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DOE OSTI2021

Battery Lifecycle Framework

The Battery Lifecycle (BLC) Framework is an open-source platform that provides tools to visualize and share battery data from material characterization, cell testing, manufacturing, and field testing through the technology development cycle. BLC has three components: data importers, a front-end for querying the data and creating visualizations, and an application programming interface to provide access to the data from Python. BLC has been deployed for tracking the development of a battery from the lab to a manufacturing line and systems installed in the field and for comparing studies of multiple cells of the same battery chemistry and configuration. The code was developed around Redash, a robust open-source extract-transform-load engine. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2021-4546 O

De Angelis, Valerio↗

DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of integrated daylighting and electric lighting design projects: Lessons learned from international case studies

This article presents and discusses the lessons learned from the monitoring of 25 integrated daylighting and electric lighting international case study projects. The case studies consist of real occupied buildings that have been monitored as part of the International Energy Agency (IEA) SHC Task 61/EBC Annex 77 Programme. The general goal of the case studies was to balance lighting energy use with occupants’ visual and non-visual requirements. This was achieved using innovative solutions for daylighting and electric lighting with advanced controls, but also implementing simple and out-of-the-box strategies. The findings suggest that energy demands for lighting can significantly be reduced by combining sensible daylight provision, efficient lighting sources, and advances in controls. Yet, the effective achievement of project goals requires adequate monitoring, fine-tuning, and verification. The findings also suggest that the adoption of “integrative” lighting – that is, lighting systems that address both visual and non-visual responses – is getting increasingly popular. Catering to non-visual requirements will likely drive further innovation in lighting technology. Currently, there is limited investment available for developing daylighting systems for integrative lighting, and the current related electric strategies often come at the risk of energy rebound effects. Overall, providing daylighting and understanding user requirements are fundamental steps towards achieving quality projects, with potential benefits beyond saving energy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

NASA NTRS1979

Systems level feasibility study for the detection of extra-solar planets. Volume 1: Infrared interferometer (IRIS) known as the Stanford Concept

A sensor system for the direct detection of extrasolar planets from an Earth orbit is evaluated: a spinning, infrared interferometer (IRIS). It is shuttle deployed, free flying, requires no on-orbit assembly and no reservicing over a design life of five years. The sensor concept and the mission objectives are reviewed, and the performance characteristics of a baseline sensor for standard observation conditions are derived. A baseline sensor design is given and the enabling technology discussed. Cost and weight estimates are performed; and a schedule for an IRIS program including technology development and assessment of risk are given. Finally, the sensor is compared with the apodized visual telescope sensor (APOTS) proposed for the same mission. The major conclusions are: that with moderate to strong technology advances, particularly in the fields of long life cryogenics, dynamical control, mirror manufacturing, and optical alignment, the detection of a Jupiter like planet around a Sunlike star at a distance of 30 light years is feasible, with a 3 meter aperture and an observation time of 1 hour. By contrast, major and possibly unlikely breakthroughs in mirror technology are required for APOTS to match this performance.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2011

Enhanced/Synthetic Vision and Head-Worn Display Technologies for Terminal Maneuvering Area NextGen Operations

NASA is researching innovative technologies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to provide a "Better-Than-Visual" (BTV) capability as adjunct to "Equivalent Visual Operations" (EVO); that is, airport throughputs equivalent to that normally achieved during Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations rates with equivalent and better safety in all weather and visibility conditions including Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). These new technologies build on proven flight deck systems and leverage synthetic and enhanced vision systems. Two piloted simulation studies were conducted to access the use of a Head-Worn Display (HWD) with head tracking for synthetic and enhanced vision systems concepts. The first experiment evaluated the use a HWD for equivalent visual operations to San Francisco International Airport (airport identifier: KSFO) compared to a visual concept and a head-down display concept. A second experiment evaluated symbology variations under different visibility conditions using a HWD during taxi operations at Chicago O'Hare airport (airport identifier: KORD). Two experiments were conducted, one in a simulated San Francisco airport (KSFO) approach operation and the other, in simulated Chicago O'Hare surface operations, evaluating enhanced/synthetic vision and head-worn display technologies for NextGen operations. While flying a closely-spaced parallel approach to KSFO, pilots rated the HWD, under low-visibility conditions, equivalent to the out-the-window condition, under unlimited visibility, in terms of situational awareness (SA) and mental workload compared to a head-down enhanced vision system. There were no differences between the 3 display concepts in terms of traffic spacing and distance and the pilot decision-making to land or go-around. For the KORD experiment, the visibility condition was not a factor in pilot's rating of clutter effects from symbology. Several concepts for enhanced implementations of an unlimited field-of-regard BTV concept for low-visibility surface operations were determined to be equivalent in pilot ratings of efficacy and usability.

Arthur, Jarvis J., III↗

NASA NTRS1993

Perceptual response to visual noise and display media

The present project was designed to follow up an earlier investigation in which perceptual adaptation in response to the use of Night Vision Goggles, or image intensification (I squared) systems, such as those employed in the military were studied. Our chief concern in the earlier studies was with the dynamic visual noise that is a byproduct of the I(sup 2) technology: under low light conditions, there is a great deal of 'snow' or sporadic 'twinkling' of pixels in the I(sup 2) display which is more salient as the ambient light levels are lower. Because prolonged exposure to static visual noise produces strong adaptation responses, we reasoned that the dynamic visual noise of I(sup 2) displays might have a similar effect, which could have implications for their long term use. However, in the series of experiments reported last year, no evidence at all of such aftereffects following extended exposure to I(sup 2) displays were found. This finding surprised us, and led us to propose the following studies: (1) an investigation of dynamic visual noise and its capacity to produce after effects; and (2) an investigation of the perceptual consequences of characteristics of the display media.

Durgin, Frank H.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Virtual Reality as a Medium for Sensorimotor Adaptation Training and Spaceflight Countermeasures

Astronauts experience a profound sensorimotor adaptation during transition to and from the microgravity environment of space. With the upcoming shift to extra‐long duration missions (upwards of 1 year) aboard the International Space Station, the immediate risks to astronauts during these transitory periods become more important than ever to understand and prepare for. Recent advances in virtual reality technology enable everyday adoption of these tools for entertainment and use in training. Embedding an individual in a virtual environment (VE) allows the ability to change the perception of visual flow, elicit automatic motor behavior and produce sensorimotor adaptation, not unlike those required during long duration microgravity exposure. The overall goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of present head mounted display technology (HMD) to produce reliable visual flow information and the expected adaptation associated with virtual environment manipulation to be used in future sensorimotor adaptability countermeasures. To further understand the influence of visual flow on gait adaptation during treadmill walking, a series of discordant visual flow manipulations in a virtual environment are proposed. Six healthy participants (3 male and 3 female) will observe visual flow information via HMD (Oculus Rift DK2) while walking on an instrumented treadmill at their preferred walking speed. Participants will be immersed in a series of VE's resembling infinite hallways with different visual characteristics: an office hallway, a hallway with pillars and the hallway of a fictional spacecraft. Participants will perform three trials of 10 min. each, which include walking on the treadmill while receiving congruent or incongruent visual information via the HMD. In the first trial, participants will experience congruent visual information (baseline) where the hallway is perceived to move at the same rate as their walking speed. The final two trials will be randomized among participants where the hallway is perceived to move at either half (0.5x) or twice (2.0x) their preferred walking speed. Participants will remain on the treadmill between trials and will not be warned of the upcoming change to visual flow to minimize preparatory adjustments. Stride length, step frequency and dual‐support time will be quantified during each trial. We hypothesize that participants will experience a rapid modification in gait performance during periods of adaptive change, expressed as a decrease in step length, an increase in step frequency and an increase in dual‐support time, followed by a period of adaptation where these movement parameters will return to near‐baseline levels. As stride length, step frequency and dual support times return to baseline values, an adaptation time constant will be derived to establish individual time‐to‐adapt (TTA). HMD technology represents a paradigm shift in sensorimotor adaptation training where gait adaptability can be stressed using off‐the‐shelf consumer products and minimal experimental equipment, allowing for greater training flexibility in astronaut and terrestrial applications alike.

Madansingh, S.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Scientific Visualization in High Speed Network Environments

In several cases, new visualization techniques have vastly increased the researcher's ability to analyze and comprehend data. Similarly, the role of networks in providing an efficient supercomputing environment have become more critical and continue to grow at a faster rate than the increase in the processing capabilities of supercomputers. A close relationship between scientific visualization and high-speed networks in providing an important link to support efficient supercomputing is identified. The two technologies are driven by the increasing complexities and volume of supercomputer data. The interaction of scientific visualization and high-speed networks in a Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation/visualization environment are given. Current capabilities supported by high speed networks, supercomputers, and high-performance graphics workstations at the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Facility (NAS) at NASA Ames Research Center are described. Applied research in providing a supercomputer visualization environment to support future computational requirements are summarized.

