Service-Oriented Architecture for Space Exploration Robotic Rover Systems

Currently, industrial sectors are transforming their business processes into e-services and component-based architectures to build flexible, robust, and scalable systems, and reduce integration-related maintenance and development costs. Robotics is yet another promising and fast-growing industry that deals with the creation of machines that operate in an autonomous fashion and serve for various applications including space exploration, weaponry, laboratory research, and manufacturing. It is in space exploration that the most common type of robots is the planetary rover which moves across the surface of a planet and conducts a thorough geological study of the celestial surface. This type of rover system is still ad-hoc in that it incorporates its software into its core hardware making the whole system cohesive, tightly-coupled, more susceptible to shortcomings, less flexible, hard to be scaled and maintained, and impossible to be adapted to other purposes. This paper proposes a service-oriented architecture for space exploration robotic rover systems made out of loosely-coupled and distributed web services. The proposed architecture consists of three elementary tiers: the client tier that corresponds to the actual rover; the server tier that corresponds to the web services; and the middleware tier that corresponds to an Enterprise Service Bus which promotes interoperability between the interconnected entities. The niche of this architecture is that rover's software components are decoupled and isolated from the rover's body and possibly deployed at a distant location. A service-oriented architecture promotes integrate-ability, scalability, reusability, maintainability, and interoperability for client-to-server communication.Comment: LACSC - Lebanese Association for Computational Sciences, http://www.lacsc.org/; International Journal of Science & Emerging Technologies (IJSET), Vol. 3, No. 2, February 201

GridLabs: Facilitating collaborative access to remote laboratories

eScience is usually characterized by the cooperation of distributed groups of researchers who share data and computing environments and perform experiments together. Often immense data sets that were produced by expensive equipments need to be accessed and evaluated. Such eScience scenarios require both, support for collaboration of researchers at distant locations and also the remote control of the shared laboratory devices. However, this type of remote experimentation and collaboration must be taught during university education. In this paper, we propose a framework that supports the training of above practices through the provision of a dedicated collaboration environment. It extends current approaches with support for a life cycle of remote labs, including scheduling the access to remote labs as well as defining access permissions. Our experiences in teaching lab courses suggest that the approach is also applicable in eScience scenarios

Effects of a Distributed Computing Architecture on the Emerald Nanosatellite Development Process

Building satellites with greater capabilities on shorter timelines requires changes in development approach. Relative to previous satellite projects in Stanford’s Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL), the Emerald Nanosatellite system is highly complex. Its mission requires numerous experiments and relatively sophisticated subsystem capabilities. To develop this system on a short two-year timeline required a new development approach to simplify system integration. As a result, the Emerald development team adopted a modular distributed computing architecture. While this decision imposed many changes on Emerald’s design process, the benefits of the distributed architecture for system integration and testing justified its selection. This approach has already affected the early stages of engineering model integration, and is expected to provide flexibility throughout construction and integration of the flight hardware. In addition the distributed architecture developed for the Emerald project will provide a useful tool for future development efforts in the SSDL and the small satellite development community

Overview of modern teaching equipment that supports distant learning

Laboratory is a key element of engineering and applied sciences educational systems. With the development of Internet and connecting IT technologies, the appearance of remote laboratories was inevitable. Virtual laboratories are also available; they place the experiment in a simulated environment. However, this writing focuses on remote experiments not virtual ones. From the students’ point of view, it is a great help not only for those enrolling in distant or online courses but also for those studying in a more traditional way. With the spread of smart, portable devices capable of connection to the internet, students can expand or restructure time spent on studying. This is a huge help to them and also allows them to individually divide their time up, to learn how to self-study. This independent approach can prepare them for working environments. It offers flexibility and convenience to the students. From the universities’ point of view, it helps reduce maintenance costs and universities can share experiments which also helps the not so well-resourced educational facilities

2008 Exhibitors

Listings and Descriptions of 2008 Small Satellite Conference Exhibitor

TOBE: Tangible Out-of-Body Experience

We propose a toolkit for creating Tangible Out-of-Body Experiences: exposing the inner states of users using physiological signals such as heart rate or brain activity. Tobe can take the form of a tangible avatar displaying live physiological readings to reflect on ourselves and others. Such a toolkit could be used by researchers and designers to create a multitude of potential tangible applications, including (but not limited to) educational tools about Science Technologies Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and cognitive science, medical applications or entertainment and social experiences with one or several users or Tobes involved. Through a co-design approach, we investigated how everyday people picture their physiology and we validated the acceptability of Tobe in a scientific museum. We also give a practical example where two users relax together, with insights on how Tobe helped them to synchronize their signals and share a moment