|
- %&tex
- \chapter{Analysis}
- \label{chap:analysis}
- \begin{marginfigure}
- \centering
- \includegraphics[width=6cm]{graphics/design_flow.pdf}
- \caption{Overview of the design flow, split in two phases: Preliminary Design and the \ac{ridm}.}
- \label{fig:design_flow_analysis}
- \end{marginfigure}
- The previous chapter introduced how two design methods are combined to form the bases for one complete design method.
- In this chapter, a design plan is created from this combined design method.
- The goal is to have a concrete design plan that can be used in the case study.
- All of the steps in the design plan must be specific such that each of these steps can be evaluated after the case study is finished.
- The first three steps of the design phase are based on the \ac{se} approach and are already described with great extend by \textcite{blanchard_systems_2014}.
- As the evaluation of \ac{se} is not in the scope of this thesis, this chapter only covers the minimal description of the design steps in \ac{se}.
- The steps that are introduced by \ridm are covered in more detail.
-
- \section{Systems Engineering}
- The goal of the preliminary design is to setup system requirements and an initial design according to the problem definition.
- Although these design steps in \ac{se} play a crucial roll in the success of the development, they are, however, very exhaustive.
- A major part of this complete design process is the required documentation to ensure agreement about the design between the different stakeholders.
- Resulting in a process that can take months or even years, which is not feasible for this thesis.
- In this thesis, this design plan is only used for evaluation and will have only one stakeholder, the author.
- This allows for a simple implementation of the \ac{se} approach, as it not possible to create a false start due to misunderstanding, saving valuable time.
- For each of these \ac{se} steps is explained what is involved with a full implementation, and what part of the step is used in the design plan.
-
- \subsection{Problem Definition}
- Before any design process can start, the "problem" has to be defined.
- In other words, why is the function of the system needed?
- This is described in a \emph{statement of the problem}.
- In this statement of the problem it is important to describe "what" has to be solved, not directly "how".
- \textcite{blanchard_systems_2014} also note that "defining the problem is often the most difficult part of the process".
- It is important to ensure good communication and understanding between the different stakeholders.
- Otherwise, it is possible that the designed product is not up to the customers expectations.
- It furthermore involves defining the subjects like what are the primary and secondary functions? When must this be accomplished? What is not a function?
- For this thesis, however, the problem definition is limited to a short statement of the problem, covering some required functions with corresponding requirements.
-
- \subsection{System Requirements}
- The system requirements are derived from the problem definition, and describe the characteristics of the system.
- As these characteristics form the foundation of the system, the requirements must be defined without any ambiguity, vagueness or complexity.
- The requirements will be written according to the \ac{ears} \autocite{mavin_easy_2009}.
- \ac{ears} was chosen for this design method due to its simplicity, which fits the scope of this thesis.
- Later in the design, these requirements are divided over the subsystems.
- Any issues, like ambiguity, in the requirements, propagate through these subsystems.
- This might lead to a redesign of multiple sub-systems when these requirements have to be updated.
-
- \subsection{Initial Design}
- In the initial design step, the "what has to be solved", is expanded with a solution on "how it is solved".
- To find the best solution it is important to explore the different solutions and design space.
- Often, there are many possible alternatives but they must be narrowed down to the solutions that fit within the schedule and available resources.
- This step results in one initial design that can be used in the next phase of the design.
-
- \section{Rapid Iterative Design Method}
- From this point, the design plan is based on the \ridm and not anymore on the waterfall model.
- The first step is the feature definition, which prepares the required features based on the initial design.
- The features are defined by splitting the system in such a way that the results of each implemented feature are testable.
- The definition of the feature contains a description and a set of sub-requirements which is used to implement and test the feature.
- During the feature definition, the dependencies, risks and time resources are determined as well, this establishes the order of implementation in the feature selection step.
-
- The second step is the feature selection, where one of the features is selected.
- This selection is based on the dependencies, risk, and time requirements in the feature definitions.
- The third step is the rapid development cycle, which uses the sub-requirements and description of the selected feature to create an initial design, a minimal implementation and tests.
- In the last step, the variable detail approach is used to add detail to the minimal implementation over multiple iterations.
- The tests are used to determine if the added detail does not introduce any unexpected behavior.
- This cycle of adding detail and testing is repeated till the feature is fully implemented.
- From this point, the \ridm is repeated from the second step until all features are implemented.
-
- \subsection{Feature Definition}
- \label{sec:featuredefinition}
- During the feature definition, the system will be split into features as to prepare for the rapid development cycle and the variable-detail approach.
- The goal is to split the system in such way that the resulting features are as small as possible, but can still be implemented and tested individually.
-
-
- \subsection{Feature Selection}
- \label{sec:feature_selection}
-
- \subsection{Rapid Development Cycle}
-
- \subsection{Variable Approach}
-
|