UNIFIED LIFE CYCLE ENGINEERING (ULCE) RAM DESIGN EVALUATION AIDS

WE WILL DEVELOP NEW RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY AND MAINTAINABILITY (RAM) COMPUTER APPLICATIONS FOR USE DURING THE EARLY PHASES OF DESIGN WHEN INADEQUATE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR RIGOROUS RAM ANALYSES. THE APPLICATIONS WILL BE INTERACTIVE, QUICK AND "DESIGN ENGINEER USER-FRIENDLY". THE ASSESSMENTS WILL COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE RAM MILITARY SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS. THEY WILL ASSESS DESIGN DECISIONS AS EARLY AS DURING A PROPOSAL PHASE AND ASSIST IN DESIGN TRADE-OFFS. PHASE I AND PHASE II DEVELOPMENT WILL CONCENTRATE ON APPLICATIONS FOR ELECTRONICS DESIGN. OTHER DISCIPLINES CAN BE ADDED DURING PHASE III. PHASE I WILL RESULT IN A READY-TO-USE PROTOTYPE SOFTWARE TO TEST FEASIBILITY AND ENGINEER'S ACCEPTANCE. A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE, TAILORABLE DECISION-MAKING MODEL WILL BE PROGRAMMED TO ASSESS TESTABILITY PER MIL-STD-2076. UP-TO-DATE CAD INTEGRATION AND INTERACTING TECHNIQUES WILL BE RESEARCHED TO DETERMINE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH CONTEMPORARY CAD WORKSTATIONS. PUBLISHED INTERIM RESULTS OF THE RAMCAD SOFTWARE, FY'87 PHASE II SBIR DEVELOPMENTS, AND CALS REQUIREMENTS WILL SUPPORT THIS RESEARCH. IMPORTANT MISSING RAM ASSESSING TECHNIQUES WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT MADE. PHASE II WILL RESULT IN AS MANY CAD INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS AS CAN BE DEVELOPED WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS OF TIME AND MONEY.