Our Approach
There is a need to develop collaborative engineering models as part of the preliminary design of the system so that SMT will be able to explore mission concepts, select mission architecture, and define its operations. SMT uses Model-Based Systems Engineering which also serves the process of a Concurrent Engineering Design. Therefore, we create the necessary models, which represent a simplified abstraction of the system we want to design.
The Lunar Science & Environment model will be used as a fundamental tool that provides input to identify environmental design drivers and therefore influencing the mission and system development. Furthermore, we have the possibility to use our optimization tool to select an optimal location for operations on the Moon. For optimization purposes, we take many variables into account such as:
Figure: Results of a Loss Function with weighted input parameters. On the left, more weight was given to Water-Ice Abundance, whereas on the left more weight was given to Illumination Conditions. The “Star” indicates the optimized location for operation and can significantly change with respect to weighted inputs.
ARMSTRONG
Concurrent Engineering provides a rapid generation and maturation of engineering designs for many different concepts. At SMT we are developing a Software Tool (ARMSTRONG), which allows fast autonomous iterations with qualitative communication between models of the system.
Because of ARMSTRONG, we can achieve an optimized design choice and a sophisticated set of System Requirements, which is advantageous in an early stage of a project. This is especially important in Phase 0 and A of a space project.