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NASA NTRS2012

CoNNeCT Baseband Processor Module Boot Code SoftWare (BCSW)

This software provides essential startup and initialization routines for the CoNNeCT baseband processor module (BPM) hardware upon power-up. A command and data handling (C&DH) interface is provided via 1553 and diagnostic serial interfaces to invoke operational, reconfiguration, and test commands within the code. The BCSW has features unique to the hardware it is responsible for managing. In this case, the CoNNeCT BPM is configured with an updated CPU (Atmel AT697 SPARC processor) and a unique set of memory and I/O peripherals that require customized software to operate. These features include configuration of new AT697 registers, interfacing to a new HouseKeeper with a flash controller interface, a new dual Xilinx configuration/scrub interface, and an updated 1553 remote terminal (RT) core. The BCSW is intended to provide a "safe" mode for the BPM when initially powered on or when an unexpected trap occurs, causing the processor to reset. The BCSW allows the 1553 bus controller in the spacecraft or payload controller to operate the BPM over 1553 to upload code; upload Xilinx bit files; perform rudimentary tests; read, write, and copy the non-volatile flash memory; and configure the Xilinx interface. Commands also exist over 1553 to cause the CPU to jump or call a specified address to begin execution of user-supplied code. This may be in the form of a real-time operating system, test routine, or specific application code to run on the BPM.

Yamamoto, Clifford K.↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office's Response to Three Significant Bolide Events Over North America

Being the only U.S. Government entity charged with monitoring the meteor environment, the Meteoroid Environment Office has deployed a network of all sky and wide field meteor cameras, along with the appropriate software tools to quickly analyze data from these systems. However, the coverage of this network is still quite limited, forcing the incorporation of data from other cameras posted to the internet in analyzing many of the fireballs reported by the public and media. A procedure has been developed that determines the analysis process for a given fireball event based on the types and amount of data available. The differences between these analysis process will be explained and outlined by looking at three bolide events, all of which were large enough to produce meteorites. The first example is an ideal event - a bright meteor that occurred over NASA's All Sky Camera Network on August 2, 2014. With clear video of the event from various angles, a high-accuracy trajectory, beginning and end heights, orbit and approximate brightness/size of the event are able to be found very quickly using custom software. The bolide had the potential to have dropped meteorites, so dark flight analysis and modeling was performed, allowing potential fall locations to be mapped as a function of meteorite mass. The second case study was a bright bolide that occurred November 3, 2014 over West Virginia. This was just north of the NASA southeastern all-sky network, and just south of the Ohio-Pennsylvania network. This case study showcases the MEO's ability to use social media and various internet sources to locate videos of the event from obscure sources (including the Washington Monument) for anything that will permit a determination of a basic trajectory and fireball light curve The third case study will highlight the ability to use doppler weather radar in helping locate meteorites, which enable a definitive classification of the impactor. The input data and analysis steps differ for each case study, but the goals remain the same - a trajectory, orbit, and mass estimate for the bolide within hours of the event, and, for events with a high probability of producing meteorites, a location of the strewn field within a day.

Blaauw, Rhiannon C.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Predicting Deposition Rate and Closing the Loop on Aerosol Jet Printing with In‐Line Light Scattering Measurements

Aerosol jet printing is a compelling noncontact, digital manufacturing technology for flexible, hybrid, and conformal electronics, but batch‐to‐batch variability and process drift inhibit systematic study and translation to production environments. Emerging measurement techniques for the aerosol volume fraction, a key parameter governing deposition rate, have shown promise for real‐time response, including a recent demonstration of human‐in‐the‐loop control. By integrating improved light scattering measurements with custom software, a robust environment for real‐time monitoring is established and fully automated closed‐loop control over the deposition rate during printing is enabled. The physical basis for scattering measurements as a feedback source is examined and the quantitative insight this provides for ink development and fundamental process studies is highlighted. Three candidate process variables for closed‐loop control, namely the atomizer voltage, carrier gas flow rate, and print speed, are then evaluated. The atomizer voltage demonstrates the best extended duration validity because it addresses atomization variability directly, but carrier gas flow rate and print speed provide faster and more deterministic responses. This methodology is then demonstrated for electrical properties using a silver nanoparticle ink, maintaining 98% of printed patterns within 10% of the mean resistance value over 3 h of printing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2023

The INTERSECT Open Federated Architecture for the Laboratory of the Future

A federated instrument-to-edge-to-center architecture is needed to autonomously collect, transfer, store, process, curate, and archive scientific data and reduce human-in-the-loop needs with (a) common interfaces to leverage community and custom software, (b) pluggability to permit adaptable solutions, reuse, and digital twins, and (c) an open standard to enable adoption by science facilities world-wide. The Selfdriven Experiments for Science/Interconnected Science Ecosystem (INTERSECT) Open Architecture enables science breakthroughs using intelligent networked systems, instruments and facilities with autonomous experiments, “self-driving” laboratories, smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) driven design, discovery and evaluation. It creates an open federated architecture for the laboratory of the future using a novel approach, consisting of (1) science use case design patterns, (2) a system of systems architecture, and (3) a microservice architecture.

Engelmann, Christian↗

DOE OSTI2021

Reproducibility of protein x-ray diffuse scattering and potential utility for modeling atomic displacement parameters

Protein structure and dynamics can be probed using x-ray crystallography. Whereas the Bragg peaks are only sensitive to the average unit-cell electron density, the signal between the Bragg peaks—diffuse scattering—is sensitive to spatial correlations in electron-density variations. Although diffuse scattering contains valuable information about protein dynamics, the diffuse signal is more difficult to isolate from the background compared to the Bragg signal, and the reproducibility of diffuse signal is not yet well understood. We present a systematic study of the reproducibility of diffuse scattering from isocyanide hydratase in three different protein forms. Both replicate diffuse datasets and datasets obtained from different mutants were similar in pairwise comparisons (Pearson correlation coefficient ≥0.8). The data were processed in a manner inspired by previously published methods using custom software with modular design, enabling us to perform an analysis of various data processing choices to determine how to obtain the highest quality data as assessed using unbiased measures of symmetry and reproducibility. The diffuse data were then used to characterize atomic mobility using a liquid-like motions (LLM) model. This characterization was able to discriminate between distinct anisotropic atomic displacement parameter (ADP) models arising from different anisotropic scaling choices that agreed comparably with the Bragg data. Our results emphasize the importance of data reproducibility as a model-free measure of diffuse data quality, illustrate the ability of LLM analysis of diffuse scattering to select among alternative ADP models, and offer insights into the design of successful diffuse scattering experiments.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Normality of I-V Measurements Using ML

There is an increased interest in instrument-computing ecosystems (ICEs) that support science workflows empowered by AI-automated experiments and computations in diverse areas. In particular, electrochemistry ICEs are promising for accelerating the design and discovery of electrochemical systems for energy storage and conversion, by automating significant parts of workflows that combine synthesis and characterization experiments with computations. They require the integration of flow controllers, solvent containers, pumps, fraction collectors, and potentiostats, all connected to an electrochemical cell, as illustrated in Fig. 1. These are specialized instruments with custom software that is not originally designed for network integration. We developed network and software solutions for electrochemical workflows that adapt system and instrument settings in real-time for multiple rounds of experiments. In particular, we developed Python wrappers for Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of instrument commands and Pyro client-server modules that enable them to be executed from remote computers. The entire workflow is orchestrated by a Jupyter notebook running on a remote computer.

Al Najjar, Anees↗

DOE OSTI2021

D2U: Data Driven User Emulation for the Enhancement of Cyber Testing, Training, and Data Set Generation

Whether testing intrusion detection systems, conducting training exercises, or creating data sets to be used by the broader cybersecurity community, realistic user behavior is a critical component of a cyber range. Existing methods either rely on network level data or replay recorded user actions to approximate real users in a network. Our work is the first to produce generative models trained on actual user data (sequences of application usage) collected on endpoints. Once trained to the user's behavioral data, these models can generate novel sequences of actions %that appear to come from the same distribution as the training data. These sequences of actions are then fed to our custom software via configuration files, which replicate those behaviors on end devices. Notably, our models are platform agnostic and could generate behavior data for any emulation software package. In this paper we present our model generation process, software architecture, and an initial evaluation of the fidelity of our models. Our software is currently deployed in a cyber range to help evaluate the efficacy of defensive cyber technologies. We suggest additional ways that the cyber community as a whole can benefit from more realistic user behavior emulation. The data used to train our model, as well as sample configuration files produced by the model, are available at [redacted].

Oesch, T↗

DOE OSTI2022

FutureTense

Protective vaccines and reliable diagnostics are essential tools for controlling viral diseases. However, the efficacy of these tools can be diminished by mutations in viral genomes. The delay between the emergence of new viral strains and the redesign of vaccines and diagnostics allows for continued viral transmission. Is it possible to address this challenge by computationally predicting viral genome sequence evolution? Can we “future-proof” vaccines and diagnostics by targeting both current and anticipated future sequence variants? While predicting viral evolution is still an unsolved, “grand challenge” problem in biology, the large, and rapidly growing, number of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences provide an opportunity to quantify the ability of machine learning to predict viral genome sequence evolution. Towards this end, we have developed a simple computational model for predicting viral evolution at the level of individual nucleotides. The key metric for quantifying the per-base, prediction accuracy for viral evolution is the Mann-Whitney U statistic (or, equivalently, the area under the receiver operator curve). Since the Mann-Whitney U statistic is not a differentiable function, existing deep leaning packages (like Pytorch and Keras/TensorFlow) are not useful, as they require that the accuracy metric/objective function be analytically differentiable with respect to the model parameters. To overcome this challenge, we have implemented custom software, “FutureTense”, that can train a machine learning model by maximizing the non-differentiable Mann-Whitney U statistic. This software trains a machine learning model by exploring along the direction of the discrete gradient of the Mann-Whitney U statistic in the model parameter space. Parallel computing and genome sequence-specific optimizations are used to accelerate model training. The resulting machine learning model learns the observed high C->U mutation rates in the SARS-CoV-2 genome (which are potentially induced by host defenses) and provides prediction accuracies that are significantly better than one would expect from random chance. While predicting viral evolution is still quite far from a solved problem, the surprising performance of this simple model gives hope that the accuracy of predicting viral genome evolution can be further increased by more sophisticated approaches.

Gans, Jason↗

DOE OSTI2025

time-resolved spectroscopy fit (trspecfit) v0.01

Analyze 2D time- and energy-resolved data, such as from a pump-probe spectroscopy experiment. User can select and input different peak shapes/ functions and background types to first fit a ground state/ unperturbed spectrum. This would be similar to how standard spectroscopy data is fit. Subsequently, to describe the time domain, users can choose functions that describe the temporal dynamics of one or more spectral features, such as a peak amplitude, peak position, etc. These time dynamics functions can be added or convoluted (e.g. describing an instrument response function) with each other. Functionality to integrate implicit variables leading to distributions of certain parameters/ functions is in development. Alternatively, 2D data can be analyzed one time step at a time to get an idea of the time dynamics of the system before deploying the global 2D fit described above. Typically people write custom software for this purpose. During my PhD I've seen five internal LBL and external researchers write one-off code in different languages to analyze time- and energy-resolved spectra. While this was specifically was for a laser pump - X-ray probe spectroscopy experiment, I'm trying to write a general package for the time-resolved spectroscopy community.

Mahl, Johannes [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborat↗

DOE OSTI2021

Nanosecond Gated CMOS Camera (NSGCC) ICD (Rev. 2.1)

The Ultra-Fast X-ray Imager (UXI) program is an ongoing effort at Sandia National Laboratories to create high speed, multi-frame, time-gated Read Out Integrated Circuits (ROICs), and a corresponding suite of photodetectors to image a wide variety of High Energy Density (HED) physics experiments on both Sandia’s Z-Machine and LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). Several cameras have been designed over the length of the program; one of the most recent is the Icarus, which is an improvement on past imagers (Furi and Hippogriff). A second sensor that can be connected is the Daedalus sensor. The Icarus is a 1024 × 512-pixel array with either 25 μm or 8 µm spatial resolution containing four frames of storage per pixel and has improved timing generation and distribution components while achieved 2 ns time gating. The Daedalus sensor is also a 1024 x 512-pixel array with 25 µm special resolution containing three frames of storage per pixel and has an increased set of features for a wider variety of applications from interlacing of rows in each frame to configurability of all shutters. See Section 14 for details regarding the Icarus implementation of the firmware and Section 15 for details regarding the Daedalus implementation. Due to the unique test environments UXI sensors are targeted for, full custom hardware was required to physically mount an Icarus or Daedalus sensor, manage its various functions, and read out pixel data for transfer to a host computer. Beyond experimental functionality, the hardware also needed to accommodate sensor characterization requirements. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s ‘Version 4.0 Board’ was the result of these efforts. It mounts all the components required to fully utilize the Icarus and Daedalus sensors including analog to digital converters to convert pixel data and various system voltages to digital form for readout and analysis, DAC channels for remote configuration of critical bias voltages, static random-access memories to buffer pixel data, RS422 and Gigabit Ethernet communications for remote access, and an FPGA to tie these components together. This document describes the FPGA electrical interfaces in detail to allow the reader a greater understanding of the device, and to facilitate implementation of custom software to control and manage it. The Version 4.0 Board is a continuation of the Nano-second Gated CMOS hardware design that retains much of the functionality of the Version 1.0 Board while adding features including a DAC instead of digital potentiometers, as well as sensors for pressure and radiation. The Version 4.0 board is intended for applications requiring tight form-factor enclosures. It is composed of two stacking boards; one holds the FPGA and regulators to power the various components of the board while the other contains the mating connector to the sensor, image-readoff ADCs, the DAC, and other components.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC): Combining biofuel and high-value bioproducts to meet the RFS

The Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC) was formed to address pressing challenges in the commercialization of microalgae as a source of biofuel. The “Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC): Combining biofuel and high-value bioproducts to meet the RFS” project formally addressed two US Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) goals: (1) Model the sustainable supply of 1 million metric tonnes ash free dry weight (AFDW) cultivated algal biomass and (2) Demonstrate valuable co-products produced along with biofuel intermediates to increase value of algal biomass by 30%. To achieve these goals, the project demonstrated and validated high-value co-products to drive down the cost of biofuel by increasing the value of algae “co-products” towards increasing the selling price of total algae biomass as one of the key drivers of economics and adoption. This was accomplished through five core, interdependent tasks including: (1) strain selection to identify and deliver strains for mass culture, (2) mass culture using a hybrid cultivation system and following key operating parameters for downstream applications to provide algae feedstock, (3) recovery and conversion to evaluate two alternative methods to separate dry algae biomass into oil and residuals for downstream testing, (4) product assessment to determine biofuel, aquafeed or poultry feed product efficacy using algae biomass fractions as well as to provide critical performance data for valuation and (5) commercialization to use technoeconomic and life cycle assessments (TEA/LCA) as iterative design and assessment tools including consideration of target markets, competitors, and distribution channels to guide product assessment, development and valuation. A total of 46 peer-review publications, many open-access, provide detail of much of the work carried out and the results of the tasks. Additional reports and presentations provide other technical and public engagement material. At a high level, using a variety of approaches, more than 1000 marine microalgae strains were evaluated to ultimately identify the seven winners that were down-selected to be grown in mass culture. Strain selection demonstrated that there were no ‘super strains’ and that each candidate had strengths and limitations for specific products, growth conditions or operational considerations. Mass culture growth of these seven strains at >5000 L / 29 m 2 scale found that four them were suitable for product assessment. More than 250 kg of biomass was produced across hundreds of pond runs along with thousands of cultivation entries on the growth and biomass characteristics as well as environmental parameters. In the process, dozens of standard operating procedures were generated as was custom software to process and analyze cultivation data. Recovery and conversion of algae biomass demonstrated that a hexane solvent based extraction protocol was most effective at recovering oil (biocrude) from algae and four strains were processed to produce oil and lipid extracted algae (residuals) for downstream testing. Membrane-based oil separation was less successful, but may still be applicable to other commercial applications in the future. Product testing demonstrated that algae biocrude is of high quality and hydrotreating generated numerous fractions of high quality composition for fuel and lubricate based applications. Aquafeed studies performed at a variety of scales showed that both whole and defatted (lipid extracted algae) microalgae were suitable as a feed ingredient, but that the specifics of the fed animal and biochemical composition of the algae are critical factors when determining formulation. Similarly, poultry studies on whole and defatted microalgae generally showed positive outcomes on animal growth and health, with some microalgae providing enhanced nutritional composition of the animal product. Economic and life cycle assessments covered a wide range of possible commercialization and sustainability scenarios. Replacement value, improved product value added, consumer values marketing added valuation and improved animal health were considered as alternatives for microalgae valuation. Using the open pond system, algae productivity was identified as the key driver of commercialization economics, but combination of co-products (e.g. animal feed) with biofuel production substantially increased the total selling price of algae. Modeled microalgae selling price exceeded $\$$1500/tonne and could generate competitive biofuel selling prices below $\$$5 gallon gas equivalents using realistic algal productivities. Short (process scale) and longer (decadal trends) sustainability assessments show that marine microalgae can enhance the sustainability of energy production and lead to other realized benefits in water, fertilizer and land use for other sectors (e.g. agriculture). This project successfully demonstrated all of the components of an end-to-end process from mass microalgae cultivation and dewatering, to recovery and conversion of algae biomass components, to final product demonstration and process valuation; the combined results provide a framework for future commercialization of algae based biofuels.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

NASA NTRS1984

Preprototype SAWD subsystem

A regenerable, three man preprototype solid amine, water desorbed (SAWD) CO2 removal and concentation subsystem was designed, fabricated, and successfully acceptance tested by Hamilton Standard. The preprototype SAWD incorporates a single solid amine canister to perform the CO2 removal function, an accumulator to provide the CO2 storage and delivery function, and a microprocessor which automatically controls the subsystem sequential operation and performance. The SAWD subsystem was configured to have a CO2 removal and CO2 delivery capability at the rate of 0.12 kg/hr (0.264 lb/hr) over the relative humidity range of 35 to 70%. The controller was developed to provide fully automatic control over the relative humidity range via custom software that was generated specifically for the SAWD subsystem. The preprototype SAWD subsystem demonstrated a total of 281 hours (208) cycles of operation during ten acceptance tests that were conducted over the 3 to 70% relative humidity range. This operation was comprised of 178 hours (128 cycles) in the CO2 overboard mode and 103 hours (80 cycles) in the CO2 reduction mode. The average CO2 removal/delivery rate met or exceeded the design specification rate of 0.12 kg/hr (0.254 lb/hr) for all ten of the acceptance tests.

Nalette, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Development of dynamic simulation of TF34-GE-100 turbofan engine with post-stall capability

This paper describes the development of a hybrid computer simulation of a TF34-GE-100 turbofan engine with post-stall capability. The simulation operates in real-time and will be used to test and evaluate stall recovery control modes for this engine. The simulation calculations are performed by an analog computer with a peripheral multivariable function generation unit used for computing bivariate functions. Tabular listings of a simulation variables are obtained by interfacing to a digital computer and using a custom software package for data collection and display.

Krosel, S. M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Development of dynamic simulation of TF34-GE-100 turbofan engine with post-stall capability

This paper describes the development of a hybrid computer simulation of a TF34-GE-100 turbofan engine with post-stall capability. The simulation operates in real-time and will be used to test and evaluate stall recovery control modes for this engine. The simulation calculations are performed by an analog computer with a peripheral multivariable function generation unit used for computing bivariate functions. Tabular listings of simulation variables are obtained by interfacing to a digital computer and using a custom software package for data collection and display.

