System-level Thinking as Key to Construction Site Automation

Conventional processes for developing mechatronic systems reach their limits in automation. Cyber-physical systems demanded by customers, which may also be integrated into a product-service system, are characterized in development by high complexity, multidisciplinary scopes and pressure to keep development cycles short. Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and systems engineering methods promise to resolve this complicated conflict of objectives and are increasingly adopted by companies in their development processes. This publication aims to support this transformation by introducing a differentiated understanding of automated functions in the mechatronic system architecture for digital transformation and robotics. Therefore, the state of the art regarding systems thinking, automation, mechatronic systems and system functions is depicted. The system architectures resulting from the differentiation between digital and robotic system functions were applied in a function-oriented systems thinking development approach and successfully validated in two development case studies accompanied by expert interviews in construction automation (compaction quality control and collaborative compaction). Practitioners valued the structured development approach, transparent communiation, interdisciplinarity as well as holistic, customer-oriented conceptualization. Thinking in systems and structuring the development approach along the system architecture has proven to be the key to successful automation in the construction automation case studies and might be in the automation of other industries as well.