Springer
Hardcover ISBN 978-3-540-32831-5
Softcover ISBN ISBN 978-3-642-06937-6

Every time that we take money out of an ATM, surf the internet or simply turn on a light switch, we enjoy the benefits of complex engineered systems. Systems like power grids and global communication networks are so ubiquitous in our daily lives that we usually take them from granted, only noticing them when they break down.

But how do such amazing technologies and infrastructures come to be what they are? How have systems like these traditionally been designed? And as the demands that we place on these systems become increasingly complex, are these traditional systems engineering practices still relevant?

This volume examines the difficulties that arise in highly complex engineered systems and suggests new solutions to these problems. Topics addressed range from the formal representation and classification of complex engineered systems to revolutionary engineering practices inspired by biological evolution. By bringing together the latest research in Complex Engineered Systems, this book sheds light on the current state and future course of this emerging field.

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Table of Contents

 

Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….xi

1. Complex Engineered Systems: A New Paradigm…………………………………………………………….….………………………….1
Ali A. Minai, Dan Braha, and Yaneer Bar-Yam

2. Engineering Complex Systems: Multiscale Analysis and Evolutionary Engineering……………….……………………………….22
Yaneer Bar-Yam

3. The Structure and Dynamics of Complex Product Design……………………………………………….………………………………..40
Dan Braha and Yaneer Bar-Yam

4. On the Nature of Design………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………..72
Sergi Valverde and Ricard V. Solé

5. Creation of desirable complexity: strategies for designing self-organized systems……………….………………………………..101
Carl Anderson

6. Understanding the Complexity of Design…………………………………………………………………….………………………………..122
Jonathan R.A. Maier and Georges M. Fadel

7. Spiraling out of Control: Problem-Solving Dynamics in Complex Distributed Engineering Projects……………………………..141
Jürgen Mihm and Christoph H. Loch

8. The Dynamics of Collaborative Design: Insights From Complex Systems and Negotiation Research……………………...……158
Mark Klein, Hiroki Sayama, Peyman Faratin, and Yaneer Bar-Yam

9. Modularity in the Design of Complex Engineering Systems……………………………………………………………………………..…175
Carliss Y. Baldwin and Kim B. Clark

10. Engineering Complex Systems………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….206
Douglas O. Norman and Michael L. Kuras

11. Negotiation algorithms for collaborative design settings…………………………………………………..…………………………...…246
Mark Klein, Peyman Faratin, Hiroki Sayama, and Yaneer Bar-Yam

12. Information Theory - The Bridge Connecting Bounded Rational Game Theory and Statistical Physics…………………………262
David H. Wolpert

13. Engineering Amorphous Systems, Using Global-to-Local Compilation…………………………………………………………………291
Radhika Nagpal

14. A machine learning method for improving task allocation in distributed multi-robot transportation…………………………….307
Torbjørn S. Dahl, Maja J. Matari? and Gaurav S. Sukhatme

15. Towards Pro-active Embodied Agents: On the Importance of Neural Mechanisms Suitable to Process Time Information338
Guido de Croon, Stefano Nolfi, and Eric Postma

16. Autonomous Discovery and Functional Response to Topology Change in Self-Reconfigurable Robots…………………………364
Behnam Salemi, Peter Will and Wei-Min Shen