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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Interoperability Review of Wireless Hardware in Emergency Air-To-Ground Mesh Networks

The air-to-ground network has the goal of advancing the capabilities and versatility of communications in wildfire and emergency scenarios. To ensure compatibility and keep costs low for emergency services interoperability between hardware is an important step in development of the mesh network. For the purposes of this evaluation interoperability of hardware is described as the ability for hardware from different vendors to be interchangeable within the network with minimal initial setup and no functional change from an operator’s viewpoint. This report will also focus on the features and limitations in addition to the interoperability of the major wireless hardware systems core to the function of the proposed air-to-ground mesh network. The hardware systems involved are ADS-B receivers, 3GPP Sidelink devices, mesh radios, and commercial ISM band radios. For early testing the mesh radios will be in the 900 MHz frequency range using the DoodleLabs RM-1700-22W Mesh Rider Radio as the lab reference. This report will consider and categorize desirability of features, the amount of setup required before deployment, the effect on performance characteristics from nominal and maximum load, and the ability to interface with other vender devices.

Mesh Radio↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enabling real-time adaptation of machine learning models at x-ray Free Electron Laser facilities with high-speed training optimized computational hardware

The emergence of novel computational hardware is enabling a new paradigm for rapid machine learning model training. For the Department of Energy’s major research facilities, this developing technology will enable a highly adaptive approach to experimental sciences. In this manuscript we present the per-epoch and end-to-end training times for an example of a streaming diagnostic that is planned for the upcoming high-repetition rate x-ray Free Electron Laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source-II. We explore the parameter space of batch size and data parallel training across multiple Graphics Processing Units and Reconfigurable Dataflow Units. We show the landscape of training times with a goal of full model retraining in under 15 min. Although a full from scratch retraining of a model may not be required in all cases, we nevertheless present an example of the application of emerging computational hardware for adapting machine learning models to changing environments in real-time, during streaming data acquisition, at the rates expected for the data fire hoses of accelerator-based user facilities.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1976

Reconfigurable redundancy management for aircraft flight control

A highly fault tolerant digital computer system has been configured based on extensive experience with flight proven, redundant digital flight control systems. The feasibility of minimizing hardware complexity is shown while maintaining high levels of fault tolerance. The emerging hardware design combines reconfiguration concepts with conventional hardware redundancy techniques and special operational software to provide dual fail operate performance with a basic triplex system. The design provides high reliability and flight safety, enhances maintainability, and reduces life cycle cost while offering improved performance for future aircraft.

Bosch, J. A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Accelerators for Classical Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Biomolecules

Atomistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations provide researchers the ability to model biomolecular structures such as proteins and their interactions with drug-like small molecules with greater spatiotemporal resolution than is otherwise possible using experimental methods. MD simulations are notoriously expensive computational endeavors that have traditionally required massive investment in specialized hardware to access biologically relevant spatiotemporal scales. Our goal is to summarize the fundamental algorithms that are employed in the literature to then highlight the challenges that have affected accelerator implementations in practice. We consider three broad categories of accelerators: Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These categories are comparatively studied to facilitate discussion of their relative trade-offs and to gain context for the current state of the art. We conclude by providing insights into the potential of emerging hardware platforms and algorithms for MD.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2011

International Space Station (ISS) Risk Reduction Activities

As the assembly of the ISS nears completion, it is worthwhile to step back and review some of the actions pursued by the Program in recent years to reduce risk and enhance the safety and health of ISS crewmembers, visitors, and space flight participants. While the ISS requirements and initial design were intended to provide the best practicable levels of safety, it is always possible to reduce risk -- given the determination and commitment to do so. The following is a summary of some of the steps taken by the ISS Program Manager, by our International Partners, by hardware and software designers, by operational specialists, and by safety personnel to continuously enhance the safety of the ISS. While decades of work went into developing the ISS requirements, there are many things in a Program like the ISS that can only be learned through actual operational experience. These risk reduction activities can be divided into roughly three categories: (1) Areas that were initially noncompliant which have subsequently been brought into compliance or near compliance (i.e., Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris [MMOD] protection, acoustics) (2) Areas where initial design requirements were eventually considered inadequate and were subsequently augmented (i.e., Toxicity Level 4 materials, emergency hardware and procedures) (3) Areas where risks were initially underestimated, and have subsequently been addressed through additional mitigation (i.e., Extravehicular Activity [EVA] sharp edges, plasma shock hazards) Due to the hard work and cooperation of many parties working together across the span of nearly a decade, the ISS is now a safer and healthier environment for our crew, in many cases exceeding the risk reduction targets inherent in the intent of the original design. It will provide a safe and stable platform for utilization and discovery.

Fodroci, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2020

An updated LLVM-based quantum research compiler with further OpenQASM support

Abstract Quantum computing is a rapidly growing field with the potential to change how we solve previously intractable problems. Emerging hardware is approaching a complexity that requires increasingly sophisticated programming and control. Scaffold is an older quantum programming language that was originally designed for resource estimation for far-future, large quantum machines, and ScaffCC is the corresponding LLVM-based compiler. For the first time, we provide a full and complete overview of the language itself, the compiler as well as its pass structure. While previous works Abhari et al (2015 Parallel Comput. 45 2–17), Abhari et al (2012 Scaffold: quantum programming language https://cs.princeton.edu/research/techreps/TR-934-12 ), have piecemeal descriptions of different portions of this toolchain, we provide a more full and complete description in this paper. We also introduce updates to ScaffCC including conditional measurement and multidimensional qubit arrays designed to keep in step with modern quantum assembly languages, as well as an alternate toolchain targeted at maintaining correctness and low resource count for noisy-intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) machines, and compatibility with current versions of LLVM and Clang. Our goal is to provide the research community with a functional LLVM framework for quantum program analysis, optimization, and generation of executable code.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

FY20 ASC IC L2 Milestone 7180: Performance Portability of SIERRA Mechanics Applications to ATS-1 and ATS-2. Executive Summary

The overall goal of this work was to accelerate simulations supporting the nuclear deterrence (ND) mission through improved performance of key algorithms in the ASC IC Sierra multi-physics application suite. This work focused on porting and optimizing algorithms for the graphics processing units (GPU) on the second ASC advanced technology system (ATS-2), while maintaining or improving performance on commodity technology systems (CTS) and ATS-1. Furthermore, these algorithmic developments used the ASC developed Kokkos performance portability abstraction library to maintain high performance across platforms using identical code, and enable sustainable reduced-cost migration and performance optimization to emerging hardware.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1990

Systems engineering and integration: Advanced avionics laboratories

In order to develop the new generation of avionics which will be necessary for upcoming programs such as the Lunar/Mars Initiative, Advanced Launch System, and the National Aerospace Plane, new Advanced Avionics Laboratories are required. To minimize costs and maximize benefits, these laboratories should be capable of supporting multiple avionics development efforts at a single location, and should be of a common design to support and encourage data sharing. Recent technological advances provide the capability of letting the designer or analyst perform simulations and testing in an environment similar to his engineering environment and these features should be incorporated into the new laboratories. Existing and emerging hardware and software standards must be incorporated wherever possible to provide additional cost savings and compatibility. Special care must be taken to design the laboratories such that real-time hardware-in-the-loop performance is not sacrificed in the pursuit of these goals. A special program-independent funding source should be identified for the development of Advanced Avionics Laboratories as resources supporting a wide range of upcoming NASA programs.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Intelligent systems and advanced user interfaces for design, operation, and maintenance of command management systems

Historically, command management systems (CMS) have been large and expensive spacecraft-specific software systems that were costly to build, operate, and maintain. Current and emerging hardware, software, and user interface technologies may offer an opportunity to facilitate the initial formulation and design of a spacecraft-specific CMS as well as to develop a more generic CMS system. New technologies, in addition to a core CMS common to a range of spacecraft, may facilitate the training and enhance the efficiency of CMS operations. Current mission operations center (MOC) hardware and software include Unix workstations, the C/C++ programming languages, and an X window interface. This configuration provides the power and flexibility to support sophisticated and intelligent user interfaces that exploit state-of-the-art technologies in human-machine interaction, artificial intelligence, and software engineering. One of the goals of this research is to explore the extent to which technologies developed in the research laboratory can be productively applied in a complex system such as spacecraft command management. Initial examination of some of these issues in CMS design and operation suggests that application of technologies such as intelligent planning, case-based reasoning, human-machine systems design and analysis tools (e.g., operator and designer models), and human-computer interaction tools (e.g., graphics, visualization, and animation) may provide significant savings in the design, operation, and maintenance of the CMS for a specific spacecraft as well as continuity for CMS design and development across spacecraft. The first six months of this research saw a broad investigation by Georgia Tech researchers into the function, design, and operation of current and planned command management systems at Goddard Space Flight Center. As the first step, the researchers attempted to understand the current and anticipated horizons of command management systems at Goddard. Preliminary results are given on CMS commonalities and causes of low re-use, and methods are proposed to facilitate increased re-use.

