Successful Consumer Robotics beyond Science Fiction - Use Case based Requirements Engineering for Product Development of a Consumer Robot

摘要

Developing a (Consumer) Robotics Product is not easy. Most companies, at least in the domain of industrial robotics, tend to rely on a Technology Push-based methodology. They develope a product as good as they can, trying to include their newest technological breakthroughs. When the product is finished, they advertise and sell it based on its feature set and competitive advantage. Unfortunately, this sometimes doesn't really take into account the desires and needs of (esp.) new markets. Hence, we applied a Market Pull-based approach: Use Case Driven Requirements Engineering (UCD-RE), starting with the analysis of Megatrends to understand future market developments. So far, no earlier evidence of such an approach for the development of a robotics product could be found in literature. As commonly agreed, Megatrends will affect our lives both professionally and in private, bringing huge business opportunities for companies - but only in the long run as their effects are relatively limited in the beginning. Yet, their effects will finally even break down encrusted structures and will make outdated business models obsolete. Therefore, new market entries or established companies that want a strategic reorientation have to focus firstly on the megatrends as they must understand the impact of the changes induced will have on customers. The company then must define which requirements and competencies are needed as well as which conditions have to be fulfilled to provide these customers with solutions resp. products and services. In our paper we outline the following approach: Firstly, we identified the most relevant Megatrends affecting the Consumer Robotics domain, then we derived a Use Case(s) and finally we outlined the overview of the necessary conditions and requirements to ensure a success story.