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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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NASA NTRS2006

Adjustably Autonomous Multi-agent Plan Execution with an Internal Spacecraft Free-Flying Robot Prototype

We present an multi-agent model-based autonomy architecture with monitoring, planning, diagnosis, and execution elements. We discuss an internal spacecraft free-flying robot prototype controlled by an implementation of this architecture and a ground test facility used for development. In addition, we discuss a simplified environment control life support system for the spacecraft domain also controlled by an implementation of this architecture. We discuss adjustable autonomy and how it applies to this architecture. We describe an interface that provides the user situation awareness of both autonomous systems and enables the user to dynamically edit the plans prior to and during execution as well as control these agents at various levels of autonomy. This interface also permits the agents to query the user or request the user to perform tasks to help achieve the commanded goals. We conclude by describing a scenario where these two agents and a human interact to cooperatively detect, diagnose and recover from a simulated spacecraft fault.

Dorais, Gregory A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Dynamics Questions Associated with the AERCam Sprint Free-Flyer

The International Space Station will require the development of small robotic vehicles for such tasks as external inspection, monitoring of extravehicular activities (EVA's) and station build-up, and providing additional lighting at EVA worksites. The Autonomous EVA Robotic Camera (AERCam) family of free-flyers is currently being developed at NASA Johnson Space Center to perform these functions; the first member of the family is the AERCam Sprint vehicle. Many interesting dynamical questions are associated with the Sprint free-flyer. For instance, the reaction of a vehicle which is nearly spherically symmetric (such as Sprint) to a stuck-on thruster is significantly more complicated than that obtained for an idealized, perfectly spherical, spacecraft model. In particular, the real spacecraft will experience a form of forced nutation, with convergence towards either its major or minor principal axis, depending on both the applied torque and the mass properties of the vehicle. Furthermore, the body-fixed jet force vector may have a significant component along this principal axis, so giving rise to a considerable net linear acceleration of the spacecraft. The large velocity that can result is very important, as it may lead to collision with the nearby Orbiter, and is completely overlooked in the idealized analysis. This report will firstly briefly describe the stuck-on thruster dynamics of the real vehicle, and outline how the small products of inertia of the spacecraft determine the time constants of the motion. Secondly, the dynamical effects of a failed-off jet on the Sprint free-flyer will be described in more detail, and compared with the stuck-on thruster case. This will help to show whether the two malfunctions should be dealt with differently in flight. Finally, the stuck-on thruster detection software (known as the uncommanded motion algorithm) that is proposed to be flown on the Sprint vehicle will be analyzed, and all possible perturbation sources that may tend to give rise to false stuck-on thruster alarms quantified. It will be shown that false alarms can be triggered by discrete events such as a failed-off thruster, a glancing collision with Orbiter structure, or thruster saturation. They can also be triggered by a combination of errors introduced by constantly present sources such as thrust level errors, thruster misalignment, inertial cross-coupling, angular rate sensor noise, and structural vibrations induced by thruster firings. Based on this fact, the original plan to have the spacecraft enter safe mode whenever the uncommanded motion algorithm is triggered does not appear to be advisable. A better approach seems to be to provide the Sprint pilot with a warning whenever uncommanded motion is detected, and then allow the crew to determine whether safing the vehicle is appropriate.

Williams, Trevor↗

NASA NTRS2006

Time Triggered Protocol (TTP) for Integration Modular Avionics (IMA)

This viewgraph presentation is a review of the Time Triggered Protocol, designed to work with NASA's Integrated Safety-Critical Advanced Avionics Communication and Control (ISAACC) system. ISAACC is the product of the Propulsion High-Impact Avionics Technologies (PHIAT) project at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) during FY03 to the end of FY05. The goal is an avionics architecture suitable for control and monitoring of safety critical systems of manned spacecraft. It must be scalable to allow its use in robotic vehicles or launch pad and propulsion test stand monitoring and control systems. The developed IMA should have: a common power supply and rugged chassis for a set of modules, many upgradeable software functions on one module (i.e. processing unit Reduced weight, straightforward update and system integration. It is also important that it have Partitioning and a Memory Management Unit (MMU)

Gwaltney, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Future needs for space robots for SEI

High level systems engineering modeling and analysis activities for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) are reviewed, with emphasis on planet surface systems. Particular attention is given to SEI studies, preliminary space robotic system requirements, and usefulness of space robotic systems developed to operate on planetary surfaces on earth. It is concluded that supervised intelligent systems on the planet surfaces are necessary to make SEI planet surface activities reliable and productive and encompass capabilities for control and monitoring of all elements, including supervised autonomous robotic systems. Amplification of human capabilities due to applying more knowledge and reasoning in more flexible and appropriate ways than conventional automation approaches will provide more robust performance, greater choice of interaction modes with operators, and greater transparency of operation.

