Intelligent system and method for spacecraft autonomous operations

• US 7,856,294 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2007
• Issued: 12/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SRA International, Inc. (General Dynamics Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SRA International, Inc. (General Dynamics Corporation)
• Inventors: Gardner, Don, Van Gaasbeck, James, Courtney, Philip
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUD, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US12/000,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20090157236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,103 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/3, 701/13, 701/29, 701/33, 701/35, 701/36, 701/54, 244/158.1, 714/1, 714/2, 714/7
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

The intelligent system for autonomous spacecraft operations includes an on-board Autonomous Operations subsystem integrated with an on-ground Web-based Remote Intelligent Monitor System (RIMS) providing interface between on-ground users and the autonomous operations intelligent system. The on-board Autonomous Operation subsystem includes an On-Orbit Checkout Engine (OOCE) unit and an Autonomous Tasking Engine (ATE) unit. Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) engine underlies the operations of the OOCE, ATE and RIMS, and serves as an executer of commands sequences. The OOCE uses the SCL engine to execute a series of SCL command scripts to perform a rapid on-orbit checkout of subsystems/components of the spacecraft in 1-3 days. The ATE is a planning and scheduling tool which receives requests for “activities” and uses the SCL scripts to verify the validity of the “activity” prior to execution, and scheduling the “activity” for execution or re-scheduling the same depending on verification results. Automated Mission Planning System (AMPS) supports the ATE operations. The ATE uses a priority schedule if multiple “activities” are to be executed.

Claims

1. An intelligent system for a spacecraft autonomous operations, comprising:

(a) an on-board autonomous operations system, including;

an On-Orbit Checkout Engine (OOCE) system, and an

Autonomous Tasking Engine (ATE) system;

(b) a Remote Intelligent Monitor System (RIMS) in communication with said on-board autonomous operations system through a communication channel, said RIMS including a user interface for communication with a plurality of user stations; and

(c) a Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) infrastructure system operatively coupled to said OOCE system, ATE system, and RIMS;

wherein said OOCE system collects checkout logic, generates SCL based checkout commands in accord with said checkout logic, and executes said SCL based checkout commands to perform a functional testing of respective components of the spacecrafts substantially upon the spacecraft reaching orbit, and to perform a performance testing of said respective spacecraft components to monitor an operations state thereof, and

wherein said ATE system receives objectives, plans a sequence of on-board actions to attain said objectives, generates SCL based scheduling commands for said on-board actions, and executes said SCL based scheduling commands in a predetermining order.

2. The intelligent system of claim 1, wherein said ATE system is coupled to on board ephemeris and orbit propagator to schedule, reschedule and execute said SCL based scheduling commands, and

wherein said ATE system performs short-term and long-term autonomous planning and scheduling.

3. The intelligent system of claim 1, wherein said ATE system checks for mission constraints violations prior to execution of said SCL based scheduling commands, and wherein said ATE system re-schedules said execution of said on-board actions in a predetermined time window if a mission constraint violation is detected.

4. The intelligent system of claim 2, wherein said OOCE system includes an OOCE database storing a plurality of cooperating OOCE rules, OOCE scripts, and OOCE constraints, and wherein said OOCE system collects behavioral knowledge data for said respective components of the spacecraft and auto-generates SCL scripts for respective commands to be executed, said respective commands being presented in a specified command pattern.

5. The intelligent system of claim 4, further comprising a spacecraft bus for communication between said on-board autonomous operations system and said respective components of the spacecraft.

6. The intelligent system of claim 5, wherein said SCL infrastructure system is coupled to said respective components of the spacecraft to monitor a State of Health (SOH) thereof by triggering predetermined rules of said OOCE and OOCE scripts from said OOCE system responsive to change in data of said respective components.

7. The intelligent system of claim 5, further comprising a communication channel between said spacecraft bus and said respective components of said spacecraft, said communication channel including a Flight Software System (FSS) Bridge coupled bi-directionally to said spacecraft bus, a Packet Handler bi-directionally connected to said FSS Bridge to communicate real-time operating system kernel (OSE) signals therebetween, said telemetry data being received at said OOCE database through said FSS Bridge.

8. The intelligent system of claim 5, further comprising an SCL Real-Time Engine (RTE) Unit coupled between said spacecraft bus and said OOCE database and executing on-board said OOCE scripts and OOCE rules stored in said OOCE database.

9. The intelligent system of claim 8, further comprising a Packet Generator unit coupled to said SCL RTE unit to generate on-board command packets under the control of said SCL RTE, said on-board command packets being transmitted to said respective spacecraft components.

10. The intelligent system of claim 2, wherein, based on Latitude and Longitude of a specified target, field of view of an Imager, daylight parameters, conflicts with other components of the spacecraft, and downlink or power constraints, said ATE system further determines a next event to image the specified target.

11. The intelligent system of claim 3, wherein said ATE system performs in a predetermined mode of operation selected from a group consisting of:

(a) application of a priority scheme for execution of said on board actions if multiple objectives requests are uploaded from said RIMS;

(b) executing said SCL based scheduling commands on First come-First served (FIFO) basis; and

(c) blocking out a section of a schedule immune to re-scheduling as a high priority objective.

12. The intelligent system of claim 9, further comprising an on-ground Automated Mission Planning System (AMPS) unit evaluating said objectives against spacecraft power, thermal model thereof and said orbit propagator data, said AMPS optimizing a schedule of said objectives and transmitting said optimized schedule to said RIMS, wherein said RIMS translates said optimized schedule into ATE commands transmitted thereto, said Packet Generator generating command packets responsive to said ATE commands for transmission to said respective components of the spacecraft.

13. The intelligent system of claim 2, wherein said ATE system further includes:

an ATE Activity Manager (ATE-AM) unit;

an ATE Plan Manager (ATE-PM) unit,

an ATE Execution Manager (ATE-EM) unit,

an ATE Script Scheduler (ATE-SS) unit, and

an ATE Event Executive (ATE-EE) unit,

wherein said Orbit Propagator includes an ATE Near-Term Orbit Propagator (ATE-NTOP) and ATE Long-Term Orbit Propagator (ATE-LTOP),

upon receiving ATE commands, said ATE-AM unit generating objectives to the ATE commands, and separating said objectives into near-term objectives and a long-term objectives,

entering a respective SCL script command corresponding to each of said near-term objectives into said ATE-SS unit, and sending said long-term objectives to said ATE-PM unit,

said ATE-AM unit communicating with said ATE-EE unit to receive therefrom a notification signal for execution of a respective near-term objective,

said ATE-EM unit being coupled to said ATE-AM unit to receive therefrom an execution time signal for said respective near-term objective, and

said ATE-AM unit fine tuning execution time signal for said respective near-term objective in accordance with data received from said ATE-NTOP.

14. The intelligent system of claim 13, wherein said ATE-PM unit enters said long-term objectives into a long-term objectives unit, and sends a respective objective from said long-term objectives unit to said ATE-AM unit for adding to said near-term objectives upon receiving a notification signal from said ATE-EE unit.

15. The intelligent system of claim 14, wherein said ATE-PM unit fine tunes execution time signal for each of said long-term objectives in accordance with data received from said ATE-LTOP.

16. The intelligent system of claim 13, wherein said ATE-AM unit removes said objective from said near-term objective unit when said objective is completed or cannot be completed due to an error occurred during the objective execution or due to failure to schedule said objective execution before a predetermining expiration time thereof.

17. The intelligent system of claim 14, wherein said ATE-PM unit defines unscheduled objectives among said long-term objectives based on expiration time thereof, and periodically attempts said unscheduled objectives for execution.

18. The intelligent system of claim 13, wherein said ATE-EM unit performs “

just-in-time”

mission constraints verification of said near-term objectives prior to execution thereof.

19. The intelligent system of claim 13, further comprising a SCL script schedule, said ATE-SS unit entering said SCL script command into said SCL script schedule a predetermined time period prior to execution of said SCL script command, and deleting said SCL script command from said SCL script schedule upon execution thereof.

20. The intelligent system of claim 4, wherein said OOCE system is loaded and started along with said Autonomy Operations System prior to a spacecraft launch, wherein said OOCE system starts a functional testing mode thereof substantially at spacecraft separation stage as a “

listen-only”

test sequence during Solar Array deployment and Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) safe mode sequence to check whether active spacecraft systems function in expected states and expected state transitions occur, and completes said functional testing mode substantially upon reaching a Sun Track, by administering tests of said respective components of the spacecraft, including command path, Enhanced Commercial Imager, RoadRunner On-Board Processing Experiment (ROPE), and Common Data Link (CDL); and

wherein in a performance testing mode thereof, said OOCE system performs verification of operating mode changes and State of Health (SOH) telemetry for said respective components, including spacecraft subsystems and payloads, and

generates a test report of a current state of each said respective component.

21. The intelligent system of claim 20, wherein said OOCE system further includes:

a test history log, a test event log, a

diagnostic log, and a flight knowledge

base.

22. The intelligent system of claim 20, wherein in said functional test mode and said performance test mode, said OOCE system executes said OOCE scripts defining the sequence of tests to be executed for each said respective component of a spacecraft, and executing conditional logic to skip a following test depending on results from previous tests.

23. The intelligent system of claim 1, wherein said OOCE system operates in an Autonomous Checkout Mode to monitor deployment and safing sequence, and to checkout tactical capabilities of the spacecraft, and in Ala Carte Payload Testing Mode to test Positive Ion Emitter (PIE), Miniaturized Vibration Isolation System (MVIS), Experimental Solar Array (ESA), deployment, Inter Stellar Compass (ICS), Absolute Density Mass Spectrometer (ADMS), and Anemometer Cross-Track Measurement Experiment (ACME).

24. The intelligent system of claim 1, further including a SCL Real-Time Engine (SCL RTE), SCL compiler, and SCL database, wherein said SCL database provides visibility into a current state of each of said respective components of the spacecraft, maintains SCL scripts and SCL rules defining operational logic for controlling the respective components of the spacecraft, and maintains formatting directives for generating real-time commands, wherein said SCL RTE is coupled to said SCL database to perform autonomous actions using said SCL RTE content.

25. The intelligent system of claim 1, wherein 0 said RIMS resides at a ground segment, and wherein said communication channel between said RIMS and said on-board autonomous operations system includes an S-band link for transmission of primary commands and telemetry data, and an X-band Common Data Link (CDL) for downloading data at rates approximately up to 274 Mbit/s.

26. The intelligent system of claim 12, wherein said RIMS is hyperlinked with said AMPS unit, said RIMS hosting said SCL system, Tomcat Web-Server, and JAVA Server Pages for creating Operations Screens and the-Mission Planning Screens at said user stations.

27. An intelligent system for a spacecraft autonomous operations, comprising:

(a) an on-board autonomous operations system, including;

an On-Orbit Checkout Engine (OOCE) system,

(b) a Remote Intelligent Monitor System (RIMS) in communication with said on-board autonomous operations system through a communication channel, said RIMS including a user interface for Web-based communication with a plurality of user stations; and

(c) a Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) infrastructure system operatively coupled to said OOCE system and RIMS;

wherein said OOCE system collects checkout logic uploaded from said RIMS, generates SCL based checkout commands in accord with said checkout logic, and executes said SCL based checkout commands to perform a functional testing of respective components of the spacecrafts substantially upon the spacecraft reaches the orbit, and to perform a performance testing of said respective spacecraft components to monitor the operations state thereof.

28. The intelligent system of claim 27, wherein said OOCE system includes an OOCE database storing a plurality of cooperating OOCE rules, OOCE scripts, and OOCE constraints.

29. The intelligent system of claim 28, wherein said SCL infrastructure system is coupled to said respective components of the spacecraft to monitor a State of Health (SOH) thereof by triggering predetermined rules of said OOCE and OOCE scripts from said OOCE system responsive to change in data of said respective components.

30. The intelligent system of claim 28, further comprising a spacecraft bus coupled to said on-board autonomous operations system, and a communication channel coupled between said spacecraft bus and said respective components of said spacecraft, said communication channel including a Flight Software System (FSS) Bridge coupled bi-directionally to said spacecraft bus, said telemetry data being received at said on-board OOCE database through said FSS Bridge.

31. The intelligent system of claim 30, further comprising an SCL Real-Time Engine (RTE) Unit coupled between said spacecraft bus and said on-board OOCE database and executing on-board said OOCE scripts and OOCE rules stored in said OOCE database, and a Packet Generator unit coupled to said SCL RTE unit to generate on-board command packets under the control of said SCL RTE, said on-board command packets being transmitted to said respective spacecraft components.

32. The intelligent system of claim 28, wherein said OOCE system is loaded and started along with said Autonomy Operations System prior to the-spacecraft launch, wherein said OOCE system starts a functional testing mode thereof substantially at spacecraft separation stage and completes said functional testing mode substantially upon reaching the Sun Track, wherein in said functional test mode and said performance test mode, said OOCE system executes said OOCE scripts defining the sequence of tests to be executed for each said respective component of the spacecraft, and executing conditional logic to skip a following test depending on results from previous tests.

33. An intelligent system for a spacecraft autonomous operations, comprising:

(a) an on-board autonomous operations system, including;

an Autonomous Tasking Engine (ATE) system;

(b) a Remote Intelligent Monitor System (RIMS) in communication with said on-board autonomous operations system through a communication channel, said RIMS including a user interface for Web-based communication with a plurality of user stations; and

(c) a Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) infrastructure system operatively coupled to said ATE system and RIMS;

wherein said ATE system receives objectives uploaded from said RIMS, plans a sequence of on-board actions to attain said objectives, generates SCL based scheduling commands for said on-board actions, and executes said SCL based scheduling commands in a predetermining order, and

wherein said ATE system is coupled to an orbit propagator to schedule, reschedule and execute said SCL based scheduling commands.

34. The intelligent system of claim 33, wherein said ATE system checks for mission constraints violations prior to execution of said SCL based scheduling commands, and wherein said ATE system re-schedules said execution of said onboard actions in a predetermined time window if a mission constraint violation is detected.

35. The intelligent system of claim 33, wherein, based on Latitude and Longitude of a specified target, field of view of an Imager, daylight parameters, conflicts with other components of the spacecraft, and downlink or power constraints, said ATE system further determines a next event to image the specified target.

36. The intelligent system of claim 34, wherein said ATE system performs in a predetermined mode of operation selected from a group consisting of:

(a) application of a priority scheme for execution if multiple objectives requests are uploaded from said RIMS;

(b) executing said SCL based scheduling commands on First come-First served (FIFO) basis; and

(c) blocking out a section of a schedule immune to re-scheduling as a high priority objective.

37. The intelligent system of claim 33, further comprising an on-ground Automated Mission Planning System (AMPS) unit evaluating said objectives against the spacecraft power, thermal model thereof and said orbit propagator data, said AMPS optimizing a schedule of said objectives requests and transmitting said optimized schedule to said RIMS, wherein said RIMS translates said optimized schedule into ATE commands transmitted thereto, said RIMS being hyperlinked with said AMPS unit, and hosting said SCL system, Tomcat Web-Server, and JAVA Server Pages for creating Operations Screens and the Mission Planning Screens at said user stations.

38. The intelligent system of claim 33, wherein said ATE system further includes:

an ATE Activity Manager (ATE-AM) unit;

an ATE Plan Manager (ATE-PM) unit,

an ATE Execution Manager (ATE-EM) unit,

an ATE Script Scheduler (ATE-SS) unit, and an ATE

Event Executive (ATE-EE) unit,

wherein said Orbit Propagator includes an ATE Near-Term Orbit Propagator (ATE-NTOP) and ATE Long-Term Orbit Propagator (ATE-LTOP),

upon receiving ATE commands, said ATE-AM unit generating objectives to the ATE commands, and separating said objectives into near-term objectives and a long-term objectives,

entering a respective SCL script command corresponding to each of said near-term objectives into said ATE-SS unit, and sending said long-term objectives to said ATE-PM unit,

said ATE-AM unit communicating with said ATE-EE unit to receive therefrom a notification signal for execution of a respective near-term objective,

said ATE-EM unit being coupled to said ATE-AM unit to receive therefrom an execution time signal for said respective near-term objective, and

said ATE-AM unit fine tuning execution time signal for said respective near-term objective in accordance with data received from said ATE-NTOP.

39. The intelligent system of claim 38, wherein said ATE-PM unit enters said long-term objectives into a long-term objectives unit, and sends a respective objective from said long-term objectives unit to said ATE-AM unit for adding to said near-term objectives upon receiving a notification signal from said ATE-EE unit,

wherein said ATE-PM unit fine tunes execution time signal for each of said long-term objectives in accordance with data received from said ATE-LTOP,

wherein said ATE-AM unit removes said objective from said near-term objective unit when said objective is completed or cannot be completed due to an error occurred during the objective execution or due to failure to schedule said objective execution before a predetermining expiration time thereof,

wherein said ATE-PM unit defines unscheduled objectives among said long-term objectives based on expiration time thereof, and periodically attempts said unscheduled objectives for execution, and

wherein said ATE-EM unit performs “

just-in-time”

mission constraints verification of said near-term objectives prior to execution thereof.

40. The intelligent system of claim 38, further comprising a SCL script schedule, said ATE-SS unit entering said SCL script command into said SCL script schedule a predetermined time period prior to execution of said SCL script command, and deleting said SCL script command from said SCL script schedule upon execution thereof.