Enhancing Safety-Based Decision Making in Concept Design: Introducing the L.E.A.D.S Process
Abstract
Defense systems are becoming increasingly complex, necessitating an understanding during design, of the dynamic interactions between mission context and operational environment to ensure system safety. Early identification of technical risk hazards and casualty scenarios during concept design can enhance system robustness and minimize impacts to overall budget and schedule. The Department of Defense's (DOD) guidance to analyzing alternatives and trade-offs during this stage currently lacks explicit instruction against assessing alternative performance against safety risks. Legacy systems, still in service or decommissioned, can be a valuable resource for technical risk identification. Applying technical risks and hazard scenarios conceived or experienced by a legacy system to new alternatives via translated safety based performance criteria, can foster better understanding of design boundaries and constraints. This in turn can help designers enhance system form and function early in the lifecycle, which may reduce dependency on developing complex operating procedures as technical risk mitigation. This thesis presents a new framework, titled L.E.A.D.S, to address technical risk identification gaps in the DOD's analysis of alternative process. L.E.A.D.S, which stands for legacy system selection, exploratory study, attribute weighting, derive safety-based performance criteria, and score alternatives, is a new procedure intended to improve safety.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1225457
Entities
People
- Vikram S. Pandurangan
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School