Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “current control”

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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

C-SIDE: The control-structure interaction demonstration experiment

The Control-Structure Interaction Demonstration Experiment (C-SIDE) is sponsored by the Electro-Optics and Cryogenics Division of Ball Aerospace Systems Group. Our objective is to demonstrate methods of solution to structure control problems utilizing currently available hardware in a system that is an extension of our corporate experience. The larger space structures with which Ball has been associated are the SEASAT radar antenna, Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) -A, -B and -C antennas and the Radarsat spacecraft. The motivation for the C-SIDE configuration is to show that integration of active figure control in the radar's system-level design can relieve antenna mechanical design constraints. This presentation is primarily an introduction to the C-SIDE testbed. Its physical and functional layouts, and major components are described. The sensor is of special interest as it enables direct surface figure measurements from a remote location. The Remote Attitude Measurement System (RAMS) makes high-rate, unobtrusive measurements of many locations, several of which may be collocated easily with actuators. The control processor is a 386/25 executing a reduced order model-based algorithm with provision for residual mode filters to compensate for structure interaction. The actuators for the ground demonstration are non-contacting, linear force devices. Results presented illustrate some basic characteristics of control-structure interaction with this hardware. The testbed will be used for evaluation of current technologies and for research in several areas. A brief indication of the evolution of the C-SIDE is given at the conclusion.

Mohl, James B.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Evolution of Extravehicular Activity Operations to Lunar Exploration Based on Operational Lessons Learned During 2009 NASA Desert RATS Field Testing

This paper will present options to evolutionary changes in several philosophical areas of extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. These areas will include single person verses team EVAs; various loss of communications scenarios (with Mission Control, between suited crew, suited crew to rover crew, and rover crew A to rover crew B); EVA termination and abort time requirements; incapacitated crew ingress time requirements; autonomous crew operations during loss of signal periods including crew decisions on EVA execution (including decision for single verses team EVA). Additionally, suggestions as to the evolution of the make-up of the EVA flight control team from the current standard will be presented. With respect to the flight control team, the major areas of EVA flight control, EVA Systems and EVA Tasks, will be reviewed, and suggested evolutions of each will be presented. Currently both areas receive real-time information, and provide immediate feedback during EVAs as well as spacesuit (extravehicular mobility unit - EMU) maintenance and servicing periods. With respect to the tasks being performed, either EMU servicing and maintenance, or the specific EVA tasks, daily revising of plans will need to be able to be smoothly implemented to account for unforeseen situations and findings. Many of the presented ideas are a result of lessons learned by the NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Operations Directorate operations team support during the 2009 NASA Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS). It is important that the philosophy of both EVA crew operations and flight control be examined now, so that, where required, adjustments can be made to a next generation EMU and EVA equipment that will complement the anticipated needs of both the EVA flight control team and the crews.

Bell, Ernest R., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Roughness Based Crossflow Transition Control for a Swept Airfoil Design Relevant to Subsonic Transports

A high fidelity transition prediction methodology has been applied to a swept airfoil design at a Mach number of 0.75 and chord Reynolds number of approximately 17 million, with the dual goal of an assessment of the design for the implementation and testing of roughness based crossflow transition control and continued maturation of such methodology in the context of realistic aerodynamic configurations. Roughness based transition control involves controlled seeding of suitable, subdominant crossflow modes in order to weaken the growth of naturally occurring, linearly more unstable instability modes via a nonlinear modification of the mean boundary layer profiles. Therefore, a synthesis of receptivity, linear and nonlinear growth of crossflow disturbances, and high-frequency secondary instabilities becomes desirable to model this form of control. Because experimental data is currently unavailable for passive crossflow transition control for such high Reynolds number configurations, a holistic computational approach is used to assess the feasibility of roughness based control methodology. Potential challenges inherent to this control application as well as associated difficulties in modeling this form of control in a computational setting are highlighted. At high Reynolds numbers, a broad spectrum of stationary crossflow disturbances amplify and, while it may be possible to control a specific target mode using Discrete Roughness Elements (DREs), nonlinear interaction between the control and target modes may yield strong amplification of the difference mode that could have an adverse impact on the transition delay using spanwise periodic roughness elements.

Li, Fei↗
NASA NTRS2016

ROS Hexapod

As an intern project for NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), my job was to familiarize myself and operate a Robotics Operating System (ROS). The project outcome will convert existing software assets into ROS using nodes, enabling a robotic Hexapod to communicate and to be functional and controlled by an existing PlayStation 3 (PS3) controller. Existing control algorithms and current libraries have no ROS capabilities within the Hexapod C++ source code. Conversion of C++ codes to ROS will enable existing code to be compatible with ROS, and will be controlled using existing PS3 controller. Furthermore, my job description is to design ROS messages and script programs which will enable assets to participate in the ROS ecosystem. In addition, an open source software (IDE) Arduino board will be integrated in the ecosystem with designing circuitry on a breadboard to add additional behavior with push buttons, potentiometers and other simple elements in the electrical circuitry. Other projects with the Arduino will be a GPS module digital clock that will run off 22 satellites to show accurate real time using a GPS signal and internal patch antenna to communicate with satellites.

