Trade-off for space mechanisms actuator technology via a general purpose language and domain specific simulations framework

Abstract

A trade-off to choose actuator technologies for a mechatronics system like a space mechanism should reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the problem. Budget limits shrink the level of effort affordable by a proposal team. A general purpose (SysML) and domain specific (Matlab/Simulink) modelling framework applied to the case of a compensation mechanism for a space mission, brings the system engineer to embrace multidisciplinary requirements within the assessment of the space of solutions, within an amount of time comparable to the time spent for a trade-off based on monodisciplinary considerations and/or engineering judgement only.