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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.

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At least 325 records · Page 18

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1994

Simulation in a dynamic prototyping environment: Petri nets or rules?

An evaluation of a prototyped user interface is best supported by a simulation of the system. A simulation allows for dynamic evaluation of the interface rather than just a static evaluation of the screen's appearance. This allows potential users to evaluate both the look (in terms of the screen layout, color, objects, etc.) and feel (in terms of operations and actions which need to be performed) of a system's interface. Because of the need to provide dynamic evaluation of an interface, there must be support for producing active simulations. The high-fidelity training simulators are normally delivered too late to be effectively used in prototyping the displays. Therefore, it is important to build a low fidelity simulator, so that the iterative cycle of refining the human computer interface based upon a user's interactions can proceed early in software development.

Moore, Loretta A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Simulation in a dynamic prototyping environment: Petri nets or rules?

An evaluation of a prototyped user interface is best supported by a simulation of the system. A simulation allows for dynamic evaluation of the interface rather than just a static evaluation of the screen's appearance. This allows potential users to evaluate both the look (in terms of the screen layout, color, objects, etc.) and feel (in terms of operations and actions which need to be performed) of a system's interface. Because of the need to provide dynamic evaluation of an interface, there must be support for producing active simulations. The high-fidelity training simulators are delivered too late to be effectively used in prototyping the displays. Therefore, it is important to build a low fidelity simulator, so that the iterative cycle of refining the human computer interface based upon a user's interactions can proceed early in software development.

Moore, Loretta A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

High Temperature Ultrasonic Transducers : Material Selection and Testing

The task of my two-months internship was to test different materials to be used to build an high temperature transducer, to develop some prototypes and to test their performance, to assess the reliability of commercial product rated for such a temperature, as well as to collaborate in developing the signal processing code to measure the condensed water levels.

health monitoring steam pipes↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Kilopower Reactor Development and the Path to Higher Power Missions

The development of NASAs Kilopower fission reactor is taking large strides toward flight development with several successful tests completed during its technology demonstration trials. The Kilopower reactors are designed to provide 1-10 kW of electrical power to a spacecraft which could be used for additional science instruments as well as the ability to power electric propulsion systems. Power rich nuclear missions have been excluded from NASA proposals because of the lack of radioisotope fuel and the absence of a flight qualified fission system. NASA has partnered with the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration to develop the Kilopower reactor using existing facilities and infrastructure to determine if the design is ready for flight development. The 3-year Kilopower project started in 2015 with a challenging goal of building and testing a full-scale flight prototypic nuclear reactor by the end of 2017. As the date approaches, the engineering team shares information on the progress of the technology as well as the enabling capabilities it provides for science and human exploration.

Kilopower↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Kilopower Reactor Development and the Path to Higher Power Missions

The development of NASA's Kilopower fission reactor is taking large strides toward flight development with several successful tests completed during its technology demonstration trials. The Kilopower reactors are designed to provide 1-10 kW of electrical power to a spacecraft which could be used for additional science instruments as well as the ability to power electric propulsion systems. Power rich nuclear missions have been excluded from NASA proposals because of the lack of radioisotope fuel and the absence of a flight qualified fission system. NASA has partnered with the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration to develop the Kilopower reactor using existing facilities and infrastructure to determine if the design is ready for flight development. The 3-year Kilopower project started in 2015 with a challenging goal of building and testing a full-scale flight prototypic nuclear reactor by the end of 2017. As the date approaches, the engineering team shares information on the progress of the technology as well as the enabling capabilities it provides for science and human exploration.

