Blackbird: Object-Oriented Planning, Simulation, and Sequencing Framework Used by Multiple Missions

Every JPL flight mission relies on activity planning and sequence generation software to perform operations. Most such tools in use at JPL and elsewhere use attribute-based schemas or domain-specific languages (DSLs) to define activities. This reliance poses user training, software maintenance, performance, and other challenges. To solve this problem for future missions, a new software called Blackbird was developed which allows engineers to specify behavior in standard Java. The new code base has over an order of magnitude fewer lines of code than other JPL planning software, since no DSL or schema interpreter is needed. The use of Java for defining activities also allows mission adapters to debug their code in an integrated development environment, seamlessly call external libraries, and set up truly multi-mission models. These efficiency gains have significantly reduced the amount of development effort required to support the software. This paper discusses Blackbird's design, principles, and use cases. Within a year of its completion, six projects have begun using Blackbird. The Mars 2020 mission is using Blackbird to generate command sequences for cruise and Mars approach. By using multi-mission models, the Mars 2020 cruise adaptation was created in fewer than three months by three engineers at less than half time each. Work has begun to use Blackbird for communications planning during Mars 2020 surface operations. The Psyche mission uses Blackbird to generate its reference mission plans in development. Full simulations with 123,000 activities and 4.7 million resource value changes complete in about one minute. Psyche is also working towards using Blackbird in operations to support integrated activity planning and generate sequences. The InSight project is using Blackbird for mission planning in operations, replacing error-prone manual processes. For the NISAR mission, Blackbird evaluates threats to the commissioning phase timeline. The Europa Lander pre-project used Blackbird to perform a trade study. The ASTERIA mission is automating sequence generation in Blackbird. Going forward, more interested projects are likely to begin using Blackbird, and the capabilities of the core and multi-mission models will keep growing.