Dipl.-Inf. Gerhard Fellinger

Research Assistant

Aerospace Information Technology
Department of Computer Science VIII
Emil-Fischer-Str. 32, Room 3.211, 3rd floor, right side
Julius Maximilians Universität Würzburg
Campus Hubland Nord, D-97074 Würzburg
Germany

Phone: +49-931-31-85144
Fax: +49-931-31-81411
Email: fellinger@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de

Summary

Gerhard Fellinger studied computer science and physics at the University of Würzburg where he majored in CS in 2011. In his diploma thesis (written under the supervision of Prof. Haye Hinrichsen from the Chair of Theoretical Physics III), he created a biologically inspired neural network capable of directing visual attention towards interesting features within an image. Gerhard decided to join the research team of Prof. Hakan Kayal afterwards where he is currently the leader of project ADIA and project BayKoSM's image analysis component. As hinted by the chief subjects of both undertakings, he specializes in system simulation and computer vision.

When not occupied by his research interests, Gerhard likes to pursue different sports activities as well as to delve deeper into foreign languages, economics and history. Recently, he has developed a strong interest in hunting, too.

Betreute Abschlussarbeiten:
Datum	Art	Titel	Autor
12/2013	M	Design and Implementation of a Satellite Mission Scenario Simulator. University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt	Schneider, V.
09/2014	B	Design and Implementation of a Telecommand Input Client	Beylin, P.
02/2015	B	Entwurf und Implementierung des Telekommando-Interpreters für eine Satellitensimulation	Aumann, A.

Publications

2014[ to top ]

ASAP: Autonomous onboard mission planning Wojtkowiak, Harald; Balagurin, Oleksii; Fellinger, Gerhard; Fischer, Wendelin; Garcia Fernandez, Borja; Kayal, Hakan in 65th International Astronautical Congress (2014).
- [ BibTeX ]
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@inproceedings{wojtkowiak2014autonomous, author = {Wojtkowiak, Harald and Balagurin, Oleksii and Fellinger, Gerhard and Fischer, Wendelin and Garcia Fernandez, Borja and Kayal, Hakan}, booktitle = {65th International Astronautical Congress}, keywords = {myown}, number = {IAC-14,B6,2,2,x22347}, organization = {International Astronautical Federation}, title = {ASAP: Autonomous onboard mission planning}, year = 2014 }
Methods and Systems for Increasing Autonomy of Earth Observation Satellites Balagurin, Oleksii; Fellinger, Gerhard; Fischer, Wendelin; Kayal, Hakan; Wojtkowiak, Harald in Small Satellites Systems and Services - The 4S Symposium (2014).
- [ BibTeX ]
@inproceedings{balagurin2014methods, author = {Balagurin, Oleksii and Fellinger, Gerhard and Fischer, Wendelin and Kayal, Hakan and Wojtkowiak, Harald}, booktitle = {Small Satellites Systems and Services - The 4S Symposium}, keywords = {myown}, month = {may}, organization = {ESA & CNES}, title = {Methods and Systems for Increasing Autonomy of Earth Observation Satellites}, year = 2014 }

2013[ to top ]

ASAP: AUTONOMY THROUGH ON-BOARD PLANNING Wojtkowiak, Harald; Balagurin, Oleksii; Fellinger, Gerhard; Kayal, Hakan in 6th International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technologies (RAST) (2013).
- [ Abstract ]
- [ BibTeX ]
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Usually a satellite is entirely controlled from ground. Its tasks are planned in advance by a satellite operations team using specialized scheduling software. When the orbiting satellite enters the transmission range of the ground station, communication is possible, and a newly generated plan (if required) can be uploaded and executed in due time. Although this approach is well-established and has been used for decades, it has some major drawbacks. It binds resources (e.g. personal staff, communication links, etc.) and prohibits fast reactions to transient events, due to the required change of the currently active plan. In the traditional approach, the changes can only be achieved by transmitting a new plan from the ground station to the satellite. This communication imposes time delays which are not acceptable for fast reactions and responses. A way to overcome this problem is to equip the satellite with an autonomous decision-making system which is able to alter the operation plan onboard the satellite. The department of Computer Science VIII of the University of Wuerzburg is currently developing such a system named ASAP and will present it in this paper. The focus lies on the interaction between ASAP and the OnBoard-Computer of the satellite.

