Patrick Stakem

 PatrickH. Stakem

Patrick H. Stakem

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Biography

Johns Hopkins Engineering Programs ALL - Engineering


Resume

  • 1979

    PhD program in Optical Networking.

    EE

    The Catholic University of America

  • 1977

    Master of Science (MSc)

    Computer Science

    Johns Hopkins University

  • 1971

    MS

    Physics

    Computer Science

    Johns Hopkins University

  • 1967

    Carnegie Mellon University

    Georges Creek Railway

    Bartron Medical Imaging

    Independent Engineering Consultant

    Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab

    Laurel

    MD

    Published reference works on On-Orbit Robot Repair and Servicing of Spacecraft

    Manufacturing in Space

    Space Tourism

    and the Deep Space Gateway. Working on a reference for Cloud Robotics. \nFocusing on Cubesat education and engagement globally. Developing STEM train-the trainer Courseware and references from K to Post-Grad

    in multiple areas. Interested in Cloud Robotics.\n\nOrganized a summer session for 20 and later

    40 students in the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program to learn NASA System Engineering methods and spacecraft operations in 2015 and 2016..\n\nTaught classes in Cubesat Engineering and Cubesat Operations at Capitol Technology University. Continuing International Colloborative Projects. \n\nWorked closely with student teams developing new control center technology

    and troubleshooting a NASA exploration robot. Lunar rover Cubesat run through the paces at NIST's robot playground. \n\nPresented a paper at the Flight Software-17 conference at JHU/APL in Fall

    2017. Had a poster presentation at Goddard's Interplanetary Cubesat Conference-17. Pursuing a\nCubesat Swarm project with a Cloud architecture

    for asteroid and Mars surface operations. \nSurvived Iceland!\n\nOne of the students and I have published a poster presentation on cubesats

    before the term started. Working with excellent high-end students Cubesat Swarms for Gas Giant ring system exploration

    and Clustering of onboard computer resources among units. Developing the Control Center as a service / Control center in the cloud paradigm. \n

    Principal

    Independent Engineering Consultant

    Greenbelt

    MD

    Radiation effects on flight FPGA and ASIC architectures.\nIntegration & Test of Spacecraft systems.\nTask lead on multiple GSFC Tasks with subcontracts.\nMentor to the Summer Robotics Engineering Boot Camp (2010-11)

    Senior Systems Engineer/ESES

    MEI Technologies

    Inc

    Laurel

    MD

    Developed and teaches an EE nline undergraduate Embedded Systems course. Works with the Aerospace Engineering Department on Cubesat development and Control Center

    as well as the CORE Flight Executive Project

    from NASA/GSFC. Helping to negotiate a Space Act Agreement between NASA and Capitol. Working to get more international student involvement .

    Adjunct Faculty

    Electrical Engineering

    Capital Technology University

    APL

    Developed and teaches graduate level course in Embedded Computer Systems based on the ARM architecture. Developed online version of the course

    including labs. Working to increase foreign student involvement. Working with Aerospace Engineering Department on Cubesat course.

    Faculty

    Whiting School of Engineering

    Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab

    Developed and taught courses in the Graduate Computer Science Dept. Evaluates technology. x86 architecture and assembly language

    RISC architecture

    Virtualization

    Digital Communications and Networking. Development of 64-node Parallel processor. Support of Robotics projects.

    Loyola University in Maryland

    Georges Creek Railway

    Luke

    MD

    Maryland Class-III shortline railroad

    providing plant switching and logistics services to paper industry

    and coal haul for export. Principal

    and leads programs in insertion of technology and networking the locomotives for better predictive maintenance and monitoring. \nInterested in biodiesel production

    intermodal operations

    electrical industry optimization. IT infrastructure

    including locomotive onboard systems and rail communication infrastructure.

    Director of Technology

    Pittsburgh

    PA

    assisted University faculty

    staff

    and students on running mainframe programs on Univac

    Burroughs

    and IBM Hardware. As part of the System Verification Group

    evaluated new hardware/software releases.

