Jean Pollari Manager, Program Management 400 Collins Road, NE, M.S Cedar Rapids IA

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1 I. PROGRAM OVERVIEW Organization Name/Program Name: Program Leader Name/ Position/Contact information , Phone Program Category Program Background: What is this program all about? (No more than one page). Describe: The overarching need for this program History of the program The product that is created by this program Scope of work original & updated Expected deliverables Current status of the program Rockwell Collins Synthetic Vision System (SVS) for Heads Up Display (HUD) Jean Pollari Manager, Program Management 400 Collins Road, NE, M.S Cedar Rapids IA Sub-System R&D/SDD program or project As crucial as visual cues are when piloting an aircraft, they are equally as fleeting. Any range of issues an errant cloud bank, a late departure into darkening skies can reduce pilots ability to see clearly and guide their aircraft safely to landing. To provide pilots with additional information, Rockwell Collins began development of a synthetic vision system (SVS) in the late 1990s through collaborative research with NASA. This system would generate real-time computerized 3D depictions of the outside world, including terrain, obstacles, airports and runways. While this initial work focused on additional video displays below the windscreen called heads down displays our engineers quickly recognized the potential for the technology on a transparent display that would actually float between the pilot s eyes and the windscreen, called the head-up display (HUD). Building off that initial research, Rockwell Collins launched the full development program for SVS on a HUD in The technology debuted in 2012 on the Bombardier Global platform and is slated for future fixed wing and rotary wing platforms, including the AgustaWestland AW609 tilt rotor aircraft. Rockwell Collins was the first company to merge these powerful technologies to provide a realistic and intuitive view of the outside world that is aligned with the pilot s natural vision. This solution dramatically increases situational awareness and safety when flying in low visibility conditions. 1

2 II. VALUE CREATION = 20 POINTS Value: What is the value, competitive positioning, advantage, and return created by this program to your: Customers National interests, war fighter Company Strength, bottom line, and shareholders Scientific/technical value (particularly for R&D programs) Excellence and Uniqueness: What makes this program unique? Why should this program be awarded the Program Excellence Award? Maintaining a natural head-up, eyes-forward position is critical to pilot safety and responsiveness, particularly in low-visibility conditions and unfamiliar territory. The SVS HUD program brought this revolutionary capability to military and commercial platforms. Using advanced software algorithms and graphics technology, the team created a visually stunning, highresolution 3-D depiction of terrain, runways and obstacles that is aligned with the pilot s natural viewpoint through the cockpit window. The geographically dispersed team utilized strong management and systems engineering practices, and applied Lean Electronics methods to realize significant recurring and non-recurring savings. Worldwide economic challenges and soaring oil prices have placed pressure on aircraft operators, making it all the more costly when aircraft are grounded or delayed due to poor visibility conditions. SVS HUD can markedly improve those operators ability to fly in more varied weather conditions and, as it is implemented in more commercial aircraft, it can positively impact the entire aerospace industry by reducing delays that echo across the airspace. To pursue this goal, we are working with industry committees to allow aircraft outfitted with SVS on a HUD to fly to a lower altitude during approach. The SVS HUD program created value for Rockwell Collins and our customers. The solution has won numerous awards for innovation within the industry and beyond, and the technology is widely recognized as the market leader. The SVS HUD solution can be implemented across all Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics solutions platforms, and is now being reapplied in the military and civil markets with only minimal changes. At this year s 50th Annual Paris Air Show, Rockwell Collins launched a family of technologies HeliSure flight situational awareness solutions that will provide helicopter pilots with unprecedented situational awareness to help them meet the challenges of flying in an increasingly congested and hazardfilled airspace. These new technologies are all based on the foundational work accomplished by the SVS HUD program. 2

