Arc Skills / Technical management and design reviews

Prepare a preliminary design review

Use Arc Skills to prepare a preliminary design review around whether the chosen architecture can credibly meet its requirements. The packet identifies unresolved interfaces, budget assumptions and maturation evidence that could change the design direction.

Use this skill

Use Arc Skills to prepare a preliminary design review.

Inputs:
- Selected architecture and trade rationale
- Allocated requirements, interfaces and preliminary budgets
- Hazard controls, maturity evidence, verification concepts and review criteria

Return a PDR readiness matrix and board questions with evidence, gaps and owner actions. Focus on whether detailed design can proceed; distinguish measured results from preliminary estimates.

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What you provide and what you get

Inputs and outputs
What you have	How it is used	What you get
Architecture and trade evidence	Check the selected direction	Decisions and unresolved alternatives
Allocations, interfaces and budgets	Check preliminary feasibility	Technical assumptions and gaps
Risk controls and verification concepts	Check credible next-phase work	An evidence-backed PDR packet

A selected architecture has power allowance but an open reset contract

Illustrative engineering example.

The payload design uses two processor boards. Preliminary estimates fit the power allowance, while their shared reset and fault-control behavior remain unsettled.

Architecture A selected in TRADE-3. Budget: 40 W source, 32 W loads, 4 W estimated growth, leaving 4 W.
INT-06 reset line ownership [TBD]. Hazard H-2 needs controlled output shutdown.
Sensor technology report covers laboratory conditions only. Verification concepts exist for critical timing obligations.

A selected architecture has power allowance but an open reset contract
Review question	Available evidence	Finding	Required action / owner
Architecture rationale	TRADE-3 records criteria and alternatives	Direction traceable; assumptions need configuration alignment	Architecture owner confirms trade inputs match the proposed design
Power feasibility	40 − 32 − 4 = 4 W preliminary allowance	Positive estimated allowance under stated mode	Electrical owner bounds load growth and checks all required modes
Reset interface	INT-06 ownership [TBD]	Could alter subsystem design and recovery behavior	Endpoint owners agree reset authority and transition behavior
Hazard control	H-2 shutdown concept only	Implementation and verification path need allocation	Safety and design owners assign the control and its evidence plan
Technology maturity	Laboratory sensor report	Relevant-use maturity unresolved	Technology owner defines representative demonstration and fallback

The PDR finding is about the credibility of the design direction. A 4 W preliminary allowance is useful evidence, but it is not a measured all-mode power result or proof that future growth is bounded.

The reset agreement can affect both boards and the hazard-control design. It deserves a board question before detailed design, whereas fabrication-ready drawings are not the principal question in this packet.

Test whether the architecture supports detailed design

Trace the selected architecture to major requirements and trade assumptions.
Review function allocation, interface agreements and failure behavior.
Check preliminary budgets, hazard-control paths, maturity and verification concepts.
Present decisions that could invalidate detailed design, with an owner and evidence plan for each.

Questions about this task

Does PDR require every detailed drawing to be released?

Use the project’s criteria, but the central question is whether the preliminary design can support detailed design. A polished block diagram alone is also insufficient.

Sources and further reading

NASA NPR 7123.1D, Appendix G: life-cycle review criteria: A NASA reference for different review purposes. Use your project’s governing review criteria.
NASA Systems Engineering Handbook: technical assessment: Background on measures, review evidence and action resolution.

References inspected on 3 October 2026. The worked output is an authored example using the stated inputs.