    User Consultant

    Carnegie Mellon University

    Maryland

    Connecticut

    Consultant for hosting of NASA Imaging Software on a cluster architecture for medical image enhancement. Project has gone through FDA approval to production.

    Consultant

    Bartron Medical Imaging

    Python

    Fortran

    -G and -H

    Algol-68

    Community Outreach Award

    for support of the NASA Summer Robotics Engineering Boot Camp

    MEI

    Shuttle Program Manager's Commendation

    for contributions to the Shuttle Program.

    NASA

    Group Achievement Award

    for Aquarius Radiometer work in 2006.

    NASA

  • 1966

    BSEE

    Applied Computer Science

    Athena System Development Group

    \nComputer Science Dept. Engineering Lab

    \nComputation Center

    Carnegie Mellon University

  • Incredible energy level. Mentor to a group of 40 International students in hardware and software engineering. Provided technical guidance and system engineering discipline.\nHelped with the Greenland Rover

    a remote vehicle surveying the ice shelf.

    NASA-GSFC

    participant

    Mount Savage Historical Society

    Simulations

    System Architecture

    Engineering Management

    System Design

    Systems Engineering

    Embedded Software

    Virtualization

    FPGA

    VHDL

    Matlab

    Spacecraft

    Configuration Management

    Testing

    Robotics

    Unix

    Software Engineering

    Integration

    Technology Education

    Embedded Systems

    Linux

    Mobile Cloud Robotics

    This book is about the topic of Mobile Cloud Robotics. This represents the fusion of multiple technologies

    such a Internet of Things

    mobile robotic platforms

    Multicore Graphics processing units

    and the Cloud platform. The Cloud concept involves virtualizing the compute element

    as we'll explain in detail later. Mostly

    we will focus on mobile robots

    as opposed to robotic assembly

    which we might find on an assembly line for cars or refrigerators. At he heart of the problem is a computation-communication trade-off. Will look at the integration of these topics

    with a roadmap and a defined architecture. \nCloud Robotics is an emerging field

    enabled by the Internet of Things

    the development and deployment of cloud services

    and more capable small embedded processors with easier to use software

    and better communication links. There has always been restrictions on the amount of processing

    dta storage

    and communications we can put on a mobile platform. Early Mars rovers used more power computing their move

    than in actually doing them. The mobile platforms are usually power constrained

    even if augmented by solar panels

    and might have to return to base to recharge. Part of this problem can be solved by offloading computation to the cloud. Of course

    this increases the power used for communications. \nCloud Robotics combines several technologies

    including Cloud-based big data

    cloud computing on demand

    open source

    data analytics and learning

    and swarm behavior. Mobile Cloud Robotics assume the robots have a mobility platform. They could be identical service robots in a healthcare facility

    or they could be multiple-domain systems

    land

    sea

    air

    underwater

    with the Cloud server in the field. Even robot swarms in Space are feasible

    for both exploration of large and diverse targets in the asteroid belt

    and for planetary surface exploration.

    Mobile Cloud Robotics

    This book discusses the application of Cubesats in the exploration of our solar systems. Including the Sun

    the eight primary planets and Pluto

    many moons

    the asteroid belt

    comets

    and the ring systems of the four gas giants

    there is a lot to explore. Although the planets (and Pluto) have been visited by spacecraft

    Earth's moon has been somewhat explored

    and many of the other planets' moons have been imaged

    there is a lot of “filling in the blanks” to be done. Here we examine the application of swarms of small independent spacecraft to take on this role. Some of the enabling technology's for cooperating swarms is examined. \nAlmost every Cubesat sent into space to this point has gone into Earth orbit

    and is either there still

    or has reentered the atmosphere. It's a big solar system

    and there's a lot we don't know about it. Additionally

    all Cubesats have launched as ride-along payloads. There are two approaches for using Cubesats for exploration away from Earth. One uses the demonstrated technology of solar sailing

    and missions using this approach are being implemented. Another uses a large carrier-mothership

    loaded with hundreds or Cubesats. This is sent to a destination. achieves orbit

    and dispenses the Cubesats

    providing a communications link with Earth. JPL is postulating this type of mission in the 2020's. They baseline a dormant cruise duration of 100-2200 days

    followed by a Cubesat life of 1-7 days. Prior to that

    the most likely scenario is a traditional exploration mission with some tag-along Cubesats. The next step beyond that is to make a swarm of Cubesats the primary payload.

