The concurrent design strategy for astronomical instrumentation: tools and methodology

Abstract

A concurrent engineering approach to the design of astronomical instrumentation is based on experts of different backgrounds collaborating in the same environment on every aspect of the design, during one or multiple dedicated sessions, depending on the complexity of the project. This strategy is very cost effective, and, if managed properly, can optimize the way different teams interact with each other, compared to the traditional "step-by-step" approach, with each team working separately and thus generating a cascade dependency of all subsystems.As the complexity of a project increases, so does the number of teams who work together, and a progressively larger number of interactions is required to allow all the actors to talk to each other. For projects of the complexity that is often dealt with in space or ground-based astronomy, concurrent engineering has been proven to be extremely efficient in terms of time and effort, especially for feasibility studies and preliminary design, but also during the following phases.In this work, an analysis of the methodologies that are typical of a concurrent design approach is made, with a focus on the tools that can be adopted for an efficient coordination of all the people involved.These tools and methodologies will be applied to the Concurrent Design Facility in construction at the Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory in Naples, in the scope of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan project "STILES -Strengthening the Italian leadership in ELT and SKA", with the aim of significantly improving the design process of the present and future classes of astronomical instrumentation.