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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

STARBASE: Database software for the automated plate scanner

The Automated Plate Scanner (APS) of the University of Minnesota, a unique high speed 'flying spot' laser scanner, is currently being used to scan and digitize the 936 O and E plate pairs of the first epoch Palomar Sky Survey. The resultant database will be used to produce a catalog of approximately a billion stars and several million galaxies. The authors describe the ongoing development of a dedicated APS database management system which will be made available to the astronomical community via INTERNET. A specialized DBMS called STARBASE has been written to provide fast access to the hundreds of millions of images collected by the APS. This system provides an initial reduction mode for parameterizing APS images and classifying image types using a novel set of neural network image classifiers. A second analysis mode, which will be that commonly used by the general user, provides for searches of the database which may be constrained by any combination of physical and positional parameters. Through the use of pointer hash trees, the system has been optimized for extremely fast positional searches using either right ascension and declination on the sky or linear X and Y positions on the POSS field. In addition to fast data retrieval, the system provides a graphical interface for displaying scatter plots or histograms of the collected data. In addition, a specialized image display system is being developed to allow the user to view densitometric data for all objects classified as extended by the neural network system. Finally, STARBASE has a flexible programmable interface which allows other programs to access information in the database. This allows users to write applications suited to their particular needs to process APS data.

Odewahn, S. C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Backend-agnostic, Quantum-classical Framework for Simulations of Chemistry in C ++

As quantum computing hardware systems continue to advance, the research and development of performant, scalable, and extensible software architectures, languages, models, and compilers is equally as important to bring this novel coprocessing capability to a diverse group of domain computational scientists. For the field of quantum chemistry, applications and frameworks exist for modeling and simulation tasks that scale on heterogeneous classical architectures, and we envision the need for similar frameworks on heterogeneous quantum-classical platforms. Furthermore, we present the XACC system-level quantum computing framework as a platform for prototyping, developing, and deploying quantum-classical software that specifically targets chemistry applications. We review the fundamental design features in XACC, with special attention to its extensibility and modularity for key quantum programming workflow interfaces and provide an overview of the interfaces most relevant to simulations of chemistry. A series of examples demonstrating some of the state-of-the-art chemistry algorithms currently implemented in XACC are presented, while also illustrating the various APIs that would enable the community to extend, modify, and devise new algorithms and applications in the realm of chemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

NanoMechanics: Elasticity and Friction in Nano‐Objects

A large scientific and technological effort is underway to investigate the properties of two‐dimensional (2D) materials to become building blocks in integrated nano‐electronic and photonic circuits, composites, coatings, energy harvesting nano‐ systems, nano‐sensors, and nano‐electro‐mechanical systems (NEMS).While several experiments and calculations have revealed exciting novel phenomena in these nanostructures, many scientific and technological questions remain open. In particular, understanding and controlling the structure and mechanical properties of 2D materials at the interface with a solid surface is of key importance to enable the aforementioned nanotechnologies, as well as to fulfill the potential of strain engineering to tailor their properties. The vision of this DoE research program was to investigate novel mechanical properties and phenomena in 1D and 2D materials with the overarching goal of defining a new basic understanding of mechanical behavior in nano and quantum systems. The group of the PI has developed in the last years several studies on the mechanical properties of Carbon nanotubes and oxide nanobelts, more recently the PI has focused her attention on the properties of two‐dimensional materials, such as graphene and MoS 2 , which are a few‐atomic‐layer thick films and hold a great potential for technological and energy applications. The most studied 2D material is graphene, existing as a single layer of graphite or a few‐layer thick epitaxial graphene film. Graphene possesses a large in‐plane Young’s modulus as well as high intrinsic carrier mobility, and high in‐plane thermal conductivity. Besides graphene, also 2D films of graphene oxide (GO), hexagonal Boron Nitride (h‐BN), and transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS 2 exhibit unique and excellent properties and hold great promise for nanotechnology applications. This research program was aimed at developing a new basic understanding of the mechanical properties of 1D and 2D materials at the interface with solid substrates, with a focus on the role of defects, materials structure, and substrate interaction. Ultimately, we aimed at developing the basic knowledge and experimental tools for manipulating 1D and 2D materials’ structure, stacking, substrate interaction, defects, and number of layers to realize an entirely new class of ultra‐hard, ultra‐thin, and ultra‐light active materials with ad‐ hoc mechanical properties for a variety of applications.

2D Materials↗
NASA NTRS1990

High heat flux single phase heat exchanger

This paper presents the results obtained to date in a program to develop a high heat flux, single-phase heat exchanger for spacecraft thermal management. The intended application is a net generation interface heat exchanger to couple the crew module water thermal bus to the two-phase ammonia main thermal bus in the Space Station Freedom. The large size of the interface heat exchanger is dictated by the relatively poor water-side heat transfer characteristics. The objective of this program is to develop a single-phase heat transfer approach which can achieve heat fluxes and heat transfer coefficients comparable to those of the evaporation ammonia side. A new heat exchanger concept has been developed to meet these objecties. The main feature of this heat exchanger is that it can achieve very high heat fluxes with a pressure drop one to two orders of magnitude lower than those of previous microchannel or jet impingement high heat flux heat exchangers. This paper describes proof-of-concept experiments performed in air and water and presents analytical model of the heat exchanger.

Valenzuela, Javier A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

MCC flight operations automation of STS orbiter systems monitoring

The integration of new capabilities into the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in order to improve the data monitoring and analysis of the STS is discussed. User interface application software and systems, such as the flight data file Shuttle mission simulator and failure analysis program, to be utilized for flight operations automation are examined. Consideration is given to task automation, the trend monitoring system, the data retrieval system, and the launch processing system. The development and functions of the Shuttle data analysis system, which is to operate in real time, are described.

Bates, William V., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Multiplexing electro-optic architectures for advanced aircraft integrated flight control systems

This report describes the results of a 10 month program sponsored by NASA. The objective of this program was to evaluate various optical sensor modulation technologies and to design an optimal Electro-Optic Architecture (EOA) for servicing remote clusters of sensors and actuators in advanced aircraft flight control systems. The EOA's supply optical power to remote sensors and actuators, process the modulated optical signals returned from the sensors, and produce conditioned electrical signals acceptable for use by a digital flight control computer or Vehicle Management System (VMS) computer. This study was part of a multi-year initiative under the Fiber Optic Control System Integration (FOCSI) program to design, develop, and test a totally integrated fiber optic flight/propulsion control system for application to advanced aircraft. Unlike earlier FOCSI studies, this program concentrated on the design of the EOA interface rather than the optical transducer technology itself.

Seal, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Expanding the KATE toolbox

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. In order to bring KATE to the level of performance, functionality, and integratability needed for firing room applications, efforts are underway to implement KATE in the C++ programming language using an X-windows interface. Two programs which were designed and added to the collection of tools which comprise the KATE toolbox are described. The first tool, called the schematic viewer, gives the KATE user the capability to view digitized schematic drawings in the KATE environment. The second tool, called the model editor, gives the KATE model builder a tool for creating and editing knowledge base files. Design and implementation issues having to do with these two tools are discussed. It will be useful to anyone maintaining or extending either the schematic viewer or the model editor.

Thomas, Stan J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Consortium for Advancing Renewable Energy Technology (CARET)

The Consortium for Advancing Renewable Energy (CARET) is a research and education program which uses the theme of renewable energy to build a minority scientist pipeline. CARET is also a consortium of four universities and NASA Lewis Research Center working together to promote science education and research to minority students using the theme of renewable energy. The consortium membership includes the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Fisk, Wilberforce and Central State Universities as well as Kent State University and NASA Lewis Research Center. The various stages of this pipeline provide participating students experiences with a different emphasis. Some emphasize building enthusiasm for the classroom study of science and technology while others emphasize the nature of research in these disciplines. Still others focus on relating a practical application to science and technology. And, of great importance to the success of the program are the interfaces between the various stages. Successfully managing these transitions is a requirement for producing trained scientists, engineers and technologists. Presentations describing the CARET program have been given at this year's HBCU Research Conference at the Ohio Aerospace Institute and as a seminar in the Solar Circle Seminar series of the Photovoltaic and Space Environments Branch at NASA Lewis Research Center. In this report, we will describe the many positive achievements toward the fulfillment of the goals and outcomes of our program. We will begin with a description of the interactions among the consortium members and end with a description of the activities of each of the member institutions .

