ENGINEERING DESIGN DATABASE

DURING COMPLEX ENGINEERING EFFORTS, THE DEFINITION AND CONTROL OF REQUIREMENTS IS TYPICALLY ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A LARGE SET OF PROJECT DOCUMENTS. TODAY, MANUAL METHODS ARE USED TO HANDLE THESE REQUIREMENTS. THIS HOWEVER, RESULTS IN PROBLEMS IN VARIOUS AREAS SUCH AS MAINTENANCE, TRACEABILITY, AND THE EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF DESIGN CHANGES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DESIGN A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS IN AN ENGINEERING DESIGN EFFORT. SPECIFICALLY, WE INTEND TO DEVELOP AN ENGINEERING DESIGN DATABASE (EDD) TO MANAGE THE DEVELOPMENT, STORAGE, VERIFICATION, AND ANALYSIS OF DESIGN REQUIREMENTS. CONCURRENT ENGINEERING WILL BE ENABLED THROUGH CENTRALIZED TOOLS USED TO AUTOMATE THE MANAGEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS AS WELL AS STIMULATE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN ENGINEERS THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS. IN PHASE I, A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM OF LIMITED SCOPE WILL BE DEVELOPED AND FIELD TESTED. THIS WILL VERIFY THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROJECT AND PROVIDE A BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM DURING PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE ENGINEERING DESIGN DATABASE WILL PROVIDE INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR THE COLLECTION, STORAGE, RETRIEVAL, ANALYSIS, AND VERIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS. THE INTEGRATION OF THESE TOOLS ALONG WITH THE ABILITY TO SUPPORT MULTIPLE HARDWARE PLATFORMS USING A SCALABLE ARCHITECTURE WILL RESULT IN A SYSTEM WITH BROAD COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL.