DIAGNOSTIC CONTROL BY MEANS OF MODEL BASED REASONING

INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE REQUIRED FOR ENHANCED PROCESS CONTROL, AUTOMATED DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR FUNCTIONS. THE GOAL IS TO INCREASE SPACE STATION RELIABILITY AND AUTOMATION FOR LONG DURATION MISSIONS THROUGH USE OF MODEL-BASED REASONING TECHNIQUES (MBR) AS THE BASIS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS. MBR HAS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGESOVER RULE-BASED APPROACHES: APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT REQUIRESNO A PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FAILURE MODES; THE INITIALLY DEPLOYED SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE FO HANDLING A MUCH WIDER RANGE OF MALFUNCTIONS; NO KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING OF HUMAN EXPERTS IS REQUIRED; THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE TIME AND EFFORTS ARE LESS; APPLICATION VALIDATION IS MUCH MORE THOROUGH; AND MBR MODULES MAY BE EASILY REUSED FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS. THE OBJECTIVES OF PHASE I ARE TO DEMONSTRATE THESE CAPABILITIES BY PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SOFTWARE EVALUATIONS AND TO DESIGN THE PHASE II PILOT APPLICATION. A PROVEN MBR TOOL DEVELOPED OUT OF RESEARCH AT THE MIT AI LABORATORY WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS OF THE INTELLIGENT CONTROL PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SYSTEM. INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE REQUIRED FOR ENHANCED PROCESS CONTROL, AUTOMATED DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR FUNCTIONS. THE GOAL IS TO INCREASE SPACE STATION RELIABILITY AND AUTOMATION FOR LONG DURATION MISSIONS THROUGH USE OF MODEL-BASED REASONING TECHNIQUES (MBR) AS THE BASIS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS. MBR HAS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGESOVER RULE-BASED APPROACHES: APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT REQUIRESNO A PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FAILURE MODES; THE INITIALLY DEPLOYED SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE FO HANDLING A MUCH WIDER RANGE OF MALFUNCTIONS; NO KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING OF HUMAN EXPERTS IS REQUIRED; THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE TIME AND EFFORTS ARE LESS; APPLICATION VALIDATION IS MUCH MORE THOROUGH; AND MBR MODULES MAY BE EASILY REUSED FOR OTHER APPLICATIONS. THE OBJECTIVES OF PHASE I ARE TO DEMONSTRATE THESE CAPABILITIES BY PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SOFTWARE EVALUATIONS AND TO DESIGN THE PHASE II PILOT APPLICATION. A PROVEN MBR TOOL DEVELOPED OUT OF RESEARCH AT THE MIT AI LABORATORY WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS OF THE INTELLIGENT CONTROL PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SYSTEM.