THE CONTROLSHELL COMPONENT-BASED REAL-TIME PROGRAMMING SYSTEM, AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE MARSOKHOD-MARTIAN-ROVER

Real-time system software is notoriously hard to share and reuse. This paper walks through the methodology and application of ControlShell, a component-based programming system for real-time system software dev elopment. ControlShell combines graphical system-building tools, an ex ecution-time configuration manager a real-rime matrix package, and an object name service into an integrated development environment. It tar gets complex systems that require on-line reconfiguration and strategi c control. ControlShell takes advantage of functional object hierarchi es to enable code sharing and reuse. It gains flexibility by supportin g easy interconnectivity of these objects. it features a unique config uration control system for changing operating modes. The paper conclud es by examining the application of-this framework to a teleoperated ro ver under development as a joint effort by NASA, several Russian space research institutes, and US industry The rover is able to function re motely under central of a virtual reality interface.