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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Persistent Acoustic Sensing for Monitoring A Reactor Facility - Oral Presentation

Measurements over the past few years, taking place within the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Operations Scenarios (MINOS) project, show that infrasound and low-frequency acoustic monitoring can detect, and often quantify, activities that occur on-site at a large research reactor. Observable activities include: crane translation, lifting, and lowering; differentiation between loaded and unloaded crane operations; access door opening and closing; vehicle operations; and cooling tower fan operation. Advanced data analytic and spectral feature extraction methods can be used to interpret selected signatures to reach a deeper understanding of different reactor activities. These measurements are being conducted using a network of smartphones that continuously operate in conjunction with cloud-based architectures. A recent addition to the system is the development and deployment of a real-time, cloud-based analytic framework that supports near-real-time alarming which can facilitate tip-and-cue protocols. This paper will present recent research advances in this area including studies to explore the transferability of learned parameters from one smartphone to another, the detectability of events from multiple sensors at different locations simultaneously, and the feasibility of porting analytical tools directly to the smartphones to allow edge computing with optimized configurations.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Persistent Acoustic Sensing for Monitoring A Reactor Facility

Measurements over the past few years, taking place within the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Operations Scenarios project, show that infrasound and low-frequency acoustic monitoring can detect, and often quantify, activities that occur on-site at the High Flux Isotope Reactor. Observable activities include: crane translation, lifting, and lowering; differentiation between loaded and unloaded crane operations; access door opening and closing; vehicle operations; and cooling tower fan operations. Advanced data analytic and spectral feature extraction methods can be used to interpret selected signatures to reach a deeper understanding of different reactor activities. These measurements are being conducted using a network of smartphones that continuously operate in conjunction with cloud-based architectures. A recent addition to the system is the development and deployment of a real-time, cloud-based analytic framework that supports near-real-time alarming which can facilitate tip-and-cue protocols. This paper presents recent research in this area including the use of low-frequency acoustics to tip-off transfer operations and cue a more comprehensive analysis by other sensor networks.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Progress toward a universal biomedical data translator

Clinical, biomedical, and translational science has reached an inflection point in the breadth and diversity of available data and the potential impact of such data to improve human health and well-being. However, the data are often siloed, disorganized, and not broadly accessible due to discipline-specific differences in terminology and representation. To address these challenges, the Biomedical Data Translator Consortium has developed and tested a pilot knowledge graph-based “Translator” system capable of integrating existing biomedical data sets and “translating” those data into insights intended to augment human reasoning and accelerate translational science. Having demonstrated feasibility of the Translator system, the Translator program has since moved into development, and the Translator Consortium has made significant progress in the research, design, and implementation of an operational system. Herein, we describe the current system’s architecture, performance, and quality of results. We apply Translator to several real-world use cases developed in collaboration with subject-matter experts. Finally, we discuss the scientific and technical features of Translator and compare those features to other state-of-the-art, biomedical graph-based question-answering systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1993

Generalized seismic analysis

There is a constant need to be able to solve for enforced motion of structures. Spacecraft need to be qualified for acceleration inputs. Truck cargoes need to be safeguarded from road mishaps. Office buildings need to withstand earthquake shocks. Marine machinery needs to be able to withstand hull shocks. All of these kinds of enforced motions are being grouped together under the heading of seismic inputs. Attempts have been made to cope with this problem over the years and they usually have ended up with some limiting or compromise conditions. The crudest approach was to limit the problem to acceleration occurring only at a base of a structure, constrained to be rigid. The analyst would assign arbitrarily outsized masses to base points. He would then calculate the magnitude of force to apply to the base mass (or masses) in order to produce the specified acceleration. He would of necessity have to sacrifice the determination of stresses in the vicinity of the base, because of the artificial nature of the input forces. The author followed the lead of John M. Biggs by using relative coordinates for a rigid base in a 1975 paper, and again in a 1981 paper . This method of relative coordinates was extended and made operational as DMAP ALTER packets to rigid formats 9, 10, 11, and 12 under contract N60921-82-C-0128. This method was presented at the twelfth NASTRAN Colloquium. Another analyst in the field developed a method that computed the forces from enforced motion then applied them as a forcing to the remaining unknowns after the knowns were partitioned off. The method was translated into DMAP ALTER's but was never made operational. All of this activity jelled into the current effort. Much thought was invested in working out ways to unshakle the analysis of enforced motions from the limitations that persisted.

