EARLY VALIDATION OF FAILURE DETECTION, ISOLATION, AND RECOVERY DESIGN USING HETEROGENEOUS MODELLING AND SIMULATION

摘要

Modelling and simulation can support a number of usecases across the spacecraft development life-cycle.Given the increasing complexity of space missions, theobserved general trend is for a more extensive usage ofsimulation already in the early phases. A majorperceived advantage is that modelling and simulationcan enable the validation of critical aspects of thespacecraft design before the actual development isstarted, as such reducing the risk in later phases.Failure Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) isone of the areas with a high potential to benefit fromearly modelling and simulation. With the increasinglevel of required spacecraft autonomy, FDIRspecifications can grow in such a way that thetraditional document-based review process soonbecomes inadequate.This paper shows that FDIR modelling and simulationin a system context can provide a powerful tool tosupport the FDIR verification process. It is highlightedthat FDIR modelling at this early stage requiresheterogeneous modelling tools and languages, in orderto provide an adequate functional description of thedifferent components (i.e. FDIR functions, environment,equipment, etc.) to be modelled.For this reason, an FDIR simulation framework isproposed in this paper. This framework is based on anumber of tools already available in the AvionicsSystems Laboratory at ESTEC, which are the AvionicsTest Bench Functional Engineering Simulator (ATBFES), Matlab/Simulink, TASTE, and Real TimeDeveloper Studio (RTDS).The paper then discusses the application of the proposedsimulation framework to a real case-study, i.e. the FDIRmodelling of a satellite in support of actual ESAmission. Challenges and benefits of the approach aredescribed. Finally, lessons learned and the generality ofthe proposed approach are discussed.