Potter, William J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Intelligent Systems and Advanced User Interfaces for Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Command Management Systems

Historically Command Management Systems (CMS) have been large, expensive, spacecraft-specific software systems that were costly to build, operate, and maintain. Current and emerging hardware, software, and user interface technologies may offer an opportunity to facilitate the initial formulation and design of a spacecraft-specific CMS as well as a to develop a more generic or a set of core components for CMS systems. Current MOC (mission operations center) hardware and software include Unix workstations, the C/C++ and Java programming languages, and X and Java window interfaces representations. This configuration provides the power and flexibility to support sophisticated systems and intelligent user interfaces that exploit state-of-the-art technologies in human-machine systems engineering, decision making, artificial intelligence, and software engineering. One of the goals of this research is to explore the extent to which technologies developed in the research laboratory can be productively applied in a complex system such as spacecraft command management. Initial examination of some of the issues in CMS design and operation suggests that application of technologies such as intelligent planning, case-based reasoning, design and analysis tools from a human-machine systems engineering point of view (e.g., operator and designer models) and human-computer interaction tools, (e.g., graphics, visualization, and animation), may provide significant savings in the design, operation, and maintenance of a spacecraft-specific CMS as well as continuity for CMS design and development across spacecraft with varying needs. The savings in this case is in software reuse at all stages of the software engineering process.

Mitchell, Christine M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Online Rapid Analysis of Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (LHR) Data Using the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG)

One of the biggest challenges in developing scientific instruments is not just the build and testing of an instrument, but the method for processing the data and producing a consistent, well characterized data product that can be confidently used by the public and scientific community. Raw data products are frequently an array of numbers that are a read-out of voltages. The challenge is to convert these arrays into meaningful information as well as remove noise and interferences. Because this can be a tedious and time-consuming, the goal is to automate the process so that data ca be processed rapidly and be available in real-time for event monitoring. Here we present a rapid analysis method for Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (LHR) data that can be used to analyze data taken from a range of LHR observation modes (column, limb, etc.). This online tool uses the versatile Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) and allows LHR users to quickly analyze their own data using a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) monitored capability to ensure quality and reproducibility in the data products. Background: Development of a miniaturized LHR (mini-LHR) as a ground instrument for measuring carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) in the atmospheric column started in 2009 with the commercial availability of distributive feedback lasers (DFB) in wavelengths that could measure absorption of gases in the near-IR. As new DFB lasers, detectors and hardware emerged at different wavelengths, additional gases were added to the capability. The mini-LHR was adapted into an occultation-viewing CubeSat with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for observing CO 2 , CH 4 , and H 2 O in the limb and was launched in 2019. Other versions of the LHR technology have been designed for observation of water vapor in the lunar exosphere as well as observations of trace gases in planetary atmospheres and plumes from icy moons. The PSG is an online tool developed at GSFC that can be used for synthesizing Earth and planetary spectra (atmospheres and surfaces) over a broad range of wavelengths (0.1 μm to 100 mm) for any observatory, orbiter or lander. Spectra are simulated by combining several state-of-the-art radiative transfer models, spectroscopic databases, planetary databases, as well as modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) data set which provides meteorological inputs such as modeled surface pressure for calculating dry-air columns.

Emily Wilson↗
DOE OSTI2023

Focused Interest Groups Propel Innovation in the Emerging Data-Driven Hardware Ecosystem

Over the past several decades, the science of electron microscopy (EM) has risen to become one of the cornerstone approaches to understanding material structure, chemistry, and defects at exceptional spatial resolution. This rise can be attributed to the hard work of researchers and companies who have pushed the bounds of instrumentation and analysis, but it is also the result of advocacy by members of professional societies. Furthermore, such advocacy is exemplified by the Aberration Corrected EM (ACEM) focused interest group (FIG) of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA), which has played an important role in facilitating new hardware developments, promoting the exchange of ideas to catalyze discovery, and building the next generation of leaders in electron microscopy. From the early 2000s to the present, aberration correction has moved from proof-of-concept instrumentation to an established technique, providing unprecedented improvements in spatial and chemical resolution for breakthroughs in chemistry, physics, and materials science.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evolution of Hardware and Philosophy of Emergency Response Actions on the International Space Station and Future Spacecrafts

Human spaceflight is dangerous for numerous reasons. This ranges from the dynamic environment of launching on a rocket, flying in space among the thousands and thousands pieces of space debris, to the hazards of re-entry & landing, as well as being surrounded by vehicle systems containing hazardous materials or gasses. In-flight emergencies fall into four categories: Rapid Depressurization, Fire, Toxic Spill, and Medical emergency. This paper will address the first three, which fall under the responsibility of the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Systems flight control and engineering teams. It will review the evolution of the International Space Station’s emergency response philosophy, procedures, training, and equipment changes over the years. The International Space Station (ISS) emergency equipment has evolved over the last two decades of operations in many ways, but in some it has remained the same. The core actions the flight crew takes to ensure team safety, personal safety, vehicle safety, and equipment safety has not changed. However, the equipment and capabilities provided to them have. From early days of minimal capability when the ISS consisted of a few modules, to today’s 30,000 ft^3 vehicle with over a dozen isolatable segments. From use of positive pressure O2 masks, to the development of respirators. From a lack of procedures for a deadly ammonia leak scenario to a memorized response utilizing numerous atmosphere measurement systems. This paper will review all these various areas that fall under the umbrella of “on-board emergencies”. In addition, the comparison to the planned emergency operations on the Orion vehicle will be reviewed. The Orion vehicle differs from the ISS in that it has no isolatable volume, being approximately 2% the size of ISS, as well as not having a quick return to earth capability.

