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DOE OSTI2021

Implementing the LSST Software Stack for DESGW processing and the Integration of Convolutional Neural Networks into the DESGW Pipeline

The Dark Energy Survey Gravitational Wave (DESGW) group strives to understand thelargescale structure of the universe and galaxies by looking for electromagnetic signatures intelescope images following gravitational wave detections. The DESGW group uses a processing pipeline to perform difference imaging to look for potential candidates. In order to perform these searches more effectively, we first explored using an alternative processing pipeline, the LSST Software Stack to analyze the telescope images. Because the LSST software stack is currently transitioning between its generation 2 and generation 3 system, we decided that while the software will be usable in the future once generation 3 is complete, at the moment its incompleteness makes it impractical to use. We then decided to work on improving the current pipeline by developing a module that integrates a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to test difference imaging products for bad subtractions due to misalignment.

Navarro, Alexander↗

DOE OSTI2022

Comparative assessment of neutron flux sensor technologies for advanced reactors

This report documents the comparative assessment of the rhodium-based self-powered neutron detectors (Rh-SPND), micro-pocket fission detectors (MPFD), and dosimetry wires in heated irradiations at the Neutron Radiography reactor facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The sensors performances are evaluated high-temperature environments (upwards of 850°C) during maximum reactor power to simulate use in advanced reactor applications. The performance of the Rh-SPNDs indicates the experiment cartridge heater power supply interferes with the SPND signals. This interference become increasingly significant at temperatures above 500°C with minimal interference observed for temperatures below 500°C. This work also demonstrated the fabrication process for the updated design of the MPFD, but issues related to the seal welds were identified and usable data was limited. Finally, the dosimetry measurements were within the expected range correlated with reactor power; thus, the dosimetry results were used to provide preliminary SPND calibration factors. The results from this experiment serves as a reference for developing and testing of flux sensors that are designed for high-temperature irradiations and advanced reactor deployments. This includes upcoming FY22 irradiations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor and the Neutron Radiography (NRAD) reactor utilizing additional fission chambers from Photonis Technologies and fission chambers and SPNDs from The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS1994

Evaluation in context: ATC automation in the field

The process for incorporating advanced technologies into complex aviation systems is as important as the final product itself. This paper described a process that is currently being applied to the development and assessment of an advanced ATC automation system, CTAS. The key element of the process is field exposure early in the system development cycle. The process deviates from current established practices of system development -- where field testing is an implementation endpoint -- and has been deemed necessary by the FAA for streamlining development and bringing system functions to a level of stability and usefulness. Methods and approaches for field assessment are borrowed from human factors engineering, cognitive engineering, and usability engineering and are tailored for the constraints of an operational ATC environment. To date, the focus has been on the qualitative assessment of the match between TMA capabilities and the context for their use. Capturing the users' experience with the automation tool and understanding tool use in the context of the operational environment is important, not only for developing a tool that is an effective problem-solving instrument but also for defining meaningful operational requirements. Such requirements form the basis for certifying the safety and efficiency of the system. CTAS is the first U.S. advanced ATC automation system of its scope and complexity to undergo this field development and assessment process. With the rapid advances in aviation technologies and our limited understanding of their impact on system performance, it is time we opened our eyes to new possibilities for developing, validating, and ultimately certifying complex aviation systems.

Harwood, Kelly↗

NASA NTRS2024

Unsteady Surface Pressure Characterization on Launch Vehicle in Liftoff Configuration

Acquisition of unsteady pressure using remote scanners can provide practical advantages over making the same measurements directly using flush-mounted pressure transducers. However, pneumatic distortion of the signal is introduced by the tubing between the sensing module and surface port. This typically limits the usefulness of such measurements to averaged, steady data only, restricting the application of pressure scanners for unsteady pressure measurements in the wind tunnel and flight-testing applications. In this work, unsteady pressure on the surface of a 1.75%-scale model of the NASA Space Launch System Block 1B Cargo vehicle was remotely measured at the NASA Langley Research Center 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel using an ESP pressure scanner. Subsequent reconstruction using an empirically-tuned, Wiener-filtered inverse transfer function produced excellent agreement compared to nearby surface-mounted transducers within a usable bandwidth of approximately 500 Hz. Interactions between the launch vehicle and the support tower produced strong oscillations that were absent in the vehicle-alone configuration, and it is likely that the wake interaction leads to a resonant flow response when the launch tower is immediately downstream of the vehicle.

