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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Robonaut's Flexible Information Technology Infrastructure

Robonaut, NASA's humanoid robot, is designed to work as both an astronaut assistant and, in certain situations, an astronaut surrogate. This highly dexterous robot performs complex tasks under telepresence control that could previously only be carried out directly by humans. Currently with 47 degrees of freedom (DOF), Robonaut is a state-of-the-art human size telemanipulator system. while many of Robonaut's embedded components have been custom designed to meet packaging or environmental requirements, the primary computing systems used in Robonaut are currently commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products which have some correlation to flight qualified computer systems. This loose coupling of information technology (IT) resources allows Robonaut to exploit cost effective solutions while floating the technology base to take advantage of the rapid pace of IT advances. These IT systems utilize a software development environment, which is both compatible with COTS hardware as well as flight proven computing systems, preserving the majority of software development for a flight system. The ability to use highly integrated and flexible COTS software development tools improves productivity while minimizing redesign for a space flight system. Further, the flexibility of Robonaut's software and communication architecture has allowed it to become a widely used distributed development testbed for integrating new capabilities and furthering experimental research.

Askew, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1996

Smart Material Demonstrators Based on Shape Memory Alloys and Electroceramics

This paper describes the development and characterization of two technology demonstrators that were produced under the auspices of an ARPA sponsored smart materials synthesis and processing effort. The ARPA Smart Materials and Synthesis (SMS) Program was a 2 year, $10M partnership led by Martin Marietta Laboratories - Baltimore and included Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., NRL, AVX Corp., Martin Marietta Astronautics Groups, BDM Federal, Inc., Virginia Tech, Clemson, University of Maryland, Denver University, and The Johns Hopkins University. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of magnetron sputtered shape memory foil and the manufacturability of reliable, reproducible electrostrictive actuators, the team designed a broadband active vibration cancellation device for suppressing the vibration load on delicate instruments and precision pointing devices mounted on orbiting satellites and spacecraft. The results of extensive device characterization and bench testing are discussed. Initial simulation results show excellent control authority and amplitude attenuation over the range of anticipated disturbance frequencies. The SMS Team has also developed an active 1-3 composite comprising micro-electrostrictive actuators embedded in a polymeric matrix suitable for underwater applications such as sonar quieting and listening arrays, and for medical imaging. Follow-on programs employing these technologies are also described.

Cooke, Arther V.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Smart Sensors' Role in Integrated System Health Management

During the last decade, there has been a major effort in the aerospace industry to reduce the cost per pond of payload and become competitive in the international market. Competition from Europe, Japan, and China has reduced this cost to almost a third from 1990 to 2000. This cost has leveled in recent years to an average price of around $12,000/pound of payload. One of NASA's goals is to promote the development of technologies to reduce this cost by a factor of 10 or more Exploration of space, specially manned exploration missions, involves very complex launch and flight vehicles, associated ground support systems, and extensive human support during all phases of the mission. When considering the Space Shuttle Program, we can see that vehicle and ground support systems' processing, operation, and maintenance represent a large percentage of the program cost and time. Reducing operating, processing and maintenance costs will greatly reduce the cost of Exploration programs. The Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) concept is one of the technologies that will help reduce these operating, processing and maintenance costs. ISHM is an integrated health monitoring system applicable to both flight and ground systems. It automatically and autonomously acquires information from sensors and actuators and processes that information using the ISHM-embedded knowledge. As a result, it establishes the health of the system based on the acquired information and its prior knowledge. When this concept is fully implemented, ISHM systems shall be able to perform failure prediction and remediation before actual hard failures occurs, preventing its costly consequences. Data sources, sensors, and their associated data acquisition systems, constitute the foundation of the system. A smart sensing architecture is required to support the acquisition of reliable, high quality data, required by the ISHM. A thorough definition of the smart sensor architectures, their embedded diagnostic agents, and communication protocols need to be established and standardized to allow the embedding and exchange of health information among sensors and ISHM. This workshop is aimed to foster the exchange of ideas and lessons learned between government, industry and academia to aid in the establishment of ISHM (and smart sensors) standards and guidelines as well as to identify present technology gaps that will have to be overcome to successfully achieve this goal.

