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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 325 records · Page 18
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NASA NTRS1990

Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Kennedy Space Center telerobotic inspection and manipulation demonstration

The goal of this effort is to demonstrate telerobotic inspection and mainpulation of space shuttle payloads in the presence of substantial communications time delays between the operator station and the robotic work space. The processing of space shuttle payloads provides a variety of tasks which are typical of both space shuttle ground operations and Space Station in-flight operations, and communications time delays are inevitable in space operations where the operator station will be light-seconds away from the telerobot. With this demonstration we hope to show the efficacy and safety of robotic technology for ground and space operations. Our approach is to develop an experimental telerobotic system with the remote sensing, actuation and reflex portions located at KSC in Florida, while the operator control station will be located at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The JPL portion of the system includes a high-level operator interface, intelligent spatial planning and machine vision, while the KSC portion includes the robot arm, end effectors, cameras and proximity sensors, and the necessary control and communications computers and software. The communications between JPL and KSC are over a limited-bandwidth network channel (19200 baud) with unpredictable and unrepeatable time delays. In FY89 we integrated a basic version of the robotic, communications, and computer hardware, and we developed the software to perform an operator-supervised inspection of a PAM-D satellite upper stage rocket motor and its shuttle support cradle. The demonstration, though severely limited by the bulk of the available computer arm, showed the potential of telerobotics for inspection tasks. In the future, we plan to develop additional capabilities which will allow manipulation tasks to be performed, including removal of dust covers and lens caps, insertion of connectors and batteries, and installation of payload objects.

Wilcox, Brian↗
NASA NTRS1995

ROSAT observations of the gravitationally lensed system 0957+561

Observations of 0957+561 with the Einstein High Resolution Imager (HRI) in 1979 May and 1979 November and with the ROSAT HRI in 1991 May and 1992 October reveal large variations in the X-ray fluxes for images A and B which significantly differ from simultaneously observed changes of the corresponding optical continuum emission. Most striking was the apparent increase by over fivefold in the flux of image B from the late 1970's to the early 1900's. Further, in the 1990's the X-ray flux for image A increased by a factor of 1.7 +/- 0.3 and that of B by a factor of 1.9 +/- 0.2 between the two ROSAT observations (separated by 540 days), whereas optical measurements showed nearly no changes for A and B between these epochs. No significant changes in X-ray emission were observed on timescales of hours to days. Of we adopt 1.5 yr as the difference between the propagation time from the quasar to us via the two images ('time delay'), then the ratio of the X-ray flux of image B for the 1992 October epoch to that of A for the 1991 May epoch is 2.7 +/- 0.4. This ratio is significantly greater than the ratio of 1.05 +/- 0.03 observed in the optical R band, 0.75 in the broad line region (BLR), and 0.76 +/- 0.03 in the radio (VLBI lambda 13 cm core) for approximately the same epoch. The wavelength dependence in the ratio of the fluxes of the two images suggests that either microlensing may be significant for the X-ray band or the time delay is substanially different from 1.5 yr (and the intrinsic variation of the quasar emission were significant within an interval comparable to the uncertainty of the time delay), or both.

Chartas, G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Control of a small working robot on a large flexible manipulator for suppressing vibrations: Development of a robust control law for flexible robot and it's stability analysis

Researchers developed a robust control law for slow motions for the accurate trajectory control of a flexible robot. The control law does not need larger velocity gains than position gains, which some researchers need to ensure the stability of a rigid robot. Initial experimentation for the Small Articulated Manipulator (SAM) shows that control laws that use smaller velocity gains are more robust to signal noise than the control laws that use larger velocity gains. Researchers analyzed the stability of the composite control law, the robust control for the slow motion, and the strain rate feedback for the fast control. The stability analysis was done by using a quadratic Liapunov function. Researchers found that the flexible motion of links could be controlled by relating the input force to the flexible signals which are sensed at the near tip of each link. The signals are contaminated by the time delayed input force. However, the effect of the time delayed input force can be reduced by giving a certain configuration to the SAM.

Soo, Han Lee↗
NASA NTRS2010

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Velocity Measurements in Supersonic Underexpanded Impinging Jets

We report on an application of nitric oxide (NO) flow-tagging velocimetry to impinging underexpanded jet flows issuing from a Mach 2.6 nozzle. The technique reported herein utilizes a single laser, single camera system to obtain planar maps of the streamwise component of velocity. Whereas typical applications of this technique involve comparing two images acquired at different time delays, this application uses a single image and time delay. The technique extracts velocity by assuming that particular regions outside the jet flowfield have negligible velocity and may therefore serve as a stationary reference against which to measure motion of the jet flowfield. By taking the average of measurements made in 100 single-shot images for each flow condition, streamwise velocities of between -200 and +1,000 m/s with accuracies of between 15 and 50 m/s are reported within the jets. Velocity measurements are shown to explain otherwise seemingly anomalous impingement surface pressure measurements.

