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At least 307 records · Page 17

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NASA NTRS2019

Laboratory-Based Thermal Shock Investigation of Heat Flux Sensors for the Mars 2020 Backshell

In 2012 during the entry, descent, and landing of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the MSL Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI) sensor suite was collecting in-flight heatshield pressure and temperature data. The data collected by the MEDLI instruments has since been used for reconstruction of vehicle aerodynamics, atmospheric conditions, aerothermal heating, and Thermal Protection System (TPS) performance as well as material response model validation and refinement. The Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite for the Mars 2020 heatshield and backshell is being designed to expand on the measurements and knowledge gained from MEDLI. Similar to MEDLI, MEDLI2 will measure the pressure and temperature of the heatshield. MEDLI2 will additionally measure the temperature, pressure, total heat flux, and radiative heat flux on the backshell.Since the backshell instrumentation is new to MEDLI2, Do No Harm (DNH) testing was conducted on instrumented backshell TPS (SLA-561V) panels. The panels consisted of four pressure port holes, one Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System (MEADS) pressure port plug, one MEDLI2 Integrated Sensor Plug (MISP) thermal plug, and one heat flux sensor. DNH testing was conducted to ensure the performance of the TPS was not degraded due to sensor integration and to characterize any TPS performance changes. The testing consisted of environmental testingâ€” vibration, shock, thermal vacuum (TVAC) cyclingâ€” and bounding aerothermal (arc jet) testing. During arc jet testing, the heat flux sensors embedded in the SLA-561V panels exhibited an unexpected temporary reduction in the heat flux sensor temperature and response. After review of the test results, it was determined that this unexpected response was confined to the two heat flux sensors that experienced the greatest thermal shock condition. This condition consisted of a liquid nitrogen (LN2) bath that induced temperatures of approximately -190Â°C, and then a transition (thermal shock) to an arc jet test at a heat rate of approximately 21 W/cm2. Both heat flux sensors that were exposed to this thermal shock experienced a blister in the thermal coating during the arc jet test.Two heat flux sensor thermal shock test series were performed to investigate the cause of the blistering and subsequent energy release. In these tests, the heat flux sensor was first cold soaked in either a dry ice or LN2 bath to induce temperatures of approximately -78Â°C or -190Â°C, respectively. Then the sensors were thermally shocked using two propane torches with a heat rate of either approximately 8 W/cm2 or 21 W/cm2. The key findings indicated that there is a correlation between thermal shock and the blistering observed in the DNH test series, and that the cause appeared to be rooted in the heat flux sensor epoxy that encapsulates the sensor thermopile.Since the heat flux sensors are required to measure heat fluxes up to 15 W/cm2 during the Mars 2020 entry, a third test series was designed to determine if blistering is an issue at this maximum expected flight heat flux. Results from all three thermal shock test series and a discussion about whether or not blistering of the heat flux sensor thermal coating could be an issue for the Mars 2020 mission will be presented.

Miller, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Laboratory-Based Thermal Shock Investigation of Heat Flux Sensors for the Mars 2020 Backshell

Miller, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Development of an Integrated Data Acquisition System for a Small Flight Probe

In support of the SPRITE concept, an integrated data acquisition system has been developed and fabricated for preliminary testing. The data acquisition system has been designed to condition traditional thermal protection system sensors, store their data to an on-board memory card, and in parallel, telemeter to an external system. In the fall of 2010, this system was integrated into a 14 in. diameter, 45 degree sphere cone probe instrumented with thermal protection system sensors. This system was then tested at the NASA Ames Research Center Aerodynamic Heating Facility's arc jet at approximately 170 W/sq. cm. The first test in December 2010 highlighted hardware design issues that were redesigned and implemented leading to a successful test in February 2011.

Swanson, Gregory T.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Micro-Electromechanical Instrument and Systems Development at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Several generations of micromechanical gyros and accelerometers have been developed at Draper. Current design effort centers on tuning-fork gyro design and pendulous accelerometer configurations. Over 200 gyros of different generations have been packaged and tested. These units have successfully performed across a temperature range of -40 to 85 degrees C, and have survived 30,000-g shock tests along all axes. Draper is currently under contract to develop an integrated micro-mechanical inertial sensor assembly (MMISA) and global positioning system (GPS) receiver configuration. The ultimate projections for size, weight, and power for an MMISA, after electronic design of the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is completed, are 2 x 2 x 0.5 cm, 5 gm, and less than 1 W, respectively. This paper describes the fabrication process, the current gyro and accelerometer designs, and system configurations.

