Evaluating Component Interactions Within Complex Systems

Understanding complex system behavior and designing resilient systems is becoming progressively more difficult. Additionally, tools available to visualize interactional behaviors within and surrounding the system of interest are lacking. Therefore, as identified in the OSD SBIR call, there is a substantial need for new tools to understand and visualize complex system behaviors during the design phase. This proposal outlines a method and software tool that can communicate the significance of component, subsystem, and system interactions to designers and generate workflows for the detection, evaluation, and remediation of unintended system interactions. Using the Marine Corps'Amphibious Assault Vehicle as a test case, our proposed technology will help users discover new information and enable them to understand how particular interactions are the result of system conditions and/or design actions. As delivered, our comprehensive displays of interactions will be of immediate use for integration within an Engineered Resilient Systems environment. Using our tool, problems are identified early on during the design process and can be eliminated through redesign, thereby allowing acquisition programs to mature and conclude faster and at a lower overall cost to the Government.