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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

Improved Open-Microphone Speech Recognition

Many current and future NASA missions make extreme demands on mission personnel both in terms of work load and in performing under difficult environmental conditions. In situations where hands are impeded or needed for other tasks, eyes are busy attending to the environment, or tasks are sufficiently complex that ease of use of the interface becomes critical, spoken natural language dialog systems offer unique input and output modalities that can improve efficiency and safety. They also offer new capabilities that would not otherwise be available. For example, many NASA applications require astronauts to use computers in micro-gravity or while wearing space suits. Under these circumstances, command and control systems that allow users to issue commands or enter data in hands-and eyes-busy situations become critical. Speech recognition technology designed for current commercial applications limits the performance of the open-ended state-of-the-art dialog systems being developed at NASA. For example, today's recognition systems typically listen to user input only during short segments of the dialog, and user input outside of these short time windows is lost. Mistakes detecting the start and end times of user utterances can lead to mistakes in the recognition output, and the dialog system as a whole has no way to recover from this, or any other, recognition error. Systems also often require the user to signal when that user is going to speak, which is impractical in a hands-free environment, or only allow a system-initiated dialog requiring the user to speak immediately following a system prompt. In this project, SRI has developed software to enable speech recognition in a hands-free, open-microphone environment, eliminating the need for a push-to-talk button or other signaling mechanism. The software continuously captures a user's speech and makes it available to one or more recognizers. By constantly monitoring and storing the audio stream, it provides the spoken dialog manager extra flexibility to recognize the signal with no audio gaps between recognition requests, as well as to rerecognize portions of the signal, or to rerecognize speech with different grammars, acoustic models, recognizers, start times, and so on. SRI expects that this new open-mic functionality will enable NASA to develop better error-correction mechanisms for spoken dialog systems, and may also enable new interaction strategies.

Abrash, Victor↗
NASA NTRS1984

Practical Applications and Uses of Solid Lubricant Films

Practical applications are illustrated with discussions covering the reasons for use of solid lubricants, required performance, lubricant selection, and results obtained for the various examples shown. The applications described cover a broad range of solid lubricants. Included are soft lamellar compounds, organic polymers, soft elemental metals, oxides and compounds for high temperature use. The illustrations selected cover a broad range of lubricant application techniques delineating the reasons for the different processing procedures which include bonded films, plasma spraying, sputtering, ion plating and electrodeposition.

Bernard C Stupp↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Need for High Fidelity Lunar Regolith Simulants

The case is made for the need to have high fidelity lunar regolith simulants to verify the performance of structures and mechanisms to be used on the lunar surface. Minor constituents will in some cases have major consequences. Small amounts of sulfur in the regolith can poison catalysts, and metallic iron on the surface of nano-sized dust particles may cause a dramatic increase in its toxicity. So the definition of a high fidelity simulant is application dependent. For example, in situ resource utilization will require high fidelity in chemistry, meaning careful attention to the minor components and phases; but some other applications, such as the abrasive effects on suit fabrics, might be relatively insensitive to minor component chemistry. The lunar environment itself will change the surface chemistry of the simulant, so to have a high fidelity simulant at must be used in a high fidelity simulated environment to get a high fidelity simulation. Research must be conducted to determine how sensitive technologies will be to minor components and environmental factors before they can be dismissed as unimportant.

Gaier, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Need for High Fidelity Lunar Regolith Simulants

The case is made for the need to have high fidelity lunar regolith simulants to verify the performance of structures, mechanisms, and processes to be used on the lunar surface. Minor constituents will in some cases have major consequences. Small amounts of sulfur in the regolith can poison catalysts, and metallic iron on the surface of nano-sized dust particles may cause a dramatic increase in its toxicity. So the definition of a high fidelity simulant is application-dependent. For example, in situ resource utilization will require high fidelity in chemistry, meaning careful attention to the minor components and phases; but some other applications, such as the abrasive effects on suit fabrics, might be relatively insensitive to minor component chemistry while abrasion of some metal components may be highly dependent on trace components. The lunar environment itself will change the surface chemistry of the simulant, so to have a high fidelity simulant it must be used in a high fidelity simulated environment to get an accurate simulation. Research must be conducted to determine how sensitive technologies will be to minor components and environmental factors before they can be dismissed as unimportant.

Gaier, James R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Global geologic applications of the Space Shuttle earth observations photography database

The advantages of the astronaut photography during Space Shuttle missions are briefly examined, and the scope and applications of the Space Shuttle earth observations photography database are discussed. The global and multidisciplinary nature of the data base is illustrated by several examples of geologic applications. These include the eruption of Mount Pinatubo (Philippine Islands), heat flow and ice cover on Lake Baikal in Siberia (Russia), and windblown dust in South America. It is noted that hand-held photography from the U.S. Space Shuttle provides unique remotely-sensed data for geologic applications because of the combination of varying perspectives, look angles, and illumination, and changing resolution resulting from different lenses and altitudes.

Lulla, Kamlesh↗
NASA NTRS2005

Stable Polyimides for Terrestrial and Space Uses

Polyimides of a recently developed type have an attractive combination of properties, including low solar absorptivity (manifested as low color) when cast into thin films, resistance to atomic oxygen and ultraviolet radiation, solubility in organic solvents, high glass-transition temperatures, and high thermal stability. The focus of the development work was on polymers that can endure the space environment and that have specific combinations of properties for use on Gossamer spacecraft. Because of their unique combination of properties, these polymers are also expected to find use in a variety of other applications on Earth as well as in space. Examples of other space applications include membranes on antennas, second-surface mirrors, thermal optical coatings, and multilayer thermal insulation. For both terrestrial and space applications, these polyimides can be processed into various forms, including films, fibers, foams, threads, adhesives, and coatings.

Connell, John W.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Optically Transparent Split-Ring Antennas for 1 to 10 GHz

Split-ring antennas made from optically transparent, electrically conductive films have been invented for applications in which there are requirements for compact antennas capable of operation over much or all of the frequency band from 1 to 10 GHz. Primary examples of such applications include wireless local-area networks and industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) applications. These antennas can be conveniently located on such surfaces as those of automobile windows and display screens of diverse hand-held electronic units. They are fabricated by conventional printed-circuit techniques and can easily be integrated with solid-state amplifier circuits to enhance gain. The structure of an antenna of this type includes an antenna/feed layer supported on the top or outer face of a dielectric (e.g., glass) and, optionally, a ground layer on the bottom or inner face of the substrate. The ring can be in the form of either a conductive strip or a slot in the antenna/feed layer. The ring can be of rectangular, square, circular, elliptical, or other suitable shape and can be excited by means of a microstrip, slot line, or coplanar waveguide. For example, the antenna shown in the figure features a square conductive-strip split ring with a microstrip feed. In general, an antenna fed at its external boundary in the manner of this invention presents very high impedance, thereby creating an impedance-matching problem. Splitting the ring . that is, cutting a notch through the ring . offers a solution to the problem in that the notch fixes the location of maximum electric field, which location is directly related to the impedance. Thus, an excellent impedance match can be achieved through proper choice of the location of the notch. In geometric layout, such a ring antenna structure is typically between 1.4 and 1.3 the size of a patch antenna capable of operating in the same frequency range. This miniaturization of the antenna is desirable, not only because it contributes to overall miniaturization of equipment, but also because minimization of the extent of the optically transparent, electrically conductive film helps to minimize the electrical loss associated with the surface resistance ( 5 ohms per square) of the transparent, electrically conductive film material. Incidentally, even at 5 ohms per square, this surface resistance is significantly less than that of indium tin oxide film (typically > 25 ohms per square), which, heretofore has been the transparent, electrically conductive film material of choice. At the time of writing this article, information on the composition of the lower-resistance film used in the antennas of this invention was not available.

Lee, Richard Q.↗
NASA NTRS1934

Tank tests of flat and v-bottom planning surfaces

Four planing surfaces, all having beams of 16 inches and lengths of 60 inches but varying in dead rise by 10 degrees increments from 0 degrees to 30 degrees, were tested in the N.A.C.A. tank. The results cover a wide range of speed, loads, and trim angles, and are applicable to a variety of problems encountered in the design of seaplanes. The data are analyzed to determine the characteristics of each surface at the trim angle giving minimum resistance for all the speed and loads tested. A planing coefficient intended to facilitate the application of the results to design work is developed and curves of resistance, wetted length, and center of pressure are plotted against this coefficient. Several examples, showing the application of the test data to specific design problems are included.

