1995. MASSINFO – an Intelligent Mass Properties Information System

Paper

Abstract

Mass properties accounting systems of various designs have been around for a long time. What makes MassInfo unique is that the design incorporates an intelligence and simplicity which makes the accounting and reporting of mass properties part of the overall job instead of ”the job.” It encompasses the most advanced methods available in person-machine interfaces using the Macintosh II workstation and has considerable built-in expertise to allow weight engineers to function more effectively. MassInfo keeps track of component weights, cg’s, inertia, material distribution, weight recording quality, history, drawings, work breakdown structure (WBS), and so on. It is capable of handling multiple vehicle effectivities using relational data structures, multiple users with various administrative privileges and preferences, and multiple coordinate systems having offsets and rotations. Several common report formats can be easily generated including multipage/line/column formats (i.e., Mil-Std- 1374 and Mil-Std-38310B) and user customizable reports. Import and export features allow data exchange between other database systems or workstation applications.