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NASA NTRS2013

Applying Model Based Systems Engineering to NASA's Space Communications Networks

System engineering practices for complex systems and networks now require that requirement, architecture, and concept of operations product development teams, simultaneously harmonize their activities to provide timely, useful and cost-effective products. When dealing with complex systems of systems, traditional systems engineering methodology quickly falls short of achieving project objectives. This approach is encumbered by the use of a number of disparate hardware and software tools, spreadsheets and documents to grasp the concept of the network design and operation. In case of NASA's space communication networks, since the networks are geographically distributed, and so are its subject matter experts, the team is challenged to create a common language and tools to produce its products. Using Model Based Systems Engineering methods and tools allows for a unified representation of the system in a model that enables a highly related level of detail. To date, Program System Engineering (PSE) team has been able to model each network from their top-level operational activities and system functions down to the atomic level through relational modeling decomposition. These models allow for a better understanding of the relationships between NASA's stakeholders, internal organizations, and impacts to all related entities due to integration and sustainment of existing systems. Understanding the existing systems is essential to accurate and detailed study of integration options being considered. In this paper, we identify the challenges the PSE team faced in its quest to unify complex legacy space communications networks and their operational processes. We describe the initial approaches undertaken and the evolution toward model based system engineering applied to produce Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) PSE products. We will demonstrate the practice of Model Based System Engineering applied to integrating space communication networks and the summary of its results and impact. We will highlight the insights gained by applying the Model Based System Engineering and provide recommendations for its applications and improvements.

Bhasin, Kul↗

NASA NTRS2017

ExEP Yield Modeling Tool and Validation Test Results

EXOSIMS is an open-source simulation tool for parametric modeling of the detection yield and characterization of exoplanets. EXOSIMS has been adopted by the Exoplanet Exploration Programs Standards De nition and Evaluation Team (ExSDET) as a common mechanism for comparison of exoplanet mission concept studies. To ensure trustworthiness of the tool, we developed a validation test plan that leverages the Python-language unit-test framework, utilizes integration tests for selected module interactions, and performs end-to-end cross- validation with other yield tools. This paper presents the test methods and results, with the physics-based tests such as photometry and integration time calculation treated in detail and the functional tests treated summarily. The test case utilized a 4m unobscured telescope with an idealized coronagraph and an exoplanet population from the IPAC radial velocity (RV) exoplanet catalog. The known RV planets were set at quadrature to allow deterministic validation of the calculation of physical parameters, such as working angle, photon counts and integration time. The observing keepout region was tested by generating plots and movies of the targets and the keepout zone over a year. Although the keepout integration test required the interpretation of a user, the test revealed problems in the L2 halo orbit and the parameterization of keepout applied to some solar system bodies, which the development team was able to address. The validation testing of EXOSIMS was performed iteratively with the developers of EXOSIMS and resulted in a more robust, stable, and trustworthy tool that the exoplanet community can use to simulate exoplanet direct-detection missions from probe class, to WFIRST, up to large mission concepts such as HabEx and LUVOIR.

Nunez, Paul↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Datascope to Enable Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO)

BACKGROUND: NASA has amassed sixty years of knowledge and experience relevant to maintenance of crew health and performance in low earth orbit. The Apollo Program introduced the importance of ensuring progressively autonomous operational capability. Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) will require a gradual shift in the balance of medical responsibility, management, and authority from terrestrial to space-based assets. Terrestrial assets will continue to be essential for pre-mission screening and planning in addition to maintenance of crew health and performance. However, new capabilities are needed to enable EIMO and the amount of data required to support these systems, and mitigate the impacts of data transmission delays and reduced bandwidth coupled with lack of cloud-like resources and on-board computing capacity that is currently unclear or operationally insufficient. OVERVIEW: The overall goal of EIMO is to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions to analyze crew health and performance data utilizing a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to provide crew medical officers (CMO) with the equivalent of real-time, on-board medical consults. The EIMO ecosystem is envisioned as a “system of systems” where embedded reference databases and real-time data streams from multiple input vectors continuously and seamlessly assess crew health and performance. EIMO will be designed to make recommendations to the CMO using multi-modal AI-based natural language processing and machine learning methods with interoperability to push/pull data within and between multiple vehicle and habitat architectures. DISCUSSION: Data flows and storage/retrieval capacity are severely constrained during space missions and the challenges will become even greater during exploration missions. Just as each past program from Mercury to the International Space Station (ISS) required rethinking the interaction between ground-based controllers and space-based crew, so too will future missions to the Moon and Mars. While the NASA High-Performance Spaceflight Computing Processor project aims to increase computational capacity by 100 times over current spaceflight computers, the projected deliverable still lags considerably behind what will be needed to enable an AI-driven CDSS. Restrictions in processing speed and data storage capacity, coupled with transmission bottlenecks and delays, necessitate definition and optimization of an integrated data architecture to enable a progressively autonomous medical capability.

