Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering (including Systems Design or Systems Design Engineering ) is an interdisciplinary approach to develop complex technical systems in large projects and to realize. Systems Engineering is necessary because, especially in large complex projects points are as difficult to handle, for example, logistics and coordination and can lead to massive problems in the execution of the project.

• 4.1 Software Development
• 4.2 Security Technology
• 4.3 Reliability engineering
• 4.4 Interface Design
• 4.5 Cognitive " Systems Engineering"
• 4.6 Risk Management

Overview

The focus of the Systems Engineering is

This should be taken into account in particular the entire problem (operation, cost, schedule, performance, training and support, testing, production and recycling ).

Systems Engineering integrates all these engineering disciplines and capabilities into a single, team-oriented structured process. This process is applied from concept to production to operation and in some cases to the degradation or for recycling.

Ideally, given Systems Engineering technical, economic and social needs of all customers, with the aim to give the customer a product that meets its needs. A task is therefore to determine the limits for the cost, schedule and producibility.

Systems Engineering based on the fact that there is more than the sum of its subsystems (or components ), and for this reason the overall context should be considered. For a complex system, the system engineer responsible of a team of other system engineers who take responsibility for different areas served.

Systems Engineering has been in the English-speaking world a synonym for the development of the whole product ( hardware, software, service) and the need for additional systems (for example, the test system or the machine to manufacture the product ). This role was played by the Human- Computer Interaction ( MCI) and recovery supplements.

The system engineer is needed because, for example, a hardware engineer working (more or less) with the hardware and a software engineer (more or less) with the software and these therefore have little time or they lack the skills to intensively with the to employ optimized compatibility of the software on the hardware or the whole system with its elements as well as possible with the environment, especially the user interacts or whether it can be used as planned. In extensive systems - such as the development of Columbus ( space laboratory ) - must be coordinated a variety of disciplines (thermodynamics, ergonomics, etc.) in order to optimize the overall system.

Methods and tasks

Methods and tasks of systems engineering are

• Project management to keep the organization of the development process under control;
• Requirements analysis, requirements definition and requirements management, the basis of system development;
• System design ( modeling, simulation and evaluation ), the development of the system;
• Change management in the development, there are often changes but they must be comprehensible;
• System integration ( interface specification or product development ) to ensure perfect integration into the next larger system;
• System verification and validation to ensure that the requirements are fulfilled;
• Risk management (ie, for example, fault trees, failure analysis, FMEA), the impact of risks should be minimized in system development;
• Sustainable development, sustainable should be developed each system.

History

The first significant use of " Systems Engineering " was held in 1940 at Bell Laboratories in telephony instead. Had to the different parts of the telecommunication system and must interact very well, which was only possible through a comprehensive understanding of the system and detailed specification of requirements.

Stronger was " Systems Engineering" used after the Second World War in the American space program, inter alia, the Apollo program and the development of the Space Shuttle. Here, the system engineering approach has been continuously developed by NASA.

In the European space, it was used extensively after the failures of the Euro- missiles. To the failures occurred, since the various stages are designed without a common coordination and these were therefore not matched. Therefore, it was used by the French in the development of the Ariane rocket systems engineering intensive, which eventually led to a great success the missile. Since it is in space standard to use systems engineering engineers.

In general, systems engineering is used in almost all companies at different depths, while it is partly just different names. The extreme effort for verification, which drives the cost of space programs in the height will be implemented only reduced in commercial enterprises.

Scope

In industry, the new developments are becoming increasingly complex, as the requirements of customers are increasing more and more. This interdisciplinary developments ever to allow a reasonable amount of time, it is important to keep track. Precisely for this purpose system engineering has been developed. It is important that the development of large and small systems can lead to new system information and this information for future developments must not be lost.

Decisions at the beginning of a project whose effects are not yet fully understood, can lead to tremendous impact at the end of the project, and it is an object of the modern system engineer to find these effects and to make critical decisions. There are and there will be no way of ensuring that a decision made today is still valid when a system after years or decades goes into maintenance, but there are techniques to support the process of " Systems Engineering". Examples of the use of simple system methodologies are Jay Wright Forrester, " System Dynamics " methods and the Unified Modeling Language (UML ), which are constantly evolving to support the development process. Helpful is a modeling and simulation of the system as it is now common in all industries and sciences in order to detect errors and risks before production.

With Systems Engineering standing in relationship areas

It is obvious that many specific areas or niches within the engineering sciences with the sub-areas of systems engineering come into contact. The growing number of complex and very different systems obtained more and more overlap between these areas. Many subareas understand their own performance only as part of the larger areas, but they also contribute to the development and research of systems engineering.

