Development of a Collaborative Capability-Based Tradeoff Environment for Complex System Architectures

Abstract

The design of complex systems in the presence of changing requirements, rapidly evolving technologies, and design uncertainty continues to be a challenge. Furthermore, the design of future platforms must take into account the interoperability of a variety of heterogeneous systems and their role in a larger "system-of-systems." To date, methodologies to address the complex interactions and optimize the system at the macro-level have lacked a clear direction and structure and have largely been conducted in an ad-hoc fashion. Traditional optimization has centered around individual vehicles with little regard for the impact on the overall system. A key enabler for reduced cost and cycle time is the ability to rapidly analyze technologies and perform trade studies using a capability-based approach. While many entities have expressed a desire to perform capability-based design, the need for a structured discipline exists. This research will examine how collaboration for the design of such systems-of-systems can be enabled through the use of surrogate models and will demonstrate a top-down analysis methodology for the evaluation of systems and technologies with respect to desired capabilities. A technique for inverse design where any variable can be treated as an independent variable is made routine through the structured use of surrogate models and probability theory. For the testbed demonstration, a depoliticized, notional scenario was postulated to develop a testbed environment in which humanitarian aid and supplies must be delivered to forward-deployed troops for dispersal in a host country under fire.