In the Systems Engineering (SE) domain there has been a paradigm shift from document-based to model-based system development artefacts; in fact, new methodologies are emerging to meet the increasing complexity of current systems and the corresponding growing need of digital workflows. In this regard, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is considered as a key enabler by many central players of the SE community. MBSE has reached an adequate level of maturity, and there exist documented success stories in its adoption in industry. In particular, one significant benefit of utilising MBSE when compared to the traditional manual and document-centric workflows is that models are available from early phases of systems development; these enable a multitude of analyses prior any implementation effort together with other relevant capabilities, like the automation of development tasks. Nonetheless, it is noticeable there is a lack of a common understanding for how formal analyses for the verification and validation (V&V) of systems behaviour, specifically in the early phases of development, could be placed in an MBSE setting. In this article, we report on the planning, execution, and results of a systematic literature review regarding the early V&V of systems behaviour in the context of model-based systems engineering. The review aims to provide a structured representation of the state of the art with respect to motivations, proposed solutions, and limitations. From an initial set of potentially relevant 701 peer-reviewed publications we selected 149 primary studies, which we analysed according to a rigorous data extraction, analysis, and synthesis process. Based on our results, early V&V has usually the goal of checking the quality of a system design to avoid discovering flaws when parts are being concretely realised; SysML is a de facto standard for describing the system under study, while the solutions for the analyses tend to be varied; also V&V analyses tend to target varied properties with a slight predominance of functional concerns, and following the variation mentioned so far the proposed solutions are largely context specific; the proposed approaches are usually presented without explicit limitations, while when limitations are discussed, readiness of the solutions, handling of analyses simplifications/assumptions, and languages/tools integration are among the most frequently mentioned issues. Based on the survey results and the standard SE practices, we discuss how the current state-of-the-art MBSE supports early V&V of systems behaviour with a special focus on industrial adoption and identify relevant challenges to be researched further.

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) has emerged as a de facto standard practice for complex systems development. However, despite standard frameworks, methods, and tools, the MBSE practices in industrial contexts are far from mature. This is particularly true for traditionally hardware-intensive industrial systems and complex products such as heavy construction machinery. This paper outlines a lightweight MBSE methodology developed within the construction equipment domain. The approach is based on customizing a general MBSE methodology, such as RFLP, guided by a core ontology for architecture modeling. The ontology defines the main architecture concepts and corresponding modeling views to develop an architecture baseline for the corresponding system model. The initial architecture baseline is developed bottom-up instead of a traditional top-down approach. As we demonstrate in this paper, the minimalist approach paves the way for faster deployment of MBSE in industrial contexts with low modeling experience and legacy development silos across electronics, software, and hardware domains.

This paper is an experience report about introducing Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) at Volvo (Construction Equipment) and describes lessons learned. The recent growth in technologies such as electromobility, automation etc. in heavy construction machinery such as loaders, haulers, excavators etc. leads to increased complexity being addressed within embedded systems and software. Hence there is an increasing need for model-based development methodologies to facilitate flexible and distributed development scenarios, enhance communication among cross-functional teams, more importantly, traceability from requirements to system and software architectures. In this paper, we describe how the MBSE methodology was initially conceived, applied in an ongoing project, the challenges faced, and lessons learned. The paper also points to related works and future directions towards a holistic Model-Driven Development (MDD) framework.