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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Processing Images of Craters for Spacecraft Navigation

A crater-detection algorithm has been conceived to enable automation of what, heretofore, have been manual processes for utilizing images of craters on a celestial body as landmarks for navigating a spacecraft flying near or landing on that body. The images are acquired by an electronic camera aboard the spacecraft, then digitized, then processed by the algorithm, which consists mainly of the following steps: 1. Edges in an image detected and placed in a database. 2. Crater rim edges are selected from the edge database. 3. Edges that belong to the same crater are grouped together. 4. An ellipse is fitted to each group of crater edges. 5. Ellipses are refined directly in the image domain to reduce errors introduced in the detection of edges and fitting of ellipses. 6. The quality of each detected crater is evaluated. It is planned to utilize this algorithm as the basis of a computer program for automated, real-time, onboard processing of crater-image data. Experimental studies have led to the conclusion that this algorithm is capable of a detection rate >93 percent, a false-alarm rate <5 percent, a geometric error <0.5 pixel, and a position error <0.3 pixel.

Cheng, Yang↗
NASA NTRS2011

Optical Navigation for the EPOXI Mission

The Deep Impact spacecraft flew by comet Hartley 2 on November 4, 2010 as part of its extended mission called EPOXI. Successful navigation depended critically on the quality and timing of optical navigation data processing, since pictures of the comet provided the most precise comet-relative position of the spacecraft. This paper describes the planning, including the picture timing and pointing; the methods used to determine the center of the comet image in each picture; and the optical navigation results, which provided the necessary information to allow the cameras to accurately target the comet for science imaging at encounter.

small-body mission↗
NASA NTRS1997

Application of the Two-Step Filter to Process Ranging Measurements for Relative Navigation in an Elliptical Orbit

This estimator breaks a nonlinear estimation problem into a set of over determined 'first step' states which are linear in the observations and 'second step' states which are ultimately the states of interest. Linear estimation methods are applied to filter the observations and produce the optimal first step state estimate. The 'second step' states are obtained through iterative nonlinear parameter estimation considering the first step states as observations. It has been shown that this process exactly minimizes the least squares cost function for static problems and provides a better solution than the iterated extended Kalman filter (EKF) for dynamic problems. The two step filter is applied in this paper to process range and range rate measurements between the two spacecraft. Details of the application of the two step estimator to this problem will be given, highlighting the use of a test for ill-conditioned covariance estimates that can result from the first order covariance propagation. A comparison will be made between the performance of the two step filter and the IEKF.

Garrison, James L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

EV Charging Infrastructure Energization: An Overview of Approaches for Simplifying Processes and Accelerating Timelines to Processing EV Charging Load Service Requests

The United States has seen significant growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption, leading to increased demand for EV charging infrastructure and electricity. Growth in electricity demand from EV charging, coupled with growth in other sectors like data centers and electrification of other sectors, is impacting electricity infrastructure and load service request processes after two decades of relatively flat electricity demand. While most electric vehicle charging occurs at home, enroute and depot charging for medium and heavy-duty vehicles, both using high-powered EV charging, are critical to meet electric vehicle operational needs. Over the past decade, EV charging infrastructure site developers, site hosts, and electric distribution utilities have navigated the process to integrate chargers onto the electric grid. Site developers and site hosts have expressed distress that the integration process for high-powered EV charging projects does not meet the needs of the EV market for timeliness or cost. High-powered charging stations typically require a load service request or an agreement with the local utility to connect to the grid. The process of energizing a new high-powered charging site can be complex and time consuming, often taking up to 2 years. This timeline is the result of current utility energization processes having been designed for construction projects that take longer to build (i.e., buildings). The specific challenges stem from various factors, including compartmentalization in application processes, the integration of EV charging process approvals with other distributed energy resources (DERs), and the need to ensure grid reliability. The energization process needs to evolve to meet the growing demand for high-powered EV charging. This white paper compiles information gathered through various conversations with key stakeholders, including utilities, utility regulators, EV charging operators, site developers, and authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) as well as through an extensive literature review. This document identifies the challenges and provides potential solutions to streamline the process of connecting EV charging infrastructure to the power grid in the United States, serving as a starting point for future conversations around these solutions.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Navigating high-dimensional process-structure–property relations in nanocrystalline Pt-Au alloys with machine learning

For decades, materials scientists have relied on the process-structure–property paradigm to guide investigations into material behaviors. Traditional studies often examine a limited number of process-structure–property variables, striving to elucidate mechanisms governing material response. However, this approach is time consuming and can limit exploration, as well as the discovery of process-structure–property relations in novel materials. In this paper, we combined combinatorial sputter deposition and multi-modal high-throughput materials characterization with feedforward neural networks to establish high-dimensional process-structure–property relations in Pt-Au alloys, yielding nanocrystalline alloys with high hardness and low resistivity relevant to electrical contact switch applications. We mapped three indicators of process conditions (composition and two atomic deposition characteristics) onto four indicators of material structure (X-ray diffraction, film thickness, density, and surface roughness) and two indicators of material properties (hardness and resistivity), resulting in 784 unique combinations evaluated over a 13-dimensional space. The neural networks predicted Pt-Au alloys with 18–24 at.% Au, when deposited at specific conditions, to have a nanoindentation hardness up to 7.2 GPa. This high hardness value, comparable to some steels, represents a 3-fold improvement in hardness over “hard gold”, a commonly used electrical contact alloy, while maintaining requisite electrical conductivity. The neural network models provide an avenue to identify expected process windows capable of maximizing material performance.