Butler, Thomas G.↗
NASA NTRS2018

System and Method for Executing Operations Specified in a Procedure Language

A system for executing a procedure includes a procedure execution engine. The procedure execution engine is configured to translate a procedure defined via a procedure language to natural language statements corresponding to the operations specified by the procedure language. The procedure execution engine is also configured to generate a user interface for controlling execution of the procedure, and to display the natural language statements via the user interface. The procedure execution engine is further configured to indicate progress of execution of the procedure, via the user interface, based on the displayed natural language statements.

Kortenkamp, David Michael↗
NASA NTRS1990

Active control of bearing preload using piezoelectric translators

In many spacecraft applications, mechanisms are required to perform precision pointing operations or to sometimes dither about or track a moving object. These mechanisms perform in a predictable and repeatable manner in benign temperature environments. Severe thermal gradients experienced in actual space applications however, cause assemblies to expand and contract around their bearings. This results in unpredictable changes in bearing preload, and hence bearing friction. This becomes a limitation for servos controlling pointing accuracy. Likewise, uncontrollable vibrations may couple into fixed preload (hence, fixed stiffness) mechanisms and limit pointing accuracy. Consequently, a complex problem faced today is how to design mechanisms that remain insensitive to changing thermal and vibrational spacecraft environments. Research presented involves the simplified modeling and test results of an actuator module that used piezoelectrically preload controlled bearings. The feasibility of actively controlling bearing preload was demonstrated. Because bearing friction is related to preload, a thermally active system designed with aluminum components and a 440 C bearing, was friction tested at temperatures ranging from 0 to 70 C (32 to 158 F). Effectiveness of the translators were demonstrated by mapping a controllable friction range throughout tested temperatures. It was learned that constant preload for this system could be maintained over an approximate 44 C (79 F) temperature span. From testing, it was also discovered that at the more deviate temperatures, expansions were so large that radial clearances were taken up and the duplex bearing became radially preloaded. Thus, active control of bearing preload is feasible but may be limited by inherent geometry constraints and materials used in the system.

Nye, Ted W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Magnetically suspended Stirling cryogenic space refrigerator Status report

At the 1979 Cryogenic Engineering Conference, attention was given to conceptual designs of spaceborne cryogenic refrigeration systems which can provide long-term, unattended operation. Since that time, efforts have continued to translate one of those concepts into an engineering model. The present investigation is concerned with a refrigerator which was designed to generate 5 W of cooling power at a temperature of 65 K. The compression heat of the refrigerator is dissipated at a temperature of 300 K, and the output of the system is to be maintained reliably for a period of five years or longer. The refrigerator design is based on the Stirling cycle, which has an ideal efficiency equal to that of the Carnot cycle. Attention is given to some background information concerning a cryogenic refrigerator, the design of the refrigerator components, and the development status. The magnetic bearings and the linear motors have been tested at the component level.

Daniels, A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Precision engineering and optomechanics; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, Aug. 10, 11, 1989

Various papers on precision engineering and optomechanics are presented. Individual topics addressed include: performance optimization of an IR sensor optical system, design and development of a rugged airborne scanning optical assembly for a calibrated IR imaging radiometer, numerical method for Cassegrain telescope baffle design, precision alignment of an IR imaging system, optical alignment of a pupil imaging spectrometer, optical alignment equipment and methods for visible and IR imaging meteorological radiometer. Also addressed are: vibration-design aspects of an IR-scanning earth sensor, chopping secondary mirror for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, advanced flexure suspension systems, subminiature IR detector translation stage, thermal/optical test setup for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Telescope, design of the GOES telescope secondary mirror mounting.

