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Daniel R. Herber

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel R. Herber.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Retrieval Augmented (Knowledge Graph), and Large Language Model-Driven Design Structure Matrix (DSM) Generation of Cyber-Physical Systems

We explore the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and Graph-based RAG (GraphRAG) for generating Design Structure Matrices (DSMs). We test these methods on two distinct use cases--a power screwdriver and a CubeSat with known architectural references--evaluating their performance on two key tasks: determining relationships between predefined components, and the more complex challenge of identifying components and their subsequent relationships. We measure the performance by assessing each element of the DSM and overall architecture. Despite design and computational challenges, we identify opportunities for automated DSM generation, with all code publicly available for reproducibility and further feedback from the domain experts.

cs.AI↗

A Framework and Prototype for a Navigable Map of Datasets in Engineering Design and Systems Engineering

The proliferation of data across the system lifecycle presents both a significant opportunity and a challenge for Engineering Design and Systems Engineering (EDSE). While this "digital thread" has the potential to drive innovation, the fragmented and inaccessible nature of existing datasets hinders method validation, limits reproducibility, and slows research progress. Unlike fields such as computer vision and natural language processing, which benefit from established benchmark ecosystems, engineering design research often relies on small, proprietary, or ad-hoc datasets. This paper addresses this challenge by proposing a systematic framework for a "Map of Datasets in EDSE." The framework is built upon a multi-dimensional taxonomy designed to classify engineering datasets by domain, lifecycle stage, data type, and format, enabling faceted discovery. An architecture for an interactive discovery tool is detailed and demonstrated through a working prototype, employing a knowledge graph data model to capture rich semantic relationships between datasets, tools, and publications. An analysis of the current data landscape reveals underrepresented areas ("data deserts") in early-stage design and system architecture, as well as relatively well-represented areas ("data oases") in predictive maintenance and autonomous systems. The paper identifies key challenges in curation and sustainability and proposes mitigation strategies, laying the groundwork for a dynamic, community-driven resource to accelerate data-centric engineering research.

cs.SE↗

Data-Driven Modeling Approaches for Optimal Control and Control Co-Design of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Models that balance accuracy against computational costs are advantageous when designing wind turbines with optimization studies, as several hundred predictive function evaluations might be necessary to identify the optimal solution. We explore different approaches to construct low-fidelity models that can be used to approximate dynamic quantities and be used as surrogates for design optimization studies and other use cases. In particular, low-fidelity modeling approaches using classical systems identification and deep learning approaches are considered against derivative function surrogate models ({DFSMs}), or approximate models of the state derivative function. This work proposes a novel method that utilizes a linear parameter varying (LPV) modeling scheme to construct the DFSM. We compare the trade-offs between these different models and explore the efficacy of the proposed DFSM approach in approximating wind turbine performance and different design optimization studies. Results show that the proposed DFSM approach balances computational time and model accuracy better than the system identification and deep learning-based models. Additionally, the DFSM provides nearly a fifty times speed-up compared to the high-fidelity model, while balancing accuracy.

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AI4SE and SE4AI Exploration: A Decade Looking Back and Forward

The March 2020 INCOSE INSIGHT special issue on AI and Systems Engineering (SE) became the most downloaded issue in the publication's history and launched a research community that now draws over 250 registrants to its annual workshop. In this article, we trace the progress in AI and SE across three phases (labeled here foundational, applied, and LLM inflection) based on the authors' reading of the field's core papers, and describe our opinions of where the community has converged and where critical gaps remain. Separately, a human-AI agreement literature review leveraging both human expertise and six AI models was performed to assess the relevance of 1,712 INCOSE INSIGHT articles and 889 SERC publications. The results identify five critical research gaps and offer guidance for practitioners navigating AI adoption, assurance, and workforce transformation in SE. We share the agreement data and the AI4SE/SE4AI Explorer web application so readers can compare their own relevance judgments with the human and AI raters.

cs.AI↗

Development of a Structured Approach for Establishing Mission Engineering Requirements

