Configuration and Data Management of the NASA Power and Propulsion Element MBSE Model(s)

Abstract

Systems engineers worldwide have been working to implement Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) environments, tools, and methodologies. A significant, expected benefit from MBSE is a reduction in the time commitment for all aspects of systems engineering. Although advances in MBSE have occurred, a gap has emerged between the traditional configuration management (CM) processes for documents and those needed in an MBSE environment. MBSE is a tool to support systems engineers in requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation activities from concept phase throughout the life cycle of the project. MBSE is not a new process being added to the existing SE processes, but captures the data that systems engineers create into a single environment. Systems engineers working in an MBSE environment have become more efficient and produce a higher resolution of data because elements representing the system of interest are placed within a single construct where requirements, architecture (physical & logical), and concept of operation scenarios are all related to one another. Historically, systems engineers capture and track system information through the generation of documents, drawings, and other artifacts, which are released, baselined, and governed by a document-centric CM process. The work required to maintain and distribute documents throughout the system life cycle using the traditional CM processes is a time-consuming task for both systems engineers and CM practitioners alike. The MBSE environment requires adaption of traditional CM processes or the creation of entirely new CM approaches in order to 1) manage the MBSE model output in data or documents and 2) perform CM within the actual digital model. Systems engineers and CM personnel from the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) Project at NASA Glenn Research Center have developed and are continually improving a method for baselining and configuration-managing technical content within the PPE MBSE model(s). This paper describes the process of defining how to configuration manage not just the artifacts but the requirements, verifications, and functional decomposition of an MBSE model for an evolving project. The paper also presents the results of trial and error testing, required adjustments to CM processes, and lessons learned from developing CM processes for the PPE system-level requirements and generating procurement artifacts. While developed for the MBSE environment, these processes still address standard CM activities such as protecting NASA-sensitive and partner proprietary information, baselining content, processing change requests, and providing configuration status accounting.