Asteroid exploration with autonomic systems

Walt Truszkowski, James Rash, Christopher Rouff, Mike Hinchey

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

NASA is studying advanced technologies for a future robotic exploration mission to the asteroid belt. The prospective ANTS (Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm) mission comprises autonomous agents including "worker" agents (small spacecraft) designed to cooperate in asteroid exploration under the overall authority of at least one "ruler" agent (a larger spacecraft) whose goal is to cause science data to be returned to Earth. The ANTS team (ruler plus workers and messenger agents), but not necessarily any individual on the team, will exhibit behaviors that qualify it as an autonomic system, where an autonomic system is defined as a system that self-reconfigures, self-optimizes, self-heals, and self-protects. Autonomic system concepts lead naturally to realistic, scalable architectures rich in capabilities and behaviors. In-depth consideration of a major mission like ANTS in terms of autonomic systems brings new insights into alternative definitions of autonomic behavior. This paper gives an overview of the ANTS mission and discusses the autonomic properties of the mission.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 11th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, ECBS 2004
EditorsV. Dvorak, M. Sveda
Pages484-489
Number of pages6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventProceedings - 11th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, ECBS 2004 - Brno
Duration: 24 May 200427 May 2004

Publication series

NameProceedings - 11th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, ECBS 2004

Conference

ConferenceProceedings - 11th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, ECBS 2004
CityBrno
Period24/05/0427/05/04

Keywords

  • Agent
  • Asteroid
  • Autonomic
  • Autonomy
  • Spacecraft

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