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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

A safety-based decision making architecture for autonomous systems

Engineering systems designed specifically for space applications often exhibit a high level of autonomy in the control and decision-making architecture. As the level of autonomy increases, more emphasis must be placed on assimilating the safety functions normally executed at the hardware level or by human supervisors into the control architecture of the system. The development of a decision-making structure which utilizes information on system safety is detailed. A quantitative measure of system safety, called the safety self-information, is defined. This measure is analogous to the reliability self-information defined by McInroy and Saridis, but includes weighting of task constraints to provide a measure of both reliability and cost. An example is presented in which the safety self-information is used as a decision criterion in a mobile robot controller. The safety self-information is shown to be consistent with the entropy-based Theory of Intelligent Machines defined by Saridis.

Musto, Joseph C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Multi-Agent Software Design and Engineering for Human Centered Collaborative Autonomous Space Systems: NASA Intelligent Systems

Detailed results of this three-year project are available in 37 publications, including 7 book chapters, 3 journal articles, and 27 refereed conference proceedings. In addition, various aspects of the project were the subject of 31 invited presentations and 6 tutorials at international conferences and workshops. Good descriptions of prior and ongoing work on foundational technologies in Brahms, KAoS, NOMADS, and the PSA project can be found in numerous publications not listed here.

Bradshaw, Jeffrey M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Terrain evaluation and route designation based on noisy rangefinder data

This paper discusses an approach to terrain evaluation and route designation for an autonomous Mars rover. The evaluation procedure simulates movement of the rover over a terrain model estimated from noisy range readings. During the simulated movement a potential path is analyzed for adverse gradients and minimum vehicle body clearance which could inhibit the rover's progress. The route designation scheme employs dynamic programming to select the optimal path based on the evaluation results.

Netch, A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Command Operation of the WIRE Spacecraft

This paper presents the end-to-end design architecture for an autonomous commanding capability to be used on the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) mission for the uplink of command loads during unattended station contacts. The WIRE mission is the fifth and final mission of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Small Explorer (SMEX) series to be launched in March of 1999. Its primary mission is the targeting of deep space fields using an ultra-cooled infrared telescope. Due to its mission design WIRE command loads are large (approximately 40 Kbytes per 24 hours) and must be performed daily. To reduce the cost of mission operations support that would be required in order to uplink command loads, the WIRE Flight Operations Team has implemented an autonomous command loading capability. This capability allows completely unattended operations over a typical two-day weekend period.

Prior, Mike↗
NASA NTRS2003

Fuzzy Logic Trajectory Design and Guidance for Terminal Area Energy Management

The second generation reusable launch vehicle will leverage many new technologies to make flight to low earth orbit safer and more cost effective. One important capability will be completely autonomous flight during reentry and landing, thus making it unnecessary to man the vehicle for cargo missions with stringent weight constraints. Implementation of sophisticated new guidance and control methods will enable the vehicle to return to earth under less than favorable conditions. The return to earth consists of three phases--Entry, Terminal Area Energy Management (TAEM), and Approach and Landing. The Space Shuttle is programmed to fly all three phases of flight automatically, and under normal circumstances the astronaut-pilot takes manual control only during the Approach and Landing phase. The automatic control algorithms used in the Shuttle for TAEM and Approach and Landing have been developed over the past 30 years. They are computationally efficient, and based on careful study of the spacecraft's flight dynamics, and heuristic reasoning. The gliding return trajectory is planned prior to the mission, and only minor adjustments are made during flight for perturbations in the vehicle energy state. With the advent of the X-33 and X-34 technology demonstration vehicles, several authors investigated implementing advanced control methods to provide autonomous real-time design of gliding return trajectories thus enhancing the ability of the vehicle to adjust to unusual energy states. The bulk of work published to date deals primarily with the approach and landing phase of flight where changes in heading angle are small, and range to the runway is monotonically decreasing. These benign flight conditions allow for model simplification and fairly straightforward optimization. This project focuses on the TAEM phase of flight where mathematically precise methods have produced limited results. Fuzzy Logic methods are used to make onboard autonomous gliding return trajectory design robust to a wider energy envelope, and the possibility of control surface failures, thus increasing the flexibility of unmanned gliding recovery and landing.

Burchett, Bradley↗
DOE OSTI2023

What Makes Passengers Uncomfortable In Vehicles Today? An Exploratory Study of Current Factors that May Influence Acceptance of Future Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles have the potential to transform lives by providing transportation to a wider range of users. However, with this new method of transportation, user acceptance and comfort are critical for widespread adoption. This exploratory study aims to investigate what makes passengers uncomfortable in existing vehicles to inform the design of future autonomous vehicles. In order to predict what may impact user acceptance for a diverse rider population for future autonomous vehicles, it is important to understand what makes a broad range of passengers uncomfortable today. In this study, interviews were conducted for a total of 75 participants from three diverse groups, including 20 automotive engineering graduate students who are building an autonomous concept vehicle, 21 non-technical adults, and 34 senior citizens. The results revealed both topics which made different groups of passengers uncomfortable as well as how these varied between the groups. The leading contributors to the highest discomfort for all groups were being a passenger in situations with a distracted driver, being in a vehicle that is following too closely, being near a vehicle that is following too closely, and being in foggy conditions. In addition, the results showed that passenger discomfort can be attributed to a broad range of factors ranging from behaviors of the driver/vehicle that one is traveling with/in, the behaviors of other surrounding vehicles, the environmental conditions and the vehicle’s interior, all of which may differ between different groups of passengers. This research provides important findings and insights into factors that may influence users’ acceptance and use of future autonomous vehicles.

Mims, Lauren K.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Object Detection and Recognition with PointPillars in LiDAR Point Clouds – Comparisions

In the field of autonomous systems, neural networks have been leveraged for object detection and recognition in 2-dimensional images captured by cameras. Other types of sensors are available for sensing surroundings, including LiDAR sensors, and corresponding networks have been developed to perform detection and recognition in the point clouds generated by these sensors. The approaches are similar, both perform convolutions, but have distinct characteristics and challenges. In designing and configuring autonomous systems, a variety of LiDAR sensors are available, along with configurable deep neural networks to leverage their data. This work presents a review of the PointPillars network, an evolution of the seminal PointNet, comparing accuracy and training time relative to different LiDAR sensors, network and training parameters, CPU and GPU hardware, and the criticality of the use of reflective intensity as a feature. The value of using reflectivity as a predictive feature is explored and quantified to determine if it makes a significant difference in accuracy of the PointPillars network. Two separate LiDAR sensors are utilized, a 16-plane and a 32-plane, and corresponding accuracies and training times with the PointPillars network are evaluated.

LiDAR, machine learning, neural network, object re↗
NASA NTRS2003

Broadband IR Measurements for Modis Validation

The primary objective of this research was the development and deployment of autonomous shipboard systems for infrared measurement of ocean surface skin temperature (SST). The focus was on demonstrating long-term, all-weather capability and supplying calibrated skin SST to the MODIS Ocean Science Team (MOCEAN). A secondary objective was to investigate and account for environmental factors that affect in situ measurements of SST for validation of satellite products. We developed and extensively deployed the Calibrated, InfraRed, In situ Measurement System, or CIRIMS, for at-sea validation of satellite-derived SST. The design goals included autonomous operation at sea for up to 6 months and an accuracy of +/- 0.1 C. We used commercially available infrared pyrometers and a precision blackbody housed in a temperature-controlled enclosure. The sensors are calibrated at regular interval using a cylindro-cone target immersed in a temperature-controlled water bath, which allows the calibration points to follow the ocean surface temperature. An upward-looking pyrometer measures sky radiance in order to correct for the non-unity emissivity of water, which can introduce an error of up to 0.5 C. One of the most challenging aspects of the design was protection against the marine environment. A wide range of design strategies to provide accurate, all-weather measurements were investigated. The CIRIMS uses an infrared transparent window to completely protect the sensor and calibration blackbody from the marine environment. In order to evaluate the performance of this approach, the design incorporates the ability to make measurements with and without the window in the optical path.

Jessup, Andrew T.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Development of the Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE): An Advanced Airborne DIAL Instrument

The Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) Instrument is the first fully-engineered, autonomous Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) System for the measurement of water vapor in the troposphere (aerosol and cloud measurements are included). LASE uses a double-pulsed Ti:Sapphire laser for the transmitter with a 30 ns pulse length and 150 mJ/pulse. The laser beam is "seeded" to operate on a selected water vapor absorption line in the 815-nm region using a laser diode and an onboard absorption reference cell. A 40 cm diameter telescope collects the backscattered signals and directs them onto two detectors. LASE collects DIAL data at 5 Hz while onboard a NASA/Ames ER-2 aircraft flying at altitudes from 16-21 km. LASE was designed to operate autonomously within the environment and physical constraints of the ER-2 aircraft and to make water vapor profile measurements across the troposphere to better than 10% accuracy. LASE has flown 19 times during the development of the instrument and the validation of the science data. This paper describes the design, operation, and reliability of the LASE Instrument.

Moore, Alvah S., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Smart Executives for Autonomous Spacecraft

In this article we explore the design of an executive for an autonomous spacecraft. The executive is responsible for translating high-level commands, whether they come from the ground or from an on-board planner, into the low-level commands understood directly by the spacecraft hardware.

control system autonomous spacecraft planning func↗
NASA NTRS2010

Human Health and Performance Considerations for Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

This presentation will describe the human health and performance issues that are anticipated for the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEA). Humans are considered a system in the design of any such deep-space exploration mission, and exploration of NEA presents unique challenges for the human system. Key factors that define the mission are those that are strongly affected by distance and duration. The most critical of these is deep-space radiation exposure without even the temporary shielding of a nearby large planetary body. The current space radiation permissible exposure limits (PEL) restrict mission duration to 3-10 months depending on age and gender of crewmembers and stage of the solar cycle. Factors that affect mission architecture include medical capability; countermeasures for bone, muscle, and cardiovascular atrophy during continuous weightlessness; restricted food supplies; and limited habitable volume. The design of a habitat that can maintain the physical and psychological health of the crew and support mission operations with limited intervention from Earth will require an integrated research and development effort by NASA s Human Research Program, engineering, and human factors groups. Limited abort and return options for an NEA mission are anticipated to have important effects on crew psychology as well as influence medical supplies and training requirements of the crew. Other important factors are those related to isolation, confinement, communication delays, autonomous operations, task design, small crew size, and even the unchanging view outside the windows for most of the mission. Geological properties of the NEA will influence design of sample handling and containment, and extravehicular activity capabilities including suit ports and tools. A robotic precursor mission that collects basic information on NEA surface properties would reduce uncertainty about these aspects of the mission as well as aid in design of mission architecture and exploration tasks.

Kundrot, Craig↗
DOE OSTI2020

5G Enabled Energy Innovation: Advanced Wireless Networks for Science (Workshop Report)

Rapidly expanding, new telecommunications infrastructure based on 5G technologies will disrupt and transform how we design, build, operate, and optimize scientific infrastructure and the experiments and services enabled by that infrastructure, from continental-scale sensor networks to centralized scientific user facilities, from intelligent Internet of Things devices to supercomputers. Concurrently, 5G will introduce, or exacerbate, challenges related to protecting infrastructure and associated scientific data as well as to fully leveraging opportunities related to expanded infrastructure scale and complexity. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science operates scientific infrastructure, supporting some of the nation’s most advanced intellectual discoveries, spanning the country and including 30 world-class user facilities from supercomputers to accelerators. Along with field experiments and remote observatories, every aspect of DOE’s scientific enterprise will be affected by 5G, which amounts to a complete renovation of the underpinnings of the nation’s information infrastructure. In this report we explore the scientific opportunities and new research challenges associated with 5G, ranging from scalability to heterogeneity to cybersecurity. The rapid commercial deployment of 5G opens the opportunity to rethink and reinvent DOE’s scientific infrastructure and experimentation, from intelligent sensor networks at unprecedented scales to a digital continuum of cyberinfrastructure spanning low-power sensors, high-performance computing embedded within and at the edge of the network, and DOE’s large-scale user instrument and computing facilities. New programming paradigms, workflow and data frameworks, and AI-based system design, operation, and autonomous adaptation and optimization will be necessary in order to exploit these new opportunities. Field deployments and centralized scientific instruments can also be revolutionized, moving (without traditional performance penalties) from wired to wireless connectivity for data and control systems, improving flexibility, and opening new sensing modalities, including the use of the 5G electromagnetic spectrum itself as an environmental probe. For DOE science, in contrast to commercial 5G applications and settings, devices will be deployed in extreme environments such as cryogenically cooled instrument control systems and in remote settings with harsh conditions, requiring the design of new materials for RF communication and edge processing to operate in these regimes. Concurrently, 5G infrastructure comprises both hardware and sophisticated software systems - currently closed and proprietary. The cybersecurity challenges to 5G-empowered reinvention mirror the complexity and variety of new 5G features, from virtualization to private network slices to ubiquitous access. Research is also needed in order to accelerate the development of secure and open 5G software infrastructure, reducing reliance on hardware and software produced outside the United States and providing the transparency and rigorous evaluation and testing afforded through open software. Twelve broad research thrusts are laid out in four chapters, with a companion fifth chapter (and three additional research thrusts) underscoring the needs and opportunities for an aggressive testbed program co-designed by networking experts and scientists involved in the 15 research thrusts. The urgency of undertaking this research is fueled by a global, accelerating deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure that is designed for entertainment and commercial applications - barely scratching the surface of what 5G can do to extend U.S. leadership in scientific discovery.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2018

