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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 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Initial Design Guidelines for Onboard Automation of Flight Path Management

Achieving the National Academy of Science’s vision of advanced aerial mobility will depend on significant developments in automation to achieve safe and efficient operations. Flight path management (FPM), a major category of automation functionality needed to achieve this vision, will provide dynamic management of an aircraft’s flight path, ensuring that it remains feasible to fly to mission completion, deconflicted from hazards, coordinated with other traffic, flexible to accommodate future disturbances, and optimized to meet business objectives. While efforts are underway to advance FPM technology for the Urban Air Mobility application, initial design guidelines are presented for FPM automation capabilities to achieve each of these objectives based on 15+ years of prior FPM automation research and development. Methods to efficiently account for uncertainty in the prediction of trajectories are described, as are additional considerations for prioritizing safety in the design of FPM automation capabilities and interactions between aircraft. Recommendations are supported by extensive experience gained via previous work with the FPM reference automation system, Autonomous Operations Planner, developed by NASA. By employing capable FPM automation supported by cooperative operational flight rules and information sharing, future aircraft operators will benefit from an increased ability to plan and execute safe and efficient flights and to achieve mission success in a dynamic airspace.

Flight Path Management, FPM, AOP, UAM, deconflicti↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Initial Design Guidelines for Onboard Automation of Flight Path Management

Achieving the National Academy of Science’s vision of advanced aerial mobility will depend on significant developments in automation to achieve safe and efficient operations. Flight path management (FPM), a major category of automation functionality needed to achieve this vision, will provide dynamic management of an aircraft’s flight path, ensuring that it remains feasible to fly to mission completion, deconflicted from hazards, coordinated with other traffic, flexible to accommodate future disturbances, and optimized to meet business objectives. While efforts are underway to advance FPM technology for the Urban Air Mobility application, initial design guidelines are presented for FPM automation capabilities to achieve each of these objectives based on 15+ years of prior FPM automation research and development. Methods to efficiently account for uncertainty in the prediction of trajectories are described, as are additional considerations for prioritizing safety in the design of FPM automation capabilities and interactions between aircraft. Recommendations are supported by extensive experience gained via previous work with the FPM reference automation system, Autonomous Operations Planner, developed by NASA. By employing capable FPM automation supported by cooperative operational flight rules and information sharing, future aircraft operators will benefit from an increased ability to plan and execute safe and efficient flights and to achieve mission success in a dynamic airspace.

Flight Path Management↗
NASA NTRS1976

Space processing in early Shuttle missions

The paper first reviews potential scientific and commercial benefits of space processing, and discusses roles of ground laboratory, sounding rocket, and Shuttle/Spacelab experimentation in carrying out space processing programs. Benefits which have been identified in such processes as containerless melting/solidification, electrophoresis, crystal growing, etc., and using such specific materials as tungsten, isoenzymes, single crystal silicon ribbon are utilized as specific examples in the above discussion. As a result, the paper identifies spectrum of specific objectives and implementation approaches for Shuttle/Spacelab experimentation. The paper then reviews currently planned Shuttle/Spacelab payload accommodations and traffic model. Finally, the paper matches experimentation approaches with Shuttle/Spacelab plans, and derives a possible schedule of missions in the 1979-1982 time frame using configurations with a high degree of automation where crew time for experiment involvement is limited.

Bloom, H. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An implementation and analysis of the Abstract Syntax Notation One and the basic encoding rules

The details of abstract syntax notation one standard (ASN.1) and the basic encoding rules standard (BER) that collectively solve the problem of data transfer across incompatible host environments are presented, and a compiler that was built to automate their use is described. Experiences with this compiler are also discussed which provide a quantitative analysis of the performance costs associated with the application of these standards. An evaluation is offered as to how well suited ASN.1 and BER are in solving the common data representation problem.

