The development of any technology requires that a balance must be struck between meeting requirements and dealing with constraints. This thesis presents a lean approach to the initial design and development of a complex, multi-physics system for industrial implementation, undertaken due to constraints on resources and time, to manage economic, human, and technical risks associated with the project’s requirements. Through this method, we identify and explain the major effects on the system which should be investigated in further study to reduce or retire risks in implementation.

A case study and a descriptive system design are presented for a novel dredge technology that utilizes a cable-driven propulsion system to position a dredge head along a predetermined path. To date, this dredge system has provided adequate performance. Improving the system’s automatic controller is the next step in the system’s development. The design case simplifies component models to identify system parameters that show high sensitivity, and to identify areas of the system that require particular care in future study. Because engineering analysis cannot make accurate predictions for these models, some of the simplified models were tested through a lean experimental design. Three parameters were tested:​ (1) dredge head velocity;​ (2) depth of the dredge head;​ and (3) rotational speed of the dredge pump. Both dredge head velocity and dredge head depth show a positive relationship to dredge production within the simplified system model.

The lean approach is an initial design step to provide the engineer with an understanding of system behavior related to key requirements in a way that can be used to target areas of key interest in a later, more comprehensive design study. This initial lean approach is typically used in organizations with limited resources as it is focused on reducing design costs and risks associated with complex system design.