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At least 19 records

An intelligent robotic aid system for human services

The long term goal of our research at the Intelligent Robotic Laboratory at Vanderbilt University is to develop advanced intelligent robotic aid systems for human services. As a first step toward our goal, the current thrusts of our R&D are centered on the development of an intelligent robotic aid called the ISAC (Intelligent Soft Arm Control). In this paper, we describe the overall system architecture and current activities in intelligent control, adaptive/interactive control and task learning.

Kawamura, K.↗

A New Business Model for Problem Solving-Infusing Open Collaboration and Innovation Health and Human Services

This slide presentation reviews the Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) new business model for problem solving, with emphasis on open collaboration and innovation. The topics that are discussed are: an overview of the work of the Space Life Sciences Directorate and the strategic initiatives that arrived at the new business model. A new business model was required to infuse open collaboration/innovation tools into existing models for research, development and operations (research announcements, procurements, SBIR/STTR etc). This new model involves use of several open innovation partnerships: InnoCentive, Yet2.com, TopCoder and NASA@work. There is also a new organizational structure developed to facilitate the joint collaboration with other NASA centers, international partners, other U.S. Governmental organizations, Academia, Corporate, and Non-Profit organizations: the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC).

Davis, Jeffrey R.↗

An Alternative Approach to Human Servicing of Manned Earth Orbiting Spacecraft

As manned spacecraft have grown larger and more complex, they have come to rely on spacewalks or Extravehicular Activities (EVA) for both mission success and crew safety. Typically these spacecraft maintain all of the hardware and trained personnel needed to perform an EVA on-board at all times. Maintaining this capability requires volume and up-mass for storage of EVA hardware, crew time for ground and on-orbit training, and on-orbit maintenance of EVA hardware . This paper proposes an alternative methodology to utilize launch-on-need hardware and crew to provide EVA capability for space stations in Earth orbit after assembly complete, in the same way that most people would call a repairman to fix something at their home. This approach would not only reduce ground training requirements and save Intravehicular Activity (IVA) crew time in the form of EVA hardware maintenance and on-orbit training, but would also lead to more efficient EVAs because they would be performed by specialists with detailed knowledge and training stemming from their direct involvement in the development of the EVA. The on-orbit crew would then be available to focus on the immediate response to the failure as well as the day-to-day operations of the spacecraft and payloads. This paper will look at how current ISS unplanned EVAs are conducted, including the time required for preparation, and offer alternatives for future spacecraft utilizing lessons learned from ISS. As this methodology relies entirely on the on-time and on-need launch of spacecraft, any space station that utilized this approach would need a robust transportation system including more than one launch vehicle capable of carrying crew. In addition the fault tolerance of the space station would be an important consideration in how much time was available for EVA preparation after the failure. Each future program would have to weigh the risk of on-time launch against the increase in available crew time for the main objective of the spacecraft.

Mularski, John↗

An Alternative Approach to Human Servicing of Crewed Earth Orbiting Spacecraft

As crewed spacecraft have grown larger and more complex, they have come to rely on spacewalks, or Extravehicular Activities (EVA), for mission success and crew safety. Typically, these spacecraft maintain all of the hardware and trained personnel needed to perform an EVA on-board at all times. Maintaining this capability requires volume and up-mass for storage of EVA hardware, crew time for ground and on-orbit training, and on-orbit maintenance of EVA hardware. This paper proposes an alternative methodology, utilizing launch on-need hardware and crew to provide EVA capability for space stations in Earth orbit after assembly complete, in the same way that one would call a repairman to fix something at their home. This approach would reduce ground training requirements, save Intravehicular Activity (IVA) crew time in the form of EVA hardware maintenance and on-orbit training, and lead to more efficient EVAs because they would be performed by specialists with detailed knowledge and training stemming from their direct involvement in the development of the EVA. The on-orbit crew would then be available to focus on the immediate response to the failure as well as the day-to-day operations of the spacecraft and payloads. This paper will look at how current unplanned EVAs are conducted, including the time required for preparation, and offer alternatives for future spacecraft. As this methodology relies on the on-time and on-need launch of spacecraft, any space station that utilized this approach would need a robust transportation system including more than one launch vehicle capable of carrying crew. In addition, the fault tolerance of the space station would be an important consideration in how much time was available for EVA preparation after the failure. Each future program would have to weigh the risk of on-time launch against the increase in available crew time for the main objective of the spacecraft.

