Digital Engineering Enables Innovative Hardware Integration Opportunities in Aerospace
and processes like manuals , specification sheets , and application guides , the community needs to define a consistent structure for representing and capturing a component ’ s physical attributes and performance characteristics to enable robust DE modeling and analysis as part of the engineering process .
Similar DE principles are used in many industries . One such example is the architectural industry . DE has significantly transformed that industry by streamlining and enhancing the entire design process through the usage of advanced digital tools and methodologies . With technologies such as Building Information Modeling ( BIM ) and digital twins , designers can create highly detailed and accurate models that improve visualization , collaboration , and decision-making .
These tools allow for real-time simulations and analyses , enabling early detection of design flaws and optimization of structural integrity and energy efficiency . Furthermore , digital engineering facilitates seamless integration and coordination among various stakeholders , reducing errors , accelerating project timelines , and lowering costs . The adoption of cloud-based platforms ensures that all design data is accessible and up to date to the broadest possible community , fostering a collaborative environment and enhancing productivity across the project lifecycle .
The reach of DE is ever-expanding . While there are valuable uses of DE techniques currently at work in the avionics space , our research has shown that these innovative approaches can be applied in the areas of designing and integrating computing systems in the avionics computer thus delivering similar benefits . A digital representation of the capabilities , compatibilities , and constraints of avionics computing components opens the door to a multitude of applications and benefits .
Pulling together a registry of avionics components based on a standardized digital format would allow vendors to expose products to potential customers , likewise , consumers could easily browse and compare offerings from across the market with homogenous data for each product . Vendors and integrators could publish and autogenerate documentation and specifications with the click of a button based on the data stored in the registry . Visualizations could be created for representing and communicating connectivity diagrams and pinout tables . Intelligent searches could be performed to find the “ best fit ” or “ most affordable ” options for replacing components that are no longer produced . Finally , tools that model the integration process could be created that would give real-time feedback to users while assembling a build without having to procure any products .
3 RESEARCH RESULTS
One example of innovative research into DE approaches to increase modeling and integration solutions for avionics computer design is the work done by SimVentions for the US Navy Naval Air Systems Command ( NAVAIR ). As a result of this effort , SimVentions created the HOST Hardware Integration Toolkit ( HHITS ). HHITS is a set of interoperable cloud-hosted components
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