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An interactive automated procedure to generate a wire frame graphic image of a ship hullform, which uses a digitizing tablet in conjunction with the hullform lines drawing, was developed. The geometric image created is displayed on an Evans & Sutherland PS-300 graphics terminal for real time interactive viewing or is output as hard copy on an inexpensive dot matrix printer.
Instructions for using the Pilot Climate Data System (PCDS), an interactive, scientific data management system for locating, obtaining, manipulating, and displaying climate-research data are presented. The PCDS currently provides this supoort for approximately twenty data sets. Figures that illustrate the terminal displays which a user sees when he/she runs the PCDS and some examples of the output from this system are included. The capabilities which are described in detail allow a user to perform the following: (1) obtain comprehensive descriptions of a number of climate parameter data sets and the associated sensor measurements from which they were derived; (2) obtain detailed information about the temporal coverage and data volume of data sets which are readily accessible via the PCDS; (3) extract portions of a data set using criteria such as time range and geographic location, and output the data to tape, user terminal, system printer, or online disk files in a special data-set-independent format; (4) access and manipulate the data in these data-set-independent files, performing such functions as combining the data, subsetting the data, and averaging the data; and (5) create various graphical representations of the data stored in the data-set-independent files.
Central data bases are useful only if they are kept up to date and easily accessible in an interactive (query) mode rather than in monthly reports that may be out of date and must be searched by hand. The concepts of automatic data capture, data base management and query languages require good communications and readily available work stations to be useful. The minimal necessary work station is a personal computer which can be an important office tool if connected into other office machines and properly integrated into an office system. It has a great deal of flexibility and can often be tailored to suit the tastes, work habits and requirements of the user. Unlike dumb terminals, there is less tendency to saturate a central computer, since its free standing capabilities are available after down loading a selection of data. The PC also permits the sharing of many other facilities, like larger computing power, sophisticated graphics programs, laser printers and communications. It can provide rapid access to common data bases able to provide more up to date information than printed reports. Portable computers can access the same familiar office facilities from anywhere in the world where a telephone connection can be made.
Two proposed electromechanical systems for making braille characters produced relatively inexpensively. Similar in operating principle to dotmatrix printers, two methods use electronically actuated pins to reproduce characters from information stored on magnetic tape. First, one or more pins scanned over blank page and energized at intervals to emboss text on paper, one or more dots at time. Second, handheld device containing one or more character-generator cells used by reader to scan lines of text manually.
A data acquisition system (DAS) for the NASA/LaRC Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) was documented. This DAS is a dual LSI 11/23 set up where one computer retrieves data from the digitizers and other peripheral units, stores that data on magnetic tape, generates aerosol grayscales on a Trilog printer and passes data to the second computer. The second computer is dedicated to real time displays of the data in a variety of modes from raw data to range resolved ozone profiles. The DIAL DAS also has several new features.
Progress was made in the continuing development of the ink jet printing system for thick film circuits. The unit being used is a prototype ink jet printer. One of the first tasks completed was the complete documentation of this ink jet printing system as it existed. It was determined that this was an essential step in deciding what modifications were needed to the system and how these modifications would be implemented. Design modification studies were started for electronic, mechanical, and programming aspects of the ystem. The areas needeing improvement were discussed and applicable changes decided upon. Some improvments were completed. Although the general areas needing improving were identified and some changes decided upon, the exact details of how other changes can be implemented are yet been decided.
A program capable of calculating the design-point and quasi-steady-state annual performance of a paraboloidal-concentrator solar thermal power plant without energy storage was written for a programmable calculator equipped with suitable printer. The power plant may be located at any site for which a histogram of annual direct normal insolation is available. Inputs required by the program are aperture area and the design and annual efficiencies of the concentrator; the intercept factor and apparent efficiency of the power conversion subsystem and a polynomial representation of its normalized part-load efficiency; the efficiency of the electrical generator or alternator; the efficiency of the electric power conditioning and transport subsystem; and the fractional parasitic loses for the plant. Losses to auxiliaries associated with each individual module are to be deducted when the power conversion subsystem efficiencies are calculated. Outputs provided by the program are the system design efficiency, the annualized receiver efficiency, the annualized power conversion subsystem efficiency, total annual direct normal insolation received per unit area of concentrator aperture, and the system annual efficiency.
Variety of plots available in video or printed form. LONGLIB library of computer programs set of subroutines designed for vector plotting on cathode-ray tubes and dot-matrix printers. LONGLIB subroutines invoked by program calls similar to standard CALCOMP routines. In addition to basic plotting routines, LONGLIB contains extensive set of routines to allow viewport clipping, extended character sets, graphic input, gray-level plots, polar plots, and three-dimensional plotting with or without removal of hidden lines. LONGLIB written in FORTRAN 77 and C for batch execution.
Conceptual program for TRS-80, Model 12 (or equivalent) computer transliterates from English letters of computer keyboard to Arabic characters in output of associated printer. Program automatically changes character sequence from left-to-right of English to right-to-left of Arabic.
