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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

A Daytime Aspect Camera for Balloon Altitudes

We have designed, built, and flight-tested a new star camera for daytime guiding of pointed balloon-borne experiments at altitudes around 40km. The camera and lens are commercially available, off-the-shelf components, but require a custom-built baffle to reduce stray light, especially near the sunlit limb of the balloon. This new camera, which operates in the 600-1000 nm region of the spectrum, successfully provided daytime aspect information of approximately 10 arcsecond resolution for two distinct star fields near the galactic plane. The detected scattered-light backgrounds show good agreement with the Air Force MODTRAN models, but the daytime stellar magnitude limit was lower than expected due to dispersion of red light by the lens. Replacing the commercial lens with a custom-built lens should allow the system to track stars in any arbitrary area of the sky during the daytime.

Dietz, Kurt L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Mosad and Stream Vision For A Telerobotic, Flying Camera System

Two full custom camera systems using the Multiplexed OverSample Analog to Digital (MOSAD) conversion technology for visible light sensing were built and demonstrated. They include a photo gate sensor and a photo diode sensor. The system includes the camera assembly, driver interface assembly, a frame stabler board with integrated decimeter and Windows 2000 compatible software for real time image display. An array size of 320X240 with 16 micron pixel pitch was developed for compatibility with 0.3 inch CCTV optics. With 1.2 micron technology, a 73% fill factor was achieved. Noise measurements indicated 9 to 11 bits operating with 13.7 bits best case. Power measured under 10 milliwatts at 400 samples per second. Nonuniformity variation was below noise floor. Pictures were taken with different cameras during the characterization study to demonstrate the operable range. The successful conclusion of this program demonstrates the utility of the MOSAD for NASA missions, providing superior performance over CMOS and lower cost and power consumption over CCD. The MOSAD approach also provides a path to radiation hardening for space based applications.

Mandl, William↗
NASA NTRS1999

Camera-on-a-Chip

Jet Propulsion Laboratory's research on a second generation, solid-state image sensor technology has resulted in the Complementary Metal- Oxide Semiconductor Active Pixel Sensor (CMOS), establishing an alternative to the Charged Coupled Device (CCD). Photobit Corporation, the leading supplier of CMOS image sensors, has commercialized two products of their own based on this technology: the PB-100 and PB-300. These devices are cameras on a chip, combining all camera functions. CMOS "active-pixel" digital image sensors offer several advantages over CCDs, a technology used in video and still-camera applications for 30 years. The CMOS sensors draw less energy, they use the same manufacturing platform as most microprocessors and memory chips, and they allow on-chip programming of frame size, exposure, and other parameters.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Infrared Camera

A sensitive infrared camera that observes the blazing plumes from the Space Shuttle or expendable rocket lift-offs is capable of scanning for fires, monitoring the environment and providing medical imaging. The hand-held camera uses highly sensitive arrays in infrared photodetectors known as quantum well infrared photo detectors (QWIPS). QWIPS were developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Space Microelectronics Technology in partnership with Amber, a Raytheon company. In October 1996, QWIP detectors pointed out hot spots of the destructive fires speeding through Malibu, California. Night vision, early warning systems, navigation, flight control systems, weather monitoring, security and surveillance are among the duties for which the camera is suited. Medical applications are also expected.

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NASA NTRS1996

Night Vision Camera

PixelVision, Inc. developed the Night Video NV652 Back-illuminated CCD Camera, based on the expertise of a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee and a former employee of Scientific Imaging Technologies, Inc. The camera operates without an image intensifier, using back-illuminated and thinned CCD technology to achieve extremely low light level imaging performance. The advantages of PixelVision's system over conventional cameras include greater resolution and better target identification under low light conditions, lower cost and a longer lifetime. It is used commercially for research and aviation.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

New Modular Camera No Ordinary Joe

Although dubbed 'Little Joe' for its small-format characteristics, a new wavefront sensor camera has proved that it is far from coming up short when paired with high-speed, low-noise applications. SciMeasure Analytical Systems, Inc., a provider of cameras and imaging accessories for use in biomedical research and industrial inspection and quality control, is the eye behind Little Joe's shutter, manufacturing and selling the modular, multi-purpose camera worldwide to advance fields such as astronomy, neurobiology, and cardiology.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Panoramic Camera (Pancam) Investigation on the NASA 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission

The Panoramic Camera System (Pancam) is part of the Athena science payload to be launched to Mars in 2003 on NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions. The Pancam imaging system on each rover consists of two major components: a pair of digital CCD cameras, and the Pancam Mast Assembly (PMA), which provides the azimuth and elevation actuation for the cameras as well as a 1.5 meter high vantage point from which to image. Pancam is a multispectral, stereoscopic, panoramic imaging system, with a field of regard provided by the PMA that extends across 360 of azimuth and from zenith to nadir, providing a complete view of the scene around the rover.

