Homework 2: RPV Failure, Due Wed 9/9
CSCI 510, Fall 2015
30 points
Section 3.1 of the ICSM book describes the Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) failure story
about its failures with respect to Principle 3, Concurrent Multidiscipline Engineering.
RPV Failure Story and ICSM Principles (18 points)
Determine the RPV failures with respect to the other three principles:
1. (6 points) Failures with respect to Principle 1, Stakeholder value-based guidance
(stakeholders not involved in determining the requirements and solutions);
2. (6 points) Failures with respect to Principle 2, Incremental commitment and
accountability (project outcomes totally committed to vs. incrementally);
3. (6 points) Failures with respect to Principle 4, Evidence and risk-based decisions
(decisions made without evidence of their feasibility).
Decision at PDR (6 points)
4. (6 points) Which would have been a better decision at the end of the Preliminary
Design Review (PDR), in terms of total cost, total schedule, and resulting system (1
point)? Justify your answer (5 points).
 Declare PDR passed; go with concurrent design and development;
 Declare PDR failed; go with Competitive Prototyping approach described in
ICSM book Section 3.2
Identifying and Mitigating Risks (6 points)
5. (6 points) What are some risks with respect to the Competitive Prototyping
approach, and what could be done to mitigate them? Provide at least three risks,
with mitigation (2 points for each risk).
Grading notes:
 Responses should be in bullet points, not essays. Be concise, but provide enough
detailed information to explain examples and your answers.
 Grading will be based on the accuracy, specificity (details), and non-overlapping of
responses.
 Simply repeating information from the book and/or slides without further
explanation and details will not earn full points.