Enhancing interface adaptability of open architecture products

Open architecture products are built with the platform and open interfaces where different add-on modules from various sources can be connected to meet individualized customers’ requirements. Since add-on modules from different vendors are interacted with the product platform through the interfaces, enhancing the interface adaptability to facilitate interactions between the platform and add-on modules is critical for the development of open architecture products. In this work, an approach of open interface modeling is proposed based on parts and their assembling relationships. The quantification of the open interface is introduced with functional, structural, manufacturing, and operational adaptabilities. The developed analytical approach can enhance the interface adaptability of open architecture products. An example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed method.