Browse Topic: Design processes
ABSTRACT BAE Systems Combat Simulation and Integration Labs (CSIL) are a culmination of more than 14 years of operational experience at our SIL facility in Santa Clara. The SIL provides primary integration and test functions over the entire life cycle of a combat vehicle’s development. The backbone of the SIL operation is the Simulation-Emulation-Stimulation (SES) process. The SES process has successfully supported BAE Systems US Combat Systems (USCS) SIL activities for many government vehicle development programs. The process enables SIL activities in vehicle design review, 3D virtual prototyping, human factor engineering, and system & subsystem integration and test. This paper describes how CSIL applies the models, software, and hardware components in a hardware-in-the-loop environment to support USCS combat vehicle development in the system integration lab
ABSTRACT The Bradley Combat Vehicle Motor Chatter case study focuses on one aspect of a combat vehicle program, specifically, responding to a vehicle production situation where combat vehicles produced with in-spec components and subsystems exhibit out-of-spec and failing system behavior. This typically results in an extended production line-down or line-degraded situation lasting for several quarters until the problem can be diagnosed, fixed, validated and verified. Subsequently, adequate quantities of the modified or replaced sub-systems must be put back into the production flow. The direct and indirect costs of an occurrence like this in peace-time are measured in the 10’s to 100’s of Millions of dollars. The schedule, program and perception impact to the vehicle platform can be potentially devastating. In war-time all of these impacts are magnified greatly by the added risk to soldiers’ lives. This paper describes the Bradley Combat Vehicle Motor Chatter case study and the
ABSTRACT In development of next generation products, 80% or more of the downstream costs associated are committed during design phase. If we could predict, with reasonable confidence, the long-term impact of design decisions, it would open opportunities to develop better designs that result in tremendous future cost savings, often with no compromise in key performance objectives. Systems engineering is, by its nature, multi-disciplinary. The aim of Integrated Product and Process Development is to bring these disciplines together in order to assess various downstream implications of early design decisions, creating better designs, avoiding dead-end designs that are costly in terms of design cycle-time, and realizing designs that are manufacturable while achieving the performance objectives. The goal is to build a downstream value analysis tool that links all the conceptual design activities. This capability allows a designer to realize the long-range impacts of key up-front design
ABSTRACT The Center for Ground Vehicle Development and Integration (CGVDI) is a U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) capability responsible for design, fabrication, integration, and support of additional capabilities for fielded systems as well as overall project management. CGVDI provides customers a single office that coordinates activities across the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) to conduct the complete spectrum of activities required to support Project Management Offices with design, development, integration, and testing of ground systems to meet the needs of the Warfighter. To better serve the organizations and programs supported by CGVDI, the TARDEC Systems Engineering Group worked to infuse Systems Engineering (SE) processes into CGVDI standard operating procedures as a way to effectively meet project cost, schedule, risk, and performance goals
ABSTRACT As contracts move from cost plus to fixed deliverables, total project cost and reducing schedules become more important. This paper will show how Model Driven Development can address common challenges in the system design, verification & testing of complex systems and systems of systems. Project success requires that hardware, software, and test teams fluently integrate application software, controlling firmware, analog and digital hardware, and mechanical components, which often proves to be costly in terms of time, money, and engineering resources. Model Driven Development and virtual prototyping using a tools flow emphasizing requirements tracing, UML / SysML system modeling, and linking to functional FPGA, IC, PCB and cabling domains supports system engineering teams along with software, digital hardware, analog hardware, system interconnect algorithm development, hardware / software co-simulation, and virtual system integration. This paper covers such solutions that
ABSTRACT This paper will incorporate product development methodology from the FED program where AVL is responsible in collaboration with World Technical Services Inc., for delivering a fully developed hybrid propulsion system integrated into the demonstrator vehicle. Specifically, the paper will discuss via case study the unique methodology employed by AVL Powertrain to develop, validate, and integrate our hybrid propulsion system into the FED vehicle. Content will include traditional and virtual powertrain development methodologies that maximize product development efficiency, ensure a robust final design, and minimize development costs. Hybrid controls development, calibration techniques and vehicle design issues will also be discussed
ABSTRACT The Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) Systems Integration Lab (SIL) is established and developed at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Command (TARDEC). The VICTORY SIL will be utilized for the development and integration of the extensive set of C4ISR/EW technologies that are to be systematically down selected to provide the comprehensive VICTORY services & infrastructure required in the development of mission capabilities of the Army’s tactical and combat vehicles. A fully functioning VICTORY SIL will be utilized for validation and independent verification of the Army’s and the vendor provided C4ISR/EW sub-systems. The lab will emphasize the importance of testing the data, power & physical interface strategy of the sub-systems in a low-cost laboratory environment before integration onto a vehicle. This paper describes how the VICTORY SIL will advance the RDECOM’s vision for a standardized electronic architecture
ABSTRACT Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has seen increased use in many different military applications worldwide, beyond navigation. The Warfighter uses GPS to enhance Situational Awareness on the battle field with systems such as Land Warrior, Blue Force Tracker, TIGR, and various electronic mission planning tools in locations where the GPS signals are normally not available. For example, this includes the inside of a HMMWV, Stryker, or MRAP. GPS retransmission, or the art of repeating a live GPS signal, has evolved into a technically advanced solution to provide GPS signals to the Warfighter mounted inside ground vehicles, protecting themselves from sniper and IED threats, while providing mobility and Situational Awareness from vehicle mounted communication & navigation systems. The objective of this technical paper is to communicate a relevant understanding of how this technology is being embraced by the Warfighter to accomplish their mission safer and more efficiently
ABSTRACT Current written system specifications have a high degree of uncertainty which causes specifications to be changed because they are incorrect, incomplete or do not possess the degree of rigor to make them precise. Even when generated by modeling methods such as UML/SySML or standards such as DoDAF, these functional specifications still lack any validation with respect to architecture, mission, and scenario impacts. The lack of consideration of these aspects creates design errors are usually exposed during the test and integration phases where the expense is greater to correct than in the early conceptual design phase. This paper will introduce the concept of Validated Executable Specifications (VES) that will enable Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to validate early in the design process to reduce risk and save costs in a System of System (SoS) model
An innovative new approach is presented that addresses the challenges of design in a constantly changing environment. New solutions that satisfy changing requirements are generated by rapidly reconfiguring ongoing projects and effectively reusing trusted designs. Design is essentially a process of generating knowledge about how to build new systems. Reuse is difficult because this knowledge is amorphous and difficult to access. Hierarchical platform-based engineering is used to structure and categorize this knowledge to make it easily accessible. This approach has three essential components: 1) Hierarchical platform-based design method organizes design projects into a structured library; 2) Transformational systems engineering and concurrent risk assessment are used to capture complex interactions between different CPS elements. These captured interactions help assess reusability and reconfigurability of each element; 3) A new design flow integrates platform-based design methods into
ABSTRACT The goal of the human factors engineer is to work within the systems engineering process to ensure that a Crew Centric Design approach is utilized throughout system design, development, fielding, sustainment, and retirement. To evaluate the human interface, human factors engineers must often start with a low fidelity mockup, or virtual model, of the intended design until a higher fidelity physical representation or the working hardware is available. Testing the Warrior-Machine Interface needs to begin early and continue throughout the Crew Centric Design process to ensure optimal soldier performance. This paper describes a Four Step Process to achieve this goal and how it has been applied to the ground combat vehicle programs. Using these four steps in the ground combat vehicle design process improved design decisions by including the user throughout the process either in virtual or real form, and applying the user’s operational requirements to drive the design
ABSTRACT There is a dire need for low-cost mobile robots for the purpose of mine detection and disposal. Countries with low gross domestic product (GDP) and infected with landmines generally cannot support expensive high-tech solution. A de-mining mobile robot has to be cost effective compared to local labor costs. Presently commercially available mobile robots consist of mainly custom made parts. The design and manufacturing of such parts make the robots very expensive. This paper describes how careful selection of commercially available parts leads to reducing the development time and costs for a demining robot while ensuring its reliability, convenient operation and application domain. An actual example of how a low cost mine detection robot was successfully integrated within two months is outlined
