Trend of increasing completeness of system components

Trend of increasing completeness of system components: a trend of engineering system evolution according to which as an engineering system evolves, it acquires the following typical function blocks: operating agent, transmission, energy source, and control system.

Overview

Trend of increasing completeness of system components is one of the four mechanisms directly supporting the trend of increasing value in the hierarchy of TESE (along with the trend of transition to the supersystem, the trend of increasing degree of trimming, and the trend of flow enhancement).

An engineering system must utilize four essential blocks in order to operate:

operating agent that performs the main function of the system,
source of energy needed to operate the system,
transmission block, through which the energy is transferred from the source of energy to the operating agent, and
control block that controls the system operation.

An emerging, young system often consists solely of the operating agent, which remains its integral part throughout the lifecycle. Sometimes, it may additionlally be equipped with a primitive form of transmission.

The other function blocks are parts of the supersystem. As the engineering system is developing it acquires these function blocks of its own in the following order:

The development of a system through the integration of different blocks is not always a simple four-step sequence. The integration of some functional blocks may take place over several steps.

For example, a system does not receive a full motor right away – it may first be equipped with an energy storage device such as a spring or a bowstring. Similarly, the control block of a heating system gradually acquires different functions, such as a thermostat, a timer switch, and so on.