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The purpose of this four hour short course is to provide information to understand how is established the basic architecture of a Flight Control Actuation System of a transport airplane, i.e. understanding the rationale for the distribution of the control surfaces, power sources, actuators and computers.

Use of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) has been growing across industry, extending beyond defense and aerospace to include various commercial enterprises such as automotive and healthcare. Tool vendors are quick to point out benefits of this model-based approach and practices but are not always clear how MBSE benefits can be realized on a project. When deployed successfully, several key considerations should be addressed that maximize the value for a use-case. This four-hour class will discuss the nature and purpose of the MBSE approach and how key information is used for successful MBSE deployment as it relates to Systems Management.

This course is offered in China only and presented in Mandarin Chinese. The course materials are bilingual (English and Chinese). Currently in the industry, especially within China, product requirement development is more of an experience-based process rather than a scientific methodology. This course addresses this issue and provides a more process-driven method for better requirement development through the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology.  Real industrial examples are used to demonstrate how to systematically convert the voice of the customer data to engineering specifications using QFD.

This course is offered in China only and presented in Mandarin Chinese. The course materials are bilingual (English and Chinese). As the complexity of products increases, traditional text-based systems engineering can no longer meet the needs. To solve the problem, Model-based Systems Engineering offers a unified communication platform among relevant staff by carrying out diagram-based unambiguous description, analysis and design for the demand, and structure and behavior of complex systems in the form of a model.

In today's complex engineering landscape, effective systems engineering is essential for ensuring the success of projects across various industries. The MBSE Design and Development training course offers a comprehensive exploration of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles and practices, providing participants with the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to excel in modern systems engineering. This course serves as a bridge from traditional systems engineering approaches to contemporary systems modeling methodologies.

This course will introduce participants to industry best practices for real-world aviation cyber-security risk-assessment, development & assurance. Participants will learn the information necessary to help minimize DO-326/ED-202-set compliance risks and costs, while also optimizing cyber-security levels for the development, deployment and in-service phases Topics such as aircraft security aspects of safety, systems-approach to security, security planning, the airworthiness security process, and security effectiveness assurance will be covered.

This full-day course is designed to equip engineering professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to combine the strengths of Design Engineering and Systems Engineering into Systems Design Engineering (SDE) principles. These principles will improve engineering efficiency and practically design more sustainable system-level products, all while strategically aligning with digital transformation objectives.

Abstract This article investigates the fuel savings potential of a series hybrid military truck using a simultaneous battery pack design and powertrain supervisory control optimization algorithm. The design optimization refers to the sizing of the lithium-ion battery pack in the hybrid configuration. The powertrain supervisory control optimization determines the most efficient way to split the power demand between the battery pack and the engine. Despite the available design and control optimization techniques, a generalized mathematical formulation and solution approach for combined design and control optimization is still missing in the literature. This article intends to fill that void by proposing a unified framework to simultaneously optimize both the battery pack size and power split control sequence. This is achieved through a combination of genetic algorithm (GA) and Pontryagin’s minimum principle (PMP) where the design parameters are integrated into the Hamiltonian function.

This Aerospace Standard (AS) establishes the requirements for suppliers of Nonconventional Machining Services to be accredited by the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP). NADCAP accreditation is granted in accordance with SAE AS7003 after demonstration of compliance with the requirements herein. The requirements may be supplemented by additional requirements specified by the NADCAP Nonconventional Machining and Surface Enhancement (NMSE) Task Group. Using the corresponding Audit Criteria (PRI AC7116) will ensure that accredited Nonconventional Machining suppliers meet all of the requirements in this standard and all applicable supplementary standards. The purpose of this audit program is to assess a supplier's ability to consistently provide a product or service that conforms to the technical specifications and customer requirements.

This Aerospace Standard (AS) is to be used as a supplement to SAE AS7109. In addition to the requirements contained in AS7109, the requirements contained herein shall apply to suppliers seeking NADCAP Coatings accreditation who are engaged in thermal spray.

This document defines the characteristics necessary to standardize the airborne recorder download file format in order to facilitate data import, transcription, and exchange. A standardized data format will reduce the variety of readout equipment required for airborne recorder data transcription. This document defines the detailed architecture of the Recorder Standard Output (RSO) file. The architecture is a tagged file structure within which many different files and their formats can be supported. The structure is necessary to support newer recording requirements for flight data, data link, audio, and image recording. This structure is intended for use with all civil recorders and should support use with military recorders.

