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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

Integrated optics reflectometer

An apparatus includes a laser source configured to output laser light at a target frequency, and a measurement unit configured to measure a deviation between an actual frequency outputted by the laser source at a current period of time and the target frequency of the laser source. The apparatus includes a feedback control unit configured to, based on the measured deviation between the actual and target frequencies, control the laser source to maintain a constant frequency of laser output from the laser source so that the frequency of laser light transmitted from the laser source is adjusted to the target frequency. The feedback control unit can control the laser source to maintain a linear rate of change in the frequency of its laser light output, and compensate for characteristics of the measurement unit utilized for frequency measurement. A method is provided for performing the feedback control of the laser source.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Implications of a Pervasive Climate Model Bias for Low‐Cloud Feedback

Abstract How low clouds respond to warming constitutes a key uncertainty for climate projections. Here we observationally constrain low‐cloud feedback through a controlling factor analysis based on ridge regression. We find a moderately positive global low‐cloud feedback (0.45 W , 90% range 0.18–0.72 W ), about twice the mean value (0.22 W ) of 16 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. We link this discrepancy to a pervasive model mean‐state bias: models underestimate the low‐cloud response to warming because (a) they systematically underestimate present‐day tropical marine low‐cloud amount, and (b) the low‐cloud sensitivity to warming is proportional to this present‐day low‐cloud amount. Our results hence highlight the importance of reducing model biases in both the mean state of clouds and their sensitivity to environmental factors for accurate climate change projections.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Experimental investigation of advanced turbine control strategies and load-mitigation measures with a model-scale floating offshore wind turbine system

To advance the control co-design of offshore wind energy systems, the authors perform basin-scale experiments with a fully instrumented and actuated floating offshore wind turbine model. The model consists of a 1:70 scale performance-matched model of the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme 15-MW reference turbine atop the VolturnUS-S semisubmersible platform. The Reference OpenSource Controller provides real-time blade pitch and generator torque control. Here we aim to develop an open data set for the validation of numerical models in predicting the influence of turbine control and load-mitigation measures. For this purpose, we measure the effects of advanced turbine control features, including peak shaving and floating feedback as well as hull-based control using tuned mass dampers on the system. Overall, the results demonstrate measurable and consistent influences from the control and load-mitigation measures, thus confirming the usefulness as a validation data set. Peak shaving attenuates the response to wind turbulence at near-rated wind speed. Floating feedback reduces the load and platform pitch motion associated with the negative damping induced by blade pitch control. The tuned mass dampers also attenuate the system response near the targeted frequencies under suitable conditions. We also identify detrimental side effects of each load-mitigation measure.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Integrated Orbit and Attitude Control for a Nanosatellite with Power Constraints

Small satellites tend to be power-limited, so that actuators used to control the orbit and attitude must compete with each other as well as with other subsystems for limited electrical power. The Virginia Tech nanosatellite project, HokieSat, must use its limited power resources to operate pulsed-plasma thrusters for orbit control and magnetic torque coils for attitude control, while also providing power to a GPS receiver, a crosslink transceiver, and other subsystems. The orbit and attitude control strategies were developed independently. The attitude control system is based on an application of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) to an averaged system of equations, whereas the orbit control is based on orbit element feedback. In this paper we describe the strategy for integrating these two control systems and present simulation results to verify the strategy.

Naasz, Bo↗

Online Primal-Dual Methods With Measurement Feedback for Time-Varying Convex Optimization

This paper addresses the design and analysis of feedback-based online algorithms to control systems or networked systems based on performance objectives and engineering constraints that may evolve over time. The emerging timevarying convex optimization formalism is leveraged to model optimal operational trajectories of the systems, as well as explicit local and network-level operational constraints. Departing from existing batch and feed-forward optimization approaches, the design of the algorithms capitalizes on an online implementation of primal-dual projected-gradient methods; the gradient steps are, however, suitably modified to accommodate feedback from the system in the form of measurements - hence, the term 'online optimization with feedback.' By virtue of this approach, the resultant algorithms can cope with model mismatches in the algebraic representation of the system states and outputs, they avoid pervasive measurements of exogenous inputs, and they naturally lend themselves to a distributed implementation. Under suitable assumptions, analytical convergence claims are established in terms of dynamic regret. Furthermore, when the synthesis of the feedback-based online algorithms is based on a regularized Lagrangian function, Q-linear convergence to solutions of the time-varying optimization problem is shown.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Aeroservoelastic Control Law Development for the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation Wind-Tunnel Test

The NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) Project seeks to “explore and develop technologies and concepts for improved energy efficiency and environmental compatibility for fixed wing subsonic transports” [1]. The IAWTM project is a subproject within AATT and is a joint Boeing/NASA effort to, in part, demonstrate the active control systems necessary to employ high-aspect ratio wings for improved aerodynamic efficiency. The aircraft configuration under study for the IAWTM project is a generic jet transport based on the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) whose wing aspect ratio has been increased to 13.5 (as opposed to nominal CRM aspect ratio of 9) and whose development is given in Ref. [2]. A semi-span model of the high-aspect-ratio CRM with 10 trailing edge control surfaces is currently being fabricated and will be delivered to the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). There, several tests will be conducted to demonstrate maneuver load alleviation (MLA), gust load alleviation (GLA), active flutter suppression (AFS), and drag reduction, all at transonic conditions. A layout of the wind tunnel model is shown in Fig. 1. The wind-tunnel model is a spar/pod wing design with a relatively rigid fuselage attached to a mounting structure (seen in Fig. 1), which in turn is attached to a load balance behind the tunnel wall. Shims exist that can be attached to force the load to go through the fuselage rather than through the balance so as not to damage the balance in the event of flutter. The spar/pod design is similar to that used in the Boeing truss-braced wing aeroelastic model tested in the TDT in 2013 [3]. There is a central spar running the span of the wing to which the pods are attached that form the aerodynamic shape of the wing. The pods are constructed of ribs for attachment to the spar and skins to create the outer mold line. There are ten active control surfaces that will be used for the test objectives discussed above. Three of these (two outboard ailerons and one inboard aileron) are high-speed electrohydraulic actuators, and the remaining seven are low-speed mini-plane flaps, which have slower servo motors that will be used primarily for drag and maneuver load reductions. Control laws must be developed for each test (MLA, GLA, AFS, and drag reduction) and must be able to work in tandem when two or more control strategies are being tested simultaneously (e.g., when control laws to mitigate maneuver loads and gust loads operate simultaneously). The development of these control laws requires accurate mathematical representations of the aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and control surface dynamics of the system. Taken together, this mathematical representation—which is often in state-space form— is the ASE model. Three low-order ASE models of differing fidelities were developed for the IAWTM test and will be presented here. The differences in fidelity appeared in the aerodynamic modeling—one model assumed purely linear aerodynamics, while the other two models used different techniques to linearize the aerodynamics about a nonlinear mean. Furthermore, simple observer-based full-state feedback controllers for each test (MLA, GLA, AFS, and drag reduction) were designed from these low-order ASE models and implemented in a higher-order, nonlinear computational ASE simulation to assess the effectiveness of each controller. Observers were designed from each of the three lower-order ASE models, and each (linear) observer was then used as an estimate of the nonlinear dynamics of the system. Using the estimated states and the full-state feedback controller, control surface commands were fed back to the higher-order, nonlinear ASE system. The insight gained during this development will be applied to control law development for the physical IAWTM wind-tunnel test.

Josiah M Waite↗

Robot-Arm Dynamic Control by Computer

Feedforward and feedback schemes linearize responses to control inputs. Method for control of robot arm based on computed nonlinear feedback and state tranformations to linearize system and decouple robot end-effector motions along each of cartesian axes augmented with optimal scheme for correction of errors in workspace. Major new feature of control method is: optimal error-correction loop directly operates on task level and not on joint-servocontrol level.

Bejczy, Antal K.↗

Optimal current profile control for enhanced repeatability of L-mode and H-mode discharges in DIII-D

In this work, model-based control techniques are used to obtain target current profiles in low-confinement-mode (L-mode) as well as high-confinement-mode (H-mode) DIII-D discharges. The control problem is formulated as a trajectory optimization problem to search for a feasible path from the expected initial condition to the desired target. The result comprises a sequence of feedforward (open-loop) control requests and a corresponding state evolution from the initial condition to the desired target. On top of this optimal feedforward control sequence a feedback (closed-loop) controller based on a linearized model and optimal control design techniques is added to track the desired state evolution. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the control approach is demonstrated with experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Conic sectors for sampled-data feedback systems

The conic-sector analysis of the closed-loop stability and robustness of a multivariable-analog-system controller based on sampled-data feedback compensation is investigated. Conic sectors and sampled-data feedback systems are defined, and the existence of a conic sector containing a sampled-data operator is established mathematically. An example is presented to prove that the conic sector is computable and gives sufficient conditions of closed-loop stability. A procedure for determining sampled-data-operator gain is also derived.

