An integrated approach to robust avionics systems design

Avionics equipment, particularly for military systems, must operate in harsh environments and satisfy strict reliability, test, and maintenance requirements. The design of avionics systems must therefore take these factors into account as well as meet the basic functional operational requirements. The methodology for ensuring that avionics equipment will operate reliably under all conceivable field conditions is known as robust design. To aid in meeting the various design objectives, extensive support tools have evolved in the commercial and military sectors. Examples of commonly used tools that are surveyed are: six sigma tools, DOE (Design of Experiments), sensitivity analysis, tolerance analysis, QFD (Quality Function Deployment), simulations, and checklists. It is shown that robust design factors need to be addressed as a whole rather than being considered separately. This paper advocates an integrated approach to robust avionics equipment design. In this approach, robust design is treated as a systems problem requiring a multi-objective design optimization.