Space Robotics Simulation for Training
Harold Smith, Alexei Leskin · 2006
Integrated Solutions Sets technology, a Raytheon net-centric approach to product support, provides the customer with evolving operational solutions based on system demands, changing economic factors, and measured systems performance. Required capabilities as well as implementation are defined by the product operations scenarios and supported by simulation for development and simulation for training. Simulation for development is a traditional powerful tool well understood and developed. However simulation for training, both, concept and development, is less developed and very few specific approaches are suggested so far by scientific and industry communities. Simulation for training is used for behavioral analysis of the product and operator in combination and usually addresses only human related object functional capabilities. The human in the loop may include an extended set of stakeholders such as exist in the human spaceflight enterprise including astronauts, mission controllers, scientists, etc. We show that simulation simplification based on training objectives can be achieved using simulator reconfiguration capability, operational scenarios and specific trajectories, automatic object program environment generation, reverse engineering techniques, and software reuse. Simulation for training requires only a limited set of object operational attributes. Even for complex objects this set is usually well known and is revealed at the system requirements development stage. In most cases operational properties of the object are known and used to estimate the object performance. The simulator development goal is to create a model closely matching expected relevant properties. The object oriented design paradigm helps to decompose the simulated object into a number of entities, each of them controlling their own behavior. The trainer simulation software development is reduced then to the development of the objects and an executive supporting the simulation system integrity. Contrary to simulation for development, simulation for training does not always require detailed mathematical modeling of each object attribute. Therefore approximation of the simulated object behavior is another approach to simplify the simulation system and reduce the cost. A simulation technique and tools presented for both operational and mission rehearsal trainers have been implemented and tested in the Space Station Training Facility (SSTF). Space station robotics mechanism simulation analysis illustrates the approach. The result is the trainer flexibility and cost effectiveness.