NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20120006556: Debris Examination Using Ballistic and Radar Integrated Software

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by  NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Software
arithmetic and other anomalies when ren- to assess the threat environment from as-
Key Decision Record Cre- dering scenes containing objects that dif- cent debris. The DEBRIS tools offer that
ation and Approval Module fer enormously in scale and distance from capability, and were specifically tailored to
Retaining good key decision records is the viewer. the needs of the debris analysis mission.
critical to ensuring the success of a proj- The present program dynamically The ARDENT application is intended
ect or operation. Having adequately doc- repartitions distance scales of objects in to autonomously identify, characterize,
umented decisions with supporting doc- a scene during rendering to eliminate al- annotate, and perform statistics on de-
uments and rationale can greatly reduce most all such anomalies in a way compat- bris tracks from 150 seconds after
the amount of rework or reinvention ible with implementation in other soft- launch to loss of signal at the far hori-
over a project’s, vehicle’s, or facility’s ware and in hardware accelerators. By zon. The DEBRIS application is in-
lifecycle. Stennis Space Center devel- assigning depth ranges correspondi ng tended primarily for analysis of the data
oped and uses a software tool that auto- to rendering precision requirements, ei- within the first 150 seconds of flight. It
mates the Key Decision Record (KDR) ther automatically or under program allows the user to explore the available
process for its engineering and test proj- control, this program spaces out object data and annotate observed debris
ects. It provides the ability for a user to scales to match the precision require- events and tracks. It also allows ballistic
log key decisions that are made during ments of the rendering arithmetic. This analysis of an annotated event, and al-
the course of a project. By customizing action includes an intelligent partition lows the user to display all annotated
Parametric Technology Corporation’s of the depth buffer ranges to avoid events for the mission and the associated
(PTC) Windchill product, the team was known anomalies from this source. The meta information for those events.
able to log all information about a deci- program is written in C++, using The ARDENT debris detection algo-
sion, and electronically route that infor- OpenGL, GLUT, and GLUI standard li- rithm uses a Multi-scale Localized
mation for approval. Customizing the braries, and nVidia GEForce Vertex Radon Transform (MSLRT) optimized
Windchill product allowed the team to Shader extensions. The program has for this application. The MSLRT com-
directly connect these decisions to the been shown to work on several comput- putes a localized Radon transform of
engineering data that it might affect and ers running UNIX and Windows operat- blocks of the data for multiple block
notify data owners of the decision. The ing systems. sizes (or scales) to form an aggregated
user interface was created in JSP and This program was written by Andrew J. (across scales) debris track detection
Javascript, within the OOTB (Out of the Hanson and Philip Chi-Wing Fu of Indiana map based on identifying piece-wise lin-
Box) Windchill product, allowing users University for Goddard Space Flight Center. ear features in the data. The DEBRIS
to create KDRs. Not only does this inter- Further information is contained in a TSP tool consolidates and extends the capa-
face allow users to create and track (see page 1).GSC-14819-1 bility of several discrete applications de-
KDRs, but it also plugs directly into the veloped early in the NDR technology
OOTB ability to associate these decision maturation process; specifically, data
records with other relevant engineering viewing, annotation of candidate debris
data such as drawings, designs, models, Debris Examination events, and various elements of trajec-
requirements, or specifications. Using Ballistic and Radar tory analysis. This consolidation dramat-
This work was done by Bartt Hebert and Integrated Software ically streamlines the analysis process
Elizabeth A. Messer of Stennis Space Center; The Debris Examination Using and the amount of overhead in both
Colby Albasini of Computer Sciences Corp.; and Ballistic and Radar Integrated Software time and effort needed to fully process
Thang Le, William ORourke, Sr., Tim Stiglets, (DEBRIS) program was developed to the debris risk portion of the shuttle as-
and Ted Strain of Sai Tech Inc. Inquiries con- provide rapid and accurate analysis of cent.
cerning rights for the commercial use of this in- debris observed by the NASA Debris The ballistic and radar signature prod-
vention should be addressed to the Intellectual Radar (NDR). This software provides a ucts of these tools allow assessment of de-
Property Manager at Stennis Space Center greatly improved analysis capacity over bris material type, shape, size, and release
[phone]. SSC-00338 earlier manual processes, allowing for location — information that is used to de-
up to four times as much data to be ana- termine threat to the current mission as
lyzed by one-quarter of the personnel re- well as flight safety for future missions.
quired by earlier methods. There are The analysis efficiencies afforded by these
Enhanced Graphics for two applications that comprise the DE- tools allow detailed threat assessment of
Extended Scale Range BRIS system: the Automated Radar De- tens of gigabytes of data within three days
Enhanced Graphics for Extended Scale bris Examination Tool (ARDENT) and of launch.
Range is a computer program for render- the primary DEBRIS tool. This work was done by Anthony Griffith,
ing fly-through views of scene models that The debris radars were established to Matthew Schottel, David Lee, Robert Scully,
include visible objects differing in size by provide insight into debris events for all and Joseph Hamilton of Johnson Space Center;
large orders of magnitude. An example future space shuttle flights. Often, the de- Brian Kent, Christopher Thomas, Jonathan
would be a scene showing a person in a bris particles are either too small or mov- Benson, and Eric Branch of the U.S. Air Force;
park at night with the moon, stars, and ing too quickly to be accurately character- and Paul Hardman and Martin Stuble of
galaxies in the background sky. Prior ized in any other way. Data must be NAVAIR (Patuxent) Department of the Navy.
graphical computer programs exhibit rapidly and accurately analyzed in order MSC-24827-1
NASA Tech Briefs, January 2012 17