    Interplanetary Cubesats

    This book covers the topic of Crewed Space Stations

    from the earliest dreams to the current International Space Station

    with some information on the planning of its replacement. Generally

    we distinguish between a space capsule and a space station by the fact that the space station is permanently in orbit

    and can be resupplied and new crews delivered

    as veterans are returned to the ground. The orbital space station provides living accommodations for the crew

    as well as experiment space. \nThe first mention of a crewed space station may be Edward Everett Hale's The Brick Moon

    in 1899. The first instance of the torus or wheel shape is usually attributed to Potocnic

    an Austrian

    in The Problem of Space Travel

    published around 1928. Pirquet picked up and expanded on this concept in his book

    Die Rakette

    1928. Hermann Noordung discussed space stations in his 1929 book

    The Problem of Space Travel: The Rocket Motor.

    Crewed Space Stationd

    This book covers the topic of Manufacturing in Space

    which is not that far away

    and has actually been done on a small scale for many years. With permanent manufacturing facilities in space

    near to lunar or asteroid resources

    we will be able to fabricate facilities from local material

    and extract rocket fuel. All of this can replace what we now need very large rockets up from Earth's “gravity well.” We can build the next generation stations and spacecraft in situ

    in orbit. There are some major advantages for this. Spin-off company

    providing logistics services

    will be necessary. Space will be evolving as a frontier outpost. We have experience with those. But

    space is a harsh environment

    harsher than the Klondike during the gold rush. Yet

    the gold rush happened.

    Manufacturing n Space

    This book covers the topic of On-orbit repair and servicing of spacecraft. Putting a communications satellite in synchronous orbit will set you back 100’s of millions of dollars. Once on orbit

    you hope it survived the launch environment

    and operates correctly. You further hope it works at least for its design lifetime

    and as long as possible. This approach

    based on good engineering design practices

    lessons learned

    and hope

    it the equivalent of buying a new Tesla with non-rechargable batteries

    and driving it until it stops. Then buying a new one.\n\nWe will discuss the history and the technology of on-orbit servicing

    and the projects currently being conducted. We’ll take a look at ambitious planned projects

    and the enabling technologies that will make them a success. We’ll speculate what this means to missions to other planets in our solar system

    and the challenges to manned expeditions to follow the robotic ones.

    In-Space Robotic Repair and Servicing of Spacecraft

    This book covers the topic of Cubesat control centers. We'll take a look at the historical development of satellite control centers

    and explain how new technology has vastly simplified the approach. The book will suggest several open source options

    not only for the control center

    but for the entire ground segment. \n\nWe'll disucss the various functions that a Cubesat Control Center does

    and where to find software packages to implement those functions. \n\nAs technology advances

    we have a better basis for Cubesat control centers

    as well as cheaper yet more capable hardware

    and better and more available software. With the proliferation of inexpensive Cubesat projects

    colleges and universities

    high school

    and even individuals are getting their Cubesats launched. They all need control centers. For lower cost missions

    these can be shared facilities. Communicating with and operating a spacecraft in orbit or on another planet is challenging

    but is an extension of operating any remote system. We have communications and bandwidth issues

    speed-of-light communication limitations

    and complexity. Remote debugging is a always a challenge.

    Cubesat Opeartions; How to Fly a Cubesat

    When I say crewed spacecraft. I mean spacecraft with humans aboard. Young

    or old

    male or female

    space travel is an equal opportunity hazardous endeavor. As of this writing

    three spacefaring nations have put 559 humans into space

    the Soviet Union/Russia

    the United States

    and China. Numerous astronauts from many other nations have hitched a ride. We are going to discuss historical

    ongoing

    and future efforts of getting people to space. We will mention in passing Space Stations in orbit

    but that is a big topic

    and will be covered in a companion volume. Space suits will be covered in a companion volume as well.