Harvey, James D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A stereo triangulation system for structural identification: Analytical and experimental results

Identification of large space structures' distributed mass, stiffness, and energy dissipation characteristics poses formidable analytical, numerical, and implementation difficulties. Development of reliable on-orbit structural identification methods is important for implementing active vibration suppression concepts which are under widespread study in the large space structures community. Near the heart of the identification problem lies the necessity of making a large number of spatially distributed measurements of the structure's vibratory response and the associated force/moment inputs with sufficient spatial and frequency resolution. In the present paper, we discuss a method whereby tens of active or passive (retro-reflecting) targets on the structure are tracked simultaneously by the focal planes of two or more video cameras mounted on an adjacent platform. Triangulation (optical ray intersection) of the conjugate image centroids yield inertial trajectories of each target on the structure. Given the triangulated motion of the targets, we apply and extend methodology developed by Creamer, Junkins, and Juang to identify the frequencies, mode shapes, and updated estimates for the mass/stiffness/damping parameterization of the structure. The methodology is semi-automated, for example, the post experiment analysis of the video imagery to determine the inertial trajectories of the targets typically requires less than thirty minutes of real time. Using methodology discussed herein, the frequency response of a large number of points on the structure (where reflective targets are mounted) on the structure can be determined from optical measurements alone. For comparison purposes, we also utilize measurements from accelerometers and a calibrated impulse hammer. While our experimental work remains in a research stage of development, we have successfully tracked and stereo triangulated 20 targets (on a vibrating cantilevered grid structure) at a sample frequency of 200 HZ, and have established conclusively the feasibility and desirability of this approach. We discuss, in summary, recent advances in analog and digital video processing methodology, actuation methods, and bring them to bear on the structural identification problem. We include a brief discussion of our experimental hardware and some recent experimental results which support the practical feasibility of this structural vibration sensing approach.

Junkins, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1996

STS-75 Flight Day 8

On this eighth day of the STS-75 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. Andrew Allen, Pilot Scott Horowitz, Payload Cmdr. Franklin Chang-Diaz, Payload Specialist Umberto Guidoni (Italy), and Mission Specialists Jeffrey Hoffman, Maurizio Cheli (ESA) and Claude Nicollier (ESA), are shown performing the Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) experiment which is one part of the United States Microgravity Payload-3 (USMP-3) experiments. Earth views include cloud cover.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1995

Gamma Ray Burst Optical Counterpart Search Experiment (GROCSE)

GROCSE (Gamma-Ray Optical Counterpart Search Experiments) is a system of automated telescopes that search for simultaneous optical activity associated with gamma ray bursts in response to real-time burst notifications provided by the BATSE/BACODINE network. The first generation system, GROCSE 1, is sensitive down to Mv (approximately) 8.5 and requires an average of 12 seconds to obtain the first images of the gamma ray burst error box defined by the BACODINE trigger. The collaboration is now constructing a second generation system which has a 4 second slewing time and can reach Mv (approximately) 14 with a 5 second exposure. GROCSE 2 consists of 4 cameras on a single mount. Each camera views the night sky through a commercial Canon lens (f/1.8, focal length 200 mm) and utilizes a 2K x 2K Loral CCD. Light weight and low noise custom readout electronics were designed and fabricated for these CCDs. The total field of view of the 4 cameras is 17.6 x 17.6 (degree). GROCSE 2 will be operated by the end of 1995. In this paper, the authors present an overview of the GROCSE system and the results of measurements with a GROCSE 2 prototype unit.

Park, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Results From The First Interactive Scientific Expert System In Space

We describe recent work on automation and support of science experiments on the Space Shuttle. PI-in-a-Box, the first interactive expert system for scientific support, was flown onboard STS-58 in October 1993. It was designed to help astronauts perform better science in space by providing expert-level advice in real-time. The system provides help with 'technician' tasks such as data acquisition, data quality monitoring, and diagnostic, troubleshooting and repair. The system also performs 'expert' reasoning on the scientific model and experiment steps scheduling. It can make scheduling recommendations based on hardware status, time available, and agreement between predictions and flight data. The system was successfully deployed and used throughout the mission. Most of the 'technician' skills of the system were used with success. The scientific model study performed correctly, but we believe the results were not exploited by the astronauts because of Spacelab operational pressures. Also, portions of the system were designed around rigid schedule constraints that were essentially relaxed during the mission. This version was tailored to a specific vestibular experiment known as the 'rotating dome'. We are currently expanding our effort in various scientific (other life and microgravity sciences experiments) and technological directions (integrated telescience, astronaut science advisor, and autonomous control).

