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An active wide-band fiber optic frequency distribution system employing a thermally controlled phase compensator to stabilize phase variations induced by environmental temperature changes is described.
This paper investigates the interaction effects of motion filter order and break frequency on pilots' manual control behavior and control performance using two simulators. Eighteen pilots performed the experiment in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA Ames Research Center and twenty pilots in the SIMONA Research Simulator at Delft University of Technology. The experiment used a full-factorial design with three motion filter orders (first-, second-, and third-order) and two filter break frequencies (0.5 and 2.0 rad/s), in addition to reference no-motion and full-motion conditions. Key task variables, such as the quality of the motion and visual cues and the characteristics of the sidestick, were matched across both simulators. Overall, the expected effects of filter order and break frequency variations were found, with both increasing order and increasing break frequency causing pilots to use less motion feedback in their control strategy, resulting in lower tracking performance. Furthermore, across the wide range of filter orders tested in the experiment, the existing Sinacori-Schroeder motion fidelity criterion was found to be a good predictor of the interaction effects of both filter settings on pilot control behavior. For the same motion condition, there was a consistent offset in the results between simulators, due to the more high-gain control strategy adopted by a number of the VMS pilots. Still, the observed relative trends in pilot control behavior and performance between motion conditions were equivalent in both simulators and thus accurately replicated.
Frequency response approach to adaptive control systems design by translating from time to frequency domain specifications
Stability theory application to control, circuit theory and aerospace systems
The effect of localized structural damping on the excitability of higher-order large space telescope spacecraft modes is investigated. A preprocessor computer program is developed to incorporate Voigt structural joint damping models in a finite-element dynamic model. A postprocessor computer program is developed to select critical modes for low-frequency attitude control problems and for higher-frequency fine-stabilization problems. The selection is accomplished by ranking the flexible modes based on coefficients for rate gyro, position gyro, and optical sensor, and on image-plane motions due to sinusoidal or random PSD force and torque inputs.
Frequency-tracking-error detector compares average period of output signal from band-pass tracking filter with average period of signal of frequency 100 f(sub 0) that controls center frequency f(sub 0) of tracking filter. Measures difference between f(sub 0) and frequency of one of periodic components in output of bearing sensor. Bearing sensor is accelerometer, strain gauge, or deflectometer mounted on bearing housing. Detector part of system of electronic equipment used to measure vibrations in bearings in rotating machinery.
The error signal which is used to control the frequency of the quartz crystal oscillator of a passive rubidium cell frequency standard is considered. The value of the slope of this signal, for an interrogation frequency close to the atomic transition frequency is calculated and measured for various phase (or frequency) modulation waveforms, and for several values of the modulation frequency. A theoretical analysis is made using a model which applies to a system in which the optical pumping rate, the relaxation rates and the RF field are homogeneous. Results are given for sine-wave phase modulation, square-wave frequency modulation and square-wave phase modulation. The influence of the modulation frequency on the slope of the error signal is specified. It is shown that the modulation frequency can be chosen as large as twice the non-saturated full-width at half-maximum without a drastic loss of the sensitivity to an offset of the interrogation frequency from center line, provided that the power saturation factor and the amplitude of modulation are properly adjusted.
A hydrogen fuel-flow valve with an electrohydraulic servosystem is described. An analysis of the servosystem is presented along with a discussion of the limitations imposed on system performance by nonlinearities. The response of the valve to swept-frequency inputs is experimentally determined and compared with analytical results obtained from a computer model. The valve is found to perform favorably for frequencies up to 200 Hz.
Frequency domain solution compared to state-space solution for optimal regulator problems
Longitudinal mode selection by injection has been demonstrated as a viable technique for tailoring a TEA-CO2 laser with pulse energies of a Joule or greater to fit the requirements of a coherent lidar transmitter. Once reliable generation of single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) pulses is obtained, one can study the intrapulse frequency variation and attempt to determine the sources of frequency sweeping, or chirp. These sources include the effect of the decaying plasma, the thermal gradient due to the energy dissipation associated with the laser mechanism itself, and the pressure shift of the center frequency of the laser transition. The use of the positive-branch unstable resonator as an efficient means of coupling a discharge with transverse spatial dimensions of the order of centimeters to an optical cavity mode introduces another concern: namely, what can be done to emphasize transverse mode discrimination in an unstable resonator cavity while maintaining high coupling efficiency. These issues are briefly discussed in the paper, and representative experimental examples are included.