3 III. ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES/BEST PRACTICES: (HOW DO YOU DO THINGS) = 30 POINTS Strategic: Opportunity Management Describe how your program has identified its operational and business opportunity, and manages this opportunity throughout the program s life cycle. Strategic: Strategic Supply Chain Integration and Cost Effectiveness Management Describe how your program is integrating its supply chain to assure visibility and adapting long-term cost effectiveness up and down the supply chain. Rockwell Collins has a team of system engineers many of whom are licensed pilots dedicated to advanced technology development. This team searches for innovative ideas that enhance aircraft safety and performance. The advanced technology group developed the concept for SVS and obtained funding for an innovation project in the late 1990s. In early 2000, the team took the concept one step further and launched a joint research project with NASA to explore application of SVS to a flight deck. This project demonstrated the viability and usefulness of SVS. Rockwell Collins leadership realized that SVS would address a real customer need in the market. Pilots like to use enhanced visions systems for better visibility during takeoff and landing. However, enhanced vision systems do not always perform well, especially at altitudes above 150 ft. SVS filled this gap. The competition was focused on developing SVS for a heads down display in the cockpit. Rockwell Collins leadership saw an opportunity to take the concept even further by integrating SVS on the HUD. Measurements have shown that it takes 2-3 seconds for a pilot to re-orient themselves after a heads-down to heads-up transition. These 2-3 seconds can be critical when landing in low visibility conditions. By placing the SVS on the HUD, this transition is eliminated. Ultimately, Rockwell Collins saw SVS on the HUD as a way to differentiate its new Pro Line Fusion avionics in the marketplace. Rockwell Collins is continually searching for strategic acquisitions to augment core technologies, expand product offerings, and vertically integrate the supply chain. Candidate companies are vetted through a disciplined Management Authorization Process (RC-MAP). This process ensures that the acquisition is a strategic fit and will bring value to the company. Using this model, Rockwell Collins has successfully grown the business over the past two decades. For example, Rockwell Collins acquired graphics and simulation expertise in support of its Government business. The SVS HUD program leveraged this expertise into the commercial avionics market. Rockwell Collins manages the material supply and demand for the entire company including international locations in a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. By aggregating the demand, procurement can purchase material at 3

4 volume discounts. The SVS HUD program was able to realize significant cost savings by reusing existing designs and sharing common material with larger programs. Strategic: Operational Integration and Systems Engineering Describe the challenges faced by your program in terms of integrating the system into its operational environment and its impact on systems engineering planning and management. Operational: Planning, Monitoring, and Controlling Describe your planning and resource allocation processes. How do you monitor and review your program s progress and make corrections to keep the program on track? How have you worked with your customer to assure Quality and communication without creating non-value reviews and audits that do not fit your program effort? SVS was new in the commercial avionics industry and the team knew that they would have to break new ground with the regulatory agencies. Rockwell Collins actively participated in the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) SC- 213 committee to define the Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS) for a synthetic vision system. Due to this early involvement, the MASPS were developed and a subsequent Advisory Circular (AC) was issued prior to certification of SVS on the target aircraft. Lack of MASPS/AC could have led to delays in certification with the regulatory agencies. The program also established a critical partnership with an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The OEM agreed to share flight test costs a major expense and, in return, would be the first OEM to offer the new system on their highend business jets. The FAA and TCCA were invited to several demonstrations using the OEM aircraft and prototype SVS HUD. These demonstrations provided two benefits: the regulatory agencies became familiar with the proposed technical approach and operational implications well in advance of the certification request, and the SVS HUD team received valuable feedback on the design approach. The team used three techniques to plan, monitor, and control the program. The team used earned value to track development progress. Metrics generated from the peer review and change request tracking system were used to claim performance on the development tasks. The metrics were a natural output of these systems and required minimal effort to capture. They ensured that the claimed progress was consistent with the actual status of the program. This enabled early detection of problems and prompt corrective actions. The team defined and managed key technical performance measures (TPMs) such as processor utilization, memory utilization, and system latency throughout the program. Regular monitoring of these TPMs, especially during the early prototyping phase, resulted in the early decision to move to a different graphics processor. 4

5 The team used key program metrics to manage scope and track development progress. Examples include planned vs. actual number of change requests, planned vs. actual cost per change request, and percent complete of development and test tasks. The team collected actual cost for product reapplication and used these to refine estimates for new programs. Operational: Supply Chain and Logistics Management What processes, tools and relationship-building methods have you used to develop, refine and improve supply chain and stakeholder integration? Please indicate also methods used to analyze/fact-find regarding supplier proposals. This is one of the most imperative needs of our industry please provide specific details and data that assisted you in gauging the effectiveness. Operational: System Integration, Testing & Review Describe the activities and processes used to succeed in your system integration, and testing. How did you conduct system design and technical reviews? What innovations in processes or tools were used to further evolve this capability? The commercial 3D graphics chip was the most critical new hardware component in the SVS HUD solution. The team performed a trade study to select the best graphics chip for this application. First, the team identified key evaluation parameters such as processing power, thermal characteristics, size, weight, availability, producibility, reliability, and supplier quality. Candidate graphics chips were then scored against these criteria. The weighted sum of these scores was used to rank the candidates. The team then developed prototype hardware with the graphics chip that ranked highest in the trade study. The team knew that they would need detailed design information from the graphics chip supplier to achieve certification with the driver software. Vendors are typically reluctant to share this type of information. The team successfully leveraged another Rockwell Collins business area s relationship with the vendor to obtain the necessary data. The Rockwell Collins Technical Consistent Process (TCP) is an enterprise-wide process that governs product design and development. The TCP provides a framework of activities that define how a program is planned and executed. The SVS program followed the TCP but augmented the process in several critical areas. Requirements SVS was a new concept and no customer or industry requirements existed. Pilot acceptance of the new technology was critical. To address these risks, the team implemented an efficient rapid prototyping model to facilitate requirements capture. Engineers developed numerous software prototypes using different technologies and visual designs. The team then had Rockwell Collins, OEM, and regulatory agency pilots evaluate the prototypes and provide feedback. Early prototypes were evaluated on systems rigs; later prototypes were actually flown in OEM test aircraft. This process directly led to the choice of a full featured SVS rather than wireframe or ridge-line representation. The end result was a visually stunning, high-resolution, three-dimensional synthetic vision 5

