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Better Safe Than Starry: Cybersecurity for Spacecraft

Many satellites flying over earth as seen from space. They connect and cover planet with digitalization network of information.

When we think of space exploration images of rockets, astronauts, and distant planets come to mind. However, behind the scenes there's an invisible yet critical aspect of space systems: cybersecurity for flight software. For over 20 years, Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) has been at the forefront of this field, developing software and systems that control spacecraft. Now, our team has expanded to protect spacecraft from cyber threats.

Can Unmanned Aerial Systems Find Their Own Way in Caves?

SwRI's onboard mapping software generates camera vision data for real-time navigation

Earlier this year we had the opportunity to meet with space scientists, cavers, and roboticists to discuss the future of cave exploration for both on- and off-world environments at the 4th International Planetary Caves Conference in Lanzarote, Spain. A topic often discussed in the space community is how to effectively use robots to perform the range of exploration tasks necessary for previously unexplored environments, such as caves.

Transitioning Spacecraft to FPGA Computing for Faster Machine Learning Object Detection

Digitized outline of the brain divided into four sections depicting car networks, AI, security and robotics with the words Intelligent Systems Insights

Computing in space tends to be constrained by the size, weight, power and cost of radiation-hardened systems that can fit on spacecraft. Historically, these constraints have ruled out deployment of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, which require substantial memory and power to automate image detection and other tasks.

Machine Vision Enables Advanced Automation

Humans can see damage to a propeller blade under normal light and feel damaged areas with touch.

Many manufacturing processes operate using fixed or hard automation equipment that perform production tasks with limited sensory inputs. For more complex applications, simple cameras or sensors can detect an object’s presence, position, size, or thickness. Machine vision solutions can be applied when objects are more complex, less constrained, or their appearance needs to be evaluated. This blog post will review three applications to provide insights into machine vision’s role in advanced automation.

The ROS 1 vs ROS 2 Transition

Illustration of how various parts in a manufacturing system can be orchestrated to automate tasks

The Robot Operating System (ROS) was first released by Open Robotics in 2007 with the intent to provide open-source software frameworks, tools and libraries for robot development. A typical ROS system is comprised of independent nodes that can communicate with each other through publisher/subscriber relationships. A key part that makes ROS so useful in robotic development is that these nodes do not need to be on the same system or even used by the same architecture. This flexibility makes ROS easily adaptable to the needs of the user.

Getting Started in Safety for Robotics Automation

Robot Welding Automotive Part

Whether you are adding another piece of automation to your factory floor or debating whether bringing automation into your operation is right for your business, there is a lot to consider. From new equipment to reorganizing floor space for the new set-up, you will have a laundry list of tasks to complete before your newly automated system is ready to use. One of the most important items on that list will be safety. How do you ensure this system is safe for those working around it? What additional items should be on the shopping list to aid in safety? What do you base your safety decisions around?

Cybersecurity in the Age of Connected Industrial Robotics

Go to blog post: Cybersecurity in the Age of Connected Industrial Robotics

Industrial robotics continue to rise in levels of autonomy, intelligence and complexity, which enables them to fill more roles within the manufacturing process. However, as those systems rise in their independence, the need to ensure they are secure against cyberattacks has risen accordingly. Identifying the risks to robotics systems and corresponding solutions will help prevent costly cyberattacks to industrial control systems in the future.