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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

A noncontacting scanning photoelectron emission technique for bonding surface cleanliness inspection

Molecular contamination of bonding surfaces can drastically affect the bond strength that can be achieved and therefore the structural integrity and reliability of the bonded part. The presence of thin contaminant films on bonding surfaces can result from inadequate or incomplete cleaning methods, from oxide growth during the time between cleaning (such as grit blasting) and bonding, or from failure to properly protect cleaned surfaces from oils, greases, fingerprints, release agents, or deposition of facility airborne molecules generated by adjacent manufacturing or processing operations. Required cleanliness levels for desired bond performance can be determined by testing to correlate bond strength with contaminant type and quantity, thereby establishing the degree of contamination that can be tolerated based on the strength that is needed. Once the maximum acceptable contaminant level is defined, a method is needed to quantitatively measure the contaminant level on the bonding surface prior to bonding to verify that the surface meets the established cleanliness requirement. A photoelectron emission technique for the nondestructive inspection of various bonding surfaces, both metallic and nonmetallic, to provide quantitative data on residual contaminant levels is described. The technique can be used to scan surfaces at speeds of at least 30 ft/min using a servo system to maintain required sensor to surface spacing. The fundamental operation of the photoelectron emission sensor system is explained and the automated scanning system and computer data acquisition hardware and software are described.

Gause, Raymond L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The infrared spectrograph during the SIRTF pre-definition phase

A test facility was set up to evaluate back-illuminated impurity band detectors constructed for an infrared spectrograph to be used on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). Equipment built to perform the tests on these arrays is described. Initial tests have been geared toward determining dark current and read noise for the array. Four prior progress reports are incorporated into this report. They describe the first efforts in the detector development and testing effort; testing details and a new spectrograph concept; a discussion of resolution issues raised by the new design; management activities; a review of computer software and testing facility hardware; and a review of the preamplifier constructed as well as a revised schematic of the detector evaluation facility.

Houck, James R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Tools for 3D scientific visualization in computational aerodynamics at NASA Ames Research Center

Hardware, software, and techniques used by the Fluid Dynamics Division (NASA) for performing visualization of computational aerodynamics, which can be applied to the visualization of flow fields from computer simulations of fluid dynamics about the Space Shuttle, are discussed. Three visualization techniques applied, post-processing, tracking, and steering, are described, as well as the post-processing software packages used, PLOT3D, SURF (Surface Modeller), GAS (Graphical Animation System), and FAST (Flow Analysis software Toolkit). Using post-processing methods a flow simulation was executed on a supercomputer and, after the simulation was complete, the results were processed for viewing. It is shown that the high-resolution, high-performance three-dimensional workstation combined with specially developed display and animation software provides a good tool for analyzing flow field solutions obtained from supercomputers.

Bancroft, Gordon↗
NASA NTRS1992

Exoskeleton master controller with force-reflecting telepresence

A thorough understanding of the requirements for successful master-slave robotic systems is becoming increasingly desirable. Such systems can aid in the accomplishment of tasks that are hazardous or inaccessible to humans. Although a history of use has proven master-slave systems to be viable, system requirements and the impact of specifications on the human factors side of system performance are not well known. In support of the next phase of teleoperation research being conducted at the Armstrong Research Laboratory, a force-reflecting, seven degree of freedom exoskeleton for master-slave teleoperation has been concepted, and is presently being developed. The exoskeleton has a unique kinematic structure that complements the structure of the human arm. It provides a natural means for teleoperating a dexterous, possibly redundant manipulator. It allows ease of use without operator fatigue and faithfully follows human arm and wrist motions. Reflected forces and moments are remotely transmitted to the operator hand grip using a cable transmission scheme. This paper presents the exoskeleton concept and development results to date. Conceptual design, hardware, algorithms, computer architecture, and software are covered.

Burke, James B.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Software engineering as an engineering discipline

The purpose of this panel is to explore the emerging field of software engineering from a variety of perspectives: university programs; industry training and definition; government development; and technology transfer. In doing this, the panel will address the issues of distinctions among software engineering, computer science, and computer hardware engineering as they relate to the challenges of large, complex systems.

Freedman, Glenn B.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Domain decomposition for aerodynamic and aeroacoustic analyses, and optimization

The overarching theme was the domain decomposition, which intended to improve the numerical solution technique for the partial differential equations at hand; in the present study, those that governed either the fluid flow, or the aeroacoustic wave propagation, or the sensitivity analysis for a gradient-based optimization. The role of the domain decomposition extended beyond the original impetus of discretizing geometrical complex regions or writing modular software for distributed-hardware computers. It induced function-space decompositions and operator decompositions that offered the valuable property of near independence of operator evaluation tasks. The objectives have gravitated about the extensions and implementations of either the previously developed or concurrently being developed methodologies: (1) aerodynamic sensitivity analysis with domain decomposition (SADD); (2) computational aeroacoustics of cavities; and (3) dynamic, multibody computational fluid dynamics using unstructured meshes.

