A Model for a Spacecraft Operations Language
Geraldine Chaudhri, Jim Cater, Brad Kizzort · SpaceOps 2006 Conference · 2006
Metamodel. This work was performed in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued in June 2005 by the Object Management Group (OMG). Research has been conducted to show that standardizing on a spacecraft operations language will result in significant cost savings to spacecraft development and operations. A model or metamodel of a spacecraft operations language is the basis for this standardization. A metamodel is used to describe the common elements of a language or other entity. A Spacecraft Operations Language Metamodel describes the common elements of a spacecraft procedure language, which is used to control and monitor spacecraft. This metamodel is then mapped to existing spacecraft procedure languages such as Spacecraft Test and Operations Language (STOL), Procedure Language for Users in Test and Operations (PLUTO), OS/COMET Control Language (CCL), and Command Interface Language (CIL). We can then enable tools that convert from one language to another, or allow procedure coding (either textual or graphical) in a standard environment to produce equivalent procedure files in multiple languages. In addition, the metamodel will map to the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Telemetry and Command Exchange (XTCE), a format that has been adopted by the OMG for standardizing on spacecraft telemetry and command definitions. This paper describes a Spacecraft Operations Language Metamodel as defined by the authors and shows its mapping to two specific spacecraft procedure languages, CCL and STOL, as well as its implementation in standard off the shelf tools.