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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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The use of the VEDIT editor on the CDC Network Operating System/Virtual Environment (NOS/VE) is discussed. The VEDIT, a utility, allows a user to edit files line by line (line mode). How to access and the use of VEDIT are explained. The parameters and the format of the individual commands are defined. Examples are included.
The CIRSSE two-finger gripper is designed to be used with a 6-axis wrist-mounted force-torque sensor as part of an experimental testbed for cooperative robotic manipulation. The gripper system consists of a dedicated controller and a pneumatic powered gripper that is servoed in position or grasping force. The gripper also has a between fingertip light beam sensor. The major features of this new design are: high grasping force to weight ratio (25::1) and compactness (14 cm base-fingertip, 0.8 kilograms); low cost dedicated slave controller; and simple host-controller communications protocol to minimize command interpretation delay. Shared software functions between the host and the controller processor permit the host to select servo mode, servo gain-parameter values, and calibration offsets. Hidden primitive self-test, calibration and servo confidence functions are included.
This paper introduces a new method for accommodating actuator saturation in a multivariable system with actuator redundancy. Actuator saturation can cause significant deterioration in control system performance because unmet demand may result in sluggish transients and oscillations in response to setpoint changes. To help compensate for this problem, a technique has been developed which takes advantage of redundancy in multivariable systems to redistribute the unmet control demand over the remaining useful effectors. This method is not a redesign procedure, rather it modifies commands to the unlimited effectors to compensate for those which are limited, thereby exploiting the built-in redundancy. The original commands are modified by the increments due to unmet demand, but when a saturated effector comes off its limit, the incremental commands disappear and the original unmodified controller remains intact. This scheme provides a smooth transition between saturated and unsaturated modes as it divides up the unmet requirement over any available actuators. This way, if there is sufficiently redundant control authority, performance can be maintained.
An optimal control approach using variable-structure (sliding-mode) tracking for large angle spacecraft maneuvers is presented. The approach expands upon a previously derived regulation result using a quaternion parameterization for the kinematic equations of motion. This parameterization is used since it is free of singularities. The main contribution of this paper is the utilization of a simple term in the control law that produces a maneuver to the reference attitude trajectory in the shortest distance. Also, a multiplicative error quaternion between the desired and actual attitude is used to derive the control law. Sliding-mode switching surfaces are derived using an optimal-control analysis. Control laws are given using either external torque commands or reaction wheel commands. Global asymptotic stability is shown for both cases using a Lyapunov analysis. Simulation results are shown which use the new control strategy to stabilize the motion of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe spacecraft.
Delamination is a common failure mode of laminated composite materials. Edge delamination is important since it results in reduced stiffness and strength of the laminate. The tension/torsion load condition is of particular significance to the structural integrity of composite helicopter rotor systems. Material coupons can easily be tested under this type of loading in servo-hydraulic tension/torsion test stands using techniques very similar to those used for the Edge Delamination Tensile Test (EDT) delamination specimen. Edge delamination of specimens loaded in tension was successfully analyzed by several investigators using both classical laminate theory and quasi-three dimensional (Q3D) finite element techniques. The former analysis technique can be used to predict the total strain energy release rate, while the latter technique enables the calculation of the mixed-mode strain energy release rates. The Q3D analysis is very efficient since it produces a three-dimensional solution to a two-dimensional domain. A computer program was developed which generates PATRAN commands to generate the finite element model. PATRAN is a pre- and post-processor which is commonly used with a variety of finite element programs such as MCS/NASTRAN. The program creates a sufficiently dense mesh at the delamination crack tips to support a mixed-mode fracture mechanics analysis. The program creates a coarse mesh in those regions where the gradients in the stress field are low (away from the delamination regions). A transition mesh is defined between these regions. This program is capable of generating a mesh for an arbitrarily oriented matrix crack. This program significantly reduces the modeling time required to generate these finite element meshes, thus providing a realistic tool with which to investigate the tension torsion problem.
The design is described of the Venus probe windows, which are required to measure solar flux, infrared flux, aureole, and cloud particles. Window heating and structural materials for the probe window assemblies are discussed along with the magnetometer. The command lists for science, power and communication requirements, telemetry sign characteristics, mission profile summary, mass properties of payloads, and failure modes are presented.
The 25-kW power module design and operational characteristics and the benefits for payloads are presented. The module will allow the Shuttle Orbiter to be utilized on-orbit to its optimum capability of power and duration for sortie/Spacelab missions, and will provide central power-rich base for free-flyer payloads requiring increased electrical power and on-orbit stay-times of up to 5 years. Concepts of the module in the sortie and free-flyer modes are depicted with resource capabilities for experimentation in astronomy, solar physics, solar terrestrial observations, and materials processing which require long duration and/or high power missions. In the sortie mode operation the Orbiter fuel cell will be in an idle mode, with the 25-kW module providing payload power needs, and in the free-flyer mode the module will provide power needs to multiple payloads. Design considerations, the thermal control subsystem, the attitude control subsystem, command and data handling, and the electrical power subsystem are described.
This paper focuses on the work load aspects of the pilot vehicle interface in regard to the new technologies tested during AMAS Phase II. Subjects discussed in this paper include: a wide field-of-view head-up display; automated maneuvering attack system/sensor tracker system; master modes that configure flight controls and mission avionics; a modified helmet mounted sight; improved multifunction display capability; a voice interactive command system; ride qualities during automated weapon delivery; a color moving map; an advanced digital map display; and a g-induced loss-of-consciousness and spatial disorientation autorecovery system.
Results are presented from an application of H-infinity control design methodology to a centralized integrated flight/propulsion control (IFPC) system design for a supersonic Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) fighter aircraft in transition flight. The overall design methodology consists of a centralized IFPC controller design with controller partitioning. Only the feedback controller design portion of the methodology is addressed. Design and evaluation vehicle models are summarized, and insight is provided into formulating the H-infinity control problem such that it reflects the IFPC design objectives. The H-infinity controller is shown to provide decoupled command tracking for the design model. The controller order could be significantly reduced by modal residualization of the fast controller modes without any deterioration in performance. A discussion is presented of the areas in which the controller performance needs to be improved, and ways in which these improvements can be achieved within the framework of an H-infinity based linear control design.
This paper presents results from an application of H(infinity) control design methodology to a centralized integrated flight/propulsion control (IFPC) system design for a supersonic STOVL fighter aircraft in transition flight. The overall design methodology consists of a centralized IFPC design with controller partitioning. Design and evaluation vehicle models are summarized, and insight is provided into formulating the H(infinity) control problem such that it reflects the IFPC design objective. The H(infinity) controller is shown to provide decoupled command tracking for the design model. The controller order could be significantly reduced by modal residualization of the fast controller modes without any deterioration in performance.
Three designs for controlling loads while rolling for the Active Flexible Wing (AFW) are discussed. The goal is to provide good roll control while simultaneously limiting the torsion and bending loads experienced by the wing. The first design uses Linear Quadratic Gaussian/Loop Transfer Recovery (LQG/LTR) modern control methods to control roll rate and torsional loads at four different wing locations. The second design uses a nonlinear surface command function to produce surface position commands as a function of current roll rate and commanded roll rate. The final design is a flutter suppression control system. This system stabilizes both symmetric and axisymmetric flutter modes of the AFW.
In this paper we consider the robust control of a thermal mixer using multivariable Sliding Mode Control (SMC). The mixer consists of a mixing chamber, hot and cold fluid valves, and an exit valve. The commanded positions of the three valves are the available control inputs, while the controlled variables are total mass flow rate, chamber pressure and the density of the mixture inside the chamber. Unsteady thermodynamics and linear valve models are used in deriving a 5th order nonlinear system with three inputs and three outputs, An SMC controller is designed to achieve robust output tracking in the presence of unknown energy losses between the chamber and the environment. The usefulness of the technique is illustrated with a simulation.
The term precision linear actuator, direct drive ( PLADD ) refers to a robust linear actuator designed to be capable of repeatedly performing, over a lifetime of the order of 5 to 10 years, positioning maneuvers that include, variously, submicron increments or slews of the order of a centimeter. The PLADD is capable of both long stroke (120 mm) and high resolution (repeatable increments of 20 nm). Unlike precise linear actuators of prior design, the PLADD contains no gears, levers, or hydraulic converters. The PLADD, now at the prototype stage of development, is intended for original use as a coarse-positioning actuator in a spaceborne interferometer. The PLADD could also be adapted to terrestrial applications in which there are requirements for long stroke and high resolution: potential applications include medical imaging and fabrication of semiconductor devices. The PLADD (see figure) includes a commercially available ball-screw actuator driven directly by a commercially available three-phase brushless DC motor. The ball-screw actuator comprises a spring-preloaded ball nut on a ball screw that is restrained against rotation as described below. The motor is coupled directly (that is, without an intervening gear train) to a drive link that, in turn, is coupled to the ball nut. By eliminating the gear train, the direct-drive design eliminates the complexity, backlash, and potential for misalignment associated with a gear train. To prevent inadvertent movement, there is a brake that includes flexured levers compressed against the drive link by preload springs. This is a power-off brake: There are also piezoelectric stacks that can be activated to oppose the springs and push the levers away from the drive link. Hence, power must be applied to the piezoelectric stacks to release the drive link from braking. To help ensure long operational life, all of the mechanical drive components are immersed in an oil bath within hermetically sealed bellows. The outer end of the bellows holds the outer end of the ball screw, thereby preventing rotation of the ball screw. Positioning is controlled by an electronic control system that includes digital and analog subsystems that interact with the motor and brake and with two sensor/encoder units: a Hall-effect-sensor rotation encoder and a linear glass-scale encoder. This system implements a proportional + integral + derivative control algorithm that results in variation of voltage commands to each of the three pairs of windings of the brushless DC motor. In one of two alternative control modes, the voltages are applied to the windings in a trapezoidal commutation scheme on the basis of timing signals obtained from the Hall-effect sensors; this scheme yields relatively coarse positioning - 24 steps per motor revolution. The second control mode involves a sinusoidal commutation scheme in which the output of the linear glass-scale encoder is transposed to rotational increments to yield much finer position feedback - more than 400,000 steps per revolution.
Pilot performance parameters, such as pilot ratings, tracking errors, and pilot comments were determined for a longitudinal pitch tracking task using a large, flexible bomber with parametric variations in the undamped natural frequencies of the two lowest frequency symmetric elastic modes. This pitch tracking task was programmed on a fixed base simulator with an electronic attitude-director display of pitch command, pitch angle, and pitch error. Low frequency structural flexibility significantly affects the handling qualities and pilot ratings in the task evaluated.
The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is flight testing a triply redundant digital fly-by-wire (DFBW) control system installed in an F-8 aircraft. The full-time, full-authority system performs three-axis flight control computations, including stability and command augmentation, autopilot functions, failure detection and isolation, and self-test functions. Advanced control law experiments include an active flap mode for ride smoothing and maneuver drag reduction. This paper discusses research being conducted on computer synchronization, fault detection, fault isolation, and recovery from transient faults. The F-8 DFBW system has demonstrated immunity from nuisance fault declarations while quickly identifying truly faulty components.
Pilot performance parameters, such as pilot ratings, tracking errors, and pilot comments, were recorded and analyzed for a longitudinal pitch tracking task on a large, flexible aircraft. The tracking task was programmed on a fixed-base simulator with a CRT attitude director display of pitch angle command, pitch angle, and pitch angle error. Parametric variations in the undamped natural frequencies of the two lowest frequency symmetric elastic modes were made to induce varying degrees of rigid body and elastic mode interaction. The results indicate that such mode interaction can drastically affect the handling qualities and pilot ratings of the task.
This report documents the PIFCGT computer program. In FORTRAN, PIFCGT is a computer design aid for determing Proportional-Integral-Filter (PIF) control laws for aircraft autopilots implemented with a Command Generator Tracker (CGT). The program uses Linear-Quadratic-Regulator synthesis algorithms to determine feedback gains, and includes software to solve the feedforward matrix equation which is useful in determining the command generator tracker feedforward gains. The program accepts aerodynamic stability derivatives and computes the corresponding aerodynamic linear model. The nine autopilot modes that can be designed include four maneuver modes (ROLL SEL, PITCH SEL, HDG SEL, ALT SEL), four final approach models (APR GS, APR LOCI, APR LOCR, APR LOCP), and a BETA HOLD mode. The program has been compiled and executed on a CDC computer.
The briefing describes work using the Global Positioning System to determine position of spacecraft and the development of computer tools to utilize these position determinations to enable autonomous rendezvous. Using GPS data in conjunction with Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) provides the capability for absolute spacecraft navigation, navigation of one spacecraft relative to another, and attitude determination. Some results presented are based on limited observations, though simulation results are documented. A GPS/INS navigation flight experiment could provide a platform for evaluating approaches for autonomous operation and reconfigurability of the navigation and attitude determination subsystem for future space vehicles. Current emphasis is on the development and demonstration of an Onboard Mission Manager (OMM) and a Multi-Mode Navigation Kalman filter. Sensor data will be handed over to the OMM, which will determine the appropriate response and generate commands for the Kalman filter to use to reconfigure itself. Global Positioning System measurements and INS data will be processed in the integrated navigation filter and used to compute errors in position, velocity, and attitude. Inertial Navigation Systems instrument errors (biases, scale factors, etc.) also can be estimated. The OMM then will use a knowledge base to determine appropriate system response. The GPS is good for missions that have attitude pointing accuracy requirements within the 100 to 200 arcsecond range.