Building a Digital Thread

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Proprietary of SPEC Innovations® September 21, 2023 Andy Tapia

Ask Us Your Questions
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-Ask us your questions through email
at marketing@specinnovations.com.
-This presentation is being recorded
and will be made available to you on
our website and through email.
-Contact us after the webinar through
● support@Innoslate.com
● Call 571.485.7800
● LinkedIn: “Innoslate Users and
Systems Engineers” Group
● Twitter: @specinnovations

Meet Your Host
• Andy Tapia, Systems Engineer
• GMU Systems Engineering Alumni
• andy.tapia@specinnovations.com
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Agenda
• SPEC Innovations Background
• Digital Thread Defined
• NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge
• Innoslate’s Digital Thread
• Initiating a Project for a Lunar Rover Prototype
• Task 1 - Research & Design
• Task 2 - Build
• Task 3 - Test
• Task 4 - Demonstration
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SPEC Innovations Background
• Developers of MBSE tool Innoslate, supports the entire
Systems Engineering Lifecycle
• Constantly releasing updates to support digital thread -
most recent version is v4.7
• Interested in NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge to
demonstrate Innoslate’s Digital Thread capabilities
• Goal: Produce a lunar rover prototype system using a
complete digital thread
• Scope: System boundary limited to physical aspects of lunar
rover
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Digital Thread Defined
• INCOSE’s Systems Engineering Handbook (5th Edition):
• “A digital thread is a set of interconnected, cross-discipline
model data that seamlessly expedite the controlled
interplay of digital artifacts to inform decision makers
throughout a system’s life cycle.”
• In other words…
• A digital record of all engineering data used to drive
decisions throughout the system’s life cycle!
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NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge
• Competition hosted by NASA
• Solution architecture sought for:
• Excavating regolith
• Maximizing water delivered
• Minimizing mass of equipment
• Minimizing power consumption
• Mission Goal: Extract 10,000 kg of water from regolith
in 365 Earth days
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Stepping Through the Lifecycle
• Used to step through the lunar rover prototype
lifecycle in Innoslate’s Digital Thread
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Initiating the Lunar Rover Project
• Used Documents, Diagrams, and Project
Management Views to initiate the Lunar Rover
Project
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Project Management Plan
• Defines the project’s:
• Scope
• Schedule
• Budget
• Technical Execution
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Documents View
PMP Document:
Lunar Rover PMP

Statement of Work
• SOW created in an Action
Diagram to define the
technical work
• Tasks include:
• Research & Design
• Build
• Test
• Demonstration
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Action Diagram:
Lunar Rover SOW
Diagrams View

Schedule
• Auto-generated by opening a Timeline Diagram or
Gantt Chart from the previous SOW Action Diagram
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Timeline Diagram:
Lunar Rover SOW
Diagrams View
Gantt Chart:
Lunar Rover SOW
Charts View

Kanban Board
• Used to keep track of the status of each Task
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Kanban Board:
Lunar Rover
SOW Project Management View

Task One: Research & Design
• Focuses on Architecture Development and Design
phases using Innoslate’s Documents, Diagrams, and
Modeling & Simulation features
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Task One’s SOW
• Sub-Tasks:
• Research
• Design
• Incorporate Innoslate’s
Digital Thread
• Produced Documents:
• Requirements, Bill of
Materials (BoM), and Task
One Final Report
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Action Diagram:
Lunar Rover SOW
Diagrams View

Research System Architecture
• Mission Requirements
• Excavate icy regolith at
Excavation Site
• Extract water from icy
regolith using the NASA
Water Extraction Plant
• Deliver water to Delivery
Site
Additional performance
parameters and
environmental constraints
also provided by NASA
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Requirements Document:
Mission Requirements
Documents View

Design - Context Analysis
• “As-Is” System Architecture
• Ground Communication
• Lunar Lander
• Excavation Site
• Delivery Site
• NASA Water Extraction
Plant
• NASA Power Plant
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Asset Diagram:
System
Architecture
Diagrams View

Mission Scenario
• Action Diagram visualizes the Mission Scenario - includes all
actions the rover will perform on the surface of the Moon
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Action Diagram:
Mission Scenario
Diagrams View

Existing Prototype Design Analysis & Selection
• Created a Functional
Requirements checklist to
compare each prototype design
• Final design selected using AHP
methodology
• Additional equipment selected
to fill in gaps
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Notes Document:
Prototype
Options
Documents View

Bill of Materials
• BoM created to ensure all
parts acquired
• Asset Diagram to track
purchase details of BoM
• Tracking #’s, Order #’s,
etc.
• Entities can be traced
to see their data on
dashboards & reports
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Notes Document:
Bill of Materials
Documents View

Cost Acquisition
• Created a CBS Hierarchy Diagram to record hardware
costs
• Costs were rolled up with Database View to estimate the
total cost of the lunar rover’s hardware
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Hierarchy Chart:
CBS
Diagrams View
Entity View

Final Prototype Design
• Used Ansys CAD tool
(SpaceClaim) to modify LEO
Rover design
• Created 3-D print files
supported by SpaceClaim for
key additional components
(Task 2)
• Used Innoslate’s CAD Viewer to
store designs of final lunar
rover prototype
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CAD Viewer:
Final Prototype Design
CAD Viewer

Final System Architecture
• “To-Be” System Architecture
• Ground communication
• Lunar Lander
• Excavation Site
• Delivery Site
• NASA Water Extraction Plant
• NASA Power Plant
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Asset Diagram:
System
Architecture
Diagrams View

Rover Route
• Using given site locations
& distances, mapped a
travel route for the rover
• Distances scaled down to
prototype’s size for
travel time calculations
(Task 3)
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Excavation Scenario
• Modeled the excavation process the rover
completes each time it navigates to the Excavation
Site
• Simulations calculated the amount of regolith the
rover can excavate per excavation
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Action Diagram:
Excavation Scenario
Diagrams View
Action Diagram:
Mission Scenario

Task Two: Build
• Focuses on Hardware and Software Acquisition Phase
using Innoslate’s Modeling & Simulation and design
engineering tools Ansys, STK, Matlab, & Github
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Task Two’s SOW
• Sub-Tasks:
• Build 3-D printer and print
additional equipment
• Assemble Lunar Rover
prototype
• Incorporate Innoslate’s
Digital Thread
• Produced SPECTER
prototype & Task Two’s
Final Report
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Action Diagram:
Lunar Rover SOW
Diagrams View

3-D Printer & Components Construction
• Creality Ender 3-D printer
built & tested to print
additional materials (Task 1)
• Printed additional Excavator
Claw, Storage Unit, & Tire
Fenders
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Equipment:
Creality Ender
3-D Printer
Equipment:
Excavator Claw,
Storage Unit, &
Tire Fenders

LEO Rover & Robotic Arm Construction
• LEO Rover assembled upon
delivery
• Configured with
Raspberry Pi via laptop
• Robotic Arm modified from
COTS product
• Assembled with servo
motors & Raspberry Pi
• Mounted Excavator Claw
to grabber’s
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Equipment:
LEO Rover
Prototype
Equipment:
Excavator System

SPECTER Prototype • All components assembled
together to create SPEC
Innovation’s SPECTER
• “Space Prospect Exploration
Convoy Transporting &
Evaluating Regolith”
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Equipment:
SPECTER
SPECTER
UI:
SPECTER
Camera
View and
Control

SPECTER UI & GitHub Repositories
• GitHub repository created for
interfacing with SPECTER
• Firmware allows components to
perform functions and display
distance & obstacle information to
user
• Token used to access GitHub via
Innoslate
• View all project repositories on
GitHub Dashboard
• Issues created for each message
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Innoslate Repositories:
SPECTER UI and Firmware
GitHub Issue
GitHub
Access via
Innoslate

Rover Route Analysis
• Ansys AGI’s Systems Tool Kit (STK)
used to model rover’s travel route
on the lunar surface to calculate
time-to-reach mission goal
• Assumptions
• Same route between sites
• 100 kg excavation rate per hour
• 100 kg carrying capacity
• 10 excavation cycles per battery
charge
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STK Model:
Rover Route
STK

STK - Innoslate Co-Simulation
• Action Diagram simulates the mission scenario with STK
• Represents one rover excavating regolith, transporting
regolith to Water Extraction Plant, and delivering water for
storage
• Runs until 10,000 kg of water is collected or rover reaches
365 Earth Days
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Action Diagram: One Rover Sequence Scenario
Diagrams View

STK - Innoslate Co-Simulation Cont’d
• Scripts added to Action entities to
communicate with STK software
• Initialize STK
• Create global variables to store
time-to-traverse values acquired in
STK
• Calculate duration components
(start & end times) and velocity
vector components
• Use duration components to
calculate travel times between
lunar sites
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Action Diagram: One Rover
Sequence Scenario
Diagrams View
Initialize STK
Travel Duration to Excavation
Site

Route Analysis Results
• 10.67 months to collect
10,000 kg of water using
previous assumptions
• Calculated total distance
of 3,500 km traveled
during mission
• Majority of mission will be
dedicated to excavation
and extraction processes
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Sequence Scenario
Modeling &
Simulation

MATLAB Verification Results
• Results verified using a co-simulation with MATLAB
• Achieved via velocity vectors retrieved from STK
through Innoslate and calculated with a Matlab file
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Modeling &
Simulation
Sequence Scenario

Task Three: Test
• Focuses on Phases Integration & Test, Operations Test &
Evaluation and Transition phases using Innoslate’s Test
Center and integration tools Ansys and LabView
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Task Three’s SOW
• Sub-Tasks:
• V&V Requirements & Test Suites
• Lunar Environment Simulation
• Test SPECTER Prototype
• Conduct Performance &
Environmental Analysis
• Incorporate Innoslate’s Digital
Thread
• Produced Task Three’s Final
Report & Overall Final Report
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Action Diagram:
Lunar Rover SOW
Diagrams View

