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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Choice of image attribute for automated radargrammetry

This paper discusses SAR imaging with emphasis on radar backscatter properties. In studying how planetary surfaces modulate the radar cross-section, it is determined that both the amount of and variation in backscattered microwave energy provide the necessary cues (i.e., object shading and boundary information) for stereointerpretation. While past research into automated reconstruction of topography from radar stereopairs has concentrated on the use of shading, it is shown that boundary information may also be used successfully. How these attributes can be potentially misleading are discussed. This work suggests a process for generating high-quality topography maps from SAR imagery.

Matarese, Joseph R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A coated-wire ion-selective electrode for ionic calcium measurements

A coated-wire ion-selective electrode for measuring ionic calcium was developed, in collaboration with Teknektron Sensor Development Corporation (TSDC). This coated wire electrode sensor makes use of advanced, ion-responsive polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane technology, whereby the electroactive agent is incorporated into a polymeric film. The technology greatly simplifies conventional ion-selective electrode measurement technology, and is envisioned to be used for real-time measurement of physiological and environment ionic constituents, initially calcium. A primary target biomedical application is the real-time measurement of urinary and blood calcium changes during extended exposure to microgravity, during prolonged hospital or fracture immobilization, and for osteoporosis research. Potential advanced life support applications include monitoring of calcium and other ions, heavy metals, and related parameters in closed-loop water processing and management systems. This technology provides a much simplified ionic calcium measurement capability, suitable for both automated in-vitro, in-vivo, and in-situ measurement applications, which should be of great interest to the medical, scientific, chemical, and space life sciences communities.

Hines, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Polymer infiltration studies

Progress was made in several areas on the preparation of carbon fiber composites using advanced polymer resins. Polymer infiltration studies dealt with ways of preparing composite materials from advanced polymer resins and carbon fibers. This effort is comprised of an integrated approach to the process of composite part fabrication. The goal is to produce advanced composite materials for automated part fabrication using textile and robotics technology in the manufacture of subsonic and supersonic aircraft. The object is achieved through investigations at the NASA Langley Research Center and by stimulating technology transfer between contract researchers and the aircraft industry. Covered here are literature reviews, a status report on individual projects, current and planned research, publications, and scheduled technical presentations.

Marchello, Joseph M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Automated Analysis Workstation

Information from NASA Tech Briefs of work done at Langley Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory assisted DiaSys Corporation in manufacturing their first product, the R/S 2000. Since then, the R/S 2000 and R/S 2003 have followed. Recently, DiaSys released their fourth workstation, the FE-2, which automates the process of making and manipulating wet-mount preparation of fecal concentrates. The time needed to read the sample is decreased, permitting technologists to rapidly spot parasites, ova and cysts, sometimes carried in the lower intestinal tract of humans and animals. Employing the FE-2 is non-invasive, can be performed on an out-patient basis, and quickly provides confirmatory results.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Black Box Testing: Experiments with Runway Incursion Advisory Alerting System

This report summarizes our research findings on the Black box testing of Runway Incursion Advisory Alerting System (RIAAS) and Runway Safety Monitor (RSM) system. Developing automated testing software for such systems has been a problem because of the extensive information that has to be processed. Customized software solutions have been proposed. However, they are time consuming to develop. Here, we present a less expensive, and a more general test platform that is capable of performing complete black box testing. The technique is based on the classification of the anomalies that arise during Monte Carlo simulations. In addition, we also discuss a generalized testing tool (prototype) that we have developed.

Mukkamala, Ravi↗
DOE OSTI2022

Automated Stellar Spectra Classification with Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network

Large sky survey telescopes have produced a tremendous amount of astronomical data, including spectra. Machine learning methods must be employed to automatically process the spectral data obtained by these telescopes. Classification of stellar spectra by applying deep learning is an important research direction for the automatic classification of high-dimensional celestial spectra. In this paper, a robust ensemble convolutional neural network (ECNN) was designed and applied to improve the classification accuracy of massive stellar spectra from the Sloan digital sky survey. We designed six classifiers which consist six different convolutional neural networks (CNN), respectively, to recognize the spectra in DR16. Then, according the cross-entropy testing error of the spectra at different signal-to-noise ratios, we integrate the results of different classifiers in an ensemble learning way to improve the effect of classification. The experimental result proved that our one-dimensional ECNN strategy could achieve 95.0% accuracy in the classification task of the stellar spectra, a level of accuracy that exceeds that of the classical principal component analysis and support vector machine model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1991

Continuous monitoring of the lunar or Martian subsurface using on-board pattern recognition and neural processing of Rover geophysical data

The overall aim is to provide base technology for an automated vision system for on-board interpretation of geophysical data. During the first year's work, it was demonstrated that geophysical data can be treated as patterns and interpreted using single neural networks. Current research is developing an integrated vision system comprising neural networks, algorithmic preprocessing, and expert knowledge. This system is to be tested incrementally using synthetic geophysical patterns, laboratory generated geophysical patterns, and field geophysical patterns.

Glass, Charles E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Human-Automation Integration: Principle and Method for Design and Evaluation

Future space missions will increasingly depend on integration of complex engineered systems with their human operators. It is important to ensure that the systems that are designed and developed do a good job of supporting the needs of the work domain. Our research investigates methods for needs analysis. We included analysis of work products (plans for regulation of the space station) as well as work processes (tasks using current software), in a case study of Attitude Determination and Control Officers (ADCO) planning work. This allows comparing how well different designs match the structure of the work to be supported. Redesigned planning software that better matches the structure of work was developed and experimentally assessed. The new prototype enabled substantially faster and more accurate performance in plan revision tasks. This success suggests the approach to needs assessment and use in design and evaluation is promising, and merits investigatation in future research.

human-automation integration↗
NASA NTRS1991

Recent manufacturing advances for spiral bevel gears

The U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command (AVSCOM), through the Propulsion Directorate at NASA Lewis Research Center, has recently sponsored projects to advance the manufacturing process for spiral bevel gears. This type of gear is a critical component in rotary-wing propulsion systems. Two successfully completed contracted projects are described. The first project addresses the automated inspection of spiral bevel gears through the use of coordinate measuring machines. The second project entails the computer-numerical-control (CNC) conversion of a spiral bevel gear grinding machine that is used for all aerospace spiral bevel gears. The results of these projects are described with regard to the savings effected in manufacturing time.

Handschuh, Robert F.↗
DOE OSTI2021

sas-temper

Modeling remains a considerable challenge for practitioners of SAXS and SANS because the materials being studied are not highly ordered, the length scales being studied are large, and the information content of the data is low. Data analysis is both challenging and time consuming. Novices often rely on the assistance of an expert, such as the instrument scientist who supported them at the facility where the experiment was performed, to analyze their data. The high flux provided by modern facilities makes it possible to study dozens of samples or sample conditions during a single trip. Ultimately, the high throughput of modern instruments limits access to instrument scientists. A bottleneck in the research effort results that reduces facility productivity. Sas-temper seeks to address this problem, as well as the intrinsic difficulties of being confident in non-linear least squared fitting of data, by providing tools that automate much of the manual process of initial data fitting and refinement, as well as by providing tools for characterizing the nature of the parameter space that fits the measured data. The tools provided by sas-temper help small-angle scattering practitioners transition data into results.

Heller, William [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), O↗
DOE OSTI2021

CASTELO: clustered atom subtypes aided lead optimization—a combined machine learning and molecular modeling method

Background: Drug discovery is a multi-stage process that comprises two costly major steps: pre-clinical research and clinical trials. Among its stages, lead optimization easily consumes more than half of the pre-clinical budget. We propose a combined machine learning and molecular modeling approach that partially automates lead optimization workflow in silico, providing suggestions for modification hot spots. Results: The initial data collection is achieved with physics-based molecular dynamics simulation. Contact matrices are calculated as the preliminary features extracted from the simulations. To take advantage of the temporal information from the simulations, we enhanced contact matrices data with temporal dynamism representation, which are then modeled with unsupervised convolutional variational autoencoder (CVAE). Finally, conventional and CVAE-based clustering methods are compared with metrics to rank the submolecular structures and propose potential candidates for lead optimization. Conclusion: With no need for extensive structure-activity data, our method provides new hints for drug modification hotspots which can be used to improve drug potency and reduce the lead optimization time. It can potentially become a valuable tool for medicinal chemists.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1991

Astrophysics science operations - Near-term plans and vision

Astrophysics science operations planned by the Science Operations branch of NASA Astrophysics Division for the 1990s for the purpose of gathering spaceborne astronomical data are described. The paper describes the near-future plans of the Science Operations in the areas of the preparation of the proposal; the planning and execution of spaceborne observations; the collection, processing, and analysis data; and the dissemination of results. Also presented are concepts planned for introduction at the beginning of the 20th century, including the concepts of open communications, transparent instrument and observatory operations, a spiral requirements development method, and an automated research assistant.

Riegler, Guenter R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Computer-Aided Parallelizer and Optimizer

The Computer-Aided Parallelizer and Optimizer (CAPO) automates the insertion of compiler directives (see figure) to facilitate parallel processing on Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) machines. While CAPO currently is integrated seamlessly into CAPTools (developed at the University of Greenwich, now marketed as ParaWise), CAPO was independently developed at Ames Research Center as one of the components for the Legacy Code Modernization (LCM) project. The current version takes serial FORTRAN programs, performs interprocedural data dependence analysis, and generates OpenMP directives. Due to the widely supported OpenMP standard, the generated OpenMP codes have the potential to run on a wide range of SMP machines. CAPO relies on accurate interprocedural data dependence information currently provided by CAPTools. Compiler directives are generated through identification of parallel loops in the outermost level, construction of parallel regions around parallel loops and optimization of parallel regions, and insertion of directives with automatic identification of private, reduction, induction, and shared variables. Attempts also have been made to identify potential pipeline parallelism (implemented with point-to-point synchronization). Although directives are generated automatically, user interaction with the tool is still important for producing good parallel codes. A comprehensive graphical user interface is included for users to interact with the parallelization process.