ABSTRACT As the industry looks towards Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) as the next maintenance paradigm, OEMs and suppliers are looking into their readiness in meeting the CBM challenges for the future. The US armed forces are currently investigating CBM for their Tactical and Combat vehicles as a means of improving combat readiness & equipment reliability, and reducing maintenance costs. Many cutting-edge technologies will have to be integrated in designing the CBM systems that will support the next generation of vehicles. While most of the required technologies exist, a comprehensive design will be required to make CBM systems feasible and economical
ABSTRACT A functionally-graded NPR (Negative Poisson’s Ratio) material concept has been developed for a critical Army application – blast protection. The objective is to develop a combined computational design methodology and innovative structural-material concept for a blast-protective deflector, which can concentrate material into areas most needed and adapt its shape utilizing the blast energy to improve blast mitigation and crew protection. Included in the computational design methodology is optimal deflector shape design and optimal NPR material distribution to further improve the protection while minimizing the C.G. height of the vehicle and the weight of the deflector. Structures fabricated using this new concept react to the explosion and reconfigure themselves under the blast force to provide maximum blast protection. The presented research work consists of two basic approaches to deflector design: optimal deflector shape design and optimal NPR material configuration and
ABSTRACT Raytheon is in the final stages of production of three high performance thermal imaging / fire control systems being integrated on existing USMC and US Army armored vehicles. A goal in the design of these systems was to provide integration into the host vehicle that when viewed by the customer and user provided the enhanced capabilities of today’s latest thermal imaging and image processing technology as well as operating in concert with the vehicle as originally designed. This paper will summarize the technical solutions for each of these programs emphasizing the thermal imaging, fire control, image processing and vehicle integration technologies. It will also outline guiding philosophies and lessons learned used to focus the design team in achieving the successful integration. The programs to be reviewed are; USMC 2nd Gen Thermal Imaging System, the USMC LAV-25 Improved Thermal Sight System (ITSS) and the USMC / US Army M1A1 50 Cal Thermal Sight / DayTV System
Automotive radar plays a crucial role in object detection and tracking. While a standalone radar possesses ideal characteristics, integrating it within a vehicle introduces challenges. The presence of vehicle body, bumper, chassis, and cables in proximity influences the electromagnetic waves emitted by the radar, thereby impacting its performance. To address these challenges, electromagnetic simulations can guide early-stage design modifications. However, operating at very high frequencies around 77GHz and dealing with the large electrical size of complex structures demand specialized simulation techniques to optimize radar integration scenarios. Thus, the primary challenge lies in achieving an optimal balance between accuracy and computational resources/simulation time. This paper outlines the process of radar vehicle integration from an electromagnetic perspective and demonstrates the derivation of optimal solutions through RF simulation
A digital twin is a virtual model that accurately imitates a physical asset. This can be as complex as an entire vehicle, a subsystem, and down to a small functioning component. The digital twin has a level of fidelity that aligns to the goals of the project team. The usage of a digital twin inside a digital engineering (DE) ecosystem permits architecture and design decisions for optimized product behavior, performance, and interactions. This paper demonstrates a methodology to incorporate the digital twin concept from requirement analysis, low fidelity feature level simulation, rapid prototypes running inside a System Integration Lab, and high fidelity virtual prototypes executing in an entirely virtual environment
The Army can increase its software modernization effort for Embedded System software development by leveraging the Cloud to expand the capability of the DevSecOps environment to include automated testing at scale. The Cloud will support the integration of current and new off-the-shelf technologies; and merging next generation technologies from industry partners into a coherent DevSecOps Cloud ecosystem. The following areas are critical to meeting mission requirements and applications: virtual simulation, trade study analytics, technology adoption, DevSecOps capabilities, artificial intelligence applications and infrastructure, and collaborative single vehicle Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL). These areas are all essential to shortening the vehicle product lifecycle and time to deliver mission essential capabilities to the field to support warfighter needs
With the arrival of robotic autonomy in future Army ground combat vehicles there is an intrinsic need for modeling and simulation infrastructure for autonomy. Taking a Modular Open System Approach to designing modeling and simulation architecture facilitates creating a flexible, scalable, and adaptable infrastructure that can be applied to a wide range of scenarios to assist Army programs of record and accelerate technology maturation while providing a low-cost, efficient way to reduce program risk and ensure next-generation robotic ground vehicles provide greater value to the soldier