Baysal, Oktay↗
NASA NTRS1998

Development of Telemedicine Capabilities for a Joint US-Russian Space Biomedical Center for Training and Research

From the perspective of scheduling, some medical consultations can have asynchronous and synchronous components. Consultations frequently involve the compilation of patient data, its analysis, a consultant's report, and a real-time conference between the referring physician and the consultant. The bandwidth of the Internet with Moscow and advances in the hardware and software of personal computing now make possible telemedicine events with store-and-forward components and real-time components. These are hybrid telemedicine and this paper describes such a case.

DeBakey, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Health Monitoring System Technology Assessments: Cost Benefits Analysis

The subject of sensor-based structural health monitoring is very diverse and encompasses a wide range of activities including initiatives and innovations involving the development of advanced sensor, signal processing, data analysis, and actuation and control technologies. In addition, it embraces the consideration of the availability of low-cost, high-quality contributing technologies, computational utilities, and hardware and software resources that enable the operational realization of robust health monitoring technologies. This report presents a detailed analysis of the cost benefit and other logistics and operational considerations associated with the implementation and utilization of sensor-based technologies for use in aerospace structure health monitoring. The scope of this volume is to assess the economic impact, from an end-user perspective, implementation health monitoring technologies on three structures. It specifically focuses on evaluating the impact on maintaining and supporting these structures with and without health monitoring capability.

Kent, Renee M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Theorem Proving In Higher Order Logics

The TPHOLs International Conference serves as a venue for the presentation of work in theorem proving in higher-order logics and related areas in deduction, formal specification, software and hardware verification, and other applications. Fourteen papers were submitted to Track B (Work in Progress), which are included in this volume. Authors of Track B papers gave short introductory talks that were followed by an open poster session. The FCM 2002 Workshop aimed to bring together researchers working on the formalisation of continuous mathematics in theorem proving systems with those needing such libraries for their applications. Many of the major higher order theorem proving systems now have a formalisation of the real numbers and various levels of real analysis support. This work is of interest in a number of application areas, such as formal methods development for hardware and software application and computer supported mathematics. The FCM 2002 consisted of three papers, presented by their authors at the workshop venue, and one invited talk.

Carreno, Victor A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

A Formal Methods Approach to the Analysis of Mode Confusion

The goal of the new NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is to reduce the civil aviation fatal accident rate by 80% in ten years and 90% in twenty years. This program is being driven by the accident data with a focus on the most recent history. Pilot error is the most commonly cited cause for fatal accidents (up to 70%) and obviously must be given major consideration in this program. While the greatest source of pilot error is the loss of situation awareness , mode confusion is increasingly becoming a major contributor as well. The January 30, 1995 issue of Aviation Week lists 184 incidents and accidents involving mode awareness including the Bangalore A320 crash 2/14/90, the Strasbourg A320 crash 1/20/92, the Mulhouse-Habsheim A320 crash 6/26/88, and the Toulouse A330 crash 6/30/94. These incidents and accidents reveal that pilots sometimes become confused about what the cockpit automation is doing. Consequently, human factors research is an obvious investment area. However, even a cursory look at the accident data reveals that the mode confusion problem is much deeper than just training deficiencies and a lack of human-oriented design. This is readily acknowledged by human factors experts. It seems that further progress in human factors must come through a deeper scrutiny of the internals of the automation. It is in this arena that formal methods can contribute. Formal methods refers to the use of techniques from logic and discrete mathematics in the specification, design, and verification of computer systems, both hardware and software. The fundamental goal of formal methods is to capture requirements, designs and implementations in a mathematically based model that can be analyzed in a rigorous manner. Research in formal methods is aimed at automating this analysis as much as possible. By capturing the internal behavior of a flight deck in a rigorous and detailed formal model, the dark corners of a design can be analyzed. This paper will explore how formal models and analyses can be used to help eliminate mode confusion from flight deck designs and at the same time increase our confidence in the safety of the implementation. The paper is based upon interim results from a new project involving NASA Langley and Rockwell Collins in applying formal methods to a realistic business jet Flight Guidance System (FGS).

