3rd IEEE Track on

Collaborative Modeling & Simulation - CoMetS'12

in WETICE 2012
21st IEEE International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Infrastructures,
June 25 - 27, 2012, Toulouse (France)

Invited Talk

Collaborative Engineering: Solutions and Challenges

in the Development of Space Systems

 

 

Dr. Andreas Gerndt

Dept. of Software for Space Systems and Interactive Visualization

Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)

(German Aerospace Center)

Braunschweig, Germany

 

The planning of future space missions and the development of new spacecrafts are time-consuming and error-prone processes. Standard software applications such as Word and Excel and specialized domain tools like Catia or Matlab/Simulink are of limited use in setting up a reliable integrated workflow. Moreover, they are not flexible enough to guide all involved engineers in an appropriate way through all phases of the design process. The Virtual Satellite software framework, developed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), gives special attention exactly to those problems. One of the modules already available addresses, e.g., the early spacecraft mission design in concurrent engineering facilities (CEF). Here, visualization of spacecraft concepts based on very early parameter studies proved to convey a better common understanding of the overall system. In later design phases, 3D visualization and virtual reality techniques becomes indispensable to analyze complex simulation results and to identify malfunctions of high-dimensional dynamic space systems. Concurrent engineering is an important approach to define future space mission requirements. However, it is a human-driven approach and depends heavily on the expertise of the involved engineers. Software concepts based on current leading edge research in computer science to support model-based systems engineering do not only help to shorten development cycles but also lead to more flexible and robust results throughout the complete design life-cycle of a spacecraft. Using domain-specific models, the complete executable prototype can be generated automatically including test suites. Most important, however, is the possibility to verify the design data model and the dynamic behavior of the system with formal methods against predefined requirements. In this talk we will discuss the challenges outlined above in more detail and present promising approaches to the improvement of the space mission planning process.

Dr. Gerndt Short Bio

Dr. Andreas Gerndt is head of the department "Software for Space Systems and Interactive Visualization" at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Working as a computer scientist in an engineering environment, his research activities is driven by challenges in interdisciplinary collaborations. He is primarily interested in software solutions to facilitate insight into complex behaviors and dynamic simulations by mean of interactive approaches. This is complemented by the investigation of new model-based methods to create more robust and fault-tolerant applications in the aerospace domain. He received his degree in computer science from Technical University, Darmstadt, Germany in 1993. In the position of a research scientist, he also worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics (IGD) in Germany. Thereafter, he was a software engineer for several companies with focus on Software Engineering and Computer Graphics. In 1999 he continued his studies in Virtual Reality and Scientific Visualization at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, where he received his doctoral degree in computer science. After two years of interdisciplinary research activities as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, USA, he returned to Germany in 2008.

 

Last Update 08/08/2012

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