Krosel, S. M.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Packet telemetry and packet telecommand - The new generation of spacecraft data handling techniques

Because of rising costs and reduced reliability of spacecraft and ground network hardware and software customization, standardization Packet Telemetry and Packet Telecommand concepts are emerging as viable alternatives. Autonomous packets of data, within each concept, which are created within ground and space application processes through the use of formatting techniques, are switched end-to-end through the space data network to their destination application processes through the use of standard transfer protocols. This process may result in facilitating a high degree of automation and interoperability because of completely mission-independent-designed intermediate data networks. The adoption of an international guideline for future space telemetry formatting of the Packet Telemetry concept, and the advancement of the NASA-ESA Working Group's Packet Telecommand concept to a level of maturity parallel to the of Packet Telemetry are the goals of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems. Both the Packet Telemetry and Packet Telecommand concepts are reviewed.

Hooke, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A knowledge based application of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system

A family of multiple-processor ground support test equipment was used to test digital flight-control systems on high-performance research aircraft. A unit recently built for the F-18 high alpha research vehicle project is the latest model in a series called the extended aircraft interrogation and display system. The primary feature emphasized monitors the aircraft MIL-STD-1553B data buses and provides real-time engineering units displays of flight-control parameters. A customized software package was developed to provide real-time data interpretation based on rules embodied in a highly structured knowledge database. The configuration of this extended aircraft interrogation and display system is briefly described, and the evolution of the rule based package and its application to failure modes and effects testing on the F-18 high alpha research vehicle is discussed.

Glover, Richard D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A laser fluorescence anemometer system for the Langley 16- by 24-inch water tunnel

A laser fluorescence anemometer which comprises a three-component laser Doppler velocimeter system with a fourth channel to measure fluorescent dye concentration has been installed in the NASA Langley 16- by 24-in water tunnel. The system includes custom designed optics, data acquisition, and traverse control instruments and a custom software package. Feasibility studies demonstrated how water tunnels can be used in conjunction with advanced optical techniques to provide nonintrusive detailed flow field measurements of complex fluid flows with a minimum of expense. The measurements show that the laser fluorescence anemometer can provide new insight into the structure, entrainment, control and of mixing vortical and shear layer flows.

Owen, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1992

SkICAT: A cataloging and analysis tool for wide field imaging surveys

We describe an integrated system, SkICAT (Sky Image Cataloging and Analysis Tool), for the automated reduction and analysis of the Palomar Observatory-ST ScI Digitized Sky Survey. The Survey will consist of the complete digitization of the photographic Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-II) in three bands, comprising nearly three Terabytes of pixel data. SkICAT applies a combination of existing packages, including FOCAS for basic image detection and measurement and SAS for database management, as well as custom software, to the task of managing this wealth of data. One of the most novel aspects of the system is its method of object classification. Using state-of-theart machine learning classification techniques (GID3* and O-BTree), we have developed a powerful method for automatically distinguishing point sources from non-point sources and artifacts, achieving comparably accurate discrimination a full magnitude fainter than in previous Schmidt plate surveys. The learning algorithms produce decision trees for classification by examining instances of objects classified by eye on both plate and higher quality CCD data. The same techniques will be applied to perform higher-level object classification (e.g., of galaxy morphology) in the near future. Another key feature of the system is the facility to integrate the catalogs from multiple plates (and portions thereof) to construct a single catalog of uniform calibration and quality down to the faintest limits of the survey. SkICAT also provides a variety of data analysis and exploration tools for the scientific utilization of the resulting catalogs. We include initial results of applying this system to measure the counts and distribution of galaxies in two bands down to Bj is approximately 21 mag over an approximate 70 square degree multi-plate field from POSS-II. SkICAT is constructed in a modular and general fashion and should be readily adaptable to other large-scale imaging surveys.

Weir, N.↗