News Opus Suite v2022.0

A new release of Opus Suite RDM is ready for download. Here are the main new topics and benefits that come with this latest version.

New results for number of maintenance events per subsystem
In Opus Suite RDM, subsystems are modeled as a specific type of breakdown element. This makes the usage of subsystems in a model both compact and more resourceful. With the latest version of OPUS10 and SIMLOX new reports are available to display results on the number of repairs and preventive maintenance events for each such subsystem. In addition, SIMLOX also has the possibility to present the number of damages per subsystem and in OPUS10 the results are available in the interactive result table as well.

Enhanced default profiles for self-supported systems
With RDM comes the possibility to create simple operational profiles in SIMLOX in a very quick and easy way.In the latest version this feature has been improved even further by the additional functionality of creating randomly distributed missions for systems with onboard capabilities. The perhaps biggest consequence is that the results from an OPUS10 model with self-supported systems can be simulated and studied in more detail using SIMLOX with minimal effort.

Aligning the concept of "criticality" - introducing “functional loss”
Previous versions of SIMLOX made use of the concept "critical" events. In order to sort out some ambiguities this has now been replaced by the concept “functional loss”. This functionality is used to describe to what extent the operation and maintenance of the system is influenced by a certain event. Think of a warning lamp in your car. Even though it is lit, you are often still able to drive the car and you probably won’t have to take it to the workshop right away. With the improvements in the latest version, it is not only possible to model for how long you can expect to continue the operations, but also to define whether the failing component continues to generate failures. Another new ability is a setting that controls whether maintenance is then required before the next mission can be started.

In OPUS10 the “criticality factor” has been replaced with something called “probability for system effectiveness impact”. The interpretation is however the same as in previous versions, and the factor is still used as the probability that an event actually influences the operation of the systems. 

Additional user guidance and tutorials
As you probably know, the installation of the Opus Suite comes with an extensive user documentation that can be interactively invoked from any part of the tools. This user guide, or “help”, does not only contain descriptions of all input and output but also includes content like scenario descriptions and explanations of calculation/simulation procedures. Another important, and appreciated, part of the documentation is the section with “Modeling Examples”. The purpose of these examples is to introduce certain parts of the model by compact tutorials with user guidance through text and illustrations, as well as complementary input files. These input files are available on your computer upon installation in the folder \Public Documents\Systecon. Look for the current version of the tool and go to the sub-folder \Demo\Modeling Examples.

With the 2022.0 version comes a set of new tutorials for SIMLOX, in particular:
-    Operational mode priorities
-    Shifts, including “Night maintenance”
-    Subsystem results (available also for OPUS10)

Improved control of automatic conversion 
In the latest version, significant improvements have been done to manage the migration of input files from previous versions of the Opus Suite. As always, existing files can be opened and automatically converted to the latest version. However, a new feature in version 2022.0 is the ability to control this procedure in detail when going from a file that is created in a version with the old data model, before RDM. This is all done in a dialog invoked by the menu command Tools->Opus Suite RDM Conversion Settings. All the functionality in this dialog is described in detail in the user documentation.

Remember to check out the full list of all the enhancements in Opus Suite RDM here

Previous releases:

Opus Suite v2021.1 
Opus Suite v2021.2