The PLTTER graphics system, which is part of CDDMS is discussed. CDDMS is a comprehensive system for data basing and subsequent plotting of data acquired during wind tunnel tests or from computational flow analyses. The PLTTER is a system which creates report-quality plots of data which is stored on a CDDMS data base. The Requests file system allows plot-controlling information to be arranged in the way which is most appropriate for any application. The PLTTER system features many capabilities which are especially useful when plotting wind tunnel data. The PLTTER offers a variety of page formats, different grid options and parametric curve fitting algorithms, and a powerful legend capability to identify relevant information about individual curves. One or more plots on a page can be suppressed if desired so that an established page format can be maintained. Final plot output may be standard Versatec plots, QMS Laser printer plots, or microfiche.
Basic material efforts have proven to be very successful. Adherent and conductive films were achieved. A silver neodecanoate/bismuth 2-ethylhexanoate mixture has given the best results in both single and double layer applications. Another effort is continuing to examine the feasibility of applying metallo-organic deposition films by use of an ink jet printer. Direct line writing would result in a saving of process time and materials. So far, some well defined lines have been printed.
The entry of graphical engineering data into the Space Station Data Base was examined. Discussed were: representation of graphics objects; representation of connectivity data; graphics capture hardware; graphics display hardware; site-wide distribution of graphics, and consolidation of tools and hardware. A fundamental assumption was that existing equipment such as IBM based graphics capture software and VAX networked facilities would be exploited. Defensible conclusions reached after study and simulations of use of these systems at the engineering level are: (1) existing IBM based graphics capture software is an adequate and economical means of entry of schematic and block diagram data for present and anticipated electronic systems for Space Station; (2) connectivity data from the aforementioned system may be incorporated into the envisioned Space Station Data Base with modest effort; (3) graphics and connectivity data captured on the IBM based system may be exported to the VAX network in a simple and direct fashion; (4) graphics data may be displayed site-wide on VT-125 terminals and lookalikes; (5) graphics hard-copy may be produced site-wide on various dot-matrix printers; and (6) the system may provide integrated engineering services at both the engineering and engineering management level.
Plotter routine for IBM PC (AKPLOT) designed for engineers and scientists who use graphs as integral parts of their documentation. Allows user to generate graph and edit its appearance on cathode-ray tube. Graph may undergo many interactive alterations before finally dumped from screen to be plotted by printer. Written in BASIC.
The status of the ink-jet printing program at Purdue University is described. The drop-on-demand printing system was modified to use metallo-organic decomposition (MOD) inks. Also, an IBM AT computer was integrated into the ink-jet printer system to provide operational functions and contact pattern configuration. The integration of the ink-jet printing system, problems encountered, and solutions derived were described in detail. The status of ink-jet printing using a MOD ink was discussed. The ink contained silver neodecanate and bismuth 2-ethylhexanoate dissolved in toluene; the MOD ink decomposition products being 99 wt% AG, and 1 wt% Bi.
The Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) program is planned to provide experimental determinations of the mechanics of granular materials under very low gravity conditions. The initial experiments will use small glass beads as the granular material, and a precise tracking of individual beads during the test is desired. Real-time video images of the experimental specimen were taken with a television camera, and subsequently digitized by a frame grabber installed in a microcomputer. Easily identified red tracer beads were randomly scattered throughout the test specimen. A set of Pascal programs was written for processing and analyzing the digitized images. Filtering the image with Laplacian, dilation, and blurring filters when using a threshold function produced a binary (black on white) image which clearly identified the red beads. The centroids and areas for each bead were then determined. Analyzing a series of the images determined individual red bead displacements throughout the experiment. The system can provide displacement accuracies on the order of 0.5 to 1 pixel is the image is taken directly from the video camera. Digitizing an image from a video cassette recorder introduces an additional repeatability error of 0.5 to 1 pixel. Other programs were written to provide hardcopy prints of the digitized images on a dot-matrix printer.
The SAGA editor provides a mechanism by which separate processes can be invoked during an editing session to traverse portions of the parse tree being edited. These processes, termed filter processes, read, analyze, and possibly transform the parse tree, returning the result to the editor. By defining new commands with the editor's user defined command facility, which invoke filter processes, authors of filter can provide complex operations as simple commands. A tree plotter, pretty printer, and Pascal tree transformation program were already written using this facility. The filter processes are introduced, parse tree structure is described and the library interface made available to the programmer. Also discussed is how to compile and run filter processes. Examples are presented to illustrate aspect of each of these areas.
LONGLIB computer program is set of subroutines designed for plotting vectors of cathode-ray tubes, plotting machines, and dot-matrix and laser printers. Contains extensive set of routines to enable viewport clipping, extended character sets, graphic input shading, polar plots, and three-dimensional plotting with or without removal of hidden lines. Written in FORTRAN 77.
Diverse cost-estimating techniques and data combined into single program. Selected Tether Applications Cost Model (STACOM 1.0) is interactive accounting software tool providing means for combining several independent cost-estimating programs into fully-integrated mathematical model capable of assessing costs, analyzing benefits, providing file-handling utilities, and putting out information in text and graphical forms to screen, printer, or plotter. Program based on Lotus 1-2-3, version 2.0. Developed to provide clear, concise traceability and visibility into methodology and rationale for estimating costs and benefits of operations of Space Station tether deployer system.