ENPM 643/ENSE 623 Projects, Fall Semester, 2012

[ Project 1 ]: UPPAAL-SMC Simulation of a Signaled Intersection with Markov Driver Model
[ Project 2 ]: Aerial Cargo drop onto an Aircraft Carrier
[ Project 3 ]: Validation and Verification for Component Cooling Water System ICD
[ Project 4 ]: Platform Based Design for a Re-Usable Small Spacecraft System: System Validation and verification
[ Project 5 ]: The Subsumption Architecture and Systems Engineering
[ Project 6 ]: Satellite Collision Avoidance Management System
[ Project 7 ]: Spatial and Temporal Logic Models for Robot Path Following and Control
[ Project 8 ]: Glucose Monitor Integrated with Insulin Pump
[ Project 9 ]: A Systems Engineering Perspective of a Moving Homeowner
[ Project 10 ]: H323 Communication Protocol ReDesign to meet Low Latency Requirements for Satellite Networks
[ Project 11 ]: Building Management System Controls Flexibility and Energy Benchmarking
[ Project 12 ]: Modeling Life Cycle Cost Estimating Procedures


PROJECT 1

Title: UPPAAL-SMC Simulation of a Signaled Intersection with Markov Driver Model
Author: Yuchen Zhou

Abstract: Understanding driver behavior at signaled intersections is important for the integration of future autonomous driving cars with human-driven cars. Simulation models are needed for the study of different signal control policy effects on road throughput and traffic safety. To this end, both [1] and [2] give a detailed model of human driver decision at the intersection and gives some model of the human decision. The authors of [2] argue that the decision process is a Hidden Markov Model, and the observation model fits the simulation. In [3], the authors give statistics related to reaction time and decision time in intersection which makes it possible to create time automata model in UPPAAL. Furthermore, UPPAAL statistic model checker (smc) gives a way to simulate this complex model and gives some evaluation about safety and efficiency of the intersection. I would like to explore the effects of different signal light control schemes on traffic behavior with this tool and argue using the time automata with statistic model.

References

  1. Yiting Liu and Umit Ozguner, Human Driver Model and Driver Decision Making for Intersection Driving,
    Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium Istanbul, Turkey, June 13-15, 2007
  2. Xi Zou and David M. Levinson, Modeling Pipeline Driving Behaviors Hidden Markov Model Approach,
    Journal of the Transportation Research Board: Transportation Research Record #1980
    (Driver Behavior, Older Drivers, Simulation, User Information Systems, and Visualization) pp. 16-23, 2006
  3. Hesham Rakha, Ahmed Amer, and Ihab El-Shawarby, Modeling Driver Behavior Within a Signalized
    Intersection Approach Decision Dilemma Zone, Transportation Research Record:
    Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Issue #2069, pp 16-25,2008


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 2

Title: Air Cargo Drop onto an Aircraft Carrier
Author: Bethany Wilson and Dalia Morales Mourad

Abstract: The purpose of this project will be to validate and verify the feasibility of a successful cargo airdrop onto an aircraft carrier at sea. Currently, cargo is delivered to an aircraft carrier by vertical replenishment (VERTREP) or carrier arrested landing, which is known as "trap". VERTREP is slow positioning of a helicopter hovering over the deck of the carrier and releasing the cargo on a specific area. Trap involves a cargo plane landing on the deck of a carrier by catching the plane's tail hook on a wire that is stretched across the carrier deck. Both methods are dangerous and timely.

