Summary of information related to WP14
This Work Package will focus on technical integration between the various sub-systems and the overall manufacturing and reliability attention. The Work Package starts halfway through the project when the RTD oriented Work Packages are well underway. Several sub-parts are deemed to be fairly standardised and are intended to be used integrated in the final system together with the unique parts that will be developed primarily in Work Packages 7, 8 and 9. The technical integration will identify and incorporate all parts of the whole system into a producible system. This activity is also vital for the costing of the whole system, and the findings will be used by several Work Packages, but particularly in WP5, Consortium Building.
This Work Package addresses also the way in which the different parts of EISCAT_3D can be specified for mass production at affordable prices. This task will involve engagement with experts in technical designs, production engineering, manufacturing and procurement of small to large scale systems. The findings will be used for the final tasks in the work package, the material for preparing the formal requests for quotation.
The activities that will be performed in this Work Package are:
- Identification and specification of the components of the EISCAT_3D radar system that could be mass-produced.
- Identification of companies capable of producing EISCAT_3D system elements in the volumes we require.
- Definition of procedures for system testing and quality assurance.
- Discussions with possible suppliers of mass-producible elements, and iteration of the design of those components.
- Building prototypes for testing and verification purposes.
- Preparation of the formal Requests For Quotations (RFQs) that will be sent out to potential manufacturers at the beginning of the EISCAT_3D Construction Phase.
It is anticipated that a number of industrial sub-contracts will be required in this Work Package, in order to develop and test prototypes of the mass-producible system components. In addition to the budgeted staff effort, the project plan thus includes 129 k€ to be used for sub-contracting the manufacturing and optimisation of a limited number of complete vendor-built subset units.
Note that access to Deliverable 14.1 (Summary of the findings from the prototyping and verification process) is only available to participants of the EISCAT_3D Preparatory Phase project.
Deliverables
Deliverable 14.2: Technical input to the request for quotations for all mass-producible components ready
August 21, 2014
A document was prepared to give background technical information about the EISCAT_3D system in the initial discussions with potential in-kind contributors. This document is also a starting point for as technical input for future requests for quotations.
The document is Deliverable 14.2 in the EISCAT_3D Preparatory Phase.
Deliverable 14.3: Final Report on WP14
July 3, 2014
Work Package 14 was designed to deal with issues involving the integration of the various EISCAT_3D subsystems into an overall working instrument as well as ensuring that those subsystems are both reliably producible in large quantities and robust in terms of the environment into which they are to be placed. In many cases, the boundaries between subsystems were defined under WP14 and, to some extent, the interfaces specified. This work package was, furthermore, specifically scheduled to start near the middle of the preparatory phase project, after many of the key decisions had been finalized for the component parts of the system.
Progress on this work package was significantly impacted by the preparatory phase project restructuring that occurred in late 2012. This restructuring was partly responsible for delays in many of the other work package conclusions. Additionally, the initially intended funding model for EISCAT_3D required modification to address several conditions imposed by the EISCAT member countries that are intending to make major investments in the realization of the system. Nevertheless, WP14 was able to make significant progress in several key areas.
This deliverable is the final report on the activities in WP14.
Milestones
Milestone 14.1: Mass-producible components identified and a comprehensive list prepared
April 8, 2013
A comprehensive list of the different components required for the construction of the full EISCAT_3D system has been compiled in order to produce the first version of the technical description document.
The original version of this list was prepared in December 2013, and it corresponds to Milestone 14.1.
Milestone 14.2: A list of potential suppliers of the mass-producible components compiled
April 8, 2013
It was originally planned that the funding model for EISCAT_3D was to be essentially the same as that for the overall EISCAT Scientific Association. This would mean that only cash contributions to the project would be made, to grant both flexibility during the tendering and integration activities and full control over the internal designs of the sub-systems.
However, discussions with the various funding agencies within the EISCAT Scientific Association have necessitated a change to this initial plan. In particular, it has become clear that some of the national contributions to EISCAT_3D will likely need to be handled as in-kind contributions to the overall system. Given that only a small fraction of the cost of the system is commercial off the shelf hardware, this also implies that the development of any in?kind contributions will also need substantial EISCAT involvement.
The new approach to organising the funding of the overall system from multiple nations clearly has some implications for both the technical integration and the management of large-scale procurement/production of the hardware.
EISCAT was directed to produce a Cost Book to specify which components are amenable to in-kind contributions and to place a value on those contributions. The Cost Book itself is a confidential document as it contains price goals for the various sub-systems within EISCAT_3D and revealing those price goals publicly would taint the tendering process.
This approach has obsoleted the need for the list of potential suppliers that was originally required. Thus, the corresponding Milestone was not reached within the project.
Milestone 14.3: Testing and validation procedures for each component of the EISCAT_3D system specified
April 8, 2013
The change of approach to organising the funding of the overall system that was briefly described in connection with Milestone 14.2 also meant that the specification of testing and validation procedures for each component of the EISCAT_3D system is made outside the EISCAT_3D Preparatory Phase project. Thus, the corresponding Milestone could not be reached within the project.
Milestone 14.4: Conclusion of the prototyping and verification period
April 8, 2013
Part of Work Package 14 includes work regarding prototyping and verification aiming at achieving production ready designs. A number of external influences, including direction from EISCAT funding agencies, resulted in a more limited scope for this work, since some sub-systems of EISCAT_3D, for instance, will likely be provided as in-kind contributions. As a result, the efforts in this work package was concentrated on prototypes for the antenna and the low noise amplifier, which are least affected by these influences.
A report from these activities is Deliverable 14.1. The conclusion of the prototyping and verification period forms Milestone 14.4, and this Milestone was reached in September 2014.
Attachments
Documents related to WP14 can be found in our external library.