An error budgeting framework for engineering design

Abstract

This thesis outlines the development of The Error Budget Toolbox - a comprehensive precision engineering design tool that enables engineers to more easily and thoroughly implement error budgets for mechanical design concepts. The Error Budget Toolbox is implemented as a graphical user interface in MATLAB. The program guides the user through the error budgeting process from definition of the structural loop to expected error distributions. At each step in the error budgeting process the toolbox provides the user with valuable insights into their design. A full error budget model can be developed using the toolbox at little cost and provide a visualization of the structural loop, first order estimates of stiffness, error sensitivity, expected local error, and an estimate of the distribution of error at the point of interest.