Shoemaker, James M↗
NASA NTRS1987

Using hybrid expert system approaches for engineering applications

In this paper, the use of hybrid expert system shells and hybrid (i.e., algorithmic and heuristic) approaches for solving engineering problems is reported. Aspects of various engineering problem domains are reviewed for a number of examples with specific applications made to recently developed prototype expert systems. Based on this prototyping experience, critical evaluations of and comparisons between commercially available tools, and some research tools, in the United States and Australia, and their underlying problem-solving paradigms are made. Characteristics of the implementation tool and the engineering domain are compared and practical software engineering issues are discussed with respect to hybrid tools and approaches. Finally, guidelines are offered with the hope that expert system development will be less time consuming, more effective, and more cost-effective than it has been in the past.

Allen, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Potential applications of digital, visible, and infrared data from geostationary environmental satellites

An hourly, digital data base from the Visible/Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer (VISSR) instrument on the GOES-1 and SMS-2 geostationary satellites is described. Several examples of developmental applications of these quantitative digital data are presented. These include a review of recent attempts to develop products that are of use to meteorologists who provide services to aviation, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, oceanography, and climatology. The sample products include high resolution thermal gradients of land and ocean surfaces, thermal change analyses, fruit frost/freeze application, cloud-top altitude analysis, analysis of hurricane characteristics, and analyses of solar insolation.

Miller, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Using the General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT)

This is a software tutorial and presentation demonstrating the application of the General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT). These slides will be used to accompany the demonstration. The demonstration discusses GMAT basics, then presents a detailed example of GMAT application to the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. This talk is a combination of existing presentations and material; system user guide and technical documentation; a GMAT basics and overview, and technical presentations from the TESS projects on their application of GMAT to critical mission design. The GMAT basics slides are taken from the open source training material. The TESS slides are a streamlined version of the CDR package provided by the project with SBU and ITAR data removed by the TESS project. Slides for navigation and optimal control are borrowed from system documentation and training material.

trajectory↗
NASA NTRS1992

Photon escape probabilities from resolved sources - Application to solar C III limb emission

Monodirectional effective escape probabilities, involving line-of-sight-integrated escape factors, are calculated for the highly anisotropic source represented by C III emission at the solar limb as a concrete example of the application of such probabilities. Predicted intensity variations of C III lines with limb distance are obtained using a spherical shell model, showing several interesting features which may be observable with appropriate instruments. Among these are expected enhancements of extreme ultraviolet lines at 884.5 and 1308.7 A, and local limb-brightening and limb-darkening effects in optically thick lines, which may provide sensitive constraints on the solar C III emission distribution. Comparisons are made with available observations.

Kastner, S. O.↗
NASA NTRS1988

On a useful functional representation of control system structure

An alternative structure for control systems is proposed. The structure is represented by a three-element block diagram and three functional definitions. It is argued that the three functional elements form a canonical set. The set includes the functions description, estimation and control. General overlay of the structure on parallel state and nested-state control systems is discussed. Breakdown of two real nested-state control systems into the proposed functional format is displayed. Application of the process to the mapping of complex control systems R and D efforts is explained with the Mars Rover Sample and Return mission as an example. A previous application of this basic functional structure to Space Station performance requirements organization is discussed.

Malchow, Harvey L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Progress and needs in agricultural research, development, and applications programs

The dynamic nature of agriculture requires repetitive resource assessments such as those from remote sensing. Until recently, the use of remote sensing in agriculture has been limited primarily to site specific investigations without large-scale evaluations. Examples of successful applications at various user levels are provided. The stage of development for applying remote sensing to many agricultural problems is assessed, and goals for planning future data characteristics for increased use in agriculture are suggested.