This project will analyze the option of an airplane dropping its cargo with precision onto a targeted area on the ship. A logic will be developed based on aerodynamics equations accounting for the scenarios involving different conditions such as aircraft altitude, distance to carrier, cargo weight, wind speed, etc. Its ultimate purpose will be to identify,using systems engineering, those cases where the mission would be a success.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 3

Title: Validation and Verification for Component Cooling Water System ICD
Author: Karam Rajab and Binyam Abeye

Abstract: In a joint effort with the National Institute of Standard Technology (NIST), we are working to alleviate the discrepancy of requirement representation in the manufacturing industry. Most of the requirement representation is done by paper (or pdf) that don't lend very well to automation. To alleviate such problems, NIST and other partners are working to automate the requirement representation, but there has to be a common way of representing requirements. Currently different contributors to designing, procuring, and construction represent requirements differently. This project will then address the problem related to requirement differences with respect to validating interfaces

The specific manufacturing area we will focus on for the project will be the building of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP). NPPs consist of many different sections, from the nuclear reactor to the safety compartment.

Fig 1. Schematic for a water cooling system in a nuclear power station.

In order to narrow down the scope, we will focus on the Component Cooling Water system shown in Fig. 1.

Methodology. We will make SysML models of the system for validating requirements. Then we will explore how to implement the requirement rule and inference checking available in the Apache Jena Java framework. Jena has proven to be robust enough to differentiate between the multiple ways to represent a requirement. This way, when we want to validate the component interfaces we can check for requirements that mean the same thing, but use different terms.

Current Work. We are collecting data on the components and learning Apache Jena to ensure that we can create rules/inferences.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 4

Title: Platform Based Design for a Re-Usable Small Spacecraft System: System Validation and verification
Author: Jess Endicter and Pathik Shah

Abstract: As described in the ENPM642 paper, the Spacecraft X Project (SCX) is a project to determine the viability of a platform based spacecraft design with the intent of providing in-orbit capability to refurbish and repair a spacecraft. The design is highly modular, to allow for many institutions to develop instruments, sensors and flight code quickly and in a cost effective manner to use in conjunction with the SCX platform. Under ideal conditions, multiple institutions, such as universities, scientific organization, corporations, or other similar organizations would be able to develop components to a detailed specification, and then use in a plug-and-play in the SCX once these assets have reached orbit.

In order for this concept to function properly, developers of components must have a full understanding of all interface requirements, and be able to fully verify and validate all components on the ground. This task is made more difficult by the fact that a full systems level integration of the platform and all components will not be possible until they are on orbit. Obviously, if the interfaces are not designed and built properly, then the health and safety of the entire satellite is at risk as well as reduced science output. Furthermore, since SCX is designed for human Refurbishment and Repair (RnR), the added risk to human safety is a concern if component and instruments are not designed properly.

Fig 2. Satellite.

The type of components interfaces that will be looked at in this paper are:

  1. Mechanical: latches, bolts, interlocks, and basic size requirements
  2. Power: currents, voltages, total power, and physical couplings
  3. Thermal: How to quantize thermal interfaces?
  4. Data bus: spacewire interface, mechanical couplings, wiring, etc

This paper will attempt to develop a validation and verification regimen that will allow the component developer to meet the interface specifications with minimal input from the SCX manufacturer.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 5

Title: The Subsumption Architecture and Systems Engineering
Author: Mark Jenkins

Abstract: In 1986, Rodney Brooks led a revolution in thinking about artificial intelligence and robotics. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the field of Artificial Intelligence in the previous twenty to thirty years, Dr. Brooks identified fundamental problems with the mainstream approaches to AI. The initial results of his radical review, called the subsumption architecture, led to a revolution in robotics systems now called behavior-based robotics. Implementations of this approach produce highly reactive autonomous robotic systems that are capable of exhibiting behavior that appears to be very intelligent, but are produced without a large centralized planning/execution subsystem. Since then, behavior-based robotics have enjoyed success in certain applications; Dr. Brooks went on to co-found the successful iRobot Corporation as well as his current endeavor, Rethink Robotics.

This project will look at the following questions:

  1. Given recent trends towards cyber-physical systems with the need to respond quickly and intelligently to environmental changes, does the subsumption architecture offer value to current systems engineering practice?
  2. Can it be adapted to control systems outside the field of robotics?
  3. What are the drawbacks to this architecture, and can they be mitigated in practical implementations. Finally, how amenable to modeling and formal analysis are subsumption architecture implementations?
  4. How directly/mechanically can a system design be translated to a model, or a model be translated to a system design?
  5. Can the resulting models be formally analyzed to demonstrate their correctness?

This project explores the subsumption architecture and provides insight into its use for systems engineering.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 6

Title: Satellite Collision Avoidance Management System
Author: Rohit Pillai and Kanwarpal Chandhok

Abstract: As described in ENPM642, the Satellite Collision Avoidance Management System project detects any satellite close approaches and conjunctions much before than they are expected to happen and inform all involved parties of this conjunction. The system will also create a maneuver plan that can be sent to the respective satellite Flight Operations Teams (FOT) for execution so that the conjunction can be mitigated. Satellite Constellation Health and Safety is the primary purpose of this project.

In the verification and validation of the project we will be creating test case scenarios for various interfaces of the system that connect to the various actors. We will come up with models to describe the interfaces that will test the systems. These models will be based on the requirements gathered in previous semester. The verification and validation part of the system will test out each interface with its respective actor in the correct sequence of events. We will also model the testing to validate if the system meets the operational requirements form each satellite FOT.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 7

Title: Spatial and Temporal Logic Models for Robot Path Following and Control
Author: Apurv Mittal

Abstract: I shall be modeling a simple robot task like path following with emphasis on the development of spatial and temporal logic for defining and reasoning about a robot's position in space and time. The initial problem formulation will be such that a 2-D plot will be generated with one axis for space and one for time. If successful, the problem can be extended to include 2D space coordinates and another dimension for time (extension into 3D). The long-term objective is support for a system consisting of multiple robots, which execute formation control using the logic developed.

Reference:


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for October 30.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 8

Title: Glucose Monitor Integrated with Insulin Pump
Authors: Akanksha Chauhan and Anagha Tamhankar

Abstract: There are 2 medical devices in the market for Diabetic Patients:-

1. Glucose Monitor

It is a medical device that measures the glucose level in your blood. Earlier (even now) patients take their blood sample and the monitor calculates how much glucose is present in the blood. The normal level of glucose in human body should be around 100 milligrams per deciliter of blood. And if the glucose is from 100-125 mg/dl then its symptoms of pre-diabetic above that is harmful.

2. Insulin Pump

This is another medical device in which patients

And then there is a device which Glucose Monitor integrated with insulin pump which is provided by a few vendors in the market.

Fig 3. Schematic for Glucose Monitor integrated with Insulin Pump.

This project is an approach to understand and validate the working of a glucose monitor integrated with an insulin pump. Such a system is beneficial because the diabetic patients do not have to worry about feeding manually into the insulin pump that how much they are going to eat. Because that would be automatically determined by the system. Verification and validation of such systems is very critical because even a same failure could lead to catastrophic situation for the patients using the system and it can actually lead to death.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for November 6.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 9

Title: A Systems Engineering Perspective of a Moving Homeowner
Author: Ed Engbert

Abstract: Moving your household and personal items to a new location is often-times a major life change and source of stress. The stakes are high and long lasting, and may require life changes to the accommodate financial obligations and commitments associated with a move.

The purpose of this project is to review and analyze the perspective of a prospective mover from a systems engineering point of view and consider the factors which would cause that person to be happy in the end with their decision. The use of system tools will be used to develop a simple model a typical homeowner's situation that can help lead them through their decision making process. Several assumptions will be made, but the goal is to provide a model that will abstract out the essential factors necessary for making a myriad of early decisions which would be costly for the mover to fix or alter if not done properly and early enough in the decision making process. The model will be verified and validated against real data and with professionals in the moving industry.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for November 6.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 10

Title: H323 Communication Protocol ReDesign to meet Low Latency Requirements for Satellite Networks
Author: Ketaki Harpale

Abstract: Designed by ITU, H323 is suite of standard protocols used to communicate between end points that carry voice and video. H323 supports call setup, teardown and forwarding/transfer. H323 uses 2 stage negotiations to exchange capabilities (H225 and H245 which are subset of H323). This causes delay, especially in satellite networks where round trip delay is high.

Methodologies for Validation and Verification. This project will aim to measure and validate these variables prior to modifying existing protocol.

A summary of variables to be measured is as follows:

Variables
Measured
Delay This variables will be measured in different conditions using open source tools such wireshark, opnet, solarwinds and graphs will plotted against time.
Jitter
Round Trip Time
Packet loss
Latency

After the protocol is modified, the same measurement will be taken to validate if the systems is indeed performing optimally. New values will be plotted against old ones to calculate improvements. This paper will attempt to develop validation and verification methods that can be employed for VoIP communications systems for satellite.


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for November 6.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 11

Title: Building Management System Controls Flexibility and Energy Benchmarking
Author: Craig Aukett

Abstract: The future of architecture and construction will rely on the use of accurate energy models. Technical documents such as ASHRAE 90.1 and California Title 24 will require architects, engineers, and builders to comply with energy performance limits.

The current energy modeling programs, often make it difficult to realistically model the building performance and the HVAC control strategies. The importance of energy performance is increasing, along with the clients demand for aesthetic buildings, lower initial costs, and lower operating costs / maintenance.

Building management systems (BMS) are installed in complex buildings to reduce the energy consumption by using sensors that feedback to the HVAC and electrical equipment. The BMS is specified and installed based upon the design loads and usage. The BMS is commissioned after the MEP equipment is installed. The energy performance of the building may not be as designed due to poor construction methods, calculation errors, or building use change. It is important to create an energy benchmark to optimize the HVAC controls. This data is important to insert back into the initial energy model to improve the controls strategies.

Project Scope and Outline

  1. Continue research into BMS controls flexibility and energy benchmarking
  2. Formulate mathematical models of HVAC controls and loads
  3. Select scenarios to model in software environment
  4. Model initial building design vs control of building after benchmark
  5. Finalize tools and documents for energy modeling and control strategies

References

  1. ConstuctTech, BIM Advances Regulatory Compliance, March 27, 2012, http://www.constructech.com/news/articles/article.aspx?article_id=9212
  2. Braun, James; Kim, Donghun; Cliff, Eugene; Burns, John; Whole Building Control System Design and Evaluation: Simulation Based Assessment, February 2012.
  3. MacQueen, John; The Modeling and Simulation of Energy Management Control Systems; August 1997.
  4. Jayasuriya, Suhada; NSF: Building Systems; May 2010.
  5. Worthen, William AIA; Sustainable AIA: 2031-Why Energy Models Don't Predict Actual Energy Use, March 2011; http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB088189


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for November 6.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


PROJECT 12

Title: Modeling Life Cycle Cost Estimating Procedures
Author: Francisco Marambio

Abstract: Cost estimating is a complex procedure that requires many iterations to successfully yield an reasonable and credible result. The consequences of inaccurate cost estimates can be catastrophic for a project. Underestimating costs can lead to rushed decisions, unrealistic expectations or allocating insufficient resources. On the other hand, overestimating costs can lead to under utilized resources or pricing that is not competitive in the market.

During the course of this project we will review the many cost estimating practices, methods and tools. We will specifically look at tools like COCOMO and its alternatives and we will attempt to create a model that will allow us to validate and verify any cost estimate. The model will be tested by using real cost estimates from different industries.

References

  1. Steward, Rodney D. Cost Estimating. Second Edition John Wiley and Sons 1991.
    "COCOMO II." CSSE Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.
    See:


Midterm Presentation: Scheduled for November 6.
Class Presentation: Scheduled for November Y.


Developed in September/October 2012 by Mark Austin
Copyright © 2012, Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland