Class

This is a follow up to yesterday's email below to clarify some things before today's chat.

***** The course project replaces all course assignments on blackboard.com after the ones due tonight. ********

The course project is to produce the system requirements and system engineering plans for a system to claim the (fictitious) $100M prize.  The course project is NOT to produce anything for MBARS.  The MBARS OCD is for context only.

The Moonchallenge rules have not been published.  I will publish them "soon" and I expect to revise them as you raise questions and concerns.  I expect the rules to be similar in structure to the Grandchallenge rules www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge > rules.

Task 1 is to get organized and act as a team.   I expect that any one of 
the class members could do this project alone, given time.  The challenge is for the class to do it as a team in one (short, partially used) semester.  The class must begin behaving as a team.  That's not ever easy.  At Harris we usually kicked off a large project with a 3 day "Team Building" meeting lead by a psychologist.  Leadership is required by everyone so speak up, volunteer to do things.  Be dependable - say what you will do and do what you say.

The first deliverable to me is a schedule (say what the team will do and 
when).  I will play the role of  the "customer".   I will tell you what 
deliverables I want and you will tell me if/when the team can deliver them.

The first technical deliverable I want is a "Capability Requirements 
Document".   I expect no more than 10 pages.  The document will contain the 
capabilities that the autonomous robot system must provide to win the prize and how that capability will be verified prior to launch.
e.g., (these examples are for illustartion only, you don't have to use them) The <name> system shall provide the capability to circumnavigate the moon along the Magellan route shown in http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/moontomars/docs/041604SlidesWhittaker.pdf
This capability will be verified pre-launch by running a simulated Magellan moon route in the desert using a balloon to partially lift 5/6 the weight of the robot to simulate the 1/6 gravity of the moon.
The <name> system shall be capable of being delivered to the moon in one launch.
This capability will be verified pre-launch by readying the robot for launch, verifying that it meets size and weight restrictions, subjecting it to shock, temperature and vibration extremes expected in launch, transport and landing and then verifying that it will deploy and operate in accordance with its requirements.

Then the team will brainstorm systems approaches, picking one approach by a formal trade study and preparing the engineering requirements for the chosen approach and specifying how each requirement will be verified before launch.
e.g., consider using a Toyota Priuz (hybrid with gasoline engine removed) versus a custom vehicle.  Then write a set of requirements and  their verification prior to launch.  Now requirements are in engineering terms e.g, battery voltages shall be TBD +/- TBD volts prior to launch.

 From then to the end of semester the team develops  the plans that must be followed to achieve the required capabilities.  These plans are contained in a Systems Engineering Master Plan (SEMP).  see 
http://sparc.airtime.co.uk/users/wysywig/semp.htm   You will not have time 
to write all of the sections.  I expect that most planning will be the Software Development Plan which will say in part how software will be developed for the vehicle sub-system, the route preplanning sub-system, the pre-launch verification system etc.  (FYI- The Prius contains 33 million lines of code I am told by a GM engineer who follows those things and Sandstorm is 1/2 million lines of code). If time permits then I may call for the reliability plan and the system test plan.

Talk to you soon.

sam