New Horizons of Systems Science: Systems Dynamics Relationship to Systems Engineering Principles, Complex Systems, Category Theory
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Systems Engineering Principles↗
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Renewable energy integration and system operation challenge: control and optimization of millions of devices
The electric power infrastructure, originally designed and built on large-scale power plants, is evolving into a more resilient power generation and delivery system in which millions of smaller units of distributed energy generation resources units will be installed in sub-transmission and distribution networks. In order to control, manage and optimize the future grid, a hierarchical design is presented in this chapter which enables the distributed control on grid edge while inheriting the existing centralized control structure. This layered design of large-scale power system operation and control uses the following principle: reactive power control is treated as a primary control for voltage stability, and the real power control is primarily a grid-level control but can also be a supplementary control for voltage support in the case of insufficient reactive power control capacity. For the purpose of active control and operation at the distribution level, a recursive power network model is derived from nodal injection and branch power flow models. Based on the model, the proposed algorithms of hierarchical control, grid-edge inference and dynamic hosting allowance are developed and presented for multi-level controlled operation. And, a co-simulation architecture of integrated T&D system is presented to validate and demonstrate the feasibility and scalability of proposed algorithms.
Xu, Ying↗
The Earth Observing System (EOS) Ground System: Leveraging an Existing Operational Ground System Infrastructure to Support New Missions
The Earth Observer System (EOS) was officially established in 1990 and went operational in December 1999 with the launch of its flagship spacecraft Terra. Aqua followed in 2002 and Aura in 2004. All three spacecraft are still operational and producing valuable scientific data. While all are beyond their original design lifetime, they are expected to remain viable well into the 2020s. The EOS Ground System is a multi-mission system based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that supports science and spacecraft operations for these three missions. Over its operational lifetime to date, the EOS Ground System has evolved as needed to accommodate mission requirements. With an eye towards the future, several updates are currently being deployed. Subsystem interconnects are being upgraded to reduce data latency and improve system performance. End-of-life hardware and operating systems are being replaced to mitigate security concerns and eliminate vendor support gaps. Subsystem hardware is being consolidated through the migration to Virtual Machine based platforms. While mission operations autonomy was not a design goal of the original system concept, there is an active effort to apply state-of-the-art products from the Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) to facilitate automation where possible within the existing heritage architecture. This presentation will provide background information on the EOS ground system architecture and evolution, discuss latest improvements, and conclude with the results of a recent effort that investigated how the current system could accommodate a proposed new earth science mission.
Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO)↗
Bioregenerative Life Support Systems Test Complex (Bio-Plex) Food Processing System: A Dual System
A Bioregenerative Life Support Test Complex, BIO-Plex, is currently being constructed at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX. This facility will attempt to answer the questions involved in developing a lunar or planetary base. The Food Processing System (FPS) of the BIO-Plex is responsible for supplying food to the crew in coordination with the chosen mission scenario. Long duration space missions require development of both a Transit Food System and of a Lunar or Planetary Food System. These two systems are intrinsically different since the first one will be utilized in the transit vehicle in microgravity conditions with mostly resupplied foods, while the second will be used in conditions of partial gravity (hypogravity) to process foods from crops grown in the facility. The Transit Food System will consist of prepackaged food of extended shelf life. It will be supplemented with salad crops that will be consumed fresh. Microgravity imposes significant limitation on the ability to handle food and allows only for minimal processing. The challenge is to develop food systems similar to the International Space Station or Shuttle Food Systems but with a shelf life of 3 - 5 years. The Lunar or Planetary Food System will allow for food processing of crops due to the presence of some gravitational force (1/6 to 1/3 that of Earth). Crops such as wheat, soybean, rice, potato, peanut, and salad crops, will be processed to final products to provide a nutritious and acceptable diet for the crew. Not only are constraints imposed on the FPS from the crops (e.g., crop variation, availability, storage and shelf-life) but also significant requirements are present for the crew meals (e.g., RDA, high quality, safety, variety). The FPS becomes a fulcrum creating the right connection from crops to crew meals while dealing with issues of integration within a closed self-regenerative system (e.g., safe processing, waste production, volumes, air contaminations, water usage, etc.). Options for the first test, for duration of 120 days, currently scheduled for late 2003 are outlined.
Perchonok, Michele↗
Airspace Systems Program: Next Generation Air Transportation System, NextGen Systems Analysis, Integration and Evaluation Project: Project Plan - Version 1.0
The key objectives of the NASA ASP are to: Improve mobility, capacity efficiency and access of the airspace system. Improve collaboration, predictability, and flexibility for the airspace users. Enable accurate modeling and simulation of air transportation systems. Accommodate operations of all classes of aircraft. Maintain system safety and environmental protection. In support of these program objectives, the major goal of the NextGen-SAIE Project is to enable the transition of key capacity and efficiency improvements to the NAS. Since many aspects of the NAS are unique to specific airport or airspace environments, demand on various parts of the NAS is not expected to increase equally as system demand grows. SAIE will provide systems level analysis of the NAS characteristics, constraints, and demands such that a suite of capacity-increasing concepts and technologies for system solutions are enabled and facilitated. The technical objectives in support of this goal are the following: Integration, evaluation, and transition of more mature concepts and technologies in an environment that faithfully emulates real-world complexities. Interoperability research and analysis of ASP technologies across ATM functions is performed to facilitate integration and take ASP concepts and technologies to higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Analyses are conducted on the program s concepts to identify the system benefits or impacts. System level analysis is conducted to increase understanding of the characteristics and constraints of airspace system and its domains.
Quon, Leighton↗
A unifying framework for systems modeling, control systems design, and system operation
Current engineering practice in the analysis and design of large-scale multi-disciplinary control systems is typified by some form of decomposition- whether functional or physical or discipline-based-that enables multiple teams to work in parallel and in relative isolation. Too often, the resulting system after integration is an awkward marriage of different control and data mechanisms with poor end-to-end accountability. System of systems engineering, which faces this problem on a large scale, cries out for a unifying framework to guide analysis, design, and operation. This paper describes such a framework based on a state-, model-, and goal-based architecture for semi-autonomous control systems that guides analysis and modeling, shapes control system software design, and directly specifies operational intent. This paper illustrates the key concepts in the context of a large-scale, concurrent, globally distributed system of systems: NASA's proposed Array-based Deep Space Network.
systems modeling↗
Development of highly efficient NEG pumping system for EBIS
Ultrahigh vacuum inside the ion trap volume is crucial for stable and reliable operation of an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS). We have developed and tested a compact linear pumping system based on the ZAO Non-Evaporable Getter (NEG) module with high pumping speed and enhanced sorption capacity for all active gases. Due to its minimal transverse dimensions, the system can be mounted adjacent to the ion trap inside a superconducting solenoid bore and will provide a pumping speed of the order of 1000 l/s for all active gases in that area. An externally supplied current (100 A DC) is used to heat the ZAO NEG up to 650 °C for more than 1 h, which is required for pump activation and/or reactivation cycles. The pumping system is being developed for use in the Extended EBIS Upgrade which is presently in progress at BNL. In conclusion, the design of the system and results of multiple tests are presented and discussed.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Interpreting Write Performance of Supercomputer I/O Systems with Regression Models
This work seeks to advance the state of the art in HPC I/O performance analysis and interpretation. In particular, we demonstrate effective techniques to: (1) model output performance in the presence of I/O interference from production loads; (2) build features from write patterns and key parameters of the system architecture and configurations; (3) employ suitable machine learning algorithms to improve model accuracy. We train models with five popular regression algorithms and conduct experiments on two distinct production HPC platforms. We find that the lasso and random forest models predict output performance with high accuracy on both of the target systems. We also explore use of the models to guide adaptation in I/O middleware systems, and show potential for improvements of at least 15% from model-guided adaptation on 70% of samples, and improvements up to 10× on some samples for both of the target systems.
