PROBABILISTIC OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE FOR CONCURRENT ENGINEERING

A BREAKTHROUGH IN ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION METHODOLOGY HAS BEEN ACHIEVED, BASED ON TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN THE DARPA INITIATIVE IN CONCURRENT ENGINEERING (DICE) PROGRAM. THE METHODOLOGY IS BASED ON A COMPLETELY RIGOROUS INTEGRATION OF UNCERTAINTY AND RANDOMNESS IN ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS. THIS INTEGRATION OF UNCERTAINTY AND RANDOMNESS SOLVES THE CRITICAL TECHNICAL PROBLEM OF CONCURRENT ENGINEERING: ACHIEVING CLOSURE BETWEEN PARTIALLY DEFINED PRODUCT AND PROCESS (INCLUDING MANUFACTURING AND SUPPORT) SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDING CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT. THE SOLUTION IS DELIVERED IN SUCH A WAY THAT RANDOM VARIABILITY IN MANUFACTURING AND SUPPORT PROCESSES CAN BE INTRODUCED ON AN EQUAL FOOTING WITH UNCERTAINTY IN SPECIFICATIONS. AS AN ADDITIONAL BENEFIT OF THE METHODOLOGY, SYSTEMATIC PROCEDURES CAN BE DERIVED FOR FINDING OPTIMAL PRODUCT AND PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS THAT ARE ROBUST IN THE FACE OF REQUIREMENTS AND OPERATIONAL UNCERTAINTIES. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL REALIZE THE BENEFITS OF THIS METHODOLOGY BY INTEGRATING THESE OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES WITH DECOMPOSITION METHODS FOR SOLVING LARGE ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS. COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO IMPLEMENT THE ENHANCED METHODOLOGY. ADVANCED COMPUTER PROGRAMMING TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE EMPLOYED THAT WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DEMONSTRATE THE INTEGRATION OF THE CONCURRENT ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION SOFTWARE WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT AND PROCESS MODELS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION OF THIS BREAKTHROUGH CONCURRENT ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION CAPABILITY WILL ALLOW DOD PROGRAM MANAGERS AND PRODUCT PRODUCERS TO APPLY DOWNSTREAM CONSIDERATIONS (CHOICES AMONG DEVICE OPTIONS-MANAGER LEVEL/MANUFACTURING CONSIDERATIONS-PRODUCER LEVEL) TO PRODUCT CONCEPTS BEFORE ALL PRODUCT DESIGN DECISIONS ARE AVAILABLE.