Butler, Ricky W.↗
NASA NTRS2016

A Multi-Center Space Data System Prototype Based on CCSDS Standards

Deep space missions beyond earth orbit will require new methods of data communications in order to compensate for increasing Radio Frequency (RF) propagation delay. The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) standard protocols Spacecraft Monitor & Control (SM&C), Asynchronous Message Service (AMS), and Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) provide such a method. However, the maturity level of this protocol stack is insufficient for mission inclusion at this time. This Space Data System prototype is intended to provide experience which will raise the Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of this protocol set. In order to reduce costs, future missions can take advantage of these standard protocols, which will result in increased interoperability between control centers. This prototype demonstrates these capabilities by implementing a realistic space data system in which telemetry is published to control center applications at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Reverse publishing paths for commanding from each control center are also implemented. The target vehicle consists of realistic flight computer hardware running Core Flight Software (CFS) in the integrated Power, Avionics, and Power (iPAS) Pathfinder Lab at JSC. This prototype demonstrates a potential upgrade path for future Deep Space Network (DSN) modification, in which the automatic error recovery and communication gap compensation capabilities of DTN would be exploited. In addition, SM&C provides architectural flexibility by allowing new service providers and consumers to be added efficiently anywhere in the network using the common interface provided by SM&C's Message Abstraction Layer (MAL). In FY 2015, this space data system was enhanced by adding telerobotic operations capability provided by the Robot API Delegate (RAPID) family of protocols developed at NASA. RAPID is one of several candidates for consideration and inclusion in a new international standard being developed by the CCSDS Telerobotic Operations Working Group. Software gateways for the purpose of interfacing RAPID messages with the existing SM&C based infrastructure were developed. Telerobotic monitor, control, and bridge applications were written in the RAPID framework, which were then tailored to the NAO telerobotic test article hardware, a product of Aldebaran Robotics.

Rich, Thomas M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Human Motion Tracking and Glove-Based User Interfaces for Virtual Environments in ANVIL

The Army/NASA Virtual Innovations Laboratory (ANVIL) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) provides an environment where engineers and other personnel can investigate novel applications of computer simulation and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. Among the many hardware and software resources in ANVIL are several high-performance Silicon Graphics computer systems and a number of commercial software packages, such as Division MockUp by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and Jack by Unigraphics Solutions, Inc. These hardware and software platforms are used in conjunction with various VR peripheral I/O (input / output) devices, CAD (computer aided design) models, etc. to support the objectives of the MSFC Engineering Systems Department/Systems Engineering Support Group (ED42) by studying engineering designs, chiefly from the standpoint of human factors and ergonomics. One of the more time-consuming tasks facing ANVIL personnel involves the testing and evaluation of peripheral I/O devices and the integration of new devices with existing hardware and software platforms. Another important challenge is the development of innovative user interfaces to allow efficient, intuitive interaction between simulation users and the virtual environments they are investigating. As part of his Summer Faculty Fellowship, the author was tasked with verifying the operation of some recently acquired peripheral interface devices and developing new, easy-to-use interfaces that could be used with existing VR hardware and software to better support ANVIL projects.

Joseph D. Dumas, II↗
NASA NTRS2011

Accelerated Adaptive MGS Phase Retrieval

The Modified Gerchberg-Saxton (MGS) algorithm is an image-based wavefront-sensing method that can turn any science instrument focal plane into a wavefront sensor. MGS characterizes optical systems by estimating the wavefront errors in the exit pupil using only intensity images of a star or other point source of light. This innovative implementation of MGS significantly accelerates the MGS phase retrieval algorithm by using stream-processing hardware on conventional graphics cards. Stream processing is a relatively new, yet powerful, paradigm to allow parallel processing of certain applications that apply single instructions to multiple data (SIMD). These stream processors are designed specifically to support large-scale parallel computing on a single graphics chip. Computationally intensive algorithms, such as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), are particularly well suited for this computing environment. This high-speed version of MGS exploits commercially available hardware to accomplish the same objective in a fraction of the original time. The exploit involves performing matrix calculations in nVidia graphic cards. The graphical processor unit (GPU) is hardware that is specialized for computationally intensive, highly parallel computation. From the software perspective, a parallel programming model is used, called CUDA, to transparently scale multicore parallelism in hardware. This technology gives computationally intensive applications access to the processing power of the nVidia GPUs through a C/C++ programming interface. The AAMGS (Accelerated Adaptive MGS) software takes advantage of these advanced technologies, to accelerate the optical phase error characterization. With a single PC that contains four nVidia GTX-280 graphic cards, the new implementation can process four images simultaneously to produce a JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) wavefront measurement 60 times faster than the previous code.

Lam, Raymond K.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Development of optimized techniques and requirements for computer enhancement of structural weld radiographs. Volume 1: Technical report

A hardware and software specification covering requirements for the computer enhancement of structural weld radiographs was considered. Three scanning systems were used to digitize more than 15 weld radiographs. The performance of these systems was evaluated by determining modulation transfer functions and noise characteristics. Enhancement techniques were developed and applied to the digitized radiographs. The scanning parameters of spot size and spacing and film density were studied to optimize the information content of the digital representation of the image.