This paper addresses the question: How can mission effectiveness be systematically defined or approximated in the absence of customer requirements? Legacy requirements engineering frameworks presuppose customer input to define specifications but leave a gap in the process when stakeholder input is ill-defined or missing. Rapid build and development programs (such as military acquisition, space assets, infrastructure projects, etc.) often see requirement and objective evolutions throughout the proposal process, so a more adaptive method is needed. To address this gap, a structured approach is proposed that decomposes mission intent into mission context, functions, constraints, critical dimensions, effectiveness attributes, and architecture alternatives. This method conducts a mission feasibility assessment, prioritizes mission-critical dimensions using Best-Worst Scaling, and introduces a mission complexity factor to quantitatively understand the impacts of external mission difficulties, technology maturity, evidence and confidence standards, and mission utility. The resulting method provides a traceable basis for deriving Tier 1 and 2 requirements. The approach is structured to support future Unified Architecture Framework (UAF) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML) artifact integration. The proposed framework is demonstrated using a notional close air support mission example.

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Design-OS: A Specification-Driven Framework for Engineering System Design with a Control-Systems Design Case

Engineering system design -- whether mechatronic, control, or embedded -- often proceeds in an ad hoc manner, with requirements left implicit and traceability from intent to parameters largely absent. Existing specification-driven and systematic design methods mostly target software, and AI-assisted tools tend to enter the workflow at solution generation rather than at problem framing. Human--AI collaboration in the design of physical systems remains underexplored. This paper presents Design-OS, a lightweight, specification-driven workflow for engineering system design organized in five stages: concept definition, literature survey, conceptual design, requirements definition, and design definition. Specifications serve as the shared contract between human designers and AI agents; each stage produces structured artifacts that maintain traceability and support agent-augmented execution. We position Design-OS relative to requirements-driven design, systematic design frameworks, and AI-assisted design pipelines, and demonstrate it on a control systems design case using two rotary inverted pendulum platforms -- an open-source SimpleFOC reaction wheel and a commercial Quanser Furuta pendulum -- showing how the same specification-driven workflow accommodates fundamentally different implementations. A blank template and the full design-case artifacts are shared in a public repository to support reproducibility and reuse. The workflow makes the design process visible and auditable, and extends specification-driven orchestration of AI from software to physical engineering system design.

cs.CE↗

GENAI WORKBENCH: AI-Assisted Analysis and Synthesis of Engineering Systems from Multimodal Engineering Data

Modern engineering design platforms excel at discipline-specific tasks such as CAD, CAM, and CAE, but often lack native systems engineering frameworks. This creates a disconnect where system-level requirements and architectures are managed separately from detailed component design, hindering holistic development and increasing integration risks. To address this, we present the conceptual framework for the GenAI Workbench, a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) environment that integrates systems engineering principles into the designer's workflow. Built on an open-source PLM platform, it establishes a unified digital thread by linking semantic data from documents, physical B-rep geometry, and relational system graphs. The workbench facilitates an AI-assisted workflow where a designer can ingest source documents, from which the system automatically extracts requirements and uses vision-language models to generate an initial system architecture, such as a Design Structure Matrix (DSM). This paper presents the conceptual architecture, proposed methodology, and anticipated impact of this work-in-progress framework, which aims to foster a more integrated, data-driven, and informed engineering design methodology.

cs.SE↗

A Data-Driven Surrogate Modeling and Sensor/Actuator Placement Framework for Flexible Spacecraft

Flexible spacecraft structures present significant challenges for physical and control system design due to nonlinear dynamics, mission constraints, environmental variables, and changing operational conditions. This paper presents a data-driven framework for constructing reduced-order surrogate models of a flexible spacecraft using the method of Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD), followed by optimal sensor/actuator pair placement. Highfidelity simulation data from a nonlinear flexible spacecraft model, including coupled rigid-body and elastic modes, are captured by defining a mesh of nodes over the spacecraft body. The data-driven methods are then used to construct a modal model from the time histories of these node points. Optimal sensor/actuator placement for controllability and observability is performed via a nonlinear programming technique that maximizes the singular values of the Hankel matrix. Finally, the sensor placement and dynamics modeling approach is iterated to account for changes in the dynamic system introduced by sensor/actuator physical mass. The proposed methodology enables initialization of physical modeling without requiring a direct analytical model and provides a practical solution for onboard implementation in model-based control and estimation systems. Results demonstrate optimal design methodology with substantial model-order reduction while preserving dynamic fidelity, and provide insight into effective sensor-actuator configurations for estimation and control.

