Development programs for 1-shot systems: decoupled tests and redesigns, with the possibility of design degradation

This paper extends, in two important directions, the recent work of Huang, McBeth and Vardeman on efficient development testing for 1-shot systems. The testing and redesign activities are decoupled. They are assigned their own costs, and development strategies are allowed to include multiple tests between redesigns and vice versa. The possibility that in fact an engineering redesign degrades design reliability is allowed. Backward induction is used to find optimal test-and-redesign programs. The theory developed here characterizes optimal programs and allows for computation and the study of numerical examples.