Electronic design collaboration within virtual product development

This paper documents the application of an electronic design collaboration tool, ESDR (Electronic Source Data Requirements) that has been developed by Lockheed Martin, to the design, development, and integration process for modern aerospace vehicles. The update of the original paper-based ESDR process to the new electronic process is reviewed. An overview of the VDE (Virtual Development Environment) technology is presented, and its use in the development of the ESDR process is discussed. Powerful, advanced, user-friendly, electronic collaborative process features developed from the VDE technology, which significantly enhance the ESDR process, are listed together with their salient attributes. Major benefits associated with the ESDR process development and utilization are then described, and recommended applications to the design, development, and integration of modern aerospace vehicles are summarized.