Model-Based Systems Engineering for Development of Unmanned Surface Vehicle

Abstract

The growing demand for unmanned surface vehicles in diverse applications drives the need for efficient and reliable development processes. However the inherent complexity of USVs with interconnected subsystems poses significant challenges at design and development stages. This thesis investigates the use of model-based systems engineering for the development of unmanned surface vehicles. MBSE is a methodology that uses block diagram type models to support the entire life cycle of the system from design and development to operation and disposal. In this thesis, the problem of developing an MBSE framework for the design and development of USVs has been considered. An open source Capella software has been used for this purpose that to our knowledge has not been done before in the literature. The Capella tool is based on the Arcadia methodology where starting from the operational analysis of the system, the designer identify system architecture, logical architecture and finally physical architecture of the system. This mean that for the design and development of USV in Capella, we first need to identify the operational requirements, the operational actors and the operational entities of the USV. The requirements for the USV design are stable and maneuverable, controllable movements, autonomous navigation and sensor based measurements. The external actors/entities are environmental conditions and a base station for monitoring the USV. With these requirements, actors and entities, we define the operational architecture of the system. The next phase is the system architecture of USV which focuses on defining the structural components of USV, boundary of the USV and the external entities and their interfaces such that the requirements specified in the operational architecture are ensured. The third phase is the logical architecture which deals with how the USV will work to fullfill the user expectations. In the logical architecture the structural elements known as logical components are defined and their properties are identified. Finally in the physical architecture, which xii depicts the components and functions of the physical USV design, we start to concentrate on the USV’s actual components, and we define these actual physical components inside the USV’s physical architecture. In this way, the Capella model is created for the USV, which allow us to analyse the components associated with our requirements and compare the performance for any alternate option. This means that we can ensure that the USV captures all specified requirements before development and analyse the impact of any alternative. The USV model has been modified in terms of interface and some components to see their impact on requirements. In addition, the USV model has been verified based on the traceability matrix of the system requirements and validated using the Capella built-in validation process.