract and operate Method
Bottom-up approach to develop a function tree
Assumption: a form concept or actual product exists, this
concept/product is then reverse engineered
Better way to figure out function of component; removing
it, operating system without it conceptually
Starts by considering smallest isolatable function of feature
(which are not further decomposable)
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Function Structure
Meaningful & Compatible combination of sub
functions in to an overall function produces a
Function Structure
Sub functions should be expressed in terms of
measurable effects or mathematical relationships
Sub functions are schematically networked
together to form an overall function structure
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Function Structure modeling process
Phase 1 :
Develop Process descriptions as activity Diagrams
Phase 2:
Formulate Sub functions through Task Listing
Phase 3:
Aggregate sub functions into a refined Function Structure
Phase 4:
Validate the functional Decomposition
Phase 5:
Establish & identify product architecture & assembly
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Phase 1 : Develop Process
descriptions as activity Diagrams
Process description in Activity Diagrams eventually forming a Function
Structure
Process description includes three phases;
Preparation
Execution
Conclusion comprising network of high level user activity
Parallel activities will lead to device functions or subsystems
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Phase 2: Formulate Sub functions
through Task Listing
Task Listing
Method of aggregating sub functions & comparison of functional decomposition
with needs
Flow
Qualitative phenomenon passing through & being changed by sub functions
Eg: energy, material , information
Translating Needs to Flow
For every flow; sequence the sub functions & operations
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Basic Function Structure: Coffee Roaster
Electricity Heat , Noise
Green coffee Roasted coffee,
beans
Roast coffee beans Chaff
Roast level
Start signal Status -
Completed
Chaff is a thin skin which comes out of
Energy
coffee beans while roasting and
needs to be discarded.
Material
Information
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Phase 3: Aggregate sub-functions
into a refined Function Structure
Sequence of sub functions is aggregated to represent functions of
entire product
Function Structure must satisfy two criteria:
Are sub functions Atomic; can they be fulfilled by a single basic task?
Is the level of detail sufficient to address customer needs?
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Phase 4: Validate the functional
Decomposition
Analysis of functional modeling
Verification steps :
All measure Flows between subfunctions are labeled & checked according to
their state of transformation
Customer Needs list is reviewed & sequence of subfunctions identified
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Phase 5: Establish & identify
product architecture & assembly
Defines collections of functions (chunks) that will form assembly in
product & clarifies the interactions & interfaces between the chunks
It provides Basis to Product team for:
Choosing between modular & integral architecture
Choosing parallel design task for product development
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Toy Dart Gun
KE, Eloss, Acoustic,
Human energy, gravity Reaction Force
Air, dart, target, hand Air, moving dart, target, hand
Shoot Darts
Fire, aim Noise, aligned target
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Black Box for Toy Dart Gun
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Function Chain for
Shoot Dart at longer Distance
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Function Chain for Easy to Trigger
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Complete Function Structure for
Toy dart gun
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
