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Cassini Probe

Lo-Res VRML World
Hi-Res VRML World
Author: Andrew Reddish
Image Gallery
Overview: Cassini was designed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was launched in October 1997 to make its way to Saturn by way of Venus, Earth and Jupiter. Its primary mission target's Saturn and Saturn's moon Titan. Cassini is composed of the orbiter and the Huygen's probe. The probe's dynamics at a high level can be modeled as a three-phase transition from 1) probe separation, 2) probe descent to Titan's surface, and 3) impact. The world uses an architectural metaphor based on the Greek Parthenon to model these three phases. You can witness the 3 phases in the foyer (or main Parthenon building) or go to the "Above FSM" viewpoint to execute the dynamics. A human avatar moves from one room to the next, modeling the phase transitions for the probe.
Model Templates: FSM = Finite State Machine
Metaphors: Greek Parthenon Complex as a the FSM; Room of the Complex as a state of the FSM; Human avatar's position representing the current probe state.
Simulation: Viewpoints: Initial, Above FSM. Execution: press Execute to start the model. At the default viewpoint, one sees the procession of sequential states representing the Cassini probe's dynamics from separation from the orbiter, descending, and impacting the Titan surface. The "Above FSM" viewpoint can be chosen prior to model execution. In this case, an avatar is shown moving from one room to the next. The avatar's position over time represents the state of the probe. Other viewpoints allow the user to move with the avatar. Animation: Audio: Separation Phase: unlatching sound of probe; Descent Phase: sound of falling object; Impact: "The Eagle has Landed" from the first Apollo lunar mission.
Modeling PROTOs used: FSM, FSM_STATE, FSM_TRANSITION, PARTH, OBJECT, MOVEABLE_OBJECT, WORLD

Object Hierarchy:

HUD (FRONTPANEL)
Avatar & Tracks
  script
World
  contains Sky, Simulation Clock, Room 
Room
  contains Pictures, Titan, Cassini
Cassini
  contains Orbiter, Probe
Probe
  behavior House
House (FSM)
  states Separation, Descent, Impact
  transitions Hall1, Hall2
Separation (FSM-STATE)
  contains Separation-State copies of Titan, Cassini, & Probe
  script
Descent (FSM-STATE)
  contains Descent-State copies of Titan, Cassini, & Probe
  script
Impact (FSM-STATE)
  contains Impact-State copies of Titan, Cassini, & Probe
  script
Hall1 (FSM-TRANSITION)
  script
Hall2 (FSM-TRANSITION)
  script