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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Supporting information for Few-Shot Learning Enables Population-Scale Analysis of Leaf Traits in Populus trichocarpa

In this work, we use few-shot learning to segment the body and vein architecture of P. trichocarpa leaves from high-resolution scans obtained in the UC Davis common garden. Leaf and vein segmentation are formulated as separate tasks, in which convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are used to iteratively expand partial segmentations until reaching stopping criteria. Our leaf and vein segmentation approaches use just 50 and 8 manually traced images for training, respectively, and are applied to a set of 2,634 top and bottom leaf scans. We show that both methods achieve high segmentation accuracy, in some cases exceeding even human-level segmentation. The leaf and vein segmentations are subsequently used to extract 68 morphological traits using traditional open-source image processing tools, which are validated using real-world physical measurements. For a biological perspective, we perform a genome-wide association study using the vein density trait to discover novel genetic architectures associated with multiple physiological processes relating to leaf development and function. In addition to sharing all of the few-shot learning code (see https://github.com/jlager/few-shot-leaf-segmentation), we are releasing all images, manual segmentations, model predictions, 68 extracted leaf phenotypes, and a new set of SNPs called against the v4 P. trichocarpa genome for 1,419 genotypes. The data folder includes all images, ground truth segmentations, predicted segmentations, and extracted leaf traits. All images encode the sample ID in the file name by indicating the treatment, block, row, position, and leaf side, respectively. For example, the file, C_1_1_2_bot.jpeg, indicates the control treatment, block 1, row 1, position 2, and the bottom side of the leaf. Tabulated results include position IDs as well as the corresponding genotype IDs. The images folder includes the 2,906 high-resolution leaf scans taken in the field. The leaf_masks folder includes 50 ground truth segmentations used for training the leaf tracing algorithm. The leaf_preds folder includes the 2,906 predicted segmentations from the leaf tracing algorithm. The vein_masks folder includes 8 ground truth segmentations used for training the vein growing algorithm. The vein_preds folder includes the 1,453 predicted segmentations from the vein growing algorithm. The vein_probs folder includes the 1,453 predicted probability maps from the vein growing algorithm before thresholding. The genomes folder includes the set of SNPs called against the v4 P. trichocarpa genome for 1,419 genotypes with a README file detailing the steps taken. The results folder includes: (i) raw values of the 68 predicted leaf traits in digital_traits.tsv, (ii) manually measured values of petiole length and width in manual_traits.tsv, (iii) thin plate spline (TPS) adjusted values of the vein density trait in vein_density_tps_adj.tsv, (iv) best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) adjusted values of the vein density trait in vein_density_blups.tsv, and (v) GWAS results for the vein density trait, including chromosome positions and corresponding P values, in gwas_results.csv.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Improv Dynamic Workflows

A workflow is a series of dependent computations which are executed to yield an experimental result, much like sheet music describes a musical performance. Dynamic workflows are like improvisational jazz, in which the musicians create unique, situation-driven, collaborative variations on themes. Dynamic workflows can potentially yield better results, save computation, and/or save human decision-making effort versus pre-specified or manual workflows, as they need not run the exhaustive set of studies which might be required in a pre-specified set, and they make their own experimental design decisions at run time. If you have an existing Maestro study where you would like to save computation and/or human time, Improv is for you. Improv provides core capabilities for creating a simple, hierarchical structure over Maestro studies, allowing you to connect ``experimental'' Maestro strudies with decision-making code to select parameters and run corresponding studies.

Goforth, John↗
NASA NTRS1990

An automated environment for multiple spacecraft engineering subsystem mission operations

Flight operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are now performed by teams of specialists, each team dedicated to a particular spacecraft. Certain members of each team are responsible for monitoring the performances of their respective spacecraft subsystems. Ground operations, which are very complex, are manual, labor-intensive, slow, and tedious, and therefore costly and inefficient. The challenge of the new decade is to operate a large number of spacecraft simultaneously while sharing limited human and computer resources, without compromising overall reliability. The Engineering Analysis Subsystem Environment (EASE) is an architecture that enables fewer controllers to monitor and control spacecraft engineering subsystems. A prototype of EASE has been installed in the JPL Space Flight Operations Facility for on-line testing. This article describes the underlying concept, development, testing, and benefits of the EASE prototype.

Bahrami, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Control with an eye for perception: Precursors to an active psychophysics

The perception-action cycle is viewed within the context of research in manual control. A portrait of a perception-action system is derived from the primitives of control theory in order to evaluate the promise of this perspective of what Warren and McMillan (1984) have termed 'active psychophysics'. That is, a study of human performance that does justice to the intimate coupling between perception and action.

Flach, John M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Constraint Maintenance with Preferences and Underlying Flexible Solution

This paper describes an aspect of the constraint reasoning mechanism. that is part of a ground planning system slated to be used for the Mars Exploration Rovers mission, where two rovers are scheduled to land on Mars in January of 2003. The planning system combines manual planning software from JPL with an automatic planning/scheduling system from NASA Ames Research Center, and is designed to be used in a mixed-initiative mode. Among other things, this means that after a plan has been produced, the human operator can perform extensive modifications under the supervision of the automated. system. For each modification to an activity, the automated system must adjust other activities as needed to ensure that constraints continue to be satisfied. Thus, the system must accommodate change in an interactive setting. Performance is of critical importance for interactive use. This is achieved by maintaining an underlying flexible solution to the temporal constraints, while the system presents a fixed schedule to the user. Adjustments are then a matter of constraint propagation rather than completely re-solving the problem. However, this begs the important question of which fixed schedule (among the ones sanctioned by the underlying flexible solution) should be presented to the user.Our approach uses least-change and other preferences as a prism through which the user views the flexible solution.

Bresina, John↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Manual Crew Override of Vehicle Landings Following G-Transitions

BACKGROUND Manual control during exploration spaceflight consists of both planned automated supervisory control and unplanned crew override. This crew override capability is critical to enable overall mission success during landing contingencies. However, the introduction of manual override capabilities must be implemented to enable crews to mitigate risks introduced by human error. Adaptive changes in the sensorimotor system can manifest during g-transitions as spatial disorientation. While training and landing aids enable successful landing through disorientation, these adaptive changes may increase cognitive demand that needs to be accounted for in the manual control strategy. It is important to characterize these effects as soon as possible following the G-transition to develop appropriate countermeasures. METHODS The following study seeks to inform the risk associated with altered sensorimotor and vestibular function impacting critical mission tasks. We aim to characterize the effects of short and long-duration weightlessness on manual control following G-transitions using simulated lunar landing on a six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion base, a fixed base simulation, and a supervisory control tablet task. The primary goal is to understand the impact of spaceflight on crew ability to perform manual crew override and supervisory control. This aim will be assessed by comparing pre- versus postflight simulation performance in crewmembers assigned to either short duration (< 30 day) or long duration (~6- month) missions to the International Space Station (ISS). We hypothesize there will be postflight increases in the percent time that pilots are outside of the acceptable range for recommended vehicle state parameters and the reaction time for secondary cognitive tasks. Ground-based control subjects, who are demographically matched to the crew considering age (± 5 years) and gender, will undergo the same testing schedule as the crew to examine the effects of flight phase independent of microgravity exposure. The second aim is to examine how adaptive changes in vestibular and cognitive function relate to changes in manual crew override proficiency. Crew performance for a sensorimotor perceptual test battery will evaluate motion perception tracking, roll nulling, and/or vection sensitivity using the 6DOF motion base. We hypothesize that a higher severity of vestibular alterations will be associated with increased percent time outside of guidance limits. Motion sickness severity and sleepiness will also be evaluated. To determine the impact of “just-in-time” training, the third aim seeks to compare performance during on-board lunar landing tasks conducted late in-flight to early postflight. We hypothesize that proficiency on the “just-in-time” laptop trainer late in mission will be positively correlated with early postflight proficiency on the same task. The final aim will establish assessments of performance, training protocols, and the learning progression in a ground-control cohort of first-time users. RESULTS The assessment of the learning progression associated with the piloting task on the motion base system with thirty ground subjects will be reported. Learning curves will be established across four distinct sessions and within session considering trial difficulty. The difficulty of the landing task can be modulated with the landing divert distance and cross or downrange difficulty. Results may include changes in performance across multiple trials of a multi-attribute lunar tablet supervisory control task. Preliminary investigations of eighteen subjects who completed vestibular threshold and motion perception tasks offer expected performance ranges for upcoming preflight crew evaluations. The results yielded an average roll threshold of 0.46 ± 0.30 deg/s and an average roll nulling root mean square error performance of 2.52 ± 0.52 deg/s. RELEVANCE This project will deliver an operational demonstration of crew monitoring capability following spaceflight and identify potential deficits that may require remediation. Comparison of individual vestibular and cognitive changes with crew performance will help better characterize the manual control risks associated with sensorimotor alterations. Ground testing will evaluate learning progression, refine training protocols, and serve as a control cohort for comparisons to crew performance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge contributions from Draper, the Dynamic Skills Trainer (DST) Lab, and the Software, Robotics, and Simulation Division toward the development of the lunar landing simulation platforms. This project is funded by the Human Health Countermeasures Element.

Hannah M. Weiss↗
NASA NTRS2007

Automated Recognition of 3D Features in GPIR Images

A method of automated recognition of three-dimensional (3D) features in images generated by ground-penetrating imaging radar (GPIR) is undergoing development. GPIR 3D images can be analyzed to detect and identify such subsurface features as pipes and other utility conduits. Until now, much of the analysis of GPIR images has been performed manually by expert operators who must visually identify and track each feature. The present method is intended to satisfy a need for more efficient and accurate analysis by means of algorithms that can automatically identify and track subsurface features, with minimal supervision by human operators. In this method, data from multiple sources (for example, data on different features extracted by different algorithms) are fused together for identifying subsurface objects. The algorithms of this method can be classified in several different ways. In one classification, the algorithms fall into three classes: (1) image-processing algorithms, (2) feature- extraction algorithms, and (3) a multiaxis data-fusion/pattern-recognition algorithm that includes a combination of machine-learning, pattern-recognition, and object-linking algorithms. The image-processing class includes preprocessing algorithms for reducing noise and enhancing target features for pattern recognition. The feature-extraction algorithms operate on preprocessed data to extract such specific features in images as two-dimensional (2D) slices of a pipe. Then the multiaxis data-fusion/ pattern-recognition algorithm identifies, classifies, and reconstructs 3D objects from the extracted features. In this process, multiple 2D features extracted by use of different algorithms and representing views along different directions are used to identify and reconstruct 3D objects. In object linking, which is an essential part of this process, features identified in successive 2D slices and located within a threshold radius of identical features in adjacent slices are linked in a directed-graph data structure. Relative to past approaches, this multiaxis approach offers the advantages of more reliable detections, better discrimination of objects, and provision of redundant information, which can be helpful in filling gaps in feature recognition by one of the component algorithms. The image-processing class also includes postprocessing algorithms that enhance identified features to prepare them for further scrutiny by human analysts (see figure). Enhancement of images as a postprocessing step is a significant departure from traditional practice, in which enhancement of images is a preprocessing step.

Park, Han↗
NASA NTRS2010

Automation of Cassini Support Imaging Uplink Command Development

"Support imaging" is imagery requested by other Cassini science teams to aid in the interpretation of their data. The generation of the spacecraft command sequences for these images is performed by the Cassini Instrument Operations Team. The process initially established for doing this was very labor-intensive, tedious and prone to human error. Team management recognized this process as one that could easily benefit from automation. Team members were tasked to document the existing manual process, develop a plan and strategy to automate the process, implement the plan and strategy, test and validate the new automated process, and deliver the new software tools and documentation to Flight Operations for use during the Cassini extended mission. In addition to the goals of higher efficiency and lower risk in the processing of support imaging requests, an effort was made to maximize adaptability of the process to accommodate uplink procedure changes and the potential addition of new capabilities outside the scope of the initial effort.

Ly-Hollins, Lisa↗
DOE OSTI2025

PHASE: Personalized Head-based Automatic Simulation for Electromagnetic properties in 7T MRI

Accurate and individualized human head models are becoming increasingly important for electromagnetic (EM) simulations. These simulations depend on precise anatomical representations to realistically model electric and magnetic field distributions, particularly when evaluating Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) within safety guidelines. State of the art simulations use the Virtual Population due to limited public resources and the impracticality of manually annotating patient data at scale. Here, this paper introduces Personalized Head-based Automatic Simulation for EM properties (PHASE), an automated open-source toolbox that generates high-resolution, patient-specific head models for EM simulations using paired T1-weighted (T1w) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans with 14 tissue labels. To evaluate the performance of PHASE models, we conduct semi-automated segmentation and EM simulations on 15 real human patients, serving as the gold standard reference. The PHASE model achieved comparable global SAR and localized SAR averaged over 10 grams of tissue (SAR-10g), demonstrating its potential as a promising tool for generating large-scale human model datasets in the future. The code and models of PHASE toolbox have been made publicly available: https://github.com/hrlblab/PHASE.

Deep learning↗
DOE OSTI2020

Raman-based sorting of microbial cells to link functions to their genes

In our recent work, we developed an optofluidic platform that allows a direct link to be made between the phenotypes (functions) and the genotypes (genes) of microbial cells within natural communities. By combining stable isotope probing, optical tweezers, Raman microspectroscopy, and microfluidics, the platform performs automated Raman-based sorting of taxa from within a complex community in terms of their functional properties. In comparison with manual sorting approaches, our method provides high throughput (up to 500 cells per hour) and very high sorting accuracy (98.3 ± 1.7%), and significantly reduces the human labour required. The system provides an efficient manner to untangle the contributions of individual members within environmental and host-associated microbiomes. In this News and Thoughts, we provide an overview of our platform, describe potential applications, suggest ways in which the system could be improved, and discuss future directions in which Raman-based analysis of microbial populations might be developed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2000

Circadian rhythms in healthy aging--effects downstream from the pacemaker

Using both previously published findings and entirely new data, we present evidence in support of the argument that the circadian dysfunction of advancing age in the healthy human is primarily one of failing to transduce the circadian signal from the circadian timing system (CTS) to rhythms "downstream" from the pacemaker rather than one of failing to generate the circadian signal itself. Two downstream rhythms are considered: subjective alertness and objective performance. For subjective alertness, we show that in both normal nychthemeral (24 h routine, sleeping at night) and unmasking (36 h of constant wakeful bed rest) conditions, advancing age, especially in men, leads to flattening of subjective alertness rhythms, even when circadian temperature rhythms are relatively robust. For objective performance, an unmasking experiment involving manual dexterity, visual search, and visual vigilance tasks was used to demonstrate that the relationship between temperature and performance is strong in the young, but not in older subjects (and especially not in older men).

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2017

Dual Extended Kalman Filter for the Identification of Time-Varying Human Manual Control Behavior

A Dual Extended Kalman Filter was implemented for the identification of time-varying human manual control behavior. Two filters that run concurrently were used, a state filter that estimates the equalization dynamics, and a parameter filter that estimates the neuromuscular parameters and time delay. Time-varying parameters were modeled as a random walk. The filter successfully estimated time-varying human control behavior in both simulated and experimental data. Simple guidelines are proposed for the tuning of the process and measurement covariance matrices and the initial parameter estimates. The tuning was performed on simulation data, and when applied on experimental data, only an increase in measurement process noise power was required in order for the filter to converge and estimate all parameters. A sensitivity analysis to initial parameter estimates showed that the filter is more sensitive to poor initial choices of neuromuscular parameters than equalization parameters, and bad choices for initial parameters can result in divergence, slow convergence, or parameter estimates that do not have a real physical interpretation. The promising results when applied to experimental data, together with its simple tuning and low dimension of the state-space, make the use of the Dual Extended Kalman Filter a viable option for identifying time-varying human control parameters in manual tracking tasks, which could be used in real-time human state monitoring and adaptive human-vehicle haptic interfaces.

manual control↗
NASA NTRS2009

Latency and User Performance in Virtual Environments and Augmented Reality

System rendering latency has been recognized by senior researchers, such as Professor Fredrick Brooks of UNC (Turing Award 1999), as a major factor limiting the realism and utility of head-referenced displays systems. Latency has been shown to reduce the user's sense of immersion within a virtual environment, disturb user interaction with virtual objects, and to contribute to motion sickness during some simulation tasks. Latency, however, is not just an issue for external display systems since finite nerve conduction rates and variation in transduction times in the human body's sensors also pose problems for latency management within the nervous system. Some of the phenomena arising from the brain's handling of sensory asynchrony due to latency will be discussed as a prelude to consideration of the effects of latency in interactive displays. The causes and consequences of the erroneous movement that appears in displays due to latency will be illustrated with examples of the user performance impact provided by several experiments. These experiments will review the generality of user sensitivity to latency when users judge either object or environment stability. Hardware and signal processing countermeasures will also be discussed. In particular the tuning of a simple extrapolative predictive filter not using a dynamic movement model will be presented. Results show that it is possible to adjust this filter so that the appearance of some latencies may be hidden without the introduction of perceptual artifacts such as overshoot. Several examples of the effects of user performance will be illustrated by three-dimensional tracking and tracing tasks executed in virtual environments. These experiments demonstrate classic phenomena known from work on manual control and show the need for very responsive systems if they are indented to support precise manipulation. The practical benefits of removing interfering latencies from interactive systems will be emphasized with some classic final examples from surgical telerobotics, and human-computer interaction.

Ellis, Stephen R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scan2Sim: Software to Convert Network Scans to Emulations

Within operational technology (OT) systems design, the construction of testing environments for simulation is often a tedious, manual process that slows down safety and security evaluations. This document details the design and functionality of Scan2Sim, a program designed to construct high-fidelity topological schematics for OT systems without significant manual human input. Scan2Sim may take as input a detailed network scan of a system, and produces an instruction set to re-create the original scanned network within a virtualized simulation network. This construction is achieved via heuristic methods of machine template selection, which allows for a fast, performant approach to automated environment construction. The current tool is designed to produce topology schematics compatible with the Minimega, a tool designed by Sandia National Laboratories for repeatable experimentation management.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2014

Improving Sensorimotor Function and Adaptation using Stochastic Vestibular Stimulation

Astronauts experience sensorimotor changes during adaption to G-transitions that occur when entering and exiting microgravity. Post space flight, these sensorimotor disturbances can include postural and gait instability, visual performance changes, manual control disruptions, spatial disorientation, and motion sickness, all of which can hinder the operational capabilities of the astronauts. Crewmember safety would be significantly increased if sensorimotor changes brought on by gravitational changes could be mitigated and adaptation could be facilitated. The goal of this research is to investigate and develop the use of electrical stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) as a countermeasure to augment sensorimotor function and facilitate adaptation. For this project, SVS will be applied via electrodes on the mastoid processes at imperceptible amplitude levels. We hypothesize that SVS will improve sensorimotor performance through the phenomena of stochastic resonance, which occurs when the response of a nonlinear system to a weak input signal is optimized by the application of a particular nonzero level of noise. In line with the theory of stochastic resonance, a specific optimal level of SVS will be found and tested for each subject [1]. Three experiments are planned to investigate the use of SVS in sensory-dependent tasks and performance. The first experiment will aim to demonstrate stochastic resonance in the vestibular system through perception based motion recognition thresholds obtained using a 6-degree of freedom Stewart platform in the Jenks Vestibular Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. A range of SVS amplitudes will be applied to each subject and the subjectspecific optimal SVS level will be identified as that which results in the lowest motion recognition threshold, through previously established, well developed methods [2,3,4]. The second experiment will investigate the use of optimal SVS in facilitating sensorimotor adaptation to system disturbances. Subjects will adapt to wearing minifying glasses, resulting in decreased vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) gain. The VOR gain will then be intermittently measured while the subject readapts to normal vision, with and without optimal SVS. We expect that optimal SVS will cause a steepening of the adaptation curve. The third experiment will test the use of optimal SVS in an operationally relevant aerospace task, using the tilt translation sled at NASA Johnson Space Center, a test platform capable of recreating the tilt-gain and tilt-translation illusions associated with landing of a spacecraft post-space flight. In this experiment, a perception based manual control measure will be used to compare performance with and without optimal SVS. We expect performance to improve in this task when optimal SVS is applied. The ultimate goal of this work is to systematically investigate and further understand the potential benefits of stochastic vestibular stimulation in the context of human space flight so that it may be used in the future as a component of a comprehensive countermeasure plan for adaptation to G-transitions.

Galvan, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Human Factors of Automation in the Airline Cockpit

The introduction of automation to the automobile is following an approach similar to that used to bring automation to the airline cockpit. As technologies incrementally became available to automate portions of the flying task, pilots were left to perform those portions of the task for which engineers were still working towards automating. A number of problems have resulted from this process of gradual takeover of a job once performed entirely by humans. Pilots struggle to maintain awareness of a task with which they are no longer intimately involved and of complex technologies that they do not fully understand. Particularly difficult problems arise when increasingly reliable automated systems reach the limits of their capabilities and require pilots to suddenly exercise manual control and reasoning skills that have slipped away as a result of disuse. We argue that car automation will face these problems and more. Aviation enjoys a broad system of redundancies and safety nets, and, high in the sky, more time to address any problems that arise. We review the literature describing problems that were observed as automation was introduced to the airline cockpit and invite car automation designers to consider how they might play out as technology is gradually introduced to cars and drivers.

Casner, Stephen↗