@inproceedings{wojtkowiak2013autonomy, abstract = {Usually a satellite is entirely controlled from ground. Its tasks are planned in advance by a satellite operations team using specialized scheduling software. When the orbiting satellite enters the transmission range of the ground station, communication is possible, and a newly generated plan (if required) can be uploaded and executed in due time. Although this approach is well-established and has been used for decades, it has some major drawbacks. It binds resources (e.g. personal staff, communication links, etc.) and prohibits fast reactions to transient events, due to the required change of the currently active plan. In the traditional approach, the changes can only be achieved by transmitting a new plan from the ground station to the satellite. This communication imposes time delays which are not acceptable for fast reactions and responses. A way to overcome this problem is to equip the satellite with an autonomous decision-making system which is able to alter the operation plan onboard the satellite. The department of Computer Science VIII of the University of Wuerzburg is currently developing such a system named ASAP and will present it in this paper. The focus lies on the interaction between ASAP and the OnBoard-Computer of the satellite.}, author = {Wojtkowiak, Harald and Balagurin, Oleksii and Fellinger, Gerhard and Kayal, Hakan}, booktitle = {6th International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technologies (RAST)}, keywords = {myown}, organization = {AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}, title = {ASAP: AUTONOMY THROUGH ON-BOARD PLANNING}, year = 2013 }
ASAP: AUTONOMOUS DYNAMIC SCHEDULING FOR SMALL SATELLITES Wojtkowiak, Harald; Balagurin, Oleksii; Fellinger, Gerhard; Kayal, Hakan in 64th International Astronautical Congress (2013). (Vol. 4, 3)
- [ Abstract ]
- [ BibTeX ]
- [ URL ]
Usually planning of satellite missions is done on ground by an expert team. Activities have to be prioritized; telecommand lists have to be generated according to time-based procedures and sent to the satellite for execution. In consequence of this method expenses for operations are a major part of the overall satellite mission cost because of the usually intense involvement of humans in the planning and operations processes. Additionally, doing it this way makes it impossible to react on special short-time events such as volcanic eruptions or fires. To improve the process of mission planning, the development of a new autonomous imaging system with an integrated autonomous planning system has been started at the University of Wuerzburg which is funded through the German Aerospace Center (FKZ 50RM1208) by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The aim is to use such a system on board of nano satellites in the future to enable autonomous fast time responses to short-lived optical phenomena. Furthermore the system can relieve the On-Board-Computer (OBC) of the satellite by providing scheduling capacities and mechanism. The main functionality of our new satellite system is twofold. On one hand, it uses its optical system to autonomously detect, classify and track (in the field of view) interesting objects or phenomena like meteors or lightning in the Earth´s atmosphere. In the context of our project, this is called “Autonomous Sensing (AS)”. On the other hand, it provides the capability and means to schedule satellite operation procedures. This feature is called “Autonomous Planning (AP)”. Combined, these acronyms form the project's name ASAP. The main feature is that both functionalities work autonomously. The focus of this paper lies on the scheduling system of ASAP. It has to manage activities and resources. One or several resources can be grouped to one hardware platform on which activities can be executed. Activities and resources can be distinguished in internal ones and external ones. Internal activities and resources are provided by ASAP and can be independently scheduled. For example the “Autonomous Sensing” functionality of ASAP is fully accomplished by internal activities and resources. External activities and resources can be registered in ASAP in order to be integrated into the scheduling process. This sort of operation requires some kind of communication. For this case ASAP offers a special interface to bind external components into the scheduling mechanism.

