A Python Modelling and Simulation Toolkit for Rapid Development of System of Systems Inverse Design (SoSID) Case Studies

Abstract

The complexity of System of Systems (SoS) necessitates the use of Modeling and Simulation (M&S) to quantify metrics of effectiveness and emergent properties. However, definition of these large-scale simulations is time-consuming and the tools available are not specialized for requirements specific to SoS. Furthermore, with the plethora of scientific packages available as Python packages, creating a bespoke simulation toolkit with this language will allow engineers to rapidly analyze case studies. An emphasis is placed on a SoS approach utilizing Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) in this paper as it is beneficial to capture emergent properties while developing new multi-vehicle platforms in a complex operational environment. This paper presents the development process and feature highlights of a toolkit to support SoS Inverse Aircraft Design applications. Developed features in the toolkit are driven and verified by two case studies: Wildfire suppression and collaborative design of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) SoS.