Perotti, Jose M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

One Time Programmable Antifuse Memory Based on Bulk Junctionless Transistor

One time programmable (OTP) antifuse base memory is demonstrated based on a bulk junctionless gate-all-around (GAA) nanowire transistor technology. The presented memory consists of a single transistor (1T) footprint without any process modification. The source/drain (S/D) and gate respectively become bit line and word line where the antifuse is formed by oxide breakdown across the gate and the channel. The channel is connected directly to the bit line due to junctionless S/D and inherently isolated from the neighboring cell by the GAA channel. Therefore, an array of 1T antifuse OTP can be a candidate for the sub-5-nanometer technology node.

Antifuse↗
NASA NTRS2013

Electrodynamic Dust Shield Demonstrator

The objective of the project was to design and manufacture a device to demonstrate a new technology developed by NASA's Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory. The technology itself is a system which uses magnetic principles to remove regolith dust from its surface. This project was to create an enclosure that will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the invention to The Office of the Chief Technologist. ONE of the most important challenges of space exploration is actually caused by something very small and seemingly insignificant. Dust in space, most notably on the moon and Mars, has caused many unforeseen issues. Dirt and dust on Earth, while a nuisance, can be easily cleaned and kept at bay. However, there is considerably less weathering and erosion in space. As a result, the microscopic particles are extremely rough and abrasive. They are also electrostatically charged, so they cling to everything they make contact with. This was first noted to be a major problem during the Apollo missions. Dust would stick to the spacesuits, and could not be wiped off as predicted. Dust was brought back into the spacecraft, and was even inhaled by astronauts. This is a major health hazard. Atmospheric storms and other events can also cause dust to coat surfaces of spacecraft. This can cause abrasive damage to the craft. The coating can also reduce the effectiveness of thermal insulation and solar panels.' A group of engineers at Kennedy Space Center's Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory have developed a new technology, called the Electrodynamic Dust Shield, to help alleviate these problems. It is based off of the electric curtain concept developed at NASA in 1967. "The EDS is an active dust mitigation technology that uses traveling electric fields to transport electrostatically charged dust particles along surfaces. To generate the traveling electric fields, the EDS consists of a multilayer dielectric coating with an embedded thin electrode grid running a multiphase low frequency AC signal. Electrostatically charged particles, such as those encountered on the moon, Mars, or an asteroid, are carried along by the traveling field due to the action of Coulomb and dielectrophoretic forces."2 The technical details have been described in a separate article. This document details the design and construction process of a small demonstration unit. Once finished, this device will go to the Office of the ChiefTechnologist at NASA headquarters, where it will be used to familiarize the public with the technology. 1 NASA KSC FO Intern, Prototype Development Laboratory, Kennedy Space Center, University of Central Florida Kennedy Space

Stankie, Charles G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Innovation and application of ANN in Europe demonstrated by Kohonen maps

One of the most important contributions to neural networks comes from Kohonen, Helsinki/Espoo, Finland, who had the idea of self-organizating maps in 1981. He verified his idea by an algorithm of which many applications make use of. The impetus for this idea came from biology, a field where the Europeans have always been very active at several research laboratories. The challenge was to model the self-organization found in the brain. Today one goal is the development of more sophisticated neurons which model the biological neurons more exactly. They should come to a better performance of neural nets with only a few complex neurons instead of many simple ones. A lot of application concepts arise from this idea: Kohonen himself applied it to speech recognition, but the project did not overcome much more than the recognition of the numerals one to ten at that time. A more promising application for self-organizing maps is process control and process monitoring. Several proposals were made which concern parameter classification of semiconductor technologies, design of integrated circuits, and control of chemical processes. Self-organizing maps were applied to robotics. The neural concept was introduced into electric power systems. At Dortmund we are working on a system which has to monitor the quality and the reliability of gears and electrical motors in equipment installed in coal mines. The results are promising and the probability to apply the system in the field is very high. A special feature of the system is that linguistic rules which are embedded in a fuzzy controller analyze the data of the self-organizing map in regard to life expectation of the gears. It seems that the fuzzy technique will introduce the technology of neural networks in a tandem mode. These technologies together with the genetic algorithms start to form the attractive field of computational intelligence.

Goser, Karl↗
DOE OSTI2021

Secure LoRa Firmware Update with Adaptive Data Rate Techniques

Internet of Things (IoT) devices rely upon remote firmware updates to fix bugs, update embedded algorithms, and make security enhancements. Remote firmware updates are a significant burden to wireless IoT devices that operate using low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies due to slow data rates. One LPWAN technology, Long Range (LoRa), has the ability to increase the data rate at the expense of range and noise immunity. The optimization of communications for maximum speed is known as adaptive data rate (ADR) techniques, which can be applied to accelerate the firmware update process for any LoRa-enabled IoT device. In this paper, we investigate ADR techniques in an application that provides remote monitoring of cattle using small, battery-powered devices that transmit data on cattle location and health using LoRa. In addition to issues related to firmware update speed, there are significant concerns regarding reliability and security when updating firmware on mobile, energy-constrained devices. A malicious actor could attempt to steal the firmware to gain access to embedded algorithms or enable faulty behavior by injecting their own code into the device. A firmware update could be subverted due to cattle moving out of the LPWAN range or the device battery not being sufficiently charged to complete the update process. To address these concerns, we propose a secure and reliable firmware update process using ADR techniques that is applicable to any mobile or energy-constrained LoRa device. The proposed system is simulated and then implemented to evaluate its performance and security properties.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2004

Assurance Technology Challenges of Advanced Space Systems

The initiative to explore space and extend a human presence across our solar system to revisit the moon and Mars post enormous technological challenges to the nation's space agency and aerospace industry. Key areas of technology development needs to enable the endeavor include advanced materials, structures and mechanisms; micro/nano sensors and detectors; power generation, storage and management; advanced thermal and cryogenic control; guidance, navigation and control; command and data handling; advanced propulsion; advanced communication; on-board processing; advanced information technology systems; modular and reconfigurable systems; precision formation flying; solar sails; distributed observing systems; space robotics; and etc. Quality assurance concerns such as functional performance, structural integrity, radiation tolerance, health monitoring, diagnosis, maintenance, calibration, and initialization can affect the performance of systems and subsystems. It is thus imperative to employ innovative nondestructive evaluation methodologies to ensure quality and integrity of advanced space systems. Advancements in integrated multi-functional sensor systems, autonomous inspection approaches, distributed embedded sensors, roaming inspectors, and shape adaptive sensors are sought. Concepts in computational models for signal processing and data interpretation to establish quantitative characterization and event determination are also of interest. Prospective evaluation technologies include ultrasonics, laser ultrasonics, optics and fiber optics, shearography, video optics and metrology, thermography, electromagnetics, acoustic emission, x-ray, data management, biomimetics, and nano-scale sensing approaches for structural health monitoring.

Chern, E. James↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tin asymmetric membranes for high capacity sodium ion battery anodes

Sodium-ion batteries have attracted tremendous research attention as promising candidates for next generation energy storage systems due to low-cost and high abundancy. Furthermore, comparing to current Li-ion battery technology, limitations on the anode side seriously hinder the cell performance since sodium does not easily intercalate into graphite materials. Here, tin nanoparticles embedded in various asymmetric membrane structures were developed to leverage the high capacity of tin (847 mA h g -1 based on Na 15 Sn 4 ) and accommodate the significant volume expansion for long cycle life. It was demonstrated 762 mA h g -1 reversible capacity at 50 mA g -1 and stable cycling performance over 100 cycles with 92.1% capacity retention at 100 mA g -1 can be achieved for the tin asymmetric membrane electrode synthesized using polysulfone and tin tert-butoxide precursor.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Low voltage drop tunnel junctions grown monolithically by MOCVD