Autonomous Coordinated Airspace Services for Terminal and Enroute Operations with Wind Errors

As novel uses of the airspace continue to multiply, there is increasing demand for access to high-density terminal areas around major airports. Since the predicted demand for urban-air-mobility and urban-package-delivery is very high, and the interactions between these different types of aircraft and missions will be extremely complex, increasingly autonomous systems will be required to manage safety and efficiency. This paper presents the current status of an autonomous safety system designed to ensure safe and efficient trajectories for aircraft in terminal airspace, the Terminal Advanced Airspace Concept. Previous papers have demonstrated the efficacy of this algorithm for handling commercial arrivals into a complex metroplex when there is no uncertainty present. This study extends that work to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm under high levels of uncertainty.

terminal operations↗
NASA NTRS2018

Autonomous Coordinated Airspace Services for Terminal and Enroute Operations with Wind Errors

As novel uses of the airspace continue to multiply, there is increasing demand for access to high-density terminal areas around major airports. Since the predicted demand for urban-air-mobility and urban-package-delivery is very high, and the interactions between these different types of aircraft and missions will be extremely complex, increasingly autonomous systems will be required to manage safety and efficiency. This paper presents the current status of an autonomous safety system designed to ensure safe and efficient trajectories for aircraft in terminal airspace, the Terminal Advanced Airspace Concept. Previous papers have demonstrated the efficacy of this algorithm for handling commercial arrivals into a complex metroplex when there is no uncertainty present. This study extends that work to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm under high levels of uncertainty.

terminal operations↗
NASA NTRS2023

An MBSE Approach for Developing an Autonomous Rover Platform

The proliferation of increasingly autonomous systems calls for new ways to address how safety is assured. As these systems become more advanced and complex, it becomes more important to model and prototype autonomous functions at the systems level and the functions that assure they are operating safely and as expected. To that effect, researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 's Robust Software Engineering (RSE) group are working on prototyping a Research Autonomous Vehicle, commonly referred to as R-RAV. The R-RAV is an autonomous rover platform designed to act as a case study for assured autonomy research. Moreover, an overarching goal is for the R-RAV to serve as a training ground for other mission projects. In this paper, we will detail how we have used a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach to model a prototype of the R-RAV and test and verify its different functionalities.

MBSE↗
NASA NTRS1992

Autonomous support for microorganism research in space

A preliminary design for performing on-orbit, autonomous research on microorganisms and cultured cells/tissues is presented. An understanding of gravity and its effects on cells is crucial for space exploration as well as for terrestrial applications. The payload is designed to be compatible with the COMmercial Experiment Transported (COMET) launch vehicle, an orbiter middeck locker interface, and with Space Station Freedom. Uplink/downlink capabilities and sample return through controlled reentry are available for all carriers. Autonomous testing activities are preprogrammed with inflight reprogrammability. Sensors for monitoring temperature, pH, light, gravity levels, vibration, and radiation are provided for environmental regulation and experimental data collection. Additional experiment data acquisition includes optical density measurement, microscopy, video, and file photography. Onboard full data storage capabilities are provided. A fluid transfer mechanism is utilized for inoculation, sampling, and nutrient replenishment of experiment cultures. In addition to payload design, representative experiments were developed to ensure scientific objectives remained compatible with hardware capabilities. The project is defined to provide biological data pertinent to extended duration crewed space flight including crew health issues and development of a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). In addition, opportunities are opened for investigations leading to commercial applications of space, such as pharmaceutical development, modeling of terrestrial diseases, and material processing.

Luttges, M. W.↗