Xie, Bing↗
A Systems Engineering Analysis of National Ignition Facility Industrial Controls Systems and Safety Interlock Systems Remote Input/Output Networking Migration from ControlNet to EtherNet/IP
The ControlNet industrial communications protocol and modules used in the Industrial Control System (ICS) and Safety Interlock System (SIS) at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are no longer necessary and the ICS and SIS would be better served by migrating the communications structure to use EtherNet/Industrial Protocol (IP) and EtherNet bridge modules instead. By the admission of the vendor of ControlNet hardware, Rockwell Automation, in literature by Bill Petro [1], “Moving forward, customers will be able to optimize their asset utilization better using EtherNet/IP protocol than with ControlNet.” The NIF is one of the key elements of the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). The NIF contains the systems and provides the operational capacity to perform ICF, high energy density (HED), and discovery science experiments utilizing 192 individual beamlines, a host of diagnostics, and all the industrial systems required to facilitate these beamlines and diagnostics. The industrial systems are governed by the ICS and SIS, with the ICS providing control and the SIS providing monitoring and permissives. Construction on the NIF began in 1997 and was certified complete in 2009 and, as a result, the ICS and SIS were developed during this time using the tools that were available then. This includes the communications structure and protocols for these systems, much of which was, and still is, ControlNet. ControlNet, particularly during the time that the ICS and SIS were being built, has several attractive features. ControlNet hardware is exclusive to Rockwell Automation, which was the automation hardware chosen for the ICS and SIS. One feature that could be considered an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the communication needs of the system is that ControlNet also utilizes no active network components, excluding repeaters which are not always necessary. According to the architect of the ICS system at the NIF, Gordon Lau, one of the most attractive features of the ControlNet protocol during development of the ICS and SIS was that it is deterministic, providing timing of data transfer that is executed exactly as it is defined by the developer.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Data Systems Dynamic Simulation - A total system for data system design assessments and trade studies
Data Systems Dynamic Simulation is a simulation system designed to reduce cost and time and increase the confidence and comprehensiveness of Data Systems Simulation. It is designed to simulate large data processing and communications systems from end-to-end or by subsystem. Those features relevant to system timing, control, sizing, personnel support activities, cost and external influences are modeled. Emphasis is placed on ease of use, comprehensive system performance measures, and extensive post simulation analysis capability. The system has been used to support trade studies of the NASA data system needs in the 1985 to 1990 time frame.
Hooper, J. W.↗
Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) Sodium Bicarbonate/Carbonate Buffer in an Open Aqueous Carbon Dioxide System and Corollary Electrochemical/Chemical Reactions Relative to System pH Changes
The International Space Station (ISS) Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) experienced a number of chemical changes driven by system absorption of CO2 which altered the coolant’s pH. The natural effects of the decrease in pH from approximately 9.2 to less than 8.4 had immediate consequences on system corrosion rates and corrosion product interactions with specified coolant constituents. The alkalinity of the system was increased through the development and implementation of a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer that would increase coolant pH to 9.0 – 10.0 and maintain pH above 9.0 in the presence of ISS cabin concentrations of CO2 up to twenty times higher than ground concentrations. This paper defines how a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer works in an open carbon dioxide system and summarizes the analyses performed on the buffer for safe and effective application in the on-orbit system. The importance of the relationship between the cabin environment and the IATCS is demonstrated as the dominant factor in understanding the system chemistry and pH trends before and after addition of the carbonate/bicarbonate buffer. The paper also documents the corollary electrochemical and chemical reactions the system has experienced and the rationale for remediation of these effects with the addition of the carbonate/bicarbonate buffer.
Stegman, Thomas W.↗
Machine-learning error models for approximate solutions to parameterized systems of nonlinear equations
Here, this work proposes a machine-learning framework for constructing statistical models of errors incurred by approximate solutions to parameterized systems of nonlinear equations. These approximate solutions may arise from early termination of an iterative method, a lower-fidelity model, or a projection-based reduced-order model, for example. The proposed statistical model comprises the sum of a deterministic regression-function model and a stochastic noise model. The method constructs the regression-function model by applying regression techniques from machine learning (e.g., support vector regression, artificial neural networks) to map features (i.e., error indicators such as sampled elements of the residual) to a prediction of the approximate-solution error. The method constructs the noise model as a mean-zero Gaussian random variable whose variance is computed as the sample variance of the approximate-solution error on a test set; this variance can be interpreted as the epistemic uncertainty introduced by the approximate solution. This work considers a wide range of feature-engineering methods, data-set-construction techniques, and regression techniques that aim to ensure that (1) the features are cheaply computable, (2) the noise model exhibits low variance (i.e., low epistemic uncertainty introduced), and (3) the regression model generalizes to independent test data. Finally, numerical experiments performed on several computational-mechanics problems and types of approximate solutions demonstrate the ability of the method to generate statistical models of the error that satisfy these criteria and significantly outperform more commonly adopted approaches for error modeling.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Experiences developing large-scale synthetic U.S.-style distribution test systems
Not Available
Palmintier, Bryan (ORCID:0000000214520715)↗
Dynamical System Scaling of a Thermocline Thermal Storage System in the Thermal Energy Distribution System (TEDS) Facility
The purpose of this study was to develop a process to convert input signals from one facility into another by reflecting geometric and environmental settings. The Dynamic Energy Transport and Integration Laboratory (DETAIL) is one facility in development that aims to emulate the daily interactions among power production industry systems and be capable of receiving real-time data from those systems as inputs. To convert signals and ensure that the temporal sequences and magnitudes reflect the laboratory settings, the ability to scale and project data is essential. To demonstrate this ability, Dynamical System Scaling (a methodology that enables systems to scale and project or extrapolate datasets to desired environments while conserving the observed transient behavior based on first principles) was applied to DETAIL’s thermocline thermal storage system in the Thermal Energy Distribution System. The thermocline system was successfully scaled and a test case was conducted to generate a doubly accelerated energy charge and discharge in reference to past experimental data from the facility. The accelerated data were determined as able to conserve the amount of energy stored and the associated test boundary conditions were charge line maximum temperature, charge line velocity, and thermocline maximum temperature at 354 °C, 0.458 m/s, and 418 °C, respectively. The research results represented a case that required signals to be accelerated without altering the stored energy.
