UAPS 20 Unmanned Surface Vehicle Control Station Analysis

This blog  will analyze the control station technology of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) control station in regards to the control station’s ability to provide effective situational awareness to the operators of this system. USVs are a growing segment of unmanned systems that offer multiple approaches to providing a low-cost solution to maritime issues such as port security, coastal patrol, and force protection (Haynes, 2011). One such system, the UAPS 20, was chosen to represent this market segment.  Manufactured by the SIEL Company of Torino, Italy (SIEL, 2011) the UAPS 20 is a system-based approach meant to provide a low-cost ruggedized platform based on one or more rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIB) which are controlled in one of four methods of operation. According to the Company’s website (SIEL, 2011), the UAPS 20 system is designed to operate in the following modes;

1.      Manual Mode: On onboard operator directly controls the USV

2.      Remote Mode: The operator controls the USV from either onshore or a supporting vessel.

3.      Semi-Auto Mode: Whereas the USV follows a pre-programmed course with the operator controlling the speed of the USV.

4.      Full-Auto Mode: Where the USV operated independently under operator supervision.

               The RHIB (illustrated below) is equipped with both a console for a human operator and an onboard system for semi-autonomous and fully autonomous operations.

Source: http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/62 (SIEL, 2009).

       The UAPS 20 USV is operated by a pair of consoles. The operator control station (OCS) is built as a ruggedized and water-proof computer workstation which permit the USV operate either remotely control the USV or plan and execute a pre-programmed mission profile while providing the operator with video and telemetry transmitted from the USV (SIEL, 2009). The second console, the central monitoring system (CMS), permits the operator to monitor a fleet of up to 15 USVs by providing real-time location and telemetry data (SIEL, 2009).

      The OCS (pictured below) is the primary method of controlling the USV and provides a touch-screen graphical interface to the operator along with a dedicated joystick and function buttons. The OCS also includes navigational software and allows the operator to set mission waypoints. The company’s website states that the OCS is capable of controlling the USV from a distance of 10 miles (SIEL, 2009) 

  

Source: http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/58 (SIEL, 2009)

   A drawback to this control station is the small size of the display screen.  Measuring 15 inches, this single screen is used to display navigational data, telemetry, and video feeds from the USV’s camera system. In a study conducted by the U.S. Army (Barnes & Jentsch, 2012) observed that larger displays were superior in providing information to the operator. This problem may be allayed if the operator was able to use the visual screen of the CMS to aid in situation awareness however this capability is not mentioned. SIELs website does mention that the OCS is equipped with USB and RJ45 connectors (SIEL, 2009) that may be used to connect larger displays but this places the requirement to provide such equipment on the customer. 

  In summary, the OCS for the UAPS 20 USV system is well capable of operating in an open maritime environment. The operator though, if faced with attempting to navigate and view the video feed from a rather small computer screen. Another item for consideration is the CMS which is identical in dimensions to the OCS, but is able to manage up to 15 USVs. Managing this task from a single screen could be a very challenging task for for the operator of this station as opposed to the operator of the OCS, who just needs to manage one.

References:

Barnes M Jentsch F 2012 Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military OperationsBarnes, M., & Jentsch, F. (2012). Human-Robot Interactions in Future Military Operations. : Ashgate Publishing Ltd.  20160430092813362075090

Haynes J 2011 Unmanned Surface Vehicles - USVs go from Concept to ServiceHaynes, J. (2011). Unmanned Surface Vehicles - USVs go from Concept to Service. Retrieved from http://www.shockmitigationdirectory.com/earticle-detail/unmanned-surface-vehicles---usvs-go-from-concept-to-service/27/ 20160429183051999718189

SIEL 2009 Operator Control Station (OCS)SIEL. (2009). The Operator Control Station (OCS). Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/58 20160430093711845072389

SIEL 2009 System HighlightsSIEL. (2009). System Highlights. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/usv 201604300943461997765065

SIEL 2009 UAPS 20 - Low cost RHIB PlatformSIEL. (2009). UAPS 20 - Low cost RHIB Platform. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/62 20160429184403352522731

SIEL 2009 UAPS 20 - OCS and CMSSIEL. (2009). UAPS 20 - OCS and CMS. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/58 20160430085434523582816

SIEL 2009 UAPS 20 - OCS and CMSSIEL. (2009). UAPS 20 - OCS and CMS. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/58 20160429185858645894170

SIEL 2009 UAPS 20 - OCS and CMSSIEL. (2009). UAPS 20 - OCS and CMS. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/58 201604291853531256084204

SIEL 2011 About SielSIEL. (2011). About Siel. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/company 201604291736401538497210

SIEL 2011 UAPS 20 - System Main CharacteristicsSIEL. (2011). UAPS 20 - System Main Characteristics. Retrieved from http://www.sielnet.com/index.php/products/52 20160429181010661173463

 

Rosetta/Philea Space Probe Data Collection and Management

In this blog we will examine the methods used by the European Space Agency (ESA) to incorporate data collection and management protocols within the system architecture of the Philae comet lander which landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko November 12^th, 2014 (Howell, 2015).

The Philae lander and its mothership, the Rosetta space probe, was launched from the ESA’s French-Guiana launch facility in 2004. Following a 10-year chase, the Rosetta probe reached Comet 67P and deployed the Philae lander on mission to determine the comet’s physical structure and composition (ESA, 2014). Unfortunately, the lander’s harpoon anchoring system failed to operate properly resulting in the Philae coming to rest on the comet’s surface at an angle. As the lander’s solar panels were unable to provide enough power for the expected duration of the mission, Philea went silent after 64 hours of operation and was placed into hibernation (Grady, 2016). Despite this setback, the lander was still able to transmit a wealth of information about Comet 67P despite the less-than-perfect landing, a testament to excellent hardware design.