Inman, Jennifer A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Quantum Entanglement Molecular Absorption Spectrum Simulator

Quantum Entanglement Molecular Absorption Spectrum Simulator (QE-MASS) is a computer program for simulating two photon molecular-absorption spectroscopy using quantum-entangled photons. More specifically, QE-MASS simulates the molecular absorption of two quantum-entangled photons generated by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) of a fixed-frequency photon from a laser. The two-photon absorption process is modeled via a combination of rovibrational and electronic single-photon transitions, using a wave-function formalism. A two-photon absorption cross section as a function of the entanglement delay time between the two photons is computed, then subjected to a fast Fourier transform to produce an energy spectrum. The program then detects peaks in the Fourier spectrum and displays the energy levels of very short-lived intermediate quantum states (or virtual states) of the molecule. Such virtual states were only previously accessible using ultra-fast (femtosecond) laser systems. However, with the use of a single-frequency continuous wave laser to produce SPDC photons, and QEMASS program, these short-lived molecular states can now be studied using much simpler laser systems. QE-MASS can also show the dependence of the Fourier spectrum on the tuning range of the entanglement time of any externally introduced optical-path delay time. QE-MASS can be extended to any molecule for which an appropriate spectroscopic database is available. It is a means of performing an a priori parametric analysis of entangled photon spectroscopy for development and implementation of emerging quantum-spectroscopic sensing techniques. QE-MASS is currently implemented using the Mathcad software package.

Nguyen, Quang-Viet↗
NASA NTRS2012

Containerless Measurements of Density and Viscosity of Fe-Co Alloys

During the past years, extensive collaborative research has been done to understand phase selection in undercooled metals using novel containerless processing techniques such as electrostatic and electromagnetic levitation. Of major interest is controlling a two-step solidification process, double recalescence, in which the metastable phase forms first and then transforms to the stable phase after a certain delay time. The previous research has shown that the delay time is greatly influenced by the internal convection velocity. In the prediction of internal flow, the fidelity of the results depends on the accuracy of the material properties. This research focuses on the measurements of density and viscosity of Fe-Co alloys which will be used for the fluid simulations whose results will support upcoming International Space Station flight experiments.

Lee, Jonghyun↗
NASA NTRS2017

Assessing Tactical Scheduling Options for Time-Based Surface Metering

This paper presents a parametric analysis of the most recent tactical scheduler design for NASA’s Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) sub-project, committed to demonstrating time-based surface metering at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). The tactical scheduler design is implemented in a fast-time simulation model of CLT using NASA’s Surface Operations Simulator and Scheduler. The tactical scheduler is supported by three basic functions: trajectory prediction, runway scheduling, and advisory generation. A key parameter of the advisory generation function is the taxi time delay buffer used when calculating target gate pushback times from runway schedule. Multiple simulations that varied the amount of taxi time delay buffer were analyzed to determine the effect on tactical scheduler performance. The results show an improvement in tactical scheduler performance when the buffer is made sufficiently large to release departures from their gates early enough to maintain scheduler predicted runway throughput.

Zelinski, Shannon↗
NASA NTRS2017

Effects of Eye Measures on Human Controller Remnant and Control Behavior

The aim of the current research was to investigate the possible relation between changes in eye activity parameters, variations in human remnant at the perceptual level and changes in human operator model parameters. Fourteen subjects performed a pitch tracking task, in which the display brightness was varied by changing the background color around a simplified primary flight display, in order to create a controlled, quasilinear change in the pupil diameter through the pupillary light reflex. Pupil diameter, blink, eye opening, and opening and closing amplitudes and speeds were recorded using an eye tracker. Participants controlled single integrator-like and double integrator-like dynamics. The variation in pupil diameter did not introduce significant differences in neither remnant characteristics nor the human operator model parameters. An interesting effect occurred in the human controller’s time delay for the single integrator task, where the time delay was significantly higher for the darkest brightness compared to the other levels of brightness. This effect was not observed for the double integrator dynamics. Data suggested that the more difficult controlled dynamics induced a squinting effect, visible in smaller eye opening, and smaller eye opening and closing amplitudes. These results suggest that performance, and control behavior are invariant to the display brightness. Moreover, monitoring changes in the eye activity could represent a method of predicting variations in human remnant characteristics and human controller model parameters, introduced by task difficulty.

Eye tracking↗
NASA NTRS2005

Predictive Interfaces for Long-Distance Tele-Operations

We address the development of predictive tele-operator interfaces for humanoid robots with respect to two basic challenges. Firstly, we address automating the transition from fully tele-operated systems towards degrees of autonomy. Secondly, we develop compensation for the time-delay that exists when sending telemetry data from a remote operation point to robots located at low earth orbit and beyond. Humanoid robots have a great advantage over other robotic platforms for use in space-based construction and maintenance because they can use the same tools as astronauts do. The major disadvantage is that they are difficult to control due to the large number of degrees of freedom, which makes it difficult to synthesize autonomous behaviors using conventional means. We are working with the NASA Johnson Space Center's Robonaut which is an anthropomorphic robot with fully articulated hands, arms, and neck. We have trained hidden Markov models that make use of the command data, sensory streams, and other relevant data sources to predict a tele-operator's intent. This allows us to achieve subgoal level commanding without the use of predefined command dictionaries, and to create sub-goal autonomy via sequence generation from generative models. Our method works as a means to incrementally transition from manual tele-operation to semi-autonomous, supervised operation. The multi-agent laboratory experiments conducted by Ambrose et. al. have shown that it is feasible to directly tele-operate multiple Robonauts with humans to perform complex tasks such as truss assembly. However, once a time-delay is introduced into the system, the rate of tele\ioperation slows down to mimic a bump and wait type of activity. We would like to maintain the same interface to the operator despite time-delays. To this end, we are developing an interface which will allow for us to predict the intentions of the operator while interacting with a 3D virtual representation of the expected state of the robot. The predictive interface anticipates the intention of the operator, and then uses this prediction to initiate appropriate sub-goal autonomy tasks.

Wheeler, Kevin R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Automatic transponder

A method and apparatus for the automatic, remote measurement of the internal delay time of a transponder at the time of operation is provided. A small portion of the transmitted signal of the transponder is converted to the receive signal frequency of the transponder and supplied to the input of the transponder. The elapsed time between the receive signal locally generated and the receive signal causing the transmission of the transmitted signal is measured, said time being representative of or equal to the internal delay time of the transponder at the time of operation.

Anderson, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1972

ATS C-2 satellite VLBI experiment

A proposal is presented to conduct a satellite VLBI experiment using the ATS C-2 spacecraft. The main objectives of the experiment are: (1) precision spacecraft position determination with the VLBI technique and comparison of the L-band interferometric technique with the L-band R and R technique from the viewpoint of operational simplicity and precision, (2) comparison of the single differential Doppler and the wideband VLBI technique for such uses as tracking, geodesy, etc., (3) derivation of real time ionospheric corrections and phase scintillation effects utilizing simultaneous two-frequency (L- and C-band) tracking of the spacecraft in both time delay and Doppler interferometry, (4) development of techniques for precise time dissemination, particularly to marine users, through wideband time-delay interferometry, (5) development of techniques to use synchronous satellites as stable platforms in space in the area of marine geodesy, (6) station location and calibration, and (7) aid to L-band navigation experiments which utilize precise spacecraft position and time in deriving the user's position.

Ramasastry, J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Discontinuity Detection for Analysis of Telerobot Trajectories

To identify spatial and temporal discontinuities in telerobot movement in order to describe the shift in operators control and error correction strategies from continuous control to move-and-wait strategies. This shift was studied under conditions of simulated increasingly time-delayed teleoperation. The ultimate goal is to determine if the time delay associated with the shift is invariant with independently imposed control difficulty. We expect this shift to manifest itself as changes in the number of discontinuity of movement path. We proposed an approach to spatial and temporal discontinuity detection algorithm for analysis of teleoperated trajectory in three dimensional space. The algorithm provides a simple and potentially objective method for detecting the discontinuity during telerobot operation and evaluating the difficulty of rotational coordinate condition in teleoperation.

Yeom, Kiwon↗
NASA NTRS2009

Ignition Delay of Combustible Materials in Normoxic Equivalent Environments

Material flammability is an important factor in determining the pressure and composition (fraction of oxygen and nitrogen) of the atmosphere in the habitable volume of exploration vehicles and habitats. The method chosen in this work to quantify the flammability of a material is by its ease of ignition. The ignition delay time was defined as the time it takes a combustible material to ignite after it has been exposed to an external heat flux. Previous work in the Forced Ignition and Spread Test (FIST) apparatus has shown that the ignition delay in the currently proposed space exploration atmosphere (approximately 58.6 kPa and32% oxygen concentration) is reduced by 27% compared to the standard atmosphere used in the Space Shuttle and Space Station. In order to determine whether there is a safer environment in terms of material flammability, a series of piloted ignition delay tests using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was conducted in the FIST apparatus to extend the work over a range of possible exploration atmospheres. The exploration atmospheres considered were the normoxic equivalents, i.e. reduced pressure conditions with a constant partial pressure of oxygen. The ignition delay time was seen to decrease as the pressure was reduced along the normoxic curve. The minimum ignition delay observed in the normoxic equivalent environments was nearly 30% lower than in standard atmospheric conditions. The ignition delay in the proposed exploration atmosphere is only slightly larger than this minimum. Interms of material flammability, normoxic environments with a higher pressure relative to the proposed pressure would be desired.

