Multidisciplinary Integrated Design Assistant for Spacecraft (MIDAS)
Objective: To produce a graphic tool that allows designers with little or no computer experience to describe the design methodology that they use to design their part of the system, and to rapidly link together engineering and manufacturing tools to design the product. To integrate these graphical methodologies (``methograms'') so that the entire system design can be performed automatically as the requirements change and design knowledge can be retained to support future designs. See the World Wide Web Home Page located at http://epic.jpl.nasa.gov/midas/. JPL has signed several NASA Collaborative Agreements with industry for the transfer of MIDAS Technology. JPL plans to share all lessons learned by both tool users and tool developers with Industry.
Accomplishments: Additional features for MIDAS: As a design is converging towards some design goal, the users expressed a desire to visualize the progress. The MIDAS team succeeded in interfacing the commercial products Structure Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC) ``I-DEAS'' and Matlab with MIDAS. The products can now be connected graphically to a MIDAS component under design and as its attributes change with the execution of the methogram, the graphical representation changes along with it. If a MIDAS user is requiring data from another designer, or using tools resident on another computer, they need to be able to examine the status of the network to ensure that the machines they need are indeed functioning and reachable by the network. The MIDAS team added the capability to scan the network, restart server software if necessary and supply information concerning the machine configurations. Also, MIDAS users may now be assigned roles by the project owner (``integrator'') and then their ability to edit or replace various parts of the design is limited to those methograms for which they are given responsibility. Naturally, they are allowed to examine or execute any methogram.
New MIDAS Applications: Work has begun on several design tools which use MIDAS as an infrastructure but do not present themselves as ``MIDAS.'' MIDAS is normally interactive and the graphical user interface allows the user to create or edit methograms. ``Embedded'' MIDAS is a technique where the editing functions are suppressed. Such tools are meant to be run as stand alone programs which are not normally editable by users. Seven environmental models (FORTRAN programs) have been incorporated into the MIDAS environment. An interface to SDRC ``I-DEAS'' was completed and is being used to display inflatable antenna structures as part of the Gossamer Structures task. FORTRAN code has been written to perform required calculations and has been incorporated into the MIDAS environment. Communication between the Telecom Link Budget Excel spreadsheets and MIDAS has been established. The design methodology for Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) has been created within the MIDAS environment.
Significance: MIDAS has spent the last fiscal year moving toward several goals. One is to produce the ``embedded MIDAS'' tool set which would allow spacecraft designers to pick up large codes made up of separate executables and use them in constructing new missions. The second is to bring in new users so that the MIDAS team may gain more experiences and find areas which need more work. The team has also emphasized visualization because of its unchallenged position as an aid to design. These activities will be continued next year.
Point of Contact:
John C. Peterson
john.peterson@jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(818) 306-6147
Last Modified: 01:33pm PDT, September 19, 1995