Systems Engineering Methodology for HighAltitude Balloon Missions

This paper presents a collaborative data management framework which is capable of supporting information sharing and team data management in concurrent team-oriented product and process development by providing functions for project configuration, personal product and process item management, and team library management. Establishing this framework involves: (i) identification of functional requirements for computer-aided engineering data management through the investigation of concurrent product delivery process, with an emphasis on product and process development, (ii) use of system engineering and object-oriented modeling techniques for development of the proposed framework.

In Memoriam: Dr. Clive L. Dym (1942–2016)

This paper presents ongoing work to standardize model-based system engineering as a complement to point design development in the conceptual design phase of deep space missions. It summarizes two first steps towards practical application of this capability within the framework of concurrent engineering design teams and their customers. The first step is standard generation of system sensitivities models as the output of concurrent engineering design sessions, representing the local trade space around a point design. A review of the chosen model development process, and the results of three case study examples, demonstrate that a simple update to the concurrent engineering design process can easily capture sensitivities to key requirements. It can serve as a valuable tool to analyze design drivers and uncover breakpoints in the design. The second step is development of rough-order- of-magnitude, broad-range-of-validity design models for rapid exploration of the trade space, before selection of a point design. At least one case study demonstrated the feasibility to generate such models in a concurrent engineering session. The experiment indicated that such a capability could yield valid system-level conclusions for a trade space composed of understood elements. Ongoing efforts are assessing the practicality of developing end-to-end system-level design models for use before even convening the first concurrent engineering session, starting with modeling an end-to-end Mars architecture.

Concurrent engineering: Automation, tools, and techniques

North American undergraduate mechanical engineering design education has failed to meet the needs of industry in educating students in effective design philosophies typified by the concurrent engineering design philosophy. Current programmes emphasize traditional engineering analysis courses, leaving little room for truly educating the students in the fundamentals of mechanical engineering design. This paper uses the concurrent engineering design paradigm to design a programme for the education of students in mechanical engineering design. The basics of concurrent engineering design are outlined, the failings of typical design education stated, and an exploration of the required features of a new design curriculum presented.

Concurrent engineering, the practice of simultaneously designing a product and its manufacturing system, is generally viewed as a major source of Japanese competitive advantage (Clark & Fujimoto, 1991). U.S. companies have rushed to construct structured design processes and multifunctional, often colocated teams in order to compete (Nevins & Whitney, 1989). Ironically, however, we discovered in our research that most managers at Japanese auto companies are fairly new to concurrent engineering, which many regard as a Toyota invention. Equally paradoxical, our research found that managers at Toyota, which has long experience with concurrent engineering, made little use of many commonly touted “crucial elements” of successful concurrent engineering. Toyota uses neither colocated nor dedicated multidisciplinary teams, and significant portions of the development process remain relatively unstructured.

An integrated graphical user interface (GUI) for concurrent engineering design of mechanical parts

The rapid response to the requirements of customers and markets promotes the concurrent engineering (CE) technique in product and process design. The decision making for process quality target, SPC method, sampling plan, and control chart parameter design can be done at the stage of process quality plan based on historical data and process knowledge database. Therefore, it is a reasonable trend to introduce the concepts and achievements on process quality evaluation and process capability analysis, CE, and SPC techniques into process plan and tolerance design. A new systematic method for concurrent design of process quality, statistical tolerance (ST), and control chart is presented based on a NSFC research program. A set of standardized process quality indices (PQIs) for variables is introduced for meeting the measurement and evaluation to process yield, process centering, and quality loss. This index system that has relatively strong compatibility and adaptability is based on raisonne grading by using the series of preferred numbers and arithmetical progression. The expected process quality based on this system can be assured by a standardized interface between PQIs and SPC, that is, quality-oriented statistical tolerance zone. A quality-oriented ST and SPC approach that quantitatively specifies what a desired process is and how to assure it will realize the optimal control for a process toward a predetermined quality target.

An Internet-enabled integrated system for co-design and concurrent engineering

Once hailed as the salvation of U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, concurrent engineering (CE) offers the potential for faster development of higher quality, more producible products. Unlike traditional, serial approaches to new product development (NPD), CE emphasizes cross‐functional integration and concurrent development of a product and its associated processes.As Morgan L. Swink, J. Christopher Sandvig, and Vincent A. Mabert explain, however, CE is not a plug‐and‐play process. Successful CE implementation approaches differ depending on such factors as product characteristics, customer needs, and technology requirements. We can better understand those differences by examining CE implementation in the five NPD programs discussed here: the Boeing 777 aircraft, the heavy duty diesel engine at Cummins Engine Co., the thermoplastic olefin automotive coating at Red Spot Paint and Varnish Co., the airborne vehicle forward‐looking infrared night vision system at Texas Instruments, and the digital satellite system at Thomson Consumer Electronics.Teams provide the primary integration mechanism in CE programs, and three types of teams appeared frequently in these projects: a program management team, a technical team, and numerous design‐build teams. Depending on the project's complexity, an integration team may be needed to consolidate the efforts of various design‐build teams. Task forces also may be formed to address specific problems, such as investigating an emerging technology.Some projects emphasized collocation and face‐to‐face communication. Others relied on phone conversations, documents, and electronic mail. Projects focusing on design quality relied on formal presentations and periodic review meetings. Projects emphasizing development speed required frequent, informal communications. Programs addressing design quality required extended product definition and performance testing, with input from design engineering, marketing, and customers. Efforts to reduce development time involved small, informal teams led by design engineers and managers. Aggressive product cost goals necessitated intensive interaction between product designers and manufacturing personnel. Highly innovative products required early supplier involvement and joint engineering problem solving. Formal design reviews and shared design data systems aided information sharing between internal and external design groups.

Concurrent engineering (CE) has been in use within the space industry since the mid-1990s for the development of robust, effective design solutions within a reduced period of time; to date, however, such applications have focussed on Phase 0/A feasibility studies, with the potential for application in later phases not yet demonstrated. Applications at the DLR Institute of Space Systems have addressed this gap with practical attempts made on three satellite projects. The use of Phase 0/A CE techniques, such as dedicated CE sessions, online trade-offs, and design iterations and consolidation, was taken and augmented with more novel practices such as online requirements engineering. Underlying these practices was a suite of tools coming from both external and internal sources. While it is noted that the traditional time and cost benefits expected from Phase 0/A use are less likely to be achieved for Phase B applications, the resulting solutions demonstrated an increased robustness and performance.

Reverse engineering technology plays an important role in a variety of manufacturing applications. It significantly reduces the production lead time and the costs of the part duplication processes. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using reverse engineering and concurrent engineering methods with data obtained from state-of-the-art laser scanning to remanufacture complex geometrical parts. Two aircraft structural components were evaluated in this study: a forward latch fitting of a C 141 and a leading edge rib of an F-15. The first phase of this project, accuracy characterisation of a reverse engineering system, demonstrated that laser scanning and CAD model reconstruction can duplicate aircraft structural components accurately and efficiently, within a tolerance of ±0.127 mm (0.005 in). The second phase of this project, development of a concurrent engineering system, showed that an integrated reverse engineering and CAM machining system can make the entire remanufacturing process snore automatic and efficient, further reducing part turnaround time.

Airbus designs and industrializes aircrafts using Concurrent Engineering techniques since decades. The introduction of new PLM methods, procedures and tools, and the need to reduce time-to-market, led Airbus Military to pursue new working methods. Traditional Engineering works sequentially. Concurrent Engineering basically overlaps tasks between teams. Collaborative Engineering promotes teamwork to develop product, processes and resources from the conceptual phase to the start of the serial production. The CALIPSOneo pilot project was launched to support the industrialization process of a medium size aerostructure. The aim is to implement the industrial Digital Mock-Up (iDMU) concept and its exploitation to create shop floor documentation. In a framework of a collaborative engineering strategy, the project is part of the efforts to deploy Digital Manufacturing as a key technology for the industrialization of aircraft assembly lines. This paper presents the context, the conceptual approach and the methodology adopted.

Design optimization of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) GGNMOS for high-voltage applications in low-cost BCDLite technology is reported. Clamp performance optimization through body PWELL engineering and device design techniques are investigated. A comparative analysis between two distinct device architectures (different Poly-LOCOS overlap) showing 100ns TLP measurement and TCAD simulation results is presented.

As products become ever more diversified, their life cycles are becoming shorter. To reduce production costs, increased process automation and concurrent design are priorities. Therefore, a collaborative integrated design system is crucial in the mold design and manufacturing process. This research develops a collaborative navigation system for concurrent mold design within the computer-aided design (CAD) browser, using Pro/Web.Link as the core tool. Providing both concurrent engineering and collaborative design functions, the navigation system is capable of assisting designers in accomplishing 3D mold development efficiently and accurately with the help of the standard component library and design decision-making system. The results show significant time savings over other mold design process methodologies.