Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172282
A. Nikora, Mishaal Aleem, R. Mackey, L. Fesq, Seung H. Chung, K. Kolcio, Maurice Prather, M. Litke
Developers of robotic scientific and commercial spacecraft are trending towards use of onboard autonomous capabilities for responding quickly to dynamic environments and rapidly changing situations. These capabilities need to know the state of the spacecraft's health. Model-based fault diagnosis (MBFD) is an approach to estimating health by continuously verifying accurate behavior and diagnosing off-nominal behavior. Proper functioning of MBFD depends on 1) the quality of the diagnostic system model that is analyzed and compared to commands and onboard measurements to estimate a system's health state, and 2) the correct functionality of the diagnosis engine interrogating the model and comparing its analyses to observed system behavior. Our goal is to develop Verification and Validation (V&V) techniques for MBFD to provide future missions sufficient confidence in its functionality and performance to deploy it on the systems they develop. Our work has been focused on infusing the techniques we developed earlier to an operational mission. First, we are constructing diagnostic models of a spacecraft attitude control system and updating our diagnostic engine so they can be demonstrated aboard the Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA) mission, an operational spacecraft for which experiments in autonomy are being planned and executed, using the V&V techniques we have previously developed to assure they are both correct and complete. Since it is nearing the end of its life, ASTERIA provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate MBFD since the monitored components are expected to fail. Our demonstration will give system developers additional confidence to make timely, informed MBFD deployment decisions. Second, we will be completing performance assessments of the diagnostic engine/diagnostic model ensemble both on the flight system and ground-based testbeds to gain confidence in MBFD's ability to run successfully in a spacecraft's resource-constrained environment without adversely affecting other on-board activities. Finally, we are capturing our experience in preparing this demonstration in a set of checklists and guidance documents. Current practice includes high-level institutional guidance documents and standards, but at a high level of abstraction that does not necessarily address specific MBFD concerns. The purpose of the new checklists is to provide future mission developers clear, unambiguous, procedure-oriented guidance on assuring MBFD. This paper describes our work in these areas. For the first area, we describe the diagnostic models and updated diagnostic engine that will be used for the on-board demonstration. We describe how the V&V techniques we developed earlier are used to assure model and engine correctness and completeness. For the second area, we identify the performance measurement and assessment techniques used to characterize the diagnostic engine and diagnostic models, and discuss the effect of measure
{"title":"Demonstrating Assurance of Model-Based Fault Diagnosis Systems on an Operational Mission","authors":"A. Nikora, Mishaal Aleem, R. Mackey, L. Fesq, Seung H. Chung, K. Kolcio, Maurice Prather, M. Litke","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172282","url":null,"abstract":"Developers of robotic scientific and commercial spacecraft are trending towards use of onboard autonomous capabilities for responding quickly to dynamic environments and rapidly changing situations. These capabilities need to know the state of the spacecraft's health. Model-based fault diagnosis (MBFD) is an approach to estimating health by continuously verifying accurate behavior and diagnosing off-nominal behavior. Proper functioning of MBFD depends on 1) the quality of the diagnostic system model that is analyzed and compared to commands and onboard measurements to estimate a system's health state, and 2) the correct functionality of the diagnosis engine interrogating the model and comparing its analyses to observed system behavior. Our goal is to develop Verification and Validation (V&V) techniques for MBFD to provide future missions sufficient confidence in its functionality and performance to deploy it on the systems they develop. Our work has been focused on infusing the techniques we developed earlier to an operational mission. First, we are constructing diagnostic models of a spacecraft attitude control system and updating our diagnostic engine so they can be demonstrated aboard the Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA) mission, an operational spacecraft for which experiments in autonomy are being planned and executed, using the V&V techniques we have previously developed to assure they are both correct and complete. Since it is nearing the end of its life, ASTERIA provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate MBFD since the monitored components are expected to fail. Our demonstration will give system developers additional confidence to make timely, informed MBFD deployment decisions. Second, we will be completing performance assessments of the diagnostic engine/diagnostic model ensemble both on the flight system and ground-based testbeds to gain confidence in MBFD's ability to run successfully in a spacecraft's resource-constrained environment without adversely affecting other on-board activities. Finally, we are capturing our experience in preparing this demonstration in a set of checklists and guidance documents. Current practice includes high-level institutional guidance documents and standards, but at a high level of abstraction that does not necessarily address specific MBFD concerns. The purpose of the new checklists is to provide future mission developers clear, unambiguous, procedure-oriented guidance on assuring MBFD. This paper describes our work in these areas. For the first area, we describe the diagnostic models and updated diagnostic engine that will be used for the on-board demonstration. We describe how the V&V techniques we developed earlier are used to assure model and engine correctness and completeness. For the second area, we identify the performance measurement and assessment techniques used to characterize the diagnostic engine and diagnostic models, and discuss the effect of measure","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122868741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172372
Minzhen Du, G. Gargioni, Daniel D. Doyle, Jonathan T. Black
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a widely available tracking solution from aircraft to smartphones. Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs) are also heavily dependent on GNSS to fly autonomously from location to location. However, sUAVs have limited battery life and most sUAVs change batteries and pick up cargo manually by human operators. However, GNSS is insufficient when sUAVs are used in large quantities for patrol, delivery, and construction were picking up various payloads and changing batteries are frequently required. GNSS is sufficient for taking the sUAVs from point A to point B in open air space with communication to the satellites. If the fully autonomous operation were to only rely on GNSS navigation, the landing hubs would be limited to open spaces such as rooftops or parking lots. Commercial grade GNSS receivers also have limited update rates of 1-10Hz, limiting the capability of the landing sUAV. The purpose of this project is to investigate tracking methods available for supplementing the existing GNSS solution that will assist the sUAVs in landing at more flexible locations. Methods include: 1) ground-based IR LED array markings identified by a monocular camera onboard the sUAV, and 2) IR laser sweeping identified by IR photodiodes onboard the sUAV. Each of these methods is capable of localizing the sUAVs at rates of 15Hz to 120Hz without location limitations such as using GNSS. These methods can expand the landing capability of the sUAVs to confined spaces such as warehouses and building floors under construction, or mobile locations such as delivery trucks and patrol cars, even landing/docking for aerial vehicles on Mars. The scope of this paper includes implementation and assessment of SteamVR tracking and IR marker-based monocular-vision pose estimation on sUAV platforms to perform two types of maneuvers, a continuous circular flight path and a flight path based on stop-and-go waypoints. Findings suggested that Lighthouse can achieve high accuracy and tracking fidelity in an ideal environment, but subject to interference from large reflective surfaces. The IR marker-based pose estimation can achieve centimeter accuracy in ideal conditions but largely limited by its hardware specifications.
{"title":"Assessment of Tracking Small UAS Using IR Based Laser and Monocular-Vision Pose Estimation","authors":"Minzhen Du, G. Gargioni, Daniel D. Doyle, Jonathan T. Black","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172372","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172372","url":null,"abstract":"Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a widely available tracking solution from aircraft to smartphones. Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs) are also heavily dependent on GNSS to fly autonomously from location to location. However, sUAVs have limited battery life and most sUAVs change batteries and pick up cargo manually by human operators. However, GNSS is insufficient when sUAVs are used in large quantities for patrol, delivery, and construction were picking up various payloads and changing batteries are frequently required. GNSS is sufficient for taking the sUAVs from point A to point B in open air space with communication to the satellites. If the fully autonomous operation were to only rely on GNSS navigation, the landing hubs would be limited to open spaces such as rooftops or parking lots. Commercial grade GNSS receivers also have limited update rates of 1-10Hz, limiting the capability of the landing sUAV. The purpose of this project is to investigate tracking methods available for supplementing the existing GNSS solution that will assist the sUAVs in landing at more flexible locations. Methods include: 1) ground-based IR LED array markings identified by a monocular camera onboard the sUAV, and 2) IR laser sweeping identified by IR photodiodes onboard the sUAV. Each of these methods is capable of localizing the sUAVs at rates of 15Hz to 120Hz without location limitations such as using GNSS. These methods can expand the landing capability of the sUAVs to confined spaces such as warehouses and building floors under construction, or mobile locations such as delivery trucks and patrol cars, even landing/docking for aerial vehicles on Mars. The scope of this paper includes implementation and assessment of SteamVR tracking and IR marker-based monocular-vision pose estimation on sUAV platforms to perform two types of maneuvers, a continuous circular flight path and a flight path based on stop-and-go waypoints. Findings suggested that Lighthouse can achieve high accuracy and tracking fidelity in an ideal environment, but subject to interference from large reflective surfaces. The IR marker-based pose estimation can achieve centimeter accuracy in ideal conditions but largely limited by its hardware specifications.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122968237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172364
T. Imken, K. Ali, P. Bailey, P. Mishra, James P. Penrod, Marleen Martinez Sundgaard, C. Sorice, Margaret Williams
The NASA InSight lander arrived at Mars on November 26, 2018 on a unique science mission to study the interior of the red planet. InSight's instrument suite is investigating the geophysical characteristics of Mars, providing a glimpse into the formation and evolution of the planet and other similar Earth-like terrestrial bodies. Upon landing, the mission entered the Instrument Deployment Phase (IDP) to survey, deploy, and install the SEIS, WTS, and HP3 elements onto the Martian surface. InSight is the first mission to robotically deploy and release payloads on another planet. The IDP spanned 52 tactical shifts over 87 sols as the team worked through unique challenges to characterize the workspace, prepare the robotic arm, deploy the payloads, and commission the instruments. This paper discusses the pre-landing and on-surface work that led to the deployment of the three surface elements and shares selected challenges and lessons learned. InSight has now entered the heat probe penetration and science monitoring phase for the remainder of its one Martian year (26 Earth month) prime mission.
{"title":"Preparation and Execution of the InSight Instrument Deployment Phase","authors":"T. Imken, K. Ali, P. Bailey, P. Mishra, James P. Penrod, Marleen Martinez Sundgaard, C. Sorice, Margaret Williams","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172364","url":null,"abstract":"The NASA InSight lander arrived at Mars on November 26, 2018 on a unique science mission to study the interior of the red planet. InSight's instrument suite is investigating the geophysical characteristics of Mars, providing a glimpse into the formation and evolution of the planet and other similar Earth-like terrestrial bodies. Upon landing, the mission entered the Instrument Deployment Phase (IDP) to survey, deploy, and install the SEIS, WTS, and HP3 elements onto the Martian surface. InSight is the first mission to robotically deploy and release payloads on another planet. The IDP spanned 52 tactical shifts over 87 sols as the team worked through unique challenges to characterize the workspace, prepare the robotic arm, deploy the payloads, and commission the instruments. This paper discusses the pre-landing and on-surface work that led to the deployment of the three surface elements and shares selected challenges and lessons learned. InSight has now entered the heat probe penetration and science monitoring phase for the remainder of its one Martian year (26 Earth month) prime mission.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"35 9","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114059874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172547
B. Pollard, T. Akins, J. Carswell, J. Arvesen
Autonomous vehicle landing and proximity operations rely on accurate range and velocity measurements for guidance, navigation, and landing. As preeminent examples, Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020 both deploy a “Terminal Descent Sensor” (TDS), a purpose-built, Ka-band pencil beam radar designed specifically for the challenging sky-crane landing requirements. Beyond Mars 2020, the availability of the TDS for missions is unclear due to problems of obsolescence and reproducibility; in addition, the TDS is quite large, prohibitively so for smaller missions. Remote Sensing Solutions is currently funded under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research program to continue, shrink, and extend the capability of TDS concept. In this paper we discuss the recent design, prototyping, and validation efforts of a prototype “Terminal Descent Radar” (TDR). The prototype TDR is built around unique, independent beams, pointed appropriately to allow reconstruction of a body-fixed three-dimensional velocity. The TDR includes implementation of the core firmware in the RSS commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) digital receiver, ARENA, as well as a mix of high fidelity and a few other COTS elements. The prototype TDR has undergone initial laboratory and helicopter testing, and we discuss these results in this paper. All early indications are that the RSS TDR is performing according to expectations. We also discuss future experiment and development plans for the TDR concept.
