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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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The input output unit (IOU) for the Attitude and Articulation Subsystem (AACS) for the Cassini spacecraft uses an embedded microprocessor to format and interpret data packets sent over a bus. This new approach is part of a trend toward "smart" peripherals and instruments communicating over much higher bandwidth optical buses.
The Articulating Fold Mirror (AFM) is a space qualified, ultraviolet compatible device that incorporates many advanced features including a highly lightweighted mirror and electrostrictive solid state actuators that provide precise and repeatable open loop performance. The design, fabrication and testing of the AFM are described.
The use of the BuildingSync schema for describing the contents of buildings is becoming more common with its recent integration into the Audit Template tool as well as ASHRAE’s Building Energy Quotient (bEQ) web portal. Although BuildingSync was initially created to store and transfer data related to building energy audits (as defined by ASHRAE Standard 211), it has since been expanded to store the data needed to articulate fully defined physics-based building energy models. BuildingSync combined with abstracted high-level input methods defined in OpenStudio’s Standards project and the newly developed BuildingSync gem allows BuildingSync eXtensible Markup Language (XML) (Bray, Paoli, Sperberg-McQueen, Maler, Eve (Sun Microsystems, & Francois, 2008) document to be converted into OpenStudio models. Automatic generation of a building energy model from data collected during an audit 1) eliminates the need to separately generate an energy model, 2) improves consistency between model generation, and 3) simplifies evaluation of various energy efficiency measures. This manuscript will discuss this open-source project, including: development of the validation infrastructure necessary to provide formalized expectations of informational requirements for BuildingSync documents; development of the BuildingSync gem for translation of BuildingSync documents to OpenStudio models as well as example implementations; and finally, the manuscript will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of using high-level models generated from BuildingSync as surrogates to detailed models.
Role of visible articulation in speech recognition
Testing articulating jaws for stretch wrap forming of large contoured sheet metal sections for aerospace applications
Hydraulically driven articulated dummy for testing space suits
Rigid articulated pressure suits, discussing design, construction and operation for low external pressure, mobility requirements, etc
Analysis of blade-motion stability and tip speed ratio for articulated rotor
Articulated rotor blade motion stability, numerically analyzing effect of initial disturbances on tip speed ratio for divergence and effects of restraints
Numerical solution of coupled, nonlinear, equation of motion for rigid blade to simulate response sensitivity and blade-motion stability of fully articulated rotor
Shock absorbing articulated multiple couch assembly
Highly articulate pressure glove providing digital dexterity, tactility, and stability
The application requirements and manufacturing techniques for the flat conductor cable used in the Viking Lander Articulated Boom Unit are described. The Viking Boom is a 3-axis device utilized to position a soil sampler and provide digging forces. This application imposed severe restrictions on size, weight, materials, and choice of manufacturing processes. The final cable assembly design resulted in a combination of collated cable and flexible circuits assembled by resistance welding techniques.
The articulation control subsystem, developed for the Viking Orbiter 1975 spacecraft, is a digital, multiplexed, closed-loop servo system used to control the pointing and positioning of the science scan platform and the high-gain communication antenna, and to position the solar-energy controller louver blades for the thermal control of the propellant tanks. The development, design, and anlaysis of the subsystem is preliminary. The subsystem consists of a block-redundant control electronics multiplexed among eight control actuators. Each electronics block is capable of operating either individually or simultaneously with the second block. This provides the subsystem the capability of simultaneous two-actuator control or a single actuator control with the second block in a stand-by redundant mode. The result of the preliminary design and analysis indicates that the subsystem will perform satisfactorily in the Viking Orbiter 1975 mission. Some of the parameter values used, particularly those in the subsystem dynamics and the error estimates, are preliminary and the results will be updated as more accurate parameter values become available.
The plane motion of two rigid, straight articulated pipes conveying fluid is examined. In contrast to previous work, the flow rate is not taken as constant, but is allowed to have small periodic oscillations about a mean value, as would be expected in a pump-driven system. It is shown that in the presence of such disturbances, both parametric and combination resonances are possible. When the system can also admit loss of stability by static buckling or by flutter, it is found that the presence of small periodic disturbances constitutes a destabilizing effect. Floquet theory and converging infinite determinant expansions are used to illustrate a basic difference between systems which lose stability by divergence and those that lose stability by flutter. An algebraic criterion is obtained for the minimum amplitude of flow-rate oscillation required for the system to be affected by the presence of small disturbances.
The articulation subsystem actuators were rigorously tested in severe environments. They were operated through temperature ranges from -73 C to +121 C. In each case the temperature rate of change was at maximum. The actuator under test at room temperature was put into a pre-chilled or preheated chamber. Satisfactory performance was obtained throughout this full temperature range and under the temperature shock conditions above. However, at temperatures below -78 C some leakage was experienced through the O-ring seal around the shaft. The actuators were subjected to severe vibration and 500 g shock test with a time duration of 0.0007 seconds. The scan actuator was life tested by operating it from stop to stop through 2,000 cycles with 20,000 start-stop procedures randomly distributed through the 2,000 cycles.
A spatial system of two articulated pipes conveying fluid is examined analytically and experimentally. As the flow rate is increased, stable equilibrium may be lost by either divergence (static buckling) or by flutter (oscillations with increasing amplitude), depending upon the value of an angle beta which measures the 'out-of-planeness' of the system. It is found that in the range O less than beta less than 90 deg there exists a transition value below which stability is lost by flutter and above which stability is lost by divergence.
The plane motion of an articulated pipe made of two segments is examined and the flow velocity at which flutter manifests itself is sought. The pressure in the reservoir feeding the pipe is kept constant. In contrast to previous works, the flow velocity is not taken as a prescribed parameter of the system but is left to follow the laws of motion. This approach requires a nonlinear formulation of the problem and the equations of motion are solved using Krylov-Bogoliubov's method. A graph of the amplitude of the limit cycles, as a function of the fluid-system mass ratio, is presented and conclusions are drawn as to the necessity of considering nonlinearities in the analysis.