Vaziri, Arsi↗

NASA NTRS2020

Honeywell Enhancing Airplane State Awareness (EASA) Project: Final Report on Refinement and Evaluation of Candidate Solutions for Airplane System State Awareness

The loss of pilot airplane state awareness (ASA) has been implicated as a factor in several aviation accidents identified by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST). These accidents were investigated to identify precursors to the loss of ASA and develop technologies to address the loss of ASA. Based on a gap analysis, two technologies were prototyped and assessed with a formative pilot-in-the-loop evaluation in NASA Langley’s full-motion Research Flight Deck. The technologies address: 1) data source anomaly detection in real-time, and 2) intelligent monitoring aids to provide nominal and predictive awareness of situations to be monitored and a mission timeline to visualize events of interest. The evaluation results indicated favorable impressions of both technologies for mitigating the loss of ASA in terms of operational utility, workload, acceptability, complexity, and usability. The team concludes that there is a feasible retrofit solution for improving ASA that would minimize certification risk, integration costs, and training impact.

Whitlow, Stephen D.↗

DOE OSTI2023

State of the Art of Molecular Visualization in Immersive Virtual Environments

Abstract Visualization plays a crucial role in molecular and structural biology. It has been successfully applied to a variety of tasks, including structural analysis and interactive drug design. While some of the challenges in this area can be overcome with more advanced visualization and interaction techniques, others are challenging primarily due to the limitations of the hardware devices used to interact with the visualized content. Consequently, visualization researchers are increasingly trying to take advantage of new technologies to facilitate the work of domain scientists. Some typical problems associated with classic 2D interfaces, such as regular desktop computers, are a lack of natural spatial understanding and interaction, and a limited field of view. These problems could be solved by immersive virtual environments and corresponding hardware, such as virtual reality head‐mounted displays. Thus, researchers are investigating the potential of immersive virtual environments in the field of molecular visualization. There is already a body of work ranging from educational approaches to protein visualization to applications for collaborative drug design. This review focuses on molecular visualization in immersive virtual environments as a whole, aiming to cover this area comprehensively. We divide the existing papers into different groups based on their application areas, and types of tasks performed. Furthermore, we also include a list of available software tools. We conclude the report with a discussion of potential future research on molecular visualization in immersive environments.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS2004

Forecasting Weather with a Wave of the Hand

Building upon its successful collaboration with NASA, Cybernet introduced GestureStorm(TradeMark), a weather map management system that utilizes both body tracking and gesture recognition technology for televised weather reports. The GestureStorm software interface enables meteorologists to control the computerized visual effects on weather maps using hand gestures and body movements. Prior to this, meteorologists prepared scripted on-air reports to coincide with the timing of graphics on the computerized maps. They knew when and where weather and Doppler radar maps would appear on the monitor, but could not react in real time. Cybernet s new product frees forecasters from a script, enabling them to directly interact with the weather picture in real time, significantly reducing the preparation time for the broadcast. With this technology, meteorologists control the pace of the visuals and can incorporate spontaneous close-ups with simple hand movements. In cases of severe weather, meteorologists strive to report new information as quickly as possible. GestureStorm gives forecasters an edge as they track late-breaking storms. The reduced preparation and real-time interaction shave critical minutes from the time required to broadcast severe weather warnings.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2019

Effectiveness of Redundant Communications Systems in Maintaining Operational Control of Small Unmanned Aircraft

NASA has been researching prototype technologies for an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system to facilitate enabling of safe and efficient civilian low-altitude airspace and UAS operations, in a series of Technical Capability Levels (TCL) activities that are increasingly complex. In TCL1, completed in 2015, visual line-of-sight operations such as agriculture, firefighting and infrastructure monitoring were addressed with a focus on geofencing and operations scheduling. Technologies and requirements needed for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations in sparsely populated areas were examined in TCL2 in 2016, and those for operations over moderately populated areas in TCL3 in 2017 and 2018. TCL4 will build on the earlier TCLs and focus on technologies and requirements for operations in higher-density urban areas for tasks such as news gathering, package delivery and for managing large-scale contingencies. This paper describes a communications test conducted in TCL3 and discusses insights gained from the test. In the test, operators were directed to equip UAS with redundant Command and Control (C2) communications systems, send a maneuver command to Unmanned Aircraft (UA) via the primary system, then verify execution of the sent command. This exercise was repeated with each redundant system. The test was designed to assess effectiveness of redundant C2 systems in maintaining operational control of UA. Several UAS were configured with varying arrangements to achieve redundancy, including two identical radio modems using the same frequency band, WiFi and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular modems, etc. From the test, digital data such as time maneuver command sent, time maneuver verified, etc., were collected. Descriptions of methods to detect loss of C2 communications and contingency steps for such event were collected and assessed. The final paper will include a detailed analysis of the collected data leading to the following insights. First, effectiveness of redundant C2 systems depends on several factors, such as operational environment and communications service availability. For example, use of two identical point-to-point radio to connect operator and UA on the same frequency band can be effective in mitigating radio malfunction when operating in an environment where possibility of Radio Frequency (RF) interference is low, such as over open plains. However, the same arrangement may not be effective where high level of RF transmissions in broad spectrum ranges can be expected, such as over or near urban areas. For redundant systems that consist of external communications services, such as cellular and satellite communications network, redundancy is maintained only in the areas where more than one services are available. Therefore, UAS operators should have the means to plan for and monitor the performance of external communications services they are relying on to control UA. Second, communications performance needs, such as the minimum data transfer rate and the maximum tolerable latency, should be assessed to reflect the potential hazard that can come from loss of UA control. For example, UA operations over desolate area pose less hazard to people than operations over densely populated area and performance need for the former would be less than the latter.