Medical operations↗

NASA NTRS1972

Analyses of requirements for computer control and data processing experiment subsystems. Volume 2: ATM experiment S-056 image data processing system software development

The IDAPS (Image Data Processing System) is a user-oriented, computer-based, language and control system, which provides a framework or standard for implementing image data processing applications, simplifies set-up of image processing runs so that the system may be used without a working knowledge of computer programming or operation, streamlines operation of the image processing facility, and allows multiple applications to be run in sequence without operator interaction. The control system loads the operators, interprets the input, constructs the necessary parameters for each application, and cells the application. The overlay feature of the IBSYS loader (IBLDR) provides the means of running multiple operators which would otherwise overflow core storage.

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NASA NTRS1994

Program For Systematic Documentation Of Tasks

Task Analysis Report Generation Tool (TARGET) computer program is graphical-interface software tool used to capture procedural knowledge and translate knowledge into hierarchical report. Designed to help programmer document expert's task, enabling programmer to build expert-system computer program that helps others perform task. Flexibility key element of design and of knowledge-acquisition session. Easy to use and tailored to accommodate users ranging from novice to experienced builder of expert systems. Written in C language.

Ortiz, Christopher John↗

NASA NTRS2011

MASCOT - MATLAB Stability and Control Toolbox

MASCOT software was created to provide the conceptual aircraft designer accurate predictions of air vehicle stability and control characteristics. The code takes as input mass property data in the form of an inertia tensor, aerodynamic loading data, and propulsion (i.e. thrust) loading data. Using fundamental non-linear equations of motion, MASCOT then calculates vehicle trim and static stability data for any desired flight condition. Common predefined flight conditions are included. The predefined flight conditions include six horizontal and six landing rotation conditions with varying options for engine out, crosswind and sideslip, plus three takeoff rotation conditions. Results are displayed through a unique graphical interface developed to provide stability and control information to the conceptual design engineers using a qualitative scale indicating whether the vehicle has acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable static stability characteristics. This software allows the user to prescribe the vehicle s CG location, mass, and inertia tensor so that any loading configuration between empty weight and maximum take-off weight can be analyzed. The required geometric and aerodynamic data as well as mass and inertia properties may be entered directly, passed through data files, or come from external programs such as Vehicle Sketch Pad (VSP). The current version of MASCOT has been tested with VSP used to compute the required data, which is then passed directly into the program. In VSP, the vehicle geometry is created and manipulated. The aerodynamic coefficients, stability and control derivatives, are calculated using VorLax, which is now available directly within VSP. MASCOT has been written exclusively using the technical computing language MATLAB . This innovation is able to bridge the gap between low-fidelity conceptual design and higher-fidelity stability and control analysis. This new tool enables the conceptual design engineer to include detailed static stability and trim constraints in the conceptual design loop. The unique graphical interface developed for this tool presents the stability data in a format that is understandable by the conceptual designer, yet also provides the detailed quantitative results if desired.

Kenny, Sean↗

NASA NTRS2014

Spinoff 2013

Topics covered include: Innovative Software Tools Measure Behavioral Alertness; Miniaturized, Portable Sensors Monitor Metabolic Health; Patient Simulators Train Emergency Caregivers; Solar Refrigerators Store Life-Saving Vaccines; Monitors Enable Medication Management in Patients' Homes; Handheld Diagnostic Device Delivers Quick Medical Readings; Experiments Result in Safer, Spin-Resistant Aircraft; Interfaces Visualize Data for Airline Safety, Efficiency; Data Mining Tools Make Flights Safer, More Efficient; NASA Standards Inform Comfortable Car Seats; Heat Shield Paves the Way for Commercial Space; Air Systems Provide Life Support to Miners; Coatings Preserve Metal, Stone, Tile, and Concrete; Robots Spur Software That Lends a Hand; Cloud-Based Data Sharing Connects Emergency Managers; Catalytic Converters Maintain Air Quality in Mines; NASA-Enhanced Water Bottles Filter Water on the Go; Brainwave Monitoring Software Improves Distracted Minds; Thermal Materials Protect Priceless, Personal Keepsakes; Home Air Purifiers Eradicate Harmful Pathogens; Thermal Materials Drive Professional Apparel Line; Radiant Barriers Save Energy in Buildings; Open Source Initiative Powers Real-Time Data Streams; Shuttle Engine Designs Revolutionize Solar Power; Procedure-Authoring Tool Improves Safety on Oil Rigs; Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation's Forests; Mars Technologies Spawn Durable Wind Turbines; Programs Visualize Earth and Space for Interactive Education; Processor Units Reduce Satellite Construction Costs; Software Accelerates Computing Time for Complex Math; Simulation Tools Prevent Signal Interference on Spacecraft; Software Simplifies the Sharing of Numerical Models; Virtual Machine Language Controls Remote Devices; Micro-Accelerometers Monitor Equipment Health; Reactors Save Energy, Costs for Hydrogen Production; Cameras Monitor Spacecraft Integrity to Prevent Failures; Testing Devices Garner Data on Insulation Performance; Smart Sensors Gather Information for Machine Diagnostics; Oxygen Sensors Monitor Bioreactors and Ensure Health and Safety; Vision Algorithms Catch Defects in Screen Displays; and Deformable Mirrors Capture Exoplanet Data, Reflect Lasers.

