Modeling Process Guidance

Overview

Architecture & design processes are complex and require a strategic approach in order to ensure successful implementation. This page will walk you through the process step-by-step, providing you with the necessary guidance to ensure successful completion.  Read the archetectural roadmap for details to move your team from a blank state to steady state.

The Roadmap

First, you will need to identify the scope of the project. Establishing the scope of the project will help you to determine the design goals and objectives for the project. You should also take into consideration any external factors that may affect the design process, such as the available budget and timeline. Once you have identified the project scope and goals, you should then begin to develop an architecture & design plan. This plan should include the design objectives, the design process, the design deliverables, and the timeline. It should also include a list of stakeholders and their respective roles. Next, you should conduct a requirements analysis. This analysis should include a detailed review of the existing system, the current architecture & design, and the user requirements. This analysis should also include a review of any applicable standards and regulations, as well as a review of any new technologies that may be needed for the project. The design process should then be conducted. This will involve the development of a high-level architecture .

SysML 9 Diagrams Taxonomy

How to Drive: SysML Low Level Guidance 

This page will provide an in-depth description of every aspect of each diagram, outlining the purpose and use of each element. It will also provide detailed examples of how to use each diagram, including best practices and tips for getting the most out of them. Finally, it will provide links to helpful resources and references that can be used to further study and understand the diagrams. By providing this comprehensive explanation and guidance, the page will help those working with SysML diagrams to understand the low-level details and how to use the diagrams to their fullest potential. 

This guidance provides the fundamentals which is analogous to learning  how to drive the car.  Learning the language, the tool, and the methodology will help you understand where the peddles are, how to steer, &  how to  navigate the traffic laws.  


Model Progression Over Time: Abstract Low Fidelity to Specific High Fidelity over Time

Turn by Turn Directions: Implementing A Design Process

This page will help guide you through the steps to develop a model from scratch to "catch up" to the lifecycle stage in which the system-of-interest is currently in.

We estimate each of these phases to take 4 systems engineers 4 months complete.  This can be scaled to fit a tighter timeline if necessary.  This assumes the system-of-interest is just starting the production phase of the system lifecycle. 

This guidance is a process which is analogous to turn by turn directions from your starting point to your destination.


Staying on the Road: Best  Design Practices

Good design is often the difference between a successful product and one that fails. As such, it is important to make sure that the design of your products is up to modern standards and takes into account user experience and best practices. 

This page will provide a comprehensive list of best design practices and tips and tricks to help you create the best product possible. 

This guidance is various abstract topics/tips which will help you stay on the road during the journey.  As everyone knows, if you fall off the road, you will hit bumps which will slow you down.  While off the road, you can potentially get lost from the roadmap you were  initially following and really struggle to find your destination.


Prerequisites 

The documentation below will allow a smaller company or one which has little experience with MBSE to hit the ground running and produce a product good enough to demo to a customer.  In an ideal situation, your company would have the Digital Engineering Environment (DEE) setup at the beginning of the effort with all of the software tools connected, licenses working, and threads completed.  Read more about the DEE, different tools and threads available here: Tool Classes in the DEE & What is a Digital Thread.

If you are a large company with a DEE setup team then you get quite the head start as these threads will be prebuilt for you.  It's strongly advised that you use the threads provided in your setup even though it may seem more complicated at first.  If you don't there will likely be rework later.  Put emphasis on adhering to a methodology and training your team in that methodology so that all modelers are on the same page and working the same direction. 

Environment Setup 

However, we are assuming that the starting point is that a SE tool such as Cameo and TW Cloud has been purchased, installed, and ready for your engineers, but that connections between tools such as Cameo to Matlab or Cameo to Jira have not been made.  While this site is not meant for IT support, it is worth mentioning that the purchasing and implementation does take some time to figure out.  The digital threads to other software tools from Cameo can be figured out along the way but these take significant amount of engineers time working with IT.  It is suggested that if just getting started with threads, start with connecting to a requirements tool (DOORS) and a simulation tool (Matlab).

Model With A Purpose

Before starting to model, it is important to get everyone on the same page.  Why are we modeling? What problem are we trying to solve?  While the "How To Get Started" section on the  Design Guidance page can help with this in greater detail, everyone touching the model should have an understanding of the goal.  

Methodology

It is also important to have a methodology to adhere. The guidance below shows very high level abstract steps from a PM standpoint.  There are quite a few different methodologies which have been documented which will help your team through the architecture/design process.  Read more about these methodologies here: What MBSE Methodologies Are Widely Accepted?

Leadership Advice: Provide a Clear Direction and Go

Model Progression Graph

This graph shows how the model develops over time and throughout the phases.  After Phase I and Phase II about an 80% solution has been built out.  Much less model content is added in Phase III as it is focused on adding very specific features and train the end user.

Model Progression Graphic: Abstract, Low Fidelity, Simple, Quick Computations to Specific, High Fidelity, Complex, Slow Computations

High Level Phase Intent and Measures of Success

This explains why we split the model development into 3 separate phases and what you should seek to accomplish in each phase.

Phase I-III Intentions and How to Demonstrate Success

Model Development in Each Phase

Phase I has straightforward steps to follow, Phase II has different alternatives available to grow the model, and Phase III focuses on pleasing/training the end user.  

The blue blocks refer to the amount of depth added to the model (how deep the water is) while the brown blocks refer to levels of fidelity which have not yet been built out (the rocks at the bottom).   These will be explained in much greater detail in the Phase I and Phase II pages.  

The main takeaway is that model creation is an agile approach which starts fairly structured, but then allows for more development alternatives, creativity, and freedom as the model is built out. 

Phase I-III Steps Progression and Graphics

Further Explaining the Matrix Above

The rows represent the technical depth and the columns represent the technical breadth.  

The figure below shows another aspect, the management expertise, as a third dimension.  The figure shows how systems engineers fit into the team along with the project managers and the technical experts/design specialists.

Cameo is a systems engineering tool which allows systems engineers to thread to specialist's  simulations and allow a model with technical depth and breadth. The orange link represents a thread which is joins the two puzzle pieces: 1) the "systems engineering" elements and 2) the "component design" elements. 

Read Model Based Systems Architecture, pg32 for more details.

Systems Engineering, Component Design, & Project Management on a graph with axis: Management Expertise, Technical Breadth, and Technical Depth

Model Progression Graph Detail

This is a more detailed view of the graph above.   

Model Progression Graph Detailed View

Note: When steps happen in parallel they are labelled on the same reference point in the diagram.

The Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III pages will go into more detail about each of the specific phase steps below.


Steps

Phase I-III Overview