Intelligent, Autonomous, Distributed Vehicle and Electrical Power System Management

The proposed innovation, a distributed architecture for intelligent characterization, fault detection/diagnosis/ reconfiguration/replanning/rescheduling, and adaptive execution, substantially leverages large previous NASA investments to assemble the correct set of technologies to implement all aspects of the required intelligent, autonomous vehicle and distributed EPS and other subsystem managers. Stottler Henke has significant experience in all of the required technologies and has already integrated them, under NASA funding, into a general MAESTRO (Management through intelligent, AdaptivE, autonomouS, faulT identification and diagnosis, Reconfiguration/replanning/rescheduling Optimization) architecture designed to be easily applied to spacecraft subsystem management problems. We have applied MAESTRO in a current Phase I effort to Electrical Power System (EPS) management and interfaced it with a laboratory instantiation of a cubesat. Our Research Institution partner, Montana State University (MSU), has designed, built, launched, and operated several satellites with over 14 satellite-years of in-space operations experience. For this Phase I effort, in addition to providing substantial knowledge, expertise and practical experience, MSU will also provide real satellite telemetry data and supplement the existing laboratory hardware testbed (LabSat), with additional boards for more complex subsystems and the ability to cause real hardware faults, both confined within a single subsystem and faults in one subsystem that cause issues in others. This new, augmented LabSat will be used for testing our distributed prototype with real hardware failures. y also plan to field an actual proof of concept prototype onboard one of their future satellites, in-space, at the culmination of a Phase II effort. This work also leverages and extends NASA’s Glenn Research Center’s Vehicle Autonomous Power Control (APC) Architecture.

A large number of future manned and unmanned spacecraft would benefit from autonomous, intelligent vehicle and distributed subsystem management. Because it is an open system that other developers can use to create intelligent spacecraft management systems, a large number of MAESTRO applications can be quickly developed. Since MAESTRO is specifically designed to easily interface with Diagnosis, Adaptive Execution, Planning, and Scheduling engines, such developers will have their choice.

Non-NASA spacecraft and Electric Aircraft. MSU plans to field MAESTRO in space onboard an MSU satellite in Phase II. Stottler Henke already sells Aurora and associated customization services to private companies with sales over $12 million. MAESTRO improvements can be readily incorporated into Aurora and sold through existing sales channels, especially to the power generation industry which we are already pursuing and oil refineries, power plants, factories of all types, etc.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.