Managing Murphy's law: engineering a minimum-risk system
Article Abstract:
Hardware faults and human interaction must be considered in the evaluation and management of risk that may be inherent in any large industrial system. A combination of the probability of an undesirable event and the magnitude of the consequences is defined by risk analysis. In the beginning design stages, complete risk analysis includes a systems approach to safety that looks at waste disposal and end users' risk. Risk sensitivities in every phase of the system's mission must be tabulated. A diagram must be prepared for each phase of the mission and logical relationships of components and subsystems determined. The probability that any failure will occur in each mission phase must be quantified. Destructive outside forces must also be anticipated. Probabilistic risk analysis completed for NASA by engineering consulting firm Pickard, Lowe & Garrick Inc revealed that there had been five fuel leaks in the first 24 shuttle missions. On the ninth mission on Nov 28, 1983, escaping fuels self-ignited, causing the orbiter to explode after it landed. Once risk is determined, managers and engineers have the responsibility to determine what level of risk is acceptable. Poor operational design can cause great risk with tragic consequences.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1989
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Next-generation spacecraft control
Article Abstract:
The Gamma Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Galileo probe are three of seven spacecraft launched or scheduled for launch in 1990, all containing electronic control systems vastly more sophisticated than those of earlier generations. Thirty-six major missions are planned through 1994. The Hubble Space Telescope employs artificial intelligence and new on-board control systems to make some 3,000 exposures of several hundred celestial targets. The Gamma Ray Observatory holds six tons of detectors and electronics to measure gamma rays from any source. The Galileo probe will make the first entry into a gaseous planetary atmosphere, in this case Jupiter. Other projects include Magellan, Cosmic Background Explorer, Ulysses, and Astro-1.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1989
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Process SETS a limit on CO2 emissions. Integration cuts ethylene plant costs
- Abstracts: Casting goes green and economical. Integrated control pushes up accuracy. Why bearing failure needn't be bad
- Abstracts: State variable analysis of dc-dc converters. Simulation of power converter devices with nonlinear elements. Simulation of transmission line transients with a distributed-parameter model using a personal computer
- Abstracts: Henry Burkhardt III: with wit and energy, the former child prodigy and cofounder of Data General is shaking up the supercomputer industry
- Abstracts: Automating software development. The power of parallelism