Tunnel junction devices grown monolithically by metal organic chemical vapor deposition were optimized for minimization of the tunnel junction voltage drop. Here, two device structures were studied: an all-GaN homojunction tunnel junction and a graded InGaN heterojunction-based tunnel junction. This work reports a record-low voltage drop in the graded-InGaN heterojunction based tunnel junction device structure achieving a de-embedded tunnel junction voltage drop of 0.17 V at 100 A/cm 2 . The experimental data were compared with a theoretical model developed through technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations that offer a physics-based approach to understanding the key components of the design space, which lead to a more efficient tunnel junction.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1991

MIT Space Engineering Research Center testbed programs

The Space Engineering Research Center (SERC) at M.I.T., started in July 1988, has completed two and one-half years of research. This Semi-Annual Report presents annotated viewgraph material presented at the January 1991 Steering Committee and Technical Representative Review. The objective of the Space Engineering Research Center is to develop and disseminate a unified technology of controlled structures. There has been continued evolution of the concept of intelligent structures (including in this past year the first successful embedding of a microelectronic component into a structural element).

Crawley, Edward F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Education, Technology, and Media: A Peak into My Summer Internship at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio

My name is James Moon and I am a senor at Tennessee State University where my major is Aeronautical and Industrial Technology with a concentration in industrial electronics. I am currently serving my internship in the Engineering and Technical Services Directorate at the Glenn Research Center (GRC). The Engineering and Technical Service Directorate provides the services and infrastructure for the Glenn Research Center to take research concepts to reality. They provide a full range of integrated services including engineering, advanced prototyping and testing, facility management, and information technology for NASA, industry, and academia. Engineering and Technical Services contains the core knowledge in Information Technology (IT). This includes data systems and analysis, inter and intranet based systems design and data security. Including the design and development of embedded real-time sohare applications for flight and supporting ground systems, Engineering and Technical Services provide a wide range of IT services and products specific to the Glenn Research Center research and engineering community.

Moon, James↗
NASA NTRS2005

Advanced Fiber-optic Monitoring System for Space-flight Applications

Researchers at Luna Innovations Inc. and the National Aeronautic and Space Administration s Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA MSFC) have developed an integrated fiber-optic sensor system for real-time monitoring of chemical contaminants and whole-cell bacterial pathogens in water. The system integrates interferometric and evanescent-wave optical fiber-based sensing methodologies with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and long-period grating (LPG) technology to provide versatile measurement capability for both micro- and nano-scale analytes. Sensors can be multiplexed in an array format and embedded in a totally self-contained laboratory card for use with an automated microfluidics platform.

Hull, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Design, fabrication, and testing of a SMA hybrid composite jet engine chevron

Control of jet noise continues to be an important research topic. Exhaust nozzle chevrons have been shown to reduce jet noise, but parametric effects are not well understood. Additionally, thrust loss due to chevrons at cruise suggests significant benefit from deployable chevrons. The focus of this study is development of an active chevron concept for the primary purpose of parametric studies for jet noise reduction in the laboratory and technology development to leverage for full scale systems. The active chevron concept employed in this work consists of a laminated composite structure with embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators, termed a SMA hybrid composite (SMAHC). The actuators are embedded on one side of the middle surface such that thermal excitation generates a moment and deflects the structure. A brief description of the chevron design is given followed by details of the fabrication approach. Results from bench top tests are presented and correlated with numerical predictions from a model for such structures that was recently implemented in MSC.Nastran and ABAQUS. Excellent performance and agreement with predictions is demonstrated. Results from tests in a representative flow environment are also presented. Excellent performance is again achieved for both open- and closed-loop tests, the latter demonstrating control to a specified immersion into the flow. The actuation authority and immersion performance is shown to be relatively insensitive to nozzle pressure ratio (NPR). Very repeatable immersion control with modest power requirements is demonstrated.

