In situ method and system for autonomous fault detection, isolation and recovery

A system comprising a spacecraft and a ground support unit communicatively coupled via wireless transceivers, the spacecraft comprising a plurality of differing components operating in multiple conditions including fault conditions, the spacecraft exhibiting operating characteristics indicating said fault conditions, the system comprising:

• a ground based test bed generating high level commands defining fault recovery instructions, said high level commands being transmitted to said spacecraft via said wireless transceivers;
• a fault detect module disposed on the spacecraft monitoring the operating characteristics of the spacecraft and detecting said fault conditions;
• and
• a fault recovery module disposed on the spacecraft generating a first fault recovery script in response to an output from the fault detect module, performing a first recovery process based on said first fault recovery script, generating a second fault recovery script in response to said high level commands and performing a second recovery process based on said second fault recovery script to attempt to recover from said fault conditions.

In a spacecraft system comprising a plurality of subsystems and components operating in multiple conditions including fault conditions, the system exhibiting operating characteristics indicating fault conditions of said subsystems and fault conditions of said components, apparatus comprising:

• a fault detect system disposed on the spacecraft monitoring the operating characteristics of the system and detecting said fault conditions, said fault detect system comprising
• a system model module generating predicted operating characteristics of said components and modifying said predicted operating characteristics in response to identification of said components operating in said fault conditions,
• a comparator module comparing said predicted operating characteristics of said components with the actual operating characteristics of said components, generating results of said comparing and further generating a match in the event that said results indicate a predetermined relationship between said predicted operating characteristics and said actual operating characteristics,
• a first fault detection module responsive to said results to generate a suggested failure type,
• a second fault detection module responsive to said suggested failure type to identify said subsystems operating in said fault conditions,
• a third fault detection module responsive to the identification of subsystems by said second fault detection module to identify said components operating in said fault conditions and to transmit said identification of said components to said system model module;
• and
• a fault recovery module generating a fault recovery script in response to the identification of said components by said third fault detection module and said match, said fault recovery module performing a recovery process based on said fault recovery script to attempt to recover from said fault conditions.

In a spacecraft system comprising a plurality of components operating in a plurality of operating modes and a plurality of conditions including fault conditions, said system exhibiting operating characteristics indicating fault conditions of said components, a method comprising:

• monitoring said operating characteristics of the system;
• detecting said fault conditions of said components based on said operating characteristics of the system;
• storing a plurality of fault recovery command scripts;
• disabling or modifying any of said fault recovery command scripts involving said fault conditions or involving said components detected in said fault conditions;
• selecting a non-disabled one of said plurality of fault recovery command scripts based on said detecting and based on the operating mode of said system;
• and
• performing a recovery process with said selected fault recovery command script to attempt to recover from said fault conditions.

In a system comprising a spacecraft and a ground support unit, including a ground test bed, the spacecraft comprising a plurality of differing components operating in a plurality of conditions including fault conditions, the spacecraft exhibiting operating characteristics indicating said fault conditions, the method comprising:

• generating with said test bed high level commands defining fault recovery instructions;
• transmitting said high level commands to said spacecraft;
• monitoring at said spacecraft said operating characteristics;
• detecting at said spacecraft said fault conditions in response to said operating characteristics;
• performing a first fault recovery process by generating and executing a first fault recovery script generated in response to said detected fault conditions to attempt to recover from the detected fault conditions;
• and
• performing a second recovery process by generating and executing a second fault recovery script generated in response to said high level commands to attempt to recover from the detected fault conditions.

In a spacecraft system comprising a plurality of subsystems and components operating in multiple conditions including fault conditions, the system exhibiting operating characteristics indicating fault conditions of said subsystems and fault conditions of said components, a method comprising:

• monitoring on the spacecraft the operating characteristics of the system;
• detecting on the spacecraft system said fault conditions;
• generating on the spacecraft system predicted operating characteristics of said components;
• comparing on the spacecraft system said predicted operating characteristics of said components with the actual operating characteristics of said components;
• generating results of said comparing;
• generating a match in the event that said results indicate a predetermined relationship between said predicted operating characteristics and said actual operating characteristics;
• generating a suggested failure type in response to said results;
• identifying said subsystems operating in said fault conditions in response to said suggested failure type,
• identifying components operating in said fault conditions in response to said identification of said subsystems operating in said fault conditions;
• using said identification of said components operating in said fault conditions to alter said predicted operating characteristics of said components;
• generating a fault recovery script in response to the identification of said components and said match;
• and
• performing a recovery process based on said fault recovery script to attempt to recover from said fault conditions.