Vukobratovich, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS2001

Predictive Compensator Optimization for Head Tracking Lag in Virtual Environments

We examined the perceptual impact of plant noise parameterization for Kalman Filter predictive compensation of time delays intrinsic to head tracked virtual environments (VEs). Subjects were tested in their ability to discriminate between the VE system's minimum latency and conditions in which artificially added latency was then predictively compensated back to the system minimum. Two head tracking predictors were parameterized off-line according to cost functions that minimized prediction errors in (1) rotation, and (2) rotation projected into translational displacement with emphasis on higher frequency human operator noise. These predictors were compared with a parameterization obtained from the VE literature for cost function (1). Results from 12 subjects showed that both parameterization type and amount of compensated latency affected discrimination. Analysis of the head motion used in the parameterizations and the subsequent discriminability results suggest that higher frequency predictor artifacts are contributory cues for discriminating the presence of predictive compensation.

Adelstein, Barnard D.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Apollo Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Hardware Overview

This viewgraph presentation reviews basic guidance, navigation and control (GNC) concepts, examines the Command and Service Module (CSM) and Lunar Module (LM) GNC organization and discusses the primary GNC and the CSM Stabilization and Control System (SCS), as well as other CSM-specific hardware. The LM Abort Guidance System (AGS), Control Electronics System (CES) and other LM-specific hardware are also addressed. Three subsystems exist on each vehicle: the computer subsystem (CSS), the inertial subsystem (ISS) and the optical subsystem (OSS). The CSS and ISS are almost identical between CSM and LM and each is designed to operate independently. CSM SCS hardware are highlighted, including translation control, rotation controls, gyro assemblies, a gyro display coupler and flight director attitude indicators. The LM AGS hardware are also highlighted and include the abort electronics assembly and the abort sensor assembly; while the LM CES hardware includes the attitude controller assembly, thrust/translation controller assemblies and the ascent engine arming assemble. Other common hardware including the Orbital Rate Display - Earth and Lunar (ORDEAL) and the Crewman Optical Alignment Sight (COAS), a docking aid, are also highlighted.

Interbartolo, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2009

Modification of Otolith-Ocular Reflexes, Motion Perception and Manual Control During Variable Radius Centrifugation Following Space Flight

Two joint ESA-NASA studies are examining changes in otolith-ocular reflexes and motion perception following short duration space flights, and the operational implications of post-flight tilt-translation ambiguity for manual control performance. Vibrotactile feedback of tilt orientation is also being evaluated as a countermeasure to improve performance during a closed-loop nulling task. Data is currently being collected on astronaut subjects during 3 preflight sessions and during the first 8 days after Shuttle landings. Variable radius centrifugation is utilized to elicit otolith reflexes in the lateral plane without concordant roll canal cues. Unilateral centrifugation (400 deg/s, 3.5 cm radius) stimulates one otolith positioned off-axis while the opposite side is centered over the axis of rotation. During this paradigm, roll-tilt perception is measured using a subjective visual vertical task and ocular counter-rolling is obtained using binocular video-oculography. During a second paradigm (216 deg/s, less than 20 cm radius), the effects of stimulus frequency (0.15 - 0.6 Hz) are examined on eye movements and motion perception. A closed-loop nulling task is also performed with and without vibrotactile display feedback of chair radial position. Data collection is currently ongoing. Results to date suggest there is a trend for perceived tilt and translation amplitudes to be increased at the low and medium frequencies on landing day compared to pre-flight. Manual control performance is improved with vibrotactile feedback. One result of this study will be to characterize the variability (gain, asymmetry) in both otolith-ocular responses and motion perception during variable radius centrifugation, and measure the time course of post-flight recovery. This study will also address how adaptive changes in otolith-mediated reflexes correspond to one's ability to perform closed-loop nulling tasks following G-transitions, and whether manual control performance can be improved with vibrotactile feedback of orientation.

