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DOE OSTI2024

Hydra: Computer Vision for Data Quality Monitoring

Hydra: Computer Vision for Data Quality Monitoring Mar 13, 2024, 4:15 PM 30m Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University Poster Track 1: Computing Technology for Physics Research Poster session with coffee break Speaker Ayan Roy Description Hydra is an extensible framework for training, managing, and deploying machine learning models for near real-time data quality monitoring. It is designed to take some of the burden off of shift crews by providing ‘round-the-clock’ monitoring of plots representing the data being collected. The Hydra system is backed by a database which is leveraged for near push button training and is primarily controlled and viewed through a set of web interfaces. This web interface contains a simple-to-use web based GUI for labeling of the datasets used in training; making it possible to label thousands of images quickly and efficiently. To aid in the analysis of Hydra inferences gradCAM, a method of interpretability, is performed and overlaid on the target image, highlighting regions of interest, making diagnosis of problems much faster. Development began in 2019 for the GlueX Experiment in Hall-D, the Hydra system has grown to encompass all of the experimental halls at Jefferson Laboratory. This talk will focus on the features of Hydra as well as provide details of the challenges present with deploying to disparate experimental halls. With a roadmap of development established, Hydra aims to continue to grow in richness of feature set and expand to encompass other monitoring tasks in differing communities.

Roy, Ayan↗

DOE OSTI2018

Elementary Particle Physics

The UT Dallas High Energy Physics group collaborates on the ATLAS experiment which observes the world’s high energy proton-proton collisions. The UTD group utilized ATLAS 8 TeV Run 1 data to search for evidence of a “dark photon”, a gauge boson outside the “Standard Model of Particle Physics” that theorist hypothesize could mediate a force felt only by the dark matter particles that dominate out universe. The observable signature is a pair of prompt lepton jets. The results of this search were published in 2013. More recently, we have improved the sensitivity of the analysis using machine learning techniques, and we are extending the search to higher and lower mass dark photons using the ATLAS 13 TeV data set. Detection of a new fifth force would represent an important advance beyond the 4 known forces that influence baryonic matter. The LHC Long Shutdown 1 from 2013-2014 was a period of intense work on refurbishment and upgrades for the ATLAS Pixel community and the UTD group. The service quarter panels of the original Pixel detector were replaced, and the Insertable B Layer (IBL) detector was integrated. During IBL integration, UTD participated on the Stave Task Force that solved corrosion problems with IBL wire bonds. We developed a relative humidity sensor that was used during integration and transport to the beamline when detector was unpowered. The sensors were repurposed to monitor relative humidity inside the ID endplates until the built-in sensors were recommissioned. The UTD group worked on the connection of the Pixel and IBL at Point 1 and we were in charge of electric service testing. The IBL wire bond corrosion was the instigation for developing a new conformal coating method using an atomizing spray and Cellpack polyurethane. It is being considered for use in the ITk tracker upgrade. We have demonstrated its tolerance both of a 9 MGy ionizing dose and thermal expansion. Two UTD students are completing authorship qualification projects. One is helping understand variations in impact parameter resolution across different running periods. The second is developing a data-driven method to monitor the fraction of fake tracks in dense jets.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS2014

Intelligent UAS Sense-and-Avoid Utilizing Global Constraints

Sense-and-avoid (SAA) is a critical research topic for enabling the operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in civilian airspace. SAA involves two planning related problems: 1) plan-recognition to predict the future trajectory of nearby aircraft, and 2) path planning to avoid conflicts with nearby aircraft that pose a threat. We have designed and built components of a novel intelligent sense-and-avoid (iSAA) reasoning framework that takes into account information about aircraft type, transponder code, communications, local routes, airports, airspace, terrain, and weather to more accurately predict near- and medium-term trajectories of nearby aircraft. By using this additional information both the on-board control software and the ground-based UAS operator can make more informed, intelligent decisions to effectively predict and avoid conflicts and maintain separation. While this capability benefits all categories of UASs operating under both Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Visual Flight Rules (VFR), it is absolutely essential for allowing smaller UASs to operate VFR at low altitude in uncontrolled airspace for operations such as survey work, wildlife tracking, aerial photography, utilities inspection, crop dusting, and package delivery.

unmanned aircraft systems↗

NASA NTRS2019

Usability Evaluation of Indicators of Energy-Related Problems in Commercial Airline Flight Decks

A series of pilot-in-the-loop flight simulation studies were conducted at NASA Langley Research Center to evaluate indicators aimed at supporting the flight crew’s awareness of problems related to energy states. Indicators were evaluated utilizing state-of-the-art flight deck systems such as on commercial air transport aircraft. This paper presents results for four technologies: (1) conventional primary flight display speed cues, (2) an enhanced airspeed control indicator, (3) a synthetic vision baseline that provides a flight path vector, speed error, and an acceleration cue, and (4) an aural airspeed alert that triggers when current airspeed deviates beyond a specified threshold from the selected airspeed. Full-mission high-fidelity flight simulation studies were conducted using commercial airline crews. Crews were paired by airline for common crew resource management procedures and protocols. Scenarios spanned a range of complex conditions while emulating several causal factors reported in recent accidents involving loss of energy state awareness by pilots. Data collection included questionnaires administered at the completion of flight scenarios, aircraft state data, audio/video recordings of flight crew, eye tracking, pilot control inputs, and researcher observations. Questionnaire response data included subjective measures of workload, situation awareness, complexity, usability, and acceptability. This paper reports relevant findings derived from subjective measures as well as quantitative measures.

Evans, Emory T.↗

DOE OSTI2021

GEDet: Detecting Erroneous Nodes with A Few Examples

Detecting nodes with erroneous values in real-world graphs re- mains challenging due to the lack of examples and various error scenarios. We demonstrate GEDet, an error detection engine that can detect erroneous nodes in graphs with a few examples. The GEDet framework tackles error detection as a few-shot node classification problem. We invite the attendees to experience the following unique features. (1) Few-shot detection. Users only need to provide a few examples of erroneous nodes to perform error detection with GEDet. GEDet achieves desirable accuracy with (a) a graph augmentation module, which automatically generates synthetic examples to learn the classifier, and (b) an adversarial detection module, which improves classifiers to better distinguish erroneous nodes from both cleaned nodes and synthetic examples. We show that GEDet significantly improves the state-of-the-art error detection methods. (2) Diverse error scenarios. GEDet profiles data errors with a built-in library of transformation functions from correct values to errors. Users can also easily “plug in” new error types or examples. (3) User-centric detection. GEDet supports (a) an active learning mode to engage users to verify detected results, and adapts the error detection process accordingly; and (b) visual interfaces to interpret and track detected errors.

Guan, Sheng↗

NASA NTRS1991

Rapid near-optimal aerospace plane trajectory generation and guidance

Problems associated with onboard trajectory optimization, propulsion system cycle selection, and the synthesis of guidance laws are addressed for ascent to low earth orbit of an airbreathing, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle. A multicycle propulsion system is assumed that incorporates turbojet, ramjet, scramjet, and rocket engines. An energy state approximation is applied to a singularly perturbed, four-state dynamic model for flight of a point mass over a spherical nonrotating earth. An algorithm is then derived for generating both the fuel-optimal climb profile and the guidance commands required to follow that profile. In particular, analytic switching conditions are derived that, under appropriate assumptions, efficiently govern optimal transition from one propulsion cycle to another. The algorithm proves to be computationally efficient and suitable for real-time implementation. The paper concludes with the presentation of representative numerical results that illustrate the nature of the fuel-optimal climb paths and the tracking performance of the guidance algorithm.

Corban, J. E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analyzing Launch Operations using the Spaceport Throughput Analysis Resource (STAR)

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape CanaveralSpace Force Station (CCSFS) are the world’s preeminent multi-user spaceport, providing facilities and launch capabilities to the agency, NASA’s commercial partners, and other government agencies. KSC works to ensure an environment in which NASA’s programs and other users can safely and effectively carry out their operations. Approximately 100 launches are expected to take place in 2024. KSC needs to meet the needs of customers who request launches based on their own schedules, but who may not be aware of KSC-wide resource limitations and external constraints on launch operations. KSC-wide resources include telecommunications, range tracking, commodities such as Helium and Nitrogen, and special equipment needed to support launches. External constraints include seasonal launch operations. Since space vehicles are complex and launch operations are uncertain, unexpected events can also cause delays in operations. The Spaceport Throughput AnalysisResource (STAR) assesses whether a specific set of pro-posed launches and associated activities can be performed given the resources KSC currently has available, and external constraints imposed on KSC operations. STAR integrates short-horizon scheduling and simulation of launches using a monte-carlo approach driven by configurable probabilities of different classes of event outcomes, including de-lays and worst-case use of resources. The resulting analyses inform stakeholders of key constraints preventing customers from being able to perform their missions as desired, and give insight into how to improve spaceport throughput. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In 2 we de-scribe the problem STAR is intended to solve. In Section3 we formally describe the scheduling problem ingredients. In Section 4 we describe how manifests are simulated. InSection 5 we describe the constraints problem that is solved when rescheduling. In Section 6 we describe what information is recorded during manifest simulation in order to evaluate delays. In Section 7 we describe the specific problem solved for KSC. In Section 8 we describe the challenges of knowledge engineering for STAR.

Planning Scheduling Analysis↗

NASA NTRS1995

Technology Transfer

The objective of this summer's work was to attempt to enhance Technology Application Group (TAG) ability to measure the outcomes of its efforts to transfer NASA technology. By reviewing existing literature, by explaining the economic principles involved in evaluating the economic impact of technology transfer, and by investigating the LaRC processes our William & Mary team has been able to lead this important discussion. In reviewing the existing literature, we identified many of the metrics that are currently being used in the area of technology transfer. Learning about the LaRC technology transfer processes and the metrics currently used to track the transfer process enabled us to compare other R&D facilities to LaRC. We discuss and diagram impacts of technology transfer in the short run and the long run. Significantly, it serves as the basis for analysis and provides guidance in thinking about what the measurement objectives ought to be. By focusing on the SBIR Program, valuable information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of this LaRC program are to be gained. A survey was developed to ask probing questions regarding SBIR contractors' experience with the program. Specifically we are interested in finding out whether the SBIR Program is accomplishing its mission, if the SBIR companies are providing the needed innovations specified by NASA and to what extent those innovations have led to commercial success. We also developed a survey to ask COTR's, who are NASA employees acting as technical advisors to the SBIR contractors, the same type of questions, evaluating the successes and problems with the SBIR Program as they see it. This survey was developed to be implemented interactively on computer. It is our hope that the statistical and econometric studies that can be done on the data collected from all of these sources will provide insight regarding the direction to take in developing systematic evaluations of programs like the SBIR Program so that they can reach their maximum effectiveness.

Smith, Nanette R.↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Sub-Hertz, Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform

One of the major technical problems deep-space optical communication (DSOC) systems need to solve is the isolation of the optical terminal from vibrations produced by the spacecraft navigational control system and by the moving parts of onboard instruments. Even under these vibration perturbations, the DSOC transceivers (telescopes) need to be pointed l000 fs of times more accurately than an RF communication system (parabolic antennas). Mechanical resonators have been extensively used to provide vibration isolation for groundbased, airborne, and spaceborne payloads. The effectiveness of these isolation systems is determined mainly by the ability of designing a mechanical oscillator with the lowest possible resonant frequency. The Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform (LFVIP), developed during this effort, aims to reduce the resonant frequency of the mechanical oscillators into the sub-Hertz region in order to maximize the passive isolation afforded by the 40 dB/decade roll-off response of the resonator. The LFVIP also provides tip/tilt functionality for acquisition and tracking of a beacon signal. An active control system is used for platform positioning and for dampening of the mechanical oscillator. The basic idea in the design of the isolation platform is to use a passive isolation strut with an approximately equal to 100-mHz resonance frequency. This will extend the isolation range to lower frequencies. The harmonic oscillator is a second-order lowpass filter for mechanical disturbances. The resonance quality depends on the dissipation mechanisms, which are mainly hysteretic because of the low resonant frequency and the absence of any viscous medium. The LFVIP system is configured using the well-established Stewart Platform, which consists of a top platform connected to a base with six extensible struts (see figure). The struts are attached to the base and to the platform via universal joints, which permit the extension and contraction of the struts. The struts ends are connected in pairs to the base and to the platform, forming an octahedron. The six struts provide the vibration isolation due to the properties of mechanical oscillators that behave as second-order lowpass filters for frequencies above the resonance. At high frequency, the ideal second-order low-pass filter response is spoiled by the distributed mass and the internal modes of membrane and of the platform with its payload.

Ortiz, Gerardo, G.↗

DOE OSTI2019

Fortifying Environmental Compliance Strategies at Hanford - 19541

At the Hanford Site, located near Richland, Washington, the Department of Energy is cleaning up legacy radioactive and mixed-waste generated from the Manhattan Project in the 1940's. A major component of cleaning up the waste is maintaining compliance with federal and state environmental regulations. Environmental compliance is also determined through permits, agreements, and consent orders issued by regulating agencies such as the Washington State Department of Health: Office of Radiation Protection, Washington State Department of Ecology Nuclear Waste Program, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Maintaining compliance at Hanford reduces environmental impacts and addresses violations, or non-compliances. The following strategies improve compliance and support the avoidance of enforcement actions. At Hanford, regulatory agency environmental enforcement actions, and their corrective actions, are tracked to completion using databases maintained by inspection subject matter experts. The databases are used to provide the Department of Energy and contractor management with up-to-date status of regulatory agency activity and the required corrective actions. Trending enforcement actions helps target compliance vulnerabilities. Findings and corrective actions that are entered into the databases are then trended by date, location, responsible contractor, agency, and type of compliance issue. The ability to review previous non-compliances in certain locations of the Site, or by general alleged violation, provides the project's environmental contacts with information on what types of issues to look for on pre-inspection walk downs. Finding non-compliances during pre-inspection walk downs allows the contractor to correct the issue and avoid potential fines from regulating agencies. The walk downs are conducted by environmental specialists and project personnel looking for issues that may be viewed as a compliance problem. Using agency checklists and previous inspection correspondence can help to provide valuable information during pre-inspection activities. Training regulatory agency inspectors on Site security requirements, cultural and ecological standards, and inspection protocols allows for increased efficiency and reduces potential miscommunication between regulatory agencies and the regulated contractors. The training also allows the contractors to give the regulating agencies the up-to-date policies and procedures that will be addressed during the inspection. Hanford has pre-identified inspection coordinators within each contractor to assist in coordinating with Department of Energy personnel, projects, and management prior to the inspections. These inspection coordinators notify affected management, accommodate and escort the regulators to locations they ask to inspect, set up requested interviews, and gather requested information that will need to be cleared for public release. These practices make for positive experiences and interactions with the regulating agency personnel and help reduce and eliminate environmental non-compliances, findings, violations, and fines. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

NASA NTRS1989

A design philosophy for multi-layer neural networks with applications to robot control

A system is proposed which receives input information from many sensors that may have diverse scaling, dimension, and data representations. The proposed system tolerates sensory information with faults. The proposed self-adaptive processing technique has great promise in integrating the techniques of artificial intelligence and neural networks in an attempt to build a more intelligent computing environment. The proposed architecture can provide a detailed decision tree based on the input information, information stored in a long-term memory, and the adapted rule-based knowledge. A mathematical model for analysis will be obtained to validate the cited hypotheses. An extensive software program will be developed to simulate a typical example of pattern recognition problem. It is shown that the proposed model displays attention, expectation, spatio-temporal, and predictory behavior which are specific to the human brain. The anticipated results of this research project are: (1) creation of a new dynamic neural network structure, and (2) applications to and comparison with conventional multi-layer neural network structures. The anticipated benefits from this research are vast. The model can be used in a neuro-computer architecture as a building block which can perform complicated, nonlinear, time-varying mapping from a multitude of input excitory classes to an output or decision environment. It can be used for coordinating different sensory inputs and past experience of a dynamic system and actuating signals. The commercial applications of this project can be the creation of a special-purpose neuro-computer hardware which can be used in spatio-temporal pattern recognitions in such areas as air defense systems, e.g., target tracking, and recognition. Potential robotics-related applications are trajectory planning, inverse dynamics computations, hierarchical control, task-oriented control, and collision avoidance.

Vadiee, Nader↗

NASA NTRS2016

Three Generations of Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Spacecraft

The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite configuration consists of nine in-orbit satellites (four first generation, three second generation and two third generation satellites) globally distributed in geosynchronous orbit to provide near continuous data relay service to missions like Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. The 1st generation spacecraft were designed by TRW/Northrop Grumman with their launches of the five spacecraft ranging from 1983 through 1995. The 2nd and 3rd generation spacecraft were designed by Boeing with their launches ranging 2000 - 2002 and 2013 - 2017 respectively. TDRS-3 is now 27 years on orbit, continues to be a capable asset for the TDRS constellation. Lack of need for inclination control combined with large fuel reserves and redundancy on critical elements provides spacecraft that operate well past design life, all of which contributes to expanded TDRS constellation support capabilities. All spacecraft generations have issues. Significant issues will be summarized with the focus on the Boeing related problems. Degradations and failures are continually assessed and provide the foundation for yearly updates to spacecraft reliability models, constellation service projections and deorbit plans (in order to meet NASAs mandate of limiting orbital debris). Even when accounting for degradations and failures, the life expectancy for the Boeing delivered 2nd generation TDRS-8, 9 10 TDRS are anticipated to be 25+ years.

TDRS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Decoding Golden Eagle Movement Behavior from High-Resolution, Variable-Rate Telemetry Data Through Bayesian Filtering

The recent advances in animal tracking technology have enabled the collection of a vast amount of in situ data regarding the movement of wildlife at high spatiotemporal resolution. These data are usually available at variable time resolutions and contains noise (error) originating from GPS fixes. Decoding movement characteristics, particularly of flying animals, from telemetry data while handling these factors is a challenging yet important task for conservation purposes. Typically, this task is broken into two subtasks: resampling, and model calibration. The resampling subtask converts the variable rate positional data into a constant time interval data, while the model calibration subtask uses the resampled data to tune time-invariant parameters of the proposed models. For telemetry data at high temporal resolutions (order of 1 second), it is very challenging to decouple noise from actual movements using interpolation-based resampling techniques. Any errors introduced during resampling can significantly alter the the calibration and prediction attributes of the movement model. We address this problem through a unified Bayesian state-space framework that can handle both the resampling and calibration tasks in a single step. In addition, we use the speed and heading of the bird from telemetry data to regularize the position information of the bird. We use a Kalman filtering approach to include these nonlinearly related motion parameters within the state space framework. We cross-validated to quantify how this inclusion affects the model performance in estimating true bird movements. The relationship between the true state of the bird and environmental and topographical covariates is then represented parametrically. These parameters are then tuned using stochastic sampling strategies like Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). We use the telemetry data collected from golden eagles in the western USA to demonstrate the applicability of this approach to build a predictive, probabilistic movement model. Our preliminary results show that this approach provides improved predictive performance in terms of capturing higher-order motion parameters such as angular and horizontal accelerations, which may have simpler and more direct relationships with environmental covariates than corresponding speeds. In this talk, we will demonstrate how this state-space approach benefits the prediction capabilities of a movement model in simulating golden eagle paths through a wind power plant in Wyoming given certain atmospheric conditions. The model outcomes are aimed at informing mitigation strategies that can minimize the potential for collisions of golden eagles with wind turbines.

Bayesian methods↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Electrodynamic Dust Shield Testing on the Materials on International Space Station Experiment 11

Dust is a major concern for lunar exploration. To combat the effects of dust, NASA, academia, and industry are developing solutions to the dust problem. One potential technology solution for this problem is the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS). Many years of research and development have gone into this technology. The Materials on International Space Station Experiment – 11 (MISSE-11) provides a long term space exposure platform for this technology to verify compatibility of materials and manufacturing processes to the space environment. The MISSE-11 EDS experiment consists of 12 EDS panels. These panels are made of glass, polyimide, or prototype spacesuit fabric. Some panels are covered with a lotus leaf coating while others are covered with thermal paint. They are flown in the wake position of the ISS to simulate the lunar environment. Two panels are in an active configuration and are energized with a high voltage power supply, which generates high-voltage pulses to activate the dust shields. Current and voltage data are recovered from each of these trials to compare to baseline data. Also, each of the EDS panels are imaged on a monthly basis to track any changes with time that may occur with the EDS variants. In this paper, we report preliminary data and analysis from this spaceflight experiment.

Electrostatics↗

DOE OSTI2020

Transient flow modeling in fractured media using graphs

In this work, we describe a method to simulate transient fluid flows in fractured media using an approach based on graph theory. Our approach builds on past work where the graph-based approach was successfully used to simulate steady-state fluid flows in fractured media. We find a mean computational speedup of the order of 1400 from an ensemble of a 100 discrete fracture networks in contrast to the O(10 4 ) speedup that was obtained for steady-state flows earlier. However, the transient flows considered here involve an additional degree of complexity that was not present in the steady-state flows considered previously with a graph-based approach, that of time marching and solution of the flow equations within a time-stepping scheme. We verify our method with an analytical test case and demonstrate its use on a practical problem related to fluid flows in hydraulically fractured reservoirs. By enabling the study of transient flows, we create an opportunity for a wide set of possibilities where a steady-state approximation is not sufficient, such as the example motivated by hydraulic fracturing that we present here. This work validates the concept that graphs are able to reliably capture the topological properties of the fracture network and serve as effective surrogates in an uncertainty-quantification framework.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1993

Status of LDEF ionizing radiation measurements and analysis

At this symposium significant new data and analyses were reported in cosmic ray research, radiation dosimetry, induced radioactivity, and radiation environment modeling. Measurements of induced radioactivity and absorbed dose are nearly complete, but much analysis and modeling remains. Measurements and analyses of passive nuclear track detectors (PNTD), used to derive the cosmic ray composition and spectra, and linear energy transfer (LET) spectra, are only a few percent complete, but important results have already emerged. As one might expect at this stage of the research, some of the new information has produced questions rather than answers. Low-energy heavy nuclei detected by two experiments are not compatible with known solar or cosmic components. Various data sets on absorbed dose are not consistent, and a new trapped proton environment model does not match the absorbed dose data. A search for cosmogenic nuclei other than Be-7 on Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) surfaces has produced an unexpected result, and some activation data relating to neutrons is not yet understood. Most of these issues will be resolved by the analysis of further experiment data, calibrations, or the application of the large LDEF data set that offers alternate data or analysis techniques bearing on the same problem. The scope of the papers at this symposium defy a compact technical summary. I have attempted to group the new information that I noted into the following groups: induced radioactivity; absorbed dose measurements; LET spectra and heavy ion dosimetry; environment modeling and three dimensional shielding effects; cosmogenic nuclei; and cosmic rays and other heavy ions. The papers generally are expository and have excellent illustrations, and I refer to their figures rather than reproduce them here. The general program and objectives of ionizing radiation measurements and analyses on LDEF has been described previously.

Parnell, Thomas A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Numerical Simulation of Rocket Exhaust Interaction with Lunar Soil

This technology development originated from the need to assess the debris threat resulting from soil material erosion induced by landing spacecraft rocket plume impingement on extraterrestrial planetary surfaces. The impact of soil debris was observed to be highly detrimental during NASA s Apollo lunar missions and will pose a threat for any future landings on the Moon, Mars, and other exploration targets. The innovation developed under this program provides a simulation tool that combines modeling of the diverse disciplines of rocket plume impingement gas dynamics, granular soil material liberation, and soil debris particle kinetics into one unified simulation system. The Unified Flow Solver (UFS) developed by CFDRC enabled the efficient, seamless simulation of mixed continuum and rarefied rocket plume flow utilizing a novel direct numerical simulation technique of the Boltzmann gas dynamics equation. The characteristics of the soil granular material response and modeling of the erosion and liberation processes were enabled through novel first principle-based granular mechanics models developed by the University of Florida specifically for the highly irregularly shaped and cohesive lunar regolith material. These tools were integrated into a unique simulation system that accounts for all relevant physics aspects: (1) Modeling of spacecraft rocket plume impingement flow under lunar vacuum environment resulting in a mixed continuum and rarefied flow; (2) Modeling of lunar soil characteristics to capture soil-specific effects of particle size and shape composition, soil layer cohesion and granular flow physics; and (3) Accurate tracking of soil-borne debris particles beginning with aerodynamically driven motion inside the plume to purely ballistic motion in lunar far field conditions. In the earlier project phase of this innovation, the capabilities of the UFS for mixed continuum and rarefied flow situations were validated and demonstrated for lunar lander rocket plume flow impingement under lunar vacuum conditions. Applications and improvements to the granular flow simulation tools contributed by the University of Florida were tested against Earth environment experimental results. Requirements for developing, validating, and demonstrating this solution environment were clearly identified, and an effective second phase execution plan was devised. In this phase, the physics models were refined and fully integrated into a production-oriented simulation tool set. Three-dimensional simulations of Apollo Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) and Altair landers (including full-scale lander geometry) established the practical applicability of the UFS simulation approach and its advanced performance level for large-scale realistic problems.

Liever, Peter↗

DOE OSTI2026

Investigation and Diagnosis of Faulty Data Channels in CMS Outer Tracker Module Testing

The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) is currently undergoing upgrades to improve its luminosity. In parallel, this requires an upgrade to the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS)’s Outer Tracker, consisting of Pixel-Strip (PS) and Strip-Strip (2S) modules that can accurately track the path of charged particles originating from the collisions. It follows that such complex modules call for extensive testing, requiring a sophisticated Data Acquisition (DAQ) system that can perform specific tests to assess their performance. In addition, errors caused by the hardware of a given testing station, and its associated data channel, need to be accurately identified to guarantee proper testing of modules. We have developed a software extension to the Phase-II Outer Tracker Analyzer of Test Outputs (POTATO), which is a specialized software designed to analyze and grade all of the module tests through a centralized database. This extension categorizes and analyzes module test results by its station and data channel. Its analysis can be used to identify trends in grading that indicate issues in these channels’ grading process rather than in the individual modules. This poster shows our methodology and results for identifying faulty data channels. Using this extension, we can quickly diagnose and address problems in our DAQ system, ensuring proper evaluation corrections for each module.

Chen, Angus [Fermilab]↗