Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Mount”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 541 records · Page 30

Simulation evaluation of a low-altitude helicopter flight guidance system adapted for a helmet-mounted display

A computer aiding concept for low-altitude helicopter flight has been developed and evaluated in a real-time piloted simulation. The concept included an optimal control trajectory-generation algorithm based upon dynamic programming, and a helmet-mounted display (HMD) presentation of a pathway-in-the-sky, a phantom aircraft, and flight-path vector/predictor guidance symbology. The pilot evaluation was conducted at the NASA-Ames Research Center moving base vertical motion simulator (VMS) by pilots representing NASA, the US Army, Air Force, and helicopter industry. The pilot manually tracked the trajectory generated by the algorithm utilizing the HMD symbology. The pilots were able to satisfactorily perform the tracking tasks while maintaining a high degree of awareness of the outside world.

Swenson, Harry N.↗

Helmet mounted display flight symbology research

Screen/head stabilized MIL-STD 1295 helmet mounted display (HMD) flight symbology as integrated on the Apache helicopter was compared to world referenced/stabilized flight symbology. Simulation test results indicate that pilots perform significantly better using world-stabilized conformal attitude symbology. They were accurate to an average of 1/2 degree at estimating terrain relief and aerial target locations. World stabilized conformal symbology was preferred while performing contour flight tasks. They reported that the use of climb-dive-marker during contour flight greatly reduced pilot work load under conditions tested. Cyclic input errors occurred when using both 1295 hover symbology and test symbology indicating that a better approach for depicting hover symbology is warranted. The magnitude of cyclic input and spatial estimation errors increased as the off-axis viewing angle became larger.

Haworth, Loran A.↗

A gravity current model for the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens plume

Observations of the stratospheric plume from the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption suggest that it spread in the crosswind direction as an intrusive gravity current, as it was transported downwind. Grain size analyses of the plinian tephra are consistent with this model, suggesting that to distances of many hundreds of kilometers, turbulent atmospheric diffusion played a secondary role in plume spreading and tephra dispersal.

Bursik, M. I.↗

Research on measurement and control of helicopter rotor response using blade-mounted accelerometers 1990-91

Wind tunnel testing of the full-size Model 412/IBC rotor performed at the NASA Ames Research Center is described. The use of blade-mounted accelerometers is found to be feasible for estimating or measuring blade flapping, lagging, and bending accelerations, rates, and displacements. Application of the imaginary swash plate concept to IBC systems leads to useful filtering of the blade accelerometer signals while permitting the control of a four-bladed rotor using measurements from any three blades. Rotor state measurements in the rotating system can be transformed to the corresponding nonrotating rotor states using the IBC algorithm with its associated filtering properties.

Ham, Norman D.↗

Strain Gauges Mounted To Retain Calibration

Silicon-based semiconductor strain gauges mounted in such way they retain original calibration for several years instead of few months. Improvement effected by bonding gauges to ceramic substrates with glasses instead of epoxies as adhesives.

Butler, Barry L.↗

Indexing Mount For Rotation Of Optical Component

Indexing mount for polarizer, wave plate, birefringent plate, or other optical component facilitates rotation of component to one or more preset angles. Includes hexagonal nut holding polarizer or other optical component. Ball bearing loaded by screw engages notch on cylindrical extension of nut engaging bracket. Time-consuming and tedious angular adjustment unnecessary: component turned quickly and easily, by hand or by use of wrench, to preset angular positions maintained by simple ball-detent mechanism.

Reichle, Donald J., Jr.↗

Open-loop characteristics of magnetic suspension systems using electromagnets mounted in a planar array

The open-loop characteristics of a Large-Gap Magnetic Suspension System (LGMSS) were studied and numerical results are presented. The LGMSS considered provides five-degree-of-freedom control. The suspended element is a cylinder that contains a core composed of permanent magnet material. The magnetic actuators are air core electromagnets mounted in a planar array. Configurations utilizing five, six, seven, and eight electromagnets were investigated and all configurations were found to be controllable from coil currents and observable from suspended element positions. Results indicate that increasing the number of coils has an insignificant effect on mode shapes and frequencies.

Groom, Nelson J.↗

The Mount Wilson optical interferometer: The first automated instrument and the prospects for lunar interferometry

Before contemplating an optical interferometer on the Moon one must first review the accomplishments achieved by this technology in scientific applications for astronomy. This will be done by presenting the technical status of optical interferometry as achieved by the Mount Wilson Optical Interferometer. The further developments needed for a future lunar-based interferometer are discussed.

Johnston, Ken J.↗

Concepts for conformal and body-axis attitude information for spatial awareness presented in a helmet-mounted display

A piloted simulation study has been conducted to evaluate two methods of presenting attitude information in a helmet-mounted display (HMD) for spatial awareness in a fighter airplane. One method, the body-axis concept, displayed the information relative to the body axis of the airplane. The quantitative results of this study favored the body-axis concept. Although no statistically significant differences were noted for either the pilots' understanding of roll attitude or target position, the pilots made pitch judgment errors three times more often with the conformal display. The subjective results showed the body-axis display did not cause attitude confusion, a prior concern with this display. In the posttest comments, the pilots overwhelmingly selected the body-axis display as the display of choice.

