Techniques of implementing launch automation programs - Saturn IB space vehicle system.
Automated techniques for providing reliability assurance in launch operations of Saturn IB SPACE vehicle system
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Techniques of Implementing Launch Automation Programs /saturn IB Space Vehicle System/
Launch automation programs for Saturn IB SYSTEM utilizing digital computer techniques to increase vehicle reliability from manufacturing through prelaunch checkout
CHECKOUT EQUIPMENT↗
Performance of an Automated-Mixed-Traffic-Vehicle /AMTV/ System
This study analyzes the operation and evaluates the expected performance of a proposed automatic guideway transit system which uses low-speed Automated Mixed Traffic Vehicles (AMTV's). Vehicle scheduling and headway control policies are evaluated with a transit system simulation model. The effect of mixed-traffic interference on the average vehicle speed is examined with a vehicle-pedestrian interface model. Control parameters regulating vehicle speed are evaluated for safe stopping and passenger comfort.
Peng, T. K. C.↗
System and Method for Automated Rendezvous, Docking and Capture of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
A system for automated rendezvous, docking, and capture of autonomous underwater vehicles at the conclusion of a mission comprising of comprised of a docking rod having lighted, pulsating (in both frequency and light intensity) series of LED light strips thereon, with the LEDs at a known spacing, and the autonomous underwater vehicle specially designed to detect and capture the docking rod and then be lifted structurally by a spherical end strop about which the vehicle can be pivoted and hoisted up (e.g., onto a ship). The method of recovery allows for very routine and reliable automated recovery of an unmanned underwater asset.
Stone, William C.↗
A Comparison Between Orion Automated and Space Shuttle Rendezvous Techniques
The Orion spacecraft will replace the space shuttle and will be the first human spacecraft since the Apollo program to leave low earth orbit. This vehicle will serve as the cornerstone of a complete space transportation system with a myriad of mission requirements necessitating rendezvous to multiple vehicles in earth orbit, around the moon and eventually beyond . These goals will require a complex and robust vehicle that is, significantly different from both the space shuttle and the command module of the Apollo program. Historically, orbit operations have been accomplished with heavy reliance on ground support and manual crew reconfiguration and monitoring. One major difference with Orion is that automation will be incorporated as a key element of the man-vehicle system. The automated system will consist of software devoted to transitioning between events based on a master timeline. This effectively adds a layer of high level sequencing that moves control of the vehicle from one phase to the next. This type of automated control is not entirely new to spacecraft since the shuttle uses a version of this during ascent and entry operations. During shuttle orbit operations however many of the software modes and hardware switches must be manually configured through the use of printed procedures and instructions voiced from the ground. The goal of the automation scheme on Orion is to extend high level automation to all flight phases. The move towards automation represents a large shift from current space shuttle operations, and so these new systems will be adopted gradually via various safeguards. These include features such as authority-to-proceed, manual down modes, and functional inhibits. This paper describes the contrast between the manual and ground approach of the space shuttle and the proposed automation of the Orion vehicle. I will introduce typical orbit operations that are common to all rendezvous missions and go on to describe the current Orion automation architecture and contrast it with shuttle rendezvous techniques and circumstances. The shuttle rendezvous profile is timed to take approximately 3 days from orbit insertion to docking at the International Space Station (ISS). This process can be divided into 3 phases: far-field, mid-field and proximity operations. The far-field stage is characterized as the most quiescent phase. The spacecraft is usually too far to navigate using relative sensors and uses the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU s) to numerically solve for its position. The maneuvers are infrequent, roughly twice per day, and are larger than other burns in the profile. The shuttle uses this opportunity to take extensive ground based radar updates and keep high fidelity orbit states on the ground. This state is then periodically uplinked to the shuttle computers. The targeting solutions for burn maneuvers are also computed on the ground and uplinked. During the burn the crew is responsible for setting the shuttle attitude and configuring the propulsion system for ignition. Again this entire process is manually driven by both crew and ground activity. The only automatic processes that occur are associated with the real-time execution of the burn. The Orion automated functionality will seek to relieve the workload of both the crew and ground during this phase
Ruiz, Jose O,↗
ADDJUST - An automated system for steering Centaur launch vehicles in measured winds
ADDJUST (Automatic Determination and Dissemination of Just-Updated Steering Terms) is an automated computer and communication system designed to provide Atlas/Centaur and Titan/Centaur launch vehicles with booster-phase steering data on launch day. Wind soundings are first obtained, from which a smoothed wind velocity vs altitude relationship is established. Design for conditions at the end of the boost phase with initial pitch and yaw maneuvers, followed by zero total angle of attack through the filtered wind establishes the required vehicle attitude as a function of altitude. Polynomial coefficients for pitch and yaw attitude vs altitude are determined and are transmitted for validation and loading into the Centaur airborne computer. The system has enabled 14 consecutive launches without a flight wind delay.
