1 October 2020

The LOTAR International project provides a platform where Aerospace companies jointly develop requirements and processes for standards-based long-term archiving and retrieval. New versions of these target standards specify how the data representing the extended set of business requirements that they support can be preserved over time.

The publication of STEP AP242 Edition 2 in April spurred many LOTAR workgroups to finalize their requirements and motivate the development of the corresponding software interfaces. In the mechanical domain, the work focus has shifted from dimensions and tolerances towards structural joins for assembly and installation. The PDM team has refined its use case for multiple views on product structures and handed it over to the PDM-IF for testing and development of Recommended Practices. The availability of AP242 Ed.2 also fosters progress on the LOTAR standard parts for PDM, Composites and Electrical Harness.

The general drive towards model-based systems engineering (MBSE) of course also raises the question of how to archive this kind of data so that it can be leveraged at a later point in time. While this domain clearly relies on a multitude of standards, the new STEP AP243 for modelling and simulation information in a collaborative systems engineering context (MoSSEC) will be a key building block. The new standard, which is currently available as a Committee Draft, will provide the manifest and help tie together the archived models.

The LOTAR project just recently held its 3^rd workshop this year. The event, which was held fully online and encompassed technical team meetings and plenary sessions over several days, saw spirited discussions from more than 50 participants in total. The extended scope has also piqued the interest of new user companies and service providers who are currently considering joining the project.