Multidisciplinary Software and Systems Engineering SysML report coursework 2023-24
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Multidisciplinary Software and Systems Engineering SysML report coursework 2023-24
SysML coursework: Robot for solar farms
Introduction
You are required to draw SysML diagrams for Solar farm Robot based on an existing patent. The 3 SysML diagrams are those covered in lectures: Requirements Diagram, Block Definition
Diagram/Internal Block Diagram, and Activity Diagram. The diagrams must conform to SysML notational standards. Please maintain consistency across diagrams so I can tell that they describe the same system.
Link to patent:https://patents.google.com/patent/US11738448B2
This granted patent for a maintenance robot for a solar farm was (re)filed to the United States office 2021, and it will expire in 2037. It contains some important diagrams describing system function and structure, but not using SysML notation. The PDF for the patent is provided in the above link and on canvas. You watch a similar robot brought to market here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRFDhHa3eKY
Submission Details:
Upload to Canvas a 6-page report in PDF format:
1) Title page: Include your name, username, and student ID.
2) Report: 1-page description introducing each of yourSysML models and a short summary of
how you arrived at the final versions of each one with decisions taken.
3) Requirements: A SysML Requirements diagram – landscape format.
4) Structure: A SysML Block Definition Diagram – landscape format.
5) Behaviour: A SysML Activity Diagram – landscape format.
6) References.
Ensure that all SysML diagrams are readable. They will be assessed on a computer screen, so please zoom into your final pdf and check. You can draw by hand or digitally. Each diagram should be no more than one page in landscape format. It should have approximately 20 nodes plus the relationships between them. Note that 20 not an absolute maximum.
The deadline for this assignment is Friday 20/1/23. Please upload your PDF to the canvas assignment page. Please check the assignment page for updates to submission dates.
Marking Criteria:
This coursework is 30% of the module – 3 credits – which corresponds to 30 hours of study. It will be marked against the following criteria (with weightings):
• Description (10%)
• Notational correctness (30%)
• Design detail (30%)
• Representational consistency (30%)
Descriptions for the criteria are in the marking rubric on the canvas assignment.
Benchmark statement of expectation:
The following outlines an example of what an excellent and a failing submission could include. These are indicative and the final assessment will take account all aspects. Thus, you should only use this as an indication of what an excellent and a poor submission would include:
An excellent submission (will attract first class marks):
A SysML model worthy of patent application; references are provided to justify this claim in the introduction.
The SysML diagrams are drawn using software, professional looking, have the correct notation, and have a consistent level of detail. The Requirements Diagram captures both functional and non-functional requirements and includes all essential elements with full descriptions on all relationships. The SysML Block Definition
Diagram captures system structure and has the correct associations between blocks, and between blocks and external actors and systems/organisations. It should include key signal flows. The SysML Activity diagram has a clear activity frame with fully defined input and output parameters. There should be a clear, coherent, and distinct energy, matter, data, and control flow within the activity frame. Through descriptive notes, all diagrams should be easy to follow and links between diagrams easy to identify through consistent naming of elements.
A poor submission (will invite fail)
A trivial, questionable, implausible model bearing no relation to the patent on which it is based. English is unintelligible. The SysML diagrams are incomplete, sloppy, error-prone, badly labelled, handwritten drafts submitted on canvas in a poor quality, barely readable scan. The Requirements diagram misses key requirements and contains irrelevant elements. The SysML Block Definition Diagram fails to capture system structure with spurious block associations without external actors and systems/organisations or key signal flows. The SysML Activity diagram does not properly frame activity boundaries and the flows are missing or flawed conveying a misunderstanding of these concepts. Diagrams are disjointed and not consistently labelled.
Example of a poor submission
(diagrams are blurred to prevent copying!)
Example of a good submission
Guidance on completing the assignment.
1) Study the lectures and the intelligent kettle example. Consult the course text available through the canvas ResourceList to ensure your notation’s correct: Friedenthal, S., Moore, A., & Steiner, R. (2014). A practical guide to SysML: the systems modeling language. Morgan Kaufmann.
2) Download the patent. There are 90 pages although most are diagrams. You should note:
a. What are the requirements and their types/directives.
b. Are there any structural elements? These can typically be identified from nouns in the text. Most figures in the patent also identify the components e.g., Fig 2 and Fig. 8.
c. Any there any behavioural elements? These are typically verbs in the text. Figures can either infer behaviours e.g., Fig 39.
d. What is missing in the patent which you can assume in order to complete the design?
3) Start with your requirements – the SysML Requirements Diagram. Look at your list and select the requirements that you think best describe what the system does. Refine your diagram and add detail, following the advice given in the lecture and the intelligent kettle example.
4) Move onto Structure - the SysML Block Definition Diagram. You should be able to identify the key structural blocks from the text and figures. It may also help if you consult your requirements diagram as requirements blocks can be satisfied by structural blocks. Refine your Block Definition Diagram, once again following the intelligent kettle example.
5) Finally, tackle the Activity Diagram. This is the most difficult diagram to produce since it considers function and flows. Using the patent document, your requirements diagram and block definition diagram, identify a key activity frame consisting of several activities and the flows in and out of the activity frame. Remember to keep separate control and matter/information/energy flows!
6) To draw your final diagrams, use a basic drawing tool such as powerpoint. There are UML/SysML packages for drawing models, but I do not recommend these as there can be notational differences and added complexity.
7) I iterated over the intelligent kettle design used in the lectures many times to get it right, and so should you. I recommend you spend a day on each diagram.
8) You do not need to completely replicate the design in the patent – yourSysML diagrams would be too complex. Instead, you should model a similar system which is of sufficient detail to demonstrate you can use the SysML notation standard as covered in lectures to its fullest.
2024-01-08
Robot for solar farms