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NASA NTRS2020

Developing and Implementing a Process to Verify and Validate the NASA InSight Mission’s Instrument Command Products

The NASA InSight Mars lander is a roboticspacecraft which is investigating the interior structure of Marsthrough a series of seismological measurements andexperiments. Much of the commanding of activities performedby the instruments was done using ‘blocks’ – reusable functionswritten in Virtual Machine Language stored onboard thespacecraft– and sequences (series of commands) that werecreated by teams to operate their instruments. It was vital thatthese blocks and sequences (collectively called commandproducts) be thoroughly examined prior to onboard executionusing a comprehensive test program to reduce risk to thespacecraft and instruments and ensure smooth operations onthe surface of Mars. The Verification and Validation (V&V)process that was designed and implemented during the monthsleading up to InSight’s launch and landing successfullyuncovered a number of issues that could have causedoperational delays or impacted hardware. The process alsohelped adapt ground tools to better model onboard activities,create operational principles to avoid unintended consequencesduring flight, and generate a reference database for commandproduct use during operations. This allowed InSight to meet itssurface operations goals in the desired timeframe. This paperdescribes the development, implementation and results ofInSight’s command product V&V process, its contribution tomission success, and challenges faced.

Cloutier, Kyle↗

NASA NTRS1972

Multi-processing control system for the SEL 840MP (MPCS/1) users guide. Volume 1: Programming guide

A programmer's manual is presented for the SEL 840MP multiprocessing control system MPCS. The topics discussed include task control; defining displays; MPCS calls for task control functions; MPCS calls and system interfaces for display functions; MPCS calls for input/output functions and services, file management, and utility services; and MPCS assembly language call sequence summary.

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NASA NTRS1991

Report on the formal specification and partial verification of the VIPER microprocessor

The VIPER microprocessor chip is partitioned into four levels of abstractions. At the highest level, VIPER is described with decreasingly abstract sets of functions in LCF-LSM. At the lowest level are the gate-level models in proprietary CAD languages. The block-level and gate-level specifications are also given in the ELLA simulation language. Among VIPER's deficiencies are the fact that there is no notion of external events in the top-level specification, and it is impossible to use the top-level specifications to prove abstract properties of programs running on VIPER computers. There is no complete proof that the gate-level specifications implement the top-level specifications. Cohn's proof that the major-state machine correctly implements the top-level specifications has no formal connection with any of the other proof attempts. None of the latter address resetting the machine, memory timeout, forced error, or single step modes.

Brock, Bishop↗

NASA NTRS1992

Benchmark Lisp And Ada Programs

Suite of nonparallel benchmark programs, ELAPSE, designed for three tests: comparing efficiency of computer processing via Lisp vs. Ada; comparing efficiencies of several computers processing via Lisp; or comparing several computers processing via Ada. Tests efficiency which computer executes routines in each language. Available for computer equipped with validated Ada compiler and/or Common Lisp system.

Davis, Gloria↗

NASA NTRS1998

Virtual Reality at the PC Level

The main objective of my research has been to incorporate virtual reality at the desktop level; i.e., create virtual reality software that can be run fairly inexpensively on standard PC's. The standard language used for virtual reality on PC's is VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). It is a new language so it is still undergoing a lot of changes. VRML 1.0 came out only a couple years ago and VRML 2.0 came out around last September. VRML is an interpreted language that is run by a web browser plug-in. It is fairly flexible in terms of allowing you to create different shapes and animations. Before this summer, I knew very little about virtual reality and I did not know VRML at all. I learned the VRML language by reading two books and experimenting on a PC. The following topics are presented: CAD to VRML, VRML 1.0 to VRML 2.0, VRML authoring tools, VRML browsers, finding virtual reality applications, the AXAF project, the VRML generator program, web communities and future plans.

