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Results for “incentive mechanism”

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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15 records

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NASA NTRS2024

A Fair, Economically-Efficient, Incentive-Aligned, Scalable Airspace Auction Mechanism for UAV Traffic Management

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used in a wide range of applications such as cinematography, package delivery, and surveying. As a result, regulators have become interested in developing UAV Traffic Management (UTM) systems to coordinate UAV traffic. One possible framework for UTM is a combinatorial auction. Under this framework, airspace is modeled as a grid of space-time cells. UAV operators bid on sets of cells which collectively form flight paths for their UAVs. An ideal airspace auction should: be fair, be incentive-aligned, be scalable, allocate airspace economically-efficiently, enable price discovery, and reduce the work required to participate where possible. In this paper, we propose the first auction mechanism for airspace allocation that meets the criteria above. Our mechanism: (a) is provably economically-efficient, fair and incentive-aligned, (b) shares pricing information with bidders and (c) has features which reduce the burden of participating. We evaluate our mechanism on scenarios based on a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) case study and find that it can scale to 26,000 bids.

Robert Allan Morris↗

NASA NTRS1992

Technology transfer needs and experiences: The NASA Research Center perspective

Viewgraphs on technology transfer needs and experiences - the NASA Research Center perspective are provided. Topics covered include: functions of NASA, incentives and benefits, technology transfer mechanisms, economics of technology commercialization, examples, and conclusions.

Gross, Anthony R.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Beyond Mechanism Design

The field of mechanism design is concerned with setting (incentives superimposed on) the utility functions of a group of players so as to induce desirable joint behavior of those players. It arose in the context of traditional equilibrium game theory applied to games involving human players. This has led it to have many implicit restrictions, which strongly limits its scope. In particular, it ignores many issues that are crucial for systems that are large (and therefore far off-equilibrium in general) and/or composed of non-human players (e.g., computer-based agents). This also means it has concentrated on issues that are often irrelevant in those broader domains (e.g., incentive compatibility). This paper illustrates these shortcomings by reviewing some of the recent theoretical work on the design of collectives, a body of work that constitutes a substantial broadening of mechanism design. It then presents computer experiments based on a recently suggested nanotechnology testbed that demonstrates the power of that extended version of mechanism design.

Wolpert, David H.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Streamlining: Reducing costs and increasing STS operations effectiveness

The development of streamlining as a concept, its inclusion in the space transportation system engineering and operations support (STSEOS) contract, and how it serves as an incentive to management and technical support personnel is discussed. The mechanics of encouraging and processing streamlining suggestions, reviews, feedback to submitters, recognition, and how individual employee performance evaluations are used to motivation are discussed. Several items that were implemented are mentioned. Information reported and the methodology of determining estimated dollar savings are outlined. The overall effect of this activity on the ability of the McDonnell Douglas flight preparation and mission operations team to support a rapidly increasing flight rate without a proportional increase in cost is illustrated.

Petersburg, R. K.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Analytical Ultrasonics in Materials Research and Testing

Research results in analytical ultrasonics for characterizing structural materials from metals and ceramics to composites are presented. General topics covered by the conference included: status and advances in analytical ultrasonics for characterizing material microstructures and mechanical properties; status and prospects for ultrasonic measurements of microdamage, degradation, and underlying morphological factors; status and problems in precision measurements of frequency-dependent velocity and attenuation for materials analysis; procedures and requirements for automated, digital signal acquisition, processing, analysis, and interpretation; incentives for analytical ultrasonics in materials research and materials processing, testing, and inspection; and examples of progress in ultrasonics for interrelating microstructure, mechanical properites, and dynamic response.

Vary, A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Materials analysis by ultrasonics: Metals, ceramics, composites

Vary, Alex↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Safe, Efficient, and Fair UTM Airspace Management

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are increasingly used to perform crucial commercial activities such as various types of inspections (crops, railroads, and bridges), surveillance, and package delivery. Regulators have become interested in developing UAS Traffic Management (UTM) systems. One promising framework for UTM allocates airspace to UAS operators via an auction. To succeed, an airspace auction must be economically efficient, fair, scalable, incentive-aligned, simple, and capable of continuously modeling airspace and sharing bid status and pricing information. This paper introduces the first airspace auction mechanism that meets these criteria. In the process, we introduce new spatial-temporal fairness constraints and a new abstraction for communicating airspace pricing information, the airspace price field. We evaluate our mechanism on UAS delivery scenarios taken from a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) study and show that it scales to 1000s of bids.