Wood, Scott J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

ZAG-Otolith: Modification of Otolith-Ocular Reflexes, Motion Perception and Manual Control during Variable Radius Centrifugation Following Space Flight

Two joint ESA-NASA studies are examining changes in otolith-ocular reflexes and motion perception following short duration space flights, and the operational implications of post-flight tilt-translation ambiguity for manual control performance. Vibrotactile feedback of tilt orientation is also being evaluated as a countermeasure to improve performance during a closed-loop nulling task. METHODS. Data is currently being collected on astronaut subjects during 3 preflight sessions and during the first 8 days after Shuttle landings. Variable radius centrifugation is utilized to elicit otolith reflexes in the lateral plane without concordant roll canal cues. Unilateral centrifugation (400 deg/s, 3.5 cm radius) stimulates one otolith positioned off-axis while the opposite side is centered over the axis of rotation. During this paradigm, roll-tilt perception is measured using a subjective visual vertical task and ocular counter-rolling is obtained using binocular video-oculography. During a second paradigm (216 deg/s, <20 cm radius), the effects of stimulus frequency (0.15 - 0.6 Hz) are examined on eye movements and motion perception. A closed-loop nulling task is also performed with and without vibrotactile display feedback of chair radial position. PRELIMINARY RESULTS. Data collection is currently ongoing. Results to date suggest there is a trend for perceived tilt and translation amplitudes to be increased at the low and medium frequencies on landing day compared to pre-flight. Manual control performance is improved with vibrotactile feedback. DISCUSSION. One result of this study will be to characterize the variability (gain, asymmetry) in both otolithocular responses and motion perception during variable radius centrifugation, and measure the time course of postflight recovery. This study will also address how adaptive changes in otolith-mediated reflexes correspond to one's ability to perform closed-loop nulling tasks following G-transitions, and whether manual control performance can be improved with vibrotactile feedback of orientation.

Wood, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

A Model of Manual Control with Perspective Scene Viewing

A model of manual control during perspective scene viewing is presented, which combines the Crossover Model with a simpli ed model of perspective-scene viewing and visual- cue selection. The model is developed for a particular example task: an idealized constant- altitude task in which the operator controls longitudinal position in the presence of both longitudinal and pitch disturbances. An experiment is performed to develop and vali- date the model. The model corresponds closely with the experimental measurements, and identi ed model parameters are highly consistent with the visual cues available in the perspective scene. The modeling results indicate that operators used one visual cue for position control, and another visual cue for velocity control (lead generation). Additionally, operators responded more quickly to rotation (pitch) than translation (longitudinal).

pilot modeling↗
NASA NTRS2014

Optimization Strategies for Single-Stage, Multi-Stage and Continuous ADRs

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADR) have many advantages that are prompting a resurgence in their use in spaceflight and laboratory applications. They are solid-state coolers capable of very high efficiency and very wide operating range. However, their low energy storage density translates to larger mass for a given cooling capacity than is possible with other refrigeration techniques. The interplay between refrigerant mass and other parameters such as magnetic field and heat transfer points in multi-stage ADRs gives rise to a wide parameter space for optimization. This paper first presents optimization strategies for single ADR stages, focusing primarily on obtaining the largest cooling capacity per stage mass, then discusses the optimization of multi-stage and continuous ADRs in the context of the coordinated heat transfer that must occur between stages. The goal for the latter is usually to obtain the largest cooling power per mass or volume, but there can also be many secondary objectives, such as limiting instantaneous heat rejection rates and producing intermediate temperatures for cooling of other instrument components.

