An executable tutorial on recursive system decomposition using SysML v2 and OpenSysML.
Didactic purpose: Learn to develop and recursively decompose a system model, use executable analyses to test specific claims, and exercise engineering judgment about assumptions and evidence. The tutorial uses a domestic toaster as a teaching example: concrete enough to reason about, simple enough not to obscure the method.
Audience: Engineers with basic systems knowledge and introductory Python.
After completing this tutorial you will be able to:
Build a SysML v2 model incrementally from an abstract definition through requirements, functions, and allocated architecture
Execute model analyses using OpenSysML and interpret the results
Construct and evaluate engineering judgment records following Hawkins et al. 2011
Chapter outline¶
| Chapter | Question | Constructs / Operations |
|---|---|---|
| 1: System and Purpose | What is the system? | abstract part def, part def, specialization, composition |
| 2: Requirements and Assumptions | What must it do? | requirement def, attribute override, asserted_context |
| 3: Measures of Success | How do we know it succeeds? | requirement usage, assert satisfy / assert not satisfy, verification def, asserted_solution |
| 4: Functional Decomposition | What functions must it perform? | action def, constraint, item def, asserted_inference |
| 5: Architecture and Allocation | Which component performs it, and how do components connect? | model navigation, allocate, perform, port, interface |
| 6: Recursive Decomposition | What does one branch of the recursion show, one level down? | nested action, abstract logical carrier, port, allocate, specialization, asserted_solution |
| 7: Execution and Experiments | What does it do? | bounded calc, assert constraint, exhibit state, do action, execute_state, parameter sweep |
| 8: Checking and Revision | Does one claim hold at one point, or does a property hold for every value? | assert constraint, verify_satisfaction, verify_holds (Z3), stale records |
| 9: Coverage and Sufficiency | Are all requirements covered? | requirement coverage, evidence sufficiency, stale detection at scale |
| 10: Traceability and Sign-off | Is the argument complete? | traceability graph, judgment ledger, asserted_inference synthesis |
Setup and installation | Glossary | References | Case studies