Davis, Kirsch↗
NASA NTRS1982

Tunable diode-laser heterodyne spectrometer for remote observations near 8 microns

A diode-laser-based, ultrahigh resolution IR heterodyne spectrometer for laboratory and field use has been developed for operation between 7.5 and 8.5 microns. The local oscillator is a PbSe tunable diode laser kept continuously at operating temperatures of 12-60 K using a closed-cycle cooler. The laser output frequency is controlled and stabilized using a high-precision diode current supply, constant temperature controller, and a shock isolator mounted between the refrigerator cold tip and the diode mount. The system largely employs reflecting optics to minimize losses from internal reflection and absorption and to eliminate chromatic effects. Spectral analysis of the diode-laser output between 0 and 1 GHz reveals excess noise at many diode current settings, which limits the IR spectral regions over which useful heterodyne operation can be achieved. Observations have been made of atmospheric N2O, O3, and CH4 between 1170 and 1200/cm, using both a single-frequency swept IF channel and a 64-channel RF spectral line receiver with a total IF coverage of 1600 MHz.

Glenar, D.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Orion Entry Flight Control Stability and Performance

The Orion Spacecraft will be required to perform entry and landing functions for both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Lunar return missions, utilizing only the Command Module (CM) with its unique systems and GN&C design. This paper presents the current CM Flight Control System (FCS) design to support entry and landing, with a focus on analyses that have supported its development to date. The CM FCS will have to provide for spacecraft stability and control while following guidance or manual commands during exo-atmospheric flight, after Service Module separation, translational powered flight required of the CM, atmospheric flight supporting both direct entry and skip trajectories down to drogue chute deploy, and during roll attitude reorientation just prior to touchdown. Various studies and analyses have been performed or are on-going supporting an overall FCS design with reasonably sized Reaction Control System (RCS) jets, that minimizes fuel usage, that provides appropriate command following but with reasonable stability and control margin. Results from these efforts to date are included, with particular attention on design issues that have emerged, such as the struggle to accommodate sub-sonic pitch and yaw control without using excessively large jets that could have a detrimental impact on vehicle weight. Apollo, with a similar shape, struggled with this issue as well. Outstanding CM FCS related design and analysis issues, planned for future effort, are also briefly be discussed.

Strahan, Alan L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Cellular Decomposition Based Hybrid-Hierarchical Control Systems with Applications to Flight Management Systems

The work in this research project has been focused on the construction of a hierarchical hybrid control theory which is applicable to flight management systems. The motivation and underlying philosophical position for this work has been that the scale, inherent complexity and the large number of agents (aircraft) involved in an air traffic system imply that a hierarchical modelling and control methodology is required for its management and real time control. In the current work the complex discrete or continuous state space of a system with a small number of agents is aggregated in such a way that discrete (finite state machine or supervisory automaton) controlled dynamics are abstracted from the system's behaviour. High level control may then be either directly applied at this abstracted level, or, if this is in itself of significant complexity, further layers of abstractions may be created to produce a system with an acceptable degree of complexity at each level. By the nature of this construction, high level commands are necessarily realizable at lower levels in the system.

Caines, P. E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Functional Allocation for Ground-Based Automated Separation Assurance in NextGen

As part of an ongoing research effort into functional allocation in a NextGen environment, a controller-in-the-loop study on ground-based automated separation assurance was conducted at NASA Ames' Airspace Operations Laboratory in February 2010. Participants included six FAA front line managers, who are currently certified professional controllers and four recently retired controllers. Traffic scenarios were 15 and 30 minutes long where controllers interacted with advanced technologies for ground-based separation assurance, weather avoidance, and arrival metering. The automation managed the separation by resolving conflicts automatically and involved controllers only by exception, e.g., when the automated resolution would have been outside preset limits. Results from data analyses show that workload was low despite high levels of traffic, Operational Errors did occur but were closely tied to local complexity, and safety acceptability ratings varied with traffic levels. Positive feedback was elicited for the overall concept with discussion on the proper allocation of functions and trust in automation.

