Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “object localization”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Actuator placement for active sound and vibration control of cylinders

Active structural acoustic control is a method in which the control inputs (used to reduce interior noise) are applied directly to a vibrating structural acoustic system. The control concept modeled in this work is the application of in-plane force inputs to piezoceramic patches bonded to the wall of a vibrating cylinder. The cylinder is excited by an exterior noise source -- an acoustic monopole -- located near the outside of the cylinder wall. The goal is to determine the force inputs and sites for the piezoelectric actuators so that (1) the interior noise is effectively damped; (2) the level of vibration of the cylinder shell is not increased; and (3) the power requirements needed to drive the actuators are not excessive. We studied external monopole excitations at two frequencies. A cylinder resonance of 100 Hz, where the interior acoustic field is driven in multiple, off-resonance cylinder cavity modes, and a cylinder resonance of 200 Hz are characterized by both near and off-resonance cylinder vibration modes which couple effectively with a single, dominant, low-order acoustic cavity mode at resonance. Previous work has focused almost exclusively on meeting objective (1) and solving a complex least-squares problem to arrive at an optimal force vector for a given set of actuator sites. In addition, it has been noted that when the cavity mode couples with cylinder vibration modes (our 200 Hz case) control spillover may occur in higher order cylinder shell vibrational modes. How to determine the best set of actuator sites to meet objectives (1)-(3) is the main contribution of our research effort. The selection of the best set of actuator sites from a set of potential sites is done via two metaheuristics -- simulated annealing and tabu search. Each of these metaheuristics partitions the set of potential actuator sites into two disjoint sets: those that are selected to control the noise (on) and those that are not (off). Next, each metaheuristic attempts to improve this initial solution by calculating the change in the objective value when one selected actuator site is turned off and one actuator site that previously was not selected is turned on. All such pairwise exchanges are performed and the exchange that improves the objective the most is made. Eventually the search is unable to improve the objective value and a local optimum (with respect to pairwise exchanges) is reached. Both simulated annealing and tabu search provide mechanisms to escape local optima and allow the search to continue until (hopefully) a global optimum is found. Our experiments with the 100 Hz and 200 Hz cases confirm that both metaheuristics are able to uncover better solutions than those selected based upon engineering judgement alone. In addition, the high quality solutions generated by these metaheuristics, when minimizing interior noise, do not further excite the cylinder shell. Thus, we are able to meet objective (2) without imposing an additional constraint or forming a multiobjective performance measure. An additional observation is that in many cases the amplitude and phase values for several chosen actuator sites were nearly identical. This natural grouping means that fewer control channels are needed and the resulting control system is simpler. Currently no power requirements have been set, so objective (3) cannot be addressed. A set of experiments is planned with a laboratory test article (a cylinder). For these experiments the transfer matrices will be generated experimentally. It is hoped that the predicted performance of the best actuator sites found by our metaheuristics will correlate well with the measured performance.

Kincaid, Rex K.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Object migration and authentication

The paper presents a mechanism permitting a type manager to fabricate a migrated object representation which can be entrusted to other subsystems or transmitted outside of the control of a local computer system. The migrated object representation is signed by the type manager in such a way that the type manager's signature cannot be forged and the manager is able to authenticate its own signature. Subsequently, the type manager can retrieve the migrated representation and validate its contents before reconstructing the object in its original representation. This facility allows type managers to authenticate the contents of off-line or network storage and solves problems stemming from the hierarchical structure of the system itself.

Gligor, V. D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Studies of BL Lacertae objects with the Einstein X-ray observatory - The absolute volume density

It is estimated that the local volume density of BL Lac objects which emit greater than 10 to the 44th ergs/s in the 0.5-4.5 keV band is about 10 to the -7th/cu Mpc. This is based on identifications of bright X-ray sources, and the fact that Einstein X-ray observations detect BL Lac objects over a wide, continuous range of flux up to the thresholds of the all-sky X-ray surveys. Since this density is of the same order of magnitude as the local density of Seyfert galaxies, or local density of optically selected quasars, emitting X-rays at the same luminosity, we argue that the difference between these particular astronomical classifications is not solely due to the orientation of a relativistic beam.

Schwartz, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Pilot Evaluation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria for Transport Category Aircraft

The primary objective of this study was to capture pilot feedback and decision-making with regard to proposed, hypothetical, go-around criteria that were developed based on previous research. A secondary objective of the study was to assess crew members' awareness of the aircraft state on approach. An experiment was conducted using Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A330-200 level D full-flight simulators, in which pilots flew multiple approaches which were on the borderline of the proposed go-around criteria at 300 ft. Pilots were instructed that they could either execute a go-around or land the airplane on each run, forcing a decision for the borderline cases at 300 ft. Pilots were instructed to go around if the aircraft was outside of the go-around criteria at 300 ft or if either pilot was uncomfortable with the approach. The results revealed that: 1) the most important factors which drove go-around decision-making during the experiment were airspeed and localizer deviation, 2) the objective data suggested that the 300-ft gate is viable, although many pilots were still uncomfortable with that gate height; perhaps more emphasis on checking stability at 1,000 ft and 500 ft would make more pilots comfortable with the 300-ft go-around gate, 3) allowing for momentary deviations should be considered, and 4) the acceptability of the criteria is highly dependent on given pilot's risk tolerance. Overall, the proposed criteria performed well, and most pilots would find the criteria acceptable with some minor adjustments.

go-arounds↗
NASA NTRS1998

Evaluation of the 29-km Eta Model: Objective Verification at Three Selected Stations - Part 1

This paper describes an objective verification of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) 29-km eta model from May 1996 through January 1998. The evaluation was designed to assess the model's surface and upper-air point forecast accuracy at three selected locations during separate warm (May - August) and cool (October - January) season periods. In order to enhance sample sizes available for statistical calculations, the objective verification includes two consecutive warm and cool season periods. Systematic model deficiencies comprise the larger portion of the total error in most of the surface forecast variables that were evaluated. The error characteristics for both surface and upper-air forecasts vary widely by parameter, season, and station location. At upper levels, a few characteristic biases are identified. Overall however, the upper-level errors are more nonsystematic in nature and could be explained partly by observational measurement uncertainty. With a few exceptions, the upper-air results also indicate that 24-h model error growth is not statistically significant. In February and August 1997, NCEP implemented upgrades to the eta model's physical parameterizations that were designed to change some of the model's error characteristics near the surface. The results shown in this paper indicate that these upgrades led to identifiable and statistically significant changes in forecast accuracy for selected surface parameters. While some of the changes were expected, others were not consistent with the intent of the model updates and further emphasize the need for ongoing sensitivity studies and localized statistical verification efforts. Objective verification of point forecasts is a stringent measure of model performance, but when used alone, is not enough to quantify the overall value that model guidance may add to the forecast process. Therefore, results from a subjective verification of the meso-eta model over the Florida peninsula are discussed in the companion paper by Manobianco and Nutter. Overall verification results presented here and in part two should establish a reasonable benchmark from which model users and developers may pursue the ongoing eta model verification strategies in the future.

Nutter, Paul A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Evidence for Black Hole Growth in Local Analogs to Lyman Break Galaxies

We have used XMM-Newton to observe six Lyman break analogs (LBAs): members of the rare population of local galaxies that have properties that are very similar to distant Lyman break galaxies. Our six targets were specifically selected because they have optical emission-line properties that are intermediate between starbursts and Type 2 (obscured) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our new X-ray data provide an important diagnostic of the presence of an AGN. We find X-ray luminosities of order 10(sup 42) erg per second and ratios of X-ray to far-IR lummositles that are higher than values in pure starburst galaxies by factors ranging from approximately 3 to 30. This strongly suggests the presence of an AGN in at least some of the galaxies. The ratios of the luminosities of the hard (2-10 keV) X-ray to [O III] emission line are low by about an order of magnitude compared with Type 1 AGN, but are consistent with the broad range seen in Type 2 AGN. Either the AGN hard X-rays are significantly obscured or the [O III] emission is dominated by the starburst. We searched for an iron emission line at approximately 6.4 ke V, which is a key feature of obscured AGNs, but only detected emission at the approximately 2sigma level. Finally, we find that the ratios of the mid-infrared (24 micrometer) continuum to [O III]lambda 5007 luminosities in these LBAs are higher than the values for Type 2 AGN by an average of 0.8 dex. Combining all these clues, we conclude that an AGN is likely to be present, but that the bolometric luminosity is produced primarily by an intense starburst. If these black holes are radiating at the Eddington limit, their masses would lie in the range of 10(sup 5) - 10(sup 6) solar mass. These objects may offer ideal local laboratories to investigate the processes by which black holes grew in the early universe.

Jia, Jianjun↗
NASA NTRS1989

Local intensity adaptive image coding

The objective of preprocessing for machine vision is to extract intrinsic target properties. The most important properties ordinarily are structure and reflectance. Illumination in space, however, is a significant problem as the extreme range of light intensity, stretching from deep shadow to highly reflective surfaces in direct sunlight, impairs the effectiveness of standard approaches to machine vision. To overcome this critical constraint, an image coding scheme is being investigated which combines local intensity adaptivity, image enhancement, and data compression. It is very effective under the highly variant illumination that can exist within a single frame or field of view, and it is very robust to noise at low illuminations. Some of the theory and salient features of the coding scheme are reviewed. Its performance is characterized in a simulated space application, the research and development activities are described.

Huck, Friedrich O.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Software simulator for multiple computer simulation system

A description is given of the structure and use of a computer program that simulates the operation of a parallel processor simulation system. The program is part of an investigation to determine algorithms that are suitable for simulating continous systems on a parallel processor configuration. The simulator is designed to accurately simulate the problem-solving phase of a simulation study. Care has been taken to ensure the integrity and correctness of data exchanges and to correctly sequence periods of computation and periods of data exchange. It is pointed out that the functions performed during a problem-setup phase or a reset phase are not simulated. In particular, there is no attempt to simulate the downloading process that loads object code into the local, transfer, and mapping memories of processing elements or the memories of the run control processor and the system control processor. The main program of the simulator carries out some problem-setup functions of the system control processor in that it requests the user to enter values for simulation system parameters and problem parameters. The method by which these values are transferred to the other processors, however, is not simulated.

Ogrady, E. P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The Ulysses solar X-ray/cosmic gamma-ray burst experiment

The Ulysses X-ray and gamma-ray instrument is described, and its scientific objectives are presented. Some aspects of the history of the Ulysses mission are explained, as well as of the design considerations for this experiment. As this mission will be the most distant one from earth ever to carry a burst detector, the primary cosmic objective will be to localize gamma-burst sources by triangulation.

Hurley, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS1992

Distributed optical proximity sensor system - HexEYE

A novel optical proximity sensor system, capable of measuring the distance to the orientation and the discontinuity at a local area of an object surface, was designed and evaluated for robotic applications. The sensor system gets its name, Hexagonal Eye, (HexEYE) from its shape where seven identical hexagonal sensing units were configured hexagonally into a compact geometric structure. The seven sensing units were grouped into multiple combinations of three sensing units to measure the surface orientation as well as surface discontinuity. The distinctive features of HexEYE are an order of magnitude increased in distance sensitivity by optimizing the curvature of a conical mirror, the enhanced measurement accuracy based on multiple levels of sensor fusion, and the compactness in size due to a sensing mechanism based on the Gaussian lens law. A prototype of single sensing unit has been built and was evaluated experimentally.

Lee, Sukhan↗
NASA NTRS1994

Distributed Optoelectronic Proximity Sensor

Optoelectronic proximity sensor comprises seven identical units functioning together to provide partially redundant data on spatial relationship between sensor and nearby diffusely reflecting surface. Provides data on distance, relative orientation, and curvature of surface. Sensor called "Hexeye" because its units exhibit hexagonal symmetry when viewed along optical axes and mounted together in hexagonal close packing. Because all six arrays of photodetectors in unit measure essentially identical distributions of light in operating mode, each provides redundant information averaged to increase accuracy or used to verify operation of others. Malfunctioning photodector identified, and output ignored or replaced by interpolated value. Developed for use in such robotic applications as noncontact probing or scanning of surfaces, localization and recognition of objects, and guiding "smart" robot hands in grasping objects.

Lee, Sukhan↗
NASA NTRS1995

Infrared photometry of the black hole candidate Sagittarius A*

An infrared source has been imaged within 0.2 +/- 0.3 arcseconds of the unique Galactic center radio source Sgr A* High angular resolution (averaged value of the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) approximately 0.55 arcseconds) was achieved by rapid (approximately 50 Hz) real-time images motion compensation. The source's near-infrared magnitudes (K = 12.1 +/- 0.3, H = 13.7 +/- 0.3, and J = 16.6 +/- 0.4) are consistent with a hot object reddened by the local extinction A(sub v) approximately 27). At the 3 sigma level of confidence, a time series of 80 images limits the source variability to less than 50% on timescales from 3 to 30 minutes. The photometry is consistent with the emission from a simple accretion disk model for a approximately 1 x 10(exp 6) solar mass black hole. However, the fluxes are also consistent with a hot luminous (L approximately 10(exp 3.5) to 10(exp 4-6) solar luminosity) central cluster star positionally coincident with Sgr A*.

Close, Laird M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Mini-Survey of SDSS OIII AGN with Swift

There is a common wisdom that every massive galaxy has a massive block hole. However, most of these objects either are not radiating or until recently have been very difficult to detect. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, based on the [OIII] line indicate that perhaps up to 20% of all galaxies may be classified as AGN a surprising result that must be checked with independent data. X-ray surveys have revealed that hard X-ray selected AGN show a strong luminosity dependent evolution and their luminosity function (LF) shows a dramatic break towards low Lx (at all z). This is seen for all types of AGN, but is stronger for the broad-line objects. In sharp contrast, the local LF of (optically-selected samples) shows no such break and no differences between narrow and broad-line objects. Assuming both hard X-ray and [OIII] emission are fair indicators of AGN activity, it is important to understand this discrepancy. We present here the results of a mini-survey done with Swift on a selected sample of SDSS selected AGN. The objects have been sampled at different L([OIII]) to check the relation with the Lx observed with Swift.

Angelina, Lorella↗
NASA NTRS2007

Mini Survey of SDSS [OIII] AGN with Swift: Testing the Hypothesis that L(sub [OIII]) Traces AGN Luminosity

The number of AGN and their luminosity distribution are crucial parameters for our understanding of the AGN phenomenon. Recent work strongly suggests every massive galaxy has a central black hole. However most of these objects either are not radiating or have been very difficult to detect We are now in the era of large surveys, and the luminosity function (LF] of AGN has been estimated in various ways. In the X-ray band. Chandra and XMM surveys have revealed that the LF of hard X-ray selected AGN shows a strong luminosity-dependent evolution with a dramatic break towards low L(sub x) (at all z). This is seen for all types of AGN, but is stronger for the broad-line objects. In sharp contrast, the local LF of optically-selected samples shows no such break and no differences between narrow and broad-line objects. If as been suggested, hard X ray and optical emission line can both can be fair indicators of AGN activity, it is important to first understand how reliable these characteristics are if we hope to understand the apparent discrepancy in the LFs.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2010

Interferometry in the Era of Very Large Telescopes

Research in modern stellar interferometry has focused primarily on ground-based observatories, with very long baselines or large apertures, that have benefited from recent advances in fringe tracking, phase reconstruction, adaptive optics, guided optics, and modern detectors. As one example, a great deal of effort has been put into development of ground-based nulling interferometers. The nulling technique is the sparse aperture equivalent of conventional coronography used in filled aperture telescopes. In this mode the stellar light itself is suppressed by a destructive fringe, effectively enhancing the contrast of the circumstellar material located near the star. Nulling interferometry has helped to advance our understanding of the astrophysics of many distant objects by providing the spatial resolution necessary to localize the various faint emission sources near bright objects. We illustrate the current capabilities of this technique by describing the first scientific results from the Keck Interferometer Nuller that combines the light from the two largest optical telescopes in the world including new, unpublished measurements of exozodiacal dust disks. We discuss prospects in the near future for interferometry in general, the capabilities of secondary masking interferometry on very large telescopes, and of nulling interferometry using outriggers on very large telescopes. We discuss future development of a simplified space-borne NIR nulling architecture, the Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer, capable of detecting and characterizing an Earth twin in the near future and how such a mission would benefit from the optical wavelength coverage offered by large, ground-based instruments.

Barry, Richard K.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Objective Lightning Forecasting at Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral Air Force Station using Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Surveillance System Data

The 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) forecasters at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida include a probability of thunderstorm occurrence in their daily morning briefings. This information is used by personnel involved in determining the possibility of violating Launch Commit Criteria, evaluating Flight Rules for the Space Shuttle, and daily planning for ground operation activities on Kennedy Space Center (KSC)/CCAFS. Much of the current lightning probability forecast is based on a subjective analysis of model and observational data. The forecasters requested that a lightning probability forecast tool based on statistical analysis of historical warm-season (May - September) data be developed in order to increase the objectivity of the daily thunderstorm probability forecast. The tool is a set of statistical lightning forecast equations that provide a lightning occurrence probability for the day by 1100 UTC (0700 EDT) during the warm season. This study used 15 years (1989-2003) of warm season data to develop the objective forecast equations. The local CCAFS 1000 UTC sounding was used to calculate stability parameters for equation predictors. The Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Surveillance System (CGLSS) data were used to determine lightning occurrence for each day. The CGLSS data have been found to be more reliable indicators of lightning in the area than surface observations through local informal analyses. This work was based on the results from two earlier research projects. Everitt (1999) used surface observations and rawinsonde data to develop logistic regression equations that forecast the daily thunderstorm probability at CCAFS. The Everitt (1999) equations showed an improvement in skill over the Neumann-Pfeffer thunderstorm index (Neumann 1971), which uses multiple linear regression, and also persistence and climatology forecasts. Lericos et al. (2002) developed lightning distributions over the Florida peninsula based on specific flow regimes. The flow regimes were inferred from the average wind direction in the 1000-700 mb layer at Miami (MIA), Tampa (TBW), and Jacksonville (JAX), Florida, and the lightning data were from the National Lightning Detection Network. The results suggested that the daily flow regime may be an important predictor of lightning occurrence on KSC/CCAFS.

Lambert, Winifred↗
NASA NTRS2017

Coronagraph Design Optimization for Segmented Aperture Telescopes

The goal of directly imaging Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of other stars has motivated the design of coronagraphs for use with large segmented aperture space telescopes. In order to achieve an optimal trade-o between planet light throughput and di racted starlight suppression, we consider coronagraphs comprised of a stage of phase control implemented with deformable mirrors (or other optical elements), pupil plane apodization masks (gray scale or complex valued), and focal plane masks (either amplitude only or complex-valued, including phase only such as the vector vortex coronagraph). The optimization of these optical elements, with the goal of achieving 10 or more orders of magnitude in the suppression of on-axis (starlight) di racted light, represents a challenging non-convex optimization problem with a nonlinear dependence on control degrees of freedom. We develop a new algorithmic approach to the design optimization problem, which we call the "Auxiliary Field Optimization" (AFO) algorithm. The central idea of the algorithm is to embed the original optimization problem, for either phase or amplitude (apodization) in various planes of the coronagraph, into a problem containing additional degrees of freedom, speci cally ctitious "auxiliary" electric elds which serve as targets to inform the variation of our phase or amplitude parameters leading to good feasible designs. We present the algorithm, discuss details of its numerical implementation, and prove convergence to local minima of the objective function (here taken to be the intensity of the on-axis source in a "dark hole" region in the science focal plane). Finally, we present results showing application of the algorithm to both unobscured o -axis and obscured on-axis segmented telescope aperture designs. The application of the AFO algorithm to the coronagraph design problem has produced solutions which are capable of directly imaging planets in the habitable zone, provided end-to-end telescope system stability requirements can be met. Ongoing work includes advances of the AFO algorithm reported here to design in additional robustness to a resolved star, and other phase or amplitude aberrations to be encountered in a real segmented aperture space telescope.

Redding, Dave↗