Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “personal”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

A Personal Storm Warning Service

Although lightning detection systems operated by government agencies, utilities and other businesses provide storm warnings, this information often does not reach the public until some time after the observations have been made. A low-cost personal lightning detector offers a significant safety advantage to private flyers, boaters, golfers and others. Developed by Airborne Research Associates, the detectors originated in Space Shuttle tests of an optical lightning detection technique. The commercial device is pointed toward a cloud to detect invisible intracloud lightning by sensing subtle changes in light presence. The majority of the sales have been to golf courses. Additional products and more advanced applications are in progress.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1989

Satellite Imagery Via Personal Computer

Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) was incorporated by NASA in the Tiros 8 weather satellite. APT included an advanced satellite camera that immediately transmitted a picture as well as low cost receiving equipment. When an advanced scanning radiometer was later introduced, ground station display equipment would not readily adjust to the new format until GSFC developed an APT Digital Scan Converter that made them compatible. A NASA Technical Note by Goddard's Vermillion and Kamoski described how to build a converter. In 1979, Electro-Services, using this technology, built the first microcomputer weather imaging system in the U.S. The company changed its name to Satellite Data Systems, Inc. and now manufactures the WeatherFax facsimile display graphics system which converts a personal computer into a weather satellite image acquisition and display workstation. Hardware, antennas, receivers, etc. are also offered. Customers include U.S. Weather Service, schools, military, etc.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1986

Personal Cooling System

Cool Head, a personal cooling system for use in heat stress occupations, is a spinoff of a channeled cooling garment for space wear. It is portable and includes a heat exchanger, control display unit, liquid reservoir and temperature control unit. The user can eliminate 40 to 60 percent of his body's heat storage and lower heart rate by 50 to 80 beats a minute. The system is used by the Army, Navy, crop dusting pilots, heavy equipment operators and auto racing drivers and is marketed by Life Enhancement Technologies, LLC. Further applications are under consideration.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Fuel Cell Propulsion Systems for an All-electric Personal Air Vehicle

There is a growing interest in the use of fuel cells as a power source for all-electric aircraft propulsion as a means to substantially reduce or eliminate environmentally harmful emissions. Among the technologies under consideration for these concepts are advanced proton exchange membrane and solid oxide fuel cells, alternative fuels and fuel processing, and fuel storage. This paper summarizes the results of a first-order feasibility study for an all-electric personal air vehicle utilizing a fuel cell-powered propulsion system. A representative aircraft with an internal combustion engine was chosen as a baseline to provide key parameters to the study, including engine power and subsystem mass, fuel storage volume and mass, and aircraft range. The engine, fuel tank, and associated ancillaries were then replaced with a fuel cell subsystem. Various configurations were considered including: a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell with liquid hydrogen storage; a direct methanol PEM fuel cell; and a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)/turbine hybrid system using liquid methane fuel. Each configuration was compared to the baseline case on a mass and range basis.

Kohout, Lisa L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Fuel Cell Propulsion Systems for an All-Electric Personal Air Vehicle

There is a growing interest in the use of fuel cells as a power source for all-electric aircraft propulsion as a means to substantially reduce or eliminate environmentally harmful emissions. Among the technologies under consideration for these concepts are advanced proton exchange membrane and solid oxide fuel cells, alternative fuels and fuel processing, and fuel storage. This paper summarizes the results of a first-order feasibility study for an all-electric personal air vehicle utilizing a fuel cell-powered propulsion system. A representative aircraft with an internal combustion engine was chosen as a baseline to provide key parameters to the study, including engine power and subsystem mass, fuel storage volume and mass, and aircraft range. The engine, fuel tank, and associated ancillaries were then replaced with a fuel cell subsystem. Various configurations were considered including: a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell with liquid hydrogen storage; a direct methanol PEM fuel cell; and a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)/turbine hybrid system using liquid methane fuel. Each configuration was compared to the baseline case on a mass and range basis.

