Competence management with EuroSim centred CACE working environments

There is a growing need to handle large aerospace projects in a systematic manner: transfer of knowledge between people on a case by case manner is a time-consuming and costly process. Computer based simulation is recognised as one of the tools that can support production cycles leading to shorter development times. Usually aerospace projects are executed in international teams where companies are responsible for specific subsystems. Nowadays, it has become essential that cooperating engineers and managers can use computer networks where software tools and software models can be accessed easily. With simulation comes the opportunity to reuse existing knowledge and the need to preserve newly acquired knowledge in a structured way. The necessity for working environments in which the computer network can be used as one virtual computer is apparent. Working environments allow engineers to concentrate on a task at hand and at the same time shield information that is not relevant for users. Working environments are useful also across boundaries of projects as they facilitate technical cross-fertilisation. At the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR, the SPINE system is used for construction and operational use of functionally-integrated working environments. Working environments can be made suitable for specific engineering goals such as Computer Aided Control Engineering (CACE) by incorporating specific engineering tools. EuroSim, a generic and highly configurable simulator tool, is such an engineering tool. The present paper discusses the advantages of NLR's working environment ISMuS: a EuroSim centred working environment that facilitates CACE competence management. Two projects will be presented to illustrate CACE competence management issues: TRaCE and Simultaan. Both projects focus on modelling and simulation of controlled contact between two or more physical systems. The application domain however is very different. TRaCE deals with robotic manipulators whereas Simultaan deals with vehicles. The working environment ISMuS enables among other things technical cross-fertilisation across boundaries of projects in an efficient manner.