Swanson, D. C.↗
Automation effects in a multiloop manual control system
An experimental and analytical study was undertaken to investigate human interaction with a simple multiloop manual control system in which the human's activity was systematically varied by changing the level of automation. The system simulated was the longitudinal dynamics of a hovering helicopter. The automation-systems-stabilized vehicle responses from attitude to velocity to position and also provided for display automation in the form of a flight director. The control-loop structure resulting from the task definition can be considered a simple stereotype of a hierarchical control system. The experimental study was complemented by an analytical modeling effort which utilized simple crossover models of the human operator. It was shown that such models can be extended to the description of multiloop tasks involving preview and precognitive human operator behavior. The existence of time optimal manual control behavior was established for these tasks and the role which internal models may play in establishing human-machine performance was discussed.
Hess, R. A.↗
Expert system isssues in automated, autonomous space vehicle rendezvous
The problems involved in automated autonomous rendezvous are briefly reviewed, and the Rendezvous Expert (RENEX) expert system is discussed with reference to its goals, approach used, and knowledge structure and contents. RENEX has been developed to support streamlining operations for the Space Shuttle and Space Station program and to aid definition of mission requirements for the autonomous portions of rendezvous for the Mars Surface Sample Return and Comet Nucleus Sample return unmanned missions. The experience with REMEX to date and recommendations for further development are presented.
Goodwin, Mary Ann↗
Human Systems Integration and Automation Issues in Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
The goal of this report is to identify Human System Integration (HSI) and automation issues that contribute to improved effectiveness and efficiency in the operation of U.S. military Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (SUAVs). HSI issues relevant to SUAV operations are reviewed and observations from field trials are summarized. Short-term improvements are suggested research issues are identified and an overview is provided of automation technologies applicable to future SUAV design.
DRONES↗
Situation Awareness of Onboard System Autonomy
We have developed intelligent agent software for onboard system autonomy. Our approach is to provide control agents that automate crew and vehicle systems, and operations assistants that aid humans in working with these autonomous systems. We use the 3 Tier control architecture to develop the control agent software that automates system reconfiguration and routine fault management. We use the Distributed Collaboration and Interaction (DCI) System to develop the operations assistants that provide human services, including situation summarization, event notification, activity management, and support for manual commanding of autonomous system. In this paper we describe how the operations assistants aid situation awareness of the autonomous control agents. We also describe our evaluation of the DCI System to support control engineers during a ground test at Johnson Space Center (JSC) of the Post Processing System (PPS) for regenerative water recovery.
Schreckenghost, Debra↗
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
NASA is building the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) to provide a 'national resource' for the research, development, demonstration, testing, and qualification of Spaceport and Range Technologies. The ATDC will be located at Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. SLC-20 currently provides a processing and launch capability for small-scale rockets; this capability will be augmented with additional ATDC facilities to provide a comprehensive and integrated in situ environment. Examples of Spaceport Technologies that will be supported by ATDC infrastructure include densified cryogenic systems, intelligent automated umbilicals, integrated vehicle health management systems, next-generation safety systems, and advanced range systems. The ATDC can be thought of as a prototype spaceport where industry, government, and academia, in partnership, can work together to improve safety of future space initiatives. The ATDC is being deployed in five separate phases. Major ATDC facilities will include a Liquid Oxygen Area; a Liquid Hydrogen Area, a Liquid Nitrogen Area, and a multipurpose Launch Mount; 'Iron Rocket' Test Demonstrator; a Processing Facility with a Checkout and Control System; and Future Infrastructure Developments. Initial ATDC development will be completed in 2006.
Clements, G. R.↗
Flight control system design factors for applying automated testing techniques
The principal design features and operational experiences of the X-29 forward-swept-wing aircraft and F-18 high alpha research vehicle (HARV) automated test systems are discussed. It is noted that operational experiences in developing and using these automated testing techniques have highlighted the need for incorporating target system features to improve testability. Improved target system testability can be accomplished with the addition of nonreal-time and real-time features. Online access to target system implementation details, unobtrusive real-time access to internal user-selectable variables, and proper software instrumentation are all desirable features of the target system. Also, test system and target system design issues must be addressed during the early stages of the target system development. Processing speeds of up to 20 million instructions/s and the development of high-bandwidth reflective memory systems have improved the ability to integrate the target system and test system for the application of automated testing techniques. It is concluded that new methods of designing testability into the target systems are required.