Dean, John↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASA's Software Bank (CLIPS)

C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) is a NASA Johnson Space Center developed software shell for developing expert systems, is used by researchers at Ohio State University to determine solid waste disposal sites to assist in historic preservation. The program has various other applications and has even been included in a widely-used textbook.

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NASA NTRS1983

F100 Multivariable Control Synthesis Program. Computer Implementation of the F100 Multivariable Control Algorithm

As turbofan engines become more complex, the development of controls necessitate the use of multivariable control techniques. A control developed for the F100-PW-100(3) turbofan engine by using linear quadratic regulator theory and other modern multivariable control synthesis techniques is described. The assembly language implementation of this control on an SEL 810B minicomputer is described. This implementation was then evaluated by using a real-time hybrid simulation of the engine. The control software was modified to run with a real engine. These modifications, in the form of sensor and actuator failure checks and control executive sequencing, are discussed. Finally recommendations for control software implementations are presented.

Soeder, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1993

High temperature composite analyzer (HITCAN) user's manual, version 1.0

This manual describes 'how-to-use' the computer code, HITCAN (HIgh Temperature Composite ANalyzer). HITCAN is a general purpose computer program for predicting nonlinear global structural and local stress-strain response of arbitrarily oriented, multilayered high temperature metal matrix composite structures. This code combines composite mechanics and laminate theory with an internal data base for material properties of the constituents (matrix, fiber and interphase). The thermo-mechanical properties of the constituents are considered to be nonlinearly dependent on several parameters including temperature, stress and stress rate. The computation procedure for the analysis of the composite structures uses the finite element method. HITCAN is written in FORTRAN 77 computer language and at present has been configured and executed on the NASA Lewis Research Center CRAY XMP and YMP computers. This manual describes HlTCAN's capabilities and limitations followed by input/execution/output descriptions and example problems. The input is described in detail including (1) geometry modeling, (2) types of finite elements, (3) types of analysis, (4) material data, (5) types of loading, (6) boundary conditions, (7) output control, (8) program options, and (9) data bank.

Lackney, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Ah!Help: A generalized on-line help facility

The idea behind the help facility discussed is relatively simple. It is made unique by the fact that it is written in Ada and uses aspects of the language which make information retrieval rapid and simple. Specifically, the DIRECT IO facility allows for random access into the help files. It is necessary to discuss the advantages of random access over sequential access. The mere fact that the program in written in Ada implies a saving in terms of lines of code. This introduces the possibility of eventually adapting the program to run at the microcomputer level, a major consideration . Additionally, since the program uses only standard Ada generics, it is portable to other systems. This is another aspect which must always be taken into consideration in writting any software package in the modern day world of computer programming.

Yu, Wong Nai↗

NASA NTRS1989

Parallel language constructs for tensor product computations on loosely coupled architectures

A set of language primitives designed to allow the specification of parallel numerical algorithms at a higher level is described. The authors focus on tensor product array computations, a simple but important class of numerical algorithms. They consider first the problem of programming one-dimensional kernel routines, such as parallel tridiagonal solvers, and then look at how such parallel kernels can be combined to form parallel tensor product algorithms.

Mehrotra, Piyush↗

NASA NTRS1991

Hybrid automated reliability predictor integrated work station (HiREL)

The Hybrid Automated Reliability Predictor (HARP) integrated reliability (HiREL) workstation tool system marks another step toward the goal of producing a totally integrated computer aided design (CAD) workstation design capability. Since a reliability engineer must generally graphically represent a reliability model before he can solve it, the use of a graphical input description language increases productivity and decreases the incidence of error. The captured image displayed on a cathode ray tube (CRT) screen serves as a documented copy of the model and provides the data for automatic input to the HARP reliability model solver. The introduction of dependency gates to a fault tree notation allows the modeling of very large fault tolerant system models using a concise and visually recognizable and familiar graphical language. In addition to aiding in the validation of the reliability model, the concise graphical representation presents company management, regulatory agencies, and company customers a means of expressing a complex model that is readily understandable. The graphical postprocessor computer program HARPO (HARP Output) makes it possible for reliability engineers to quickly analyze huge amounts of reliability/availability data to observe trends due to exploratory design changes.

Bavuso, Salvatore J.↗