A KNOWLEDGE-BASED EXPERT SYSTEM TO COORDINATE CAD/CAE WITH INTEGRATION AND TEST

DURING THE COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN/COMPUTER AIDED ENGINEERING (CAD/CAE) PHASES OF SPACECRAFT AND MISSION DEVELOPMENT, A LARGE AND VALUABLE DATABASE IS BUILT-UP BY THE DESIGN ENGINEERS AND MISSION PLANNERS. THIS DATABASE MAY INCLUDE SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS, SCHEMATIC DIAGRAMS, SIMULATIONS, AND SOFTWARE. CURRENTLY, THIS DATA IS SELDOM USED DURING THE SYSTEM INTEGRATION, TEST, AND OPERATIONAL PHASES. INSTEAD, MUCH OF THE SAME INFORMATION IS MANUALLY RECONFIGURED BY ENGINEERS, ADDING MANY PERSON-HOURS AND MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR ERROR TO EACH MISSION AND SYSTEM. WE PROPOSE TO ALLEVIATE MANY OF THESE PROBLEMS, BY CONSTRUCTING A KNOWLEDGE-BASED EXPERT SYSTEM TO COORDINATE THE DATA PRODUCED USING CAD/CAE TOOLS AND MAKE THAT DATA SUITABLE FORUSE DURING SYSTEM INTEGRATION, TEST, AND OPERATION. THE PHASE I STUDY PROPOSED HEREIN WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH AN EXPERT SYSTEM, AND WILL RESULT IN A WORKING PROTOTYPE WHICH WILL AID IN FAULT DIAGNOSIS AND OPERATIONAL SIMULATION FOR DIGITAL SYSTEMS.