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The frequency and phase of an output signal from an oscillator circuit are controlled with accuracy by a digital input word. Positive and negative alterations in output frequency are both provided for by translating all values of input words so that they are positive. The oscillator reference frequency is corrected only in one direction, by adding phase to the output frequency of the oscillator. The input control word is translated to a single algebraic sign and the digital 1 is added thereto. The translated input control word is then accumulated. A reference clock signal having a frequency at an integer multiple of the desired frequency of the output signal is generated. The accumulated control word is then compared with a threshold level. The output signal is adjusted in a single direction by dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal by a first integer or by an integer different from the first integer.
Human operator manual control speed, frequency and flexibility innate limitations, suggesting techniques to overcome them
Using a new waves on magnetized beams and turbulence (WOMBAT) 0-450 eV electron gun, measurements bearing on the generation of beam-plasma discharge (BPD) are made. The new gun has a narrower divergence angle than the old, and the BPD ignition current is found to be proportional to the cross-sectional area of the plasma. The high-frequency instabilities are identified with the two Trivelpiece-Gould modes, (1959). The upper frequency is identified as a Cerenkov resonance with the upper Trivelpiece-Gould mode, and the lower frequency with a cyclotron resonance with the lower mode, in agreement with theoretical expectations. Convective growth rates are found to be small. A mechanism involving the conversion of a convective instability to an absolute one by trapping of the unstable waves in the density perturbations of the low-frequency waves, is suggested for the low-frequency wave control of the onset of the high frequency precursors to the BPD.
Results are presented concerning the noise-free false-lock problem in quadriphase receivers with unequal I-channel and Q-channel data rates. It is shown that false lock may occur when the incoming carrier frequency and the loop VCO (voltage-controlled oscillator) frequency differ by an amount that is a linear combination of a quarter of I-channel and Q-channel data rates. General expressions for the false-lock performance of quadriphase receivers are given for random as well as periodic data patterns. Specific closed-form expressions for the false-lock margin are are derived when the arm filters of the quadriphase receivers are single-pole Butterworth filters, and the format of the random data is NRZ (nonreturn-to-zero). Numerical evaluations of false-lock margin as a function of the product of 3-dB arm-filter bandwidth and symbol duration are carried out for random data using various arm filters and for different periodic I-chanel and Q-channel data patterns.
Addressed is a class of resonant power processing equipment designed to be used in an integrated high frequency (20 KHz domain), utility power system for large, multi-user spacecraft and other aerospace vehicles. It describes a hardware approach, which has been the basis for parametric and physical data used to justify the selection of high frequency ac as the PMAD baseline for the space station. This paper is part of a larger effort undertaken by NASA and General Dynamics to be sure that all potential space station contractors and other aerospace power system designers understand and can comfortably use this technology, which is now widely used in the commercial sector. In this paper, we will examine control requirements, stability, and operational modes; and their hardware impacts from an integrated system point of view. The current space station PMAD system will provide the overall requirements model to develop an understanding of the performance of this type of system with regard to: (1) regulation; (2) power bus stability and voltage control; (3) source impedance; (4) transient response; (5) power factor effects, and (6) limits and overloads.
Addressed is a class of resonant power processing equipment designed to be used in an integrated high frequency (20 KHz domain), utility power system for large, multi-user spacecraft and other aerospace vehicles. It describes a hardware approach, which has been the basis for parametric and physical data used to justify the selection of high frequency ac as the PMAD baseline for the space station. This paper is part of a larger effort undertaken by NASA and General Dynamics to be sure that all potential space station contractors and other aerospace power system designers understand and can comfortably use this technology, which is now widely used in the commercial sector. In this paper, we will examine control requirements, stability, and operational modes; and their hardware impacts from an integrated system point of view. The current space station PMAD system will provide the overall requirements model to develop an understanding of the performance of this type of system with regard to: (1) regulation; (2) power bus stability and voltage control; (3) source impedance; (4) transient response; (5) power factor effects; and (6) limits and overloads.
To reduce the environmental impact of aerospace propulsion systems, extensive research is being done in the development of lean-burning (low fuel-to-air ratio) combustors that can reduce emissions throughout the mission cycle. However, these lean-burning combustors have an increased susceptibility to thermoacoustic instabilities-high-pressure oscillations much like sound waves that can cause severe high-frequency vibrations in the combustor. These pressure waves can fatigue the combustor components and even the downstream turbine blades. This can significantly decrease the combustor and turbine safe operating life. Thus, suppression of the thermoacoustic combustor instabilities is an enabling technology for lean, low-emissions combustors. Under the Propulsion and Power Program, the NASA Glenn Research Center in partnership with Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies Research Center, and Georgia Institute of Technology is developing technologies for the active control of combustion instabilities.