Thompson, P. M.↗

Distributed output-feedback model predictive control for multi-agent consensus

We introduce a distributed output-feedback model predictive control approach for achieving consensus among multiple agents. Each agent computes a distributed control action based on an output-feedback measurement of a local neighborhood tracking error and communicates information only to its neighbors, according to a communication network modeled as a directed graph. Each agent computes its distributed control action by solving a local min–max optimization problem that simultaneously computes a local state estimate and control input under worst-case assumptions on unmeasured input disturbances and measurement noise. Under easily verified controllability and observability assumptions, this distributed output-feedback model predictive control approach provides an upper bound on the group consensus error, thereby ensuring practical consensus in the presence of unmeasured disturbances and noise. A numerical example with four agents connected in a directed graph is demonstrated to illustrate the results.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An advanced teleoperator control system - Design and evaluation

The design goal of an advanced teleoperator control system is twofold: 1) to allow the operator's manual control to be robust to system nonlinearities such as time delays and operator's control errors, and 2) to support the high performance of teleoperation while reducing the operator's control burden by providing the master and slave arms with desirable dynamic properties and by allowing the slave arm to automatically perform such control tasks as compliance and force control in the form of task sharing. The authors present a novel teleoperator control system achieving the above design goal by taking the following into consideration: the human dynamics involved in generating control command based on visual and forced feedback is modeled and incorporated into the controller design and evaluation; the dynamic characteristics of slave and master arms are actively modified in such a way as to implement the desirable dynamic characteristics; and the force feedback is redefined in terms of the combination of opposition and force discrepancies in order to establish the required man/machine dynamic coordination under shared control. The proposed control system with human dynamics in the control loop is simulated and compared with a number of conventional methods in the presence of human control errors and time delays.

Lee, Sukhan↗

Insensitivity to propagation timing in a preview-enabled wind turbine control experiment

Lidar scanners are capable of taking measurements of a wind field upstream of a wind turbine. The wind turbine controller can use these measurements as a “preview” of future disturbances impacting the turbine. Such preview-enabled (or feedforward) controllers show superior performance to standard wind turbine control configurations based purely on a feedback architecture. To capitalize on the performance improvements that preview wind measurements can provide, feedforward control actions should be timed to coincide with the arrival of the wind field at the wind turbine location. However, the time of propagation of the wind field between the lidar measurement location and the wind turbine is not perfectly known. Moreover, the best time to take feedforward control action may not perfectly coincide with the true arrival time of the wind disturbance. This contribution presents results from an experiment where preview-enabled model predictive control was deployed on a fully-actuated, scaled model wind turbine operating in a wind tunnel testbed. In the study, we investigate the sensitivity of the controller performance to the assumed propagation delay using a range of wind input sequences. We find that the preview-enabled controller outperforms the feedback only case across a wide range of assumed propagation delays, demonstrating a level of robustness to the time alignment of the incoming disturbances.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Human-Machine Shared Control for Path Following Considering Driver Fatigue Characteristics

Fatigue driving has been regarded as one of the most important factors that cause traffic accidents. This paper proposes a robust human-machine shared control strategy to improve the vehicle performance for different driver fatigue states. Firstly, the time-varying driver steering model is proposed to address the model mismatch caused by fatigue driving. And the driver fatigue evaluation system is established based on facial features to quantify driver fatigue levels. Based on the quantified fatigue levels, a novel strategy for allocating authorities of the driver and controller is developed for building the driver-vehicle interaction system. Then, to weaken the influence of parameter perturbations caused by the time-varying driver states, we design a fatigue-based shared controller through state feedback. The actuator saturation and system constraints are considered in the controller design through the robust set-invariance property to improve vehicle safety and driving comfort. The driver-in-the-loop platform is conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed shared steering controller. In conclusion, the experimental results show that the proposed strategy can adaptively optimize the human-machine authorities according to fatigue states and comprehensively improve vehicle performance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Experimental and analytical studies of advanced air cushion landing systems

Several concepts are developed for air cushion landing systems (ACLS) which have the potential for improving performance characteristics (roll stiffness, heave damping, and trunk flutter), and reducing fabrication cost and complexity. After an initial screening, the following five concepts were evaluated in detail: damped trunk, filled trunk, compartmented trunk, segmented trunk, and roll feedback control. The evaluation was based on tests performed on scale models. An ACLS dynamic simulation developed earlier is updated so that it can be used to predict the performance of full-scale ACLS incorporating these refinements. The simulation was validated through scale-model tests. A full-scale ACLS based on the segmented trunk concept was fabricated and installed on the NASA ACLS test vehicle, where it is used to support advanced system development. A geometrically-scaled model (one third full scale) of the NASA test vehicle was fabricated and tested. This model, evaluated by means of a series of static and dynamic tests, is used to investigate scaling relationships between reduced and full-scale models. The analytical model developed earlier is applied to simulate both the one third scale and the full scale response.

Lee, E. G. S.↗

An investigation of automatic guidance concepts to steer a VTOL aircraft to a small aviation facility ship

A detailed system model of a VTOL aircraft approaching a small aviation facility ship was developed and used to investigate several approach guidance concepts. A preliminary anaysis of the aircraft-vessel landing guidance requirements was conducted. The various subelements and constraints of the flight system are described including the landing scenario, lift fan aircraft, state rate feedback flight control, MLS-based navigation, sea state induced ship motion, and wake turbulence due to wind-over-deck effects. These elements are integrated into a systems model with various guidance concepts. Guidance is described in terms of lateral, vertical, and longitudinal axes steering modes and approach and landing phases divided by a nominal hover (or stationkeeping) point defined with respect to the landing pad. The approach guidance methods are evaluated, and the two better steering concepts are studied by both single pass and Monte Carlo statistical simulation runs. Four different guidance concepts are defined for further analysis for the landing phase of flight.

Sorensen, J. A.↗

Accuracy of derivatives of control performance using a reduced structural model

The sensitivity of control system performance to structural changes is calculated for a multi-span beam with direct-rate feedback vibration control. Reduced models based on the natural modes of the structure are formed and derivatives of the damping ratios of the closed-loop eigenvalues are calculated. The convergence of the derivatives of the damping ratios with increasing number of modes is shown to be slower than the convergence of the damping ratios themselves. In particular, in some cases the convergence of finite-element approximations to the derivatives is much faster than the convergence of the modal approximations. The results indicate that the use of reduced models based on natural vibration modes may be ill-advised for calculating the sensitivity of control system performance to changes in the controlled structure.

Sandridge, Chris A.↗

Early Oscillation Detection Technique for Hybrid DC/DC Converters

Oscillation or instability is a situation that must be avoided for reliable hybrid DC/DC converters. A real-time electronics measurement technique was developed to detect catastrophic oscillations at early stages for hybrid DC/DC converters. It is capable of identifying low-level oscillation and determining the degree of the oscillation at a unique frequency for every individual model of the converters without disturbing their normal operations. This technique is specially developed for space-used hybrid DC/DC converters, but it is also suitable for most of commercial and military switching-mode power supplies. This is a weak-electronic-signal detection technique to detect hybrid DC/DC converter oscillation presented as a specific noise signal at power input pins. It is based on principles of feedback control loop oscillation and RF signal modulations, and is realized by using signal power spectral analysis. On the power spectrum, a channel power amplitude at characteristic frequency (CPcf) and a channel power amplitude at switching frequency (CPsw) are chosen as oscillation level indicators. If the converter is stable, the CPcf is a very small pulse and the CPsw is a larger, clear, single pulse. At early stage of oscillation, the CPcf increases to a certain level and the CPsw shows a small pair of sideband pulses around it. If the converter oscillates, the CPcf reaches to a higher level and the CPsw shows more high-level sideband pulses. A comprehensive stability index (CSI) is adopted as a quantitative measure to accurately assign a degree of stability to a specific DC/DC converter. The CSI is a ratio of normal and abnormal power spectral density, and can be calculated using specified and measured CPcf and CPsw data. The novel and unique feature of this technique is the use of power channel amplitudes at characteristic frequency and switching frequency to evaluate stability and identify oscillations at an early stage without interfering with a DC/DC converter s normal operation. This technique eliminates the probing problem of a gain/phase margin method by connecting the power input to a spectral analyzer. Therefore, it is able to evaluate stability for all kinds of hybrid DC/DC converters with or without remote sense pins, and is suitable for real-time and in-circuit testing. This frequency-domain technique is more sensitive to detect oscillation at early stage than the time-domain method using an oscilloscope.

Wang, Bright L.↗