Gordon, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Taking the Heat Off Thermal Loads

Under an SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) contract with Goddard Space Flight Center, (NAS5-32730), Frederick A. Costello, Inc., has developed a low cost computer program for integrating thermal modeling with other engineering disciplines. TCON(tm) Concurrent Engineering Software enables graphical user-interface programs to create three dimensional models. This technology reduces time, and facilitates accuracy while performing these applications. TCON(tm) has been sold to NASA and major US industries.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1974

Applications of aerospace technology in biology and medicine

The results of the medically related activities of the NASA Application Team Program at the Research Triangle Institute are presented. The RTI team, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers, acted as an information and technology interface between NASA and individuals, institutions, and agencies involved in biomedical research and clinical medicine. The Team has identified 40 new problems for investigation, has accomplished 7 technology applications, 6 potential technology application, 4 impacts, has closed 54 old problems, and has a total of 47 problems under active investigation.

Brown, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An interactive system for aircraft design and optimization

A system for aircraft design utilizing a unique analysis architecture, graphical interface, and suite of numerical optimization methods is described in this paper. The non-procedural architecture provides extensibility and efficiency not possible with conventional programming techniques. The interface for analysis and optimization, developed for use with this method, is described and its application to example problems is discussed.

Kroo, Ilan M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An object-oriented data reduction system in Fortran

A data reduction system for the AAO two-degree field project is being developed using an object-oriented approach. Rather than use an object-oriented language (such as C++) the system is written in Fortran and makes extensive use of existing subroutine libraries provided by the UK Starlink project. Objects are created using the extensible N-dimensional Data Format (NDF) which itself is based on the Hierarchical Data System (HDS). The software consists of a class library, with each class corresponding to a Fortran subroutine with a standard calling sequence. The methods of the classes provide operations on NDF objects at a similar level of functionality to the applications of conventional data reduction systems. However, because they are provided as callable subroutines, they can be used as building blocks for more specialist applications. The class library is not dependent on a particular software environment thought it can be used effectively in ADAM applications. It can also be used from standalone Fortran programs. It is intended to develop a graphical user interface for use with the class library to form the 2dF data reduction system.

Bailey, J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Development Status of the NSTAR Ion Propulsion System Power Processor

A 0.5-2.3 kW xenon ion propulsion system is presently being developed under the NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) program. This propulsion system includes a 30 cm diameter xenon ion thruster, a Digital Control Interface Unit, a xenon feed system, and a power processing unit (PPU). The PPU consists of the power supply assemblies which operate the thruster neutralizer, main discharge chamber, and ion optics. Also included are recycle logic and a digital microcontroller. The neutralizer and discharge power supplies employ a dual use configuration which combines the functions of two power supplies into one, significantly simplifying the PPU. Further simplification was realized by implementing a single thruster control loop which regulates the beam current via the discharge current. Continuous throttling is possible over a 0.5-2.3 kW output power range. All three power supplies have been fabricated and tested with resistive loads, and have been combined into a single breadboard unit with the recycle logic and microcontroller. All line and load regulation test results show the power supplies to be within the NSTAR flight PPU specified power output of 1.98 kW. The overall efficiency of the PPU, calculated as the combined efficiencies of the power supplies and controller, at 2.3 kW delivered to resistive loads was 0.90. The component was 6.16 kg. Integration testing of the neutralizer and discharge power supplies with a functional model thruster revealed no issues with discharge ignition or steady state operation.

Hamley, John A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Buffer Diagnostic Prototype: A fault isolation application using CLIPS

This paper describes problem domain characteristics and development experiences from using CLIPS 6.0 in a proof-of-concept troubleshooting application called the Buffer Diagnostic Prototype. The problem domain is a large digital communications subsystems called the real-time network (RTN), which was designed to upgrade the launch processing system used for shuttle support at KSC. The RTN enables up to 255 computers to share 50,000 data points with millisecond response times. The RTN's extensive built-in test capability but lack of any automatic fault isolation capability presents a unique opportunity for a diagnostic expert system application. The Buffer Diagnostic Prototype addresses RTN diagnosis with a multiple strategy approach. A novel technique called 'faulty causality' employs inexact qualitative models to process test results. Experimental knowledge provides a capability to recognize symptom-fault associations. The implementation utilizes rule-based and procedural programming techniques, including a goal-directed control structure and simple text-based generic user interface that may be reusable for other rapid prototyping applications. Although limited in scope, this project demonstrates a diagnostic approach that may be adapted to troubleshoot a broad range of equipment.

Porter, Ken↗
NASA NTRS1989

Knowledge-based control of an adaptive interface

The analysis, development strategy, and preliminary design for an intelligent, adaptive interface is reported. The design philosophy couples knowledge-based system technology with standard human factors approaches to interface development for computer workstations. An expert system has been designed to drive the interface for application software. The intelligent interface will be linked to application packages, one at a time, that are planned for multiple-application workstations aboard Space Station Freedom. Current requirements call for most Space Station activities to be conducted at the workstation consoles. One set of activities will consist of standard data management services (DMS). DMS software includes text processing, spreadsheets, data base management, etc. Text processing was selected for the first intelligent interface prototype because text-processing software can be developed initially as fully functional but limited with a small set of commands. The program's complexity then can be increased incrementally. The intelligent interface includes the operator's behavior and three types of instructions to the underlying application software are included in the rule base. A conventional expert-system inference engine searches the data base for antecedents to rules and sends the consequents of fired rules as commands to the underlying software. Plans for putting the expert system on top of a second application, a database management system, will be carried out following behavioral research on the first application. The intelligent interface design is suitable for use with ground-based workstations now common in government, industrial, and educational organizations.

Lachman, Roy↗
NASA NTRS1991

VERDEX: A virtual environment demonstrator for remote driving applications

One of the key areas of the National Advanced Robotics Centre's enabling technologies research program is that of the human system interface, phase 1 of which started in July 1989 and is currently addressing the potential of virtual environments to permit intuitive and natural interactions between a human operator and a remote robotic vehicle. The aim of the first 12 months of this program (to September, 1990) is to develop a virtual human-interface demonstrator for use later as a test bed for human factors experimentation. This presentation will describe the current state of development of the test bed, and will outline some human factors issues and problems for more general discussion. In brief, the virtual telepresence system for remote driving has been designed to take the following form. The human operator will be provided with a helmet-mounted stereo display assembly, facilities for speech recognition and synthesis (using the Marconi Macrospeak system), and a VPL DataGlove Model 2 unit. The vehicle to be used for the purposes of remote driving is a Cybermotion Navmaster K2A system, which will be equipped with a stereo camera and microphone pair, mounted on a motorized high-speed pan-and-tilt head incorporating a closed-loop laser ranging sensor for camera convergence control (currently under contractual development). It will be possible to relay information to and from the vehicle and sensory system via an umbilical or RF link. The aim is to develop an interactive audio-visual display system capable of presenting combined stereo TV pictures and virtual graphics windows, the latter featuring control representations appropriate for vehicle driving and interaction using a graphical 'hand,' slaved to the flex and tracking sensors of the DataGlove and an additional helmet-mounted Polhemus IsoTrack sensor. Developments planned for the virtual environment test bed include transfer of operator control between remote driving and remote manipulation, dexterous end effector integration, virtual force and tactile sensing (also the focus of a current ARRL contract, initially employing a 14-pneumatic bladder glove attachment), and sensor-driven world modeling for total virtual environment generation and operator-assistance in remote scene interrogation.

Stone, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Arbitrating Control of Control and Display Units

The ARINC 739 Switch is a computer program that arbitrates control of two multi-function control and display units (MCDUs) between (1) a commercial flight-management computer (FMC) and (2) NASA software used in research on transport aircraft. (MCDUs are the primary interfaces between pilots and FMCs on many commercial aircraft.) This program was recently redesigned into a software library that can be embedded in research application programs. As part of the redesign, this software was combined with software for creating custom pages of information to be displayed on a CDU. This software commands independent switching of the left (pilot s) and right (copilot s) MCDUs. For example, a custom CDU page can control the left CDU while the FMC controls the right CDU. The software uses menu keys to switch control of the CDU between the FMC or a custom CDU page. The software provides an interface that enables custom CDU pages to insert keystrokes into the FMC s CDU input interface. This feature allows the custom CDU pages to manipulate the FMC as if it were a pilot.

Sugden, Paul C.↗