Self-healing in Space Electronics Circuits

Abstract

Self-healing in space electronics carries the possibility of creating a paradigm shift in engineering space systems with lesser complexity and mass. Space electronics plays a crucial role in the success of a mission as it acts as the brain, linking diverse systems and generating synergy. The possibility for the faults to develop is more in spacecraft due to long-duration exposure to operating environments of temperature, vacuum, radiation and cyclic operations. Space electronic packages consist of printed circuit boards, and they, in turn, have numerous crisscrossing copper tracks carrying crucial signals. Open interconnect faults that may occur in these tracks during the package operation plays a crucial role in the operational reliability of the mission. These damages can lead to degraded performance, progressive failures detrimental to the payload or the satellite itself.In space missions during the fault scenarios, troubleshooting and repair are almost impossible from the ground unless there is an automatic active healing system in the spacecraft itself.

The studies in this thesis can transmute space electronics with eFASH-enabled PCBs. The research work presented in this thesis also lay the foundation for further investigations, which will be beneficial for self-healed space electronics. This thesis acts as an enabler for future space technology in the facet of the emerging space economy.