Jung, Jaewoo↗

NASA NTRS1995

Emergency vehicle alert system (EVAS)

The Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS) program is sponsored by the NASA/MSFC Technology Utilization (TU) office. The program was conceived to support the needs of hearing impaired drivers. The objective of the program is to develop a low-cost, small device which can be located in a personal vehicle and warn the driver, via a visual means, of the approach of an emergency vehicle. Many different technologies might be developed for this purpose and each has its own advantages and drawbacks. The requirements for an acoustic detection system, appear to be pretty stringent and may not allow the development of a reliable, low-cost device in the near future. The problems include variations in the sirens between various types of emergency vehicles, distortions due to wind and surrounding objects, competing background noise, sophisticated signal processing requirements, and omni-directional coverage requirements. Another approach is to use a Radio Frequency (RF) signal between the Emergency Vehicle (EV) and the Personal Vehicle (PV). This approach requires a transmitter on each EV and a receiver in each PV, however it is virtually assured that a system can be developed which works. With this approach, the real technology issue is how to make a system work as inexpensively as possible. This report gives a brief summary of the EVAS program from its inception and concentrates on describing the activities that occurred during Phase 4. References 1-3 describe activities under Phases 1-3. In the fourth phase of the program, the major effort to be expended was in development of the microcontroller system for the PV, refinement of some system elements and packaging for demonstration purposes. An EVAS system was developed and demonstrated which used standard spread spectrum modems with minor modifications.

Reed, Bill↗

DOE OSTI2025

Data Integration and Visualization for Enhanced Resilience and Sustainability in Hydropower (DIVERS-H)

U.S. hydropower plants face potential threats from shrinking water supply, rising demands, and warmer stream temperatures from various causes. Power plant owners, operators, and regulators require new tools to take advantage of and interpret the diverse range of scientific data being produced by both observational methods (for example, satellite, radar, stream gauges) and computer modeling methods that evaluate and predict how earth's dynamic systems (atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and sea ice) are changing and interacting. Combining datasets such as these with AI-based analyses introduces a novel decision support system to help users anticipate and address potential impacts on power generation stations. This new technology has been named DIVERS-H for "Data Integration and Visualization for Enhanced Resilience and Sustainability in Hydropower." In Phase I, technical feasibility was established with the development and demonstration of all the new technologies that are required. Most notably, DIVERS-H will use new artificial intelligence (AI) methods to capture the complex dynamics of water availability, demand, and environmental changes. In addition, new data management software was developed, and a prototype user interface was implemented as the precursor to a full scale decision support system. With technical research complete, the project focus now shifts to development of a commercial software product to provide users with actionable insight into water availability and the risk/resilience of critical systems at their locations of interest. Although DIVER-H was originally conceived as a tool for hydroelectric power applications, the same underlying technology can be readily applied to other water-consuming systems including coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear power plants.

Chaudhary, Aashish [Kitware, Inc., Clifton Park, N↗

DOE OSTI2025

Concept Lens: Visual Comparison and Evaluation of Generative Model Manipulations

Generative models are becoming a transformative technology for the creation and editing of images. However, it remains challenging to harness these models for precise image manipulation. These challenges often manifest as inconsistency in the editing process, where both the type and amount of semantic change, depend on the image being manipulated. Moreover, there exist many methods for computing image manipulations, whose development is hindered by the matter of inconsistency. This paper aims to address these challenges by improving how we evaluate, compare, and explore the space of manipulations offered by a generative model. We present Concept Lens, a visual interface that is designed to aid users in understanding semantic concepts carried in image manipulations, and how these manipulations vary over generated images. Given the large space of possible images produced by a generative model, Concept Lens is designed to support the exploration of both generated images, and their manipulations, at multiple levels of detail. To this end, the layout of Concept Lens is informed by two hierarchies: a hierarchical organization of (1) original images, grouped by their similarities, and (2) image manipulations, where manipulations that induce similar changes are grouped together. This layout allows one to discover the types of images that consistently respond to a group of manipulations, and vice versa, manipulations that consistently respond to a group of codes. We show the benefits of this design across multiple use cases, specifically, studying the quality of manipulations for a single method, and offering a means of comparing different methods.