Electrical contact materials↗
NASA NTRS1987

Investigation of air transportation technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984

Three projects sponsored by the Joint University Program at MIT are summarized. Two projects were focussed on the potential application of Loran-C in flying nonprecision approaches to general aviation runways, and the third project involved research on aircraft icing. In one Loran-C project, Aircraft Approach Guidance Using Relative Loran-C Navigation, the concept was flight tested. It used the difference in TD's from those of the touchdown point to simplify and speed navigation computer processing and took advantage of the short term accuracy of less than 100 feet for Loran-C. The goal of the project, Probabilistic Modelling of Loran-C Error for Nonprecision Approaches, was to develop a mathematical model which would predict the probability that an approach flown to a runway with a particular Loran-C receiver would fall within a given standard. The Aircraft Icing project focussed on measurement of droplet trajectories and droplet impingement/runback characteristics and measurement of real time ice accretion using ultrasonic pulse echo techniques.

Simpson, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Networks Of Executive Controllers For Automation

Paper discusses principal issues to be resolved in development of autonomous executive-controller shell for Space Station. Shell represents major increase in complexity of automated systems. More-complex control tasks require system that deals with different goals requiring sequences of tasks that change state of system world in complex ways. Requires integration of all functions. Applications include space station communications, tracking, life support, data processing support, navigation, and control of thermal and structural subsystems.

Erickson, William K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Lunar articulated remote transportation system

A first generation lunar transportation vehicle was designed for use on the surface of the Moon between the years 2010 and 2020. Attention is focussed on specific design details on all components of the Lunar Articulated Remote Transportation System (Lunar ARTS). The Lunar ARTS will be a three cart, six-wheeled articulated vehicle. It's purpose will be for the transportation of astronauts and/or materials for excavation purposes at a short distance from the base (37.5 kilometers). The power system includes fuel cells for both the primary system and the back-up system. The vehicle has the option of being operated in a manned or unmanned mode. The unmanned mode includes stereo imaging with signal processing for navigation. For manned missions the display console is a digital readout displayed on the inside of the asronaut's helmet. A microprocessor is also on board the vehicle. Other components of the vehicle include: a double wishbone/flexible hemispherical wheel suspension; chassis; a steering system; motors; seat restraints, heat rejection systems; solar flare protection; dust protection; and meteoroid protection. A one-quarter scale dynamic model was built to study the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The dynamic model closely captures the mechanical and electrical details of the total design.

Beech, Geoffrey↗
NASA NTRS1989

Preliminary concept for lunar exploration tracking and data acquisition and data processing systems

The NASA Office of Exploration is evaluating potential scenarios for an ambitious and complex mission to the moon. This paper sumarizes the initial system engineering analyses being performed to identify the communications, data processing, and navigational support required by these case studies. A feasible option for providing tracking and data acquisition using technology available in the 1990s is described.

Hei, Donald, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Lunar articulated remote transportation system

The students of the Florida A&M/Florida State University College of Engineering continued their design from 1988 to 1989 on a first generation lunar transportation vehicle for use on the surface of the Moon between the years 2010 and 2020. Attention is focused on specific design details on all components of the Lunar Articulated Remote Transportation System (Lunar ARTS). The Lunar ARTS will be a three-cart, six-wheeled articulated vehicle. Its purpose will be the transportation of astronauts and/or materials for excavation purposes at a short distance from the base (37.5 km). The power system includes fuel cells for both the primary system and the back-up system. The vehicle has the option of being operated in a manned or unmanned mode. The unmanned mode includes stereo imaging with signal processing for navigation. For manned missions the display console is a digital readout displayed on the inside of the astronaut's helmet. A microprocessor is also on board the vehicle. Other components of the vehicle include a double wishbone/flexible hemispherical wheel suspension; chassis; a steering system; motors; seat retraints; heat rejection systems; solar flare protection; dust protection; and meteoroid protection. A one-quarter scale dynamic model has been built to study the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The dynamic model closely captures the mechanical and electrical details of the total design.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

ARTSN: An Automated Real-Time Spacecraft Navigation System

ARTSN, the Automated Real-Time Spacecraft Navigation system is a real time system for the automated navigation of interplanetary spacecraft. The system processes the real time DSN radio metric data flow and generates updated spacecraft solutions and the associated covariance. ARTSN is designed modularly with the user interface input and output separated from the data analysis modules. Designed for distributed application, the system provided, for the first time, an automated method of processing radio metric navigation data for interplanetary spacecraft.

ARTSN↗
NASA NTRS2021

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) Mission

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) will provide an entirely new view on particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere by creating the first low radio frequency interferometer in space to localize heliospheric radio emissions. By imaging and determining the location of decametric-hectometric (DH) radio bursts from 0.1 MHz–25 MHz, SunRISE will provide key information on particle acceleration mechanisms associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the magnetic field topology from active regions into interplanetary space. Six small spacecraft, of a 6U form factor, will fly in a supersynchronous geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) orbit within about 10 km of each other, in a passive formation, and image the Sun in a portion of the spectrum that is blocked by the ionosphere and cannot be observed from Earth. Key aspects that enable this mission are that only position knowledge of the spacecraft is required, not active control, and that the architecture involves a modest amount of on-board processing coupled with significant ground-based processing for navigation, position determination, and science operations. Mission-enabling advances in software-defined radios, GPS navigation and timing, and small spacecraft technologies, developed and flown on the DARPA High Frequency Research (DHFR), the Community Initiative for Continuing Earth Radio Occultation (CICERO), and the Mars Cube One (MarCO) missions, have made this mission affordable and low-risk. The SunRISE mission will involve utilizing commercial access to space, in which the SunRISE spacecraft will be carried to their target orbit as a secondary payload in conjunction with a larger host spacecraft intended for GEO.

Neilson, Tim↗
NASA NTRS2022

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) Mission

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) will provide an entirely new view on particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere by creating the first low radio frequency interferometer in space to localize heliospheric radio emissions. By imaging and determining the location of decametric-hectometric (DH, 0.1 MHz–23 MHz) solar radio bursts, SunRISE will provide key information on particle acceleration mechanisms associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the magnetic field topology from active regions into interplanetary space. The SunRISE Observatory will consist of six space vehicles in a passive formation, in orbits designed to keep them within approximately 10 km of each other, and flying in a supersynchronous geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Each space vehicle consists of a Solar DH-GNSS payload and a 6U form factor spacecraft. The SunRISE Observatory together with significant ground-based processing, will enable imaging of the Sun in a portion of the spectrum that is blocked by the ionosphere and cannot be observed from Earth. Key aspects that enable this mission are that only position knowledge of the space vehicles is required, not active control, and that the architecture involves a modest amount of on-board processing coupled with significant ground-based processing for navigation, position determination, and science operations. Mission-enabling advances in software-defined radios, GPS navigation and timing, and small spacecraft technologies, developed and flown on the DARPA High Frequency Research (DHFR) and the Community Initiative for Continuing Earth Radio Occultation (CICERO) have made this mission affordable and low-risk. The SunRISE mission will exploit the multiple spacecraft per aperture (MSPA) capability of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), for more efficient data transfers of larger data volumes, and utilize commercial access to space, in which the SunRISE space vehicles will be carried to their target orbit as secondary payloads in conjunction with a larger host spacecraft intended for GEO.

Neilson, Tim↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

What Risks are Acceptable for a Class D Project?

This talk is intended to help small project proposers to navigate the process of deciding what risks would be acceptable in their Class D projects, as well as steering away from misinterpretations of risk to mean “doing something different”. This will be largely NASA centric, largely focused on science missions, but there will be more general takeaways.

risk↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Evolution of Airport Terminal Wayfinding Technologies

This work was presented during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) webinar "Enhancing the Airport Experience with Wayfinding" on May 23, 2024. The process of navigating within airports has evolved over the years, with various technologies emerging to complement static signage. Historically, wayfinding began with static signage and airport staff members providing personal guidance, before progressing into digital signs, interactive kiosks, and displays. In recent years, wayfinding has continued along its digital path using mobile applications, indoor positioning technology, and even robot guides. With ever- larger airport facilities and a growing number of travelers, the future of wayfinding will likely be heavily linked to further digital developments such as facial recognition, augmented-reality technology, and autonomous vehicle navigation. This presentation delves into the history of interior wayfinding in airports, its present state, and the anticipated future. Key wayfinding technologies are discussed with an emphasis on emerging smartphone applications. Other considerations such as legal issues, language barriers, and human-technology interactions are included. A wayfinding framework is proposed, with static wayfinding technologies serving as the base upon which dynamic and personalized digital technologies are built. In this framework, electronic wayfinding technologies do not replace - but rather augment - traditional methods. These technologies can be integrated into existing wayfinding systems for a seamless traveler experience.

airport↗
NASA NTRS2006

Integrating Terrain Maps Into a Reactive Navigation Strategy

An improved method of processing information for autonomous navigation of a robotic vehicle across rough terrain involves the integration of terrain maps into a reactive navigation strategy. Somewhat more precisely, the method involves the incorporation, into navigation logic, of data equivalent to regional traversability maps. The terrain characteristic is mapped using a fuzzy-logic representation of the difficulty of traversing the terrain. The method is robust in that it integrates a global path-planning strategy with sensor-based regional and local navigation strategies to ensure a high probability of success in reaching a destination and avoiding obstacles along the way. The sensor-based strategies use cameras aboard the vehicle to observe the regional terrain, defined as the area of the terrain that covers the immediate vicinity near the vehicle to a specified distance a few meters away.

Howard, Ayanna↗