REU Site: Research Experience in Developing Software for Mission Critical Space Systems

University Of North Dakota Main Campus, Grand Forks ND

Investigators

Abstract

The site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program. Software development for mission and safety critical systems is critical to the United States economy, national security, and growth. The use of appropriate design, development and testing techniques is particularly important when a system must sustain human life or has the capability to injure humans through mal-operation. This REU experience makes students aware of and begins to get them used to designing, programming, debugging and testing for reliability. Even if students do not end up working professionally on or researching mission critical systems, these same techniques can help prevent software errors which may cause mal-operation or leave the software susceptible to attack and compromise. This REU Site introduces students to the design criteria of mission critical systems. They are gaining hands-on experience working on a real mission-critical cyber-physical system and gaining an appreciation of the importance of design processes. The participating students will visit the nearby Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Missile Launch Area (home to the United States but now deactivated, anti-ballistic missile defense system). The participants will be involved in the design of an Open-Source/Open-hardware CubeSat class satellite (Open Orbiter) that has been under development at University of North Dakota (UND). Open Orbiter (OPEN) is a student led effort that is building up the full spectrum of systems required to develop, launch, and manage a CubeSat space mission. In order to test the variety of systems required and provide the participants with hands-on experience of conducting a real mission, the PIs are conducting one launch per year of an Open Orbiter prototype on a solar balloon. This includes the preparation and testing of the prototype, the launch, the recovery operation, and the post mission debriefing. Participants play key roles in all of these aspects. As Open Orbiter uses a Raspberry Pi and four Gumstix computers for the on-board processing, multithreaded programming/parallel programming is required to manage the satellite. In fact, the Open Orbiter system requires development in all areas of computer science, control software (operating system), ground station software and graphics, payload sensor interfacing and data management, mission and spacecraft planning software (task scheduling), software testing (validation), providing the participants with a variety of topics to focus on. At the end of their participation at UND, participants will travel to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where they will be mentored by scientists in the mission and software design groups and conduct a review of their work at UND and a mock mission. They will also tour the facility and learn about the importance of software design systems and processes for past JPL missions. Finally, as an aerospace system, software development will abide by DO-178B/C (Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification).