1: Levels of Abstraction

1. Cosmology Living Things Innate Things Universe Epidemiology Political Science Populations Nations Built Environment Management Science fleets infrastructures Macro- Engineering enterprises Engineering Systems Product Development Medicine Psychology products vehicles individuals Material Science Chemistry materials molecules atoms atoms waves Subatomic World Quantum Physics 1: Levels of Abstraction 1012 106 103 100 Nano- Engineering Bio- Engineering 10-6 parts cells 10-9 10-12 Length Scale [m]

2. Reconfigurability Need for Reconfigurability Uncertainty Management Resource Efficiency System Evolution Graceful Degradation

3. development operation Reconfigurability manufacturing deployment Stage of Occurence

4. Modules (in the context of reconfigurability) are basic units that can be either added, removed, or transformed during a reconfiguration process, or in other words, that can be subject to modification1 Interfaces are what establish interactive links between a module and entities that are external to the module. Each interface can be described in terms of its nature, extent, timing, and sensitivity characteristics Effectorsare the elements that are necessary for carrying out the reconfiguration processes.They can be internal or external to the modules/system. Reconfigurable System Modules level 1 Other Components Effectors Modules Effectors Interfaces level 2 level 3 Reconfiguring level n Typical Position of Modules and Effectors in System Decomposition Level Definitions – Reconfiguration Objects Examples: 1: A. Urbani’, S.P. Negri’,“Example of Measure of the Degree of Reconfigurability of a Modular Parallel Kinematic Machine”

5. Classification