TechMAPS: technology management for the architecting process of aircraft on-board systems

Abstract Due to climate change, low-emission aircraft with novel technologies, such as hydrogen-powered fuel cells, are being investigated. However, navigating the technology knowledge is challenging due to the vast number of existing and emerging technologies. Hence, supporting the engineer during the complex task of exploring, comparing, and selecting technologies from the extensive design space as part of the aircraft conceptual design phase is crucial. To address this challenge, the Technology Management for the Architecting Process of aircraft on-board Systems ( TechMAPS ) method is proposed. TechMAPS is used to navigate and manage available and emerging technologies. Moreover, the method supports the conservation and provision of technology knowledge in a standardized and formalized way. To this end, TechMAPS consists of three parts: a technology radar to identify technologies, a formalized ontology-driven database to conserve knowledge in a machine-readable, queryable way, and standardized technology fact sheets to provide concise data to the engineer. TechMAPS is exemplarily applied to different technologies of a hybrid-electric power train, i.e., a fuel cell, an existing electric motor, and battery technologies, to demonstrate the method’s capabilities to present the landscape of technologies for different systems and abstraction levels. The study highlights the effectiveness of TechMAPS for technology management but also outlines aspects that need further research, such as creating an automated and standardized interface to and from the database.