Adams, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Advanced communications technology satellite high burst rate link evaluation terminal power control and rain fade software test plan, version 1.0

The Power Control and Rain Fade Software was developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center to support the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite High Burst Rate Link Evaluation Terminal (ACTS HBR-LET). The HBR-LET is an experimenters terminal to communicate with the ACTS for various experiments by government, university, and industry agencies. The Power Control and Rain Fade Software is one segment of the Control and Performance Monitor (C&PM) Software system of the HBR-LET. The Power Control and Rain Fade Software automatically controls the LET uplink power to compensate for signal fades. Besides power augmentation, the C&PM Software system is also responsible for instrument control during HBR-LET experiments, control of the Intermediate Frequency Switch Matrix on board the ACTS to yield a desired path through the spacecraft payload, and data display. The Power Control and Rain Fade Software User's Guide, Version 1.0 outlines the commands and procedures to install and operate the Power Control and Rain Fade Software. The Power Control and Rain Fade Software Maintenance Manual, Version 1.0 is a programmer's guide to the Power Control and Rain Fade Software. This manual details the current implementation of the software from a technical perspective. Included is an overview of the Power Control and Rain Fade Software, computer algorithms, format representations, and computer hardware configuration. The Power Control and Rain Fade Test Plan provides a step-by-step procedure to verify the operation of the software using a predetermined signal fade event. The Test Plan also provides a means to demonstrate the capability of the software.

Reinhart, Richard C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Packaging HEP Heterogeneous Mini-apps for Portable Benchmarking and Facility Evaluation on Modern HPCs

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are making increasing use of GPUs and GPU dominated High Performance Computer facilities. Both the software and hardware of these systems are rapidly evolving, creating challenges for experiments to make informed decisions as to where they wish to devote resources. In its first phase, the High Energy Physics Center for Computational Excellence (HEP-CCE) produced portable versions of a number of heterogeneous HEP mini-apps, such as p2r, FastCaloSim, Patatrack and the WireCell Toolkit, that exercise a broad range of GPU characteristics, enabling cross platform and facility benchmarking and evaluation. However, these miniapps still require a significant amount of manual intervention to deploy on a new facility. We present our work in developing turn-key deployments of these mini-apps, where by means of containerization and automated configuration and build techniques such as Spack, we are able to quickly test new hardware, software, environments and entire facilities with minimal user intervention, and then track performance metrics over time.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Packaging HEP Heterogeneous Mini-apps for Portable Benchmarking and Facility Evaluation on Modern HPCs

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are making increasing use of GPUs and GPU dominated High Performance Computer facilities. Both the software and hardware of these systems are rapidly evolving, creating challenges for experiments to make informed decisions as to where they wish to devote resources. In its first phase, the High Energy Physics Center for Computational Excellence (HEP-CCE) produced portable versions of a number of heterogeneous HEP mini-apps, such as \ptor, FastCaloSim, Patatrack and the WireCell Toolkit, that exercise a broad range of GPU characteristics, enabling cross platform and facility benchmarking and evaluation. However, these mini-apps still require a significant amount of manual intervention to deploy on a new facility. We present our work in developing turn-key deployments of these mini-apps, where by means of containerization and automated configuration and build techniques such as Spack, we are able to quickly test new hardware, software, environments and entire facilities with minimal user intervention, and then track performance metrics over time.

Atif, Mohammad [Brookhaven] (ORCID:000000026889770↗
DOE OSTI2026

Bridging Cloud and Edge Computing at NREL Using CONNECT: Cloud Optimized Networking for Next-Gen Edge Computing Technologies [Slides]

CONNECT is an innovative on-premise hardware and software solution that integrates edge and cloud computing infrastructure at NREL. Built on the AWS Greengrass middleware and leveraging the MQTT protocol, CONNECT enables real-time data streaming from IoT devices and gateways to both cloud and local services, empowering researchers to rapidly capture, analyze, and act upon edge-generated data while leveraging cloud capabilities. The platform addresses research infrastructure challenges by providing a pre-approved platform which is already configured with the correct networking and cybersecurity baselines thus eliminating procurement delays and enabling on-demand availability. CONNECT's hybrid architecture efficiently manages burstable workloads, allowing research teams to dynamically scale computational capacity, handle peak data loads, and reduce operational bottlenecks. Advanced capabilities include built-in GPU support for executing machine learning models which enables low-latency inference at the edge from models trained in the cloud. This architecture supports real-time analytics and filtering, providing a mechanism to allow only transmitting and processing high-value data. Cloud-based configuration management permits engineers to manage on-premise systems remotely, optimizing operational efficiency. By bridging edge and cloud computing, CONNECT provides NREL researchers with a flexible, scalable platform that accelerates scientific discovery while maintaining robust security and performance standards.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