Connelly, J. H.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Radio frequency sensing and its innovative applications in diverse sectors: A comprehensive study

Recent advancements in radio frequency (RF) sensing technology can be attributed to the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare, RF-identification, and communication applications. RF sensing is a multidisciplinary research field that requires expertise in computing, electronics, and electromagnetics to cover all system features, including protocol development, antenna design, sensor integration, algorithm formulation, interconnection, data, and analytics. The overarching aim of this work is to present detailed information about RF technologies and their innovations and application diversity from the novel work carried out at CSI Lab1, together in one platform with an extensive survey. This study presents state-of-the art applications and RF sensing that include W-Fi, radar, and SDR and RFID-based sensing. A comprehensive survey and study of the advantages and limitations of each non-contact technology is discussed. Additionally, open research gaps have been identified as well. Decades of knowledge and experience have been put to use to meet new challenges and demands. The development and study of RF systems, IoT, RFID sensing, and research and deployment activities, are briefly discussed. The emerging research projects with industry, institutional research centers, and academic studies are also addressed. Finally, an outline of identified potential future research areas is provided, emphasizing opportunities and challenges.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2012

SPRITE: A TPS Test Bed for Ground and Flight

Engineers in the Entry Systems and Technology Division at NASA Ames Research Center developed a fully instrumented, small atmospheric entry probe called SPRITE (Small Probe Reentry Investigation for TPS Engineering). SPRITE, conceived as a flight test bed for thermal protection materials, was tested at full scale in an arc-jet facility so that the aerothermal environments the probe experiences over portions of its flight trajectory and in the arc-jet are similar. This ground-to-flight traceability enhances the ability of mission designers to evaluate margins needed in the design of thermal protection systems (TPS) of larger scale atmospheric entry vehicles. SPRITE is a 14-inch diameter, 45 deg. sphere-cone with a conical aftbody and designed for testing in the NASA Ames Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF). The probe is a two-part aluminum shell with PICA (phenolic impregnated carbon ablator) bonded on the forebody and LI-2200 (Shuttle tile material) bonded to the aftbody. Plugs with embedded thermocouples, similar to those installed in the heat shield of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), and a number of distributed sensors are integrated into the design. The data from these sensors are fed to an innovative, custom-designed data acquisition system also integrated with the test article. Two identical SPRITE models were built and successfully tested in late 2010-early 2011, and the concept is currently being modified to enable testing of conformable and/or flexible materials.

Ablation↗

NASA NTRS2007

Integrated inertial stellar attitude sensor

An integrated inertial stellar attitude sensor for an aerospace vehicle includes a star camera system, a gyroscope system, a controller system for synchronously integrating an output of said star camera system and an output of said gyroscope system into a stream of data, and a flight computer responsive to said stream of data for determining from the star camera system output and the gyroscope system output the attitude of the aerospace vehicle.

Brady, Tye M.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Object Recognition using Feature- and Color-Based Methods

An improved adaptive method of processing image data in an artificial neural network has been developed to enable automated, real-time recognition of possibly moving objects under changing (including suddenly changing) conditions of illumination and perspective. The method involves a combination of two prior object-recognition methods one based on adaptive detection of shape features and one based on adaptive color segmentation to enable recognition in situations in which either prior method by itself may be inadequate. The chosen prior feature-based method is known as adaptive principal-component analysis (APCA); the chosen prior color-based method is known as adaptive color segmentation (ACOSE). These methods are made to interact with each other in a closed-loop system to obtain an optimal solution of the object-recognition problem in a dynamic environment. One of the results of the interaction is to increase, beyond what would otherwise be possible, the accuracy of the determination of a region of interest (containing an object that one seeks to recognize) within an image. Another result is to provide a minimized adaptive step that can be used to update the results obtained by the two component methods when changes of color and apparent shape occur. The net effect is to enable the neural network to update its recognition output and improve its recognition capability via an adaptive learning sequence. In principle, the improved method could readily be implemented in integrated circuitry to make a compact, low-power, real-time object-recognition system. It has been proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of such a system by integrating a 256-by-256 active-pixel sensor with APCA, ACOSE, and neural processing circuitry on a single chip. It has been estimated that such a system on a chip would have a volume no larger than a few cubic centimeters, could operate at a rate as high as 1,000 frames per second, and would consume in the order of milliwatts of power.