    Crewed Spacecraft

    This book covers the topic of the Deep Space Gateway

    a joint Russian-US effort

    and associated missions. This is a step beyond the International Space Station

    which will be beyond its useful lifetime in a few years

    and will be decommissioned

    with some parts being reused

    and some re-entered. This will result in a new era of human space exploration

    further from Earth. Whether we refer to the emerging facility as a Gateway

    a Colony

    a settlement

    or a habitat

    we are talking of a permanently occupied facility. We can consider the habitat to be in orbit (about something)

    or on the surface of another body

    other than Earth. These projects will differ in detail

    but will all consist of self-sufficient structures somewhere other than Earth

    with an associated logistics train. The Gateway would be continuously crewed.

    Deep Space Gateway

    the Moon and Beyond

    This book discusses the topic of Graphics Processing Units

    which are specialized units found in most modern computer architectures. Although we can do operations of graphics data in regular arithmetic logic units (ALU's)

    the hardware approach is much faster

    Just like for floating pount arithmetic

    specialized units speed up the process. We will discuss the applications for GPU's

    the data format

    and the operations they perform. These specialized units are the backbone to video

    and to a large extent audio processing in modern computer architectures. \n\nThe GPU is a specialized computer architecture

    focused on image data manipulation for graphics displays and picture processing. It has applications far that. The normal ALU

    Arithmetic-Logic Unit

    in a computer does the four basic math operations

    and logical operations on integers. These integers are usually 32 or 64 bits at this time. The GPU greatly enhances the spped of 3D graphics. \n\nGPU's find application in arcade machines

    games consoles

    pc’s

    tablets

    phones

    car dashboards

    tv’s and entertainment systems. \n\nFirst

    we'll look at the CPU

    and the operations it performs on data. The CPU is fairly flexible on what it does

    because of software. You can implement a GPU in software

    but it won't be very fast. There's a similar co-processor

    the floating point unit (FPU) that operates on specially formatted data. You can implement the floating point unit in software

    actually

    you can probably download the library

    but it won't be as fast as using a dedicated piece of hardware. We'll first discuss integer data format

    and operations on those data. The “L” part of ALU says we can also do logical (not math) operations on data. \n\n.

    Graphics Processing Units

    an Overview

    This book covers the topic of the technology and applications of Embedded Graphics Processing Units. We first discuss what a graphics processing unit is

    and how they have taken over the high performance computing market. We take a look at massively parallel microprocessor-based systems

    an evolution from parallel mainframes

    and see how this is applied to GPU's. Then

    we take a look at embedded processors

    derived from CPU's

    and how multicore architectures are applied. We can then see how all of this practice was rapidly applied to GPU's.\nA major topic is the software to program and debug these unit

    which are capable of Tera-mistakes per second. We will explore some of the commercial products

    and applications. Fasten your seatbelt – it's that kind of a technology

    Embedded GPU's

    This book discusses the application of Cubesat Clusters

    Constellations

    and Swarms in the exploration of the solar systems. This includes the Sun

    the 8 primary planets and Pluto

    many moon

    the asteroid belt

    comets

    the ring systems of the four gas giants

    and comets. There is a lot to explore. U.S. Spacecraft have been to all of the planets in the solar system. Although the planets (and Pluto) have been visited by spacecraft

    Earth's moon has been somewhat explored

    and many of the other planets' moons have been imaged

    there is a lot of “filling in the blanks” to be done. Here we explore the application of groups of small independent spacecraft to take on this role. Some of the enabling technology for cooperating swarms is examined. \nMissions to Mars and beyond are lengthy and expensive. We need to ensure that we are delivering payloads that will function and return new data. The tradeoff is between one or two large traditional spacecraft

    and a new concept

    a large number of nearly identical small spacecraft

    operating cooperatively. Necessarily

    the Technology Readiness Level of this approach must be proven in Earth orbit

    before the resources are allocated to extend this approach to distant locations. Decades of time

    and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. \nThe big picture is

    Cubesats are not just secondary payloads anymore

    They may be small

    but a lot of them together can accomplish a lot. We'll discuss the technologies to make this happen.