Groleau, Nicolas↗
NASA NTRS1994

Results from the First Interactive Scientific Expert System in Space

We describe recent work on automation and support of science experiments on the Space Shuttle. PI-in-a-Box, the first interactive expert system for scientific support, was flown onboard STS-58 in October 1993. It was designed to help astronauts perform better science in space by providing expert-level advice in real-time. The system provides help with "technician" tasks such as data acquisition, data quality monitoring, and diagnostic, troubleshooting and repair. The system also performs "expert" reasoning on the scientific model and experiment steps scheduling. It can make scheduling recommendations based on hardware status, time available, and agreement between predictions and flight data. The system was successfully deployed and used throughout the mission. Most of the "technician" skills of the system were used with success. The scientific model study performed correctly, but we believe the results were not exploited by the astronauts because of Spacelab operational pressures. Also, portions of the system were designed around rigid schedule constraints that were essentially relaxed during the mission. This version was tailored to a specific vestibular experiment known as the "rotating dome". We are currently expanding our effort in various scientific (other life and microgravity sciences experiments) and technological directions (integrated telescience, astronaut science advisor, and autonomous control).

Groleau, Nicolas↗
NASA NTRS1999

GT-CATS: Tracking Operator Activities in Complex Systems

Human operators of complex dynamic systems can experience difficulties supervising advanced control automation. One remedy is to develop intelligent aiding systems that can provide operators with context-sensitive advice and reminders. The research reported herein proposes, implements, and evaluates a methodology for activity tracking, a form of intent inferencing that can supply the knowledge required for an intelligent aid by constructing and maintaining a representation of operator activities in real time. The methodology was implemented in the Georgia Tech Crew Activity Tracking System (GT-CATS), which predicts and interprets the actions performed by Boeing 757/767 pilots navigating using autopilot flight modes. This report first describes research on intent inferencing and complex modes of automation. It then provides a detailed description of the GT-CATS methodology, knowledge structures, and processing scheme. The results of an experimental evaluation using airline pilots are given. The results show that GT-CATS was effective in predicting and interpreting pilot actions in real time.

Callantine, Todd J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Three Experiments Examining the Use of Electroencephalogram,Event-Related Potentials, and Heart-Rate Variability for Real-Time Human-Centered Adaptive Automation Design

Adaptive automation represents an advanced form of human-centered automation design. The approach to automation provides for real-time and model-based assessments of human-automation interaction, determines whether the human has entered into a hazardous state of awareness and then modulates the task environment to keep the operator in-the-loop , while maintaining an optimal state of task engagement and mental alertness. Because adaptive automation has not matured, numerous challenges remain, including what the criteria are, for determining when adaptive aiding and adaptive function allocation should take place. Human factors experts in the area have suggested a number of measures including the use of psychophysiology. This NASA Technical Paper reports on three experiments that examined the psychophysiological measures of event-related potentials, electroencephalogram, and heart-rate variability for real-time adaptive automation. The results of the experiments confirm the efficacy of these measures for use in both a developmental and operational role for adaptive automation design. The implications of these results and future directions for psychophysiology and human-centered automation design are discussed.

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III↗
NASA NTRS1972

Automation in astronomy.

Description and evaluation of the remotely operated Lick Observatory Cassegrain focus of the 120-inch telescope. The experience with this instrument has revealed that an automated system can profoundly change the observer's approach to his work. This makes it difficult to evaluate the 'advantage' of an automated telescope over a conventional instrument. Some of the problems arising with automation in astronomy are discussed.

Wampler, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Tracker: Image-Processing and Object-Tracking System Developed

Tracker is an object-tracking and image-processing program designed and developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center to help with the analysis of images generated by microgravity combustion and fluid physics experiments. Experiments are often recorded on film or videotape for analysis later. Tracker automates the process of examining each frame of the recorded experiment, performing image-processing operations to bring out the desired detail, and recording the positions of the objects of interest. It can load sequences of images from disk files or acquire images (via a frame grabber) from film transports, videotape, laser disks, or a live camera. Tracker controls the image source to automatically advance to the next frame. It can employ a large array of image-processing operations to enhance the detail of the acquired images and can analyze an arbitrarily large number of objects simultaneously. Several different tracking algorithms are available, including conventional threshold and correlation-based techniques, and more esoteric procedures such as "snake" tracking and automated recognition of character data in the image. The Tracker software was written to be operated by researchers, thus every attempt was made to make the software as user friendly and self-explanatory as possible. Tracker is used by most of the microgravity combustion and fluid physics experiments performed by Lewis, and by visiting researchers. This includes experiments performed on the space shuttles, Mir, sounding rockets, zero-g research airplanes, drop towers, and ground-based laboratories. This software automates the analysis of the flame or liquid s physical parameters such as position, velocity, acceleration, size, shape, intensity characteristics, color, and centroid, as well as a number of other measurements. It can perform these operations on multiple objects simultaneously. Another key feature of Tracker is that it performs optical character recognition (OCR). This feature is useful in extracting numerical instrumentation data that are embedded in images. All the results are saved in files for further data reduction and graphing. There are currently three Tracking Systems (workstations) operating near the laboratories and offices of Lewis Microgravity Science Division researchers. These systems are used independently by students, scientists, and university-based principal investigators. The researchers bring their tapes or films to the workstation and perform the tracking analysis. The resultant data files generated by the tracking process can then be analyzed on the spot, although most of the time researchers prefer to transfer them via the network to their offices for further analysis or plotting. In addition, many researchers have installed Tracker on computers in their office for desktop analysis of digital image sequences, which can be digitized by the Tracking System or some other means. Tracker has not only provided a capability to efficiently and automatically analyze large volumes of data, saving many hours of tedious work, but has also provided new capabilities to extract valuable information and phenomena that was heretofore undetected and unexploited.

Klimek, Robert B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP). Volume 8: Aerothermodynamics Automation and Robotics (A/R) systems sensors, high-temperature superconductivity

Viewgraphs of briefings presented at the SSTAC/ARTS review of the draft Integrated Technology Plan (ITP) on aerothermodynamics, automation and robotics systems, sensors, and high-temperature superconductivity are included. Topics covered include: aerothermodynamics; aerobraking; aeroassist flight experiment; entry technology for probes and penetrators; automation and robotics; artificial intelligence; NASA telerobotics program; planetary rover program; science sensor technology; direct detector; submillimeter sensors; laser sensors; passive microwave sensing; active microwave sensing; sensor electronics; sensor optics; coolers and cryogenics; and high temperature superconductivity.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

Iterative Repair Planning for Spacecraft Operations Using the Aspen System

This paper describes the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN). ASPEN encodes complex spacecraft knowledge of operability constraints, flight rules, spacecraft hardware, science experiments and operations procedures to allow for automated generation of low level spacecraft sequences. Using a technique called iterative repair, ASPEN classifies constraint violations (i.e., conflicts) and attempts to repair each by performing a planning or scheduling operation. It must reason about which conflict to resolve first and what repair method to try for the given conflict. ASPEN is currently being utilized in the development of automated planner/scheduler systems for several spacecraft, including the UFO-1 naval communications satellite and the Citizen Explorer (CX1) satellite, as well as for planetary rover operations and antenna ground systems automation. This paper focuses on the algorithm and search strategies employed by ASPEN to resolve spacecraft operations constraints, as well as the data structures for representing these constraints.

Rabideau, G.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Controller Inhibition of Automated Conflict Resolutions in a Maximum NextGen Condition

With the continued projection of increases in air traffic density, operations in the National Airspace System are expected to exceed human capabilities in the near future. In order to address the bottleneck of human workload capacity, highly automated safety-critical systems are under development to support air traffic controllers. A human-in-the-loop experiment examined controllers transition through four NextGen automation stages: Current-Day, Minimum, Moderate, and Maximum. Maximum NextGen simulated a fully automated environment where the automation was responsible for detecting and resolving conflicts within simulation parameters in high-density airspace. By allocating these tasks to the automation, the controllers task changed. The human moved to primarily a supervisory position- typically only regaining control over separation assurance tasks during conflict situations deferred by the automation. While tasks were allocated a-priori between the controller and automated agent, controllers maintained authority to inhibit the automation from interacting with particular aircraft. Preliminary work is complete, where significant differences were found in inhibition frequency between simulation participants. However, the contexts in which the controllers inhibited the automation, and their reasons for doing so, remain unclear. This analysis attempts to identity factors contributing to human controllers inhibition of the automation in the Maximum NextGen condition.

adaptable automation↗
NASA NTRS1999

Iterative Repair Planning for Spacecraft Operations Using the Aspen System

This paper describes the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN). ASPEN encodes complex spacecraft knowledge of operability constraints, flight rules, spacecraft hardware, science experiments and operations procedures to allow for automated generation of low level spacecraft sequences.

planning↗