Erickson, Jon D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Human factors: Space

The objectives are to provide a technology base for intelligent operator interfaces, especially with autonomous subsystems, and to develop a new generation of high performance space suits, gloves, and tools/end effectors to meet the requirements of advanced space missions. The technology base is intended to meet the requirements of productivity, efficiency, and safety in complex manned operations within automated onboard systems and extravehicular activities (EVA) environments. Crew station research is the first of two major areas. Development of methods for the astronaut to supervise, monitor, and evaluate the performance of robotic systems, other space subsystems, and orbital vehicles are key areas of research. The second major area is development of an EVA space suit and gloves. Emphasis in the space human factors research program is placed on technology baseline studies and development of methods, techniques, and data to support productive and safe operations by the astronaut and crew as they interface with complex systems, advance automation, and robotic assistants.

Jenkins, James P.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Calibration of of Sun Photometers and Sky Radiance Sensors

The main source of error in retrieving aerosol optical thicknesses using sun photometry comes from the determination of the TOA voltages. The degradation of interference filters is the most important source of the long-term changes in the cross-calibrations. Although major improvements have been made in the design of the filters (interference filters fabricated using ion-assisted deposition), the filters remain the principal factor limiting performance of the sun photometers. Degradation of filters necessitates frequent calibration of sun photometers and frequent measurements of the filter transmission or the relative system response. The degradation of the filters mounted on the CIMEL sun photometers have been monitored since 1993 by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) project. The decay reported by Holben et al. for the first two years of a CIMEL#s operation is between 1 and 5%. Nevertheless, the filters mounted on CIMEL instruments are regularly replaced after two years of use. The cross-calibration technique consists of taking measurements concurrently with the uncalibrated and the reference sun photometers. While analyzing measurements, the quality of the calibration has to be checked, using the following considerations: (1) any cirrus clouds suspected to be masking the sun, during the calibration period, need to be reported and the corresponding data set removed; and (2) the stability of the day needs to be checked. This chapter will describe calibration techniques, facilities, and protocols used for calibrating sun photometers and sky radiometers.

Pietras, Christophe↗

NASA NTRS1992

Traffic Monitor

Mestech's X-15 "Eye in the Sky," a traffic monitoring system, incorporates NASA imaging and robotic vision technology. A camera or "sensor box" is mounted in a housing. The sensor detects vehicles approaching an intersection and sends the information to a computer, which controls the traffic light according to the traffic rate. Jet Propulsion Laboratory technical support packages aided in the company's development of the system. The X-15's "smart highway" can also be used to count vehicles on a highway and compute the number in each lane and their speeds, important information for freeway control engineers. Additional applications are in airport and railroad operations. The system is intended to replace loop-type traffic detectors.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Microtechnology in Space: NASA's Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development Program

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Lab on a Chip Application Development LOCAD) team has worked with microfluidic technology for the past few years in an effort to support NASA's Mission. In that time, such microfluidic based Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) systems have become common technology in clinical and diagnostic laboratories. The approach is most attractive due to its highly miniaturized platform and ability to perform reagent handling (i-e., dilution, mixing, separation) and diagnostics for multiple reactions in an integrated fashion. LOCAD, along with Caliper Life Sciences has successfully developed the first LOC device for macromolecular crystallization using a workstation acquired specifically for designing custom chips, the Caliper 42. LOCAD uses this, along with a novel MSFC-designed and built workstation for microfluidic development. The team has a cadre of LOC devices that can be used to perform initial feasibility testing to determine the efficacy of the LOC approach for a specific application. Once applicability has been established, the LOCAD team, along with the Army's Aviation and Missile Command microfabrication facility, can then begin to custom design and fabricate a device per the user's specifications. This presentation will highlight the LOCAD team's proven and unique expertise that has been utilized to provide end to end capabilities associated with applying microfluidics for applications that include robotic life detection instrumentation, crew health monitoring and microbial and environmental monitoring for human Exploration.

