Tutorials will be held on Monday, October 3. Registration for Tutorials is separate from the symposium registration. Register here.
Electric Flight, a Challenge for Systems Engineering
Time: 9:00 AM -12:00 PM
Instructor: Roger Oliva, Consultant
Abstract: There is no substitute for rigorous engineering when designing advanced systems. Advanced systems generally employ new capabilities by the application of new or evolving technologies that have inherent undocumented risks. Engineers must understand where the acceptable risks are and how to methodically build in redundancy for advanced systems.
The tutorial provides engineers with perspective in “how to” solve technically challenging problems. A step-by-step process is discussed for enabling a specified outcome to this specific dynamic electromechanical problem. Fielding electric aircraft that can be immediately competitive with existing flight systems will not be trivial, but is possible. The best engineers today are those that are not only attentive to research and development but also to the life-cycle issues associated with particular technologies.
The tutorial suggests design criteria derivative from the stated goal. From the design concept, research steps are established and measurable objectives are defined that will reflect a target unit price. Objectives considered will include scalable flight, thrust controls, energy management, adaptable flight surfaces, pre-/post-/in-flight operations, and other mechanical considerations. Once metrics are in place for the objectives, required resources are reconsidered in order to optimize the advanced system capabilities. The tutorial will elucidate these processes. It will show that when the resources have been applied and scientific study has verified the advanced capabilities, the accomplished research objectives can be integrated and folded into the prototype system. Thorough testing of the prototype system leads not only to documented evidence of its airworthiness but also to its manufacturability. The tutorial demonstrates how analyses of alternatives define uncertainties that are in turn used to establish decision-space throughout the research and development, fielding, logistics, and disposal processes. Tutorial participants will have an opportunity to exercise the systems engineering construct and expand upon the objectives, metrics, analysis of alternatives, and associated program impacts.
Experienced engineers have intuitive perspectives that are readily brought to bear on advanced systems problems. While necessary and appropriate during exploratory analysis, intuition is not enough to make engineering decisions. The tutorial promotes the engineering rigor required to field safe and reliable flight systems.
Modeling and Simulation for System Reliability Analysis: The RAMSAS Method
Time: Monday, October 3 13:00 - 15:00
Instructors: Alfredo Garro (University of Calabria, Italy)
Abstract: Reliability analysis of modern large-scale systems is a challenging task which could benefit from the joint exploitation of recent model-based approaches and simulation techniques to flexibly evaluate the system reliability performances and compare different design choices. In this context, the tutorial presents RAMSAS, a model based method that supports the reliability analysis of systems through simulation by combining the benefits of popular OMG modeling languages (SysML/UML) with widely adopted simulation and analysis environments (Simulink/Modelica). RAMSAS can be easily plugged into various phases of a typical system development process ranging from the design to the testing phases so as to complement other well-known and widely adopted techniques for system reliability analysis (e. g. FMECA, FTA, RBD) by providing additional analysis capabilities. The present version of RAMSAS is the result of intensive experimentation in several application domains (aerospace, automotive, railway) which allows improving the effectiveness of the method, especially in the modeling of both the intended and dysfunctional system behavior. During the tutorial a case study concerning the reliability analysis of an Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) of a satellite will be presented. The seminar will conclude with a discussion about the specific aspects of the reliability analysis of System of Systems (SoS) and how RAMSAS can be further extended to effectively support it.
Model-Based Systems Engineering with Object-Process Methodology: ISO 19450
Time: Monday, October 3 15:15 - 17:15
Instructors: Yaniv Mordecai & Dov Dori (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)
Abstract: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) provides a framework for effective and consistent system engineering teamwork. MBSE relies on modeling languages, such as Object-Process Methodology (OPM). The major advantage of MBSE using a formal language such as OPM, is the integrated view of the system, allowing for structured and informed management, reasoning, decision-making, and identification of risks and opportunities. Object-Process Methodology, OPM, is a holistic MBSE paradigm and language for complex systems and processes, standardized as ISO 19450. OPM covers the structural, procedural, and functional aspects of the system in a unified manner, using only one diagram kind - the Object-Process Diagram (OPD). Complexity is managed via hierarchical organization, refinement, and abstraction of the OPDs in the model. OPM is founded on a minimal universal ontology of stateful objects, processes, and links - which are all the elements needed to describe any system in the universe - natural or artificial. OPM is bimodal: it has a formal textual representation next to the graphical representation. Each graphical construct is specified by a formal sentence in natural language - Object-Process Language, OPL - a subset of English. OPM has a free open-source CASE tool, OPCAT, which covers almost all of the OPM notation, and is presently evolved into a cloud-based modeling studio called OPCloud. In this tutorial, participants will learn the basics of OPM and the conceptual modeling paradigm. We will also discuss the OPM-based modeling and design process, which includes a gradual transition from the problem domain model and stakeholder requirements capturing to the conceptual solution design model and functional requirements elaborating. We will demonstrate the methodology on a real-life case involving complex system modeling.