A collection of interacting systems, such as a fleet of military vehicles, can have a life-cycle benefit from sharing interoperable modules. Defining the modules that maximize such benefits must be… Click to show full abstract
A collection of interacting systems, such as a fleet of military vehicles, can have a life-cycle benefit from sharing interoperable modules. Defining the modules that maximize such benefits must be addressed at the early stages of system design. We present a multi-objective optimization framework for conceptual modular design. We use a functional representation of the supersystem, i.e., the interacting systems collection, to make module design decisions informed by supersystem requirements and life-cycle objectives. The resultant modules are configured into a variety of architectures and form a set of systems with distinct capabilities that meet supersystem requirements. We apply this approach on a fleet of military vehicles. Computational results quantify the intuition that designing a large number of smaller modules reduces overall fleet weight and increases required personnel resources because of larger demand for vehicle reconfiguration.
               
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