A Life Cycle Model for the Development of Airborne Electronic Equipment

Abstract

This paper describes a life cycle model for the development of electronic equipment for use on board military aircraft in the South African context. The life cycle model presented consolidates the activities of systems engineering, safety and certification, and quality assurance. The life cycle model provides a clear-cut and comprehensive framework for the development process in order to streamline planning and control. Concepts fundamental to the definition of a development process are identified and explained, and a generalised life cycle model is derived. Applications of this life cycle model in the description of development processes for airborne electronic equipment are presented. OPSOMMING'n Lewenssiklusmodel word hier beskryf vir die ontwikkeling van elektroniese toerusting vir gebruik aanboord militêre vliegtuie in 'n Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Hierdie lewenssiklusmodel konsolideer aktiwiteite wat vereenselwig word met stelselingenieurswese, vliegveiligheid en lugwaardigheidsertifisering, asook met kwaliteistsversekerings-beginsels. Die model bied 'n duidelike en omvattende raamwerk vir die ontwikkeling van lugwaardige elektroniese stelsels. Konsepte, onderliggend aan die ontwikkeling van hierdie stelsels, was geïdentifiseer en word omskryf en 'n generiese lewenssiklusmodel is afgelei. Toepassings van hierdie lewenssiklusmodel in die beskrywing van ontwikkelingsprosesse vir lugwaardige elektroniese toerusting word aangebied.

Quality Research Management Improves Design Research Effectiveness

“…From a systems perspective, it is instructive to define a general operational research environment in terms of its elements and respective interactions between elements to provide context, as shown in the figure below: It was found from different research studies that subscribing to the DSR paradigm principle adds significant value to design research [15], [18], [19]. Although DSR was primarily focused on information systems (IS), its utility has been demonstrated in research projects that produced artefacts quite different from purely IS artefacts where the principles of the DSR process were applied (refer to [20], [21]). Valuable research outputs of most research processes include: thesis documents and publications; artefacts in the form of demonstratable entities; and meta-artefacts that all add to a shared knowledge base.…”

“…This allows researchers and their study leaders to track progress, verify authenticity, communicate effectively and, most importantly, align expectations with solutions. This framework has been successfully applied in Master's and Doctoral studies (refer to [24] [25] [26] for Master's and [21] [27] for Doctoral studies) and allowed research projects to be focused and on time, and to address quality requirements. The quality research management framework presented in this paper was aimed specifically at design research, and generalisation is required for the application of this framework across disciplines.…”