Jin, Haoqiang↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Numerical Simulation of the High-Speed Leg of the National Transonic Facility

Numerical simulations for the flow inside the high-speed leg of the National Transonic Facility was conducted. The NASA Tetrahedral Unstructured Software System (TetrUSS) with its USM3D_ME solver was used to perform the numerical simulations. USM3D_ME is developed and maintained by NASA Langley Research Center. Simulations were conducted for three configurations: empty tunnel, body of revolution installed, and NASA Common Research Model installed in the test section. Simulations were performed for a test section Mach number of 0.7 and 0.85 and a corresponding Reynolds number of 8 million per ft. A controller was developed that automated dynamic outflow boundary and streamlined the process of running multiple simulations. The use of a dynamic outflow boundary was the key parameter to drive simulation to the desired tunnel conditions. The numerical simulations captured expected flow features in NTF test section and in the tunnel plenum. The simulations depicted that separation of the flow inside the diffuser appears to be asymmetric and more extensive toward the top and bottom walls. Analysis of the flow field were conducted, and the computed drag coefficient compared to wind tunnel data.

NTF↗
NASA NTRS2026

Benchmarking Bayesian Optimization Frameworks and Acquisition Strategies for Materials Discovery and Autonomous Laboratories

Bayesian optimization (BO) can accelerate materials discovery by guiding expensive experiments toward the most promising processing conditions. We systematically compare five BO surrogate and framework combinations (Gaussian processes in Ax, Gaussian processes and Monte-Carlo neural networks in BayBE, random forests in Lolopy, and tree-structured Parzen (TPE) estimators in Hyperopt) on three benchmarks that mimic common materials design tasks (a discrete solid-electrolyte composition space, a hybrid discrete/continuous laminate-composite design problem solved with micromechanics modeling, and the continuous Ishigami analytic function which is a standard optimization benchmark). Each BO surrogate is paired with posterior mean, probability of improvement, and expected improvement acquisition functions and run for 100 trials from randomized initial samples with uniform random search providing a control. Across five random seeds per setting, BayBE’s Gaussian-process surrogate with expected improvement consistently reached ≥95 % of the known optimum in the fewest evaluations, while Lolopy’s random forest matched or exceeded GP performance on purely categorical or mixed spaces at a higher computational cost. Posterior mean alone often stagnated at local optima, underscoring the need for exploration, whereas probability and expected improvement balanced exploration and exploitation leading to better optimization in fewer trials. Execution times ranged from milliseconds for TPE to minutes for neural-network and random-forest surrogates. These results establish baseline expectations for BO in automated materials laboratories and highlight expected improvement with Gaussian processes as a reliable first choice, with random forests offering a strong alternative when categorical variables dominate. The benchmark suite and code are released to facilitate future surrogate, acquisition, and constraint-handling research in data-driven materials optimization.

Bayesian optimization↗
NASA NTRS2003

Faster Aerodynamic Simulation With Cart3D

A NASA-developed aerodynamic simulation tool is ensuring the safety of future space operations while providing designers and engineers with an automated, highly accurate computer simulation suite. Cart3D, co-winner of NASA's 2002 Software of the Year award, is the result of over 10 years of research and software development conducted by Michael Aftosmis and Dr. John Melton of Ames Research Center and Professor Marsha Berger of the Courant Institute at New York University. Cart3D offers a revolutionary approach to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the computer simulation of how fluids and gases flow around an object of a particular design. By fusing technological advancements in diverse fields such as mineralogy, computer graphics, computational geometry, and fluid dynamics, the software provides a new industrial geometry processing and fluid analysis capability with unsurpassed automation and efficiency.

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NASA NTRS1988

Robotic space construction

Research at Langley AFB concerning automated space assembly is reviewed, including a Space Shuttle experiment to test astronaut ability to assemble a repetitive truss structure, testing the use of teleoperated manipulators to construct the Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures I truss, and assessment of the basic characteristics of manipulator assembly operations. Other research topics include the simultaneous coordinated control of dual-arm manipulators and the automated assembly of candidate Space Station trusses. Consideration is given to the construction of an Automated Space Assembly Laboratory to study and develop the algorithms, procedures, special purpose hardware, and processes needed for automated truss assembly.

Mixon, Randolph W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Research and technology 1989

The Marshall Space Flight Center annual report summarizes their advanced studies, research programs, and technological developments. Areas covered include: transportation systems; space systems such as Gravity Probe-B and Gamma Ray Imaging Telescope; data systems; microgravity science; astronomy and astrophysics; solar, magnetospheric, and atomic physics; aeronomy; propulsion; materials and processes; structures and dynamics; automated systems; space systems; and avionics.

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