Verification Testing
• Test suites were created in Innoslate’s Test Center
to verify the SPECTER prototype and subcomponent
functionality
• Test cases traced back to corresponding
requirements for verification
• Test suites verified the following:
• Robotic Arm and Servo Motor
• Excavator Claw
• LEO Rover Prototype
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Excavator Design Analysis
• Ansys’s SpaceClaim & Static Structural were used to
analyze and locate design flaws for the excavator claw
• Metrics calculated:
• Surface Area
• Volume
• Maximum Load Capacity
• Maximum Pressure Tolerance
• Metrics used for simulating Mission & Excavation
Scenario models
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Ansys SpaceClaim
• Used to analyze the excavator claw
design’s CAD drawing
• Calculated excavator claw’s surface
area and volume
• Modified density equation to
calculate the maximum load mass
capacity the excavator claw can
support per dig during excavation
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Max Load Mass
= Regolith Density *
Excavator Claw Volume
= 231.9 g of regolith
Ansys Spaceclaim:
Excavator Claw
Equation Editor

Ansys Static Structural
• Continued SpaceClaim analysis of excavator claw
• Determined excavator claw pressure tolerance
during excavation using varying load capacities
• 60% Load Capacity = 139 g
• 80% Load Capacity = 185 g
• Utilized Pressure Equation for each partial load
capacity to calculate the pressure tolerances the
excavator claw can endure during the lunar rover
mission
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Ansys Static Structural Cont’d
• Pressure = Mass Load Capacity *
Lunar Gravity * Excavator Claw
Surface Area
• 60% = 3.355 Pa
• 80% = 4.466 Pa
• Identified pressure points and
area where the excavator claw
will be impacted during
excavation
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Ansys Static Structural:
Excavator Claw
Equation Editor

Excavator Analysis Results
• Used to perform structural analysis
of the excavator design
• Determines strength and stability
of the design under loading
conditions
• Analysis conducted for both
carrying capacities:
• Strain Test
• Stress Test
• Deformation Test
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LEO Rover Testing
• Test Suite for LEO Rover
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Validation Testing
• Test plans created in Documents View before
simulating lunar environmental conditions to
validate the SPECTER prototype
• Test plans created to validate the following
functionality:
• Navigation - Speeds & travel times
• Excavation - Regolith excavation & collection
• Storage - Materials containment & protection
• Equipment Protection - Dust mitigation
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Performance Analysis
• Conducted to validate SPECTER’s functionality and
efficiency
• Parameters calculated:
• Total landed mass
• Rover equipment
• Total power consumption
• Rover
• Total water mass delivered
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Landed Mass Analysis
• LEO Rover prototype has a mass of 6 kg and a carrying
capacity of 5 kg, resulting in a ratio of 5:6
• Full-size rover should carry 100 kg, using the 5:6 ratio
estimates the rover body mass of 120 kg
• Prototype to full-size rover mass ratio of 1:20
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Prototype
Mass
Full-Size
Mass
Prototype to Full-
Size Ratio
Carrying Capacity 5 kg 100 kg 20:1
Rover Body 6 kg 120 kg
Carrying Capacity
to Mass Ratio
5:6

Landed Mass Analysis Cont’d
• The following masses have also been added to the rover’s
body for excavation functionality
• Each piece of equipment reduces total carrying capacity (5
kg) and by consequence also reduces how much regolith or
water it can store at any given time in the mission
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Equipment Prototype
Mass
Mass to Carrying
Capacity Ratio
Scaled, Full-
Size Mass
Robot Arm 1 kg 1:5 20 kg
Storage Unit < 1 kg < 1:5 < 20 kg
Battery < 1 kg < 1:5 < 20 kg
Solar Panels 0.3 kg 0.3:5 6 kg
Regolith Mass < 3 kg < 3:5 < 60 kg
The full-size lunar
rover can hold an
additional mass of
less than 60 kg at any
point in the mission
* Max Carrying Capacity
< 66 kg
Total Mass

Landed Mass Analysis Summary
• In conclusion, the total mass of the full-size rover,
including its supporting equipment, is <186 kg
• The NASA Water Extraction Plant has a landed mass of
700 kg
• Therefore, the total mass to be landed on the surface of
the Moon for this mission is estimated to be 886 kg
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Environmental Analysis
• Conducted to ensure SPECTER will withstand extreme
environmental conditions on the surface of the Moon
• Mitigations outlined for each environmental risk:
• Low temperatures
• Warm electronics box encloses rover avionics
• Reduced gravity
• Wide set body frame & rugged wheels for stabilization
• Vacuum
• Non-pneumatic tires
• Lunar dust
• Tire fenders to prevent dust from entering rover body
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Documents View

Task Four: Demonstration
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Thursday, October 12th, 2023 at 2:00 PM ET
Program Management in MBSE
Mark Your
Calendars
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SPEC Innovations
@SPECInnovations
Innoslate Users Group
Innoslate.com/blog
571.485.7800
innoslate.com
54
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Building a Digital Thread

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