A Cost Model for Testing Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems
Abstract
The evolutionary nature of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems (UASoS) acquisition needs to be matched by equally evolutionary test capabilities. There is currently no standard method to determine what is required to make programs safe for deployment, nor an ability to make effective contingency plans should testing requirements change. Spending much effort designing goals when causal understandings are still in flux is inefficient. Testing is required especially for UASoS to identify risk, improve capabilities and minimize unpleasant surprises. It needs to be effective and focused, determining the issues and working towards ensuring risks are known. It is important to have adequate feedback loops, a culture of information sharing and learning from best practices, as well as development of metrics and/or performance indicators that reflect effectiveness of the test process. This thesis describes a model that is part of a larger Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework (PATFrame), which uses knowledge acquisition to minimize risk through a decision support system. This work presents cost and risk considerations for UASoS T&E and provides preliminary parameters to conduct trade-off analyses for T&E. It also provides guidance on how the DoD can adopt such tools to transform the DoD T&E enterprise. The model is a combination of information collected from various normative and descriptive views of testing based on literature review, surveys, and interviews with members of the DoD T&E community. A cost estimation model can have significant impacts on how DoD does testing and would help maximize use of the resources available. It is a model based method for calculating effort for T&E and forms a baseline for strategic decision making in DoD acquisition programs. The intent is to predict within a certain probability that a test program can be completed within a certain budget given the assumptions used in characterizing the UASoS and the T&E process.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA545393
Entities
People
- Indira D. Deonandan
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology