Abstract
Extending the ideas of reconfigurable components and self-organizing, plug-and-play systems offer some very intriguing prospects for rapid satellites of the future. In this talk, we describe the “cellular satellite” as a paradigm for the ultimately modular and rapidly formed system. In this vision, all systems are formed as a vast ensemble of black-box cells, each of which is individually customizable to collectively form an integral system. Locally (within a given cell), all significant functions and properties (e.g., electrical, thermal, and mechanical) are softwaredefinable, similar in principle to the approaches used in ordinary field programmable gate arrays but extended far beyond digital building blocks. Systems are “merely” ensembles of cells whose arrangements are also soft-defined, leading to a DNA-like analogy in which a very long Boolean string, in effect, forms a unique specification of a constructible spacecraft. Initial attempts at cellular satellites would proceed with cells that are physically large (in some sense, the panels of our plug-and-play satellite could be viewed as very large cells), but would evolve through a Moore’s Law-like principle to become eventually tiny smart particles. We believe these ideas provide the ultimate solution for responsive space, in which containers of such “programmable matter” could be rapidly configured with powerful computer-automated design tools to form complex shapes, structures, and systems.
Presentation Slides
Cellular-Satellite, a Different Kind of Final Frontier
Extending the ideas of reconfigurable components and self-organizing, plug-and-play systems offer some very intriguing prospects for rapid satellites of the future. In this talk, we describe the “cellular satellite” as a paradigm for the ultimately modular and rapidly formed system. In this vision, all systems are formed as a vast ensemble of black-box cells, each of which is individually customizable to collectively form an integral system. Locally (within a given cell), all significant functions and properties (e.g., electrical, thermal, and mechanical) are softwaredefinable, similar in principle to the approaches used in ordinary field programmable gate arrays but extended far beyond digital building blocks. Systems are “merely” ensembles of cells whose arrangements are also soft-defined, leading to a DNA-like analogy in which a very long Boolean string, in effect, forms a unique specification of a constructible spacecraft. Initial attempts at cellular satellites would proceed with cells that are physically large (in some sense, the panels of our plug-and-play satellite could be viewed as very large cells), but would evolve through a Moore’s Law-like principle to become eventually tiny smart particles. We believe these ideas provide the ultimate solution for responsive space, in which containers of such “programmable matter” could be rapidly configured with powerful computer-automated design tools to form complex shapes, structures, and systems.
