Connecting the Development of the Einstein Telescope by Applying Model-Based Systems Engineering

IEEE International Symposium on Systems Engineering, pp. 1–8

Abstract

For future research in gravitational wave science, the Einstein Telescope (ET) is being developed as part of a new generation of gravitational wave detectors. As gravitational waves, ripples in space time caused by astronomical events like the collision of black holes, only cause minimal distortions on Earth, the detectors need to be highly sensitive, detecting length changes of$\mathbf{1 0}^{-\mathbf{1 9}} \mathbf{~ m}$. To achieve this accuracy, currently over 1800 researchers from different disciplines in research facilities all over Europe work on the development of different subsystems for ET. In the past, parameter consistency across the entire development collaboration has proved challenging. Therefore, new development approaches able to tackle this problem and, in general, streamlining the development process, are needed. One of these approaches is Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), which has been used in large-scale developments, especially in space and aviation, in the past. A key advantage of MBSE is the establishment of a system architecture that structures the development and serves as the backbone for parameter management. However, the implementation of MBSE into an ongoing development like ET has not been investigated yet. For this reason, it is investigated how existing development results like expert models and design reports can be used to derive a system architecture which is the backbone of MBSE application. Additionally, the use of the derived architecture for linking requirements and expert models is demonstrated. Finally, a set of developer profiles, archetypes, is derived that proves that the implementation of MBSE does not require training of all 1800 developers. This work lays the foundation for the application of MBSE to ETs development and subsequently enables the benefits of MBSE for ETs development.

Authors 6

1. Frederik Moers Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany

2. Georg Jacobs Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany

3. K. Frischkorn Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany

4. Philipp Höck Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany

5. Gregor Höpfner Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany

6. Jan Niklas Schmitz Aachen Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering, RWTH Aachen university,Aachen,Germany