Reusing Vehicle Simulation Software - Mission Impossible.

摘要

Software reuse is an admirable goal that has many warts in application. This paper discusses one experience in reusing a large suite of simulation code in a significantly different environment. Tank- Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) Vetronics research programs developed over several years a significant body of vehicle embedded simulation system (ESS) software. TARDEC continues to evolve this ESS to meet the simulation needs of the Future Combat Systems (FCS). The US Army Research Development and Engineering Command's (RDECOM) Simulation Technology Center (STC) was interested in reusing this software for crewstations being considered for an embedded training and mission rehearsal testbed. This paper discusses the STC experience in reusing TARDEC's ESS software. The paper provides background on the software in question and its intended uses by both organizations. It addresses some of the issues encountered in reuse, such as the difficulty in understanding the volume of code involved and hardware and software dependencies. The paper goes on to discuss the tradeoffs that evolved from these issues and the resulting decisions that affected software adaptation. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of plans for continued adaptation of ESS software for STC use and a review of program successes.