Structurally Embedded Electrical Systems Using Ultrasonic Consolidation (UC)

Current research has demonstrated the use of Ultrasonic Consolidation (UC) to embed several USB-based sensors into aluminum, and is working toward embedding suites of sensors, heaters and other devices, connected via USB hubs, which can be monitored and controlled using an embedded USB capable processor. Additionally, the research has shown that electronics can be embedded at room temperature, but with some inter-layer delamination between the ultrasonically bonded aluminum layers. Embedding sensors and electronics at 300o F to overcome the delamination issues resulted in optimal bonding, and the sensors used thus far have functioned normally. Future investigation will explore other UC parameter combinations to ascertain the quality of embedding at lower temperatures.Mechanical Engineerin

A Model-Based Design Tool for Systems-Level Spacecraft Design

It is standard practice to mathematically model and analyze the various subsystems that make up a spacecraft, to ensure that they will function correctly when built. However, the system-level behavior of the spacecraft is generally understood in much less rigorous terms. This leaves the spacecraft system far more vulnerable than the subsystems to unforeseen design errors which may not manifest themselves until the integration and test phase, when design changes are most expensive in terms of cost and schedule. In this paper, we present Spacecraft Design Workbench, an extensible graphical design tool built upon the Generic Modeling Environment (GME) tool infrastructure, and intended to allow spacecraft systems engineers to model and analyze proposed spacecraft system designs in a rigorous manner. The graphical models defined by our tool have an underlying formal behavior semantics rooted in the Communicating Sequential Processes process algebra, which permits these models to be analyzed using off-the-shelf tools. As a proof-of-concept, we provide a small example that illustrates the application of our tool to the specification of a simple scientific spacecraft

A Model-Based Design Tool for Systems-Level Spacecraft Design

It is standard practice to mathematically model and analyze the various subsystems that make up a spacecraft, to ensure that they will function correctly when built. However, the system-level behavior of the spacecraft is generally understood in much less rigorous terms. This leaves the spacecraft system far more vulnerable than the subsystems to unforeseen design errors which may not manifest themselves until the integration and test phase, when design changes are most expensive in terms of cost and schedule. In this paper, we present Spacecraft Design Workbench, an extensible graphical design tool built upon the Generic Modeling Environment (GME) tool infrastructure, and intended to allow spacecraft systems engineers to model and analyze proposed spacecraft system designs in a rigorous manner. The graphical models defined by our tool have an underlying formal behavior semantics rooted in the Communicating Sequential Processes process algebra, which permits these models to be analyzed using off-the-shelf tools. As a proof-of-concept, we provide a small example that illustrates the application of our tool to the specification of a simple scientific spacecraft

A Model-Based Toolset for Supporting Rapid Integration and Verification of Spacecraft Electronics

Recent trends in small spacecraft design seek to leverage the principles of modularity and component-level decoupling to facilitate rapid system integration. In this paper, we examine a tool-based approach to support the design and verification of rapidly integrated small spacecraft systems. Most existing approaches to rapid systems integration support device interfacing and integration at runtime, at the expense of added system hardware and software to perform configuration management. Often, rapidly integrated systems need system configuration facilities only once, when all devices are “plugged in.” Once all the devices have been discovered and integrated, the logic that performs these activities is no longer needed. In addition to the overhead imposed by configuration management, self-verification is not permitted by a completely dynamic system, since there is no capability of determining dynamically what the “correct” configuration should be. We propose an approach based on the use of domain specific visual modeling to represent the system electronics, and automatic program synthesis to generate both the middleware to glue the system together, as well as a software-based self-test to validate the rapidly integrated system

Model-Integrated Design Toolset for Polymorphous Computer-Based Systems

Polymorphous computer-based systems are systems in which the CPU architecture “morphs ” or changes shape to meet the requirements of the application. Optimized and efficient design for these systems requires exploration along axes beyond those of traditional system design. In this paper we outline a model-integrated toolset to aid in the specification, analysis and synthesis of polymorphous applications. Polymorphous systems can be developed utilizing a four-tiered approach, where inherent application properties and characteristics govern design practices at each level. We show through the development of the model-integrated approach that polymorphous system design is inherently coupled with the search and exploration of a combinatorial space of design tradeoffs. Design tools are needed to efficiently evaluate this large and complex space in order to arrive at near-optimal application implementations. 1