Advanced Control System Architecture for BIO-Plex

From 1997 to 2001, the author worked with a team of engineers at JSC to develop the requirements and basic design for the advanced life support system testbed known as the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, or BIO-Plex. In addition to the testing of advanced life support equipment, the testbed was also capable of treating the control system itself as a test article. The intent was to provide, in addition to the system and equipment-level data acquisition and control, the capability of evaluating approaches to autonomy and other forms of advanced control, and eventually to evaluate them in the context of mission operations. This paper will describe the requirements and design trades we made to develop the architecture of an advanced control system that could support the flexibility and complexity of the BIO-Plex.