@inproceedings{wojtkowiak2013autonomous, abstract = {Usually planning of satellite missions is done on ground by an expert team. Activities have to be prioritized; telecommand lists have to be generated according to time-based procedures and sent to the satellite for execution. In consequence of this method expenses for operations are a major part of the overall satellite mission cost because of the usually intense involvement of humans in the planning and operations processes. Additionally, doing it this way makes it impossible to react on special short-time events such as volcanic eruptions or fires. To improve the process of mission planning, the development of a new autonomous imaging system with an integrated autonomous planning system has been started at the University of Wuerzburg which is funded through the German Aerospace Center (FKZ 50RM1208) by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The aim is to use such a system on board of nano satellites in the future to enable autonomous fast time responses to short-lived optical phenomena. Furthermore the system can relieve the On-Board-Computer (OBC) of the satellite by providing scheduling capacities and mechanism. The main functionality of our new satellite system is twofold. On one hand, it uses its optical system to autonomously detect, classify and track (in the field of view) interesting objects or phenomena like meteors or lightning in the Earth´s atmosphere. In the context of our project, this is called “Autonomous Sensing (AS)”. On the other hand, it provides the capability and means to schedule satellite operation procedures. This feature is called “Autonomous Planning (AP)”. Combined, these acronyms form the project's name ASAP. The main feature is that both functionalities work autonomously. The focus of this paper lies on the scheduling system of ASAP. It has to manage activities and resources. One or several resources can be grouped to one hardware platform on which activities can be executed. Activities and resources can be distinguished in internal ones and external ones. Internal activities and resources are provided by ASAP and can be independently scheduled. For example the “Autonomous Sensing” functionality of ASAP is fully accomplished by internal activities and resources. External activities and resources can be registered in ASAP in order to be integrated into the scheduling process. This sort of operation requires some kind of communication. For this case ASAP offers a special interface to bind external components into the scheduling mechanism.}, author = {Wojtkowiak, Harald and Balagurin, Oleksii and Fellinger, Gerhard and Kayal, Hakan}, booktitle = {64th International Astronautical Congress}, keywords = {myown}, organization = {International Astronautical Federation}, title = {ASAP: AUTONOMOUS DYNAMIC SCHEDULING FOR SMALL SATELLITES}, volume = {IAC-13,B4,3,3,x18999}, year = 2013 }
ASAP: Increasing the autonomy of small satellites Wojtkowiak, Harald; Balagurin, Oleksii; Fellinger, Gerhard; Kayal, Hakan in 9th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation (2013).
- [ BibTeX ]
@inproceedings{wojtkowiak2013increasing, author = {Wojtkowiak, Harald and Balagurin, Oleksii and Fellinger, Gerhard and Kayal, Hakan}, booktitle = {9th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, journal = {9th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, keywords = {myown}, number = {IAA-B9-1109P}, organization = {International Academy of Astronautics}, title = {ASAP: Increasing the autonomy of small satellites}, year = 2013 }
ADIA: A Novel Onboard Failure Diagnostic System for Nanosatellites Fellinger, Gerhard; Dietrich, Georg; Fette, Georg; Kayal, Hakan; Puppe, Frank; Schneider, Volker; Wojtkowiak, Harald in 64th International Astronautical Congress (2013). (Vol. 4, 3)
- [ Abstract ]
- [ BibTeX ]
- [ URL ]
Spacecraft failure analysis is often a time-consuming process which requires increased attention from ground personnel. Since operations expenditures represent a major part of overall satellite mission cost, efficient assignment of resources, especially when it comes to as weighty a cost factor as manpower, is critical. This is especially true for small-scale satellites which are often operated by research groups with limited means. Also, ground-based error source isolation by operators implies that due to limited contact windows, real-time diagnosis is usually out of the question, hence losing valuable time when quick reactions to critical failures are necessary. Moreover, the onset of failures looming for several days or weeks cannot be easily predicted by human operators who are by and large not good at trend-analyzing large amounts of data, especially if mutually interdependent time series are involved. Thus, the capability to analyze errors in real-time onboard a satellite is desirable as it can help cut costs and reduce mission failure risk. In order to provide such capabilities, the development of a new autonomous failure diagnostic system called ADIA (Autonomous Diagnostic System for Satellites) has started at the University of Würzburg which is funded through the German Aerospace Center (FKZ 50RM1231) by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The goal is to develop an onboard diagnostic software which is capable of detecting errors, isolating them with respect to their cause as well as trend analysis of spacecraft telemetry data for the prediction of future subsystem malfunctions. The system consists of two functionally intertwined components. One is a set of diagnostic algorithms with an interface to the satellite’s TTC system. The second is a satellite simulator software which has two functions: on the one hand, it serves as a “telemetry generator” in the context of ADIA’s development process, providing the diagnostic core with raw data during system testing and fine-tuning. On the other hand, the simulator can itself be integrated into the diagnostic component, thus making ADIA a model-based analysis tool. Internal states of the simulator can be compared with the state of the actual satellite in order to derive hypotheses on the nature of an emerging error. The focus of this paper lies on the discussion of ADIA’s requirements, the basic functional concept as well as the workings of the diagnostic core. Additionally, a brief discussion of the nanosatellite to be modeled as part of the development process is included.