Kohout, Lisa L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Self-Activating System and Method for Alerting When an Object or a Person is Left Unattended

A system and method uses a wireless tether comprising a transmitter and a receiver to alert a caregiver that an object or person has been left unattended. A detector Senses the presence of the object, usually a child, located in a position such as a safety seat. The detector couples to the transmitter, which is located near the object. The transmitter transmits at least one wireless signal when the object is in the position. The receiver, which is remotely located from the transmitter, senses the at least one signal as long as the receiver is within a prescribed range of transmission. By performing a timing function, the receiver monitors the proximity of the caregiver, who maintains possession of the receiver, to the transmitter. The system communicates an alarm to the caregiver when the caregiver ventures outside the range of transmission without having removed the object/child from the position.

William Christopher Edwards↗
NASA NTRS1994

Increased walking variability in elderly persons with congestive heart failure

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of congestive heart failure on a person's ability to walk at a steady pace while ambulating at a self-determined rate. SETTING: Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, a primary and tertiary teaching hospital, and a social activity center for elderly adults living in the community. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven elderly subjects (aged 70-93 years) with well compensated congestive heart failure (NY Heart Association class I or II), seven elderly subjects (aged 70-79 years) without congestive heart failure, and 10 healthy young adult subjects (aged 20-30 years). MEASUREMENTS: Subjects walked for 8 minutes on level ground at their own selected walking rate. Footswitches were used to measure the time between steps. Step rate (steps/minute) and step rate variability were calculated for the entire walking period, for 30 seconds during the first minute of the walk, for 30 seconds during the last minute of the walk, and for the 30-second period when each subject's step rate variability was minimal. Group means and 5% and 95% confidence intervals were computed. MAIN RESULTS: All measures of walking variability were significantly increased in the elderly subjects with congestive heart failure, intermediate in the elderly controls, and lowest in the young subjects. There was no overlap between the three groups using the minimal 30-second variability (elderly CHF vs elderly controls: P < 0.001, elderly controls vs young: P < 0.001), and no overlap between elderly subjects with and without congestive heart failure when using the overall variability. For all four measures, there was no overlap in any of the confidence intervals, and all group means were significantly different (P < 0.05).

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spectral analysis of heart rate dynamics in elderly persons with postprandial hypotension

Prior studies suggest that postprandial hypotension in elderly persons may be due to defective sympathetic nervous system activation. We examined autonomic control of heart rate (HR) after a meal using spectral analysis of HR data in 13 old (89 +/- 6 years) and 7 young (24 +/- 4 years) subjects. Total spectral power, an index of overall HR variability, was calculated for the frequency band between 0.01 and 0.40 Hz. Relatively low-frequency power, associated with sympathetic nervous system and baroreflex activation, was calculated for the 0.01 to 0.15 Hz band. High-frequency power, representing parasympathetic influences on HR, was calculated for the 0.15 to 0.40 Hz band. Mean arterial blood pressure declined 27 +/- 8 mm Hg by 60 minutes after the meal in elderly subjects, compared with 9 +/- 8 mm Hg in young subjects (p less than or equal to 0.0001, young vs old). The mean change in low-frequency HR power from 30 to 50 minutes after the meal was +19.4 +/- 25.3 U in young subjects versus -0.1 +/- 1.5 U in old subjects (p less than or equal to 0.02). Mean change in total power was also greater in young (19.0 +/- 26.6 U) subjects compared with old subjects (0.0 +/- 1.6 U, p greater than or equal to 0.02). Mean ratio of low:high-frequency power increased 3.1 +/- 3.3 U in young subjects vs 0.5 +/- 2.7 U in old subjects (p less than or equal to 0.01). The increase in low-frequency HR power and in the low:high frequency band ratio in young subjects is consistent with sympathetic activation in the postprandial period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗
NASA NTRS2004

Hazard Assessment of Personal Protective Clothing for Hydrogen Peroxide Service

Selection of personal protective equipment (PPE) for hydrogen peroxide service is an important part of the hazard assessment process. But because drip testing of chemical protective clothing for hydrogen peroxide service has not been reported for about 40 years, it is of great interest to test new protective clothing materials with new, high-concentration hydrogen peroxide following similar procedures. The suitability of PPE for hydrogen peroxide service is in part determined by observations made when hydrogen peroxide is dripped onto swatches of protective clothing material. Protective clothing material was tested as received, in soiled condition, and in grossly soiled condition. Materials were soiled by pretreating the material with potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solution then drying to promote a reaction. Materials were grossly soiled with solid KMnO4 to greatly promote reaction. Observations of results including visual changes to the hydrogen peroxide and materials, times to ignition, and self-extinguishing characteristics of the materials are reported.

