Design And Application Of An Electronic Logbook For Space System .

SLAC-R-816Design and Application of an Electronic Logbookfor Space System Integrationand Test OperationsAlicia T. KavelaarsStanford Linear Accelerator CenterStanford UniversityStanford, CA 94309SLAC-Report-816Prepared for the Department of Energyunder contract number DE-AC02-76SF00515Printed in the United States of America. Available from the National Technical InformationService, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161.

This document, and the material and data contained therein, was developed under sponsorship of the United StatesGovernment. Neither the United States nor the Department of Energy, nor the Leland Stanford Junior University,nor their employees, nor their respective contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes an warranty,express or implied, or assumes any liability of responsibility for accuracy, completeness or usefulness of anyinformation, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use will not infringe privately ownedrights. Mention of any product, its manufacturer, or suppliers shall not, nor is it intended to, imply approval,disapproval, or fitness of any particular use. A royalty-free, nonexclusive right to use and disseminate same ofwhatsoever, is expressly reserved to the United States and the University.

DESIGN AND APPLICATIONOF ANELECTRONIC LOGBOOKFOR SPACE SYSTEMINTEGRATION AND TEST OPERATIONSA DISSERTATIONSUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OFAERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICSOF STANFORD UNIVERSITYIN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTSFOR THE DEGREE OFDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYAlicia T. KavelaarsApril 2006

Copyright by Alicia T. Kavelaars 2006All Rights Reservedii

I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it is fullyadequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy.Professor Elliott Bloom, Principal AdvisorI certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it is fullyadequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy.Professor J. David PowellI certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it is fullyadequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy.Professor Robert TwiggsApproved for the University Committee on Graduate Studies.iii

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AbstractIn the highly technological aerospace world paper is still widely used to document spacesystem integration and test (I&T) operations. E-Logbook is a new technology designed tosubstitute the most commonly used paper logbooks in space system I&T, such as theconnector mate/demate logbook, the flight hardware and flight software componentinstallation logbook, the material mix record logbook and the electronic ground supportequipment validation logbook. It also includes new logbook concepts, such as the shiftlogbook, which optimizes management oversight and the shift hand-over process, and theconfiguration logbook, which instantly reports on the global I&T state of the spacesystem before major test events or project reviews. The design of E-Logbook focuses notonly on a reliable and efficient relational database, but also on an ergonomic humancomputer interactive (HCI) system that can help reduce human error and improve I&Tmanagement and oversight overall. E-Logbook has been used for the I&T operation ofthe Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT) atthe Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). More than 41,000 records have beencreated for the different I&T logbooks, with no data having been corrupted or criticallylost. 94% of the operators and 100% of the management exposed to E-Logbook prefer itto paper logbooks and recommend its use in the aerospace industry.v

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For Christian.For my parents, Paloma and Erik.For my grandfather, Manuel.In memory of Willem Wamsteker.vii

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AcknowledgementsWhen I started to write this dissertation, I was told that the most difficult writing wouldtake place in the acknowledgements section. I thought this not to be true, since writingthis section would mean that I would be done with my thesis. But that person was right.The truth is that when you think about how to thank the people who helped you finish aPh.D. project, you don’t know where to start, or where to end.So many people helped me in succeeding at this endeavor, both professionally andpersonally. First and foremost I have to thank Prof. Elliott Bloom, my advisor, who gaveme the incredible opportunity of working for GLAST and SLAC, provided immensesupport, and always believed in me.I would also like to specially thank Prof. Dave Powell, an inspiring figure who helped memaintain my priorities, and was always patient, wise and cheerful even during the mostdifficult times.Thank you also to Robert Twiggs, for providing students with great opportunities to learnabout how to build space systems, and to the rest of the Professors at Stanford fromwhom I learned so much. Thank you also to the Aeronautics and AstronauticsDepartment, especially Lynn Kaiser, and to Stanford University, for the opportunity tocome to the United States with a Physics degree to become an aerospace engineer.This research would not have been possible without the tremendous support of theGLAST Integration and Test team. I would like to thank Kenneth Fouts for his support,and all the staff of the LAT I&T facility at SLAC, who were patient with my questionsand enthusiastic about my research, and in the end, made it succeed thanks to theirinvaluable input: Brian Horwitz, Brian Grist, Eliazar Ortiz, Leo Manger, Tom Nieland,Dave Kiehl, Mark Mollini, Doug Bartholomiew, John Marshall, Phouc Hoang, AlbertNguyen, Roger Williams and Larry Wai. Kelly Burlingham, the quality assuranceix