Duong, Tuan↗

DOE OSTI2026

Advanced Facility Design and AI/ML Enabled Safeguards to Establish Secure, Economical Recycling of Fast Reactor Fuels (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

The project, "Advanced Facility Design and AI/ML Enabled Safeguards to Establish Secure, Economical Recycling of Fast Reactor Fuels," represents a significant advancement in nuclear fuel recycling technology. It integrates cutting-edge multimodal sensor fusion, machine learning (ML), and digital twin (DT) technologies to address challenges in material safeguarding, process optimization, and regulatory compliance for pyroprocessing facilities. This research has significantly enhanced the understanding of pyrochemical fuel recycling processes by developing innovative tools and methodologies. The Multimodal Safeguards Monitoring Unit (MSMU) combines electroanalytical techniques, Raman spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis (DTA) to enable high-fidelity, near-real-time material accountancy measurements. Machine learning techniques, such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) autoencoders, are utilized to detect anomalies in material balances and sensor data, improving the reliability of safeguards monitoring. Additionally, digital twin technology has been established to provide real-time system-level monitoring and diagnostics, integrating physics-based models with sensor data to optimize process safety and efficiency.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS2019

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project

Phase 1 of the UAS-NAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems-National Airspace System) project focused on MOPS (Minimum Operational Performance Standards) development for large UAS transitioning through Class D, E, and G airspace. Phase 2 activities are currently focused on extended UAS operations in Class D, E, and G airspace, as well as sensors and architectures that will enable DAA (Detect and Avoid) equipment to be installed on a wider range of UAS. Encounters with non-cooperative intruders in low altitude airspace under 10,000 feet will be explored for UAS with a low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) radar. New sensors for detecting non-cooperative intruder aircraft will have a more limited detection range and field of regard; therefore, the analysis of non-cooperative encounter geometries may help in developing the requirements for an onboard low SWaP radar (and electro-optical sensor). The current simulation, led by HSI (Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames Research Center) as part of the DAA subproject, will support efforts toward developing a modified DAA Well Clear (DWC) definition that would be more appropriate for UAS equipped with limited surveillance and aircraft performance capabilities compared to the Phase 1 DAA system. The findings will inform Phase 2 display requirements for alternative surveillance use cases.

Collision Avoidance↗

NASA NTRS2008

Integrated Software Systems for Crew Management During Extravehicular Activity in Planetary Terrain Exploration

Initial planetary explorations with the Apollo program had a veritable ground support army monitoring the safety and health of the 12 astronauts who performed lunar surface extravehicular activities (EVAs). Given the distances involved, this will not be possible on Mars. A spacesuit for Mars must be smart enough to replace that army. The next generation suits can do so using 2 software systems serving as virtual companions, LEGACI (Life support, Exploration Guidance Algorithm and Consumable Interrogator) and VIOLET (Voice Initiated Operator for Life support and Exploration Tracking). The system presented in this study integrates data inputs from a suite of sensors into the MIII suit s communications, avionics and informatics hardware for distribution to remote managers and data analysis. If successful, the system has application not only for Mars but for nearer term missions to the Moon, and the next generation suits used on ISS as well. Field tests are conducted to assess capabilities for next generation spacesuits at Johnson Space Center (JSC) as well as the Mars and Lunar analog (Devon Island, Canada). LEGACI integrates data inputs from a suite of noninvasive biosensors in the suit and the astronaut (heart rate, suit inlet/outlet lcg temperature and flowrate, suit outlet gas and dewpoint temperature, pCO2, suit O2 pressure, state vector (accelerometry) and others). In the Integrated Walkback Suit Tests held at NASA-JSC and the HMP tests at Devon Island, communication and informatics capabilities were tested (including routing by satellite from the suit at Devon Island to JSC in Houston via secure servers at VCU in Richmond, VA). Results. The input from all the sensors enable LEGACI to compute multiple independent assessments of metabolic rate, from which a "best" met rate is chosen based on statistical methods. This rate can compute detailed information about the suit, crew and EVA performance using test-derived algorithms. VIOLET gives LEGACI voice activation capability, allowing the crew to query the suit, and receive feedback and alerts that will lead to corrective action. LEGACI and VIOLET can also automatically control the astronaut's cooling and consumable use rate without crew input if desired. These findings suggest that non-invasive physiological and environmental sensors supported with data analysis can allow for more effective management of mission task performance during EVA. Integrated remote and local view of data metrics allow crewmember to receive real time feedback in synch with mission control in preventing performance shortcomings for EVA in exploration missions.

