Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis

Software systems are usually designed for modularity and maintenance due to ever-changing package and system configurations and have, in recent years, implemented abstract design methods such as Agile Development and SOLID Principles. Software Engineering can also be considered a subdivision of the large and extensive field of Systems Engineering (SE), and therefore, extending and applying Agile and SOLID Principles into SE may be beneficial as SE also must respond to changing requirements, technology obsolescence and evolution, stakeholders dynamics, and other factors. A commonly used format for Systems Engineering is SysML. This paper seeks to develop a method for quantifying feature os SysML that can help validate SOLID and Agile design principles. During this process and development, tools are proposed to help users make better decisions when designing SysML diagrams and in other SE processes. Diagrams are then converted to Design Structure Matrices, Domain Mapping Matrices, and Multi-Domain Matrices. These matrices are then used to measure the system complexity. A case study with a simple arduino blinking light is presented.

APA

Dickerson, T., Salmon, J. L., & Mattson, C. A. (2025). Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis. Volume 2B: 45th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), V02BT02A062. https://doi.org/10.1115/detc2025-169752

MLA

Dickerson, Tevin, et al. "Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis." Volume 2B: 45th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), 2025, p. V02BT02A062, https://doi.org/10.1115/detc2025-169752.

Chicago (Author-Date)

Dickerson, Tevin, John L. Salmon, and Christopher A. Mattson. 2025. "Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis." Volume 2B: 45th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE): V02BT02A062. https://doi.org/10.1115/detc2025-169752.

IEEE

T. Dickerson, J. L. Salmon, and C. A. Mattson, "Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis," Volume 2B: 45th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE), pp. V02BT02A062, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.1115/detc2025-169752.

BibTeX

@article{dickerson2025extending,

author = {Dickerson, Tevin and Salmon, John L. and Mattson, Christopher A.},

title = {Extending Solid Principles to Systems Engineering: Leveraging SysML for Modular Design and Complexity Analysis},

journal = {Volume 2B: 45th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE)},

pages = {V02BT02A062},

year = {2025},

publisher = {American Society of Mechanical Engineers},

doi = {10.1115/detc2025-169752}

}