Intelligent Controls and Diagnostics (ICD)
Project Manager, Joseph Totah, NASA Ames Research Center
The goal of the ICD project is to improve component/subsystem safety and integrated system performance, and to reduce development time and operational cost. To support NASA's missions and goals, ICD leverages information technologies and core competencies in soft computing and computational intelligence. Investments in ICD add value to NASA missions by improving safety, reducing cost (during design/development and operation), increasing efficiency, and extending the operational life of the overall vehicle, including its flight-critical components, subsystems, and fully integrated human/machine systems.
ICD's principal government customers are the Suborbital Science Program of the Earth Science Enterprise (Code Y), the Space Science Enterprise (Code S), the Aviation Safety Program, the Space Launch Initiative, the Department of Defense, the C-17 Program, and the Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Program of the Aerospace Technology Enterprise (Code R). ICD's principal industry customers are Qualtech and Pratt & Whitney.
ICD's multi-level, multi-faceted approach is to develop:
- adaptive flight control systems that automatically compensate for failures or damage that would otherwise result in a catastrophic event
- outer-loop technologies to intelligently maneuver a vehicle under nominal and off-nominal conditions
- health management and diagnostics technologies to detect, isolate, and rectify imminent component malfunctions
- machine-learning algorithms to tighten the control loop and provide a new computer interfacing modality in immersed human machine systems.
Many of these technologies will be targeted for aircraft applications (piloted, remotely piloted, and autonomous). Others will have broader applications to launch vehicles, space systems, and robotic devices.
ICD is organized into five research elements:
Intelligent Health and Safety Monitoring (IHASM)
The objective of this element is to develop valid information processing software, of a generic nature, to be used in next-generation aerospace vehicles to detect, isolate, or rectify imminent or foreseeable component malfunctions. This element focuses on establishing a comprehensive methodology for monitoring rotating equipment in transport-class engines and transmissions.
Intelligent Controls and Diagnostics for Propulsion Systems (ICDPS)
The objective of this element is to develop and validate advanced technologies for control systems, health monitoring, and instrumentation. These technologies are critical to enhancing the safety, reliability and operability of aircraft propulsion systems. The ICDPS research contributes directly to the Office of Aerospace Technology's objectives of increasing the safety of global civil aviation and significantly reducing the cost of air travel. In addition, the technologies developed by ICDPS will enhance air-breathing propulsion systems targeted for space missions.
Intelligent Flight Control (IFC)
The objective of this element is to use enhanced neural network algorithms and adaptive control technologies to develop next-generation neural flight controllers. More adaptable than current systems, these new controllers will compensate for a broader spectrum of damage or failures, control remote or autonomous vehicles, and reduce the costs associated with developing flight control laws.
Intelligent Automation (IA)
The objective of this element is to develop comprehensive methods of achieving higher levels of automation for flight vehicles. The goal is to improve safety, enhance mission effectiveness, and enable extreme missions by enabling vehicles to make reliable decisions with limited human intervention. To automate many actions currently performed by pilots, IA is investigating technologies that will internally manage a vehicle's health, assess its current operating environment, and strategically select tactical maneuvers. IA is also exploring interfaces that make it easier for humans to interact with these automated systems to achieve high-level goals.
NeuroElectric Machine Control (NeMC)
The objective of this element is to enable humans to communicate silently with a machine and with other people via unspoken speech. NeMC is developing technology for measuring muscle movement, via Electromyogram (EMG) signals, and brain waves, via Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, and then applying intelligent pattern recognition software to interpret these signals as computer control commands. The technology that NeMC develops will make possible interfaces for future brain-computer applications that go beyond this project. Simultaneous EMG/EEG silent speech could enable the use of both mind and body in one interface.
ICD Project Milestones
- Critical design review of the simplified adaptive flight control system with final Test Readiness Review conducted at NASA Dryden. (Project milestone 8.4.1)
- Hardware-in-the-loop testing of the simplified adaptive flight control system. (Project milestone 8.4.2)
- Engine simulation demonstration of smart life extending control using stochastic-based life models. (Project milestone 8.6.1)
- Demonstration of in-flight vibration monitoring module for mechanically geared engines and transmissions. (Project milestone 8.6.2)
- Integration capabilities of diagnostics and control with multimodal interface, demonstrating with new health management system capabilities. (Project milestone 8.11.1)
- Performance of maneuver selection tests in a simulated environment for UAV applications. (Project milestone 8.11.2)
- Determine the combined information content of EMG and EEG patterns associated with sub-vocal patterns or motor-control tasks. (Project milestone 8.12.1)
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