Fuzzy logic in spacecraft design

This paper presents a method to automate the spacecraft preliminary design, by simulating the experts' decisional processes making use of a dedicated Fuzzy Logic Inference Engine. The problem is faced with a multi-criteria decision-making approach and the human expertise is captured by a variable weight vector computed by dedicated fuzzy logic control blocks implemented with a Mamdani approach. Uncertainty of the input parameters-implicit at the starting point of a sizing process- is, translated into mathematical formulation through the interval algebra rules. Comparison between simulation results and already flown space systems shew the validity of the proposed method. The results are really encouraging as the method detects space system configurations definitely similar to the real one, drastically reducing the time dedicated to the preliminary spacecraft design. From a theoretic point of view the simulation results of the proposed method have been compared with a classic Pareto-optimal point detection to further validate them.