6 image that is regarded as the best in the industry. Design The team knew that high-resolution, real-time graphics would require large amounts of processing power yet had to operate in a size, weight, and power constrained environment. Early prototyping revealed that the candidate graphics processor would not be powerful enough to render the desired image quality. The team re-architected the solution to use a more powerful graphics processor without impacting the program schedule. If this problem had been discovered later in the program, the team would have had to either reduce the image quality or delay schedule. The team knew that the SVS had to be at a price point that the customer would accept and that the product had to be profitable. The team used the Rockwell Collins Design to Cost (DTC) method to optimize the recurring cost of the system. The team identified DTC targets for each hardware component and for the overall system and then used these targets to drive design choices. For example, the team integrated several hardware components into a single module, eliminating the need for a second module. The team tailored the design of another existing processor card to meet the needs of SVS, enabling reuse and lowering recurring cost. They replaced traditional board connectors with fiber cable, reducing size and cost. All of these intelligent design decisions resulted in a costcompetitive and profitable SVS solution. Software Verification SVS would be used in commercial aviation and therefore had to be developed in accordance with DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification. DO-178B requires formal verification tasks to assure that the software fully satisfies all the expected requirements. DO-178B also requires structural coverage analysis to ensure that all paths in the code are tested during verification. DO-178B requires that software development and requirements verification be independent the same person cannot write and verify the same piece of code. Many organizations hand over the completed software to a separate verification team late in the program. This results in late detection of untestable requirements and rework of the design. In contrast, the SVS verification team was established at the start of the program and was actively involved during all stages of development. They were empowered to provide feedback to improve all of the 6

7 program processes, not just those related to verification. The team performed early feature-based structural coverage runs to identify testing gaps and code issues. Programs often delay structural coverage analysis until late in the program, resulting in rework. By implementing an incremental approach, they avoided this risk. Operational: Risk / Opportunity Management Describe the processes used to identify both risks and opportunity and to assure potential for both is addressed effectively Please indicate any forward-leaning processes to support. Team Leadership: Team Culture and Motivation Describe how you created your team spirit and culture, and accomplished entire team integration and individual team member motivation. Given the economic environment and changes in the global marketplace, how did you assure your team changed swiftly and with agility? The team used a disciplined risk management process throughout the program. The team defined a program impact model at the start of the program. An impact model defines the program-specific cost, schedule, and technical ranges for the high/medium/low impact categories. A program uses these definitions to determine which risks/opportunities should be addressed. The team developed a program risk register by analyzing the project plan and identifying potential issues. For each risk, team captured a concise risk statement, rationale (why this is a risk), probability of occurrence (high/medium/low), and the cost, schedule, and technical impacts if the risk occurred. The impacts were assessed against the program impact model to determine a high/medium/low impact categorization. The team then developed mitigation strategies for each risk with a high/medium impact and probability. The mitigation strategies were reviewed and updated monthly. New risks were added as identified. The team following a similar process for opportunities. By following this disciplined risk/opportunity management process, the team was able to prevent problems and realize opportunity. The SVS/HUD solution was technically complex and required expertise from across the organization avionics experts from Cedar Rapids, HUD experts from Portland, and graphics experts from Salt Lake City. The management team spent a lot of time at the start of the project getting the right people with the right skills in the right spots. Co-location of the entire team was not practical and this logistical complexity had to be carefully managed. The team defined clear roles and responsibilities at the start of the program so everyone knew what was expected and could be held accountable. They decomposed the SVS/HUD function early in the program, ensuring that each location understood the requirements for their component. The teams held regular online meetings scheduled at times convenient for all affected time zones with agendas and action items to keep the group 7

8 focused. Quarterly face-to-face meetings were also held to build relationships and trust between team members. These quarterly meetings always included a group activity such as a wiffleball tournament or team dinner. Throughout the project, individual team members were awarded small denomination gift cards for their accomplishments. This combination of carefully selected team members, regular communication, frequent rewards, and targeted team-building activities created a high performance team and a positive, fun working environment. Team Leadership: Lessons Learned and Knowledge Management Describe how you collect lessons learned and best practices, and how they are shared with your team and company to improve performance. Also how are you capturing expertise and knowledge to assure availability over the life of the program? Team Leadership: Leadership Development How do you develop team s skills and build future leaders Best (& Next) Practices: Identify your program s specific Best Practices that you believe are unique, and could be shared with others and become industry s Next Practices. The SVS HUD team held periodic Lean Technology events to capture lessons learned. These were shared with rest of organization and several of the program s methods were adopted by the rest of the business area. The SVS HUD team also used Kaizen principles to continuously improve processes throughout development. For example, the team optimized the timing of formal reviews and baseline establishment. Baselining too soon results in unnecessary overhead; baselining too late increases the risk of late discovery of errors. The SVS adjusted their process to optimize the point at which artifacts were baselined. The SVS HUD program operated as a fully integrated, selfdirected team. The team had a common purpose, measurable performance goals, a common approach, and mutual accountability. Overhead and senior management involvement was kept to a minimum. Every team member was expected to contribute. Leadership roles were shared and team members were expected to be flexible as the demands of the program changed. Everyone was encouraged to learn about different technologies and influence the team s processes. This environment naturally developed leaders. Best practices include: Techniques used to manage a geographically dispersed team. Strategic partnership with OEM. Early involvement of regulatory agencies. Use of early prototyping to validate the design and get buyin from key stakeholders. Methods used to create a motivated, self-directed team. 8

9 IV. ADAPTING TO COMPLEXITY: (HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH YOUR PROGRAM S UNIQUE COMPLEXITIES) = 20 POINTS Market Uncertainty Technological Uncertainty System Complexity Pace and Urgency Other Complexities & Uncertainties Breakthrough product (breakthrough product, never seen before). The SVS HUD program dealt with the market uncertainty of a breakthrough product by forming a strategic alliance with an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). This relationship gave Rockwell Collins a channel to market for the new technology and gave the OEM the chance to be first to market with a new, state-ofthe-art technology. High technology (recently developed new technology). The SVS HUD program dealt with high technological uncertainty by using rapid prototyping to uncover significant design issues early in the program lifecycle. The team was able to quickly implement changes to address these issues, avoiding expensive and time consuming re-design efforts late in the program. Sub-system (fitting within a larger system) The SVS HUD program dealt with the system complexity by leveraging expertise both inside and outside the organization. This included avionics, HUD, and graphics experts from Rockwell Collins; OEM pilots and systems engineers; and industry experts from the regulatory agencies. This diverse team had the breadth of knowledge to design a complete solution. Fast/competitive (time to market is important) The SVS HUD program dealt with the fast/competitive pace of the program by: N/A. Selecting the right people with the right skills for the program and ensuring that they were assigned full time. Involving the OEM and regulatory agencies early in the program and actively seeking their feedback and guidance. Recognizing the inherent difficulties of managing a geographically-dispersed team and implementing specific strategies to address these challenges. Establishing a set of simple metrics to track project performance and using these metrics to adjust the plan as needed to stay on track. 9

10 V. METRICS (HOW DO YOU MEASURE PROGRAM S PERFORMANCE) = 30 POINTS (Note: We are not looking for $ results, but the relative percentage achieved. In particular indicate what specific metrics and data you are using that drive the program beyond standard measures of schedule, budget, and performance, and which have contributed to your program s focus and its success.) Customer - How do you measure the impact of your program on your customer and your customer s satisfaction? Include a description of your metrics, as well as numerical evidence. Performance - How do you measure your program s performance in traditional terms such as schedule, budget, requirements, and business results? Preparing the Future - How do you measure and assess the long-term contribution of your program to the corporation/organization? Team - How do you measure and assess the impact of your program on your team development and employee satisfaction? Unique Metrics - Describe any unique metrics you are using to measure your program s progress and how do you focus it for outstanding success. The SVS HUD solution has been widely recognized by the aviation industry. The SVS HUD solution has won numerous industry awards including the Edison Award (winner), 2011 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award (first runner up), 56th Annual Aviation Week Laureate Award (finalist), and the American Technology Award (winner). This multi-year, high risk program completed only 7% over its original budget estimate and was the first Pro Line Fusion application to submit for TSO approval. The SVS HUD solution can be reused with almost no changes across all Pro Line Fusion platforms. It is now being reapplied in the military and civil markets with only minimal changes. The SVS HUD team was one of five finalists for the Rockwell Collins 2012 Chairman s Team Award. This is the company s premier team award and is considered to be a career-defining honor. Several team members have been promoted to leadership positions as a result of their performance on this program. The SVS HUD program resulted in 42 patent applications. It is the only SVS with a FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) design approval. Having the TSO at the product level reduces certification costs for the OEMs and provides enhances the value proposition for Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion solution. 10