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At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Geometric transformations for video compression and human teleoperator display

A method for bandwidth-efficient processing of video imagery to be viewed by the teleoperator of a remotely-operated vehicle on which the camera is mounted is described. The method comprises image coding, transmission, and reconstruction. It is assumed that the transmission bandpass is the limiting factor rather than encoding/decoding schemata; that image coding and reconstruction will be done within the general abilities of the NASA/TI Programmable Remapper; and that the ratio of retained local detail to the operator's visual resolution is held constant throughout the large-field image that is seen. Novel features include that the compression and reconstruction address certain characteristics of the human visual system, that two-way communication controls a moving 'fovea' in the transformation, and that resolution varies over the image. Conventional motivations accommodated include the Cartesian raster-scan nature of available imagers and display devices and a need for low bandwidth in the image transmission. Unique image processing hardware, NASA's Programmable Remapper, allows demonstration of the method. Once refined, the technology could be adapted to special purpose imagers and display devices, or otherwise to dedicated image processing hardware.

Juday, Richard D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Stereo Imaging Miniature Endoscope

Stereo imaging requires two different perspectives of the same object and, traditionally, a pair of side-by-side cameras would be used but are not feasible for something as tiny as a less than 4-mm-diameter endoscope that could be used for minimally invasive surgeries or geoexploration through tiny fissures or bores. The proposed solution here is to employ a single lens, and a pair of conjugated, multiple-bandpass filters (CMBFs) to separate stereo images. When a CMBF is placed in front of each of the stereo channels, only one wavelength of the visible spectrum that falls within the passbands of the CMBF is transmitted through at a time when illuminated. Because the passbands are conjugated, only one of the two channels will see a particular wavelength. These time-multiplexed images are then mixed and reconstructed to display as stereo images. The basic principle of stereo imaging involves an object that is illuminated at specific wavelengths, and a range of illumination wavelengths is time multiplexed. The light reflected from the object selectively passes through one of the two CMBFs integrated with two pupils separated by a baseline distance, and is focused onto the imaging plane through an objective lens. The passband range of CMBFs and the illumination wavelengths are synchronized such that each of the CMBFs allows transmission of only the alternate illumination wavelength bands. And the transmission bandwidths of CMBFs are complementary to each other, so that when one transmits, the other one blocks. This can be clearly understood if the wavelength bands are divided broadly into red, green, and blue, then the illumination wavelengths contain two bands in red (R1, R2), two bands in green (G1, G2), and two bands in blue (B1, B2). Therefore, when the objective is illuminated by R1, the reflected light enters through only the left-CMBF as the R1 band corresponds to the transmission window of the left CMBF at the left pupil. This is blocked by the right CMBF. The transmitted band is focused on the focal plane array (FPA).

Bae, Youngsam↗
NASA NTRS2018

Occluded Object Reconstruction for First Responders with Augmented Reality Glasses Using Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks

Firefighters suffer a variety of life-threatening risks, including line-of-duty deaths, injuries, and exposures to hazardous substances. Support for reducing these risks is important. We built a partially occluded object reconstruction method on augmented reality glasses for first responders. We used a deep learning based on conditional generative adversarial networks to train associations between the various images of flammable and hazardous objects and their partially occluded counterparts. Our system then reconstructed an image of a new flammable object. Finally, the reconstructed image was superimposed on the input image to provide "transparency". The system imitates human learning about the laws of physics through experience by learning the shape of flammable objects and the flame characteristics.

Chow, Edward↗
NASA NTRS2006

Processing of Mars Exploration Rover Imagery for Science and Operations Planning

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) delivered an unprecedented array of image sensors to the Mars surface. These cameras were essential for operations, science, and public engagement. The Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for the first-order processing of all of the images returned by these cameras. This processing included reconstruction of the original images, systematic and ad hoc generation of a wide variety of products derived from those images, and delivery of the data to a variety of customers, within tight time constraints. A combination of automated and manual processes was developed to meet these requirements, with significant inheritance from prior missions. This paper describes the image products generated by MIPL for MER and the processes used to produce and deliver them.

Instruments↗
NASA NTRS2000

On the Spatial Distribution of High Velocity Al-26 Near the Galactic Center

We present results of simulations of the distribution of 1809 keV radiation from the decay of Al-26 in the Galaxy. Recent observations of this emission line using the Gamma Ray Imaging Spectrometer (GRIS) have indicated that the bulk of the AL-26 must have a velocity of approx. 500 km/ s. We have previously shown that a velocity this large could be maintained over the 10(exp 6) year lifetime of the Al-26 if it is trapped in dust grains that are reaccelerated periodically in the ISM. Here we investigate whether a dust grain velocity of approx. 500 km/ s will produce a distribution of 1809 keV emission in latitude that is consistent with the narrow distribution seen by COMPTEL. We find that dust grain velocities in the range 275 - 1000 km/ s are able to reproduce the COMPTEL 1809 keV emission maps reconstructed using the Richardson-Lucy and Maximum Entropy image reconstruction methods while the emission map reconstructed using the Multiresolution Regularized Expectation Maximization algorithm is not well fit by any of our models. The Al-26 production rate that is needed to reproduce the observed 1809 keV intensity yields in a Galactic mass of Al-26 of approx. 1.5 - 2 solar mass which is in good agreement with both other observations and theoretical production rates.

Sturner, Steven J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Coded aperture imaging of X-ray and gamma-ray sources

Coded aperture telescopes employing arrays of a small number of discrete detector elements for hard X-rays or gamma-rays are discussed. Aperture patterns are described that permit a unique reconstruction of the image with high contrast, and that exhibit a specific rotational antisymmetry to suppress systematic distortions. It is shown that high flux sensitivity can be achieved in this fashion as well as good angular resolution.

Kroeger, R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

An image-data-compression algorithm

Cluster Compression Algorithm (CCA) preprocesses Landsat image data immediately following satellite data sensor (receiver). Data are reduced by extracting pertinent image features and compressing this result into concise format for transmission to ground station. This results in narrower transmission bandwidth, increased data-communication efficiency, and reduced computer time in reconstructing and analyzing image. Similar technique could be applied to other types of recorded data to cut costs of transmitting, storing, distributing, and interpreting complex information.

Hilbert, E. E.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Infrared Imaging using Sparse Microresonator Arrays and Compressed Sensing

In this work, we present an uncooled infrared (IR) thermal imager featuring a sparse array of resonant pixels that can be monolithically integrated with the readout electronics for long-term operation in high-temperature environments. Each of the detector pixels is made of an IR-sensitive GaN microresonator developed to be operated at up to 500 0C. The pixels are employed in sparse array configuration to allow for routing the signal carrying traces and to ease the routing from pixel to circuit, as well as to reduce the power consumption at the expense of moderate post-processing time and increased complexity to recover the image. Three 128 by 128 sparse resonator arrays with the array densities of 10%, 25% and 37.5% are designed, and used in conjunction with the Compressed Sensing (CS) method to reconstruct complex test images from highly incomplete data. Capabilities and performance metrics of the recovery technique are explored.

Rais-Zadeh, Mina↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of rocket beacon transmissions for computerized reconstruction of ionospheric densities

Three methods are described to obtain ionospheric electron densities from transionospheric, rocket-beacon TEC data. First, when the line-of-sight from a ground receiver to the rocket beacon is tangent to the flight trajectory, the electron concentration can be obtained by differentiating the TEC with respect to the distance to the rocket. A similar method may be used to obtain the electron-density profile if the layer is horizontally stratified. Second, TEC data obtained during chemical release experiments may be interpreted with the aid of physical models of the disturbed ionosphere to yield spatial maps of the modified regions. Third, computerized tomography (CT) can be used to analyze TEC data obtained along a chain of ground-based receivers aligned along the plane of the rocket trajectory. CT analysis of TEC data is used to reconstruct a 2D image of a simulated equatorial plume. TEC data is computed for a linear chain of nine receivers with adjacent spacings of either 100 or 200 km. The simulation data are analyzed to provide an F region reconstruction on a grid with 15 x 15 km pixels. Ionospheric rocket tomography may also be applied to rocket-assisted measurements of amplitude and phase scintillations and airglow intensities.

Bernhardt, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Stereoscopic Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence Imaging at 500 kHz

A new measurement technique for obtaining time- and spatially-resolved image sequences in hypersonic flows is developed. Nitric-oxide planar laser-induced fluorescence (NO PLIF) has previously been used to investigate transition from laminar to turbulent flow in hypersonic boundary layers using both planar and volumetric imaging capabilities. Low flow rates of NO were typically seeded into the flow, minimally perturbing the flow. The volumetric imaging was performed at a measurement rate of 10 Hz using a thick planar laser sheet that excited NO fluorescence. The fluorescence was captured by a pair of cameras having slightly different views of the flow. Subsequent stereoscopic reconstruction of these images allowed the three-dimensional flow structures to be viewed. In the current paper, this approach has been extended to 50,000 times higher repetition rates. A laser operating at 500 kHz excites the seeded NO molecules, and a camera, synchronized with the laser and fitted with a beam-splitting assembly, acquires two separate images of the flow. The resulting stereoscopic images provide three-dimensional flow visualizations at 500 kHz for the first time. The 200 ns exposure time in each frame is fast enough to freeze the flow while the 500 kHz repetition rate is fast enough to time-resolve changes in the flow being studied. This method is applied to visualize the evolving hypersonic flow structures that propagate downstream of a discrete protuberance attached to a flat plate. The technique was demonstrated in the NASA Langley Research Center s 31-Inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel facility. Different tunnel Reynolds number conditions, NO flow rates and two different cylindrical protuberance heights were investigated. The location of the onset of flow unsteadiness, an indicator of transition, was observed to move downstream during the tunnel runs, coinciding with an increase in the model temperature.

