Systems Engineering Design Project

Systems Design

There are many different approaches to design. One approach to design is systems design. In this approach more complex projects are broken down into more manageable systems or sub systems. The process of systems design is often done in these steps.

• Define the requirements of the overall project.
• Create a systems breakdown of the project into subsystems.
  • Research Concepts
    • research existing designs
    • sketch designs
    • identify and possibly resolve potential safety issues in the design
• Create a Space Claim Drawing
• Complete Make Buy Decisions
• Define Requirements of Sub Systems
  • possibly interfaces between systems
  • technical analysis
  • performance and requirementsof sub systems
  • detail design required possibly orthographic layout
  • create schematics
  • etc.
• Estimate Tasks and Create Schedule of Work
• Create a Proposal for the Design and or Conduct a Preliminary Design Review

A Word About Estimation

It is often difficult to get started in system design because it may seem overwhelming to get all the information required. Estimation is a skill used to overcome this challenge. Estimation take the following forms;

• a wild guess
• an educated guess
• a detailed estimate
• a precise estimate
• an actual value

Estimation can be used to create the systems breakdown, define space requirements, determine mass, determine cost, etc. The approach is to start with a wild guess (to get going) and proceed to better estimates as the system design progresses. It is a good idea to keep track of the degree of confidence of your estimated values so they can be improved.