Kilopower↗

DOE OSTI2020

Trigger-DAQ and Slow Controls Systems in the Mu2e Experiment

The muon campus program at Fermilab includes the Mu2e experiment that will search for a charged-lepton flavor violating processes where a negative muon converts into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus, improving by four orders of magnitude the search sensitivity reached so far. Mu2e's Trigger and Data Acquisition System (TDAQ) uses otsdaq as its solution. Developed at Fermilab, otsdaq uses the artdaq DAQ framework and art analysis framework, under the-hood, for event transfer, filtering, and processing. otsdaq is an online DAQ software suite with a focus on flexibility and scalability, while providing a multi-user, web-based, interface accessible through the Chrome or Firefox web browser. The detector Read Out Controller (ROC), from the tracker and calorimeter, stream out zero-suppressed data continuously to the Data Transfer Controller (DTC). Data is then read over the PCIe bus to a software filter algorithm that selects events which are finally combined with the data flux that comes froma Cosmic Ray Ve to System (CRV). A Detector Control System (DCS) for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving has been developed using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Open Source Platform. The DCS System has also been itegrated into otsdaq. The installation of the TDAQ and the DCS systems in the Mu2e building is planned for 2021-2022, and a prototype has been built at Fermilab's Feynman Computing Center. We report here on the developments and achievements of the integration of Mu2e's DCS system into the online otsdaq software.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2026

Experimental Evaluation of a High-Performance Cold-Climate Heat Pump Using Tandem Vapor-Injection Compressors

A high-performance cold-climate heat pump (CCHP) was developed and experimentally validated through comprehensive laboratory and field testing. The system utilized two equal-size tandem vapor-injection (VI) compressors with an inter-stage flash tank to improve efficiency and capacity retention under subfreezing conditions. Laboratory testing was conducted on a 3-ton prototype in a controlled environmental chamber equipped with calibrated thermocouples, refrigerant-side mass flow and pressure transducers, and precision airflow measurement for energy balance verification. The prototype achieved heating coefficients of performance (COPs) of 4.4 at 47 °F, 3.1 at 17 °F, and 2.0 at –13 °F, while maintaining 88% of its rated heating capacity at –13°F. These results confirm strong low-temperature performance and indicate the potential for significant reductions in electric resistance backup use. A field prototype was installed and monitored in a residential building in Fairbanks, Alaska, during a heating season. Instrumentation included real-time power, temperature, and refrigerant state measurements to evaluate performance under dynamic outdoor conditions. The heat pump operated reliably down to –30 °F, delivering 75% of its rated heating capacity with a COP of 1.8, while maintaining stable operation, effective defrost control, and indoor comfort without auxiliary heating. The combined laboratory and field results demonstrate that the tandem VI compressor configuration provides a practical and energy-efficient approach for residential heat pumps designed for cold and very cold climate regions.

Hu, Yifeng [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000242875185)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Multi-Rigor Agile Verification and Rapid Prototyping for Formally Verified Software

We propose a novel approach to developing formally verified systems through Multi-rigor Agile Verification. Multi-rigor Agile Verification is rooted in the hypothesis of Rigor Independence, that a system’s specification and verification architecture depend primarily on the system requirements to be verified, and they depend very little on the rigor level of the methods used to verify those requirements. Due to its iterative nature, Multi-rigor Agile Verification promises to mitigate many of the high upfront design costs experienced by formally verified systems and to deliver a better-architected, and thus better-trusted, system in the end. We then discuss the tooling needed to perform Multi-rigor Agile Verification and go in depth to build one of those tools, which directly generates executable prototype code from declarative formal specifications using the Maude rewrite-logic framework.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Completing a Prototype Rocket Instrument that uses Precise Laser Measurements of Miniscule Sensor Displacements to Determine Upper Atmosphere Properties

IRAD develops and tests a laser position sensing concept to provide precise knowledge of the position of electric field spheres at the end of booms from which information of upper atmosphere properties can be determined. IRAD develops laser measurement concepts using small, inexpensive laser position sensors and building on space-based laser developments at Goddard. A prototype assembly using “paddles” has been designed to demonstrate their use on future sounding rocket and satellite missions.

Instrumentation↗

DOE OSTI2026

District-Scale Analysis of Electricity Load and Strategies to Improve Energy Reliability Using Prototype District Models

Projected increases in electricity demand in the U.S. highlight the urgent need for effective load management to ensure grid reliability. As the building sector accounts for approximately 75% of electricity usage, enhancing energy efficiency and flexibility in this sector is crucial. Adopting district-level approaches offers significant advantages over traditional individual building analyses by enabling shared infrastructure and economies of scale. To navigate the data and computational challenges associated with modeling energy at the district level, prototype district models have been proposed as holistic, system-level solutions that capture complex interactions within typical configurations. This study presents these models as a reference tool for analyzing district-scale energy systems across various climate zones in the U.S. Developed with input from stakeholders, these models integrate varied building characteristics, inter-building connections, and energy system interactions. A case study utilizing the Urban Edge prototype district model, implemented on the URBANopt™ platform, evaluates multiple demand scenarios and the impact of distributed energy resources such as fuel-fired backup generators, photovoltaic systems, and batteries. Findings suggest that while new electric systems can significantly reduce annual energy use, they may also elevate peak electricity loads, with a notable 43% increase in heating-dominant climate zone 5B. The optimal backup power solutions vary based on location, influenced by factors such as utility rates and incentives. For example, PV and batteries perform well in high-cost regions like New York City, while diesel backup generators are more suitable for backup needs in climate zone 3A, such as Atlanta. Thus, this research highlights the importance of prototype district models for future district-scale energy planning.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2020

Flexible Reinforcement Learning Framework for Building Control using EnergyPlus-Modelica Energy Models

In recent years, reinforcement learning (RL) methods have been greatly enhanced by leveraging deep learning approaches. RL methods applied to building control have shown potential in many applications due to their ability to complement or replace conventional methods such as model-based or rule-based controls. However, RL-based building control software is likely tailored either to one target building system or to a specific RL method so that significant additional effort would be required to customize the RL-based controller for use in other building systems or with other RL approaches. Also, RL-based building controls usually depend on building energy simulations to train controllers, so emulating building dynamics (i.e., thermal dynamics and control dynamics) and capturing sub-hourly dynamic profiles are crucial to further the development of effective RL-based building control methods. To address these challenges, we present an open source RL-based control software employing a high-fidelity hybrid EnergyPlus-Modelica building energy model which emulates building dynamics at 1-minute resolution. This software consists of decoupled components (environment, building emulator, control agent, and RL algorithm), which allows for quick prototyping and benchmarking of standard RL algorithms in different systems; for example, a single component can be replaced without revising all of the software. To demonstrate this software framework, we conducted a benchmark study using an EnergyPlus-Modelica building energy model for a Chicago office building with an RL-based controller to dynamically control the chilled water temperature setpoint and the air handling unit supply air temperature setpoint on selected floors.

Lee, Joon-Yong↗

DOE OSTI2021

Crystalline symmetry-protected non-trivial topology in prototype compound BaAl 4

The BaAl 4 prototype crystal structure is the most populous of all structure types, and is the building block for a diverse set of sub-structures including the famous ThCr 2 Si 2 family that hosts high-temperature superconductivity and numerous magnetic and strongly correlated electron systems. The MA 4 family of materials (M = Sr, Ba, Eu; A = Al, Ga, In) themselves present an intriguing set of ground states including charge and spin orders, but have largely been considered as uninteresting metals. We predict the exemplary compound BaAl 4 to harbor a three-dimensional Dirac spectrum with non-trivial topology and possible nodal lines crossing the Brillouin zone, wherein one pair of semi-Dirac points with linear dispersion along the k z direction and quadratic dispersion along the k x / k y direction resides on the rotational axis with C 4 v point group symmetry. An extremely large, unsaturating positive magnetoresistance in BaAl 4 despite an uncompensated band structure is revealed, and quantum oscillations and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements confirm the predicted multiband semimetal structure with pockets of Dirac holes and a Van Hove singularity (VHS) remarkably consistent with the theoretical prediction. We thus present BaAl 4 as a topological semimetal, casting its prototype status into a role as a building block for a vast array of topological materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Security Vulnerability and Mitigation in Photovoltaic Systems

