Space Station Freedom ECLSS: A step toward autonomous regenerative life support systems

The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is a Freedom Station distributed system with inherent applicability to extensive automation primarily due to its comparatively long control system latencies. These allow longer contemplation times in which to form a more intelligent control strategy and to prevent and diagnose faults. The regenerative nature of the Space Station Freedom ECLSS will contribute closed loop complexities never before encountered in life support systems. A study to determine ECLSS automation approaches has been completed. The ECLSS baseline software and system processes could be augmented with more advanced fault management and regenerative control systems for a more autonomous evolutionary system, as well as serving as a firm foundation for future regenerative life support systems. Emerging advanced software technology and tools can be successfully applied to fault management, but a fully automated life support system will require research and development of regenerative control systems and models. The baseline Environmental Control and Life Support System utilizes ground tests in development of batch chemical and microbial control processes. Long duration regenerative life support systems will require more active chemical and microbial feedback control systems which, in turn, will require advancements in regenerative life support models and tools. These models can be verified using ground and on orbit life support test and operational data, and used in the engineering analysis of proposed intelligent instrumentation feedback and flexible process control technologies for future autonomous regenerative life support systems, including the evolutionary Space Station Freedom ECLSS

Intelligent agent for formal modelling of temporal multi-agent systems

Software systems are becoming complex and dynamic with the passage of time, and to provide better fault tolerance and resource management they need to have the ability of self-adaptation. Multi-agent systems paradigm is an active area of research for modeling real-time systems. In this research, we have proposed a new agent named SA-ARTIS-agent, which is designed to work in hard real-time temporal constraints with the ability of self-adaptation. This agent can be used for the formal modeling of any self-adaptive real-time multi-agent system. Our agent integrates the MAPE-K feedback loop with ARTIS agent for the provision of self-adaptation. For an unambiguous description, we formally specify our SA-ARTIS-agent using Time-Communicating Object-Z (TCOZ) language. The objective of this research is to provide an intelligent agent with self-adaptive abilities for the execution of tasks with temporal constraints. Previous works in this domain have used Z language which is not expressive to model the distributed communication process of agents. The novelty of our work is that we specified the non-terminating behavior of agents using active class concept of TCOZ and expressed the distributed communication among agents. For communication between active entities, channel communication mechanism of TCOZ is utilized. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed agent using a real-time case study of traffic monitoring system

A Novel Internet-of-Things Infrastructure to Support Self-Healing Distribution Systems

In this paper, we present a novel distributed software infrastructure to foster new services in smart grids with particular emphasis on supporting self-healing distribution systems. This infrastructure exploits the rising Internet-of-Things paradigms to build and manage an interoperable peer-to-peer network of our prototype smart meters, also presented in this paper. The proposed three-phase smart meter, called 3-SMA, is a low cost and open-source Internet-connected device that provides features for self-configuration. In addition, it selectively run onboard-algorithms for smart grid management depending on its deployment on the distribution network. Finally, we present the experimental results of Hardware-In-the-Loop simulations we performed

AutoDRIVE: A Comprehensive, Flexible and Integrated Cyber-Physical Ecosystem for Enhancing Autonomous Driving Research and Education

Prototyping and validating hardware-software components, sub-systems and systems within the intelligent transportation system-of-systems framework requires a modular yet flexible and open-access ecosystem. This work presents our attempt towards developing such a comprehensive research and education ecosystem, called AutoDRIVE, for synergistically prototyping, simulating and deploying cyber-physical solutions pertaining to autonomous driving as well as smart city management. AutoDRIVE features both software as well as hardware-in-the-loop testing interfaces with openly accessible scaled vehicle and infrastructure components. The ecosystem is compatible with a variety of development frameworks, and supports both single and multi-agent paradigms through local as well as distributed computing. Most critically, AutoDRIVE is intended to be modularly expandable to explore emergent technologies, and this work highlights various complementary features and capabilities of the proposed ecosystem by demonstrating four such deployment use-cases: (i) autonomous parking using probabilistic robotics approach for mapping, localization, path planning and control; (ii) behavioral cloning using computer vision and deep imitation learning; (iii) intersection traversal using vehicle-to-vehicle communication and deep reinforcement learning; and (iv) smart city management using vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and internet-of-things

An Overview of Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy at NASA Ames

Autonomous decision-making significantly increases mission effectiveness by mitigating the effects of communication constraints, like latency and bandwidth, and mission complexity on multi-spacecraft operations. To advance the state of the art in autonomous Distributed Space Systems (DSS), the Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA) team at NASA\u27s Ames Research Center is developing within five relevant technical areas: distributed resource and task management, reactive operations, system modeling and simulation, human-swarm interaction, and ad hoc network communications. DSA is maturing these technologies - critical for future large autonomous DSS - from concept to launch via simulation studies and orbital deployments. A 100-node heterogenous Processor-in-the-Loop (PiL) testbed aids distributed autonomy capability development and verification of multi-spacecraft missions. The DSA software payload deployed to the D-Orbit SCV-004 spacecraft demonstrates multi-agent reconfigurability and reliability as part of an ESA-sponsored in-orbit technology demonstration. Finally, DSA\u27s primary flight mission showcases collaborative resource allocation for multipoint science data collection with four small spacecraft as a payload on NASA\u27s Starling 1.0 satellites

Systemdienstleistungserbringung durch intelligente Gebäude

Within the ongoing transition of energy systems, new technologies are integrated into electrical distribution systems—e. g. distributed generation, electrical storage, electric vehicles and automated building energy management—which transform buildings into actively participating components inside the grid. This thesis analyses the influences of those intelligent buildings’ capabilities of optimizing their in-house energy flows on low-voltage grids and discusses the usability of those capabilities to provide system services. In order to minimize the limitations which arise for the economic acting on energy markets for the inhabitants of such buildings, the traffic light concept is shaped as an approach to provide necessary needed system services. Firstly, a technical traffic light is introduced to determine critical situations in the grid. Secondly, a topological traffic light identifies active components that can reasonably participate in the clearance of a critical situation. Thirdly, aspects of coordination by the traffic light are tackled by a closed-loop feedback mechanism that controls utility equipment and intelligent buildings by utilizing a two-staged mechanism for demand response. The three parts of the proposed traffic light approach are implemented in a Regional Energy Management System that utilizes a proposed Extended Generic Observer/Controller-Architecture. For a close-to-reality evaluation three reference grids for a rural, village, and suburban residential low voltage grid are derived from literature as well as three scenarios for the distribution of active components. In particular distributed generation, electrical storage and electric vehicles. The simulation of intelligent buildings, utility equipment, and the low voltage grid as well as the Regional Energy Management System are implemented in a Co-Simulation environment that extends the Organic Smart Home to a microgrid simulation. Furthermore, this simulation is extended towards a Software-in-a-Hardware-Loop-Environment comprising the Co-Simulation and the KIT Energy Smart Home Lab as a real intelligent building, to comply with the necessity of evaluating the Regional Energy Management System with real hardware. Here, a loose coupling of software and hardware components is established by using event-based communication schemes utilizing a message bus and an artificial mains is used to align the environmental conditions between simulation and real building. The capabilities of the Regional Energy Management System to stabilize low voltage systems, especially in future scenarios, are investigated in simulation studies and its operation is successfully demonstrated in the presented Software-in-a-Hardware-Loop-Environment during a six-day test phase in the real intelligent building

Use of Wireless Technologies in the Automation of Technological Processes

Necessary conditions for the system of communication networks in the management of technological processes effectively support hybrid in process networks and traffic, durability, reliability, security and scalability technological management is important in the industrial environment. To develop an industrial-strength wireless network that can work hard process automation requirements, network restrictions is the design that includes the hardware and software components used. to the system to achieve the required quality of service, a broad view of systems should be considered as a general network-based indicator and applications based on operation, interaction and cooperation formed on the basis of individual components. To reach the accepted network, various problems are solved. As part of this study, three specific issues were addressed: the problem of time synchronization distributed systems, closed-loop management of limited resources wireless network and transmission power monitoring. wireless field nodes are created. They solve a limited problem. That's it maximum use of available resources in the nodes of the distributed area is envisaged. Recent developments in wireless communication technologies that create new opportunities for wireless communication gas and communication with field equipment in many fields examples include processes in oil distribution and chemical refining. Wireless communications can help the above areas improve the plant and knowledge, measurements by getting filler where wired communication is not allowed, operations and devices can be attached to the technological automation system. Operational field communication network requirements active support for hybrid traffic, durability, reliability, in an industrial environment, it is necessary to take advantage of security and scalability. In addition, the organization of such a network at scale the fact that it does not have any strong network is a concern in this regard and creates several problems

Architecture of Environmental Risk Modelling: for a faster and more robust response to natural disasters

Demands on the disaster response capacity of the European Union are likely to increase, as the impacts of disasters continue to grow both in size and frequency. This has resulted in intensive research on issues concerning spatially-explicit information and modelling and their multiple sources of uncertainty. Geospatial support is one of the forms of assistance frequently required by emergency response centres along with hazard forecast and event management assessment. Robust modelling of natural hazards requires dynamic simulations under an array of multiple inputs from different sources. Uncertainty is associated with meteorological forecast and calibration of the model parameters. Software uncertainty also derives from the data transformation models (D-TM) needed for predicting hazard behaviour and its consequences. On the other hand, social contributions have recently been recognized as valuable in raw-data collection and mapping efforts traditionally dominated by professional organizations. Here an architecture overview is proposed for adaptive and robust modelling of natural hazards, following the Semantic Array Programming paradigm to also include the distributed array of social contributors called Citizen Sensor in a semantically-enhanced strategy for D-TM modelling. The modelling architecture proposes a multicriteria approach for assessing the array of potential impacts with qualitative rapid assessment methods based on a Partial Open Loop Feedback Control (POLFC) schema and complementing more traditional and accurate a-posteriori assessment. We discuss the computational aspect of environmental risk modelling using array-based parallel paradigms on High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms, in order for the implications of urgency to be introduced into the systems (Urgent-HPC).Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, 1 text box, presented at the 3rd Conference of Computational Interdisciplinary Sciences (CCIS 2014), Asuncion, Paragua

HLA high performance and real-time simulation studies with CERTI

Our work takes place in the context of the HLA standard and its application in real-time systems context. Indeed, current HLA standard is inadequate for taking into consideration the different constraints involved in real-time computer systems. Many works have been invested in order to provide real-time capabilities to Run Time Infrastructures (RTI). This paper describes our approach focusing on achieving hard real-time properties for HLA federations through a complete state of the art on the related domain. Our paper also proposes a global bottom up approach from basic hardware and software basic requirements to experimental tests for validation of distributed real-time simulation with CERTI