{"title":"A Terminal Descent System for Landing and Proximity Operations – Initial Validation Results","authors":"B. Pollard, T. Akins, J. Carswell, J. Arvesen","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172547","url":null,"abstract":"Autonomous vehicle landing and proximity operations rely on accurate range and velocity measurements for guidance, navigation, and landing. As preeminent examples, Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020 both deploy a “Terminal Descent Sensor” (TDS), a purpose-built, Ka-band pencil beam radar designed specifically for the challenging sky-crane landing requirements. Beyond Mars 2020, the availability of the TDS for missions is unclear due to problems of obsolescence and reproducibility; in addition, the TDS is quite large, prohibitively so for smaller missions. Remote Sensing Solutions is currently funded under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research program to continue, shrink, and extend the capability of TDS concept. In this paper we discuss the recent design, prototyping, and validation efforts of a prototype “Terminal Descent Radar” (TDR). The prototype TDR is built around unique, independent beams, pointed appropriately to allow reconstruction of a body-fixed three-dimensional velocity. The TDR includes implementation of the core firmware in the RSS commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) digital receiver, ARENA, as well as a mix of high fidelity and a few other COTS elements. The prototype TDR has undergone initial laboratory and helicopter testing, and we discuss these results in this paper. All early indications are that the RSS TDR is performing according to expectations. We also discuss future experiment and development plans for the TDR concept.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"232 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114191230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172534
P. Marayong, P. Shankar, Jessica Wei, H. Nguyen, T. Strybel, V. Battiste
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) refers to a system of air passenger and small cargo transportation within an urban area. The UAM framework also includes other urban Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) services that will be supported by a mix of onboard, ground, piloted, and autonomous operations. Over the past few years UAM research has gained wide interest from companies and federal agencies as an on-demand innovative transportation option that can help reduce traffic congestion and pollution as well as increase mobility in metropolitan areas. The concepts of UAM/UAS operation in the National Airspace System (NAS) remains an active area of research to ensure safe and efficient operations. With new developments in smart vehicle design and infrastructure for air traffic management, there is a need for methods to integrate and test various components of the UAM framework. In this work, we report on the development of a virtual reality (VR) testbed using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) technology for human-automation teaming and airspace operation research of UAM. Using a four-wall projection system with motion capture, the CAVE provides an immersive virtual environment with real-time full body tracking capability. We created a virtual environment consisting of San Francisco city and a vertical take-off-and-landing passenger aircraft that can fly between a downtown location and the San Francisco International Airport. The aircraft can be operated autonomously or manually by a single pilot who maneuvers the aircraft using a flight control joystick. The interior of the aircraft includes a virtual cockpit display with vehicle heading, location, and speed information. The system can record simulation events and flight data for post-processing. The system parameters are customizable for different flight scenarios; hence, the CAVE VR testbed provides a flexible method for development and evaluation of UAM framework.
城市空中交通(Urban Air Mobility, UAM)是指城市区域内的航空客运和小型货物运输系统。UAM框架还包括其他城市无人机系统(UAS)服务，这些服务将由机载、地面、有人驾驶和自主操作组合提供支持。在过去的几年里，UAM的研究得到了公司和联邦机构的广泛关注，作为一种按需创新的交通选择，可以帮助减少交通拥堵和污染，并增加大都市地区的机动性。国家空域系统(NAS)中UAM/UAS操作的概念仍然是一个活跃的研究领域，以确保安全高效的操作。随着智能车辆设计和空中交通管理基础设施的新发展，需要有方法来集成和测试UAM框架的各个组成部分。本文报道了利用Cave自动虚拟环境(Cave)技术开发的虚拟现实(VR)试验台，用于UAM的人-自动化组队和空域运行研究。使用带有动作捕捉的四墙投影系统，CAVE提供了一个具有实时全身跟踪能力的沉浸式虚拟环境。我们创造了一个虚拟环境，包括旧金山城市和一架垂直起降的客机，可以在市中心和旧金山国际机场之间飞行。这架飞机可以自动操作，也可以由一名飞行员使用飞行控制操纵杆操纵飞机。飞机内部包括一个虚拟座舱显示器，显示车辆航向、位置和速度信息。该系统可以记录仿真事件和飞行数据，供后期处理。系统参数可定制不同的飞行场景;因此，CAVE虚拟现实试验台为UAM框架的开发和评估提供了一种灵活的方法。
{"title":"Urban Air Mobility System Testbed using CAVE Virtual Reality Environment","authors":"P. Marayong, P. Shankar, Jessica Wei, H. Nguyen, T. Strybel, V. Battiste","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172534","url":null,"abstract":"Urban Air Mobility (UAM) refers to a system of air passenger and small cargo transportation within an urban area. The UAM framework also includes other urban Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) services that will be supported by a mix of onboard, ground, piloted, and autonomous operations. Over the past few years UAM research has gained wide interest from companies and federal agencies as an on-demand innovative transportation option that can help reduce traffic congestion and pollution as well as increase mobility in metropolitan areas. The concepts of UAM/UAS operation in the National Airspace System (NAS) remains an active area of research to ensure safe and efficient operations. With new developments in smart vehicle design and infrastructure for air traffic management, there is a need for methods to integrate and test various components of the UAM framework. In this work, we report on the development of a virtual reality (VR) testbed using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) technology for human-automation teaming and airspace operation research of UAM. Using a four-wall projection system with motion capture, the CAVE provides an immersive virtual environment with real-time full body tracking capability. We created a virtual environment consisting of San Francisco city and a vertical take-off-and-landing passenger aircraft that can fly between a downtown location and the San Francisco International Airport. The aircraft can be operated autonomously or manually by a single pilot who maneuvers the aircraft using a flight control joystick. The interior of the aircraft includes a virtual cockpit display with vehicle heading, location, and speed information. The system can record simulation events and flight data for post-processing. The system parameters are customizable for different flight scenarios; hence, the CAVE VR testbed provides a flexible method for development and evaluation of UAM framework.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117094283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/aero47225.2020.9172647