Strategic deconfliction↗

NASA NTRS2003

NASA's Management and Utilization of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program

The United Space Congress established the SBIR program in 1982 for the following purposes: ( 1) Stimulate technological innovation (2) Increase private-sector commercialization derived from federal R&D (3) Use small business to meet federal R&D needs (4) Foster and encourage participation by disadvantaged persons and women in technological innovation The STTR program was established in 1992 with the additional requirement of having a small business partner with a research institution (usually a university) for the purpose of transferring intellectual property from the research institution to the small business concern for enabling a government technical need and furthering the technological development for the purpose of developing commercial products. The government of Japan has established a program that models portions of the U.S. SBIR and STTR programs. They are very interested in how NASA has been so successful in fulfilling the Congressional objectives of these programs. In particular, they want to understand the management practices and incentives that are provided to enable partnerships between business enterprises, academia and government. The speech will also focus on some of the many successful technologies (on a conceptual level) that have been developed through NASA s SBIR and STTR programs and mechanisms used to promote cooperation between small businesses, large businesses, academia and government agencies within the United States. The speech is on a conceptual level, focusing on U.S. and NASA policies and management implementation practices. No enabling technical discussion will be held.

Mexcur, Winfield Paul↗

NASA NTRS1981

Avenues and incentives for commercial use of a low-g environment

The processing of materials in a low-gravity (low-g) or microgravity environment is investigated by NASA for scientific and commercial utilization, and process and product development. The elimination of gravity is shown to create unique materials, and improve ground-based processes, such as convection, sedimentation, buoyancy, and containerless processing. Commercial applications are discussed, including the manufacturing of silicon ribbon, turbine blades, and various pharmaceuticals in space. Commercial incentives and needs are also discussed, including the technical exchange agreement, in which NASA and a company agree to cooperate in the conduct and analysis of research programs. In addition to establishing and demonstrating scientific and technological precepts for analyzing and using low-g environments, NASA is establishing legal and management mechanisms to share cost and risk of early commercial ventures.

Brown, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Avenues and incentives for commercial use of a low-gravity environment

The scientific and commercial utilization of the low-g environments for materials research and for process and product development is considered. Any products of commercial interest which necessitate processing in space will probably be low volume, high value items. To encourage the commercialization of materials processing in low-g, NASA, in parallel with establishing and demonstrating the scientific/technological precepts for analyzing and using a low-g environment, is establishing the legal and management mechanisms to share in the cost and risk of early commercial ventures, and is now working with commercial firms on a case-by basis to explore applications of this new technology to specific needs of the company.

Brown, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Flame Spread and Extinction in Partial-Gravity Environments

Considerable progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of spreading flames under certain conditions, nearly all under the influence of normal Earth gravity. Recently, several investigators have studied some aspects of flame spread in purely forced flows in microgravity. However, very few have considered (especially experimentally) purely-buoyant flow influences, using gravity as a variable. In addition to the scientific interest in understanding how variable gravity affects flame spread in purely-buoyant flow, prospective human exploration of the Moon and Mars provides an incentive to obtain practical knowledge for use in fire-safety related engineering and mission operations in those partial-gravity environments. The purpose of this research effort is to conduct a focused experimental effort to observe the behavior of flames spreading both upward (concurrent flow) and downward (opposed flow) over thin fuels in partial-gravity environments, and to extend an existing numerical model of flame spread to predict flammability and flame spread behavior in these two regimes. A significant aspect of the experimental effort is to use a special device to improve the simulated partial-gravity environment achievable aboard reduced-gravity aircraft facilities.

