INCOSE Natural Systems Working Group (NSWG)
Community of Practice Webinar
Nature-inspired Design for Robotic Spacecraft Engineering
Dr. Russell Kerschmann, M.D., NASA (Retired)
NASA Engineering and Safety Center (Consultant)
Abstract
Despite advantages in cost, performance and reliability, Nature-inspired Design (NID) is rarely used for spacecraft. Our NASA Engineering and Safety Center Robotic Spacecraft Technical Discipline Team is promoting NID solutions for spacecraft systems engineering and technology development. NID falls into two broad categories: 1) structural- and 2) process-inspired solutions. The best examples to date for spacecraft used genetic algorithms, process-oriented NID solutions emulating biological evolution.
The Ames Evolved Antenna flown on the ST-5, LADEE, and IRIS missions is the only example of such flight-proven NID hardware. Further successes will require moving beyond simply copying nature to produce a paradigm-shift to include NID in the system engineering process and the technology strategies that support it.
We see three major thrusts to enable this: (1) Ready access by engineering teams to experts in NID, (2) Intelligent search tools to tap science databases, and (3) Organizational change that incorporates NID from operations concept through the entire mission life-cycle.
Bio
Dr. Russell Kerschmann is an M.D. pathologist with 30 years experience in executive management, clinical practice, biomedical device development, and molecular pathology industries. Dr. Kerschmann's undergraduate education centered on electrical engineering and neurosciences. He earned his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts, with residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
During his career, Dr. Kerschmann has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of California at San Francisco. From 2004 to 2009, he was chief of the Space Biosciences division at NASA Ames Research Center, where he initiated programs in radiation biology and lunar dust toxicology and supported missions with the Russian Space Agency.
After leaving Ames, Dr. Kerschmann was the Chief Medical Director of the San Francisco Bay Quest Diagnostics laboratory, the largest commercial clinical laboratory in the U.S.
Dr. Kerschmann continues as a subject matter expert consultant to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center.
INCOSE Natural Systems Working Group (NSWG)
Chair: Curt McNamara — Co-chair: George Studor
https://sites.google.com/site/incosenswg nswg-info@incose.org
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