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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 847 records · Page 47

Cyber-Physical Smart Light Control System Integration with Smart Grid using Zigbee

This paper presents a hardware-in-the-loop cyber-physical system architecture design to monitor and control smart lights connected to the active distribution grid. The architecture uses Zigbee-based (IEEE 802.15.4) wireless sensor networks and publish-subscribe architecture to exchange monitoring and control signals between smart-light actuators (SLAs) and a smart-light central controller (SLCC). Each SLA integrated into a smart light consists of a Zigbee-based endpoint module to send and receive signals to and from the SLCC. The SLCC consists of a Zigbee-based coordinator module, which further exchanges the monitoring and control signals with the active distribution management system over the TCP/IP communication network. The monitoring signals from the SLAs include light status, brightness level, voltage, current, and power data, whereas, the control signals to the SLAs include light intensity, turn ON, turn OFF, standby, and default settings. We have used our existing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) cyber-physical system (CPS) security SCADA testbed to process signals received from the SLCC and respond suitable control signals based on the smart light schedule requirements, system operation, and active distribution grid dynamic characteristics. We have integrated the proposed cyber-physical smart light control system (CPSLCS) testbed to our existing HIL CPS SCADA testbed. We use the integrated testbed to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm by real-time performance and latency between the SLCC and SLAs. The experiments demonstrated significant results by 100% realtime performance and low latency while exchanging data between the SLCC and SLAs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Overview of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Testing At MSFC

Previously, almost all water used by the crew during space flight has been transported from earth or generated in-flight as a by-product of fuel cells. Additionally, this water has been stored and used for relatively short periods. To achieve the United States' commitment to a permanent manned presence in space, more innovative techniques are demanded. Over 20,000 pounds of water and large quantities of air would have to be transported to the International Space Station (ISS) every 90 days with a corresponding amount of waste returned to earth, for an 8-person crew. This approach results in prohibitive logistics costs, and necessitates near complete recovery and recycling of water. The potential hazards associated with long-term reuse of reclaimed water and revitalized air resulted in the recognition that additional characterization of closed-loop systems and products is essential. Integrated physical/chemical systems have been designed, assembled, and operated to provide air and potable water meeting ISS quality specifications. The purpose of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) test program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is to conduct research related to the performance of the ISS and its Environmental Control components. The ECLSS Test Program encompasses the Water Recovery Test (WRT), the Integrated Air Revitalization Test (IART), and Life Testing, which permits ECLSS design evaluation. These subsystems revitalize air and reclaim waste waters representative of those to be generated on-orbit. This paper provides an overview of MSFC's 1997 ECLSS testing. Specific tests include: the Stage 10 Water Recovery Test; the Contaminant Injection Test; the Performance Enhancement Test and Life Testing of the Four Bed Molecular Sieve; the Oxygen Generator Assembly Life Test; and the ISS Water Distribution Biofilm Life Test.

Traweek, Mary S.↗

Objective Measurement Assessment of Departure Advisories for Ramp Controllers from a Human-In-The-Loop Simulation

NASA has developed and demonstrated an integrated arrival, departure, and surface concept and technology for efficient air traffic management in busy terminal environments under the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) subproject. In April/May 2019, NASA conducted a human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation with ramp and tower controllers having experience at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The purpose of this HITL was to evaluate the impacts of various surface metering goals in ramp operations at DFW and test new features of the ATD-2 ramp controller decision support tools. This paper evaluates the quantitative metrics from the simulation results related to airport performance and surface metering given various departure scheduling advisories for ramp controllers. The objective measurements compared include the controller’s compliance with the target times for pushback and spot arrival, the number of metered flights, aircraft gate hold and taxi time, runway throughput, and the number of aircraft on the surface. The simulation results show that there were no statistically significant benefits from surface metering at DFW for airport performance due to several simulation artifacts notably different from real operations. Considering controller workload and situation awareness, following either gate pushback or spot arrival advisory could be a better metering option than utilizing both advisories when surface metering is applied at DFW.

airport ramp traffic control decision support↗

Design of a force reflecting hand controller for space telemanipulation studies

The potential importance of space telemanipulator systems is reviewed, along with past studies of master-slave manipulation using a generalized force reflecting master arm. Problems concerning their dynamic interaction with the human operator have been revealed in the use of these systems, with marked differences between 1-g and simulated weightless conditions. A study is outlined to investigate the optimization of the man machine dynamics of master-slave manipulation, and a set of specifications is determined for the apparatus necessary to perform this investigation. This apparatus is a one degree of freedom force reflecting hand controller with closed loop servo control which enables it to simulate arbitrary dynamic properties to high bandwidth. Design of the complete system and its performance is discussed. Finally, the experimental adjustment of the hand controller dynamics for smooth manual control performance with good operator force perception is described, resulting in low inertia, viscously damped hand controller dynamics.

Paines, J. D. B.↗

(abstract) Mars Pathfinder Active Thermal Control System: Ground and Flight Performance of a Mechanically Pumped Cooling Loop

A key element of the Mars Pathfinder thermal control system is the Heat Rejection System (HRS). The HRS of Mars Pathfinder is designed to actively control the temperatures of the various parts of the spacecraft.This is achieved by mechanically circulating single-phase Freon 11 liquid through the lander and cruise electronics box heat exchangers and transferring the heat to an external radiator on the cruise stage. This is the first time in spacecraft history that a mechanically pumped cooling loop has been used on a long duration spacecraft mission. Many lessons have been learned during the testing and ground and flight operation of the HRS. This paper will present the performance of the mechanically pumped cooling loop during the ground and flight operations. Based on the lessons learned from this experience, recommendations on the design and operation of the pumped cooling loops for future space missions will be made.

Mars↗

Pilot Subjective Assessments During an Investigation of Separation Function Allocation Using a Human-In-The-Loop Simulation

Two human-in-the-loop simulation experiments were conducted to investigate allocation of separation assurance functions between ground and air and between humans and automation. The experiments modeled a mixed-operations concept in which aircraft receiving ground-based separation services shared the airspace with aircraft providing their own separation service (i.e., self-separation). The two experiments, one pilot-focused and the other controller-focused, addressed selected key issues of mixed operations and modeling an emergence of NextGen technologies and procedures. This paper focuses on the results of the subjective assessments of pilots collected during the pilot-focused human-in-the-loop simulation, specifically workload and situation awareness. Generally the results revealed that across all conditions, pilots' perceived workload was low to medium, with the highest reported levels of workload occurring when the pilots experienced a loss of separation during the scenario. Furthermore, the results from the workload data and situation awareness data were complimentary such that when pilots reported lower levels of workload they also experienced higher levels of situation awareness.

Burke, Kelly A.↗

Value Modeling for Enterprise Resilience

Abstract. The idea that resilience is a tangible, measureable, and desirable system attribute has grown rapidly over the last decade beyond is origins in explaining ecological, physiological, psychological, and social systems. Operational enterprise resilience requires two types of measurement. First, the system must monitor various operational conditions in order to respond to disruptions. These measurements are part of one or more observation, orientation, decision, and action (OODA) loops The OODA control processes that implement a resilience strategy use these measurements to provide robustness, rapid recovery and reconstitution. In order to assess the effectiveness of the resilience strategy, a different class of measurements is necessary. This second type consists of measurements about how well the OODA processes cover critical enterprise functions and the hazards to which the enterprise is exposed. They allow assessment of how well enterprise management processes anticipate, mitigate, and adapt to a changing environment and the degree to which the system is fault tolerant. This paper nominates a theoretical framework, in the form of definitions, a model, and a syntax, that accounts for this important distinction, and in so doing provides a mechanism for bridging resilience management process models and the many proposed cyber-defense metric enumerations.

Henderson, Dale L.↗

Manipulator systems extend man's capabilities in space.

Teleoperator components include manipulators and end effectors, sensors, a mobility unit, radio or hard-wire communications receiver and information processor, information display, man in the control loop at various levels of sophistication, the controls, and the transmitter. Possible applications of teleoperators in space cover a wide spectrum from various research and operational missions in earth orbit in conjunction with the space shuttle, space stations, and satellites to vehicles to explore the moon, planets and their moons, asteroids and comets.

Deutsch, S.↗

A modular multiple use system for precise time and frequency measurement and distribution

A modular CAMAC based system is described which was developed to meet a variety of precise time and frequency measurement and distribution needs. The system was based on a generalization of the dual mixer concept. By using a 16 channel 100 ns event clock, the system can intercompare the phase of 16 frequency standards with subpicosecond resolution. The system has a noise floor of 26 fs and a long term stability on the order of 1 ps or better. The system also used a digitally controlled crystal oscillator in a control loop to provide an offsettable 5 MHz output with subpicosecond phase tracking capability. A detailed description of the system is given including theory of operation and performance. A method to improve the performance of the dual mixer technique is discussed when phase balancing of the two input ports cannot be accomplished.

