Engineering topics

Fox, Jeffrey

Publications and source records attributed to Fox, Jeffrey.

5 records

NASA NTRS2009

Wrap-Around Out-the-Window Sensor Fusion System

The Advanced Cockpit Evaluation System (ACES) includes communication, computing, and display subsystems, mounted in a van, that synthesize out-the-window views to approximate the views of the outside world as it would be seen from the cockpit of a crewed spacecraft, aircraft, or remote control of a ground vehicle or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). The system includes five flat-panel display units arranged approximately in a semicircle around an operator, like cockpit windows. The scene displayed on each panel represents the view through the corresponding cockpit window. Each display unit is driven by a personal computer equipped with a video-capture card that accepts live input from any of a variety of sensors (typically, visible and/or infrared video cameras). Software running in the computers blends the live video images with synthetic images that could be generated, for example, from heads-up-display outputs, waypoints, corridors, or from satellite photographs of the same geographic region. Data from a Global Positioning System receiver and an inertial navigation system aboard the remote vehicle are used by the ACES software to keep the synthetic and live views in registration. If the live image were to fail, the synthetic scenes could still be displayed to maintain situational awareness.

Fox, Jeffrey↗

NASA NTRS2000

Evaluation of X-38 Crew Return Vehicle Input Control Devices in a Microgravity Environment

This report was created by students from Longview High School, Longview, Texas. Longview High School was selected from a group of Texas high schools to participate in the 1999 Texas Fly High Program. This program gives Texas high school students a chance to work with NASA engineers to design and fly a real-world experiment aboard the KC-135 during zero-g parabolas. Jeffrey Fox's role was to provide a concept for the experiment and to mentor the students in its design and testing. The students were responsible for executing all phases of the project. The X-38 Project Office at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Johnson Space is designing a crew return vehicle (CRV) to be docked at the International Space Station for crew rescue in an emergency. Vehicle controls will be almost completely automated, but a few functions will be manually controlled. Four crew input control devices were selected for evaluation by Longview High School students as part of the 1999 Texas Fly High program. These were (1) Logitech Trackman Marble (optical trackball), (2) Smart Cat Touchpad. (3) Microsoft SideWinder 3D-Pro Joystick, and (4) Microsoft SideWinder Gamepad. In two flight tests in the KC-135 aircraft and a series of ground tests, the devices were evaluated for ability to maneuver an on-screen cursor, level of accuracy, ease of handling blind operations, and level of user comfort in microgravity. The tests results led to recommendation of further tests with the Joystick and the Trackman by astronauts and actual space station residents.

Welge, Kirsten↗

NASA NTRS1998

The Spacecraft Emergency Response System (SERS) for Autonomous Mission Operations

Today, most mission operations are geared toward lowering cost through unmanned operations. 7-day/24-hour operations are reduced to either 5-day/8-hour operations or become totally autonomous, especially for deep-space missions. Proper and effective notification during a spacecraft emergency could mean success or failure for an entire mission. The Spacecraft Emergency Response System (SERS) is a tool designed for autonomous mission operations. The SERS automatically contacts on-call personnel as needed when crises occur, either on-board the spacecraft or within the automated ground systems. Plus, the SERS provides a group-ware solution to facilitate the work of the person(s) contacted. The SERS is independent of the spacecraft's automated ground system. It receives and catalogues reports for various ground system components in near real-time. Then, based on easily configurable parameters, the SERS determines whom, if anyone, should be alerted. Alerts may be issued via Sky-Tel 2-way pager, Telehony, or e-mail. The alerted personnel can then review and respond to the spacecraft anomalies through the Netscape Internet Web Browser, or directly review and respond from the Sky-Tel 2-way pager.

Breed, Julia↗

NASA NTRS1994

Computer support for cooperative tasks in Mission Operations Centers

Traditionally, spacecraft management has been performed by fixed teams of operators in Mission Operations Centers. The team cooperatively: (1) ensures that payload(s) on spacecraft perform their work; and (2) maintains the health and safety of the spacecraft through commanding and monitoring the spacecraft's subsystems. In the future, the task demands will increase and overload the operators. This paper describes the traditional spacecraft management environment and describes a new concept in which groupware will be used to create a Virtual Mission Operations Center. Groupware tools will be used to better utilize available resources through increased automation and dynamic sharing of personnel among missions.

Fox, Jeffrey↗

NASA NTRS1994

The Virtual Mission Operations Center

Spacecraft management is becoming more human intensive as spacecraft become more complex and as operations costs are growing accordingly. Several automation approaches have been proposed to lower these costs. However, most of these approaches are not flexible enough in the operations processes and levels of automation that they support. This paper presents a concept called the Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC) that provides highly flexible support for dynamic spacecraft management processes and automation. In a VMOC, operations personnel can be shared among missions, the operations team can change personnel and their locations, and automation can be added and removed as appropriate. The VMOC employs a form of on-demand supervisory control called management by exception to free operators from having to actively monitor their system. The VMOC extends management by exception, however, so that distributed, dynamic teams can work together. The VMOC uses work-group computing concepts and groupware tools to provide a team infrastructure, and it employs user agents to allow operators to define and control system automation.

Moore, Mike↗