Katie Donahoe, Jacqueline Ryan, Stephanie Oij
As the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission continues into its third extended mission, the value of automating operational procedures grows increasingly important. The Operational Product Generation Subsystem (OPGS) of MSL is responsible for generating Level 0 products for all rover instruments (including non-imaging) and downstream Level 1 products for the engineering cameras. Mosaic imagery generated by the OPGS team on downlink assessment is comprised of data from the Navcam and Mastcam camera instruments. OPGS downlink analysts are responsible for generating key mosaics from the automatically generated single frame products for tactical and strategic operations. On Mars landed missions, data is transmitted to Earth in discrete passes that correspond to orbiter overflights, which are then assessed by representatives from each subsystem when there is a downlink assessment for the rover. Product generation at downlink assessment nominally takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete, and each data production process follows a specific procedure. Automating these processes reduces the time required to generate products from 1 hour and 15 minutes of intensive activity to a 10-minute validation process. Additionally, the current downlink analyst role requires up to two months training; with this automation effort, the need for learning complex procedures is greatly reduced. Beyond saving time for the analyst, automating the pilot position decreases the delay between downlink and delivering mosaics to the science users and uplink team. Giving researchers quicker access to the data is highly desirable especially as the science team is spread out across many geographic locations and time zones. It also automates and deterministically adheres to a rigid process, which allows for uniformity in all mosaic creation. In addition, it allows robustness to modifying the process as future requirements change, without the overhead of thorough user training.
{"title":"New Tools to Automatically Generate Derived Products upon Downlink Passes for Mars Science Laboratory Operations","authors":"Katie Donahoe, Jacqueline Ryan, Stephanie Oij","doi":"10.1109/aero47225.2020.9172647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/aero47225.2020.9172647","url":null,"abstract":"As the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission continues into its third extended mission, the value of automating operational procedures grows increasingly important. The Operational Product Generation Subsystem (OPGS) of MSL is responsible for generating Level 0 products for all rover instruments (including non-imaging) and downstream Level 1 products for the engineering cameras. Mosaic imagery generated by the OPGS team on downlink assessment is comprised of data from the Navcam and Mastcam camera instruments. OPGS downlink analysts are responsible for generating key mosaics from the automatically generated single frame products for tactical and strategic operations. On Mars landed missions, data is transmitted to Earth in discrete passes that correspond to orbiter overflights, which are then assessed by representatives from each subsystem when there is a downlink assessment for the rover. Product generation at downlink assessment nominally takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete, and each data production process follows a specific procedure. Automating these processes reduces the time required to generate products from 1 hour and 15 minutes of intensive activity to a 10-minute validation process. Additionally, the current downlink analyst role requires up to two months training; with this automation effort, the need for learning complex procedures is greatly reduced. Beyond saving time for the analyst, automating the pilot position decreases the delay between downlink and delivering mosaics to the science users and uplink team. Giving researchers quicker access to the data is highly desirable especially as the science team is spread out across many geographic locations and time zones. It also automates and deterministically adheres to a rigid process, which allows for uniformity in all mosaic creation. In addition, it allows robustness to modifying the process as future requirements change, without the overhead of thorough user training.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"72 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129547580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172342
M. S. Net, Etienne Pellegrini, J. V. Hook
In this work, we explore the concept of a secondary “data mule” consisting of a small satellite used to ferry data from a Mars mission to Earth for downlink. The concept exploits the fact that two nearby optical communicators can achieve extremely high data rates, and that a class of trajectories called “cyclers” can carry a satellite between Mars and Earth regularly. By exploiting cycler orbits, the courier needs minimal onboard propulsion. However, cycler orbits have long periodicity, as it can take years for the satellite, Mars, and Earth to repeat their relative geometry. Therefore, we propose the use of a network of such cycler “couriers” on phase-shifted trajectories to achieve a regular cadence of downlink trips. We design a series of search and optimization steps that can output a set of trajectories that at first approximation have low onboard propulsion requirements and can be used for any regular logistics network to and from Mars, then derive the link budget for proximity optical communications to show that this network can ferry large amounts of data.
