Duration: 4 months
The increasing complexity related to astronomical instruments and their development requires innovative techniques to produce an effective and efficient system engineering effort. To face such a challenge, Model Based System Engineering has been selected as a potential solution. Some examples of MBSE applied to astronomical instruments can be found in literature, however these focus on specific tasks or on specific instruments. This leads to the necessity of defining a comprehensive MBSE methodology that can be standardized and used for all the systems currently under development in INAF. A lot of work has been done already on instruments at different stages of development (mainly phase B and phase C). This effort highlighted the main necessities and peculiarities that an MBSE methodology for astronomical instruments shall include and reflect to produce a complete and meaningful model. The next step is to create the procedural framework for the researched MBSE methodology. The main candidate to take inspiration from is currently the ESA SysML Solution framework. Currently, the research effort is focusing on integrating the single astronomy-oriented features and stereotypes in the ESA framework while keeping open the possibility of implementing changes and adaptations to such framework for astronomical applications.