engineer who sat with me in every verification and validation test of E-Logbook, wasincredibly valuable in making E-Logbook meet high standards.I would also like to thank the LAT I&T Online team: Lester Miller, Jim Panetta, RicClaus and specially Selim Tuvi, an incredible programmer whose ideas made E-Logbookbetter, and was a calmed voice and friend in the most stressful times. And finally,Eduardo do Couto e Silva, a pleasure to work with, always ready to help and whose inputand criticism improve the clarity, structure and strength of ideas.I would not have been able to get this far without the support and love of my family,especially my parents, Paloma and Erik, who sacrificed everything to give us aneducation and the values to live a fruitful and happy life, and are and will always be anexample to follow. And my grandfather, your genes are probably what keep us all afloat.And my siblings, Patricia, Sandra, Mark and Alain.Since I came to Stanford, I have made wonderful friends like those I left in Spain, and Ihave met my future husband. Christian and I share the happiness of getting this degree,because, without him, this and many more good things in my life simply would not exist.To all of you who became part of me in Spain and in the United States, either in thevolleyball courts, in the classroom, out or at home; we made it!x

Table of contentsAbstract .vAcknowledgements.Error! Bookmark not defined.Table of contents. xiList of tables.xvList of illustrations . xixList of acronyms . xxiii1Introduction.11.1 Related Topics .51.1.1The Gamma-ray Large Area Telescope (GLAST) .51.1.2Space System Integration and Test (I&T) .171.1.3Design and Optimization of Electronic Databases .261.1.4Human-Computer Interactive (HCI) Systems .311.1.5Software Development Considerations.381.2 Current Approach: Space System I&T Logs .401.3 Prior Art .461.4 Contributions.492E-Logbook Components .512.1 E-Logbook Component Requirements .522.2 I&T Log Components .522.3 Design Components .602.4 Development Platform Components.622.4.1Hardware Components.622.4.2Software Components.622.5 E-Logbook Component Implementation .673E-Logbook Electronic Database System .693.1 Database Requirements.69xi

3.2 Database Design.713.2.1Requirements Analysis and Conceptual Design .713.2.2Logical and Physical Design.803.3 Database Requirements implementation.884Human-Computer Interactive (HCI) - Graphical User Interface (GUI) System .894.1 HCI-GUI System Requirements .894.2 HCI-GUI System Design .914.2.1HCI Design .914.2.2GUI Design .954.2.3Problems and Solutions.1064.2.4Final HCI-GUI System Structure.1114.3 HCI-GUI System Requirements Implementation.1135E-Logbook’s Experimental Setup for the LAT I&T Project. .1155.1 Experimental Requirements.1165.2 Software Architecture .1175.2.1Database mirroring.1185.2.2Database backup .1195.2.3Mobile Computing Rack (MCR) architecture .1195.3 Hardware Architecture.1205.4 Requirements Implementation Process.1225.4.1E-Logbook’s Code Structure .1255.4.2E-Logbook’s Website .1275.5 Experimental Requirements Implementation .1296E-Logbook Analysis and Results.1316.1 Database Performance Analysis .1326.2 Human-Computer Interface (HCI) – Graphical User Interface (GUI) SystemPerformance Analysis .1396.2.1Main Results .1416.2.2Usability Criteria Results.145xii

7Conclusions and Future Work .163APPENDIX A: E-Logbook’s I&T Logs Requirements.167APPENDIX B: E-Logbook’s Database Schema.181APPENDIX C: JIRA Issues.199APPENDIX D: Usability Questionnaire.207APPENDIX E: Questionnaire Results .218Bibliography .237xiii

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List of tablesNumberPageTable 1: Relational Database Model terms and definitions .27Table 2: HCI Features.36Table 3: Original field requirements for the FHW Log.77Table 4: Original field requirements for the FHW Log.78Table 5: Number of computers and location used for E-Logbook in the LAT I&Tfacility .120Table 6: E-Logbook database statistics for the LAT I&T project as of 02/24/06 .132Table 7: E-Logbook database schema statistics for the LAT I&T project as of02/24/06, on a table by table basis .133Table 8: Data loss statistics for E-Logbook on the LAT I&T project .137Table 9: Subject statistics.140Table 10: E-Logbook main usability results.143Table 11: Visual Clarity average statistics comparison between QNov05 and QFeb06 .148Table 12: Consistency and Compatibility average statistics comparison betweenQNov05 and QFeb06 .149Table 13: Explicitness average statistics comparison between QNov05 and QFeb06 .150Table 14: Appropriate Functionality average statistics comparison between QNov05and QFeb06.151Table 15: Informative Feedback and User Guidance statistics comparison betweenQNov05 and QFeb06 .152Table 16: Error Prevention and Correction average statistics comparison betweenQNov05 and QFeb06 .153Table 17: Flexibility and Control average statistics comparison between QNov05 andQFeb06.154xv