Kuznetz, Lawrence↗

NASA NTRS2018

Internal Radio-Frequency Instrumentation System (IRIS) Overview

Wireless instrumentation has long been sought for spaceflight applications, but practical implementations capable of providing the utility of wired sensors have proven elusive. The power needed to drive transmitters/receivers in traditional "active" wireless sensor radios requires either frequent battery replacement or prohibitive duty cycling. This prevents installing such sensors early in a vehicle's integration and treating them as always-on throughout its operation. "Passive" solutions such as radio frequency identification (RFID) techniques provide an appealing alternative, though most common RFID sensing approaches such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) RFID do not lend themselves easily to integrating arbitrary suites of sensors and sensor processors. In this talk we detail the design, fabrication, and evaluation of the Internal Radio-frequency Instrumentation System (IRIS), an RFID-enabled instrumentation solution that integrates an EPC Global Class 1 Generation 2 interface with processor-based wireless sensors. IRIS thermocouple sensors can operate in a low-power hibernation state with instantaneous over-the-air wakeup for nearly a decade on a small (255 mAh) coin cell battery. In their active state, they can acquire and stream 10 Hz data for more than 200 days. This allows wireless sensors to be installed and powered on early in vehicle integration and continue to operate after launch through a lengthy mission, opening the vehicle design trade space to wireless sensing in a meaningful and unprecedented way.

Wagner, Raymond↗

DOE OSTI2022

Commercial Building Sensors and Controls Systems: Barriers, Drivers, and Costs

Building sensors and controls systems, including building automation systems, consists of the sensor-based devices installed in buildings and the control and automation of those devices. Optimized sensors and controls systems could lead to 29% annual energy savings in commercial buildings and are integral to the growth of grid-interactive efficient buildings. Only 8% of small commercial buildings, however, have installed sensors and controls systems. This is largely due to cost barriers. This work seeks to increase the transparency of system costs and identify specific barriers and drivers for increased adoption. To gather industry insights, the team reached out to building owners, vendors, and contractors and conducted 20 interviews with the goal of collecting cost data and market characteristics regarding building sensors and controls. The qualitative interview data was analyzed using grounded theory to identify overarching concepts, such as barriers, drivers, and future directions on the field. From this analysis, primary barriers were found to be complexity, a lack of knowledge, and money. Primary drivers were found to be the knowledge of data, savings, and remote access. The qualitative cost data was collected in the form of invoices during the interviews. The cost values were used to develop a percentage-based cost stack which identifies the average fraction of the total cost attributed to each category (hardware, software, labor, fees, and taxes). This greater understanding of costs and barriers associated with commercial building sensors and controls systems lays the groundwork for future steps in increasing system adoption, reducing energy consumption, and market transformation.

advanced building controls↗

DOE OSTI2023

Commercial Building Sensors and Controls Systems: Barriers and Drivers: Preprint

Building sensors and controls systems, including building automation systems, comprise the sensor-based devices installed in buildings as well as the control and automation of those devices. Optimized sensors and controls systems could lead to 29% annual energy savings in commercial buildings and are integral to the growth of grid-interactive efficient buildings. Only 13% of small commercial buildings, however, have installed sensors and controls systems, largely because of cost barriers. To accelerate adoption, this work seeks to increase the transparency of system costs and identify specific barriers and drivers. To gather industry insights, the team reached out to building owners, vendors, and contractors and conducted 21 interviews with the goal of collecting cost data and market characteristics regarding building sensors and controls. We collected the cost data in the form of invoices and used it to develop a percentage-based cost category breakdown. The interview data were analyzed using grounded theory to identify overarching concepts such as barriers, drivers, and future directions. From this analysis, we found the primary barriers to be complex and confusing systems, lack of user skills, and financial concerns, and the primary drivers to be operational benefits, insight into operations, and remote access to data. The future directions analysis highlighted the potential technological solutions to address gaps and barriers, as well as predicted drivers to increase adoption. This greater understanding of the costs, barriers, and drivers associated with commercial building sensors and controls systems lays the groundwork for increasing system adoption, reducing energy consumption, and transforming the market.

