Trade Space Exploration

Complex modern systems and systems-of-systems must perform multiple tasks, satisfy multiple stakeholders, and operate in a constantly shifting economic, political and threat environments.  Traditional methods for designing the architecture of such systems, which concentrate on defining "fixed" requirements up front and developing a single "point design" in detail, are inadequate.  MDC is working on advanced methods for tradespace analysis that explore a wide space of possible solutions, evaluate them based on analyses of user needs, and present the possibilities for failure risk, program tradeoffs, and possible opportunities for future growth and "upside" potential before requirements are set and expensive-to-change decisions have been made.

Much of this work has been done for the MIT Space Systems, Policy and Architecture Research Consortium.  It is on-going, state-of-the-art research, but has immediate application potential. The methods have been used to analyze a number of complex systems in or proposed for development.  They have revealed technical and cost risks, poorly-posed requirements, and unanticipated opportunities for superior value - all before even preliminary design has been done! Tradespace analysis is also good a good "front end" for advanced product design techniques such as those practiced at MDC; the combined methods have the potential to slash the TOTAL cycle time from perceived user need or technology potential to complete product design.