The once rarified field of Artificial Intelligence, and its subset field of Machine Learning have very much permeated most major areas of engineering as well as everyday life. It is already likely that few if any days go by for the average person without some form of interaction with Artificial Intelligence. Inexpensive, fast computers, vast collections of data, and powerful, versatile software tools have transitioned AI and ML models from the exotic to the mainstream for solving a wide variety of engineering problems. In the field of braking, one particularly challenging problem is how to represent tribological behavior of the brake, such as friction and wear, and a closely related behavior, fluid consumption (or piston travel in the case of mechatronic brakes), in a model. This problem has been put in the forefront by the sharply crescendo-ing push for fast vehicle development times, doing high quality system integration work early on, and the starring role of analysis-based tools in
A Columbia Engineering team has published a paper in the journal Joule that details how nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques can be leveraged to design the anode surface in lithium metal batteries. The researchers also present new data and interpretations for how this method can be used to gain unique insight into the structure of these surfaces
Occupant packaging is one of the key tasks involved in the early architectural phase of a vehicle. Accommodation, as a convention, is generally considered related to a car’s interior. Typical roominess metrics of the occupant like hip room, shoulder room, and elbow room are defined with the door in its closed condition. Several other roominess metrics like knee room, leg room, head room, and the like are also specified. While all the guidelines are defined with doors in their closed condition, it is also important to consider the dynamics that exist while the occupant is entering the vehicle. This article expands the traditional understanding of occupant accommodation beyond conventionally considering the vehicle interior’s ability to accommodate anthropometry. It broadens the scope to include dynamic conditions, such as when doors are opened, providing a more realistic and practical perspective. As a luxury car manufacturer, it is important to ensure the best overall customer
Semi-automated computational design methods involving physics-based simulation, optimization, machine learning, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) already allow greatly enhanced performance alongside reduced cost in both design and manufacturing. As we progress, developments in user interfaces, AI integration, and automation of workflows will increasingly reduce the human inputs required to achieve this. With this, engineering teams must change their mindset from designing products to specifying requirements, focusing their efforts on testing and analysis to provide accurate specifications. Generative Design in Aerospace and Automotive Structures discusses generative design in its broadest sense, including the challenges and recommendations regarding multi-stage optimizations. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio
This study aims to design a supersonic ejector, referred to as a liquid spray gun, with a simple operating procedure for producing an aerosol spray with adjustable droplet size distributions. A CFD model was developed to determine the influence of nozzle exit position and the primary air pressure on the supersonic patterns formed within the ejectors, providing a valuable insight into their internal physics. Based on the single-phase numerical results, at an air primary pressure of 2 bar, the flow may not reach a choking condition, possibly resulting in unstable ejector operation. However, at pressures exceeding 5 bar, the jet patterns emerging from the primary nozzle cause flow separation or the formation of vortex rings. This phenomenon leads to a flow configuration comparable to the diameter of the mixing tube, thereby reducing the available area for entrainment of suction flow. The suitable ejector was identified with a nozzle exit position of 13 mm and a primary pressure ranging
A Gerotor pump is a positive displacement pump consisting of inner and outer rotors, with the axis of inner rotor offset from axis of outer rotor. Both rotors rotate about their respective axes. The volume between the rotors changes dynamically, due to which suction and compression occurs. Due to their high-speed rotations, a Gerotor pump may be subjected to erosion due to cavitation. This paper details about the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based methodology that has been used to capture cavitation bubbles, which might form during the operation of Gerotor pump and to identify the erosion zone which might be occur due to cavitation bubble getting burst near the surface layers of the gears. A full scale (3D) transient CFD model of a Gerotor pump has been developed using commercial CFD code ANSYS FLUENT. The most challenging part of this CFD flow modeling is to create a dynamic volume mesh that perfectly represents the dynamically changing rotor fluid volume of the Gerotor pump
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