Software Architecture and Design of the Kontur-2 Mission

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Kurzfassung

This paper describes the software architecture and design of the space segment, communication and ground segment software of the Kontur-2 project, which contributed to the realization of telepresent planetary exploration. The main research objectives in Kontur-2 were the development and in-flight verification of a space qualified two degree of freedom (DoF) force-feedback joystick (RJo) inside the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station (ISS), the implementation of telepresence technologies and the study of human performance when controlling a force feedback joystick in microgravity. The project was conducted from 2012 to 2015 by a consortium consisting of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS), The Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Cybernetics (RTC), S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (RSC ”Energia”) and the Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Researchand- Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC). The DLR conducted two sets of experiments in which a cosmonaut on ISS used RJo to perform different tasks with robots located on-ground. The first set was conducted with a two DoF robot equipped with a camera system, a task board and torque sensors that allowed the cosmonaut to perceive forces caused by contacts with the environment. For the second set of experiments we used a humanoid robot to perform a tele-handshake and a cooperative task between the cosmonaut on ISS and colleagues at RTC in St. Petersburg. To realize these experiments, the consortium developed onboard and on-ground software which will be described in this paper. The space segment software consists of the control software for RJo and user interfaces on a laptop to guide the cosmonaut efficiently through the experiments. We designed a state machine for these user interfaces to capture state changes during the experiment execution. This way we provided only relevant contextual information to the cosmonaut. On RJo, we deployed a component framework combining a data-centric architecture with a CCSDS Space Packet interface. Additionally, we designed the communication software for supporting a direct multi-channel connection between ground control and ISS using our own S-band radio equipment. During contact to ISS, the ground operators used the ground segment software at DLR for experiment support, supervision, maintenance and data logging. The visual feedback from the camera system required by the cosmonaut to perform the experiments was provided by a lowlatency video stream through a communication channel with very restricted bandwidth. During 23 experiment sessions in 2015, the Kontur-2 software formed the basis of the successful completion of the experiments. Their results contributed to the fields of telepresence technologies and human factors.

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• Software Architecture and Design of the Kontur-2 Mission. (deposited 23 Dez 2016 10:00) [Gegenwärtig angezeigt]