A property-based system design method with application to a targeting system for small UAVs

The aim of system design is to define an optimal integration of components for the achievement of an overarching objective. As a result, engineering systems often cannot be designed with the disciplines meeting in isolation, but instead require collaboration for a synergism of goals, especially in aviation-based systems where tradeoffs are inherent to the design. Furthermore, defense-related projects require a strict acquisition process that requires companies to submit proposals for contracts. The system design method proposed here is geared towards the proposal stage of design and is aimed at enabling objective, informed design decisions. As such, the method uses the system's properties in a utility function-based evaluation to determine the best alternative. Towards these ends, the method defines criteria critical to the system's evaluation and functions to translate the system's properties related to these criteria into scores. The system's properties are derived from relationships with the components properties and between the components and their environment. As a result, the method translates component properties into system properties, which are then turned into scores.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Mihok, Brian E. (Brian Edward)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jeff Miller and Brent Appleby.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35571

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35571