DRAGONFLY: Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - Essay Example

?DRAGONFLY: Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) By Table of Contents Introduction The use of modern tools and technologies allows organizations to manage their projects more easily and efficiently. In addition, new technology based automated systems have offered numerous advantages such as cost reduction and mitigation of risks/harms to human life (Project Smart, 2012; Turban et al., 2005). In the same way, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an automated system that minimizes the need of human pilot in real vehicle driving. This report discusses the process of planning and development for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that is intelligent work of Bob Lake. This report will outline some of the important activities which should be performed while planning and implementing such systems. Project Scope In order to successfully manage the project of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Bob needs to be really conscious about the cost and time estimations. In fact, by having appropriate time and cost estimations Bob would be able to complete this project on time and within budget. While planning such kind projects Bob needs to allocate enough cost to each project stage particularly to the project’s critical stages. In this scenario Bob needs to formulate and implement an effective strategy which could ensure successful completion of these stages (Loch et al., 2000). Business Case Reasons for undertaking this project At the present, computers play a significant role in every walk of life. In other words, the use of computer has become essential to perform everyday tasks. Thus by making use of computer technology Bob can make their project more sophisticated. In addition, Bob can develop automated system to get high level success. The successful development of such project allows an organization to become a well-known business that is really helpful for their corporation and its reputation. Risks of undertaking this project A risk is anything that can have a negative or positive influence over a project. In addition, a project can involve different types of risks (Hughes & Cotterell, 2005; Kerzner, 2003). There are numerous risks associated with this project. These risks can be categorized in different classes such as time related risks and technology risks. For instance, ineffective cost estimations and unlimited time line can lead the project towards failure or delay. In such kind of projects, Bob can also face some of the technology based issues. In fact, this is an innovative system that demands extremely high level technology support. In case of a technology issue, whole project will be a failure. How long is the project expected to take? This project will be completed in 57 days. Network Analysis Activity List Activity Number Activity Name Immediate Predecessor Normal Time 1 A1 9 2 A2 1 3 3 A3 1, 2 11 4 A4 1, 2 7 5 A5 1, 4 8 6 A6 4 6 7 A7 1, 2, 3, 6 21 8 A8 3, 5, 6 10 9 A9 4, 5, 6, 8 15 10 A10 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 5 Critical Path Analysis No. Activity Name On Critical Path Activity Time Earliest Start Earliest Finish Latest Start Latest Finish Slack (LS-ES) 1 A1 Yes 9 0 9 0 9 0 2 A2 Yes 3 9 12 9 12 0 3 A3 No 11 12 23 16 27 4 4 A4 Yes 7 12 19 12 19 0 5 A5 Yes 8 19 27 19 27 0 6 A6 No 6 19 25 21 27 2 7 A7 No 21 25 46 31 52 6 8 A8 Yes 10 27 37 27 37 0 9 A9 Yes 15 37 52 37 52 0 10 A10 Yes 5 52 57 52 57 0 Project Completion Time = 57 weeks Number of Critical Path(s) = 18 Critical Paths No CP 1 CP 2 CP 3 CP 4 CP 5 CP 6 CP 7 CP 8 CP 9 CP 10 CP 11 CP 12 CP 13 CP 14 CP 15 CP 16 CP 17 CP 18 1 A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 2 B B B B B B B D D D D D D E E E E J 3 D D D D D D J E E E E I J H H I J 4 E E E E I J H H I J J I J J 5 H H I J J I J J J 6 I J J J 7 J Completion Time 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 Network Diagram Critical Path Diagram Duration Shortened In order to minimize the duration of the project Bob need to concentrate on non-critical activities. However, a change in duration of critical activities will affect the duration of whole project. Concurrently to shorten the project time For shortening the project time Bob need to concurrently run the project activities. In this project Bob have a number of project activities that lie on critical path. Thus, by running these activities in a concurrent way Bob would be able to complete this project on time as well as within budget. Expected Cost No. Activity Cost of Activity 1 A1 15000 2 A2 3000 3 A3 8000 4 A4 140000 5 A5 12000 6 A6 10000 7 A7 22000 8 A8 23000 9 A9 90000 10 A10 22000 Total Cost of Project 345000 Conclusion The use of modern tools and technologies allows organizations to manage their projects more easily and efficiently. In addition, new technology based automated systems have offered numerous advantages such as cost reduction and mitigation of risks to human life. In the same way, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an automated system that minimizes the need of human pilot in real vehicle driving. This report has presented a detailed overview of tasks which need to be performed for activity planning. These activities are planned through critical path analysis. Additionally, all those activities which lie on critical path will require additional concentration. In order to make this project a success, all the critical activities should be completed on time. There are many activities in this project which depend on each other. In addition, the successful completion of various activities depends on the successful completion of preceding activities. In this scenario, an interdependent activity could be like; we cannot develop a system before completing the system design activity. Thus, Bob Lake needs to plan in a way that he could successfully complete preceding activities before initializing new activities. According to estimate, the expected completion time of this project is 57 days. If Bob removes possible interdependence among activities A4 and A9 he will get a different project completion time: Activity Number Activity Name Immediate Predecessor Normal Time 1 A1 9 2 A2 1 3 3 A3 1, 2 11 4 A4 1, 2 7 5 A5 1, 4 8 6 A6 4 6 7 A7 1, 2, 3, 6 21 8 A8 3, 5, 6 10 9 A9 5, 6, 8 15 10 A10 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 5 The above given table shows that the activity A9 is not dependent on activity A4. Now we will perform Critical Path Analysis: Critical Paths Activity Name On Critical Path Activity Time Earliest Start Earliest Finish Latest Start Latest Finish Slack (LS-ES) 1 A Yes 9 0 9 0 9 0 2 B Yes 3 9 12 9 12 0 3 C No 11 12 23 16 27 4 4 D Yes 7 12 19 12 19 0 5 E Yes 8 19 27 19 27 0 6 F No 6 19 25 21 27 2 7 G No 21 25 46 31 52 6 8 H Yes 10 27 37 27 37 0 9 I Yes 15 37 52 37 52 0 10 J Yes 5 52 57 52 57 0 Project Completion Time = 57 weeks Number of Critical Path(s) = 16 This overall analysis shows that there is no difference in the total time of project completion however the total number of project Critical Path(s) is reduced that is now 16. Yes, we can shorten the time of A3, A6 and A7. It can happen because these activities are not situated on critical path. Thus, by reducing time duration of these activities we can improve overall performance of project with possible reduction of time. This reduction of time in non-critical activities will not affect the overall project performance. However, reduction of project time for critical activities can minimize the performance of project that could be a serious problem for the project. The total Cost of Project is $ 345000. This cost of project will be used to manage all the project operations and processes. This project can go beyond the expected cost so we also need to put into practice some contingency plan to deal with expected budget change. It will allow us to complete this project within given time. References Hughes, B. & Cotterell, M., 2005. Software Project Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kerzner, H., 2003. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 8th ed. New York: Wiley. Loch, C., Meyer, A.D. & Kavadias, S., 2000. Dragonfly: Developing a Proposal for an Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV). France: INSEAD. Project Smart, 2012. Best Practice. [Online] Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/best-practice.html [Accessed 29 January 2012]. Turban, E., Leidner, D., McLean, E. & Wetherbe, J., 2005. Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy. New York: Wiley. Read More