Book Report on "System"

Quoted Instructions for "System" Assignment:

1/This is an individual assignment that requires you to undertake key aspects of a systems design, demonstrate a grasp of systems engineering principles, standards and methods, and produce a professional-style report. 2/Statement of Need Farmers in remote areas of Australia have expressed the desire to have an Electrically Powered Ultra-light Aircraft (EPUA) for, principally, finding stock and, secondly, to monitor the presence of feral animals on their properties The following general needs have been advised: A. Be electrically powered and rechargeable from 230v, 50Hz single phase power; B. Have a flight time of 1 hour minimum; C. Be transportable by a motor vehicle towed trailer with a tray not bigger than 2.4 metres long by 1.8 metres wide; D. Have an assembly time prior to flight of less than 15 minutes from the commencement of unloading from the trailer to being ready for takeoff; E. Have a disassembly time after flight of less than 15 minutes from the commencement of disassembly to being on the trailer and being ready to depart; F. All activities associated with preparation for flight, flying and post flight (including trailer loading) to be practical for a single person. The Task ***** Conceptual Design The deliverable will comprise a skeleton conceptual design review data package comprising at least the following activities: *****¢ A needs analysis based on the design brief, common knowledge of light aircraft and model aircraft, and your imagination that surfaces the stakeholders, system context, at least one design scenario and key stakeholder needs.

*****¢ A set of key requirements. *****¢ Technical performance measures derived from the above two sets of information. *****¢ A functional analysis and allocation for the EPUA system. *****¢ Synthesis and generation of two candidate system concepts. *****¢ A trade-off between the two candidate solutions to select the preferred concept. *****¢ A brief description of the final conceptual design and a discussion on how well you expect it to address the user needs. Points Looked for : Scope *****¢ A few lines on nature of the system being designed, its intended purpose, the scope of the task (ie the life cycle phase) and what constitutes a task completion, ie a complete and documented systems design concept. Needs *****¢ Good range of stakeholders *****¢ Key needs captured from the task statement *****¢ Scenario(s) and their use of these to surface additional needs and sizing factors that can identify requirements *****¢ A context diagram *****¢ A short list of uniquely identified (numbered) key needs Requirements *****¢ 20-30 reasonable key requirements spread across the template, about half of which should be functional. These should o Be correctly written o Reflect the needs identified above and be traceable to them o Cover all topics to some extent o Have a stated verification method for each requirement: test, analysis, inspection, demonstration, or third party certification *****¢ Consistency across the requirements (ie they are not directly contradictory) Functional Analysis *****¢ Key diagrams that show functional decomposition: o Functional Flow Block Diagram (or equivalent) o Functional Hierarchy Diagram *****¢ All functional requirements (and hence needs) are reflected in the functions identified

Diagrams, especially FFBD, should be consistent with the scenario *****¢ Principally looking for *****˜primary***** functions; evidence of supporting functions would impress *****¢ Similarly if there are many interacting functions the use of an N2 diagram would impress Synthesis *****¢ Use of a morphological table or other structured synthesis method to devise candidate solutions *****¢ Design options produced should be derived from the functions (and hence requirements) listed earlier *****¢ Design options (candidate solutions) should be named (ie *****Low-Cost Option*****, *****Fully-Electrical Option*****, *****Low-Risk Option***** and described in a sentence or two so that the differentiation is clear. Trade-off *****¢ Demonstrated understanding of quantitative methods selected (normally MVA) *****¢ Good choice of trade-off attributes (typically TPMs, selected requirements, or needs) *****¢ Appropriate value functions: o Looking for x0 = specification limit; x* = that value of x beyond which no additional stakeholder value is derived Description *****¢ Brief description of selected solution that indicate what the solution is and why it would be a convincing product and would attract investors or company R&D funds *****¢ A block diagram or picture that indicates what the solution entails. *****¢ Sense that solution satisfies a good proportion of user needs (and requirements) Overall *****¢ Overall coherence of report (design package) *****¢ No appearance of new functions or requirements in synthesis or trade-off stages *****¢ Presence of references to the source materials used to generate the lectures and to problem -specific standards and components.