Turner, Travis L.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Micro-Flying Robotics in Space Missions

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board issued a major recommendation to NASA. Prior to return to flight, NASA should develop and implement a comprehensive inspection plan to determine the structural integrity of all Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) system components. This inspection plan should take advantage of advanced non-destructive inspection technology. This paper describes a non-intrusive technology with a micro-flying robot to continuously monitor inside a space vehicle for any stress related fissures, cracks and foreign material embedded in walls, tubes etc.

Bardina, Jorge↗
NASA NTRS2008

Testing of SMA-enabled Active Chevron Prototypes under Representative Flow Conditions

Control of jet noise continues to be an important research topic. Exhaust-nozzle chevrons have been shown to reduce jet noise, but parametric effects are not well understood. Additionally, thrust loss due to chevrons at cruise suggests significant benefit from active chevrons. The focus of this study is development of an active chevron concept for the primary purpose of parametric studies for jet noise reduction in the laboratory and secondarily for technology development to leverage for full scale systems. The active chevron concept employed in this work consists of a laminated composite structure with embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators, termed a SMA hybrid composite (SMAHC). SMA actuators are embedded on one side of the neutral axis of the structure such that thermal excitation, via joule heating, generates a moment and deflects the structure. The performance of two active chevron concepts is demonstrated in the presence of representative flow conditions. One of the concepts is shown to possess significant advantages for the proposed application and is selected for further development. Fabrication and design changes are described and shown to produce a chevron prototype that meets the performance objectives.

Turner, Travis L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Forecasting the Structure and Orientation of Earthbound Coronal Mass Ejections

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are the key drivers of strong to extreme space weather storms at the Earth that can have drastic consequences for technological systems in space and on ground.The ability of a CME to drive geomagnetic disturbances depends crucially on the magnetic structure of the embedded flux rope, which is thus essential to predict. The current capabilities in forecasting in advance(at least half a day before) the geo effectiveness of a given CME is however severely hampered by the lack of remote-sensing measurements of the magnetic field in the corona and adequate tools to predict how CMEs deform, rotate, and deflect during their travel through the coronal and interplanetary space as they interact with the ambient solar wind and other CMEs. These problems can lead not only to over estimation or underestimation of the severity of a storm, but also to forecasting "misses" and "false alarms" that are particularly difficult for the end-users. In this paper, we discuss the current status and future challenges and prospects related to forecasting of the magnetic structure and orientation of CMEs. We focus both on observational- and modeling-based (first principle and semiempirical) approaches and discuss the space- and ground-based observations that would be the most optimal for making accurate space weather predictions. We also cover the gaps in our current understanding related to the formation and eruption of the CME flux rope and physical processes that govern its evolution in the variable ambient solar windbackground that complicate the forecasting.

Kilpua, E. K. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Multifunctional Bistable Ultrathin Composite Boom for In-Space Monitoring of Deployment Dynamics

A novel concept of a multifunctional deployable ultrathin composite boom with flexible electronics and circuits integrated in a highly compact configuration, which can monitor its deployment dynamics in space, is presented in this paper. This concept is particularly suitable for CubeSats with extremely limited payload volume. The multifunctional deployable boom will be flight hardware installed in a 3U CubeSat that is scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023 as an in-space technology demonstration. The multifunctional boom consists of a bistable self-deployable ultrathin composite boom, flexible electronics and circuitry for dynamics monitoring, and embedded flexible thin wires for power delivery and data transmission. The design, materials, and fabrication methods for the multifunctional boom are presented. Tests in simulated space environments showed the survivability and stability of the flexible electronics within a temperature range of 7 °C to 50 °C and under a high vacuum level of approximately 1 × 10−6 Torr. Ground-based vibration and deployment tests demonstrated the overall design of the multifunctional boom, data acquisition system, and deployment mechanism. Analyses of the data obtained from the integrated flexible electronics successfully captured the deployment dynamics and identified the natural frequencies of the boom in the range of 0–100 Hz. These results demonstrate that the concept is a promising approach to future multifunctional ultrathin deployable space structures.

Yao Yao↗