Application of expert systems in the Common Module electrical power system

Abstract

Each Common Module (CM) of the Space Station must be capable of handling a 50 kW electricity supply, 25 kW for transmission and 25 kW for consumption. The power must be handled and managed by on-board systems, a necessity that dovetails with the objectives of Public Law 98-371, which mandates that the Space Station push the state of the art of automation and AI. Expert systems will be needed to handle the large data flow for the power system and to ensure that the system degrades gracefully. Features of the first expert systems expected for the power system, i.e., a dynamic load planner/scheduler and energy storage subsystem management, fault diagnosis/analysis, health status/trend analysis, and orbital replacement advisor expert systems, are described. Finally, growth Space Station expert systems applications are discussed.