At the Institute of Air Transportation Systems of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), methods for collaborative design are systematically developed and assessed. These collaborative design approaches are used to gain knowledge on the overall air transportation system. A collaborative working environment-the Integrated Design Laboratory (IDL) is established. It forms an experimental technical platform for integrating the competences of disciplinary experts within DLR. Within the laboratory, technical solutions, collaboration methodologies and organisation of teamwork are provided and evaluated to enhance multimodal communication between specialists. In this paper, experiences from previous DLR projects as well as observations on similar facilities are used to identify research areas. In a pilot study, requirements for the design room are laid out. The initial setup of the laboratory is presented, after which a research roadmap for enhancing collaborative design at DLR is presented.
KeywordsAircraft Design, Air Transportation System, Collaborative Design, Concurrent Engineering, Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation the (technical) requirements for its design are described. Thereafter some preliminary results of initial collaborative design sessions are presented.Visualisation is a powerful tool for collaboration and knowledge transfer. In order to work collaboratively on projects concerning the entire air transportation system, numerous different visualisation contents have to be displayed simultaneously. For instance, 3D-drawings of concept aircraft, data tables displaying physical properties of the design, world maps showing route networks and aircraft movements, plots of costs or emissions and so on.Beside a large screen size and omnipresent presentation possibilities, an important factor is to use the available space efficiently for the given use case. The visualization capabilities are important for the participants to integrate their results, which are computed beforehand or developed during the design session on their own computers. Therefore, a hardware and software environment will be established., This allows not only to display global contents from the host computer, but also data coming in from connected mobile, remote or stationary computers of all participants.Network. Solutions regarding network infrastructure are widely available. However, when collaborating with external partners, the problem of security, trust and adjustable access to mutual data emerges. A central visualisation server, which has several network adapters, provides a single point of administration. This makes network separation and security administration manageable.Seating arrangement needs to adapt to the specific mode of interaction, which varies according to the specific problem. Furthermore, collaboration methods will evolve over time, so a flexible configurable approach to seat and desk positions is best suited for the IDL. For example, a half-circular arrangement in front of a large display area as used in general control ro...