@inproceedings{fellinger2013novel, abstract = {Spacecraft failure analysis is often a time-consuming process which requires increased attention from ground personnel. Since operations expenditures represent a major part of overall satellite mission cost, efficient assignment of resources, especially when it comes to as weighty a cost factor as manpower, is critical. This is especially true for small-scale satellites which are often operated by research groups with limited means. Also, ground-based error source isolation by operators implies that due to limited contact windows, real-time diagnosis is usually out of the question, hence losing valuable time when quick reactions to critical failures are necessary. Moreover, the onset of failures looming for several days or weeks cannot be easily predicted by human operators who are by and large not good at trend-analyzing large amounts of data, especially if mutually interdependent time series are involved. Thus, the capability to analyze errors in real-time onboard a satellite is desirable as it can help cut costs and reduce mission failure risk. In order to provide such capabilities, the development of a new autonomous failure diagnostic system called ADIA (Autonomous Diagnostic System for Satellites) has started at the University of Würzburg which is funded through the German Aerospace Center (FKZ 50RM1231) by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). The goal is to develop an onboard diagnostic software which is capable of detecting errors, isolating them with respect to their cause as well as trend analysis of spacecraft telemetry data for the prediction of future subsystem malfunctions. The system consists of two functionally intertwined components. One is a set of diagnostic algorithms with an interface to the satellite’s TTC system. The second is a satellite simulator software which has two functions: on the one hand, it serves as a “telemetry generator” in the context of ADIA’s development process, providing the diagnostic core with raw data during system testing and fine-tuning. On the other hand, the simulator can itself be integrated into the diagnostic component, thus making ADIA a model-based analysis tool. Internal states of the simulator can be compared with the state of the actual satellite in order to derive hypotheses on the nature of an emerging error. The focus of this paper lies on the discussion of ADIA’s requirements, the basic functional concept as well as the workings of the diagnostic core. Additionally, a brief discussion of the nanosatellite to be modeled as part of the development process is included.}, author = {Fellinger, Gerhard and Dietrich, Georg and Fette, Georg and Kayal, Hakan and Puppe, Frank and Schneider, Volker and Wojtkowiak, Harald}, booktitle = {64th International Astronautical Congress}, keywords = {myown}, organization = {International Astronautical Federation}, title = {ADIA: A Novel Onboard Failure Diagnostic System for Nanosatellites}, volume = {IAC-13,B4,3,10,x17926}, year = 2013 }
The BayKoSM Project: Technologies for Swarm Missions Freimann, Andreas; Schmidt, Marco; Schilling, Klaus; Graciano, Joao; Fellinger, Gerhard; Kayal, Hakan; Spies, Peter; Zessin, Henrik; Henkel, Patrick; Gerhard, Tjorven; Reichel, Florian; Rummelhagen, Mirko; Marszalek, Michael; Bollert, Reinhard in 5th International Conference on Spacecraft Formation Flying Missions and Technologies (2013).
- [ Abstract ]
- [ BibTeX ]
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The BayKoSM project is a cooperation of several universities and companies in Bavaria, funded by the Bavarian government. The aim of the project is the development of key technologies for swarms of mobile vehicles. These swarms consist of either pico satellites or uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). The paper describes the corresponding technologies and how they are used within the scope of BayKoSM for intelligent swarm behavior.

@inproceedings{freimann2013baykosm, abstract = {The BayKoSM project is a cooperation of several universities and companies in Bavaria, funded by the Bavarian government. The aim of the project is the development of key technologies for swarms of mobile vehicles. These swarms consist of either pico satellites or uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). The paper describes the corresponding technologies and how they are used within the scope of BayKoSM for intelligent swarm behavior.}, author = {Freimann, Andreas and Schmidt, Marco and Schilling, Klaus and Graciano, Joao and Fellinger, Gerhard and Kayal, Hakan and Spies, Peter and Zessin, Henrik and Henkel, Patrick and Gerhard, Tjorven and Reichel, Florian and Rummelhagen, Mirko and Marszalek, Michael and Bollert, Reinhard}, booktitle = {5th International Conference on Spacecraft Formation Flying Missions and Technologies}, keywords = {myown}, month = {may}, organization = {German Space Operations Center of DLR}, title = {The BayKoSM Project: Technologies for Swarm Missions}, year = 2013 }

Dipl.-Inf. Gerhard Fellinger

Summary

Publications

Data privacy protection

Data privacy protection

Picture credits