Software and firmware vulnerabilities pose security threats to photovoltaic (PV) systems. When patches are not available or cannot be timely applied to fix vulnerabilities, it is important to mitigate vulnerabilities such that they cannot be exploited by attackers or their impacts will be limited when exploited. However, the vulnerability mitigation problem for PV systems has received little attention. This paper analyzes known security vulnerabilities in PV systems, proposes a multi-level mitigation framework and various mitigation strategies including neural network-based attack detection inside inverters, and develops a prototype system as a proof-of-concept for building vulnerability mitigation into PV system design.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1981

NASA Redox system development project status

NASA-Redox energy storage systems developed for solar power applications and utility load leveling applications are discussed. The major objective of the project is to establish the technology readiness of Redox energy storage for transfer to industry for product development and commercialization by industry. The approach is to competitively contract to design, build, and test Redox systems progressively from preprototype to prototype multi-kW and megawatt systems and conduct supporting technology advancement tasks. The Redox electrode and membrane are fully adequate for multi-kW solar related applications and the viability of the Redox system technology as demonstrated for multi-kW solar related applications. The status of the NASA Redox Storage System Project is described along with the goals and objectives of the project elements.

Nice, A. W.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Sparse distributed memory: Principles and operation

Sparse distributed memory is a generalized random access memory (RAM) for long (1000 bit) binary words. Such words can be written into and read from the memory, and they can also be used to address the memory. The main attribute of the memory is sensitivity to similarity, meaning that a word can be read back not only by giving the original write address but also by giving one close to it as measured by the Hamming distance between addresses. Large memories of this kind are expected to have wide use in speech recognition and scene analysis, in signal detection and verification, and in adaptive control of automated equipment, in general, in dealing with real world information in real time. The memory can be realized as a simple, massively parallel computer. Digital technology has reached a point where building large memories is becoming practical. Major design issues were resolved which were faced in building the memories. The design is described of a prototype memory with 256 bit addresses and from 8 to 128 K locations for 256 bit words. A key aspect of the design is extensive use of dynamic RAM and other standard components.

Flynn, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS2005

SCB Quantum Computers Using iSWAP and 1-Qubit Rotations

Units of superconducting circuitry that exploit the concept of the single- Cooper-pair box (SCB) have been built and are undergoing testing as prototypes of logic gates that could, in principle, constitute building blocks of clocked quantum computers. These units utilize quantized charge states as the quantum information-bearing degrees of freedom. An SCB is an artificial two-level quantum system that comprises a nanoscale superconducting electrode connected to a reservoir of Cooper-pair charges via a Josephson junction. The logical quantum states of the device, .0. and .1., are implemented physically as a pair of charge-number states that differ by 2e (where e is the charge of an electron). Typically, some 109 Cooper pairs are involved. Transitions between the logical states are accomplished by tunneling of Cooper pairs through the Josephson junction. Although the two-level system contains a macroscopic number of charges, in the superconducting regime, they behave collectively, as a Bose-Einstein condensate, making possible a coherent superposition of the two logical states. This possibility makes the SCB a candidate for the physical implementation of a qubit. A set of quantum logic operations and the gates that implement them is characterized as universal if, in principle, one can form combinations of the operations in the set to implement any desired quantum computation. To be able to design a practical quantum computer, one must first specify how to decompose any valid quantum computation into a sequence of elementary 1- and 2-qubit quantum gates that are universal and that can be realized in hardware that is feasible to fabricate. Traditionally, the set of universal gates has been taken to be the set of all 1-qubit quantum gates in conjunction with the controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate, which is a 2-qubit gate. Also, it has been known for some time that the SWAP gate, which implements square root of the simple 2-qubit exchange interaction, is as computationally universal as is the CNOT operation.

Williams, Colin↗

NASA NTRS2017

Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

low-altitude airspace↗

NASA NTRS2017

Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

low-altitude airspace↗