Collaborative Satellite Configuration Supported by Interactive Visualization

Abstract

Planning a spacecraft requires the expert knowledge from diverse disciplines, such as propulsion or structure. Reliable communication between the experts is crucial, as the individual requirements of a satellite’s various subsystems heavily depend on each other. Today, early mission design sessions are often held in specially designed rooms, so-called concurrent engineering facilities. Here, the experts come together and directly discuss with each other in a shared place, enabling them to find a common ground much quicker. Nevertheless, in certain aspects it remains difficult for the experts to share and describe their knowledge within the team. In particular for configuration purposes it is a hurdle to verbally discuss positions and orientations of different parts. We propose a new approach of using shared interactive visualization for the configuration task, which enables every engineer to individually place parts and to alter it in case of discrepancies.