sub-kelvin cooling↗
NASA NTRS1994

A Fault-Tolerant Intelligent Robotic Control System

This research project involves development of path planning and graphical user interface software at an operator workstation and a manipulator control system which translates the commands from the user workstation to control the robot arm.

path↗
NASA NTRS2026

Evaluating Energy Absorption Methods for Integrated Composite Seat Designs

Composite materials have become ubiquitous in the aerospace industry due to their exceptionally light weight and high strength characteristics, as well as their unique ability to be engineered and tailored to meet specific loading conditions and performance requirements. These advanced materials offer superior strength-to-weight ratios compared to traditional metallic materials, making them particularly valuable in weight-critical aerospace applications where every pound saved translates to improved efficiency and performance. In currently operating fleets of commercial and military aircraft, composite materials have been successfully applied to critical structural components, including primary load-bearing elements such as the fuselage sections and flooring structures, which must withstand significant in-flight loads and provide passenger safety. Additionally, these materials have been specifically tailored and optimized for aerodynamic components such as wings and tail assemblies, where their ability to be molded into complex shapes while maintaining structural integrity is particularly advantageous. The application of composite materials extends beyond primary structural elements into the realm of internal cabin components, most notably in innovative seat designs where weight reduction and structural integration are paramount concerns. Modern composite seat structures can be designed to integrate multiple functions, including structural support, comfort features, and safety systems, all while maintaining the lightweight characteristics essential for aircraft performance.

Digital image correlation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Data Curation for Machine Learning Applied to Geothermal Power Plant Operational Data for GOOML: Geothermal Operational Optimization with Machine Learning: Preprint

Geothermal Operational Optimization with Machine Learning (GOOML) is a transferable and extensible component-based geothermal asset modeling framework that considers complex steamfield relationships and identifies optimization prospects using a data-driven approach to physics-guided, data-centric machine learning. This framework has been used to develop digital twins that provide steamfield operators with operational environments to analyze and understand historical and forecasted power production, explore new steamfield configuration possibilities, and seek optimal asset management in real world applications. To create, test, and apply the GOOML framework, diverse time-series datasets spanning multiple years were sourced from various geothermal power plant components within several complex real-world geothermal operations. These operations are based in the United States and New Zealand and include a variety of technologies, end-uses and configurations, collectively covering nearly all relevant operating conditions for modern geothermal fields. Datasets were acquired from multiple sources to ensure that machine learning experiments generalized properly to various operating conditions. It was found that the data varied in quality, format, and completeness. To ensure consistency between the various datasets, a standardized data curation process was developed to reliably streamline data preparation. This paper will discuss best practices as learned from the GOOML data curation process which takes the following steps: 1) acquisition of large quantities of data from power plant operators, 2) digestion of data to gain an initial understanding of what is included, 3) data transformation, which includes converting the data into a standardized machine-readable format so that they can be visualized, quality checked, and cleaned, 4) quality assurance and quality control, involving identification of significant data gaps and apparent anomalies through mapping of data features to real world componentry via the GOOML historical model, followed by discussion with modelers and power plant operators to identify additional data needs and to resolve issues, 5) use in machine learning algorithms, and 6) repetition of steps one through five until all data needs are met and data are deemed suitable for producing trustworthy modeling results which may be disseminated, ideally along with the curated dataset. This iterative process is focused on improving the quality of the data rather than tuning machine learning model parameters and supports a shift towards data-centric AI as a means to improving real-world applicability of geothermal machine learning projects.

access↗
DOE OSTI2022

Robust Combined Heat and Hybrid Power (CHHP) for High Electrical Efficiency Cogeneration

According to the U.S. Department of Energy Combined Heat and Power Installation Database, approximately 80 GW of electrical power is produced in the United States using combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Studies have also shown that a potential market for CHP applications is larger than the existing market. Since fuel consumption is the most significant part of the operating cost for a CHP plant, higher efficiency translates to increased power output for the same quantity of fuel.

CHHP, LHV, CHP↗