Jones, Denise R.↗

Simulation evaluation of a low-altitude helicopter flight guidance system adapted for a helmet-mounted display

A computer aiding concept for low-altitude helicopter flight was developed and evaluated in a real-time piloted simulation. The concept included an optimal control trajectory-generation algorithm based upon dynamic programming and a helmet-mounted display (HMD) presentation of a pathway-in-the-sky, a phantom aircraft, and flight-path vector/predictor guidance symbology. The trajectory-generation algorithm uses knowledge of the global mission requirements, a digital terrain map, aircraft performance capabilities, and advanced navigation information to determine a trajectory between mission way points that seeks valleys to minimize threat exposure. The pilot evaluation was conducted at NASA ARC moving base Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) by pilots representing NASA, the U.S. Army, the Air Force, and the helicopter industry. The pilots manually tracked the trajectory generated by the algorithm utilizing the HMD symbology. The pilots were able to satisfactorily perform the tracking tasks while maintaining a high degree of awareness of the outside world.

Swenson, Harry N.↗

A decoupled control approach for magnetic suspension systems using electromagnets mounted in a planar array

A decoupled control approach for a Large Gap Magnetic Suspension System (LGMSS) is presented. The control approach is developed for an LGMSS which provides five degree-of-freedom control of a cylindrical suspended element that contains a core composed of permanent magnet material. The suspended element is levitated above five electromagnets mounted in a planar array. Numerical results are obtained by using the parameters of the Large Angle Magnetic Suspension Test Fixture (LAMSTF) which is a small scale laboratory model LGMSS.

Groom, Nelson J.↗

Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow in a channel with a surface-mounted two-dimensional obstacle using a dynamic subgrid-scale model

We apply the dynamic subgrid-scale model (DSGSM) to large-eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent channel flow with a square rib mounted on one wall. The Reynolds number (Re) is 3210 based on the mean velocity above the obstacle and the obstacle height. Near-wall structures are resolved with the no-slip boundary condition. The results show better agreement with direct numerical simulation (DNS) than LES with a fixed model constant, verifying the value of the DSGSM for simulating complex turbulent flows.

Yang, Kyung-Soo↗

Development and performance of a three degree of freedom large motion vibration isolation mount for the KC-135 aircraft

Scientific microgravity experiments conducted on platforms such as the Soviet Mir space station and the U.S. Space Shuttle indicated that the microgravity environment is contaminated with disturbances which result in the reduction of a gravity quality, from micro-g to milli-g. This paper describes the vibration isolation technology developed by the Canadian Space Agency, the 1DOF Large Motion Isolation Mount (LMIM) and the 3DOF LMIM, for the KC-135 aircraft. The results of the developmental activity are presented, and the applicability of the approach taken to the Space Shuttle, Space Station Freedom, and the Mir space station is discussed.

Tryggvason, B. V.↗

Performance considerations for high-definition head-mounted displays

Design image-optimization for helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) for military systems is presently discussed within the framework of a systems-engineering approach that encompasses (1) a description of natural targets in the field; (2) the characteristics of human visual perception; and (3) device specifications that directly relate to these ecological and human-factors parameters. Attention is given to target size and contrast and the relationship of the modulation transfer function to image resolution.

Edwards, Oliver J.↗

Radiative climate forcing by the Mount Pinatubo eruption

Radiative flux anomalies derived from the NASA spaceborne Earth Radiation Budget Experiment were used to determine the volcanic radiative forcing that followed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. They are the first unambiguous, direct measurements of large-scale volcanic forcing. The volcanic aerosols caused a strong cooling effect immediately; the amount of cooling increased through September 1991 as shortwave forcing increased relative to the longwave forcing. The primary effects of the aerosols were a direct increase in albedo over mostly clear areas and both direct and indirect increases in the albedo of cloudy areas.

Minnis, P.↗

Timing considerations of Helmet Mounted Display performance

The Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) system developed in our lab should be a useful teleoperator systems display if it increases operator performance of the desired task; it can, however, introduce degradation in performance due to display update rate constraints and communication delays. Display update rates are slowed by communication bandwidth and/or computational power limitations. We used simulated 3D tracking and pick-and-place tasks to characterize performance levels for a range of update rates. Initial experiments with 3D tracking indicate that performance levels plateau at an update rate between 10 and 20 Hz. We have found that using the HMD with delay decreases performance as delay increases.

Tharp, Gregory↗

Helmet Mounted Display symbology integration research

A five-week flight simulation investigation comparing screen/head stabilized Apache Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) flight symbology to world stabilized flight symbology is presented in this paper. Simulation test results indicate that pilots perform significantly (P is less than .05) better using world stabilized attitude symbology. They were accurate to an average of 1/2 deg at estimating terrain relief and aerial target locations. Pilots were able to take advantage of world referenced symbology due to the unique features of HMD that allow the pilot to visually use the symbology at extreme azimuth and elevation off-axis angles. Pilots preferred world stabilized symbology while performing contour flight tasks. They reported that the use of climb-dive-marker during contour flight greatly reduced pilot work load under conditions tested. A surprising number of cyclic input errors occurred when using both MIL-STD-1295 hover symbology and test symbology, indicating that a better approach for depicting hover symbology is probably warranted. The magnitude of cyclic input and spatial estimation errors increased as the off-axis viewing angle became larger.

Haworth, Loran A.↗

Multi-scale roughness spectra of Mount St. Helens debris flows

A roughness spectrum allows surface structure to be interpreted as a sum of sinusoidal components with differing wavelengths. Knowledge of the roughness spectrum gives insight into the mechanisms responsible for electromagnetic scattering at a given wavelength. Measured spectra from 10-year-old primary debris flow surfaces at Mount St. Helens conform to a power-law spectral model, suggesting that these surfaces are scaling over the measured range of spatial frequencies. Measured spectra from water-deposited surfaces deviate from this model.

Austin, Richard T.↗