Unsteady pressure↗

NASA NTRS1978

Feasibility of estimation of surface air temperature from meteorological satellite data test plan

A conceptual system designed to estimate daily surface air temperatures utilizing radiometric data obtained from polar orbiting meteorological satellites is discussed in this memorandum. The Surface Air Temperature Estimation System is an outgrowth of previous developmental and operational systems. The system represents an effort to integrate both satellite and surface meteorological observations into an operational framework which would be usable worldwide.

Phinney, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Power Converter Design for the Europa Lander Motor Controller

This paper will outline the design and test results for the Europa Lander motor controller’s Power Conversion Slice. Europa Lander is a proposed NASA mission concept to send a stationary spacecraft to Jupiter’s Icy Moon, Europa, to search for subsurface biosignatures. The Power Conversion Card is one of the many technologies designed for this mission. The Power Conversion Card’s primary function is to convert the power supplied by the spacecraft battery to usable power for use within the motor controller. In addition, this card provides power system telemetry to the spacecraft computer. This card tolerates Europa’s harsh radiation environment within a protected vault to enable it to survive the external temperatures which can be as low as -184°C during the three-week mission. This design makes use of multiple commercially available radiation hardened electronics, including Cobham’s UT32M0R500 Arm Microcontroller along with VPT’s DC-DC Converters for power conversion. The microcontroller is used to collect local power system telemetry and assess card health autonomously without intervention from the spacecraft’s main computer. This paper will showcase the design behind the prototype and electrical testing results.

Lias, Malcolm↗

NASA NTRS1971

Evaluation of metal matrix composites

The results of an evaluation of candidate metal-matrix composite materials for shuttle space radiators mounted to external structure are presented. The evaluation was specifically applicable to considerations of the manufacturing and properties of a potential space radiator. Two candidates, boron/aluminum and graphite/aluminum were obtained or made in various forms and tested in sufficient depth to allow selection of one of the two for future scale-up programs. The effort accomplished on this program verified that aluminum reinforced with boron was within the state-of-the-art in industry and possessed properties usable in the external skin areas available for shuttle radiators where re-entry temperatures will not exceed 800 F. It further demonstrated that graphite/aluminum has an apparently attractive future for space applications but requires extension development prior to scale-up.

Okelly, K. P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

LOX/hydrocarbon rocket engine analytical design methodology development and validation. Volume 2: Appendices

This final report includes a discussion of the work accomplished during the period from Dec. 1988 through Nov. 1991. The objective of the program was to assemble existing performance and combustion stability models into a usable design methodology capable of designing and analyzing high-performance and stable LOX/hydrocarbon booster engines. The methodology was then used to design a validation engine. The capabilities and validity of the methodology were demonstrated using this engine in an extensive hot fire test program. The engine used LOX/RP-1 propellants and was tested over a range of mixture ratios, chamber pressures, and acoustic damping device configurations. This volume contains time domain and frequency domain stability plots which indicate the pressure perturbation amplitudes and frequencies from approximately 30 tests of a 50K thrust rocket engine using LOX/RP-1 propellants over a range of chamber pressures from 240 to 1750 psia with mixture ratios of from 1.2 to 7.5. The data is from test configurations which used both bitune and monotune acoustic cavities and from tests with no acoustic cavities. The engine had a length of 14 inches and a contraction ratio of 2.0 using a 7.68 inch diameter injector. The data was taken from both stable and unstable tests. All combustion instabilities were spontaneous in the first tangential mode. Although stability bombs were used and generated overpressures of approximately 20 percent, no tests were driven unstable by the bombs. The stability instrumentation included six high-frequency Kistler transducers in the combustion chamber, a high-frequency Kistler transducer in each propellant manifold, and tri-axial accelerometers. Performance data is presented, both characteristic velocity efficiencies and energy release efficiencies, for those tests of sufficient duration to record steady state values.

Niiya, Karen E.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Subsonic Aerodynamic Assessment of Vortex Flow Management Devices on a High-Speed Civil Transport Configuration

An experimental investigation of the effects of leading-edge vortex management devices on the subsonic performance of a high-speed civil transport (HSCT) configuration was conducted in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. Data were obtained over a Mach number range of 0.14 to 0.27, with corresponding chord Reynolds numbers of 3.08 x 10 (sup 6) to 5.47 x 10 (sup 6). The test model was designed for a cruise Mach number of 2.7. During the subsonic high-lift phase of flight, vortical flow dominates the upper surface flow structure, and during vortex breakdown, this flow causes adverse pitch-up and a reduction of usable lift. The experimental results showed that the beneficial effects of small leading-edge vortex management devices located near the model reference center were insufficient to substantially affect the resulting aerodynamic forces and moments. However, devices located at or near the wiring apex region demonstrated potential for pitch control with little effect on overall lift.

Campbell, Bryan A.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Developing New Fuels for High Performance Research Reactors

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Material Management and Minimization (M3) program works globally to minimize the civilian use of highly enriched uranium (HEU), a weapon-usable nuclear material. Supporting this effort, M3’s Office of Reactor Conversion and Uranium Supply is developing new fuels capable of converting research reactors from HEU fuel to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel. Some of the remaining research and test reactors (RTRs) operating on HEU today have unique designs, fuel configurations, and demanding performance requirements that cannot be met with an existing regulatory-approved low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. M3, DOE’s national laboratories, and other industry partners are qualifying new high-density LEU fuels to convert these RTRs while maintaining their unique capabilities supporting a wide variety of science and technology research in areas such as medicine, industry, defense, education, and training. Current efforts are focused on two options for the remaining US high-performance research reactor conversions: a monolithic uranium 10wt% molybdenum (U-10Mo) fuel form and a dispersion uranium silicide fuel form. This paper reviews the history and status of M3’s fuel qualification efforts for the U-10Mo LEU fuel form.

Montgomery, Rose [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000286038936)↗

DOE OSTI2025

Heuristic Evaluation Methods Applied to a Predictive Maintenance Chatbot

The need for an accessible iterative approach for evaluating prospective artificial intelligence (AI)/ML based technologies in the nuclear industry is needed, given the nature of algorithms and rapid advancements. This paper explores existing heuristic design principles for user-centered design and evaluates them based on their relevancy and usefulness for evaluating AI/ ML based technologies. Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have developed a machine learning software application called VIsualization for PrEdictive maintenance Recommendation (VIPER), which is used to help users understand and engage with the tool to learn more about work orders, data used, predictive maintenance, and machine learning (ML) algorithms. Early user research studies used to access VIPER’s technology readiness level have occurred; however, there is room for further improvement of the software through heuristic evaluations along with other methods and user testing. This work describes the applicability of heuristic evaluation methods and cognitive walkthroughs to help ensure human readiness for prospective AI/ ML based applications, using VIPER as a candidate use case. This work supports industry in ensuring that prospective AI/ML based technologies are usable and useful for plant personnel at nuclear power plants, ultimately leading to their safe, reliable, and efficient use.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Heuristic Evaluation Methods Applied to a Predictive Maintenance Chatbot

The need for an accessible iterative approach for evaluating prospective artificial intelligence (AI)/ML based technologies in the nuclear industry is needed, given the nature of algorithms and rapid advancements. This paper explores existing heuristic design principles for user-centered design and evaluates them based on their relevancy and usefulness for evaluating AI/ ML based technologies. Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have developed a machine learning software application called VIsualization for PrEdictive maintenance Recommendation (VIPER), which is used to help users understand and engage with the tool to learn more about work orders, data used, predictive maintenance, and machine learning (ML) algorithms. Early user research studies used to access VIPER?s technology readiness level have occurred; however, there is room for further improvement of the software through heuristic evaluations along with other methods and user testing. This work describes the applicability of heuristic evaluation methods and cognitive walkthroughs to help ensure human readiness for prospective AI/ ML based applications, using VIPER as a candidate use case. This work supports industry in ensuring that prospective AI/ML based technologies are usable and useful for plant personnel at nuclear power plants, ultimately leading to their safe, reliable, and efficient use. PowerPoint for conference that was reviewed in PRS and LRS PRS/CON-25-05379 and INL/CON-25-82946

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-Flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

Small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) operate in low-altitude, uncontrolled airspace – where support services for their operators (UASOs) are not currently provided. NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is identifying the potential risks and hazards to sUAS operations to provide, inform, and improve the designs of In-time Aviation Safety Management Systems (IASMS). The IASMS will include a suite of data-driven tools that compile and analyze data collected from aviation systems and environmental sources to predict hazards, and provide information to allow operators to mitigate these risks (Young et al., 2020). These risk and hazard services can be run and displayed to operators on graphical user interfaces (GUIs), as they relate to a vehicle(s)’ route of flight. These interfaces offer both a means to present hazard service output and offer an opportunity to test user understanding of the information, user decision making, and the best ways to present such data to an operator. Based on these future technologies and intended missions, it is important to investigate interface requirements and evaluate how operators might use these tools. Presenting salient and meaningful risk assessment information to operators is necessary to increase situation awareness and ultimately safety. Building on previous research (Feldman et al., 2022), a usability study comparing two GUIs was conducted to explore how individuals interacted with different styles of information displays. A series of pre-flight hazard and risk-assessment tasks were developed to evaluate participant performance using the Supplemental Data Service Provider Consolidated Dashboard and the Human Automation Team Interface System interfaces. Participants were trained to use both GUIs and their performance was analysed across different scenarios involving multiple sUASs. Performance on simple tasks and the System Usability Scale scores were reported by Feldman et al., 2023. Additional analyses and evaluations on more complex tasks (e.g., risk assessment, prioritization), workload and response times are examined in this paper.

sUAV interfaces↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

sUAV interfaces↗

NASA NTRS2019

Mapping the User Journey: Building a User Persona and Story Repository to Improve NASA EOSDIS Application Development

Understanding the needs of the end user is vital to producing quality, usable software that solves real problems. Additionally, making sure those needs are communicated to managers, engineers, and designers at the project level is vital. On complex projects, it's important to build out resources for your team that make it easy to put yourself in the shoes of the specific user you're building for. NASA's Earth Observing System is a collection of data, applications, and a diverse user and scientific community that's trying to answer tough questions about our planet and its climate. Over the last few years, we've spoken to hundreds of users, performed many user testing sessions, and built a collection of user personas, user stories, and design assets that help guide new software and feature development within NASA EOSDIS. We've also developed methods for synthesizing this information and making it actionable for teams, and worked to foster a design first approach on new projects always starting from a core user need and working backward from interface development to software engineering. This process has allowed us to design better, more usable software and features that directly meet the needs of our user community.

Siarto, Jeff↗

DOE OSTI2025

Advancing \textit{otsdaq}: Enhancements for Usability, Accuracy, and Robustness

High-energy physics (HEP) experiments require data acquisition (DAQ) systems that can orchestrate complex detector operations, high data throughput, and responsive, real-time feedback to operators. Traditional DAQ stacks, which are often bespoke, command-line driven and highly specific, impose large learning curves on users. The Off-The-Shelf Data Acquisition (\textit{otsdaq}) framework was created to address these issues by offering a highly customizable and scalable browser-based ’desktop’ environment, in which experiment-specific control and monitoring applications can be easily deployed and integrated. Although the initial development of the \textit{otsdaq} software was aimed at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility, \textit{otsdaq} is now being leveraged for broader deployment, including the upcoming Mu2e experiment, where real-time monitoring of field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based Data Transfer Controllers (DTCs), Clock and Fanout (CFO) boards, and several other subsystems are critical. We contribute a set of targeted improvements to \textit{otsdaq}: bitmap visualization functionality for configured data, improved and corrected delta-based DTC throughput metrics, version control (VC)-backed source navigation for console messages, custom navigation hooks to eliminate disruptive user interface glitches, and copy-to-clipboard support for macro execution history. These changes improve usability, reduce debugging time, and increase accuracy in performance data as Mu2e moves toward commissioning.

Mohammed, A. [Unlisted, US]↗

DOE OSTI2021

In-pixel automatic threshold calibration for the CMS Endcap Timing Layer readout chip

We present the implementation and verification of an in-pixel automatic threshold calibration circuit for the CMS Endcap Timing Layer (ETL) in the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade. The discriminator threshold of the ETL readout chip (ETROC) needs to be calibrated regularly to mitigate the circuit baseline change. Traditional methods need a lot of communication through a slow control system hence are time-consuming. This paper describes an in-pixel automatic scheme with improvements in operating time and usability. In this scheme, a sample-accumulation circuit is used to measure the average discriminator output. A binary successive approximation and linear combination scan are applied to find the equivalent baseline. The actual calibration procedure has been first implemented in FPGA firmware and tested with the ETROC front-end prototype chip (ETROC0). The calibration circuit has been implemented with Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) and verified with Single Event Effects (SEEs) simulation. A complete calibration process lasts 35 ms with a 40 MHz clock. In the worst case, the dynamic and static power consumption are estimated to be 300 uW and 10.4 uW, respectively. The circuit design, implemented in a 65 CMOS technology, will be integrated into ETROC2, the next iteration of the ETROC with a 16 x16 pixel matrix.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS1994

Enhancements to the KATE model-based reasoning system

KATE (Knowledge-based Autonomous Test Engineer) is a model-based software system developed in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Kennedy Space Center for monitoring, fault detection, and control of launch vehicles and ground support systems. This report describes two software efforts which enhance the functionality and usability of KATE. The first addition, a flow solver, adds to KATE a tool for modeling the flow of liquid in a pipe system. The second addition adds support for editing KATE knowledge base files to the Emacs editor. The body of this report discusses design and implementation issues having to do with these two tools. It will be useful to anyone maintaining or extending either the flow solver or the editor enhancements.

Thomas, Stan J.↗