Yoshiura, Ramon (ORCID:0000000319781313)↗
Flight set 360L007 (STS-33R) field joint protection system, thermal protection system, and systems tunnel components, volume 7
The performance of the thermal protection system, field joint protection system, and systems tunnel components of flight set 360L007 is presented as evaluated by postflight hardware inspection. The condition of both motors was similar to previous flights. Four aft edge strikes were noted on the ground environment instrumentation thermal protection system. The hits all left a clean substrate, indicating that the damage was caused by nozzle severance debris and/or water impact. No National Space Transportation System debris criteria for missing thermal protection system were violated. Two problem reports were written against the field joint protection system. The first concerned two cracks in the K5NA closeout over the trunnion/vent valve location on the left-hand aft field joint. A similar condition was observed on Flight 5 (360H005). The second problem report referred to a number of small surface cracks between two impact marks on the left-hand forward field joint. Neither area exhibited loose material or any abnormal heat effects, and they have no impact on flight safety.
Source record↗
Flight Set 360L006 STS-34 field joint protection system, thermal protection system, and systems tunnel components, volume 4
The performance of the thermal protection system, field joint protection system, and systems tunnel components of Flight Set 360L006, are documented, as evaluated by postflight hardware inspection. The condition of both motors was similar to previous flights. Sixteen aft edge hits were noted on the ground environment instrumentation thermal protection system. Each hit left a clean substrate, indicating that the damage was caused by nozzle severance debris and/or water impact. No National Space and Transporation System debris criteria for missing thermal protection system were violated. One 5.0 by 1.0 in. unbond was observed on the left hand center field joint K5NA closeout and was elevated to an in-flight anomaly (STS-34-M-4) by the NASA Ice/Debris team. Aft edge damage to the K5NA and an associated black streak indicate that burning debris from the nozzle severance system was the likely cause of the damage. Minor divots caused by debris were seen on previous flights, but this is the first occurrence of a K5NA unbond. Since the unbond occurred after booster separation there is no impact on flight safety and no corrective actions was taken. The right hand center field joint primary heater failed the dielectric withstanding voltage test after joint closeout. The heater was then disabled by opening the circuit breaker, and the redundant heater was used. The redundant heater performed nominally during the launch countdown. A similar condition occurred on Flight 4 when a secondary joint heater failed the dielectric withstanding voltage test.
Wilkinson, J. P.↗
Inductive monitoring system constructed from nominal system data and its use in real-time system monitoring
The present invention relates to an Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), its software implementations, hardware embodiments and applications. Training data is received, typically nominal system data acquired from sensors in normally operating systems or from detailed system simulations. The training data is formed into vectors that are used to generate a knowledge database having clusters of nominal operating regions therein. IMS monitors a system's performance or health by comparing cluster parameters in the knowledge database with incoming sensor data from a monitored-system formed into vectors. Nominal performance is concluded when a monitored-system vector is determined to lie within a nominal operating region cluster or lies sufficiently close to a such a cluster as determined by a threshold value and a distance metric. Some embodiments of IMS include cluster indexing and retrieval methods that increase the execution speed of IMS.
Iverson, David L.↗
Accelerating Simulation for High-Fidelity PV Inverter System Reliability Assessment with High-Performance Computing
The overall cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems has shown a downward trend during the last decade; however, PV inverter failures account for the highest cost of operation and maintenance. To address this, reliability tools with powerful computation and better accuracy are required for the lifetime prediction and degradation evaluation of PV inverters. This paper proposes an event-driven parallel computing-based simulator. The proposed simulator applies high-performance computing techniques and other accessory optimization techniques-including cluster merging, adaptive model updates, and steady-state identification-to make reliability assessments for PV inverters under given input mission profiles and operating conditions with high efficiency and high fidelity. The main idea of the simulator and its workflow are introduced. Then, a demo PV inverter system simulator is implemented, and the speedup of the total simulations of the switching model reaches 123.03 times.
high-performance computing↗