Monaco, Lisa↗

NASA NTRS2013

Spinoff 2012

Topics covered include: Water Treatment Technologies Inspire Healthy Beverages; Dietary Formulas Fortify Antioxidant Supplements; Rovers Pave the Way for Hospital Robots; Dry Electrodes Facilitate Remote Health Monitoring; Telescope Innovations Improve Speed, Accuracy of Eye Surgery; Superconductors Enable Lower Cost MRI Systems; Anti-Icing Formulas Prevent Train Delays; Shuttle Repair Tools Automate Vehicle Maintenance; Pressure-Sensitive Paints Advance Rotorcraft Design Testing; Speech Recognition Interfaces Improve Flight Safety; Polymers Advance Heat Management Materials for Vehicles; Wireless Sensors Pinpoint Rotorcraft Troubles; Ultrasonic Detectors Safely Identify Dangerous, Costly Leaks; Detectors Ensure Function, Safety of Aircraft Wiring; Emergency Systems Save Tens of Thousands of Lives; Oxygen Assessments Ensure Safer Medical Devices; Collaborative Platforms Aid Emergency Decision Making; Space-Inspired Trailers Encourage Exploration on Earth; Ultra-Thin Coatings Beautify Art; Spacesuit Materials Add Comfort to Undergarments; Gigapixel Images Connect Sports Teams with Fans; Satellite Maps Deliver More Realistic Gaming; Elemental Scanning Devices Authenticate Works of Art; Microradiometers Reveal Ocean Health, Climate Change; Sensors Enable Plants to Text Message Farmers; Efficient Cells Cut the Cost of Solar Power; Shuttle Topography Data Inform Solar Power Analysis; Photocatalytic Solutions Create Self-Cleaning Surfaces; Concentrators Enhance Solar Power Systems; Innovative Coatings Potentially Lower Facility Maintenance Costs; Simulation Packages Expand Aircraft Design Options; Web Solutions Inspire Cloud Computing Software; Behavior Prediction Tools Strengthen Nanoelectronics; Power Converters Secure Electronics in Harsh Environments; Diagnostics Tools Identify Faults Prior to Failure; Archiving Innovations Preserve Essential Historical Records; Meter Designs Reduce Operation Costs for Industry; Commercial Platforms Allow Affordable Space Research; Fiber Optics Deliver Real-Time Structural Monitoring; Camera Systems Rapidly Scan Large Structures; Terahertz Lasers Reveal Information for 3D Images; Thin Films Protect Electronics from Heat and Radiation; Interferometers Sharpen Measurements for Better Telescopes; and Vision Systems Illuminate Industrial Processes.

Source record↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Runtime Verification with Ogma

Ultra-critical systems require high-level assurance, which cannot always be guaranteed in compile time. The use of runtime verification (RV) enable monitoring these systems in runtime, to detect property violations early and limit their potential consequences. However, the introduction of monitors in ultra-critical systems poses a challenge, as failures and delays in the RV subsystem could affect other subsystems and threaten the mission as a whole. In this talk we discuss two systems: NASA's Ogma, a tool to transform high-level specifications into monitoring code, and Copilot, a runtime verification framework for real-time embedded systems. The toolchain can be used to translate structured natural language requirements into C code with static memory requirements, which can be compiled to run on embedded hardware.

Ogma↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Runtime Verification with Ogma

Ogma↗

NASA NTRS2006

Integrated Planning for Telepresence with Time Delays

Teleoperation of remote robotic systems over time delays in the range of 2-10 seconds poses a unique set of challenges. In the context of a supervisory control system for the JSC Robonaut humanoid robot, we have developed an 'intelligent assistant' that integrates an Artificial Intelligence planner (JSHOP2) with execution monitoring of the state of both the human supervisor and the remote robot. The assistant reasons simultaneously about the world state on both sides of the time delay, which represents a novel application of this technology. The purpose of the assistant is to provide advice to the human supervisor about current and future activities, derived from a sequence of high-level goals to be achieved. To do this, the assistant must simultaneously monitor and react to various data sources, including actions taken by the supervisor who is issuing commands to the robot (e.g. with a data glove), actions taken by the robot, and the environment of the robot, both as currently perceived over the time delay, along with the current sequence of goals. We have developed a 'leader/follower' software architecture to handle the dual time-shifted streams of execution feedback. In this paper we describe the integrated planner and its executive, and how it operates in normal and anomaly situations.

remote robotic systems↗

NASA NTRS2004

How Can AERONET Help with Monitoring Clouds?

When conditions are inappropriate to make AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) measurements for aerosol studies, new measurements related to cloud physics can be made instead. As such, several AERONET CIMEL sunphotometers have been equipped with a new "cloud mode." This mode allows the CIMELs to make measurements of zenith radiance when the Sun in blocked by clouds. When in cloud mode, a CIMEL points straight up every 10-15 minutes and takes 10 measurements over a 9 second time interval at four wavelengths: 440,670,870, and 1020 nm. For cloudy conditions above green vegetation, the spectral contrast in surface albedo dominates over Rayleigh and aerosol effects. We have developed a new method for retrieving cloud optical depth, even for broken clouds, that uses data from the 670 (and/or 440) and 870 nm channels. In addition to cloud optical depth, the method also infers a "radiatively effective" cloud fraction. The results of the retrievals at the ARM Central Facility in Oklahoma are compared with the ones from Microwave Radiometer (MWR) and Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometers (MFRSR).