Software Development

The software development has recently helped develop systems engineering. Techniques that were originally developed to deal with complex software -intensive systems can have helped to make large changes in the used tools, methods and processes in the SE, for example, SysML, CMMI, object- oriented analysis and design, requirements management, Formal Methods and Formal languages ​​.

Safety Technology

Security technology is used today wherever people want to secure large and complex events so that these systems can not cause damage. Most of these security techniques are used, planned to deal with errors.

The current development standards define risk categories and models for levels of security or assurance levels and derive from demands on the development and quality assurance. Another area is the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA ), this is to be continued on the software, despite the complexity of the software, a potential target in the development of systems engineering.

Reliability engineering

Reliability engineering ( reliability growth ) is to, a discipline to ensure that a system meets the user expectations or the absence of errors during the product life. Reliability engineering is applied for the whole system with its hardware and software. It is strongly linked with maintainability and logistics. Reliability engineering is often applied to some areas of security technology, such as failure behavior and fault trees. Reliability engineering familiar heavily on statistics, probability theory and reliability theory and its tools and processes.

Interface design

Interface design has been paid to join the parts of a system together. Thus, for example, communication protocol is determined to ensure the interactions between the systems or subsystems.

An example of this is that signals leave the a system, should be, for example within a tolerance or the recipient should have a greater tolerance than the signal transmitter to keep the system stable enough.

Human- computer interaction (English human -computer interaction, HCI ) is another aspect of the interface design and a very vital part of the modern system engineering, to the user when a system is considered.

It is also noted that each system is a subsystem of another. Thus, for example, a pump manufacturer should worry about how to be a customer wants to use the pump and make the interfaces accordingly.

"Every system is somebody's subsystem. "

" Every system is anyone's subsystem "

Cognitive " Systems Engineering"

Cognitive " Systems Engineering" sees man as part of the system. Cognitive Systems Engineering is strongly related to the experiences that have been made for decades in the applications of the two subregions Cognitive psychology and systems engineering together. Cognitive Systems Engineering has strongly focused on exploring the interactions between humans and the environment, as well as planned to develop systems that integrate human thought. Cognitive Systems Engineering is working on the following points:

• Problems encountered by the environment
• Need for intermediaries ( human and software)
• Interaction of the various systems and technologies in order to influence the situation.

Risk Management

Risk management is a necessary tool of systems engineering, so the possible dangers of developments will be estimated and thus the system development can be carried out successfully. It can thus be avoided, for example, that the effects of individual subsystems to crash the whole system run.

Example of a Systems Engineering Process

In order to describe the whole system, it is important to find methods for continuous development and analysis at system and software level. One possibility is the use of SysML, which was developed on the basis of UML in order to develop and control complex systems .. Some of these modeling language has already been integrated into development software (eg ARTiSAN Studio ARTiSAN, Enterprise Architect by Sparx Systems, Telelogic Rhapsody, Papyrus 4 SysML Freeware). If then additionally the requirements of customers with software tools (eg DOORS and RequisitePro IBM Rational, IRQA Visure Solutions, Caliber -RM Borland, CARE by Sophist Group, in-Step microTOOL ) are integrated into this development process, as a high traceability of decisions in development is given.

Education and qualifications

In Germany, there are more and more colleges and in the meantime also a few universities that offer systems engineering as a degree course. Since systems engineering, however, is very wide interpretable as a concept, the training of educational institution for training institution can be designed differently, and in particular also set very different priorities. For example the University of Ulm to a Master's program " Systems Engineering and Management" with the emphasis on Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Management and Logistics, focusing Electrical Engineering with international exchange and thus can be completed in English.

In Switzerland, Systems Engineering is primarily taught at the ETH Zurich as a compulsory subject, as for example in the fields of study of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering ( Civil, Environmental Engineering and Geomatics ).

Since 2012, the Society for Systems Engineering offers eV ( GfSE ) in cooperation with the TÜV Rheinland, an accredited certification body, a part-time personnel certification for Systems Engineers as " Certified Systems Engineer ( GfSE ) ®". The certification offers three levels of certification C ( "understanding" ), B ( "Apply" ) and A ( " Boss " ), where A represents the expert level. The C level lasts 5 months, includes about 12 days of attendance at a licensed training provider and ends with a two-hour examination by TÜV Rheinland and GfSE assessors. The awarded certificate provides an independent proof of skills in Systems Engineering dar.