Control system software, simulation, and robotic applications

All essential existing capabilities needed to create a man-machine interaction dynamics and performance (MMIDAP) capability are reviewed. The multibody system dynamics software program Order N DISCOS will be used for machine and musculo-skeletal dynamics modeling. The program JACK will be used for estimating and animating whole body human response to given loading situations and motion constraints. The basic elements of performance (BEP) task decomposition methodologies associated with the Human Performance Institute database will be used for performance assessment. Techniques for resolving the statically indeterminant muscular load sharing problem will be used for a detailed understanding of potential musculotendon or ligamentous fatigue, pain, discomfort, and trauma. The envisioned capacity is to be used for mechanical system design, human performance assessment, extrapolation of man/machine interaction test data, biomedical engineering, and soft prototyping within a concurrent engineering (CE) system

Architecture-based Evolution of Dependable Software-intensive Systems

This cumulative habilitation thesis, proposes concepts for (i) modelling and analysing dependability based on architectural models of software-intensive systems early in development, (ii) decomposition and composition of modelling languages and analysis techniques to enable more flexibility in evolution, and (iii) bridging the divergent levels of abstraction between data of the operation phase, architectural models and source code of the development phase

Annotated bibliography of Software Engineering Laboratory literature

An annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory is given. More than 100 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: The Software Engineering Laboratory; The Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; Software Tools; Software Models; Software Measurement; Technology Evaluations; Ada Technology; and Data Collection. Subject and author indexes further classify these documents by specific topic and individual author

Benchmark-based software product quality evaluation

Tese de doutoramento em InformáticaTwo main problems have been hindering the adoption of source code metrics for quality evaluation in industry: (i) the difficulty in doing a qualitative interpretation of measurements; and (ii) the inability of summarizing measurements into a single meaningful value that captures quality at the level of overall system. This dissertation proposes an approach based on two methods to solve these problems using thresholds derived from an industrial benchmark. The first method categorizes measurements into different risk areas using risk thresholds. These thresholds are derived by aggregating different metric distributions while preserving their statistical properties. The second method enables the assignment of ratings to systems, for a given scale, using rating thresholds. These thresholds are calibrated such that it is possible to distinguish systems based on their metric distribution. For each rating, these thresholds set the maximum amount of code that is allowed in all risk categories. Empirical and industrial studies provide evidence of the usefulness of the approach. The empirical study shows that ratings for a new test adequacy metric can be used to predict bug solving efficiency. The industrial case details the quality analysis and evaluation of two space-domain simulators.A adoção na indústria do uso de métricas de código fonte para a avaliação de qualidade tem sido dificultada por dois problemas: (i) pela dificuldade em interpretar métricas de forma qualitativa; e (ii) pela impossibilidade de agregar métricas num valor único que capture de forma fiel a qualidade do sistema como um todo. Esta dissertação propõe uma solução para estes problemas utilizando dois métodos que usam valores-limite derivados de um benchmark industrial. O primeiro método caracteriza medições em diferentes áreas de risco através de valores-limite de risco. Estes valores-limite são derivados através da agregação das distribuições de métricas preservando as suas propriedades estatísticas. O segundo método, dada uma escala, permite atribuir uma classificação a sistemas de software, usando valores-limite de classificação. Estes valores-limite são calibrados para permitir diferenciar sistemas baseada na distribuição de métricas definindo, para cada classificação, a quantidade máxima de código permissível nas categorias de risco. Dois estudos evidenciam os resultados desta abordagem. No estudo empírico mostra-se que as classificações atribuídas para uma nova métrica de teste podem ser usadas para prever a eficiência na resolução de erros. No estudo industrial detalha-se a avaliação e análise de qualidade de dois simuladores usados para missões no espaço

Advanced manned space flight simulation and training: An investigation of simulation host computer system concepts

The findings of a preliminary investigation by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in simulation host computer concepts is presented. It is designed to aid NASA in evaluating simulation technologies for use in spaceflight training. The focus of the investigation is on the next generation of space simulation systems that will be utilized in training personnel for Space Station Freedom operations. SwRI concludes that NASA should pursue a distributed simulation host computer system architecture for the Space Station Training Facility (SSTF) rather than a centralized mainframe based arrangement. A distributed system offers many advantages and is seen by SwRI as the only architecture that will allow NASA to achieve established functional goals and operational objectives over the life of the Space Station Freedom program. Several distributed, parallel computing systems are available today that offer real-time capabilities for time critical, man-in-the-loop simulation. These systems are flexible in terms of connectivity and configurability, and are easily scaled to meet increasing demands for more computing power

System Qualities Ontology, Tradespace and Affordability (SQOTA) Project Phase 5

Motivation and Context: One of the key elements of the SERC's research strategy is transforming the practice of systems engineering and associated management practices- "SE and Management Transformation (SEMT)." The Grand Challenge goal for SEMT is to transform the DoD community 's current systems engineering and management methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) and practices away from sequential, single stovepipe system, hardware-first ,document-driven, point- solution, acquisition-oriented approaches; and toward concurrent, portfolio and enterprise-oriented, hardware-software-human engineered, model-driven, set-based, full life cycle approaches.This material is based upon work supported, in whole or in part, by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) under Contract H98230-08-D-0171 and HQ0034-13-D-0004 (TO 0060).This material is based upon work supported, in whole or in part, by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) under Contract H98230-08-D-0171 and HQ0034-13-D-0004 (TO 0060)