Marshak, A.↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Software Architecture for Semiautonomous Robot Control

A software architecture has been developed to increase the safety and effectiveness with which tasks are performed by robots that are capable of functioning autonomously but sometimes are operated under control by humans. The control system of such a robot designed according to a prior software architecture has no way of taking account of how the environment has changed or what parts of a task were performed during an interval of control by a human, so that errors can occur (and, hence, safety and effectiveness jeopardized) when the human relinquishes control. The present architecture incorporates the control, task-planning, and sensor-based-monitoring features of typical prior autonomous-robot software architectures, plus features for updating information on the environment and planning of tasks during control by a human operator in order to enable the robot to track the actions taken by the operator and to be ready to resume autonomous operation with minimal error. The present architecture also provides a user interface that presents, to the operator, a variety of information on the internal state of the robot and the status of the task.

Kortenkamp, David↗

NASA NTRS1991

Composite video and graphics display for multiple camera viewing system in robotics and teleoperation

A system for real-time video image display for robotics or remote-vehicle teleoperation is described that has at least one robot arm or remotely operated vehicle controlled by an operator through hand-controllers, and one or more television cameras and optional lighting element. The system has at least one television monitor for display of a television image from a selected camera and the ability to select one of the cameras for image display. Graphics are generated with icons of cameras and lighting elements for display surrounding the television image to provide the operator information on: the location and orientation of each camera and lighting element; the region of illumination of each lighting element; the viewed region and range of focus of each camera; which camera is currently selected for image display for each monitor; and when the controller coordinate for said robot arms or remotely operated vehicles have been transformed to correspond to coordinates of a selected or nonselected camera.

Diner, Daniel B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Composite video and graphics display for camera viewing systems in robotics and teleoperation

Diner, Daniel B.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Telerobotics Workstation (TRWS) for Deep Space Habitats

On medium- to long-duration human spaceflight missions, latency in communications from Earth could reduce efficiency or hinder local operations, control, and monitoring of the various mission vehicles and other elements. Regardless of the degree of autonomy of any one particular element, a means of monitoring and controlling the elements in real time based on mission needs would increase efficiency and response times for their operation. Since human crews would be present locally, a local means for monitoring and controlling all the various mission elements is needed, particularly for robotic elements where response to interesting scientific features in the environment might need near- instantaneous manipulation and control. One of the elements proposed for medium- and long-duration human spaceflight missions, the Deep Space Habitat (DSH), is intended to be used as a remote residence and working volume for human crews. The proposed solution for local monitoring and control would be to provide a workstation within the DSH where local crews can operate local vehicles and robotic elements with little to no latency. The Telerobotics Workstation (TRWS) is a multi-display computer workstation mounted in a dedicated location within the DSH that can be adjusted for a variety of configurations as required. From an Intra-Vehicular Activity (IVA) location, the TRWS uses the Robot Application Programming Interface Delegate (RAPID) control environment through the local network to remotely monitor and control vehicles and robotic assets located outside the pressurized volume in the immediate vicinity or at low-latency distances from the habitat. The multiple display area of the TRWS allows the crew to have numerous windows open with live video feeds, control windows, and data browsers, as well as local monitoring and control of the DSH and associated systems.

Mittman, David S.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Integrated Human-Robotic Missions to the Moon and Mars: Mission Operations Design Implications

For most of the history of space exploration, human and robotic programs have been independent, and have responded to distinct requirements. The NASA Vision for Space Exploration calls for the return of humans to the Moon, and the eventual human exploration of Mars; the complexity of this range of missions will require an unprecedented use of automation and robotics in support of human crews. The challenges of human Mars missions, including roundtrip communications time delays of 6 to 40 minutes, interplanetary transit times of many months, and the need to manage lifecycle costs, will require the evolution of a new mission operations paradigm far less dependent on real-time monitoring and response by an Earthbound operations team. Robotic systems and automation will augment human capability, increase human safety by providing means to perform many tasks without requiring immediate human presence, and enable the transfer of traditional mission control tasks from the ground to crews. Developing and validating the new paradigm and its associated infrastructure may place requirements on operations design for nearer-term lunar missions. The authors, representing both the human and robotic mission operations communities, assess human lunar and Mars mission challenges, and consider how human-robot operations may be integrated to enable efficient joint operations, with the eventual emergence of a unified exploration operations culture.

Korth, David↗