2006
Practical Application of Model-based Programming and State-based Architecture to Space Missions
ABSTRACT - Innovative systems and software engineering solutions are required to meet the increasingly challenging demands of deep-space robotic missions. While recent advances in the development of integrated systems and software engineering approaches have begun to address some of these issues, these methods are still at the core highly manual and, therefore, error-prone. This paper describes a task aimed at infusing MIT's model-based executive, Titan, into JPL's Mission Data System (MDS), a unified state-based architecture, systems engineering process, and supporting software framework. Results of the task are presented, including a discussion of the benefits and challenges associated with integrating mature model-based programming techniques and technologies into a rigorously-defined domain specific architecture.
IEEE International Conference on Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology.
Pasadena, CA.
July
Application of State Analysis and Goal-Based Operations to a MER Mission Scenario
ABSTRACT - State analysis is a model-based systems engineering metholodogy employing a rigorous discovery process which articulates
operations concepts and operability needs as an integrated part of system design. The process produces requirements on system and
software design in the form of explicit models which describe the system behavior in terms of state variables and the relationships
among them. By applying state analysis to an actual MER flight mission scenario, this study addresses the specific real world
challenges of complex space operations and explores technologies that can be brought to bear on future missions. The paper first
describes the tools currently used on a daily basis for MER operations planning and provides an in-depth description of the planning
process in the context of a Martian day's worth of rover engineering activities, resource modeling, flight rules, science
observations, and more. It then describes how state analysis allows for the specificatino of a corresponding goal-based sequence
that accomplishes the same objectives, with several important additional benefits.
SpaceOps Conference.
Rome, IT.
June
Generating Requirements for Complex Space Systems Using State Analysis
ABSTRACT - It has become clear that spacecraft system complexity is reaching a threshold where customary methods of control are no
longer affordable or sufficiently reliable. At the heart of this problem are the conventional approaches to systems and software
engineering based on subsystem-level functional decomposition, which fail to scale in the tangled web of interactions typically
encountered in complex spacecraft designs. Furthermore, there is a fundamental gap between the requirements on software specified
by systems engineers and the implementation of these requirements by software engineers. Software engineers must perform the
translation of requirements into software code, hoping to accurately capture the systems engineer's understanding of the system
behavior, which is not always explicitly specified. This gap opens up the possibility for misinterpretation of the systems
engineer's intent, potentially leading to software errors. This problem is addressed by a systems engineering methodology
called State Analysis which provides a process for capturing system and software requirements in the form of explicit models.
This paper describes how requirements for complex aerospace systems can be developed using State Analysis and how these
requirements inform the design of the system software, using representative spacecraft examples.
International Astronautical Federation Congress.
Vancouver, Canada.
October
Publications
By Year
By Author
Copyright Notice
This material is provided for your personal use only and may not be retransmitted or redistributed without permission in writing from the paper's publisher and/or author.
You may not upload this material to any public server, on-line service, network, or bulletin board without prior written permission from the publisher and/or author. You may not make copies for any commercial purpose.
This material is not public domain. Reproduction or storage of materials retrieved from this web site are subject to the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Title 17 U.S.C.
