Transforming Systems Engineering through Model-Centric Engineering

A013 Interim Technical Report SERC-2017-TR-111

August 8, 2018

更多

Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Blackburn, Stevens Institute of Technology

Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Dinesh Verma, Stevens Institute of Technology

Research Team

Georgetown University: Dr. Robin Dillon-Merrill

Stevens Institute of Technology: Roger Blake, Dr. Mary Bone, Brian Chell,

Rick Dove, Dr. John Dzielski, Dr. Paul Grogan, Dr. Steven Hoffenson,

Eirik Hole, Dr. Roger D. Jones, Dr. Benjamin Kruse, Dr. Kishore Pochiraju,

Chris Snyder, Dr. Rob Cloutier

University of Massachusetts: Dr. Ian Grosse, Dr. Tom Hagedorn

Sponsor:

U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC),

Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering

(ODASD(SE))

收起

Eventual consistency between design and implementation is im-perative for the quality and maintainability of software systems. Towards achieving this consistency, engineers can analyze the gaps between models and corresponding code to gain insights into dif-ferences between design and implementation. Due to the different levels of abstraction of the involved artifacts, this analysis is a complex task to automate. We study an industrial MBSE setting where we aim to provide model-code gap analysis between SysML system models and corresponding C/C++ code through structural consistency checks. To this end, we propose an extension of the OpenMBEE platform, to include code as one of the synchronized development artifacts in addition to models and documentation. In this paper, we outline our initial research idea to include code as a view in this platform and we propose to explicitly link the code to generated documentation, and thereby to the model.

Executable models can be used to support all engineering activities in Model-Based Systems Engineering. Testing and simulation of such models can provide early feedback about design choices. How-ever, in today’s complex systems, failures could arise due to subtle errors that are hard to find without checking all possible execution paths. Formal methods, and especially model checking can uncover such subtle errors, yet their usage in practice is limited due to the specialized expertise and high computing power required. There-fore we created an automated, cloud-based environment that can verify complex reachability properties on SysML State Machines using hidden model checkers. The approach and the prototype is illustrated using an example from the aerospace domain.

As Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) prac-tices gain adoption, various approaches have been developed in order to simplify and automate the process of generating documents from models. Essentially, all of these techniques can be unified around the concept of producing different views of the model according to the needs of the intended audience. In this paper, we will describe a technique developed at JPL of applying SysML Viewpoints and Views to generate documents and reports. An architecture of model-based view and document generation will be presented, and the necessary extensions to SysML with associated rationale will be explained. A survey of examples will highlight a variety of views that can be generated, and will provide some insight into how collaboration and inte-gration is enabled. We will also describe the basic architecture for the enterprise applications that support this approach.

SysML is a modeling language used for systems analysis and design. While some domain-specific analyses (e.g., finite element analysis) can only be specified in SysML when combined with other vocabulary, many common analyses can be modeled purely in SysML using its parametric and behavioral semantics. In this paper, we focus on one kind of analysis, which is requirements verification, and propose a new Executable System Engineering Method (ESEM) that automates it using executable SysML modeling patterns that involve structural, behavioral and parametric diagrams. The resulting analysis model becomes executable using a general purpose SysML execution engine. We present our method and demonstrate it on a running example derived from an industrial case study where we have verified the power requirements of a telescope system. It involves dynamic power roll-ups in different operational scenarios and shows the automation capabilities of this method.

Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is gaining acceptance as a way to formalize systems engineering practice through the use of models. 12The traditional method of producing and managing a plethora of disjointed documents and presentations (“Power-Point Engineering”) has proven both costly and limiting as a means to manage the complex and sophisticated specifications of modern space systems. We have developed a tool and method to produce sophisticated artifacts as views and by-products of integrated models, allowing us to minimize the practice of “Power-Point Engineering” from model-based projects and demonstrate the ability of MBSE to work within and supersede traditional engineering practices.

更多

This paper describes how we have created and successfully used model-based document generation techniques to extract paper artifacts from complex SysML and UML models in support of successful project reviews. Use of formal SysML and UML models for architecture and system design enables production of review documents, textual artifacts, and analyses that are consistent with one-another and require virtually no labor-intensive maintenance across small-scale design changes and multiple authors. This effort thus enables approaches that focus more on rigorous engineering work and less on "PowerPoint engineering" and production of paper-based documents or their "office-productivity" file equivalents.

收起

ABSTRACT

Applying systems engineering across the life-cycle results in a number of products built from interdependent sources of information using different kinds of system level analysis. This paper focuses on leveraging the Executable System Engineering Method (ESEM) [1] [2], which automates requirements verification (e.g. power and mass budget margins and duration analysis of operational modes) using executable SysML [3] models. The particular value proposition is to integrate requirements, and executable behavior and performance models for certain types of system level analysis. The models are created with modeling patterns that involve structural, behavioral and parametric diagrams, and are managed by an open source Model Based Engineering Environment (named OpenMBEE [4]). This paper demonstrates how the ESEM is applied in conjunction with OpenMBEE to create key engineering products (e.g. operational concept document) for the Alignment and Phasing System (APS) within the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project [5], which is under development by the TMT International Observatory (TIO) [5].

Both the Eclipse platform and MathWorks have successfully pro-vided entire ecosystems and tooling for Model-Driven Engineer-ing (MDE). On the one hand, the Eclipse community has built a rich set of open source tools and applications to address different MDE needs. Several of these tools and applications are actively used for developing academic and industrial systems. On the other hand, MathWorks with its Simulink and Stateflow technologies has focused on design modelling, simulation and code generation to deliver one of the most widely used modelling frameworks for developing embedded and safety-critical systems. Leveraging these two MDE ecosystems in the form of an integrated environment for embedded and safety-critical system development would be expected. Nonetheless, these two ecosystems rarely interact due to MathWorks’ closed nature and proprietary file formats.

更多

This paper presents Breesse, a live bridge for the Eclipse Modeling Framework ecosystem and the MathWorks Simulink and Stateflow ecosystem. Breesse is an open source tool that was built in response to the needs of two industry partners who develop avionics systems. It was realized with EMF technologies and the MATLAB Engine API for Java. Breesse is able to import the contents of Simulink and Stateflow design models and libraries into EMF-based Simulink and Stateflow representations. These EMF-based representations enable the manipulation of the design models in other existing EMF-based tools for MDE. Evaluation of the tool was carried out through its use in three avionics system designs.

收起