TY - GEN
T1 - System engineering of the atacama large millimeter/submillimeter array
AU - Javier, Ravinder
AU - Snow, William
AU - Sugimoto, Masahiro
AU - Sramek, Richard
AU - Miccolis, Maurizio
AU - Morita, Koh Ichiro
AU - Arancibia, Demián
AU - Araya, Andrea
AU - Asayama, Shin'ichiro
AU - Barkats, Denis
AU - Brito, Rodrigo
AU - Brundage, William
AU - Grammer, Wes
AU - Haupt, Christoph
AU - Kurlandczyk, Herve
AU - Mizuno, Norikazu
AU - Napier, Peter
AU - Pizarro, Eduardo
AU - Saini, Kamaljeet
AU - Stahlman, Gretchen
AU - Verzichelli, Gianluca
AU - Whyborn, Nick
AU - Yagoubov, Pavel
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will be composed of 66 high precision antennae located at 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile. This paper will present the methodology, tools and processes adopted to system engineer a project of high technical complexity, by system engineering teams that are remotely located and from different cultures, and in accordance with a demanding schedule and within tight financial constraints. The technical and organizational complexity of ALMA requires a disciplined approach to the definition, implementation and verification of the ALMA requirements. During the development phase, System Engineering chairs all technical reviews and facilitates the resolution of technical conflicts. We have developed analysis tools to analyze the system performance, incorporating key parameters that contribute to the ultimate performance, and are modeled using best estimates and/or measured values obtained during test campaigns. Strict tracking and control of the technical budgets ensures that the different parts of the system can operate together as a whole within ALMA boundary conditions. System Engineering is responsible for acceptances of the thousands of hardware items delivered to Chile, and also supports the software acceptance process. In addition, System Engineering leads the troubleshooting efforts during testing phases of the construction project. Finally, the team is conducting System level verification and diagnostics activities to assess the overall performance of the observatory. This paper will also share lessons learned from these system engineering and verification approaches.
AB - The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will be composed of 66 high precision antennae located at 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile. This paper will present the methodology, tools and processes adopted to system engineer a project of high technical complexity, by system engineering teams that are remotely located and from different cultures, and in accordance with a demanding schedule and within tight financial constraints. The technical and organizational complexity of ALMA requires a disciplined approach to the definition, implementation and verification of the ALMA requirements. During the development phase, System Engineering chairs all technical reviews and facilitates the resolution of technical conflicts. We have developed analysis tools to analyze the system performance, incorporating key parameters that contribute to the ultimate performance, and are modeled using best estimates and/or measured values obtained during test campaigns. Strict tracking and control of the technical budgets ensures that the different parts of the system can operate together as a whole within ALMA boundary conditions. System Engineering is responsible for acceptances of the thousands of hardware items delivered to Chile, and also supports the software acceptance process. In addition, System Engineering leads the troubleshooting efforts during testing phases of the construction project. Finally, the team is conducting System level verification and diagnostics activities to assess the overall performance of the observatory. This paper will also share lessons learned from these system engineering and verification approaches.
KW - ALMA
KW - Engineering
KW - System
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U2 - 10.1117/12.926822
DO - 10.1117/12.926822
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84871683730
SN - 9780819491503
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy V
T2 - Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy V
Y2 - 1 July 2012 through 3 July 2012
ER -