Rapid Prototyping of an Aircraft Model in an Object-oriented Simulation

A team was created to participate in the Mars Scout Opportunity. Trade studies determined that an aircraft provided the best opportunity to complete the science objectives of the team. A high fidelity six degree of freedom flight simulation was required to provide credible evidence that the aircraft design fulfilled mission objectives and to support the aircraft design process by providing performance evaluations. The team created the simulation using the Langley Standard Real-Time Simulation in C++ (LaSRS++) application framework. A rapid prototyping approach was necessary because the team had only three months to both develop the aircraft simulation model and evaluate aircraft performance as the design and mission parameters matured. The design of LaSRS++ enabled rapid-prototyping in several ways. First, the framework allowed component models to be designed, implemented, unit-tested, and integrated quickly. Next, the framework provides a highly reusable infrastructure that allowed developers to maximize code reuse while concentrating on aircraft and mission specific features. Finally, the framework reduces risk by providing reusable components that allow developers to build a quality product with a compressed testing cycle that relies heavily on unit testing of new components. * Aerospace Engineer, Member AIAA. Introduction NASA’s Mars Scout Opportunity was created to enlist proposals for innovative investigations that complement NASA’s core Mars Exploration Program. NASA Langley Research Center teamed with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Goddard Research Center, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Aurora Flight Sciences, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Malin Space Science Systems and several prominent academic researchers to participate in the opportunity. The team established science goals for the project that required a regional survey of Mars. Trade studies determined that an aircraft provided the best opportunity to complete the science objects of the team. This led the team to propose a project where an aircraft would be released into the atmosphere of Mars to perform an Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES). To create a credible proposal, the team needed to provide a detailed aircraft design and demonstrate that it could complete the mission objectives. As the design evolved, aircraft capability needed to be evaluated. Specifically, could the aircraft pullout before striking the ground after being released from a spacecraft? Could the aircraft fly long enough to meet the science objectives? Could the aircraft provide a stable platform that would allow instrumentation to make usable measurements? A high fidelity six degree of freedom flight simulation was required to provide answers to these questions.