building automation system↗

NASA NTRS1996

Fiber-Optic Distribution Of Pulsed Power To Multiple Sensors

Optoelectronic systems designed according to time-sharing scheme distribute optical power to multiple integrated-circuit-based sensors in fiber-optic networks. Networks combine flexibility of electronic sensing circuits with advantage of electrical isolation afforded by use of optical fibers instead of electrical conductors to transmit both signals and power. Fiber optics resist corrosion and immune to electromagnetic interference. Sensor networks of this type useful in variety of applications; for example, in monitoring strains in aircraft, buildings, and bridges, and in monitoring and controlling shapes of flexible structures.

Kirkham, Harold↗

DOE OSTI2024

Cyber-Physical System: Design for Sustainability and Resilience

When considering the design tools needed in the transition from numeric models to pilot plant, cyber-physical systems (CPS) come to the forefront as a method to model complex integrated energy systems. CPS approach has proven to be valuable to identify opportunities for economically viable early adoption of integrated energy technologies. This tutorial will introduce the concepts and the roles of CPS in co-design to minimize risks for pilot plant and technology deployment. This tutorial will also layout basic requirements for the CPS development, which requires a highly interdisciplinary effort with expertise in sensors, hardware testing, real-time modeling, controls, and system integration.

Harun, Nor Farida↗

DOE OSTI2022

Commercial Building Sensors and Controls Systems - Barriers, Drivers, and Costs

Optimized building sensors and controls systems could lead to 29% annual energy savings in commercial buildings and are integral to the growth of grid-interactive efficient buildings. However, only 8% of small commercial buildings have installed sensors and controls systems-which is largely due to cost barriers. This publication seeks to increase the transparency of system costs and identify specific barriers and drivers for increased adoption. Qualitative interview data was collected from 20 interviews with industry and qualitative cost data was collected from invoices during the interviews. The greater understanding of costs and barriers associated with commercial building sensors and controls systems lays the groundwork for future steps in increasing system adoption, reducing energy consumption, and market transformation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2012

Comparison of Aircraft Models and Integration Schemes for Interval Management in the TRACON

Reusable models of common elements for communication, computation, decision and control in air traffic management are necessary in order to enable simulation, analysis and assurance of emergent properties, such as safety and stability, for a given operational concept. Uncertainties due to faults, such as dropped messages, along with non-linearities and sensor noise are an integral part of these models, and impact emergent system behavior. Flight control algorithms designed using a linearized version of the flight mechanics will exhibit error due to model uncertainty, and may not be stable outside a neighborhood of the given point of linearization. Moreover, the communication mechanism by which the sensed state of an aircraft is fed back to a flight control system (such as an ADS-B message) impacts the overall system behavior; both due to sensor noise as well as dropped messages (vacant samples). Additionally simulation of the flight controller system can exhibit further numerical instability, due to selection of the integration scheme and approximations made in the flight dynamics. We examine the theoretical and numerical stability of a speed controller under the Euler and Runge-Kutta schemes of integration, for the Maintain phase for a Mid-Term (2035-2045) Interval Management (IM) Operational Concept for descent and landing operations. We model uncertainties in communication due to missed ADS-B messages by vacant samples in the integration schemes, and compare the emergent behavior of the system, in terms of stability, via the boundedness of the final system state. Any bound on the errors incurred by these uncertainties will play an essential part in a composable assurance argument required for real-time, flight-deck guidance and control systems,. Thus, we believe that the creation of reusable models, which possess property guarantees, such as safety and stability, is an innovative and essential requirement to assessing the emergent properties of novel airspace concepts of operation.

Neogi, Natasha↗