{"title":"Cycler Orbits and the Solar System Pony Express","authors":"M. S. Net, Etienne Pellegrini, J. V. Hook","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172342","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we explore the concept of a secondary “data mule” consisting of a small satellite used to ferry data from a Mars mission to Earth for downlink. The concept exploits the fact that two nearby optical communicators can achieve extremely high data rates, and that a class of trajectories called “cyclers” can carry a satellite between Mars and Earth regularly. By exploiting cycler orbits, the courier needs minimal onboard propulsion. However, cycler orbits have long periodicity, as it can take years for the satellite, Mars, and Earth to repeat their relative geometry. Therefore, we propose the use of a network of such cycler “couriers” on phase-shifted trajectories to achieve a regular cadence of downlink trips. We design a series of search and optimization steps that can output a set of trajectories that at first approximation have low onboard propulsion requirements and can be used for any regular logistics network to and from Mars, then derive the link budget for proximity optical communications to show that this network can ferry large amounts of data.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"246 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129787786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172678
Michael Smith, D. Peplow
The Radioisotope Power System Dose Estimation Tool (RPS-DET) is a software simulation application that serves as a one-stop shop for simulating and analyzing the radiation effects from radioisotope power systems (RPSs). RPS-DET includes a graphical user interface that allows the user to select from multiple RPS designs, place them in various terrestrial, planetary, or deep-space environments, and customize the plutonium oxide (PuO2) fuel. These user selections are combined into an input file that is automatically sent to the SCALE software suite, where simulation-specific neutron and gamma source terms are written prior to performing a Monte Carlo particle transport process on the chosen geometries. Simulation results represent three-dimensional instantaneous particle fluxes and dose rates or time-integrated particle fluences or doses according to pre-defined, customizable responses. The literature regarding RPS-DET addresses the early development and methodologies of this effort, while this paper outlines the official release of the software, instructions for ordering, final features, and current design.
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Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172676
Masahiro Kanazaki, Yusuke Yamada, M. Nakamiya
Space debris mitigation is a key technology for space development. Further increase in the amount of debris can be avoided if five pieces of debris is removed every year. One concept to remove multiple pieces of debris is to use a satellite. This approach can reduce the launch cost and remove space debris efficiently compared to using multiple satellite that removes one piece of debris. To realize this concept, an optimization technique for orbit transition is required. This study develops a satellite trajectory optimization using evolutionary algorithms (EAs). The travelling serviceman problem's (TSP) solution of EA is applied considering the similarity between the two. The TSP solution method is extended by coupling it with a satellite trajectory simulation. To improve the efficiency for multiple debris removal, the maximization of the total radar cross-section (RCS) is considered that indicates the amount of space debris as an objective function. The total fuel consumption of the satellite is calculated by considering the total velocity increment as a constraint. To evaluate the developed method, a set of 2000 pieces of space debris were selected from a database, and five cases were solved by changing the total velocity increment by 20 m/s, 40 m/s, 60 m/s, and infinity. As a result, RCS was reduced as the total velocity increments were reduced. Trends of solutions obtained through the EA process were visualized using scatter plot matrix.
