Mark Turowski

Integrated System Health Management: Pilot Operational Implementation in a Rocket Engine Test Stand

This paper describes a credible implementation of integrated system health management (ISHM) capability, as a pilot operational system. Important core elements that make possible fielding and evolution of ISHM capability have been validated in a rocket engine test stand, encompassing all phases of operation: stand-by, pre-test, test, and post-test. The core elements include an architecture (hardware/software) for ISHM, gateways for streaming real-time data from the data acquisition system into the ISHM system, automated configuration management employing transducer electronic data sheets (TEDS?s) adhering to the IEEE 1451.4 Standard for Smart Sensors and Actuators, broadcasting and capture of sensor measurements and health information adhering to the IEEE 1451.1 Standard for Smart Sensors and Actuators, user interfaces for management of redlines/bluelines, and establishment of a health assessment database system (HADS) and browser for extensive post-test analysis. The ISHM system was installed in the Test Control Room, where test operators were exposed to the capability. All functionalities of the pilot implementation were validated during testing and in post-test data streaming through the ISHM system. The implementation enabled significant improvements in awareness about the status of the test stand, and events and their causes/consequences. The architecture and software elements embody a systems engineering, knowledge-based approach; in conjunction with object-oriented environments. These qualities are permitting systematic augmentation of the capability and scaling to encompass other subsystems.

Smart sensor demonstration payload

This paper discusses smart sensors which are a critical element to monitoring, control, and evaluation processes as needed to support ground based testing for rocket engine test. Sensor applications involve tens to thousands of sensors; their reliable performance is critical to achieve overall system goals. These system engineering trade-offs include the familiar constraints of power, signal conditioning, cabling, reliability, and mass, and now include considerations such as spectrum allocation and interference for wireless sensors.

Anomaly Detection Toolkit for Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM)

HE goal of Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) is to provide measures of system health using available data combined with models of behavior. Many technologies contribute to creating an ISHM capability. Arguably the most important of these are methods for anomaly detection, because that is the source of events that trigger downstream reasoning about cause-effect relationships. This paper describes recent efforts to create an anomaly detection toolkit to support on-going ISHM development at NASA-SSC. The toolkit consists of two major components. A health assessment database system (HADS) based on MySQL implements a repository of test data and related configuration data; a companion browser tool allows access to the HADS test data, supports queries, and allows the data to be analyzed using available anomaly detection algorithms. The browser provides a graphical user interface to make the tool usable by operations personnel.

Acquisition, interfacing and analysis of sensor measurements in a VR environment for integrated systems health management in rocket engine tests

This paper presents our ongoing work in the area of using virtual reality (VR) environments for the integrated systems health management of complex test environments, such as those found in a rocket engine test stand. Specifically, the paper focuses on the design, development and implementation of a hardware-software framework for acquiring, interfacing, integrating and analyzing multiple sensor measurements for display inside of a VR environment. IEEE and OSA-CBM standards are used to design the acquisition and interface methods. Commercial off-the-shelf software is used for analysis and integration. Results demonstrating the application of our method to a rocket engine test stand are presented.