Automation and Robotics Research

"Computer Products and Services for the Integrated Graphics, Operations, Analysis Laboratory (IGOAL)"

The IGOAL project consisted of: (1) Human Interaction Design, Development and Evaluation; this effort included the development and evaluation of human interaction designs and human interaction design methods for intelligent systems for monitoring and anomaly detection to enhance approaches to cooperation between conventional and advanced automation software in control center. (2) Robotic Control Architecture Development: Metrica provided the design and implementation of robot control architectures within the Robotic Architecture Laboratory. This included design and implementation of multi-tiered control architectures and applications of artificial intelligence techniques to robot control architectures. Products are state of the art robotics control architectures written in C, C++, LISP and other appropriate languages. The architectures were to be installed in testbed robots and project tools. (3) Robotics Architecture Laboratory Systems Management: Metrica provided systems management for the Robotics Architecture Laboratory computer systems and network, and was responsible for the wireless network for the laboratory robots and the design and implementation of nay networking required by the robots or robot control system.

Intelligent Control of Advanced Water Recovery Systems (WRS)

Following the advanced water recovery work begun with the FY98 Node 3 efforts, the Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) continued to investigate low power, low consumable advanced methods of water recovery for both space and planetary missions. In a two-pronged approach, CTSD expanded their investigations into biological water processors as well as began preparation for an integrated water recovery system (WRS) test. CTSD requested that the Intelligent Systems Branch continue to provide the intelligent control software based on the 3T infrastructure in support of both of these efforts.

A Water Recovery System (WRS) recycles urine and waste water into potable and utility water. The advanced WRS is comprised of the following components: 1) a biological water processor (BWP) to remove organic compounds and ammonia; 2) an inorganic removal system (IRS) to remove inorganic compounds from the effluent of the BWP; 3) a brine recovery system (BRS) to recover additional water from the brine produced by the IRS; and 4) a post processing system (PPS) to bring the water to within potable limits.

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Autonomous Control of Air Revitalization

Metrica developed the Product Gas Transfer (PGT) intelligent software to control advanced life support hardware being developed at Johnson Space Center to regenerate air in crew habitats for NASA's manned exploration program. The PGT system uses the Three-Tiered (3T) autonomous control architecture. This architecture integrates traditional control with reactive task sequencing and deliberative planning technology. The PGT software was used during the Phase III test of NASA's Lunar/Mars Life Support Test Program (LMLSTP). For this test, four crew members lived in a closed habitat for 91 days. During that time, the PGT controlled the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the crew and waste incineration into oxygen (O2) produced by wheat plants. Because the chamber was in a separate location from the crew chamber, the PGT both controlled gas concentration as well as transferred gases among the plant chamber, the crew chamber, the incincerator, and reservoirs used to store CO2 and O2.

The purpose of using an intelligent control system was to reduce the need for crew involvement in the control of life support by automating nominal and expected anomalous control operations. The crew only intervenes in unusual situations. Prior to this test, traditional life support control software being used required round-the-clock support, with two eight-hour shifts seven days a week. The automated control software reduced operational support by a factor of ten, requiring 6-8 hours weekly of shift work, with an additional six hours for each incineration and three hours for each wheat harvest.