Mularski, John R.↗

An Alternative Approach to Human Servicing of Crewed Earth Orbiting Spacecraft

As crewed spacecraft have grown larger and more complex, they have come to rely on spacewalks, or Extravehicular Activities (EVA), for assembly and to assure mission success. Typically, these spacecraft maintain all of the hardware and trained personnel needed to perform an EVA on-board at all times. Maintaining this capability requires up-mass, volume for storage of EVA hardware, crew time for ground and on-orbit training, and on-orbit maintenance of EVA hardware. This paper proposes an alternative methodology, utilizing either launch-on-need hardware and crew or regularly scheduled missions to provide EVA capability for space stations in low Earth orbit after assembly complete. Much the same way that one would call a repairman to fix something at their home these EVAs are dedicated to maintenance and upgrades of the orbiting station. For crew safety contingencies it is assumed the station would be designed such the crew could either solve those issues from inside the spacecraft or use the docked Earth to Orbit vehicles as a return lifeboat, in the same manner as the International Space Station (ISS) which does not rely on EVA for crew safety related contingencies. This approach would reduce ground training requirements for long duration crews, save Intravehicular Activity (IVA) crew time in the form of EVA hardware maintenance and on-orbit training, and lead to more efficient EVAs because they would be performed by specialists with detailed knowledge and training stemming from their direct involvement in the development of the EVA. The on-orbit crew would then be available to focus on the immediate response to any failures such as IVA systems reconfiguration or jumper installation as well as the day-to-day operations of the spacecraft and payloads. This paper will look at how current unplanned EVAs are conducted on ISS, including the time required for preparation, and offer an alternative for future spacecraft. As this methodology relies on the on-time and on-need launch of spacecraft, any space station that utilized this approach would need a robust transportation system, possibly including more than one launch vehicle capable of carrying crew. In addition, the fault tolerance of the future space station would be an important consideration in how much time was available for EVA preparation after the failure. Ideally the fault tolerance of the station would allow for the maintenance tasks to be grouped such that they could be handled by regularly scheduled maintenance visits and not contingency launches. Each future program would have to weigh the risk of on-time launch against the increase in available crew time for the main objective of the spacecraft. This is only one of several ideas that could be used to reduce or eliminate a station's reliance on rapid turnaround EVAs using on-board crew. Others could include having shirt-sleeve access to critical systems or utilizing low pressure temporarily pressurized equipment bays.

Mularski, John R.↗

NASA's Implementation of Cloud Services for Human Space Flight

Cloud is a tried-and-true technology used throughout United States government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With reliable results and infrequent downtimes, cloud allows for secure remote access, customizability, and streamlined monitoring options, creating an environment for better data integrity and availability. As NASA increasingly migrates functions to the cloud, the Space Communications and Navigation Program (SCaN) program has been investigating how this capability can be leveraged to provide communication services to its users and customers. Currently, missions such as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE), and Roman Space Telescope (RST) are planned to incorporate cloud into their data delivery architecture. However, SCaN is looking to expand further. This conversion to using cloud services allows for greater availability of mission data for both robotic and human space flight (HSF)missions. The SCaN program and the Near Space Network (NSN) are working to consolidate resources and create a cloud environment suitable for the entirety of the SCaN program network architecture. SCaN is in the process of finalizing its cloud architecture and soon will be implementing cloud services. The new services used will adhere to federal regulations including Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which is built upon National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)documentation. While keeping in mind these security requirements, an auxiliary objective of the cloud integration is to ensure the most cost-efficient solution; providing a scalable, robust and resilient system. Using cloud services, NASA will gain access to better centralized monitoring and management features, along with customizable services on a pay-per-use plan. With the ever-growing NASA mission data volume needs, maintaining ample storage space is another major constraint. Processing and storing such large amounts of data, on the order of terabytes a day, requires dynamic processing capability which is inherently a strength of cloud computing. By routing this data from ground stations through the cloud, there will be greater ease of access for both SCaN and the user community. Artificial intelligence and other built-in cloud functions can also enhance efficiency, improving data processing time. Thereby also allowing for better data availability. As we look to the future of cloud services, NASA will continue to leverage capabilities that will benefit NASA’s ability to provide cost-effective communication services. This paper further outlines the evolution of cloud use by SCaN in the context of Human Space Flight.

