Written Qualifying Exam
Systems
S sfems activities invohrqLJealingwith the system as a whole and mitigating the
impact o complexity. This can include wotking with the system's intemal and external
interfaces in an effott to ensure'thatthe systein's elements or compbrients function
synergistically together for some intended purpose oi primaiy behavibr. Additional effort is
required to ensure that the designed interacting cornpbnents do not 6xhibitdunwantedor
harmful secondaly behaviors. Twq,systems have beer, provided fdr consideration. Please
see the attached graphics, Select ohe of these systems and answei
the fdllowing
,
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I
questions.
I) Identify (list) the external interfaces that this system must be compatible with. Note that
interfaces may include elements that are, relaied to humans, pperat&$envi&nments, and
other engineering systems,
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L.
m
,
2) Illustratethe dynamic character of these interfaces by showing how the exfernal interfaces
change with time during a typical operational sequence, period, or mission: Do this by
generating a sequenw of schematics. In each schematic, the interfaces included should be
I '
appropriate for a particular pint in time.
3)List the system's primarqc subsystems. Characterize each subsystem. For example, an
Etectrlc Power GeneratiomWist~bvtionSubsystem might include generators, batteries, wires
or power buses, converters, rectifiers, control units, etc.
4) Use a schematic block diagram to show how the subsystems in Question #3 are
connected. tabel these internai interfaces (mechanical, fluid, electrical, signal, pneumatic,
etc.). Note: Try to use the aforementioned trpes instead of physical implementations such
as databus, hydraulic line, wire, fuel line, power cable, etc.
5) Identify three primary functions that the system performs and illustratddescribe how the
intetfaced subsystems work together to satisfactorily execute each function.
6) Iderrti three examples of secondary or unintended behaviors that might result from the
system being architected as characterized in Question #4 above.
7)Select one of the subsystems in Question #3 and explainlitlustrate how you would
propose to improve this subsystem's reliability if it was determined during a design review
that aerospace reliabilitystandards had not been met. Here, reliabiJily means '"the duration
or probability of failure-free performance under stated ~onditions.~
.
Image by NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.
Photograph of a Boeing 777 flying over some clouds removed due to
copyright restrictions. For an image of a Boeing 777,
see http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-and-p/3154177653/.
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu
16.842 Fundamentals of Systems Engineering
Fall 2009
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