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Niccolo Cymbalist (a), Marc-Andr Lauriault (b), Chah Adourian (supervisor) (c)
(a)Concordia University, Montreal QC niccolo.cymbalist@hotmail.com (514) 561-3886 (b)Universit de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC Marc.Andre.Lauriault@USherbrooke.ca (514) 582-4961 (c)Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, QC chahe.adourian@asc-csa.gc.ca (450) 926-4668
Abstract Concurrent design has been successfully implemented in various space agencies, notably at the European Space Agency, and is currently being considered for adoption at the Canadian Space Agency. We will introduce some of the tools and procedures being developed. These include the shared Excel spreadsheets to accept the critical design parameters from each specialist involved in the design session, the modeling and simulation software used to verify the design, and the functions to interface between the spreadsheets and modeling software. The modeling software is being developed in Modelica/Dymola while the interfacing functions are in Visual Basic and C. We will finally outline future avenues of development.
1. Introduction Integrated Concurrent Engineering (ICE), or concurrent design, is a method of designing a product which stresses the use of a multidisciplinary team of experts and clients to develop the product by working concurrently, usually in the same physical location [3]. The design exercise is conducted over a variable number of short, intense design sessions. The use of ICE in the aerospace sector, more specifically in government space agencies and affiliated laboratories, has promoted a large increase in the quality and number of the pre-phase A design studies (proposals). The cost of producing proposals has seen a corresponding decrease [1,2]. ICE was fully introduced to the aerospace sector in 1994, with the formation of the Product Design Center (PDC) supporting Team-X at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, as a result of the cheaper, faster, better paradigm introduced at NASA at the time [1]. It has since proliferated throughout private industry and government space agencies, notably the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) at ESA [3,4]. One of the principal factors facilitating the implementation of successful ICE facilities in recent years has been the dramatic improvement in IT tools and infrastructure allowing for the efficient production and exchange of information which is critical in the fast-paced and low latency concurrent engineering environment [1,5]. In this paper we will illustrate a proof of concept implementation of an ICE enabling software tool, and the place it occupies in the concurrent engineering process. The tool and procedures we present are valid !
for both a fixed location concurrent design facility and a temporary concurrent design facility which can quickly be set up in a conference room or classroom, with the only requirements being a shared drive and projection screen. Ideally, the latter option will make the best of concurrent design practices without full commitment to a traditional full concurrent design facility, which may be unnecessary for smaller applications. 2. The Software The key to making this software useful as opposed to cumbersome is to attain the ideal balance between ease of use and fidelity. The way the spacecraft model is assembled must be intuitive and simple while the parameters describing the components or subsystems must be to the appropriate level of detail. Too much detail and the model becomes cumbersome. Too little and the fidelity becomes an issue. The software is divided into 3 general parts; the modeling and simulation software, the design spreadsheets which are shared by the individual experts, and the link between the two. 2.1 Simulation software The modeling and simulation software basically consists of an extensive library of spacecraft components categorized by Figure 1, assembled spacecraft model subsystem, in a modular drag and drop simulation environment (see figure 1). Each component is modeled closely after the physical component and can be assigned a size, orientation, mass, power generation/consumption characteristics, and other more specific parameters such as rate of data generation, solar cell technology and so on. These are assembled into a spacecraft of any configuration and placed into a high fidelity model of the space environment which includes an accurate orbit propagator, magnetic fields, eclipses and planet ephemerides. The modeling language of choice for this application is Modelica in a Dymola environment. It is easy to use, inexpensive, robust and ideally suited to our needs. It easily combines models of dynamic physical systems (for the orbit propagation and attitude control) with power consumption/generation, data flow and command network modeling. It also has a well developed visualization component, which allows the designers to visualize and explore the layout of the spacecraft in 3D (see figure 2).
The model accepts a command list which is used to approximate the operating profile for a more accurate evaluation of the design. For example, if the spacecraft is required to change its attitude frequently and "