Ignition delay time↗
NASA NTRS2005

Utilization of GPS Surface Reflected Signals to Provide Aircraft Altitude Verification for SVS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of a constellation of Earth orbiting satellites that transmit continuous electromagnetic signals to users on or near the Earth surface. At any moment of time, at least four GPS satellites, and sometimes nine or more, are visible from any point. The electromagnetic signal transmitted from the satellites is reflected to at least some degree from virtually every place on the Earth. When this signal is received by a specially constructed receiver, its characteristics can be used to determine information about the reflected surface. One piece of information collected is the time delay encountered by the reflected signal versus the direct signal. This time delay can be used to determine the altitude (or height) above the local terrain when the terrain in the reflection area is level. However, given the potential of simultaneously using multiple reflections, it should be possible to also determine the elevation above even terrains where the reflecting area is not level. Currently an effort is underway to develop the technology to characterize the reflected signal that is received by the GPS Surface Reflection Experiment (GSRE) instrument. Recent aircraft sorties have been flown to collect data that can be used to refine the technology. This paper provides an update on the status of the instrument development to enable determination of terrain proximity using the GPS Reflected signal. Results found in the data collected to date are also discussed.

Gance, George G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Analog Correlator Based on One Bit Digital Correlator

A two input time domain correlator may perform analog correlation. In order to achieve high throughput rates with reduced or minimal computational overhead, the input data streams may be hard limited through adaptive thresholding to yield two binary bit streams. Correlation may be achieved through the use of a Hamming distance calculation, where the distance between the two bit streams approximates the time delay that separates them. The resulting Hamming distance approximates the correlation time delay with high accuracy.

Prokop, Norman↗
NASA NTRS2000

TAILSIM Users Guide

The TAILSIM program uses a 4th order Runge-Kutta method to integrate the standard aircraft equations-of-motion (EOM). The EOM determine three translational and three rotational accelerations about the aircraft's body axis reference system. The forces and moments that drive the EOM are determined from aerodynamic coefficients, dynamic derivatives, and control inputs. Values for these terms are determined from linear interpolation of tables that are a function of parameters such as angle-of-attack and surface deflections. Buildup equations combine these terms and dimensionalize them to generate the driving total forces and moments. Features that make TAILSIM applicable to studies of tailplane stall include modeling of the reversible control System, modeling of the pilot performing a load factor and/or airspeed command task, and modeling of vertical gusts. The reversible control system dynamics can be described as two hinged masses connected by a spring. resulting in a fifth order system. The pilot model is a standard form of lead-lag with a time delay applied to an integrated pitch rate and/or airspeed error feedback. The time delay is implemented by a Pade approximation, while the commanded pitch rate is determined by a commanded load factor. Vertical gust inputs include a single 1-cosine gust and a continuous NASA Dryden gust model. These dynamic models. coupled with the use of a nonlinear database, allow the tailplane stall characteristics, elevator response, and resulting aircraft response, to be modeled. A useful output capability of the TAILSIM program is the ability to display multiple post-run plot pages to allow a quick assessment of the time history response. There are 16 plot pages currently available to the user. Each plot page displays 9 parameters. Each parameter can also be displayed individually. on a one plot-per-page format. For a more refined display of the results the program can also create files of tabulated data. which can then be used by other plotting programs. The TAILSIM program was written straightforwardly assuming the user would want to change the database tables, the buildup equations, the output parameters. and the pilot model parameters. A separate database file and input file are automatically read in by the program. The use of an include file to set up all common blocks facilitates easy changing of parameter names and array sizes.

Hiltner, Dale W.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Communication performance over the TDRS multipath/interference channel

Previously developed models are used to predict communication system performance for two cases: and aircraft/TDRS and a weather satellite/TDRS relay. The magnitude of multipath, differential time delay, Doppler shift, time and Doppler spread, and interference expected to be encountered are reviewed and applied to the two cases of interest.

Jenny, J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

First-order Fermi acceleration in solar flares as a mechanism for the second-step acceleration of prompt protons and relativistic electrons

Solar flare data from June 27, 1980 balloon-based observations were studied in terms of the hard X ray component. A temporal delay of 3 sec was observed for the X ray emissions above 235 keV. The delay occurred relative to the low-energy electrons and indicated a second acceleration stage. An estimation of the acceleration rate of the first-order Fermi process operating in a closed flare loop was found to be in agreement with the resulting data, including the acceleration of both protons and relativistic electrons. Additional support for the first-order Fermi process is noted in the fact that flares generally occur in magnetic loops, a condition which allows energetic particles to continually interact with the upward moving shock fronts. A correlation has also been observed between the delay times and the H-alpha areas, encouraging the interpretation that the delay times are the shock transit times.

Bai, T.↗