Barry Tobias↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evolution of Hardware and Philosophy of Emergency Response Actions on the International Space Station and Future Spacecrafts

Human spaceflight is dangerous for numerous reasons. This ranges from the dynamic environment of launching on a rocket, flying in space among the thousands and thousands pieces of space debris, to the hazards of re-entry & landing, as well as being surrounded by vehicle systems containing hazardous materials or gasses. In-flight emergencies fall into four categories: Rapid Depressurization, Fire, Toxic Spill, and Medical emergency. This paper will address the first three, which fall under the responsibility of the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Systems flight control and engineering teams. It will review the evolution of the International Space Station’s emergency response philosophy, procedures, training, and equipment changes over the years. The ISS emergency equipment has evolved over the last two decades of operations in many ways, but in some it has remained the same. The core actions the flight crew takes to ensure team safety, personal safety, vehicle safety, and equipment safety has not changed. However, the equipment and capabilities provided to them have. From early days of minimal capability when the ISS consisted of a few modules, to today’s 30,000 ft^3 vehicle with over a dozen isolatable segments. From use of Russian gas masks to positive pressure O2 masks, to the development of respirators. From a lack of procedures for a deadly ammonia leak scenario to a memorized response utilizing numerous atmosphere measurement systems. This paper will review all these various areas that fall under the umbrella of “on-board emergencies”. In addition, the comparison to the planned emergency operations on the Orion vehicle will be reviewed. The Orion vehicle differs from the ISS in that it has no isolatable volume, being approximately 2% the size of ISS, as well as not having a quick return to earth capability.

Emergency↗
DOE OSTI2024

On the emerging potential of quantum annealing hardware for combinatorial optimization

Abstract Over the past decade, the usefulness of quantum annealing hardware for combinatorial optimization has been the subject of much debate. Thus far, experimental benchmarking studies have indicated that quantum annealing hardware does not provide an irrefutable performance gain over state-of-the-art optimization methods. However, as this hardware continues to evolve, each new iteration brings improved performance and warrants further benchmarking. To that end, this work conducts an optimization performance assessment of D-Wave Systems’ Advantage Performance Update computer, which can natively solve sparse unconstrained quadratic optimization problems with over 5,000 binary decision variables and 40,000 quadratic terms. We demonstrate that classes of contrived problems exist where this quantum annealer can provide run time benefits over a collection of established classical solution methods that represent the current state-of-the-art for benchmarking quantum annealing hardware. Although this work does not present strong evidence of an irrefutable performance benefit for this emerging optimization technology, it does exhibit encouraging progress, signaling the potential impacts on practical optimization tasks in the future.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

3-regular three-XORSAT planted solutions benchmark of classical and quantum heuristic optimizers

With current semiconductor technology reaching its physical limits, special-purpose hardware has emerged as an option to tackle specific computing-intensive challenges. Optimization in the form of solving quadratic unconstrained binary optimization problems, or equivalently Ising spin glasses, has been the focus of several new dedicated hardware platforms. These platforms come in many different flavors, from highly-efficient hardware implementations on digital-logic of established algorithms to proposals of analog hardware implementing new algorithms. In this work, we use a mapping of a specific class of linear equations whose solutions can be found efficiently, to a hard constraint satisfaction problem (three-regular three-XORSAT, or an Ising spin glass) with a 'golf-course' shaped energy landscape, to benchmark several of these different approaches. We perform a scaling and prefactor analysis of the performance of Fujitsu's digital annealer unit (DAU), the D-Wave advantage quantum annealer, a virtual MemComputing machine, Toshiba's simulated bifurcation machine (SBM), the SATonGPU algorithm from Bernaschi et al, and our implementation of parallel tempering. We identify the SATonGPU and DAU as currently having the smallest scaling exponent for this benchmark, with SATonGPU having a small scaling advantage and in addition having by far the smallest prefactor thanks to its use of massive parallelism. Furthermore, our work provides an objective assessment and a snapshot of the promise and limitations of dedicated optimization hardware relative to a particular class of optimization problems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