SYS 201 Module 5: Living in a World of Systems Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering Donella Meadows' principles for living in a world of systems and their practical applications in UAS engineering.

Mental Models

The assumptions, rules of thumb, and simplifications used to make sense of complex situations.

Get the Beat of the System

A systems thinking principle that emphasizes observing, identifying natural cycles, and understanding how a system behaves over time before trying to change it.

Brooks' Law

A principle introduced by Fred Brooks stating that adding more people to a late project slows development because training and increased communication paths raise complexity exponentially.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Computer simulations, such as those run on OpenFoam software, used by sUAS designers to test aerodynamic assumptions and physics that change at smaller scales.

Information Flow

The movement of data, knowledge, and feedback through a system; good information flow ensures everyone receives required data on time, while poor flow causes delays and errors.

Sensor Fusion

The process of combining data from multiple sensors—such as GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and cameras—to determine a drone's position and orientation.

Barometer

An autopilot sensor that provides altitude data, allowing quadcopters to maintain stable flight in altitude modes even when GPS signals are lost.

Feedback Policies

System structures that automatically adjust behavior based on current performance data, adapting dynamically to changing conditions rather than relying on fixed rules.

Go for the Good of the Whole

A systems thinking principle asserting that optimizing individual subsystems independently leads to poor overall results, requiring engineers to prioritize whole-system performance.

Listen to the Wisdom of the System

A principle encouraging respect for the self-organizing properties and adaptive behaviors a complex system develops over time before attempting radical changes.

Locate Responsibility in the System

The design approach of matching responsibility with capability, information, and incentives across system components or stakeholders rather than placing blame or single-point reliance.

Stay Humble - Stay a Learner

A systems principle emphasizing that understanding of complex systems is always incomplete, requiring engineers to treat unexpected behaviors as learning opportunities.

Expand Time Horizons

The practice of looking beyond immediate short-term outcomes to analyze and design for how systems will behave over long lifecycles.

Defy the Disciplines

The practice of crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries (such as electrical engineering, aerodynamics, and human factors) to comprehensively understand and solve system challenges.

Expand the Boundary of Caring

Considering the broader impact of system decisions on external stakeholders, the public, and the surrounding environment rather than focusing strictly on narrow self-interest or primary specifications.

Don't Erode the Goal of Goodness

Maintaining core ethical values, high quality, and safety standards despite budget, schedule, or operational pressures.

Latency

The time delay between actions and their effects in UAS systems, such as lags between control inputs and aircraft response or sensor readings and state estimation.

Smart Redundancy

Designing resilient systems by incorporating backup components that operate on different principles to perform essential functions without duplicating identical failure modes.

Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO)

A visual positioning technology used as a backup navigation system in drones when GPS signals are unavailable.

Systems Maps

Visual diagrams, including causal loop diagrams and stock-and-flow diagrams, used to show system components, connections, and feedback loops.

Scenario Planning

A method of preparing for multiple possible future conditions—such as regulatory shifts or technological advances—to create flexible and resilient system designs.

Leverage Point Analysis

The process of identifying specific places within a system where small, targeted changes can produce significant overall improvements.

UAS Interconnected System Domains

The four main interconnected system areas centered around a UAS systems engineer: Technical Systems, Organizational Systems, Regulatory Systems, and Social Systems.