Sitz, Joel R.↗
The Launch Processing System for Space Shuttle.
In order to reduce costs and accelerate vehicle turnaround, a single automated system will be developed to support shuttle launch site operations, replacing a multiplicity of systems used in previous programs. The Launch Processing System will provide real-time control, data analysis, and information display for the checkout, servicing, launch, landing, and refurbishment of the launch vehicles, payloads, and all ground support systems. It will also provide real-time and historical data retrieval for management and sustaining engineering (test records and procedures, logistics, configuration control, scheduling, etc.).
Springer, D. A.↗
A Vehicle Management End-to-End Testing and Analysis Platform for Validation of Mission and Fault Management Algorithms to Reduce Risk for NASAs Space Launch System
The engineering development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) new Space Launch System (SLS) requires cross discipline teams with extensive knowledge of launch vehicle subsystems, information theory, and autonomous algorithms dealing with all operations from pre-launch through on orbit operations. The nominal and off-nominal characteristics of SLS's elements and subsystems must be understood and matched with the autonomous algorithm monitoring and mitigation capabilities for accurate control and response to abnormal conditions throughout all vehicle mission flight phases, including precipitating safing actions and crew aborts. This presents a large and complex systems engineering challenge, which is being addressed in part by focusing on the specific subsystems involved in the handling of off-nominal mission and fault tolerance with response management. Using traditional model-based system and software engineering design principles from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML), the Mission and Fault Management (M&FM) algorithms for the vehicle are crafted and vetted in Integrated Development Teams (IDTs) composed of multiple development disciplines such as Systems Engineering (SE), Flight Software (FSW), Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) and the major subsystems and vehicle elements such as Main Propulsion Systems (MPS), boosters, avionics, Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), Thrust Vector Control (TVC), and liquid engines. These model-based algorithms and their development lifecycle from inception through FSW certification are an important focus of SLS's development effort to further ensure reliable detection and response to off-nominal vehicle states during all phases of vehicle operation from pre-launch through end of flight. To test and validate these M&FM algorithms a dedicated test-bed was developed for full Vehicle Management End-to-End Testing (VMET). For addressing fault management (FM) early in the development lifecycle for the SLS program, NASA formed the M&FM team as part of the Integrated Systems Health Management and Automation Branch under the Spacecraft Vehicle Systems Department at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). To support the development of the FM algorithms, the VMET developed by the M&FM team provides the ability to integrate the algorithms, perform test cases, and integrate vendor-supplied physics-based launch vehicle (LV) subsystem models. Additionally, the team has developed processes for implementing and validating the M&FM algorithms for concept validation and risk reduction. The flexibility of the VMET capabilities enables thorough testing of the M&FM algorithms by providing configurable suites of both nominal and off-nominal test cases to validate the developed algorithms utilizing actual subsystem models such as MPS, GNC, and others. One of the principal functions of VMET is to validate the M&FM algorithms and substantiate them with performance baselines for each of the target vehicle subsystems in an independent platform exterior to the flight software test and validation processes. In any software development process there is inherent risk in the interpretation and implementation of concepts from requirements and test cases into flight software compounded with potential human errors throughout the development and regression testing lifecycle. Risk reduction is addressed by the M&FM group but in particular by the Analysis Team working with other organizations such as S&MA, Structures and Environments, GNC, Orion, Crew Office, Flight Operations, and Ground Operations by assessing performance of the M&FM algorithms in terms of their ability to reduce Loss of Mission (LOM) and Loss of Crew (LOC) probabilities. In addition, through state machine and diagnostic modeling, analysis efforts investigate a broader suite of failure effects and associated detection and responses to be tested in VMET to ensure reliable failure detection, and confirm responses do not create additional risks or cause undesired states through interactive dynamic effects with other algorithms and systems. VMET further contributes to risk reduction by prototyping and exercising the M&FM algorithms early in their implementation and without any inherent hindrances such as meeting FSW processor scheduling constraints due to their target platform - the ARINC 6535-partitioned Operating System, resource limitations, and other factors related to integration with other subsystems not directly involved with M&FM such as telemetry packing and processing. The baseline plan for use of VMET encompasses testing the original M&FM algorithms coded in the same C++ language and state machine architectural concepts as that used by FSW. This enables the development of performance standards and test cases to characterize the M&FM algorithms and sets a benchmark from which to measure their effectiveness and performance in the exterior FSW development and test processes. This paper is outlined in a systematic fashion analogous to a lifecycle process flow for engineering development of algorithms into software and testing. Section I describes the NASA SLS M&FM context, presenting the current infrastructure, leading principles, methods, and participants. Section II defines the testing philosophy of the M&FM algorithms as related to VMET followed by section III, which presents the modeling methods of the algorithms to be tested and validated in VMET. Its details are then further presented in section IV followed by Section V presenting integration, test status, and state analysis. Finally, section VI addresses the summary and forward directions followed by the appendices presenting relevant information on terminology and documentation.
