Adaptive instrument module: space instrument controller “Brain” through programmable logic devices

The Adaptive Instrument Module (AIM) will be the first true demonstration of reconfigurable computing with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in space, enabling the “brain” of the system to evolve or adapt to changing requirements. In partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (CRCSS), APL has build the flight version to be flown on the Australian university-class satellite FEDSAT. The AIM provides satellites the flexibility to adapt to changing mission requirements by reconfiguring standardized processing hardware rather than incurring the large costs associated with new builds. This ability to reconfigure the processing in response to changing mission needs leads to true evolveable computing, wherein the instrument “brain” can learn from new science data in order to perform state-of-the-art data processing. The development of the AIM is significant in its enormous potential to reduce total life-cycle costs for future space exploration missions. The advent of RAM-based FPGAs whose configuration can be changed at nay time has enabled the development of the AIM for processing tasks that could not be performed in software. The use of the AIM enables reconfiguration of the FPGA circuitry while the spacecraft is in flight, with many accompanying advantages