The Technology of Command

Who was it who said, My commander in chief may make me an admiral, but only cornnumications can put me in command ? It could have been an aviator. It certainly could have been a fleet commander. It demonstrably was the thinking of the German Commander-in-Chief, U­Boats, Karl Ooenitz in World War II. His story is worth retelling, familiar as it is, because it dramatically illustrates the strengths and dangers of the technology of command.\u2

Communications to and from lunar and planetary spacecraft

Frequency assignment for communications to and from lunar and planetary spacecraf

Multi-team Integration: Interdependence and Integrative Mechanisms

The drive towards Integrated Product Development (IPD) includes an impetus to organize around Integrated Product Teams (IPTs). The use of IPTs has brought with it many issues, including those at the IPT interfaces. Program integration (crossfunctional, upstream/downstream, customer and supplier) can exist at several levels, within IPTs and between IPTs. This paper focuses on the realm of IPT interdependence and categorizes several Integrative Mechanisms (IMs) to facilitate interteam integration. IMs are strategies and tools for effectively coordinating actions across IPTs within a program. This paper is based on studies in the aerospace industry, but the implications extend to any large, complex development program

Parker Hannifin Chainless Challenge 2014-15 Senior Design Project

California Polytechnic State University has been invited to compete in the Parker Hannifin Chainless Challenge Competition in 2014-15. Cal Poly has chosen a team of mechanical engineering students to take part. We have named our team “Bike Under Pressure” and all references as such refer to the team. The challenge is to build a bicycle which does not have a solid mechanical connection between the power input of the rider to the power output of the wheel(s). After conducting research into different previous designs and brainstorming designs of their own, Bike Under Pressure developed two conceptual designs. One design featured a hydraulic pump and motor system which uses fluid power from the pump to cause mechanical rotation at the motor. The other design incorporated a set of linear actuators coupled together to create linear motion from the cranks, transmit the pressurized fluid to the other actuators, and create rotational motion at the back wheel. After careful deliberation, the team pursed the pump and motor conceptual design. A detailed design was iteratively created. This design features a front drive unit and rear drive unit to efficiently utilize two F11-5 pumps. A custom bicycle frame provides the mounting points and strength necessary for the hydraulic circuit. The hydraulic circuit also incorporated valves and an accumulator and reservoir for energy storage and regenerative braking. In addition to these features, the bicycle has a clutch which allows efficient coasting and ease of walking the bicycle. The bicycle was manufactured and assembled by Bike Under Pressure in total except for the frame. The frame was manufactured to Bike Under Pressure’s specifications by the Cal Poly Frame Builders club. Custom components were machined in the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Manufacturing Engineering departments’ machine shops. Standard components were donated by Parker and purchased online and in San Luis Obispo. The resulting prototype is capable of a maximum speed of 23 mph, a sustained average speed of 11 mph, weights 125 pounds, can exceed 60% efficiency at top speed, and cost $4600 to build. On competition day for the Chainless Challenge hosted by Parker Hannifin in Irvine, California, Bike Under Pressure placed first place overall

Lifecycle Value Framework for Tactical Aircraft Product Development

Due to a dramatic reduction in defense procurement, the benchmark for developing new defense systems today is performance at an affordable cost. In an attempt to encircle a more holistic perspective of value, lifecycle value has evolved as a concept within the Lean Aerospace Initiative, LAI. The implication of this is development of products incorporating lifecycle and long-term focus instead of a shortsighted cost cutting focus. The interest to reduce total cost of ownership while still improving performance, availability, and sustainability, other dimensions taken into account within the lifecycle value approach, falls well within this context. Several factors prevent enterprises from having a holistic perspective during product development. Some important aspects are increased complexity of the products and significant technological uncertainty. The combination of complexity in system design and the limits of individual human comprehension typically prevent a best value solution to be envisioned. The purpose of this research was to examine relative contributions in product development and determine factors that significantly promote abilities to consider and achieve lifecycle value. This paper contributes a maturity matrix based on important practices and lessons learned through extensive interview based case studies of three tactical aircraft programs, including experiences from more than 100 interviews

A systems engineering approach to performance-based maintenance services design

Traditionally, industrial services have been mainly transaction-based, i.e., the equipment user pays the service provider for getting a job done or providing assistance and support for equipment operations. Recently, a trend has emerged of increasing the relational perspective of these services, which are becoming more oriented towards customer value and service performance levels. Among these emergent industrial services, performance-based services represent an opportunity for equipment manufacturers to transform their service offerings towards more relational and customer-oriented services. The purpose of this work is to study the design of a generic performance-based maintenance service under a novel perspective given by systems engineering. This paper is intended to serve as a starting point to fully understand this type of services and to develop a method that can support equipment manufacturers who wish to advance their service offerings

Mechanisms for Interteam Integration: Findings from Five Case Studies

Many product development programs consist of multiple integrated product teams (IPTs) and functional groups. Interteam information dependencies greatly affect program success. Program integration has thus become an issue of increasing interest. This paper summarizes findings from five case studies of integrative mechanisms (IMs) in complex system product development projects at Chrysler, General Electric Aircraft Engines, McDonnell Douglas, Sundstrand, and Texas Instruments. Two types of IMs are investigated in this paper: (1) Systems engineering and interface optimization and (2) Improved information and communication technologies. As the appropriateness of a given IM varies as a function of many parameters—such as program stage, size, complexity, risk, etc.—the goal of this research was not to formulate a universal template for IM application. Rather, it is hoped that the lessons learned by these five programs will help others determine the appropriateness of particular IMs in their situations. Also, the continued development of an IM categorization scheme will hopefully prove useful to those developing an integration “tool kit.

A new technique for observing the amorphous to crystalline transformation in thin surface layers on silicon wafers

Thin amorphous ({alpha}) films of silicon created by ion-implantation have been studied in-situ while undergoing the amorphous to crystalline transformation in the electron microscope. The specimens were prepared in such a manner that the amorphous/crystalline interface was viewed edge-on and its advance during annealing was easily observed over distances of several microns. Growth rates and activation energies were measured. The active role that defects play during the regrowth process was also studied. An additional advantage of the technique was that in a single specimen different segments of the recrystallization front advanced along several different growth directions simultaneously, hence the effect of regrowth direction on the interface migration rate and defect formation was graphically displayed in a single specimen