    Cubesat Constellations

    Clusters

    and Swarms

    This paper discusses the design of a strawman InterPlanetary Cubesat Mission based on the parameters\nof the ongoing Juno Mission to Jupiter. That mission put a large spacecraft into Jupiter orbit. The\napproach presented here has a quantity of Cubesats as the primary payload. There is a large\n“Mothership” which enters Jovian orbit

    and dispenses various Cubesats

    acting as a store-and-forward\ncommunications relay back to Earth. The number of Cubesats is determined by the outlines (size

    mass

    \npower) of the mothership. We baselined the comparable numbers for the Juno spacecraft. With this\nscenario

    we can include 333 3U Cubesats

    with a large number of different instruments and sensors.\nHow the various spacecraft interact on this mission will be outlined in the paper.

    A Cubesat-based alternative for the Juno Mission to Jupiter

    Our technology is increasingly digital. Digital data is a quantitative value. It can approximate a analog (variable) or represent a digital (discrete) value. Analog data can be approximated in digital

    to the accuracy required. Evidently

    the word data in English dates back to 1640. There were references to transmittable and store-able computer information right after World War-II. References to “data processing” emerged in 1946

    as “computer” began to refer to a room full of electronics

    as apposed to a person with a mechanical calculator and a slide rule. Information is organized and analyzed data; answers to questions. Information reduces uncertainty. \nWe live in a digital age

    where everything of interest to use is digital – either sampled analog

    or originating as digital. Color is continuous

    a full range of analog data. What we see on a TV screen or digital camera image is sampled version of that. Our technology is based on digital; that's how we store

    transmit

    and process information. Thus our data is digital. \nSTEM (Science

    Technology

    Engineering

    Mathematics) is the key to the United States' continued dominance in High Technology. It took a lot of expertise to implement the first cell phone. Now they are turned out like cookies in third world countries. \nSTEM addresses overall education policy and curriculum sources in schools

    at critical grade levels.\nAlthough the teachers are experts in their particular area

    and know how to present grade-appropriate material

    they may not know how to find and access access the advanced resources they need

    or where to get help in a particular topic area.\n

    STEM - Data Storage and Communications

    This book covers the topic of Orbital debris

    what it is

    where it comes from

    what problems it introduces

    and how to deal with it. . Putting a communications satellite in synchronous orbit will set you back 100’s of millions of dollars. Once on orbit

    you hope it survived the launch environment

    and operates correctly. You further hope it works at least for its design lifetime

    and as long as possible. This approach

    based on good engineering design practices

    lessons learned

    and hope

    it the equivalent of buying a new Tesla with non-rechargable batteries

    and driving it until it stops. Then buying a new one. Regardless of what you were told

    there is no satellite fairy with a magic wand. \nThis book includes an extensive bibliography

    glossary

    and list of resources.

    Orbital Debris

    This book covers the topic of the LOP-G

    a renaming and restructuring of the Deep Space Gateway

    a joint Russian-US effort

    and associated missions. This is a step beyond the International Space Station

    which will be beyond its useful lifetime in a few years

    and will be decommissioned

    with some parts being reused

    and some re-entered. This will result in a new era of human space exploration

    further from Earth. Whether we refer to the emerging facility as a Gateway

    a Colony

    a settlement

    or a habitat

    we are talking of a permanently occupied facility. We can consider the habitat to be in orbit (about something)

    or on the surface of another body

    other than Earth. These projects will differ in detail

    but will all consist of self-sufficient structures somewhere other than Earth

    with an associated logistics train. The Gateway would be continuously crewed.

    Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway

    There have been spacefarers from over 40 countries

    taken along on shared missions by the craft of the major spacefaring nations

    China

    Russia

    and the U. S. The International Space Station is truly an International effort. But these were all professional Astronauts or Cosmonnauts. That was their job.\n\nAt this time

    there have been seven “space tourists

    ” who paid their own way

    and five “spaceflgiht participants

    ” who flew on the Shuttle

    or to the ISS. \n\nCan you fly to space now? The U.S. currently doesn't have a crewed transportation system.The Russians will charge you $76 million for a flight up on the Soyuz-M

    if they have a seat available. You also receive training

    and a couple of rides on the Vomit-Comet airplane

    so you'll know what to expect in zero G. \n\nThe Space Tourism Industry is ready to begin. Like all new markets

    it will evolve

    become better and cheaper. It's expensive now

    but a few have done it.\n\nNASA is not going to do this. They are in the science and technology business

    and are a government agency

    A cadre of entrepreneurs

    space geeks

    and crafty businessmen have better

    less expensive options in the works. Stay tuned. Keep in touch. This is going to get exciting. \n\nThe book discusses options ranging from a quick trip above 100 km to earn the title “astronaut.” to month long vacations at a lunar resort

    where you can fly

    with wings

    every day.

    Space Tourism

    This book discusses the resources and infrastructure that NASA developed and applied to support space missions in the early 1960's. When the first satellite

    Vanguard

    went up in 1958

    there was no world-wide network of tracking stations. Thus

    a series of ground stations

    tracking ships

    and tracking aircraft were required. When the crewed capsules of the Mercury

    Gemini

    and Apollo programs splashed down in the ocean

    they were retrieved by U. S. Naval vessels for NASA. NASA has a couple of Ocean-going tugs to retrieve the solid rocket boosters used in the Shuttle Program. In addition

    the size of the Shuttle external tank required water transportation on a barge

    from the assembly point to the launch site. The Shuttle itself was flown from place to place on top of a specially modified 747 aircraft.

    NASA;s Ships and Planes

    This book follows Intel's excursions into the embedded space

    with 8-

    16-

    and 32-bit processors

    derived from their general purpose computer line. Intel has traditionally dominated the desktop

    laptop

    and server market

    but has increasingly addressed the embedded space

    and the Internet of Things We take a look at Intel's licensing of the ARM architecture

    and the contributions to that area. This leads to the latest development

    an Arduino architecture that doesn't use a ARM chip

    but rather an x86 chip. Of course

    it executes a different set of opcodes

    but the magic is

    at the source level

    it uses the same code as the Arm. We just need a new set of software tools. The Arduino-101 from Intel

    an x-86 architecture internally

    can run source code developed for the standard ARM-based Arduinos.

    Intel Embedded and the Arduino-101

    Number 1 in the Cubesat Series.\nThis book is an introduction to Cubesats

    those popular and relatively inexpensive modular spacecraft that are upending the aerospace world. They have been built and deployed by colleges and Universities around the world

    as well as high schools and elementary schools

    even individuals. This is because Cubesats are modular

    standard

    and relatively low cost. The expensive part is the launch

    but that is addressed by launch fixtures compatible with essentially every launch vehicle on the planet. Although you may not have much of a choice in the orbit.Cubesats are also flown on high altitude balloons. \nAt the same time

    professionals in aerospace have not failed to consider the Cubesat architecture as an alternative for small-sat missions. This can reduce costs by one or two orders of magnitude. There are Cubesats on the International Space Station

    and these can be returned to Earth on a resupply mission. \n\nThere is a large “cottage industry' developed around the Cubesat architecture

    addressing professional projects with space-rated hardware. NASA itself has developed Cubesat hardware (Pi-Sat) and Software (cfs).\nCubesats are modular

    built to a standard

    and mostly open-source. The downside is

    approximately 50% of Cubesat missions fail. We hope to point out some approaches to improve this.

    Cubesat Engineering

    This book covers an overview topic of what is popularly referred to as Rocket Science

    seen as a daunting topic

    but not completely incomprehensible. This is targeted to the non-specialist. I am not a rocket scientist

    but I know a lot of them. I are a Rocket Engineer. I'll explain the difference later.\nThe popular impression of “rocket science” as well as astrophysics is they are topics too complex for the lay-person. Well

    if you want to work in the field

    you will require a lot of physics

    math and engineering at the graduate level. If you just want to understand and appreciate the topic

    it's not that bad.

    Rocket Science - 101

    Patrick

    Stakem

    MEI Technologies

    Inc

    Capital Technology University

    Loyola University in Maryland

online

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