Allocation of Errors in Hierarchical Calibration or Assembly

Summary: The propagation of errors in hierarchical systems of calibration or assembly is well known. It is often required to determine the allowable error at each level of assembly or calibration, if the limit on the final error (or tolerance) is specified. A dynamic programming approach is given for allocating errors at each stage. Both deterministic and stochastic cases are considered. A numerical example is given to illustrate the procedure.