Engineering design process

This chapter, as with Chapter 4, gives the general principles common across the engineering sector. The application is for a subsystem which is a major part of a larger military infrastructure such as a major platform1 or an improved communication system. Attention is restricted to subsystems with increased autonomy in one or more or their major functions in order to identify the type of problem which can be anticipated for autonomous systems. It is assumed that even if the ethical aspects of the design are encapsulated in law and regulations, they may not all flow down the traditional engineering design processes. Chapters 6, 7, 10 and 13 explain the legal issues in more detail for both military and civilian applications. Those chapters also indicate that the legal frameworks will almost certainly change in the future.