Engineering topics

A Smith

Publications and source records attributed to A Smith.

4 records

NASA NTRS2024

Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data Architecture Project Updates

Future Human Exploration missions will face new constraints as crews move further from terrestrial communication, resupply, and the real-time support enjoyed by Low Earth Orbit missions today. Exploration crews will need to be more self-reliant and able to respond to emergencies without immediate support from ground-based personnel. A new generation of technologies, employing advanced analytical and predictive modeling techniques, is needed to assist the crew’s work, help maintain their health, and inform the decisions they make on these future Exploration missions. The Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data Architecture (CHP-IDA) project is laying a foundation for these future technologies by integrating sources of data generated by and around the crew and then providing them though common data models and Application Programming Interfaces to external systems. The combined data model makes comprehensive Crew Health and Performance data accessible and more meaningful to the decision-making process. This presentation will describe the currently ongoing effort to develop and evaluate a path-to-flight concept of the CHP-IDA software, current integrations, updates to the architecture, and examples of exploration scenarios in which CHP-IDA would be used.

B Schmitt↗

NASA NTRS2022

Automation & Autonomy Standards and Guidelines for Space Vehicles

The NASA Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) requested HRP conduct a survey of industry and government standards and guidelines for the interaction of automation/autonomy with humans. Guidance for verification testing of human-automation designs was also requested. A rapid response was requested so that the deliverables could be provided as part of a future NASA solicitation for automated systems for HLS. The project began with a broad review and analysis of prior NASA work in this area, as well as external standards related to human interaction with automation/autonomy. The team reviewed approximately 200 documents, and interviewed multiple industry and government subject matter experts (SMEs). “Gold standard” documents were selected for focus and key categories were identified. A cross-walk of standards was created, and common standards and guidelines were selected and rephrased (where necessary) to be information-rich, concise, and usable. Verification guidelines and examples were also developed. The final report includes an introduction to automation and autonomy, selected standards and guidelines, verification method guidance, and research gaps. In addition to the report, the team delivered a list of candidate standards for autonomous vehicles, as well as a list of candidate standards for a future NASA-STD-3001 update on automation/autonomy. The presentation will describe the rapid response project approach and methods, examples of standards and guidelines identified and delivered to OCHMO, and research needed to develop additional automation/autonomy design guidance where gaps currently exist.

automation↗

NASA NTRS1992

An Experimental Study of the Fluid Mechanics Associated With Porous Walls

The fluid mechanics of air exiting from a porous material is investigated. The experiments are filter rating dependent, as porous walls with filter ratings differing by about three orders of magnitude are studied. The flow behavior is investigated for its spatial and temporal stability. The results from the investigation are related to jet behavior in at least one of the following categories: (1) jet coalescence effects with increasing flow rate; (2) jet field decay with increasing distance from the porous wall; (3) jet field temporal turbulence characteristics; and (4) single jet turbulence characteristics. The measurements show that coalescence effects cause jet development, and this development stage can be traced by measuring the pseudoturbulence (spatial velocity variations) at any flow rate. The pseudoturbulence variation with increasing mass flow reveals an initial increasing trend followed by a leveling trend, both of which are directly proportional to the filter rating. A critical velocity begins this leveling trend and represents the onset of fully developed jetting action in the flow field. A correlation is developed to predict the onset of fully developed jets in the flow emerging from a porous wall. The data further show that the fully developed jet dimensions are independent of the filter rating, thus providing a length scale for this type of flow field (1 mm). Individual jet characteristics provide another unifying trend with similar velocity decay behavior with distance; however, the respective turbulence magnitudes show vast differences between jets from the same sample. Measurements of the flow decay with distance from the porous wall show that the higher spatial frequency components of the jet field dissipate faster than the lower frequency components. Flow turbulence intensity measurements show an out of phase behavior with the velocity field and are generally found to increase as the distance from the wall is increased.

N Ramachandran↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data System Platform Project Updates

Future human exploration missions introduce a new paradigm as crews move further from the resupply and near real-time ground support typical of Low Earth Orbit missions today. Without immediate support from ground-based personnel, exploration crews will be more reliant on inflight data and technology to respond to emergencies and anomalies. Today, in-flight data is often siloed, unsynchronized, and largely inaccessible in real time. Many data sets require manual entry and/or data transfer between vehicles and the ground. These issues contribute to risks in supporting crew autonomy for future exploration missions. An integrated data system platform is needed to mitigate these risks by supporting a new generation of technologies and employing advanced analytical and predictive modeling techniques to enable crew autonomy for future exploration missions. The Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data System Platform (CHP-IDSP) project is laying a foundation for future in-flight informatics by providing a back-end architecture for collecting, storing, and integrating multiple sources of data generated by and around the crew. This cohesive integration point will streamline the management of CHP data (e.g., environmental, exercise, medical, sleep, performance, etc.) and facilitate situation awareness and decision support required by the crew and remote support of exploration missions. This presentation will describe the ongoing development effort of the path-to-flight CHP-IDSP software and the demonstration of its core capabilities. This includes a brief history of the project, the human-centered process used to identify data needs and workflows feeding the development of scenarios and requirements, and current subsystem development status. Current integrations, including the Chiron exploration electronic health record application, will be discussed. Future work includes collaboration with additional CHP domains and a flight technology demonstration.

Data integration↗