SADAS: an integrated software system for the data of the SuperAGILE experiment
This is an incremental software solution for the SuperAGILE experiment team to handle data from prototype tests to flight observations, reducing manpower and resource costs.
The authors tackled the challenge of developing and testing the SuperAGILE instrument for gamma-ray astronomy by creating an integrated software system using Object-Oriented design, SQL databases, and UML schemas, which minimized development costs and improved flexibility for future mission needs.
SuperAGILE (SA) is a detection system on board of the AGILE satellite (Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini LEggero), a Gamma-ray astronomy mission approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as first project for the Program for Small Scientific Missions, with launch planned in the second part of 2005. The developing and testing of the instrument took a big effort in software building and applications, we realized an integrated system to handle and to analyse measurement data since prototype tests until flight observations. The software system was created with an Object Oriented software design approach, and this permits to employ suitable libraries developed by other research teams and the integration of applications developed during our past work. This method allowed us to apply our schemas and written code on several prototypes, to share the work among different developers with the help of standard modeling instruments such as UML schemas. We also used SQL-based database techniques to access large amounts of data stored in the archives, this will improve the scientific return from space observations. All this has allowed our team to minimize the cost of developing in terms of man-power and resources, to dispone of a flexible system to face future needs of the mission and to invest it on other experiments.