Collaborative Research: Mitigating Emergent System Behavior through System Evolvability

协作研究：通过系统可进化性缓解紧急系统行为

• 批准号: 1301017
• 负责人: Scott Ferguson
• 金额: $ 19.97万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1301017&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Mitigating; Emergent; System

The research objective of this collaborative project is to discover the principles governing the evolvability of complex engineered systems (CES) and understand how service-phase evolution can be used to reduce negative emergent behavior in the face of unforeseen future needs. While providing essential benefits to society, complex systems are unusually challenging to design because they have (i) elaborate internal interactions, (ii) long development times, (iii) lifecycles associated with extended service windows, and (iv) exhibit unanticipated emergent behavior. To address these challenges, this research project will begin by conducting empirical studies to understand how existing CES have evolved in-service in response to emergent needs. These studies will be used to draw insights about why certain CES are more effective at evolving than others. Different measures and models of evolvability will be then be explored and validated to guide designers in manipulating the evolution of CES. Finally, this project will explore how information about service-phase evolution can be integrated into a value model, and how different evolution strategies impact overall system value. If successful, this work will begin to address a recurring theme from recent CES workshops highlighting the need to control and capitalize on system evolvability. Results from this project will significantly advance understanding of the relationship between system design and the tendency for systems to mitigate emergent behavior through evolution by identifying and cataloging useful principles that can be accessed by practicing engineers. By exploring metrics to characterize system evolvability, this research will facilitate the synthesis of information from various design tools to describe system capabilities and quantify the impact provided by various evolution possibilities. Linking these insights to value-driven design will study the relationship between evolvability and system value while furthering the use and validation of this design approach. Lessons learned and contributions of this work will be disseminated through publications, internet-available design camp teaching modules, interactions with industry supports, and at conferences. Finally, student involvement through summer design camps at both NCSU and BYU campuses will grant first-hand experience in system design and bring together students of diverse backgrounds and thinking.

该协作项目的研究目标是发现有关复杂工程系统（CES）的发展性的原则，并了解如何使用服务相位的演变来减少面对未来的未来需求，以减少负面的紧急行为。在为社会提供基本好处的同时，复杂的系统在设计方面具有异常挑战性，因为它们具有（i）详细的内部互动，（ii）长期发展时间，（iii）与扩展服务窗口相关的生命周期，并且（iv）表现出意外的紧急行为。为了应对这些挑战，该研究项目将首先进行实证研究，以了解现有CES如何在响应新兴需求的情况下进化。这些研究将用于了解为什么某些CES比其他CE更有效地发展的见解。然后，将探索和验证不同的可发展性措施和模型，以指导设计人员操纵CES的演变。最后，该项目将探讨如何将有关服务相演化的信息集成到价值模型中，以及不同的进化策略如何影响整体系统价值。如果成功的话，这项工作将开始解决最近CES研讨会的反复主题，突出了控制和利用系统可发展性的必要性。该项目的结果将大大提高对系统设计之间的关系与系统之间通过识别和分类有用的原理来减轻新兴行为的趋势之间的关系，从而可以通过实践工程师访问。通过探索指标以表征系统的发展性，这项研究将有助于从各种设计工具中综合信息，以描述系统功能并量化各种进化可能性所提供的影响。将这些见解与价值驱动的设计联系起来，将研究可发展性与系统价值之间的关系，同时促进这种设计方法的使用和验证。经验教训和这项工作的贡献将通过出版物，可获得互联网的设计营教学模块，与行业支持的互动以及会议来传播。最后，在NCSU和BYU校园的夏季设计训练营中，学生参与将授予系统设计的第一手经验，并将各种背景和思维的学生汇集在一起​​。