Researchers around the globe have contributed for many years to the research field of fault-tolerant control; the importance of this field is ever increasing as a consequence of the rising complexity of technical systems, the enlarging importance of electronics and software as well as the widening share of interconnected and cloud solutions. This field was supplemented in recent years by fault-tolerant design. Two main goals of fault-tolerant design can be distinguished. The first main goal is the improvement of the controllability and diagnosability of technical systems through intelligent design. The second goal is the enhancement of the fault-tolerance of technical systems by means of inherently fault-tolerant design characteristics. Inherently fault-tolerant design characteristics are, for instance, redundancy or over-actuation. This paper describes algorithms, methods and tools of fault-tolerant design and an application of the concept to an automated guided vehicle (AGV). This application took place on different levels ranging from conscious requirements management to redundant elements, which were consciously chosen, on the most concrete level of a technical system, i.e., the product geometry. The main scientific contribution of the paper is a methodical framework for fault-tolerant design, as well as certain algorithms and methods within this framework. The underlying motivation is to support engineers in design and control trough product development process transparency and appropriate algorithms and methods.
Keywords: automated guided vehicle; fault-tolerant control; fault-tolerant design.