This Handbook is intended to accompany or incorporate AS5643, AS5643/1, AS5657, AS5706, and ARD5708. In addition, full understanding of this Handbook also requires knowledge of IEEE-1394-1995, IEEE-1394a, and IEEE-1394b standards. This Handbook contains detailed explanations and architecture analysis on AS5643, bus timing and scheduling considerations, system redundancy design considerations, suggestions on AS5643-based system configurations, cable selection guidance, and lessons learned on failure modes.

Abstract Letter from the Guest Editors

Abstract Threat identification and security analysis have become mandatory steps in the engineering design process of high-assurance systems, where successful cyberattacks can lead to hazardous property damage or loss of lives. This article describes a novel approach to perform security analysis on embedded systems modeled at the architectural level. The tool, called Security Threat Evaluation and Mitigation (STEM), associates threats from the Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) library with components and connections and suggests potential defense patterns from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 security standard. This article also provides an illustrative example based on a drone package delivery system modeled in AADL.

Abstract Autonomy has the potential to make the most radical impact by significantly reducing the number of soldiers in harm’s way and changing the military paradigm. Benefits of autonomy to improve the Army’s mission capabilities and the rapid evolution of military systems exerts pressure to develop these systems quickly. Since the associated technological development is highly fast paced and stochastic, approaches that develop systems for stochastic future scenarios are required. In this article we present a vision for the autonomous high-mobility military systems for that future. We discuss the ramifications of autonomy in five areas: (1) fleet organization, (2) physical attributes of high-mobility military systems, (3) individual behaviors of autonomous assets, (4) interactions between humans and autonomous systems, and (5) operation and teaming strategies. We present the future vision, implications, requirements, and technological challenges for each of the five areas.

Abstract The advancement in vision sensors and embedded technology created the opportunity in autonomous vehicles to look ahead in the future to avoid potential obstacles and steep regions to reach the target location as soon as possible and yet maintain vehicle safety from rollover. The present work focuses on developing a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) for a high-speed off-road autonomous vehicle, which avoids undesirable conditions including stationary obstacles, moving obstacles, and steep regions while maintaining the vehicle safety from rollover. The NMPC controller is developed using CasADi tools in the MATLAB environment. The CasADi tool provides a platform to formulate the NMPC problem using symbolic expressions, which is an easy and efficient way of solving the optimization problem. In the present work, the vehicle lateral dynamics are modeled using the Pacejka nonlinear tire model.

This Aerospace Standard (AS) is to be used as a supplement to SAE AS7109. In addition to the requirements contained in AS7109, the requirements contained herein shall apply to suppliers seeking NADCAP Coatings accreditation who are engaged in stripping of coated material.

Abstract Presently, 270 V direct current (DC) systems replace older 28 V DC voltage systems in both the civil and military aviation industry due to the requirement for more electrical power needs on board. Therefore, the existing avionics require retrofitting. The conversion from 270 V to 28 V appears to be quite promising for both old and new systems. This study aims to design an interleaved synchronous modular buck converter topology as a candidate for these requirements. Calculations for the converter design are conducted considering aviation standards. Switching with pulse-width modulation (PWM) is used to control the power converter. A double-loop feedback control system based on voltage and current feedback is designed. Therefore, the buck converter circuit with 1145 W power output is proposed, which supplies a 28 V and 41 A DC output from a 270 V DC input. The concept is verified using simulations and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental results.

Project Oculus is an in-flight deployable mechanical arm/pod system that will accommodate 500 pounds of sensor payload, developed for a C-130 military aircraft. The system is designed for use in counter narco-terrorism and surveillance applications by the Department of Defense and the National Guard [1]. A prototype of the system has been built and is in the testing/analysis phase. The purpose of this study was to analyze the actual stresses and strains in the critical areas found using previous Finite Element (FE) simulations and to ensure that acceptable safety requirements have been met. The system components tested will be redesigned, tested, and reconstructed in the case of unacceptable safety factors or if more reliable methods can be implemented. The system was built to be deployed and retracted in flight, to avoid causing any problems in take off and landing.

After manufacture, every military vehicle experiences a unique history of dynamic loads, depending on loads carried, missions completed, etc. Damage accumulates in vehicle structures and components accordingly, leading eventually to failures that can be difficult to anticipate, and to unpredictable consequences for mission objectives. The advent of simulation-based fatigue life prediction tools opens a path to Digital Twin based solutions for tracking damage, and for gaining control over vehicle reliability. An incremental damage updating feature has now been implemented in the Endurica CL fatigue solver with the aim of supporting such applications for elastomer components. The incremental updating feature is demonstrated via the example of a simple transmission mount component. The damage state of the mount is computed as it progresses towards failure under a series of typical loading histories.