Reinhardt, V. S.↗

A miniaturized digital telemetry system for physiological data transmission

A physiological date telemetry system, consisting basically of a portable unit and a ground base station was designed, built, and tested. The portable unit to be worn by the subject is composed of a single crystal controlled transmitter with AM transmission of digital data and narrowband FM transmission of voice; a crystal controlled FM receiver; thirteen input channels follwed by a PCM encoder (three of these channels are designed for ECG data); a calibration unit; and a transponder control system. The ground base station consists of a standard telemetry reciever, a decoder, and an FM transmitter for transmission of voice and transponder signals to the portable unit. The ground base station has complete control of power to all subsystems in the portable unit. The phase-locked loop circuit which is used to decode the data, remains in operation even when the signal from the portable unit is interrupted.

Portnoy, W. M.↗

Analysis of potential helicopter vibration reduction concepts

Several recent helicopter vibration reduction research programs are described. Results of studies of blade design parameters in rotor vibratory response and of an advanced blade design for reduced vibration are examined. An optimization approach to develop a general automated procedure for rotor blade design is described, and analytical results for an articulated rotor operating at a steady 160 kt flight condition are reported. The use of a self-adaptive controller to implement higher harmonic control in closed-loop fashion is addressed, and a computer simulation used to evaluate and compare the performance of alternative algorithms included in the generic active controller is discussed. Results are presented for steady level flight conditions, short-duration maneuvers, blade stresses and rotor performance, blade-appended aeroelastic devices, vibratory airloads, wake-induced blade airloads, and airloads from blade motions, the interaction of rotor and fuselage, and the interaction of rotor and empennage.

Landgrebe, A. J.↗

Space Telescope precision pointing control system

The Hubble Space Telescope has the most stringent pointing requirements imposed on any spacecraft to date. The overall HST stability shall not exceed 0.007 arc-seconds rms. The Pointing Control System utilizes fine guidance sensors and rate gyros for attitude reference and rate information. Control torques are provided by reaction wheels. A digital computer collects the sensor data, performs the control law computations, and sends torque commands to the reaction wheels. To attain this precision pointing, improvements were made to the rate gyros to lower their noise characteristics and to the reaction wheels to reduce their emitted vibration levels. The control system design was validated in a test sequence which progressed from model verification tests on an air-bearing to operations-oriented, closed loop testing on the assembled vehicle. A test system is described which allowed the simultaneous production of test case command loads for the flight computer and plots of predicted profiles to assist in test data analysis. Workarounds were required during system test to accommodate gyro biases and noise introduced into the closed loop system. Testing and analysis indicate that the HST will provide the capability to meet the requirements for precision pointing.

Beals, G. A.↗

AI in Space: The Era of Autonomous Space Systems

The development of autonomy capabilities is the key to three vastly important strategic technical challenges facing NASA: the reduction of mission costs, the continuing return of quality science products through limited communications bandwidth, and the launching of a new era of solar system exploration characterized by sustained presence and in-depth scientific studies, including the search for life. Autonomy will benefit future NASA missions by migrating routine, traditionally ground-based functions to the spacecraft, by directly supporting the decoupling of spacecraft from the ground through new operations concepts, by enabling direct links between scientists and the space platforms carrying their instruments of investigation, and by the closing, of planning and control loops onboard, enabling space platforms to directly address uncertainty in the real-time mission context. The talk will survey ongoing, autonomy technology development projects at NASA, many of which have been or will soon be the subject of flight technology experiments, or are already targeted for mission use. The talk will also survey the exciting suite of future NASA space exploration missions, and make the case for the central role of autonomy in achieving the goals of these bold, unprecedented missions: cooperating rovers on the surface of Mars, the search for Earth-like planets around nearby stars, asteroid and comet landers, aerobots in planetary atmospheres, and a series of missions to intriguing Europa, perhaps culminating in a submersible to investigate its putative ocean. Finally, the talk will conclude with some farther-reaching speculations on how to create properties such as long-term survivability and evolvability in future space systems, such that they will be well equipped to extend humanity exploratory presence into the interstellar realm.

Doyle, Richard J.↗

Small Body GN&C Research Report: A Guidance and Control Technique for Small-Body Proximity Operations with Guaranteed Guidance Resolvability and Required Thruster Silent Time

The guidance and control (G&C) algorithms for enabling small-body proximity operations are developed by using a model predictive control approach along with a convexification of the governing dynamics, control constraints, and trajectory/state constraints. The open-loop guidance is solved ahead of time or in a resolvable, real-time manner through the use of PWG (Pseudo Way-point Generation), a technique developed in this research. The PWG scheme ensures required thruster silent times during trajectory maneuvers. The feedback control is implemented to track the PWG trajectories in a manner that guarantees the resolvability for the open-loop problem, enabling the ability to update the G&C in a model-predictive manner. The schemes incorporate gravity models and thruster ring times into discrete dynamics that are solved as a optimal control problem to minimize fuel consumption or thruster energy expenditure. The optimal control problem is cast as an LMI (Linear Matrix Inequality) and then solved through Semi-Definite Programming techniques in a computationally efficient manner that provides convergence and constraint guarantees.