{"title":"Performance of Space Debris Removal Satellite Considering Total Thrust by Evolutionary Algorithm","authors":"Masahiro Kanazaki, Yusuke Yamada, M. Nakamiya","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172676","url":null,"abstract":"Space debris mitigation is a key technology for space development. Further increase in the amount of debris can be avoided if five pieces of debris is removed every year. One concept to remove multiple pieces of debris is to use a satellite. This approach can reduce the launch cost and remove space debris efficiently compared to using multiple satellite that removes one piece of debris. To realize this concept, an optimization technique for orbit transition is required. This study develops a satellite trajectory optimization using evolutionary algorithms (EAs). The travelling serviceman problem's (TSP) solution of EA is applied considering the similarity between the two. The TSP solution method is extended by coupling it with a satellite trajectory simulation. To improve the efficiency for multiple debris removal, the maximization of the total radar cross-section (RCS) is considered that indicates the amount of space debris as an objective function. The total fuel consumption of the satellite is calculated by considering the total velocity increment as a constraint. To evaluate the developed method, a set of 2000 pieces of space debris were selected from a database, and five cases were solved by changing the total velocity increment by 20 m/s, 40 m/s, 60 m/s, and infinity. As a result, RCS was reduced as the total velocity increments were reduced. Trends of solutions obtained through the EA process were visualized using scatter plot matrix.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128295071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-03-01DOI: 10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172297
M. Wilde, M. Chan, B. Kish
Current plans for the exploration of Moon and Mars envision the use of telerobotic systems controlled from orbiting laboratories. The advantage of telerobotics is that it combines the resilience, endurance and precision of robots with the inherent flexibility, anticipation and decision making capabilities of humans. The primary disadvantage of telerobotics is the communication time delay in the human-robot control loop. The delay can lead to a loss of situation awareness, an increase in operator work load, and an overall decrease in effectiveness and efficiency of the human-robot system. Most of the effects of the delay can be mitigated by the use of predictive displays, presenting the operator with a simulated system state. This paper presents current work on such a predictive display designed to support an operator in remote flight and landing of space robots and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Adaptable Human-Machine Interface was developed for hardware-in-the-loop laboratory experiments with a Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 quadcopter as test case. Based on live video from two on-board cameras, attitude and velocity telemetry, and control inceptor deflection, the interface calculates a predicted flight path and attitude and presents it in a “tunnel in the sky” display. The graphical display itself was developed in the Unity3D game engine. The paper describes the implementation of the interface between Unity3D and the A.R. Drone, the dynamic model of the quadcopter, and the prediction algorithm. The paper also discusses the results of flight tests involving a number of test subjects and projects the path forward in the development of this technology.
{"title":"Predictive Human-Machine Interface for Teleoperation of Air and Space Vehicles over Time Delay","authors":"M. Wilde, M. Chan, B. Kish","doi":"10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172297","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/AERO47225.2020.9172297","url":null,"abstract":"Current plans for the exploration of Moon and Mars envision the use of telerobotic systems controlled from orbiting laboratories. The advantage of telerobotics is that it combines the resilience, endurance and precision of robots with the inherent flexibility, anticipation and decision making capabilities of humans. The primary disadvantage of telerobotics is the communication time delay in the human-robot control loop. The delay can lead to a loss of situation awareness, an increase in operator work load, and an overall decrease in effectiveness and efficiency of the human-robot system. Most of the effects of the delay can be mitigated by the use of predictive displays, presenting the operator with a simulated system state. This paper presents current work on such a predictive display designed to support an operator in remote flight and landing of space robots and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Adaptable Human-Machine Interface was developed for hardware-in-the-loop laboratory experiments with a Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 quadcopter as test case. Based on live video from two on-board cameras, attitude and velocity telemetry, and control inceptor deflection, the interface calculates a predicted flight path and attitude and presents it in a “tunnel in the sky” display. The graphical display itself was developed in the Unity3D game engine. The paper describes the implementation of the interface between Unity3D and the A.R. Drone, the dynamic model of the quadcopter, and the prediction algorithm. The paper also discusses the results of flight tests involving a number of test subjects and projects the path forward in the development of this technology.","PeriodicalId":114560,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Aerospace Conference","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128384909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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