Greene, Ben↗
NASA NTRS2005

Metronome Use for Coordination of Breaths and Cardiac Compressions Delivered by Minimally-Trained Caregivers During Two-Person CPR

Astronaut crew medical officers (CMO) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) receive 40 hours of medical training over 18 months before each mission, including two-person cardiopulmonary resuscitation (2CPR) as recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA). Recent studies have concluded that the use of metronomic tones improves the coordination of 2CPR by trained clinicians. 2CPR performance data for minimally-trained caregivers has been limited. The goal of this study was to determine whether use of a metronome by minimally-trained caregivers (CMO analogues) would improve 2CPR performance. 20 pairs of minimally-trained caregivers certified in 2CPR via AHA guidelines performed 2CPR for 4 minutes on an instrumented manikin using 3 interventions: 1) Standard 2CPR without a metronome [NONE], 2) Standard 2CPR plus a metronome for coordinating compression rate only [MET], 3) Standard 2CPR plus a metronome for coordinating both the compression rate and ventilation rate [BOTH]. Caregivers were evaluated for their ability to meet the AHA guideline of 32 breaths-240 compressions in 4 minutes. All (100%) caregivers using the BOTH intervention provided the required number of ventilation breaths as compared with the NONE caregivers (10%) and MET caregivers (0%). For compressions, 97.5% of the BOTH caregivers were not successful in meeting the AHA compression guideline; however, an average of 238 compressions of the desired 240 were completed. None of the caregivers were successful in meeting the compression guideline using the NONE and MET interventions. This study demonstrates that use of metronomic tones by minimally-trained caregivers for coordinating both compressions and breaths improves 2CPR performance. Meeting the breath guideline is important to minimize air entering the stomach, thus decreasing the likelihood of gastric aspiration. These results suggest that manifesting a metronome for the ISS may augment the performance of 2CPR on orbit and thus may increase the level of care.

Hurst, Victor, IV↗
NASA NTRS1977

Personal Alarm System

Trouble in the classroom is an unpleasant fact of modern life. Space technology can't stop the trouble from occurring, but it can prevent it from spreading. In recognition of this, NASA and the Sacramento, Cal. Unified School District developed a personal security system based on space telemetry technology. The first application was for schools, but the simplicity and reliability of the system has made it more widely applicable. The heart of the system is an ultrasonic pen-size transmitter. It can be used by prison guards, teachers, or others such as the handicapped and the elderly.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2007

Cosmological Inflation: A Personal Perspective

Approximately twenty five years ago a novel proposal was made to explain two of the outstanding cosmological conundrums, namely those of the Horizon Problem and the Flatness Problem of the Universe. These are the fact that widely separated parts of the sky that have never been in causal contact during the evolution of the Universe have apparently the same CMB temperature and the fact that the mean density of the Universe is very close to the critical one, i.e. very close to the density that separates the closed and open models. These coincidences implied that the corresponding initial condition of the Universe must have been set to exquisite accuracy. This novel proposal posted that at these very early times, the energy density of the Universe was dominated by a fluid which had the equation state attributed to the vacuum (i.e. dominated by tension rather than pressure) and that this led to an exponential expansion of the Universe which was "inflated" by many orders of magnitude of its original size. It was then shown that this "inflation" could provide a resolution of the above outstanding problems. The talk will cover the speaker's personal perspective and contributions to this idea and the subsequent developments over the following 25 years since its inception.

