Assessment of an auto-routing method for topology generation of aircraft power supply systems

Abstract During early phases of aircraft development, overall systems design is performed to estimate relevant system design parameters such as mass, power consumption, and compliance with architectural requirements (redundancy). The GeneSys software framework has been developed for parametric modeling of aircraft on-board systems for overall systems design. To this end, model-based architecture definition, topology generation (components positioning and connections routing), and system sizing are conducted. The topology generation is currently performed using design templates containing knowledge-based heuristics derived from systems topologies of existing aircraft. However, using such design templates limits their generic application to novel aircraft models because exceptions for geometric differences between these models need to be implemented. This especially applies to the topology generation of power supply systems (electric, hydraulic) due to their high number of interfaces to consumer systems. To overcome these limitations, an automated routing method is presented in this paper as a generic approach for topology generation. With this method, the system topology is generated based on a defined routing network, which comprises areas of the aircraft for allowed components positioning and connections routing. Using Dijkstra’s algorithm, the shortest path connections are found within the established routing network. Furthermore, boundary conditions for routing, for instance adding a cost function for power segregation, can be defined. An assessment of the automated routing method applied on the electric power supply system is performed using qualitative parameters such as the capability to adapt the routing network. Quantitative parameters like cable length and system mass are assessed as well.