Bell, J. F., III↗
NASA NTRS1997

Application of Least-Squares Adjustment Technique to Geometric Camera Calibration and Photogrammetric Flow Visualization

Flow visualization produces data in the form of two-dimensional images. If the optical components of a camera system are perfect, the transformation equations between the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional object space are linear and easy to solve. However, real camera lenses introduce nonlinear distortions that affect the accuracy of transformation unless proper corrections are applied. An iterative least-squares adjustment algorithm is developed to solve the nonlinear transformation equations incorporated with distortion corrections. Experimental applications demonstrate that a relative precision on the order of 40,000 is achievable without tedious laboratory calibrations of the camera.

Chen, Fang-Jenq↗
NASA NTRS1983

Close-Range Photogrammetry with Video Cameras

Examples of photogrammetric measurements made with video cameras uncorrected for electronic and optical lens distortions are presented. The measurement and correction of electronic distortions of video cameras using both bilinear and polynomial interpolation are discussed. Examples showing the relative stability of electronic distortions over long periods of time are presented. Having corrected for electronic distortion, the data are further corrected for lens distortion using the plumb line method. Examples of close-range photogrammetric data taken with video cameras corrected for both electronic and optical lens distortion are presented.

Burner, A. W.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Stereo Imaging Velocimetry Technique Using Standard Off-the-Shelf CCD Cameras

Stereo imaging velocimetry is a fluid physics technique for measuring three-dimensional (3D) velocities at a plurality of points. This technique provides full-field 3D analysis of any optically clear fluid or gas experiment seeded with tracer particles. Unlike current 3D particle imaging velocimetry systems that rely primarily on laser-based systems, stereo imaging velocimetry uses standard off-the-shelf charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras to provide accurate and reproducible 3D velocity profiles for experiments that require 3D analysis. Using two cameras aligned orthogonally, we present a closed mathematical solution resulting in an accurate 3D approximation of the observation volume. The stereo imaging velocimetry technique is divided into four phases: 3D camera calibration, particle overlap decomposition, particle tracking, and stereo matching. Each phase is explained in detail. In addition to being utilized for space shuttle experiments, stereo imaging velocimetry has been applied to the fields of fluid physics, bioscience, and colloidal microscopy.

McDowell, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2005

The Mast Cameras and Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory

Based on operational experience gained during the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, we proposed and were selected to conduct two related imaging experiments: (1) an investigation of the geology and short-term atmospheric vertical wind profile local to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) landing site using descent imaging, and (2) a broadly-based scientific investigation of the MSL locale employing visible and very near infra-red imaging techniques from a pair of mast-mounted, high resolution cameras. Both instruments share a common electronics design, a design also employed for the MSL Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) [1]. The primary differences between the cameras are in the nature and number of mechanisms and specific optics tailored to each camera s requirements.

Malin, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Wide Field Camera 3 Accommodations for HST Robotics Servicing Mission

This slide presentation discusses the objectives of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Robotics Servicing and Deorbit Mission (HRSDM), reviews the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), and also reviews the contamination accomodations for the WFC3. The objectives of the HRSDM are (1) to provide a disposal capability at the end of HST's useful life, (2) to upgrade the hardware by installing two new scientific instruments: replace the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), and to replace the Wide Field/Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2) with Wide Field Camera-3, and (3) Extend the Scientific life of HST for a minimum of 5 years after servicing. Included are slides showing the Hubble Robotic Vehicle (HRV) and slides describing what the HRV contains. There are also slides describing the WFC3. One of the mechanisms of the WFC3 is to serve partially as replacement gyroscopes for HST. There are also slides that discuss the contamination requirements for the Rate Sensor Units (RSUs), that are part of the Rate Gyroscope Assembly on the WFC3.

Ginyard, Amani↗
NASA NTRS2006

High-Resolution Large Field-of-View FUV Compact Camera

The need for a high resolution camera with a large field of view and capable to image dim emissions in the far-ultraviolet is driven by the widely varying intensities of FUV emissions and spatial/temporal scales of phenomena of interest in the Earth% ionosphere. In this paper, the concept of a camera is presented that is designed to achieve these goals in a lightweight package with sufficient visible light rejection to be useful for dayside and nightside emissions. The camera employs the concept of self-filtering to achieve good spectral resolution tuned to specific wavelengths. The large field of view is sufficient to image the Earth's disk at Geosynchronous altitudes and capable of a spatial resolution of >20 km. The optics and filters are emphasized.

Spann, James F.↗
NASA NTRS2007

GISMO, a 2 mm Bolometer Camera Optimized for the Study of High Redshift Galaxies

The 2mm spectral range provides a unique terrestrial window enabling ground based observations of the earliest active dusty galaxies in the universe and thereby allowing a better constraint on the star formation rate in these objects. We present a progress report for our bolometer camera GISMO (the Goddard-IRAM Superconducting 2-Millimeter Observer), which will obtain large and sensitive sky maps at this wavelength. The instrument will be used at the IRAM 30 m telescope and we expect to install it at the telescope in 2007. The camera uses an 8 x 16 planar array of multiplexed TES bolometers, which incorporates our recently designed Backshort Under Grid (BUG) architecture. GISMO will be very efficient at detecting sources serendipitously in large sky surveys. With the background limited performance of the detectors, the camera provides significantly greater imaging sensitivity and mapping speed at this wavelength than has previously been possible. The major scientific driver for the instrument is to provide the IRAM 30 m telescope with the capability to rapidly observe galactic and extragalactic dust emission, in particular from high-zeta ULI RGs and quasar s, even in the summer season. The instrument will fill in the SEDs of high redshift galaxies at the Rayleigh-Jeans part of the dust emission spectrum, even at the highest redshifts. Our source count models predict that GISMO will serendipitously detect one galaxy every four hours on the blank sky, and that one quarter of these galaxies will be at a redshift of zeta 6.5.

Staguhn, J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Infrared Camera Characterization of Bi-Propellant Reaction Control Engines during Auxiliary Propulsion Systems Tests at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico

This paper describes the application of a FUR Systems A40M infrared (IR) digital camera for thermal monitoring of a Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Ethanol bi-propellant Reaction Control Engine (RCE) during Auxiliary Propulsion System (APS) testing at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Typically, NASA has relied mostly on the use of ThermoCouples (TC) for this type of thermal monitoring due to the variability of constraints required to accurately map rapidly changing temperatures from ambient to glowing hot chamber material. Obtaining accurate real-time temperatures in the JR spectrum is made even more elusive by the changing emissivity of the chamber material as it begins to glow. The parameters evaluated prior to APS testing included: (1) remote operation of the A40M camera using fiber optic Firewire signal sender and receiver units; (2) operation of the camera inside a Pelco explosion proof enclosure with a germanium window; (3) remote analog signal display for real-time monitoring; (4) remote digital data acquisition of the A40M's sensor information using FUR's ThermaCAM Researcher Pro 2.8 software; and (5) overall reliability of the system. An initial characterization report was prepared after the A40M characterization tests at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to document controlled heat source comparisons to calibrated TCs. Summary IR digital data recorded from WSTF's APS testing is included within this document along with findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for further usage as a monitoring tool for the development of rocket engines.

Holleman, Elizabeth↗
NASA NTRS2001

Method and apparatus for calibrating a display using an array of cameras

The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a display that can be calibrated and re-calibrated with a minimal amount of manual intervention. To accomplish this, the present invention provides one or more cameras to capture an image that is projected on a display screen. In one embodiment, the one or more cameras are placed on the same side of the screen as the projectors. In another embodiment, an array of cameras is provided on either or both sides of the screen for capturing a number of adjacent and/or overlapping capture images of the screen. In either of these embodiments, the resulting capture images are processed to identify any non-desirable characteristics including any visible artifacts such as seams, bands, rings, etc. Once the non-desirable characteristics are identified, an appropriate transformation function is determined. The transformation function is used to pre-warp the input video signal to the display such that the non-desirable characteristics are reduced or eliminated from the display. The transformation function preferably compensates for spatial non-uniformity, color non-uniformity, luminance non-uniformity, and/or other visible artifacts.

Johnson, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Two degree of freedom camera mount

A two degree of freedom camera mount. The camera mount includes a socket, a ball, a first linkage and a second linkage. The socket includes an interior surface and an opening. The ball is positioned within an interior of the socket. The ball includes a coupling point for rotating the ball relative to the socket and an aperture for mounting a camera. The first and second linkages are rotatably connected to the socket and slidably connected to the coupling point of the ball. Rotation of the linkages with respect to the socket causes the ball to rotate with respect to the socket.

Ambrose, Robert O.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Cassini Camera Contamination Anomaly: Experiences and Lessons Learned

We discuss the contamination 'Haze' anomaly for the Cassini Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), one of two optical telescopes that comprise the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS). Cassini is a Saturn Orbiter with a 4-year nominal mission. The incident occurred in 2001, five months after Jupiter encounter during the Cruise phase and ironically at the resumption of planned maintenance decontamination cycles. The degraded optical performance was first identified by the Instrument Operations Team with the first ISS Saturn imaging six weeks later. A distinct haze of varying size from image to image marred the images of Saturn. A photometric star calibration of the Pleiades, 4 days after the incident, showed stars with halos. Analysis showed that while the halo's intensity was only 1 - 2% of the intensity of the central peak of a star, the halo contained 30 - 70% of its integrated flux. This condition would impact science return. In a review of our experiences, we examine the contamination control plan, discuss the analysis of the limited data available and describe the one-year campaign to remove the haze from the camera. After several long conservative heating activities and interim analysis of their results, the contamination problem as measured by the camera's point spread function was essentially back to preanomaly size and at a point where there would be more risk to continue. We stress the importance of the flexibility of operations and instrument design, the need to do early infight instrument calibration and continual monitoring of instrument performance.

Cassini↗