On-Orbit Supervisor for Controlling Spacecraft

Abstract

Spacecraft systems of the 1990's and beyond will be substantially more complex than their predecessors. They will have demanding performance requirements and will be expected to operate more autonomously. This underscores the need for innovative approaches to Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR). A hierarchical expert system is presented that provides on-orbit supervision using intelligent FDIR techniques. Each expert system in the hierarchy supervises the operation of a local set of spacecraft functions. Spacecraft operational goals flow top down while responses flow bottom up. The expert system supervisors have a fairly high degree of autonomy. Bureaucratic responsibilities are minimized to conserve bandwidth and maximize response time. Data for FDIR can be acquired local to an expert and from other experts. By using a blackboard architecture for each supervisor, the system provides a great degree of flexibility in implementing the problem solvers for each problem domain. In addition, it provides for a clear separation between facts and knowledge, leading to an efficient system capable of real time response.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA254342

Entities

People

  • Richard J. Vandervoort

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Algorithms
  • Bandwidth
  • Control Systems
  • Damage Detection
  • Databases
  • Degradation
  • Detectors
  • Engineering
  • Expert Systems
  • Fault Tolerance
  • Hierarchies
  • Information Exchange
  • Measurement
  • Monitoring
  • Reliability
  • Scheduling (Production)

Readers

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Economics
  • Occupational Health and Safety.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers