PRELIMINARY REPORT: A Proposed Model Based Systems Engineering Approach to a Virtual Vehicle Architecture Model (V2AM) for Live-Virtual Testing and Prototyping

Due to the increasing complexity of the system of systems within the aero-auto domains, architecture modelling and analysis is becoming progressively more important to systems engineering design. The drive from both domains is for more functionality and efficiency from vehicles. The resultant effect on system development means the complexity of the designs has increased and thus the complexity of the virtual simulations used for test and analysis has also increased. When actual systems or their components are integrated with the simulation environment, live-virtual testing places real-time demands on the testing of the architecture and environment. This paper describes a proposed innovative approach, derived from aerospace engineering, where the vehicle requirements are allocated to relations between the elements in the architecture and not just to system elements. An approach to using the relational oriented modelling structure for test and analysis is also described. The requirements and system architecture models specified using relational orientation are therefore seen to provide an early demonstration of a rigorous new approach to system of systems design, test and analysis that uses requirements trace ability at the architecture level. This approach promises to bring better trace ability of system requirements to the simulation of vehicle behaviour in general and to real time behaviour in particular.