The Systems Engineering Department laboratories include seven instructional and team-based project spaces:

• The Systems Engineering Computation Lab provides exceptionally substantial computational support for large-scale simulation, modeling, and systems engineering projects. It provides a general-purpose computing facility for students and faculty and serves as a classroom for computer-intensive courses.
• The Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) & Warfare Integration and Programming Division (N8F) Electromechanical Systems Lab provides space for conducting introductory experiments in mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, and magnetism.
• The Sensors, Dynamics, and Control Lab (SDCL) provides a number of sensing, guidance, navigation and control systems workstations and experimental setups allowing students to investigate different aspects of a synergistic loop where sensors provide information about a system's state, dynamics describe how the system behaves over time, and control systems manipulate the system to achieve a desired behavior. Sensing and control may involve using artificial intelligence techniques.
• The Laser/Lidar Development Lab provides space for conducting experiments with optical systems that require darkened conditions, such as optical imaging and night vision devices.
• The Combat Systems Lab provides space for conducting experiments in support of the courses in the Combat Systems track. Experiments provide hands-on experience with important concepts and permit direct observation of critical phenomena associated with sensors, weapons, and sensor/weapon networks.
• The Systems Engineering Analysis (SEA) / Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) Projects Labs consist of several spaces that provide an environment in which students in the MSSE program can work together on the team-based CDIO (conceive-design-implement-operate) and SEA (Systems Engineering Analysis) projects.
• The Design Commons provides an additional environment for the students to work together on the team-based CDIO projects.
   

Hand-on experience in systems design can be gained while working in three assembly and fabrication laboratories:

• The Mechanical Assembly and Integration Area provides mechanical fabrication support for instructional laboratories, student projects, and research. It houses a number of machine and hand tools and has a small supply of materials available for general use. Limited space is available for assembling mechanical projects.
• The Electrical Assembly and Integration Area provides electrical and electronic fabrication support for instructional laboratories, student projects, and research. It houses a collection of electronic test equipment and a small supply of electronic components available for general use. Several workstations are available for assembling electronic projects.
• The Advanced Fabrication Lab provides space for modern fabrication systems. The lab contains multiple 3D printers capable of printing plastic (PLA), reinforced plastic (carbon fiber, Kevlar), nylon, and 17-4 stainless steel. The lab provides capabilities for micro and electronic manufacturing. The lab also provides the facility for the department’s virtual and augmented reality systems.

The Systems Engineering Department also leverages the facilities of NPS’ maker space, the RoboDojo, that allows students to design, build, and test robotic and autonomous systems. The lab includes 3D printers, a laser cutter, and other computer-based fabrication and programming equipment, as well as bench testing space.

Four applied research laboratories help students to succeed in team-based projects and individual thesis research related to robotics and uncrewed / autonomous systems:

• The Autonomous Systems Engineering & Integration Laboratory (ASEIL) provides space for experiments involving indoor ground and air vehicles. These vehicles enable mission engineering / collaborative autonomy experiments within an instrumented netted indoor range area.
• The Advanced Robotic Systems Engineering Lab (ARSENL) represents an integrated concept generation, modeling, simulation, and field experimentation effort to design, develop, and deploy a swarm UAV in combat missions.
• The Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Lab (ADSC) is involved in different challenging projects, providing a wide variety of thesis opportunities in different areas: conceptual design, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis, computer modeling, image processing, control design, sensor integration as related to payload and crew delivery systems to deliver cargo to a specific location on Earth / Mars or transport astronauts from space.
• The Seabed-To-Atmosphere Robotics (STAR) Lab is a subsea and seabed warfare (SSW)-focused, applied technology, research and development laboratory aiming at creating a set of unique, disruptive, seabed-based robotics and weapon systems capabilities for US power projection and homeland defense that will remain resilient, effective and relevant for decades.

In addition to these applied research laboratories, the Systems Engineering Department leverages multiple proximal regional facilities for remote testing of autonomous systems and related subsystems . Currently NPS operates these systems at several locations to include McMillan Airfield at Camp Roberts (Restricted Airspace R-2504), Carmel Shore (FAA Certificate of Authorization), Monterey Bay Academy Airfield (FAA Certificate of Authorization), and Hunter Low MOA Corridor (FAA Certificate of Authorization).

There are two virtual services that can be used to provide computing services while you are off campus. The services are the Amazon Web Service Apporto and the NPS Cloudlab hosted on Azure Virtual Desktops provided by Microsoft. 

The virtual services provide virtual desktops with the following software:

If you need a persistent virtual computer, one which will remember a tailored configuration or can have special software installed, or if you have questions about these services,

Please direct all questions to:

Mark Rhoades
Senior Lecturer
Systems Engineering Department
mmrhoade@nps.edu

The aforementioned laboratories enable Systems Engineering Department faculty members to conduct a variety of research in five broad areas:

Systems Engineering Methodology which involves the investigation or development of tools and techniques for conceptualizing, designing, and developing systems. Study areas include discovery of fundamental principles of systems theory, elucidating the use of these principles through systems engineering tools and techniques, analyzing the conditions of employing the tools and techniques, and determining the efficacy of those tools and techniques. Specific methodology areas include system requirements generation, requirements allocation, system architecture, system dynamics and control, and risk engineering.

Systems Engineering Application which involves the application of systems engineering processes to the solution of specific complex problems. This can include conceptual design of systems, investigation of issues associated with integration of system components into system segments, investigation of issues associated with integration of system segments into systems, and the analysis of case studies of successful and/or unsuccessful systems engineering applied to military acquisition programs. Specific application areas include combat systems integration, ship systems engineering, and enterprise systems engineering.

System Simulation and Modeling which involves the development of simulations and models of military systems and their missions, evaluation of the efficacy of these simulations and models in providing information to accomplish systems engineering functions (especially system design requirements and comparison of alternative solutions), and investigation of the characteristics of simulations and models that lead to outputs useful in the systems engineering process.

System Suitability Assessment which involves the study of tools, techniques, and disciplines that permit the assessment of the suitability of systems in meeting requirements. Requirements can include performance, availability, operability, and cost. Specific suitability assessment areas include reliability engineering, system survivability, and system cost estimation and control.

System / Mission Prototyping, Testing and Evaluation involves hands-on experience in designing, developing, prototyping, verifying and validating systems, their components, and systems of systems. Systems and their missions testing and evaluation are conducted indoors as well as in challenging and realistic outdoor environments.

 See the SE Research Brief for more details.