Medford, Taylor L.↗
NASA NTRS1971

The automation of the stellar proper motion survey

A microdensitometer, scanning pairs of star plates of identical areas of the sky taken a decade apart, is coupled to a magnetic tape unit through a data acquisition system. This system performs an image density threshold level selection for each plate and a buffer memory system to smooth the data flow as well as analog and digital display controls. The data from the tape are processed later by a large scale high speed computer which reconstructs the scanned images, discovers, measures, and documents stellar proper motions by precise comparison of corresponding areas of the two star plates to detect those images which have moved at least 0.10 seconds annually in the time interval between the exposures.

Newcomb, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Martian lineaments from Mariner 6 and 7 images

Mariner 6 and 7 images are used to investigate the nature and importance of linear surface trends on Mars. Cross correlations of frequency-azimuth distributions of linear trends from different Mariner frames indicate that lineations not recognized as topographic features have a component of artifacts, probably introduced during digital reconstruction of the images. Consequently, topographic and nontopographic lineations should be treated separately prior to interpretation of the data. Similar statistical tests may aid in the analysis of surface trends from future satellites and space probes.

Schultz, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS2018

System and Method for Active Multispectral Imaging and Optical Communications

Provided is a system and method for active multispectral imaging having a transmitter that uses narrowband optical radiation to dynamically illuminate an object with modulated structured light in multiple spectral bands, and a receiver that includes an independent panchromatic imager. The transmitter and receiver can be operated in a bistatic decoupled configuration to enable passive multispectral synthesis, illumination-invariant sensing, optical communications, and the ability for the transmitter to emit a sequence of spectral bands in an order that is unknown to the receiver, and the receiver is able to passively decode the spectral identity from a band identifier embedded in the modulated structured light. The receiver passively decodes embedded high-bandwidth simplex communications while reconstructing calibrated multispectral images at video frame rates.

Chirayath, Ved↗
NASA NTRS1973

Design and evaluation of controls for drift, video gain, and color balance in spaceborne facsimile cameras

The facsimile camera is an optical-mechanical scanning device which has become an attractive candidate as an imaging system for planetary landers and rovers. This paper presents electronic techniques which permit the acquisition and reconstruction of high quality images with this device, even under varying lighting conditions. These techniques include a control for low frequency noise and drift, an automatic gain control, a pulse-duration light modulation scheme, and a relative spectral gain control. Taken together, these techniques allow the reconstruction of radiometrically accurate and properly balanced color images from facsimile camera video data. These techniques have been incorporated into a facsimile camera and reproduction system, and experimental results are presented for each technique and for the complete system.

Katzberg, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

[Activities of Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, Iowa State University]

The final report of NASA funded activities at Iowa State University (ISU) for the period between 1/96 and 1/99 includes two main areas of activity. The first is the development and delivery of an x-ray simulation package suitable for evaluating the impact of parameters affects the inspectability of an assembly of parts. The second area was the development of images processing tools to remove reconstruction artifacts in x-ray laminagraphy images. The x-ray simulation portion of this work was done by J. Gray and the x-ray laminagraphy work was done by J. Basart. The report is divided into two sections covering the two activities respectively. In addition to this work reported the funding also covered NASA's membership in the NSF University/Industrial Cooperative Research Center.

Gray, Joe↗
NASA NTRS2021

Thermal Infrared Detector Sparse Array for NASA Planetary Applications

In this work, we present an uncooled infrared (IR) thermal imager featuring a sparse array of resonant pixels that can be monolithically integrated with the readout electronics for long-term operation in hightemperature environments. Each of the detector pixels is made of an IR-sensitive GaN microresonator developed to be operated at up to 500 0C. The pixels are employed in sparse array configuration to allow for routing the signal carrying traces and to ease the routing from pixel to circuit, as well as to reduce the power consumption. A 128´128 sparse resonator array with the array density of 37.5% is designed and used in conjunction with the Compressed Sensing method to reconstruct complex test images from highly incomplete data. Capabilities and performance metrics of the recovery technique are explored.

Rais-Zadeh, Mina↗