Systems engineering challenges and MBSE opportunities for automotive system design

Many industries are facing rapid growth in the complexity of the systems they develop. In the automotive domain, vehicles are essentially becoming high performance computing platforms, comprised of dozens of electronic control systems (ECUs) that process over 100 million of lines of software code. In addition, Tens of thousands of vehicle product variants must be managed. One of the primary ways problems associated with increased system complexity can be mitigated so that products are delivered on time, on budget, and with minimal quality issues, is for engineering organizations to utilize the most effective systems engineering methodologies. Model based systems engineering (MBSE), implemented using languages like SysML, is one such methodology that has gained a foothold over the past 10-15 years and continues to be refined and improved today. This paper provides an overview of the general challenges systems engineering faces today including those associated with the automotive industry. Approaches based on MBSE are considered to address these challenges. Next, an enterprise-wide model-based engineering (MBE) strategy proposed by the aerospace and defense industry that could also be effectively utilized by automotive OEMs is discussed. Finally, a set of specific automotive applications of MBSE is described.