clustering↗

DOE OSTI2024

Simulation of Helium Flow Visualization Apparatus for Studies of Blanket Cooling in Fusion Reactors

Flow visualization is essential to understanding helium cooling performance. This article investigates helium flow visualization in an apparatus to support the design of the blanket first wall for a fusion reactor. Helium’s safety advantages make it an attractive coolant, but effective cooling and flow visualization remain challenging. Sophisticated simulations are conducted in different test sections to address three key areas in the design of a test apparatus and cooling channel enhancements: the influence of viewing glass windows on flow patterns, the impact of increased heating, and the effectiveness of cooling structures like baffles. Viewing glass windows introduce flow recirculation region bifurcation and flow asymmetry, affecting flow patterns and necessitating careful analysis in future experiments. Increased heating results in helium flow detachment from the heated surface, leading to hot spots. Cooling structures, particularly baffles, prove effective in maintaining consistent attachment to the heated surface, improving the heat transfer performance. Further, this study also examines a tunable parameter in the turbulence model, highlighting the importance of accurate model tuning for future fusion reactor cooling designs. With an imminent helium flow visualization facility, these simulations will be used to optimize cooling structures on the heated wall to improve flow attachment and heat transfer efficiency. This work serves as a first investigation of the helium flow visualization apparatus for blanket cooling enhancement in fusion reactor design.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS2010

Visual Data Comm: A Tool for Visualizing Data Communication in the Multi Sector Planner Study

Data comm is a new technology proposed in future air transport system as a potential tool to provide comprehensive data connectivity. It is a key enabler to manage 4D trajectory digitally, potentially resulting in improved flight times and increased throughput. Future concepts with data comm integration have been tested in a number of human-in-the-loop studies but analyzing the results has proven to be particularly challenging because future traffic environment in which data comm is fully enabled has assumed high traffic density, resulting in data set with large amount of information. This paper describes the motivation, design, current and potential future application of Visual Data Comm (VDC), a tool for visualizing data developed in Java using Processing library which is a tool package designed for interactive visualization programming. This paper includes an example of an application of VDC on data pertaining to the most recent Multi Sector Planner study, conducted at NASA s Airspace Operations Laboratory in 2009, in which VDC was used to visualize and interpret data comm activities

Lee, Hwasoo Eric↗

DOE OSTI2025

Visualization of Noisy and Less Noisy Computational Basis States in Quantum Computing

Quantum computing technology holds substantial promise as a reliable computational paradigm. However, current noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) systems, are significantly impacted by noise originating from hardware inconsistencies. This noise causes errors and lowers output fidelity. So we must find which basis states cause errors. However, there are two main challenges in analyzing noise corresponding to basis states. First, the noise distribution data is high dimensional in nature, thereby making its analysis challenging. Second, although functional box plots have been used in the state of the art research to understand such a high dimensional data, they suffer from clutter and occlusion issues because of overplotting. In this study, we introduce an innovative visualization pipeline to address the aforementioned challenges to provide a clear depiction of noisy and less-noisy basis states. Specifically, our proposed visualization pipeline comprises three stages namely, low dimensional embedding, clustering, and violin plot visualization, to reduce visual clutter and effectively analyze high-dimensional noise distribution data. Our analysis uses quantum machine learning (QML) circuits as case study for drawing a distinction between noisy and less noisy basis states.

Senapati, Priyabrata [Kent State University]↗

NASA NTRS1988

NLF technology is ready to go

Natural laminar flow (NLF) can reduce drag on aircraft developed using modern structural design methods. Modern metal and composite construction methods can meet NLF requirements for subsonic commuter and business airframes. NLF research at NASA concentrates on expanding the practical application of NLF drag reduction technology; payoffs include progress with liquid-crystal flow visualization, NLF on three-dimensional bodies, and the effects of acoustics on laminar stability. Fuel savings from 2 to 4 percent are expected if laminar flow could be achieved over the forward 50 percent of engine nacelles on large transports depending on the configuration. It is concluded that the skill required to use NLF for drag reduction depends on understanding the conservative design corridors within which laminar flow is durable and reliable.

Holmes, Bruce J.↗