Dynamic Logical Mission Modeling Tool

Abstract

The ability to test and evaluate spacecraft designs is limited by the challenges of getting to (and operating in) the mission environment, and thus modeling and simulation is one way the space industry drives down risk and assists development of new technologies. The more accurate these models and simulations become, the more useful they are to the designer. While there are many choices for orbital propagation software, there are not many that allow dynamic modeling of both the spacecraft (to include its mode states) and its interactions with the environment in which it operates. The environmental model includes the spacecrafts orbit and spatial relationship to other agents in the simulation as well as non-agent entities such as planets and stars. The in-house AFIT modeling and simulation software, the Logic-Based Mission Modeling Tool (LMMT), has introduced the capability of behavior-based modeling by defining the spacecrafts modes as logical states in a state machine, however, in its current form it does not allow for changes the satellite or other entities may make in how they interact with the environment in which it operates.This thesis research evaluates the usefulness of dynamic modeling as compared with static modeling (such as that which is already possible with the LMMT). When changes occur which make the spacecrafts method of interacting with the environmental model no longer relevant, due to either spacecraft mode changes or other agents in the simulation, the model should be dynamically updated to include these changes by means of repropagating the environmental model.This researchs focus is to ideate and then evaluate a subset of use-cases that would create changes in the environmental model. Through this research, it is hoped to develop a method for identifying when a static model such as the LMMT should be utilized versus a dynamic model such as that developed specifically for this research.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 23, 2017
Accession Number
AD1055363

Entities

People

  • Justin A Sadowski

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Engineering
  • Graphical User Interface
  • Ground Stations
  • Model Based Systems Engineering
  • Reliability
  • Satellite Buses
  • Simulations
  • Solar Panels
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Star Trackers
  • Systems Engineering

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites