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The prototype intermediate frequency video down converter of the Deep Space Network (BLK 1) Very Long Base Interferometry system, a hybrid of analog and digital circuits, was completed and tested. The initial results met all design specifications, establishing a milestone in new design technology for such devices. This device has uses in other similar applications and can form the basis for expanded design and applications.
Logistics can be defined as the process of strategically managing the acquisition, movement, and storage of materials, parts, and finished inventory (and the related information flow) through the organization and its marketing channels in a cost effective manner. It is concerned with delivering the right product to the right customer in the right place at the right time. The logistics function is composed of inventory management, facilities management, communications unitization, transportation, materials management, and production scheduling. The relationship between logistics and information systems is clear. Systems such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Point of Sale (POS) systems, and Just in Time (JIT) inventory management systems are important elements in the management of product development and delivery. With improved access to market demand figures, logisticians can decrease inventory sizes and better service customer demand. However, without accurate, timely information, little, if any, of this would be feasible in today's global markets. Information systems specialists can learn from logisticians. In a manner similar to logistics management, information logistics is concerned with the delivery of the right data, to the ring customer, at the right time. As such, information systems are integral components of the information logistics system charged with providing customers with accurate, timely, cost-effective, and useful information. Information logistics is a management style and is composed of elements similar to those associated with the traditional logistics activity: inventory management (data resource management), facilities management (distributed, centralized and decentralized information systems), communications (participative design and joint application development methodologies), unitization (input/output system design, i.e., packaging or formatting of the information), transportations (voice, data, image, and video communication systems), materials management (data acquisition, e.g., EDI, POS, external data bases, data entry) and production scheduling (job, staff, and project scheduling).
This paper presents an intelligent adaptive control system for the control of a solid-liquid interface of a crystal while it is growing via directional solidification inside a multizone transparent furnace. The task of the process controller is to establish a user-specified axial temperature profile and to maintain a desirable interface shape. Both single-input-single-output and multi-input-multi-output adaptive pole placement algorithms have been used to control the temperature. Also described is an intelligent measurement system to assess the shape of the crystal while it is growing. A color video imaging system observes the crystal in real time and determines the position and the shape of the interface. This information is used to evaluate the crystal growth rate, and to analyze the effects of translational velocity and temperature profiles on the shape of the interface. Creation of this knowledge base is the first step to incorporate image processing into furnace control.
George Nauck of ENCORE!!! invented and markets the Advanced Range Performance (ARPM) Video Golf System for measuring the result of a golf swing. After Nauck requested their assistance, Marshall Space Flight Center scientists suggested video and image processing/computing technology, and provided leads on commercial companies that dealt with the pertinent technologies. Nauck contracted with Applied Research Inc. to develop a prototype. The system employs an elevated camera, which sits behind the tee and follows the flight of the ball down range, catching the point of impact and subsequent roll. Instant replay of the video on a PC monitor at the tee allows measurement of the carry and roll. The unit measures distance and deviation from the target line, as well as distance from the target when one is selected. The information serves as an immediate basis for making adjustments or as a record of skill level progress for golfers.
A study of a low-rate monochrome video compression system is presentd in this paper. This system is a conditional-replenishment coder that uses two-dimensional Walsh-transform coding within each video frame. The conditional-replenishment algorithm works by transmitting only the portions of an image that are changing in time. This system is augmented with a motn-prediction algorithm that measures spatial dispalcement parameters from frame to frame, and codes the data using these parameters. A comparison is made between the conditional-replenishment system with, and without, the motion-predictinalgorthm. Subsampling in time is ued to maintain the data rate rate at a fixed value. Average bit rates of 1 bit/picture element (pel) to 1/16 bit/pel are considered. The resultant performance of the compression simulations is presented in terms of the average frame rates produced.
An automated procedure for measuring and recording the anthropometric active angles is presented. The small portable system consists of a microprocessor controlled video data acquisition system which measures single plane active angles using television video techniques and provides the measured data on sponsored-specified preformatted data sheets. This system, using only a single video camera, observes the end limits of the movement of a pair of separated lamps and calculates the vector angle between the extreme positions.
This presentation reports the results of the NASA/DARPA automatic probe and drogue refueling flight test. The program met several of its objectives including the design, development and successful testing of a prototype system to autonomously perform probes to drogue refueling; demonstrated acquisition and tracking capability of the video tracking system; demonstrated autonomous rendezvous capability; demonstrated ability to plug in a turn; and, demonstrated ability to plug in mild turbulence.
A 25-mm vidicon camera was previously modified to allow operation in an integration mode for low-light-level astronomical work. The camera was then mated to a low-dispersion spectrograph for obtaining spectral information in the 400 to 750 nm range. A high speed digital video image system was utilized to digitize the analog video signal, place the information directly into computer-type memory, and record data on digital magnetic tape for permanent storage and subsequent analysis.
A system for real-time video image display for robotics or remote-vehicle teleoperation is described that has at least one robot arm or remotely operated vehicle controlled by an operator through hand-controllers, and one or more television cameras and optional lighting element. The system has at least one television monitor for display of a television image from a selected camera and the ability to select one of the cameras for image display. Graphics are generated with icons of cameras and lighting elements for display surrounding the television image to provide the operator information on: the location and orientation of each camera and lighting element; the region of illumination of each lighting element; the viewed region and range of focus of each camera; which camera is currently selected for image display for each monitor; and when the controller coordinate for said robot arms or remotely operated vehicles have been transformed to correspond to coordinates of a selected or nonselected camera.
Gimbal orientation, raster shrinkage and deflection, and track movement are used to simulate attitude and range. Key component in system is video digitizer that converts vidicon camera signal to digital form, processes it to reduce image size, and reconverts processed data to analog signal for display on cathode ray tube.
This paper discusses an ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking system design effort for Mini-AERCam (Autonomous Extra-vehicular Robotic Camera), a free-flying video camera system under development at NASA Johnson Space Center for aid in surveillance around the International Space Station (ISS). UWB technology is exploited to implement the tracking system due to its properties, such as high data rate, fine time resolution, and low power spectral density. A system design using commercially available UWB products is proposed. A tracking algorithm TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) that operates cooperatively with the UWB system is developed in this research effort. Matlab simulations show that the tracking algorithm can achieve fine tracking resolution with low noise TDOA data. Lab experiments demonstrate the UWB tracking capability with fine resolution.
Adaptive compression system for predicting and encoding video data for transmission in noiseless channel
In the coming decade, it is anticipated that deep-sea mining activities will commence throughout the deep ocean, at depths around 4000-6000m where vast deposits of baseball-sized rocks called polymetallic nodules lay on the seabed. These nodules contain resources such as cobalt, copper and nickel which are needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles. Collector machines driving on the seabed and gathering these nodules will stir up clouds of sediment, and there is concern about how the resulting concentration of sediment in the near-bottom ocean water will affect deep and mid-ocean biology. There is currently no technology capable of comprehensively monitoring the concentrations and properties of stirred up sediment in the deep. This project addressed this critical gap by developing a deep-sea particle measurement system (Real-Time Size and Settling Velocity, RTSSV) that uses a multi-camera high-resolution video imaging system, with accompanying image processing, to measure the concentration, size distribution and settling speed of sediment. Importantly, these measurements are made in-situ, so that delicate sediment aggregates will not be disturbed, as is the case when collecting samples at depth to be measured in the lab. The instrument can be mounted on a variety of established deep-sea platforms such as moorings, AUVs and ROVs, providing data in near real time, where the key measurements need to be made—from the source of the sediment disturbance and throughout the resulting plume—vital for determining if deep-sea mining can be done in an environmentally responsible manner. The developed system (RTSSV) will possess the only such capability worldwide, giving a US-based group a substantial competitive advantage as this newly evolving global industry develops. As added value, the technology will also have widespread application to the offshore oil and gas industry, dredging industry, and to sediment science research.
Image reconstruction from astronomical speckle data using the Knox-Thompson algorithm has now been extensively demonstrated as feasible through analysis and computer simulations. Experimental verification of the technique and its implementation for astronomy places stringent constraints on the recording system and requires complex processing algorithms to handle the many experimental details. In this paper we describe a video recording system specifically designed for the requirements of speckle imaging. This system has been built and tested, yielding high quality image reconstructions from a laboratory-atmospheric simulator for a wide range of input light levels and test objects.
An advanced motion-compensated predictive video compression system based on artificial neural networks has been developed to effectively eliminate the temporal and spatial redundancy of video image sequences and thus reduce the bandwidth and storage required for the transmission and recording of the video signal. The VLSI neuroprocessor for high-speed high-ratio image compression based upon a self-organization network and the conventional algorithm for vector quantization are compared. The proposed method is quite efficient and can achieve near-optimal results.
The purpose of the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) Training Facility (OTF) is to provide effective training for OMV pilots. A critical part of the training environment is the Visual System, which will simulate the video scenes produced by the OMV Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) system. The simulation will include camera models, dynamic target models, moving appendages, and scene degradation due to the compression/decompression of video signal. Video system malfunctions will also be provided to ensure that the pilot is ready to meet all challenges the real-world might provide. One possible visual system configuration for the training facility that will meet existing requirements is described.
Materials science experiments under microgravity increasingly rely on advanced optical systems to determine the physical properties of the samples under investigation. This includes video systems with high spatial and temporal resolution. The acquisition, handling, storage and transmission to ground of the resulting video data are very challenging. Since the available downlink data rate is limited, the capability to compress the video data significantly without compromising the data quality is essential. We report on the development of a Digital Video System (DVS) for EML (Electro Magnetic Levitator) which provides real-time video acquisition, high compression using advanced Wavelet algorithms, storage and transmission of a continuous flow of video with different characteristics in terms of image dimensions and frame rates. The DVS is able to operate with the latest generation of high-performance cameras acquiring high resolution video images up to 4Mpixels@60 fps or high frame rate video images up to about 1000 fps@512x512pixels.
digital video camera system has been qualified for use in flight on the NASA supersonic F-15B Research Testbed aircraft. This system is capable of very-high-speed color digital imaging at flight speeds up to Mach 2. The components of this system have been ruggedized and shock-mounted in the aircraft to survive the severe pressure, temperature, and vibration of the flight environment. The system includes two synchronized camera subsystems installed in fuselage-mounted camera pods (see Figure 1). Each camera subsystem comprises a camera controller/recorder unit and a camera head. The two camera subsystems are synchronized by use of an MHub(TradeMark) synchronization unit. Each camera subsystem is capable of recording at a rate up to 10,000 pictures per second (pps). A state-of-the-art complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) sensor in the camera head has a maximum resolution of 1,280 1,024 pixels at 1,000 pps. Exposure times of the electronic shutter of the camera range from 1/200,000 of a second to full open. The recorded images are captured in a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and can be downloaded directly to a personal computer or saved on a compact flash memory card. In addition to the high-rate recording of images, the system can display images in real time at 30 pps. Inter Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) time code can be inserted into the individual camera controllers or into the M-Hub unit. The video data could also be used to obtain quantitative, three-dimensional trajectory information. The first use of this system was in support of the Space Shuttle Return to Flight effort. Data were needed to help in understanding how thermally insulating foam is shed from a space shuttle external fuel tank during launch. The cameras captured images of simulated external tank debris ejected from a fixture mounted under the centerline of the F-15B aircraft. Digital video was obtained at subsonic and supersonic flight conditions, including speeds up to Mach 2 and altitudes up to 50,000 ft (15.24 km). The digital video was used to determine the structural survivability of the debris in a real flight environment and quantify the aerodynamic trajectories of the debris.