Why it’s Necessary to Examine Alternative System Concepts
Being able to examine several alternative system concepts before coming up with a final set of system performance is necessary. Therefore, efforts must be made to reach out to as many possible courses of action as there are candidate alternatives. There are reasons as to why this should be done. First, it is to ensure that any alternative that is not in line with the basic requirement is not accepted. Secondly, requirements including growth potential, logistic support, system cost, and maintainability of various alternatives should be considered to reach at a result that expresses thoroughness.
Thirdly, a search for all options that are worth being considered is done to establish that a promising one is not inadvertently left out. This augments objectivity. Failing to examine an adequate range of these concepts might result into acquisition of a system that is neither objective nor competitive enough. Since such a system may be lacking in these vital aspects including evidence that confirms its thoroughness, it may fail to be acceptable to both the manager and the customer. Fourth, the current system concept may contain deficiencies that can either be modified or removed by considering an alternative which may have a greater growth potential and cost reduction (Kassiakoff et al, 2003, p. 430-433).
Concepts for Solving the SAR Problem
Accomplishing search and rescue problems is the main activity of SAR. It entails planning of dissimilar events to ensure that their coordination is optimum. The systems ought to be partitioned into subtasks in which there are thorough communications to be utilized in solving the problems posed by the dependencies. The analysis performed on this system can be used on various planning environments such as maritime rescue, fire department, and emergency rescue. The complexity of the operations calls for other problem solving concepts such as planning of certain tasks as well as the coordination of resources and devices (Hruska and Hashimoto, 2000, p. 85-89).
Regional seismic monitoring is another concept for solving SAR problems. It is used for making a quick estimate of damage made by an earthquake in an urban place. This avails important information to the search and rescue activities to aid in organization and management. It can also aid in detection of powerful seismic motions before they reach the urban region and hence sensitize shut-down systems located at chemical plants and railways (Wen, 1992, p. 14).
Role of Simulation in the Development of Boeing 777
Lately, modeling and simulation have played a vital role in developing diverse commercial products. For instance, three dimensional modeling and simulation was used in the manufacturing process and the product design of Boeing 777 (National Research Council, 2002, p. 47).
During the process of product development for Boeing 777, the simulation process was used to minimize the duration used in making design changes. The design changes required that various parties give their output. These include designers, process engineers and purchasing agents.
First, simulations and process maps were created through an element of project management. What followed were proposed alternatives such as work flow automation and policy changes that were simulated to find out the effect on cycle times (Harrington & Tumay, 2000, p. 19). The main challenge for using simulations in the development of Boeing 777 is that due to their specificity, it is not easy to integrate current product solutions into greater systems or use modeling and simulation elements to offer solutions to new problems. The limitations in using computer-aided design (CAD) software partly lead to this. The CAD tools for 777 deal only with static interconnection and static solid modeling but not systematically with heterogeneity, dynamics and nonlinearities (National Research Council, 2002, p. 49-50).
Why Concept Definition and Exploration Apply Modeling and Simulation
Modeling and simulation are used in concept definition and exploration because of the nature of these processes. The objective requires that the system performance requirements be defined and that the development be based on the preferred system concept. Simulation from a computer system provides the best mechanism for making these decisions.
It also plays an important part in concept definition with regard to choosing a preferred system concept. In addition, the complexity of the simulation makes it appropriate for reflection of all important performance factors. Also, a well designed simulation has the potential of supporting the complexity of the system concept. Simulation is preferred because it’s less abstract than other modeling methods and can embody the system’s physical (Kassiakoff et al, 2003, p. 423).
Reference list
Harrington, J. and Tumay, K. (2000). Simulation Modelling Methods. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. Web.
Hruska, T. and Hashimoto, M. (2000). Knowledge-based software engineering: proceedings of the Fourth Joint Conference on Knowledge-Based Software Engineering in Brno, Czech Republic, 2000. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Web.
Kassiakoff, et al, (2003). System engineering principles and practice. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Web.
National Research Council (2002). Modeling and simulation in manufacturing and defense systems acquisition: pathways to success. Washington DC: National Academy Press. Web.
Wen, Y.K. (1992). Intelligent Structures 2: Monitoring and Control. NY: Elsevier Science Publishers. Web.