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Digital requirements engineering with an INCOSE-derived SysML meta-model

Traditional requirements engineering tools do not readily access the SysML-defined system architecture model, often resulting in ad-hoc duplication of model elements that lacks the connectivity and expressive detail possible in a SysML-defined model. Further integration of requirements engineering activities with MBSE contributes to the Authoritative Source of Truth while facilitating deep access to system architecture model elements for V&V activities. We explore the application of MBSE to requirements engineering by extending the Model-Based Structured Requirement SysML Profile to comply with the INCOSE Guide to Writing Requirements while conforming to the ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 standard requirement statement patterns. Rules, Characteristics, and Attributes were defined in SysML according to the Guide to facilitate requirements definition, verification & validation. The resulting SysML Profile was applied in two system architecture models at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, allowing us to assess its applicability and value in real-world project environments. Initial results indicate that INCOSE-derived Model-Based Structured Requirements may rapidly improve requirement expression quality while complementing the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook checklist and guidance, but typical requirement management activities still have challenges related to automation and support in the system architecture modeling software.

cs.SE↗

A general framework for supporting economic feasibility of generator and storage energy systems through capacity and dispatch optimization

Integration of various electricity-generating technologies (such as natural gas, wind, nuclear, etc.) with storage systems (such as thermal, battery electric, hydrogen, etc.) has the potential to improve the economic competitiveness of modern energy systems. Driven by the need to efficiently assess the economic feasibility of various energy system configurations in early system concept development, this work outlines a versatile computational framework for assessing the net present value of various integrated storage technologies. The subsystems' fundamental dynamics are defined, with a particular emphasis on balancing critical physical and economic domains to enable optimal decision-making in the context of capacity and dispatch optimization. In its presented form, the framework formulates a linear, convex optimization problem that can be efficiently solved using a direct transcription approach in the open-source software DTQP. Three case studies demonstrate and validate the framework's capabilities, highlighting its value and computational efficiency in facilitating the economic assessment of various energy system configurations. In particular, natural gas with thermal storage and carbon capture, wind energy with battery storage, and nuclear with hydrogen are demonstrated.

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Ontological Definition of Seamless Digital Engineering Based on ISO/IEC 25000-Series SQuaRE Product Quality Model

Since the introduction of Digital Engineering (DE) as a well-defined concept in 2018, organizations and industry groups have been working to interpret the DE concepts to establish consistent meta-models of those interrelated concepts for integration into their DE processes and tools. To reach the breadth and depth of DE concept definitions, the interpretation of international standard sources is necessary, including ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, 24765, 42000-series, 15408, 15206, 27000-series, and 25000-series, to effectively model the knowledge domain where digital engineering applies. The harmonization of the concepts used in these international standards continues to improve with each revision, but it may be more effectively accomplished by relying on the descriptive logic formalized in the Web Ontology Language (OWL 2 DL). This paper presents a verified and consistent ontology based on the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and Common Core Ontologies (CCO) that defines Seamless Digital Engineering as a digital tooling paradigm that relies on formal verification of digital interfaces to provide a system-level qualification of the assured integrity of a Digital Engineering Environment. The present work defines classes and equivalence axioms, while using only the BFO- and CCO-defined object properties that relate them, to provide a baseline analysis that may inform future DE-related ontology development, using a case study to formally define the `seamless' quality in relation to the updated ISO 25010 SQuaRE product quality model. We identified ISO meta-model inconsistencies that are resolvable using the BFO/CCO ontological framework, and define `seamless' as both a system integration quality and a Human-Computer Interface quality-in-use, working to disambiguate this concept in the context of DE.

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CatalogBank: A Structured and Interoperable Catalog Dataset with a Semi-Automatic Annotation Tool (DocumentLabeler) for Engineering System Design

In the realm of document engineering and Natural Language Processing (NLP), the integration of digitally born catalogs into product design processes presents a novel avenue for enhancing information extraction and interoperability. This paper introduces CatalogBank, a dataset developed to bridge the gap between textual descriptions and other data modalities related to engineering design catalogs. We utilized existing information extraction methodologies to extract product information from PDF-based catalogs to use in downstream tasks to generate a baseline metric. Our approach not only supports the potential automation of design workflows but also overcomes the limitations of manual data entry and non-standard metadata structures that have historically impeded the seamless integration of textual and other data modalities. Through the use of DocumentLabeler, an open-source annotation tool adapted for our dataset, we demonstrated the potential of CatalogBank in supporting diverse document-based tasks such as layout analysis and knowledge extraction. Our findings suggest that CatalogBank can contribute to document engineering and NLP by providing a robust dataset for training models capable of understanding and processing complex document formats with relatively less effort using the semi-automated annotation tool DocumentLabeler.

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Concurrent Geometry, Control, and Layout Optimization of Wave Energy Converter Farms in Probabilistic Irregular Waves using Surrogate Modeling

A promising direction towards improving the performance of wave energy converter (WEC) farms is to leverage a system-level integrated approach known as control co-design (CCD). A WEC farm CCD problem may entail decision variables associated with the geometric attributes, control parameters, and layout of the farm. However, solving the resulting optimization problem, which requires the estimation of hydrodynamic coefficients through numerical methods such as multiple scattering (MS), is computationally prohibitive. To mitigate this computational bottleneck, we construct data-driven surrogate models (SMs) using artificial neural networks in combination with concepts from many-body expansion. The resulting SMs, developed using an active learning strategy known as query by committee, are validated through a variety of methods to ensure acceptable performance in estimating the hydrodynamic coefficients, (energy-related) objective function, and decision variables. To rectify inherent errors in SMs, a hybrid optimization strategy is devised. It involves solving an optimization problem with a genetic algorithm and SMs to generate a starting point that will be used with a gradient-based optimizer and MS. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by solving a series of optimization problems with increasing levels of integration. For a layout optimization study, the framework offers a 91-fold increase in computational efficiency compared to MS. Previously unexplored investigations of much further complexity are also performed, leading to a concurrent geometry, control, and layout optimization of WEC devices in probabilistic irregular waves. The scalability of the method is evaluated by increasing the farm size to include 25 devices. The results indicate promising directions toward a practical framework for integrated WEC farm design with more tractable computational demands.

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Integrated Design for Wave Energy Converter Farms: Assessing Plant, Control, Layout, and Site Selection Coupling in the Presence of Irregular Waves

A promising direction towards reducing the levelized cost of energy for wave energy converter (WEC) farms is to improve their performance. WEC design studies generally focus on a single design domain (e.g., geometry, control, or layout) to improve the farm's performance under simplifying assumptions, such as regular waves. This strategy, however, has resulted in design recommendations that are impractical or limited in scope because WEC farms are complex systems that exhibit strong coupling among geometry, control, and layout domains. In addition, the location of the candidate site, which has a large impact on the performance of the farm, is often overlooked. Motivated by some of the limitations observed in WEC literature, this study uses an integrated design framework, based on simultaneous control co-design (CCD) principles, to discuss the impact of site selection and wave type on WEC farm design. Interactions among plant, control, and layout are also investigated and discussed using a wide range of simulations and optimization studies. All of the studies were conducted using frequency-domain heaving cylinder WEC devices within a farm with a linear reactive controller in the presence of irregular probabilistic waves. The results provide high-level guidelines to help the WEC design community move toward an integrated design perspective.

eess.SY↗

Site-dependent Solutions of Wave Energy Converter Farms with Surrogate Models, Control Co-design, and Layout Optimization