cloud storage↗

The TPF Mission at L2

The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is one of the center pieces of NASA's Origins Program. The goal of TPF is to identify terrestrial planets around stars nearby the Sun. For this purpose, a space-based interferometer with a baseline of approximately 100 m is required. To achieve such a large baseline, a distributed system of five spacecraft flying in formation is an efficient approach. Since the TPF instruments need a cold and stable environment, a halo orbit about 4 is ideal. First, we describe formation flight near the Lagrange point is feasible for the TPF mission. Second, we propose a novel approach for human servicing of Lagrange point missions by placing a Lunar service station in an Lunar L1 orbit. The TPF spacecraft can be transferred to a Lunar L1 orbit in a few days and requires relatively little delta-V. This efficient transfer results from the system of low energy pathways connecting the entire Solar System generated by the Lagrange points. The halo orbits are the portals of this Interplanetary . A Lunar Station at the L,portal, in addition to servicing missions from the Sun-Earth Lagrange points, may play an even more important role in the future development of space.

human servicing↗

Using Satellite Remote Sensing and Household Survey Data to Assess Human Health and Nutrition Response to Environmental Change

Climate change and degradation of ecosystem services functioning may threaten the ability of current agricultural systems to keep up with demand for adequate and inexpensive food and for clean water, waste disposal and other broader ecosystem services. Human health is likely to be affected by changes occurring across multiple geographic and time scales. Impacts range from increasing transmissibility and the range of vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever, to undermining nutrition through deleterious impacts on food production and concomitant increases in food prices. This paper uses case studies to describe methods that make use of satellite remote sensing and Demographic and Health Survey data to better understand individual-level human health and nutrition outcomes. By bringing these diverse datasets together, the connection between environmental change and human health outcomes can be described through new research and analysis.

Health↗

Mothers of Invention: Hubble Engineers Push Robotic 'Evolution' to Save Telescope, Enable New Exploration

Robotic technology being developed out of necessity to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operating could also lead to new levels of man-machine team-work in deep-space exploration down the road-if it survives the near-term scramble for funding. Engineers here who have devoted their NASA careers to the concept of humans servicing the telescope in orbit are planning modifications to International Space Station (ISS) robots that would leave the humans on the ground. The work. forced by post-Columbia flight rules that killed a planned shuttle-servicing mission to Hubble, marks another step in the evolution of robot-partners for human space explorers. "Hubble has always been a pathfider for this agency," says Mike Weiss. Hubble deputy program manager technical. "When the space station was flown and assembled, Hubble was the pathfinder. not just for modularity, but for operations, for assembly techniques. Exploration is the next step. Things we're going to do on Hubble are going to be applied to exploration. It's not just putting a robot in space. It's operating a robot in space. It's adapting that robot to what needs to be done the next time you're up there."

Morring, Frank, Jr.↗

Planning and Monitoring for Swarm Search and Service Missions

To transition from control theory to real applications, it is important to study missions such as Swarm Search and Service (SSS) where vehicles are not only required to search an area, but also service all jobs that they find. In SSS missions each type of job requires a group of vehicles to break-off from the swarm for a given amount of time to successfully service it. The required number of vehicles and the service rate are unique to each job type. Once a job has been completed the vehicles are able to return to the swarm for use elsewhere. If not enough vehicles are present in the swarm at the time that the job is identified, that job is dropped without being serviced. Human operators as tasked with effectively planning and managing these complex missions. This work presents a user study that seeks to test the efficacy and ease-of-use of a prediction model known as the Hybrid Model as an aid in planning and monitoring tasks. Results show that the novel computational model aid allows operators to more effectively choose the necessary swarm size to handle expected mission workload, as well as, maintain sufficient situation awareness to evaluate the performance of the swarm during missions.

swarm search and service↗

Protect Your Family: Reduce Contamination at Home: A Summary of a Study Conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) without including specific provisions for protecting the privacy of healthrelated information. The law gave Congress three years to enact such requirements and provided that if it failed to do so the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was obligated to promulgate regulations to implement the statutory standards. When Congress failed to meet the deadline, the obligation to issue privacy regulations passed to DHHS. DHHS received over 52,000 comments on the proposed regulations. Responses to the comments and the final rule were published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2000. The cost of implementing the regulations over a ten-year period was estimated at $17.6 billion by DHHS. Industry estimates the cost at five times that amount.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

International Benchmarking: A Global Perspective of Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing

Workplace drug and alcohol testing has been widely implemented in diverse industries and is designed to detect the use of and deter the influence of legal and illegal substances that would impair the ability to perform work that has significant security and safety implications. Across the globe, patterns of drug and alcohol use and abuse and the regulations controlling drug and alcohol use vary by location (e.g., regions, countries, etc.). The prevalence of workplace drug and alcohol testing and protection of individuals’ rights in the workplace similarly tend to exhibit contextual differences. With the advancements in drug-testing technologies and the recent issuance of guidance for additional testing matrices (e.g., oral fluid, hair, etc.) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gaining a global perspective on the current state of drug and alcohol testing practices and regulations is important for leveraging such advancements to improve the effectiveness of drug and alcohol testing. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) tasked the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) fitness for duty (FFD) team to conduct a benchmarking analysis of international drug and alcohol testing regulations and programs to identify similarities and differences in workplace testing programs and the basis for any differences. The benchmarking study focuses on a policy analysis and benchmarking metrics comparison among different countries and regions. The policy analysis includes the following three types of relevant international and national policies relevant to drug and alcohol testing in the nuclear industry: 1. National drug and alcohol policy 2. Workplace drug and alcohol testing 3. FFD regulations for Nuclear Power Plants The international drug and alcohol benchmarking metrics focusses on the use of blood, breath, urine, hair, and oral fluid in testing; drug and drug metabolite cutoff values; point-of-collection testing devices; roadside testing methodologies; innovations in drug testing; and the extent of availability of such data. Gaining an understanding of workplace drug and alcohol testing in other countries as well as information about new testing methods, matrices, tools, and technologies that other countries have adopted provides NRC with international comparative information regarding the technical basis for such programs and methods as it relates to the protection of worker and public health and safety.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Solar Pathways in Federal Energy Assistance Programs: Expanding the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and U.S. Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) are federal programs to help low-income households reduce their energy costs. LIHEAP provides direct assistance to help households cover energy costs and stay connected to utility services, as well as weatherization and minor energy-related repairs, and WAP provides no-cost energy efficiency measures to reduce energy use and energy bills while also improving home comfort for income-qualified households. Across the U.S., states are implementing or considering solar energy as an eligible measure for LIHEAP and/or WAP funding, but the successful implementation pathways remain largely undocumented. This report fills that gap by analyzing states' LIHEAP and WAP annual plans, surveying administrators from LIHEAP grant recipients and WAP grantees about their challenges implementing solar or barriers to doing so, and conducting interviews and workshops with program administrators.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

New Pathways for Equitable Solar Adoption in Texas

As part of the SEIN Round 3 program, a diverse group of energy stakeholders in Texas set out to develop and pilot new pathways to increase rooftop solar adoption at no upfront cost to lowincome households. One potentially promising pathway we identified involved combining funding from existing utility and federal programs promoting weatherization and energy efficiency. Our objective was to demonstrate pilot projects that equitably deployed rooftop solar to properties owned or rented by families in disadvantaged communities. Our goal was to create a clear path for lowincome households to achieve electricity bill relief and to access clean energy by leveraging existing utility energy efficiency programs with existing federal resources, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and/or U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) funding in Texas. This has been attempted in a few other states with varying degrees of success, but not yet in Texas.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

The development and use of decision support framework for informing selection of select agent toxins with modelling studies to inform permissible toxin amounts

Many countries have worked diligently to establish and implement policies and processes to regulate high consequence pathogens and toxins that could have a significant public health impact if misused. In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132, 1996), as amended by the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-188, 2002) requires that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) [through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] establish a list of bacteria, viruses, and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety. Currently, this list is reviewed and updated on a biennial basis using input from subject matter experts (SMEs). We have developed decision support framework (DSF) approaches to facilitate selection of select toxins and, where toxicity data are known, conducted modelling studies to inform selection of toxin amounts that should be excluded from select agent regulations. Exclusion limits allow laboratories to possess toxins under an established limit to support their research or teaching activities without the requirement to register with the Federal Select Agent Program. Fact sheets capturing data from a previously vetted SME workshop convened by CDC, literature review and SME input were developed to assist in evaluating toxins using the DSF approach. The output of the DSF analysis agrees with the current select toxin designations, and no other toxins evaluated in this study were recommended for inclusion on the select agent and toxin list. To inform the selection of exclusion limits, attack scenarios were developed to estimate the amount of toxin needed to impact public health. Scenarios consisted of simulated aerosol releases of a toxin in high-population-density public facilities and the introduction of a toxin into a daily consumable product supply chain. Using published inhalation and ingestion median toxic dose (TD 50 ) and median lethal dose (LD 50 ) values, where available, a range of toxin amounts was examined to estimate the number of people exposed to these amounts in these scenarios. Based on data generated by these models, we proposed toxin exclusion values corresponding to levels below those that would trigger a significant public health response (i.e., amounts estimated to expose up to ten people by inhalation or one hundred people by ingestion to LD 50 or TD 50 levels of toxin in the modeled scenarios).

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