Kazanas, D.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Presence Personalization and Persistence: A New Approach to Building Archives to Support Collaborative Research

We discuss approaches to building archives that support the way most science is done. Today research is done in formal teams and informal groups. However our on-line services are designed to work with a single user. We have begun prototyping a new approach to building archives in which support for collaborative research is built in from the start. We organize the discussion along three elements that we believe to be necessary for effective support: We must enable user presence in the archive environment; users must be able to interact. Users must be able to personalize the environment, adding data and capabilities useful to themselves and their team. These changes must be persistent: subsequent sessions must be able to build upon previous sessions. In building the archive we see the large multi-player interactive games as a paradigm of how this approach can work. These three 'P's are essential in gaming as well and we shall use insights from the gaming world and virtual reality systems like Second Life in our prototype.

McGlynn, Thomas A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Acquisition of a Biomedical Database of Acute Responses to Space Flight during Commercial Personal Suborbital Flights

There is currently too little reproducible data for a scientifically valid understanding of the initial responses of a diverse human population to weightlessness and other space flight factors. Astronauts on orbital space flights to date have been extremely healthy and fit, unlike the general human population. Data collection opportunities during the earliest phases of space flights to date, when the most dynamic responses may occur in response to abrupt transitions in acceleration loads, have been limited by operational restrictions on our ability to encumber the astronauts with even minimal monitoring instrumentation. The era of commercial personal suborbital space flights promises the availability of a large (perhaps hundreds per year), diverse population of potential participants with a vested interest in their own responses to space flight factors, and a number of flight providers interested in documenting and demonstrating the attractiveness and safety of the experience they are offering. Voluntary participation by even a fraction of the flying population in a uniform set of unobtrusive biomedical data collections would provide a database enabling statistical analyses of a variety of acute responses to a standardized space flight environment. This will benefit both the space life sciences discipline and the general state of human knowledge.

Charles, John B.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Application of Spacesuit Glove Requirements Tools to Athletic and Personal Protective Equipment

Despite decades of ongoing improvement, astronauts must still struggle with inhibited dexterity and accelerated fatigue due to the requirement of wearing a pressurized Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) glove. Recent research in the Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center has focused on developing requirements for improvements in the design of the next generation of EVA glove. In the course of this research, it was decided to expand the scope of the testing to include a variety of commercially available athletic and consumer gloves to help provide a more recognizable comparison for investigators and designers to evaluate the current state of EVA glove mobility and strength. This comparison is being provided with the hope that innovative methods may help commercial development of gloves for various athletic and personal protective endeavors.

England, Scott↗
NASA NTRS2011

Risk Acceptance Personality Paradigm: How We View What We Don't Know We Don't Know

The purpose of integrated hazard analyses, probabilistic risk assessments, failure modes and effects analyses, fault trees and many other similar tools is to give managers of a program some idea of the risks associated with their program. All risk tools establish a set of undesired events and then try to evaluate the risk to the program by assessing the severity of the undesired event and the likelihood of that event occurring. Some tools provide qualitative results, some provide quantitative results and some do both. However, in the end the program manager and his/her team must decide which risks are acceptable and which are not. Even with a wide array of analysis tools available, risk acceptance is often a controversial and difficult decision making process. And yet, today's space exploration programs are moving toward more risk based design approaches. Thus, risk identification and good risk assessment is becoming even more vital to the engineering development process. This paper explores how known and unknown information influences risk-based decisions by looking at how the various parts of our personalities are affected by what they know and what they don't know. This paper then offers some criteria for consideration when making risk-based decisions.

Massie, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Personal Radiation Protection System

A report describes the personal radiation protection system (PRPS), which has been invented for use on the International Space Station and other spacecraft. The PRPS comprises walls that can be erected inside spacecraft, where and when needed, to reduce the amount of radiation to which personnel are exposed. The basic structural modules of the PRPS are pairs of 1-in. (2.54-cm)-thick plates of high-density polyethylene equipped with fasteners. The plates of each module are assembled with a lap joint. The modules are denoted bricks because they are designed to be stacked with overlaps, in a manner reminiscent of bricks, to build 2-in. (5.08-cm)-thick walls of various lengths and widths. The bricks are of two varieties: one for flat wall areas and one for corners. The corner bricks are specialized adaptations of the flat-area bricks that make it possible to join walls perpendicular to each other. Bricks are attached to spacecraft structures and to each other by use of straps that can be tightened to increase the strengths and stiffnesses of joints.

McDonald, Mark↗