guidance and control (G&C)↗

A Review of Pump Package Assembly Anomalies and Demonstration to Gain Motor Controller Replacement Capability

The International Space Station (ISS) generates heat within the US modules from systems used to operate the station, maintain crew health, and conduct science experiments in the orbiting laboratory. The Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) collects this heat in water loops and transfers it to the external ammonia system for rejection to space. The ITCS uses six Pump Package Assemblies (PPA) as the motive force to circulate the water within the Lab, Node 2, and Node 3 (Node 1 is parasitic to the Lab and Node 3 ITCS loops). In the life of ISS, 3 PPAs have had to be replaced and 2 PPAs are currently showing signs of degradation. The first PPA to fail in 2003 was due to early coolant chemistry issues; the remaining pump failures and current pump degradations are determined to be related to the Pump/Fan Motor Controller (PFMC), with their individual signatures all being unique to this point. The PFMC of one of the failed PPAs was returned and testing confirmed its sub-components to be the root cause of the PPA failure. Due to the relative size and weight of the standalone PFMC in comparison to the integrated assembly, it is desired, from a launch and on-orbit stowage perspective, to replace the PFMC component of the degraded PPA instead of the entire PPA. The PPA was not designed for this capability, so on the ground demonstrations are planned using crew tools to show that the PFMC can be replaced on-orbit while maintaining full functionality. This paper will focus on the signatures of the two most recent PPA failures and the two PPAs showing signs of degradation, in addition to presenting the findings from the PFMC demonstration effort.

Aaron Rodriguez↗

A Review of Pump Package Assembly Anomalies and Demonstration to Gain Motor Controller Replacement Capability

The International Space Station (ISS) generates heat within the US modules from systems used to operate the station, maintain crew health, and conduct science experiments in the orbiting laboratory. The Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) collects this heat in water loops and transfers it to the external ammonia system for rejection to space. The ITCS uses six Pump Package Assemblies (PPA) as the motive force to circulate the water within the Lab, Node 2, and Node 3 (Node 1 is parasitic to the Lab and Node 3 ITCS loops). In the life of ISS, 3 PPAs have had to be replaced and 2 PPAs are currently showing signs of degradation. The first PPA to fail in 2003 was due to early coolant chemistry issues; the remaining pump failures and current pump degradations are determined to be related to the Pump/Fan Motor Controller (PFMC), with their individual signatures all being unique to this point. The PFMC of one of the failed PPAs was returned and testing confirmed its sub-components to be the root cause of the PPA failure. Due to the relative size and weight of the standalone PFMC in comparison to the integrated assembly, it is desired, from a launch and on-orbit stowage perspective, to replace the PFMC component of the degraded PPA instead of the entire PPA. The PPA was not designed for this capability, so on the ground demonstrations are planned using crew tools to show that the PFMC can be replaced on-orbit while maintaining full functionality. This paper will focus on the signatures of the two most recent PPA failures and the two PPAs showing signs of degradation, in addition to presenting the findings from the PFMC demonstration effort.

Aaron Rodriguez↗

Dynamically limiting energy consumed by cooling apparatus

Cooling apparatuses and methods are provided which include one or more coolant-cooled structures associated with an electronics rack, a coolant loop coupled in fluid communication with one or more passages of the coolant-cooled structure(s), one or more heat exchange units coupled to facilitate heat transfer from coolant within the coolant loop, and N controllable components associated with the coolant loop or the heat exchange unit(s), wherein N.gtoreq.1. The N controllable components facilitate circulation of coolant through the coolant loop or transfer of heat from the coolant via the heat exchange unit(s). A controller is coupled to the N controllable components, and dynamically adjusts operation of the N controllable components, based on Z input parameters and one or more specified constraints, to provide a specified cooling to the coolant-cooled structure(s), while limiting energy consumed by the N controllable components, wherein Z.gtoreq.1.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Orbiter integrated active thermal control subsystem test

Integrated subsystem level testing of the systems within the orbiter active thermal chamber capable of simulating ground, orbital, and entry temperature and pressure profiles. The test article was in a closed loop configuration that included flight type and functionally simulated protions of all ATCS components for collecting, transporting, and rejecting orbiter waste heat. Specially designed independently operating equipment simulated the transient thermal input from the cabin, payload, fuel cells, freon cold plates, hydraulic system, and space environment. Test team members using data, controls, and procedures available to a flight crew controlled the operation of the ATCS. The ATCS performance met or exceeded all thermal and operational requirements for planned and contingency mission support.

Jaax, J. R.↗