Engineering topics

Lum, Henry

Publications and source records attributed to Lum, Henry.

9 records

NASA NTRS1991

Intelligent systems technology infrastructure for integrated systems

A system infrastructure must be properly designed and integrated from the conceptual development phase to accommodate evolutionary intelligent technologies. Several technology development activities were identified that may have application to rendezvous and capture systems. Optical correlators in conjunction with fuzzy logic control might be used for the identification, tracking, and capture of either cooperative or non-cooperative targets without the intensive computational requirements associated with vision processing. A hybrid digital/analog system was developed and tested with a robotic arm. An aircraft refueling application demonstration is planned within two years. Initially this demonstration will be ground based with a follow-on air based demonstration. System dependability measurement and modeling techniques are being developed for fault management applications. This involves usage of incremental solution/evaluation techniques and modularized systems to facilitate reuse and to take advantage of natural partitions in system models. Though not yet commercially available and currently subject to accuracy limitations, technology is being developed to perform optical matrix operations to enhance computational speed. Optical terrain recognition using camera image sequencing processed with optical correlators is being developed to determine position and velocity in support of lander guidance. The system is planned for testing in conjunction with Dryden Flight Research Facility. Advanced architecture technology is defining open architecture design constraints, test bed concepts (processors, multiple hardware/software and multi-dimensional user support, knowledge/tool sharing infrastructure), and software engineering interface issues.

Lum, Henry↗

NASA NTRS1989

Rebuilding the space technology base

NASA's Civil Space Technology Initiative (CSTI) will not only develop novel technologies for space exploration and exploitation, but also take mature technologies into their demonstration phase in earth orbit. In the course of five years, CSTI will pay off in ground- and space-tested hardware, software, processes, methods for low-orbit transport and operation, and fundamental scientific research on the orbital environment. Attention is given to LOX/hydrogen and LOX/hydrocarbon reusable engines, liquid/solid fuel hybrid boosters, and aeroassist flight experiments for the validation of aerobraking with atmospheric friction. Also discussed are advanced scientific sensors, systems autonomy and telerobotics, control of flexible structures, precise segmented reflectors, high-rate high-capacity data handling, and advanced nuclear power systems.

Povinelli, Frederick P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Machine intelligence and autonomy for aerospace systems

The present volume discusses progress toward intelligent robot systems in aerospace applications, NASA Space Program automation and robotics efforts, the supervisory control of telerobotics in space, machine intelligence and crew/vehicle interfaces, expert-system terms and building tools, and knowledge-acquisition for autonomous systems. Also discussed are methods for validation of knowledge-based systems, a design methodology for knowledge-based management systems, knowledge-based simulation for aerospace systems, knowledge-based diagnosis, planning and scheduling methods in AI, the treatment of uncertainty in AI, vision-sensing techniques in aerospace applications, image-understanding techniques, tactile sensing for robots, distributed sensor integration, and the control of articulated and deformable space structures.

Heer, Ewald↗

NASA NTRS1988

Toward intelligent robot systems in aerospace

The incorporation of progressively more autonomous capabilities in spacecraft has been made possible by advancements in electronics technologies for sensors, communication, and computing equipment; as a result, space missions have been able to cope with ever-increasing complexity and data throughputs, as demonstrated by the six-order-of-magnitude increase in planetary mission data rates. In order to continue this pace of development into the Space Station era, NASA has accelerated its R&D in automation and robotics, with emphasis on autonomous, knowledge-based and expert system-employing technologies and AI.

Heer, Ewald↗

NASA NTRS1988

Knowledge acquisition for autonomous systems

Knowledge-based capabilities for autonomous aerospace systems, such as the NASA Space Station, must encompass conflict-resolution functions comparable to those of human operators, with all elements of the system working toward system goals in a concurrent, asynchronous-but-coordinated fashion. Knowledge extracted from a design database will support robotic systems by furnishing geometric, structural, and causal descriptions required for repair, disassembly, and assembly. The factual knowledge for these databases will be obtained from a master database through a technical management information system, and it will in many cases have to be augmented by domain-specific heuristic knowledge acquired from domain experts.

Lum, Henry↗

NASA NTRS1987

Progress towards autonomous, intelligent systems

An aggressive program has been initiated to develop, integrate, and implement autonomous systems technologies starting with today's expert systems and evolving to autonomous, intelligent systems by the end of the 1990s. This program includes core technology developments and demonstration projects for technology evaluation and validation. This paper discusses key operational frameworks in the content of systems autonomy applications and then identifies major technological challenges, primarily in artificial intelligence areas. Program content and progress made towards critical technologies and demonstrations that have been initiated to achieve the required future capabilities in the year 2000 era are discussed.

Lum, Henry↗

NASA NTRS1987

Raising the AIQ of the Space Station

Expert systems and robotics technologies are to be significantly advanced during the Space Station program. Artificial intelligence systems (AI) on the Station will include 'scars', which will permit upgrading the AI capabilities as the Station evolves to autonomy. NASA-Ames is managing the development of the AI systems through a series of demonstrations, the first, controlling a single subsystem, to be performed in 1988. The capabilities being integrated into the first demonstration are described; however, machine learning and goal-driven natural language understanding will not reach a prototype stage until the mid-1990s. Steps which will be taken to endow the computer systems with the ability to move from heuristic reasoning to factual knowledge, i.e., learning from experience, are explored. It is noted that the development of Space Station expert systems depends on the development of experts in Station operations, which will not happen until the Station has been used extensively by crew members.

Lum, Henry↗

NASA NTRS1987

Building intelligent systems - Artificial intelligence research at NASA Ames Research Center

The basic components that make up the goal of building autonomous intelligent systems are discussed, and ongoing work at the NASA Ames Research Center is described. It is noted that a clear progression of systems can be seen through research settings (both within and external to NASA) to Space Station testbeds to systems which actually fly on the Space Station. The starting point for the discussion is a 'truly' autonomous Space Station intelligent system, responsible for a major portion of Space Station control. Attention is given to research in fiscal 1987, including reasoning under uncertainty, machine learning, causal modeling and simulation, knowledge from design through operations, advanced planning work, validation methodologies, and hierarchical control of and distributed cooperation among multiple knowledge-based systems.

Friedland, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1985

Progress in knowledge representation research

Brief descriptions are given of research being carried out in the field of knowledge representation. Dynamic simulation and modelling of planning systems with real-time sensor inputs; development of domain-independent knowledge representation tools which can be used in the development of application-specific expert and planning systems; and development of a space-borne very high speed integrated circuit processor are among the projects discussed.

Lum, Henry↗