K R Sacksteder↗

NASA NTRS2011

Enabling the Capture and Sharing of NASA Technical Expertise Through Communities of Practice

Historically, engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had few opportunities or incentives to share their technical expertise across the Agency. Its center- and project- focused culture often meant that knowledge never left organizational and geographic boundaries. With increasingly complex missions, the closeout of the Shuttle Program, and a new generation entering the workforce, developing a knowledge sharing culture became critical. To address this need, the Office of the Chief Engineer established communities of practice on the NASA Engineering Network. These communities were strategically aligned with NASA's core competencies in such disciplines as avionics, flight mechanics, life support, propulsion, structures, loads and dynamics, human factors, and guidance, navigation, and control. This paper describes the process used to identify and develop communities, from establishing simple websites that compiled discipline-specific resources to fostering a knowledge-sharing environment through collaborative and interactive technologies. It includes qualitative evidence of improved availability and transfer of knowledge. It focuses on pivotal capabilities that increased knowledge exchange such as a custom-made Ask An Expert system, community contact lists, publication of key resources, and submission forms that allowed any user to propose content for the sites. It discusses the peer relationships that developed through the communities and the leadership and infrastructure that made them possible.

Topousis, Daria E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Soy expansion in Brazil's Cerrado

The Cerrado biome is Brazil's breadbasket and a major provider of ecosystem services, though these dual roles are increasingly at odds, in part because there are few mechanisms to protect remaining vegetation from large‐scale agricultural expansion. We assessed Cerrado conversion to soy using over 580,000 property boundaries, covering 77% of the biome that is eligible for commercial land use, and using microwatersheds, to cover 100% of eligible areas. Soy expansion accounted for 22% of conversion during 2003–14. Only 15% of clearing exceeded restrictions on private properties under the Forest Code (FC). However, 51% of soy farms have violated the FC, five times the rate of other farms. As a leading cause of both Cerrado conversion and FC violations, the soy sector has environmental and economic incentives to shift production to already cleared land. We used suitability maps to identify potential pathways for soy expansion across both old and new cropland frontiers.

Brazil↗

NASA NTRS2013

"Green Planet Architecture"-A Methodology for Self-Sustainable Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystems

This planet has been endowed with a host of natural mechanisms to keep the environment and climate in balance. Humans are now facing the need to restore this balance that has been upset in the past years because of a growing population and resource demands. To steer dependency away from freshwater crops and decrease environmental damage from humanity s fuel and energy demands, it is necessary to take advantage of the natural adaptive biomass resources that are already in place. Using methods of "Green Planet Architecture," based on compilations of current research and procedures, could lead to new forms of energy and fueling as well as new sources for food and feed. Green Planet Architecture involves climatic adaptive biomass; geospatial intelligence; agri- and aqua-culture life cycles; and soil, wetland, and shoreline restoration. Plants such as Salicornia, seashore mallow, castor, mangroves, and perhaps Moringa can be modified (naturally, model-assisted, or genetically) to thrive in salt water and brackish water or otherwise not arable conditions, making them potentially new crops that will not displace traditional farming. These fueling sources also have potential to be used in other rapid-growth industries, such as the aviation industry, that have incentive to move towards more sustainable fuel supplies. This report highlights an example of how synergistic development of biomass resources and geospatial intelligence high-performance computing capabilities can be focused to resolve potential drought-famine problems. These techniques provide a basis for future e-science-based discovery (and access) through technology that can be expanded to support global societal applications.

Saxena, Nikita T.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Green Planet Architecture - A Methodology for Self-Sustainable Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystems

Our planet has been endowed with a host of natural mechanisms to keep the environment and climate in balance. Humans are now facing the need to restore this balance that has been upset in the past years because of a growing population and resource demands. To steer dependency away from freshwater crops and decrease environmental damage from humanity s fuel and energy demands, it is necessary to take advantage of the natural adaptive biomass resources that are already in place. Using methods of Green Planet Architecture, based on compilations of current research and procedures, could lead to new forms of energy and fueling as well as new sources for food and feed. Green Planet Architecture involves climatic adaptive biomass; geospatial intelligence; agri- and aqua-culture life cycles; and soil, wetland, and shoreline restoration. Plants such as Salicornia, seashore mallow, castor, mangroves, and perhaps Moringa can be modified (natural, model-assisted, or genetically modified) to thrive in salt-water and brackish water or otherwise not arable conditions, making them potentially new crops that will not displace traditional farming. These fueling sources also have potential to be used in other rapid-growth industries, such as the aviation industry, that have incentive to move towards more sustainable fuel supplies. This paper highlights an example of how synergistic development of biomass resources and geospatial intelligence high-performance computing capabilities can be focused to resolve potential drought-famine problems. These techniques, provide a basis for future e-science-based discovery (and access) through technology that can be expanded to support global societal applications.

Saxena, Nikita T.↗