Ares I-X Ground Diagnostic Prototype Demo at KSC
Mark Schwabacher and John Ossenfort traveled to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where they had a successful demo of the Ares I-X Ground Diagnostic Prototype on May 14, 2009. It was attended by about seven people from KSC plus about a dozen others from Ames Research Center (ARC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) via Secure Meeting.
The demo included a complete TEAMS model of the Ares I-X first-stage Thrust Vector Control (TVC) and associated ground hydraulics, SHINE rules for mode identification and the “pass/fail” TEAMS tests (for a subset of the failure modes), a new Java-based display of the TEAMS-RT outputs, a Winplot display of the IMS anomaly scores, and historical Shuttle TVC and ground hydraulics data augmented with two simulated faults.
During the demo, the Winplot Archive Server fed historical Shuttle data to the SHINE rules in simulated real time. The SHINE rules performed mode identification and computed the TEAMS tests, and passed the results to TEAMS-RT and IMS. TEAMS-RT performed fault isolation, and the diagnoses were displayed in the Java display. IMS performed anomaly detection, and the anomaly scores were displayed on a graph in the Winplot tool. TEAMS-RT and IMS both correctly identified both simulated faults. All of the software ran on a laptop at 25 Hz. Bob Waterman of KSC and Stephen Johnson of MSFC were both pleased with the demo.
BACKGROUND: Ares I-X, scheduled to launch on August 31, 2009, will be the first uninhabited test flight of the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle. The Ares I-X GDP team is producing a prototype ground diagnostic system for demonstration during the Ares I-X pre-launch period at KSC. This demo will monitor the Ares I-X first-stage TVC and the associated ground hydraulics while the vehicle is in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and while it is on the launch pad. The demo will combine TEAMS (a model-based diagnostic tool that is a commercial product from Qualtech Systems Inc., and was originally developed using NASA Ames SBIR funding), the Inductive Monitoring System (IMS, an anomaly detection tool that was developed at ARC by David Iverson), and SHINE (Spacecraft Health Inference Engine, a rule-based expert system from JPL). The three tools will be deployed to Hangar AE at KSC, where they will be interfaced with live data from the Ares I-X vehicle and from the ground hydraulics. The outputs of the tools will be displayed on a screen in Hangar AE, which is the location from which the Ares I-X launch will be monitored.
NASA PROGRAM FUNDING: Ares I-X GDP is funded by Ares I, by ETDP, and by KSC Ground Ops (FY09)
TEAM MEMBERS, COLLABORATORS, AND CUSTOMERS: Mark Schwabacher (ARC, lead), Barbara Brown (ARC at KSC), Bob Waterman (KSC), John Ossenfort (EASI at ARC), Rebecca Oostdyk (ASRC at KSC), Charles Lee (EASI at ARC), Rodney Martin (ARC), Mark James (JPL), Pat Chang (JPL), Lawrence Markosian (SGT at ARC), Martin Feather (JPL), Nathan Wood (KSC), Tim Taylor (MSFC), Vijay Baskaran (SGT at ARC), Robert Trent (ARC), Lilly Spirkovska (ARC), Bryan Matthews (SGT at ARC).
Contact: Mark Schwabacher
- NASA Official: Dave Korsmeyer
- Curator: ASANI Solutions