Design of wave energy converter farms entails multiple domains that are coupled, and thus, their concurrent representation and consideration in early-stage design optimization has the potential to offer new insights and promising solutions with improved performance. Concurrent optimization of physical attributes (e.g., plant) and the control system design is often known as control co-design or CCD. To further improve performance, the layout of the farm must be carefully optimized in order to ensure that constructive effects from hydrodynamic interactions are leveraged, while destructive effects are avoided. The variations in the joint probability distribution of waves, stemming from distinct site locations, affect the farm's performance and can potentially influence decisions regarding optimal plant selection, control strategies, and layout configurations. Therefore, this paper undertakes a concurrent exploration of control co-design and layout optimization for a farm comprising five devices, modeled as heaving cylinders in the frequency domain, situated across four distinct site locations: Alaskan Coasts, East Coast, Pacific Islands, and West Coast. The challenge of efficiently and accurately estimating hydrodynamic coefficients within the optimization loop was mitigated through the application of surrogate modeling and many-body expansion principles. Results indicate the optimized solutions exhibit variations in plant, control, and layout for each candidate site, signifying the importance of system-level design with environmental considerations from the early stages of the design process.

eess.SY↗

Digital requirements engineering with an INCOSE-derived SysML meta-model

Traditional requirements engineering tools do not readily access the SysML-defined system architecture model, often resulting in ad-hoc duplication of model elements that lacks the connectivity and expressive detail possible in a SysML-defined model. Without that model connectivity, requirement quality can suffer due to imprecision and inconsistent terminology, frustrating communication during system development. Further integration of requirements engineering activities with MBSE contributes to the Authoritative Source of Truth while facilitating deep access to system architecture model elements for V&V activities. The Model-Based Structured Requirement SysML Profile was extended to comply with the INCOSE Guide to Writing Requirements updated in 2023 while conforming to the ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 standard requirement statement templates. Rules, Characteristics, and Attributes were defined in SysML according to the Guide to facilitate requirements definition and requirements V&V. The resulting SysML Profile was applied in two system architecture models at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, allowing us to explore its applicability and value in real-world project environments. Initial results indicate that INCOSE-derived Model-Based Structured Requirements may rapidly improve requirement expression quality while complementing the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook checklist and guidance, but typical requirement management activities still have challenges related to automation and support with the system architecture modeling software.

eess.SY↗

Seamless Digital Engineering: A Grand Challenge Driven by Needs

Digital Engineering currently relies on costly and often bespoke integration of disparate software products to assemble the authoritative source of truth of the system-of-interest. Tools not originally designed to work together become an acknowledged system-of-systems, with their own separate feature roadmaps, deprecation, and support timelines. The resulting brittleness and conglomeration of disparate interfaces in the Digital Engineering Ecosystem of an organization drains resources and impairs efficiency and efficacy. If Model-Based Systems Engineering were applied to this problem, a complete system architecture model would be defined, and a purpose-built computing system-of-systems would be constructed to satisfy stakeholder needs. We have decades of research in computer science, cybersecurity, software and systems engineering, and human-computer interaction from which to draw that informs the design of a Seamless Digital Engineering tooling system, but it would require starting from a clean slate while carefully adopting existing standards. In this paper, this problem space and solution space are characterized, defining and identifying Seamless Digital Engineering as a grand challenge in Digital Engineering research.

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Using High-fidelity Time-Domain Simulation Data to Construct Multi-fidelity State Derivative Function Surrogate Models for use in Control and Optimization

Models that balance accuracy against computational costs are advantageous when designing dynamic systems with optimization studies, as several hundred predictive function evaluations might be necessary to identify the optimal solution. The efficacy and use of derivative function surrogate models (DFSMs), or approximate models of the state derivative function, have been well-established in the literature. However, previous studies have assumed an a priori state dynamic model is available that can be directly evaluated to construct the DFSM. In this article, we propose an approach to extract the state derivative information from system simulations using piecewise polynomial approximations. Once the required information is available, we propose a multi-fidelity DFSM approach as a predictive model for the system's dynamic response. This multi-fidelity model consists of summation between a linear-fit lower-fidelity model and an additional nonlinear error corrective function that compensates for the error between the high-fidelity simulations and low-fidelity models. We validate the model by comparing the simulation results from the DFSM to the high-fidelity tools. The DFSM model is, on average, five times faster than the high-fidelity tools while capturing the key time domain and power spectral density~(PSD) trends. Then, an optimal control study using the DFSM is conducted with outcomes showing that the DFSM approach can be used for complex systems like floating offshore wind turbines~(FOWTs) and help identify control trends and trade-offs.

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