Moore, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Educational Applications on the World Wide Web: An Example Using Amphion

There is a great deal of excitement about using the internet and the World Wide Web in education. There are such exciting possibilities and there is a wealth and variety of material up on the web. There are however many problems, problems of access and resources, problems of quality -- for every excellent resource there are many poor ones, and there are insufficiently explored problems of teacher training and motivation. For example, Wiesenmayer and Meadows report on a study of 347 West Virginia science teachers. These teachers were enrolled in a week-long summer workshop to introduce them to the internet and its educational potential. The teachers were asked to review science sites as to overall quality and then about their usefulness in their own classrooms. The teachers were enthusiastic about the web, and gave two-thirds of the sites high ratings, and essentially all the rest average ratings. But alarmingly, over 80% of these sites were viewed as having no direct applicability in the teacher's own classroom. This summer I was assigned to work on the Amphion project in the Automated Software Engineering Group under the leadership of Michael Lowry. I wished to find educational applications of the Amphion system, which in its current implementation can be used to create fortran programs and animations using the SPICE libraries created by the NAIF group at JPL. I wished to find an application which provided real added educational value, which was in line with educational curriculum standards and which would serve a documented need of the educational community. The application selected was teaching about the causes of the seasons -- at the approximately the fourth, fifth, sixth grade level. This topic was chosen because it is in line with national curriculum standards. The fourth, fifth, sixth grade level was selected to coincide with the grade level served by the Ames Aerospace Encounter, which services 10,000 children a year on field trips. The hope is that eventually the Ames Aerospace Encounter could be used as a test bed for the lessons developed. The topic is one which is difficult to teach and the necessity for new methods is documented in the educational literature. Current educational standards indicate that seasons should be part of the elementary school curriculum.

Friedman, Jane↗
NASA NTRS1977

Application of the high resolution return beam vidicon

The Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) is a high-performance electronic image sensor and electrical storage component. It can accept continuous or discrete exposures. Information can be read out with a single scan or with many repetitive scans for either signal processing or display. Resolution capability is 10,000 TV lines/height, and at 100 lp/mm, performance matches or exceeds that of film, particularly with low-contrast imagery. Electronic zoom can be employed effectively for image magnification and data compression. The high performance and flexibility of the RBV permit wide application in systems for reconnaissance, scan conversion, information storage and retrieval, and automatic inspection and test. This paper summarizes the characteristics and performance parameters of the RBV and cites examples of feasible applications.

Cantella, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Low-Temperature Power Electronics Program

Many space and some terrestrial applications would benefit from the availability of low-temperature electronics. Exploration missions to the outer planets, Earth-orbiting and deep-space probes, and communications satellites are examples of space applications which operate in low-temperature environments. Space probes deployed near Pluto must operate in temperatures as low as -229 C. Figure 1 depicts the average temperature of a space probe warmed by the sun for various locations throughout the solar system. Terrestrial applications where components and systems must operate in low-temperature environments include cryogenic instrumentation, superconducting magnetic energy storage, magnetic levitation transportation system, and arctic exploration. The development of electrical power systems capable of extremely low-temperature operation represents a key element of some advanced space power systems. The Low-Temperature Power Electronics Program at NASA Lewis Research Center focuses on the design, fabrication, and characterization of low-temperature power systems and the development of supporting technologies for low-temperature operations such as dielectric and insulating materials, power components, optoelectronic components, and packaging and integration of devices, components, and systems.

Patterson, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Lightweight Exoskeletons with Controllable Actuators

A proposed class of lightweight exoskeletal electromechanical systems would include electrically controllable actuators that would generate torques and forces that, depending on specific applications, would resist and/or assist wearers movements. The proposed systems would be successors to relatively heavy, bulky, and less capable human-strength-amplifying exoskeletal electromechanical systems that have been subjects of research during the past four decades. The proposed systems could be useful in diverse applications in which there are needs for systems that could be donned or doffed easily, that would exert little effect when idle, and that could be activated on demand: examples of such applications include (1) providing controlled movement and/or resistance to movement for physical exercise and (2) augmenting wearers strengths in the performance of military, law-enforcement, and industrial tasks. An exoskeleton according to the proposal would include adjustable lightweight graphite/epoxy struts and would be attached to the wearer's body by belts made of hook-and-pile material. At selected rotary and linear joints, the exoskeleton would be fitted, variously, with lightweight, low-power-consumption rotary and linear brakes, clutches, and motors. The exoskeleton would also be equipped with electronic circuitry for monitoring, control, and possibly communication with external electronic circuits that would perform additional monitoring and control functions.

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph↗