From the murderous HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the humanoid avatar Rommie in Andromeda, science fiction is full of spaceships that come equipped with their own super-powerful AI systems.
In our current reality, however, powerful machine learning algorithms are too large and complex to be deployed within the necessarily limited computing power of systems installed on spacecraft.
Now, a project aiming to change this has been awarded £690,000 in funding as part of the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP).
The project is led by scientists from the University of Leicester and aims to ‘shrink’ AI algorithms to allow them to be used in space.
The project’s full name is ‘Rapid information extraction for environmental remote sensing on board spacecraft through application of light Machine Learning models in payload computing systems’, though it has rather aptly been shrunk itself to the more compact name of REALM.
REALM uses a novel sparse-split-parallelism (SSP) design framework, which is able to essentially shrink a large multispectral remote sensing deep learning algorithm.
The researchers say that the technique can be used to compress the algorithm by at least 45% without any significant impact on performance.
Tech will be tested on drones before going into space
The system’s performance will be tested and evaluated on a small but space-compatible graphical processing unit (GPU).
This will initially be mounted within a flying drone equipped with a multispectral payload.
It could eventually enable improved real-time Earth observation applications, including everything from wildfire detection to transport congestion monitoring.
Moving the system to actual space readiness will be done in conjunction with commercial partners.
The REALM system is one of 15 ‘Kick Starter’ projects that will receive £9m in funding between them.
This is itself part of the wider NSIP programme, which is injecting a total of £33m in a bid to invest in high-potential technologies, drive innovation and unlock growth across the UK.
Major projects include a sub-orbital rocket test by Glasgow’s HyImpulse, support for Rolls-Royce to develop micro reactors for space exploration, and a project from Orbit Fab in Harwell to develop a solution for satellite refuelling.
Others deal with in-orbit manufacturing and the development of advanced materials for use in space.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