Aboard Philea, the CDMS (Command and Data Management Subsystem) engineered by the Hungarian SGF Company (SGF Technology Associated Co. LTD, 2015) was responsible controlling of all of the lander functions. According to SGF (SGF, n.d.), the CDMS is a modular design that, while on the comets surface, would collect and execute commands from Earth, send scientific and lander status to the nearby Rosetta spacecraft for retransmission to controllers, and control sequencing of the scientific instrument operations. 

The CDMS features a common motherboard that supports redundant sub-units including two DPUs (Data Processing Units), two RTC (Real Times Clocks), two CIUs (Central Interface Units), two Mass Memory boards, and a Power Distribution board. SFG states that the primary DPU performs payload operations while the secondary observes the results. Thus the secondary DPU may assume payload control in case of primary DPU failure (SFG, n.d.).  A journal posted for the 2003 DASIA (Data Systems in Aerospace) conference (Baksa et al., 2003) describes the DPU as containing a Harris RTX2010 processor with a 16-bit processor that is radiation-hardened for space travel. A DPU also contains the program and memory data sets as well. Communication between system components is controlled by the CIU through a serial data transmission channel with a data transfer rate of 32 Kbit/s. System timing is controlled by the RTCs to ensure that critical functions occur exactly as programmed. The Massive Memory boards are capable of storing huge amounts of data (exact amount unspecified) garnered from mounted scientific instruments during the time periods when the lander is in the radio-shadow of the Rosetta probe. FORTH based software serves the operating system for the redundant CDMS components which operate in parallel for fault-tolerance, a critical characteristic for space vehicles which may be out of Earth contact for long periods of time.

The CDMS is also responsible for establishing data communication for transmission to Earth. According to NASA Technical Memorandum 2006-214431 (Gwaltney & Briscoe, 2003), the Rosetta mission utilized the European-developed SpaceWire protocol. The SpaceWire method permits a large number of devices to be networked that can communicate with each other at speeds of up to 400MB/s. This data transfer protocol was an ideal choice for the Rosetta mission where a low-powered lander was required to transmit bursts of data to the mothership over specific time periods (i.e., when the Philae and the Rosetta spacecraft were in position to communicate) for retransmission to Earth.

In summary, the Philae lander demonstrated the vital importance of well-designed data management systems and redundant system architecture supported by robust hardware and software. Despite enduring 10 years of space travel, and then literally bouncing off the surface of comet and landing awry, Philae was able to meet 90 percent of its scientific goals (Gibney, 2014). A truly remarkable accomplishment following a long and arduous journey to explore a little known and primeval relic from the dawn of the creation of our solar system.

References:

Baksa A Balalz A Palos Z Szalai S Varhalmi L 2003Baksa, A., Balalz, A., Palos, Z., Szalai, S., & Varhalmi, L. (2003).  Embedded Computer System on the Rosetta Spacecraft, , . Abstract from: id 72.1Retrieved from http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2003ESASP.532E..72B 201604101616511432396889

ESA 2014 Rosetta LanderESA. (2014). The Rosetta Lander. Retrieved from http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/The_Rosetta_lander 201604101428271120279908

Gibney E 2014 Philae’s 64 hours of comet science yield rich dataGibney, E. (2014). Philae’s 64 hours of comet science yield rich data. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/news/philae-s-64-hours-of-comet-science-yield-rich-data-1.16374 2016041017412752597284

Grady M 2016 Farewell to Philae as Rosetta Probe goes into 'Eternal Hibernation'Grady, M. (2016). Farewell to Philae as Rosetta Probe goes into 'Eternal Hibernation'. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/12/farewell-philae-rosetta-probe-goes-into-eternal-hibernation-comet-67p-churyumov-gerasimenko 20160410144805564049244

Gwaltney D A Briscoe J M 2003 Comparison of Communication Architectures for Spacecraft Modular Avionics SystemsGwaltney, D. A., & Briscoe, J. M. (2003). Comparison of Communication Architectures for Spacecraft Modular Avionics Systems. Retrieved from http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20060050129.pdf 201604101656531602582336

Howell E 2015 Wild, History-Making Comet landing by Philae Probe recreated in VideoHowell, E. (2015). Wild, History-Making Comet landing by Philae Probe recreated in Video. Retrieved from http://www.space.com/31129-philae-comet-landing-rosetta-video.html 201604101413201713546038

SFG n.d. Command and Data Management Subsystem (CDMS) of the Rosetta Lander (Philae)SFG. (n.d.). Command and Data Management Subsystem (CDMS) of the Rosetta Lander (Philae). Retrieved from http://www.sgf.hu/newsgfweb3_005.htm 201604101558321619160772

SGF n.d. Command and Data Management Subsystem (CDMS) of the Rosetta Lander (Philae)SGF. (n.d.). Command and Data Management Subsystem (CDMS) of the Rosetta Lander (Philae). Retrieved from http://www.sgf.hu/newsgfweb3_005.htm 201604101524041373302221

SGF Technology Associated Co LTD 2015 Welcome to our Web SiteSGF Technology Associated Co. LTD. (2015). Welcome to our Web Site. Retrieved from http://www.sgf.hu/ 201604101518551808394313