Trevino, Luis↗
Automated mixed traffic vehicle control and scheduling study
The operation and the expected performance of a proposed automatic guideway transit system which uses low speed automated mixed traffic vehicles (AMTVs) were analyzed. Vehicle scheduling and headway control policies were evaluated with a transit system simulation model. The effect of mixed traffic interference on the average vehicle speed was examined with a vehicle pedestrian interface model. Control parameters regulating vehicle speed were evaluated for safe stopping and passenger comfort. Some preliminary data on the cost and operation of an experimental AMTV system are included. These data were the result of a separate task conducted at JPL, and were included as background information.
Peng, T. K. C.↗
Autonomous Mission Operations Roadmap
As light time delays increase, the number of such situations in which crew autonomy is the best way to conduct the mission is expected to increase. However, there are significant open questions regarding which functions to allocate to ground and crew as the time delays increase. In situations where the ideal solution is to allocate responsibility to the crew and the vehicle, a second question arises: should the activity be the responsibility of the crew or an automated vehicle function? More specifically, we must answer the following questions: What aspects of mission operation responsibilities (Plan, Train, Fly) should be allocated to ground based or vehicle based planning, monitoring, and control in the presence of significant light-time delay between the vehicle and the Earth?How should the allocated ground based planning, monitoring, and control be distributed across the flight control team and ground system automation? How should the allocated vehicle based planning, monitoring, and control be distributed between the flight crew and onboard system automation?When during the mission should responsibility shift from flight control team to crew or from crew to vehicle, and what should the process of shifting responsibility be as the mission progresses? NASA is developing a roadmap of capabilities for Autonomous Mission Operations for human spaceflight. This presentation will describe the current state of development of this roadmap, with specific attention to in-space inspection tasks that crews might perform with minimum assistance from the ground.
Mission Operations↗
Array Phase Shifters: Theory and Technology
While there are a myriad of applications for microwave phase shifters in instrumentation and metrology, power combining, amplifier linearization, and so on, the most prevalent use is in scanning phased-array antennas. And while this market continues to be dominated by military radar and tracking platforms, many commercial applications have emerged in the past decade or so. These new and potential applications span low-Earth-orbit (LEO) communications satellite constellations and collision warning radar, an aspect of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway System or Automated Highway System. In any case, the phase shifters represent a considerable portion of the overall antenna cost, with some estimates approaching 40 percent for receive arrays. Ferrite phase shifters continue to be the workhorse in military-phased arrays, and while there have been advances in thin film ferrite devices, the review of this device technology in the previous edition of this book is still highly relevant. This chapter will focus on three types of phase shifters that have matured in the past decade: GaAs MESFET monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and thin film ferroelectric-based devices. A brief review of some novel devices including thin film ferrite phase shifters and superconducting switches for phase shifter applications will be provided. Finally, the effects of modulo 2 phase shift limitations, phase errors, and transient response on bit error rate degradation will be considered.
Romanofsky, Robert R.↗
Geometric versus finite element modeling current and future trends at Northrop
Engineering Automation at Northrop encompasses the various design and analytical phases of air vehicle development. Design systems addresses automation of engineering/tooling design and computer aided manufacturing processes. The analysis systems automate aeroelastic modeling and postprocessing analysis results. These systems interface with aircraft loft and geometric entities thru localized transfer techniques. However, total integration effort based on a geometric database nucleus with peripheral design, analytical and manufacturing systems is well underway. An outline of the present and future trends is presented to help channel the RPI effort in this direction.
Bajaj, Shiv K.↗