Prevot, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS1991

Microwave landing system modeling with application to air traffic control

Compared to the current instrument landing system, the microwave landing system (MLS), which is in the advanced stage of implementation, can potentially provide significant fuel and time savings as well as more flexibility in approach and landing functions. However, the expanded coverage and increased accuracy requirements of the MLS make it more susceptible to the features of the site in which it is located. An analytical approach is presented for evaluating the multipath effects of scatterers that are commonly found in airport environments. The approach combines a multiplane model with a ray-tracing technique and a formulation for estimating the electromagnetic fields caused by the antenna array in the presence of scatterers. The model is applied to several airport scenarios. The reduced computational burden enables the scattering effects on MLS position information to be evaluated in near real time. Evaluation in near real time would permit the incorporation of the modeling scheme into air traffic control automation; it would adaptively delineate zones of reduced accuracy within the MLS coverage volume, and help establish safe approach and takeoff trajectories in the presence of uneven terrain and other scatterers.

Poulose, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Flight control electronics reliability/maintenance study

Collection and analysis of data are reported that concern the reliability and maintenance experience of flight control system electronics currently in use on passenger carrying jet aircraft. Two airlines B-747 airplane fleets were analyzed to assess the component reliability, system functional reliability, and achieved availability of the CAT II configuration flight control system. Also assessed were the costs generated by this system in the categories of spare equipment, schedule irregularity, and line and shop maintenance. The results indicate that although there is a marked difference in the geographic location and route pattern between the airlines studied, there is a close similarity in the reliability and the maintenance costs associated with the flight control electronics.

Dade, W. W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A solid-state controllable power supply for a magnetic suspension wind tunnel

The NASA Langley 6-inch Magnetic Suspension and Balance System (6-in. MSBS) requires an independently controlled bidirectional dc power source for each of six positioning electromagnets. These electromagnets provide five-degree-of-freedom control over a suspended aerodynamic test model. Existing power equipment, which employs resistance-coupled thyratron-controlled rectifiers as well as ac to dc motor-generator converters, is obsolete, inefficient, and unreliable. A replacement six-phase bidirectional controlled bridge rectifier is proposed, which employs power MOSFET switches sequenced by hybrid analog/digital circuits. Full-load efficiency is 80 percent compared with 25 percent for the resistance-coupled thyratron system. Current feedback provides high control linearity, adjustable current limiting, and current overload protection. A quenching circuit suppresses inductive voltage impulses. It is shown that 20-kHz interference from positioning magnet power into MSBS electromagnetic model position sensors results predominantly from capacitively coupled electric fields. Hence, proper shielding and grounding techniques are necessary. Inductively coupled magnetic interference is negligible.

Daniels, Taumi S.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Some recent developments in predicting unsteady loadings caused by control surface motions

Solution instabilities are identified within the procedures used to predict unsteady loadings due to motions of swept hingeline control surfaces. A preferred solution process that demonstrates the need of calculating smooth residual downwash distributions is described. Numerical results displaying erratic solution behavior when use is made of various forms of pressure expressions currently employed in control surface analyses are presented. A new expression of the asymptotic pressure function is derived, which exactly satisfies the change in boundary conditions around the boundary of the control surface. Results of applying the new pressure function are presented and indicate that stable converged solutions may be achieved for predicting the unsteady loadings caused by motions of swept hingeline control surfaces.

Rowe, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Converter design techniques and applications

Transistorized direct current voltage converters offer a number of advantages over other types because of their small size, low weight, high efficiency, high reliability, precision accuracy and wide range of control. There are three basic types of converter subsystems: series converter in which a voltage-controlled component is placed in series with the load; shunt converter in which a current-controlled component is placed in shunt with the load; and a switching converter in which a voltage-controlled component is turned on and off in series with the load. Converters employing any of these three types of subsystems can provide constant voltage, constant current, or constant impedance across the load. Design and application considerations, step-by-step design procedures, and the solution to sample design problems for the series, shunt, and switching types are presented.

Lalli, V. R.↗
NASA NTRS1972

An ion thruster module for primary propulsion systems.

The development of a 30 cm thruster module having the operational characteristics, weight, and structural integrity consistent with flight hardware is described. Elements of the program discussed in this paper are selection of an ion optical system design, development of the discharge chamber and its control, and the results of extensive performance mapping tests. The thruster system operates at 2750 sec specific impulse at 69% over-all efficiency and can be throttled from 2.0 A to 0.16 A beam current with a control system requiring a single electrical input. The 1 kV ion beam is formed by a high perveance, two grid ion optical system.

King, H. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Integration of domain and resource-based reasoning for real-time control in dynamic environments

A real-time software controller that successfully integrates domain-based and resource-based control reasoning to perform task execution in a dynamically changing environment is described. The design of the controller is based on the concept of partitioning the process to be controlled into a set of tasks, each of which achieves some process goal. It is assumed that, in general, there are multiple ways (tasks) to achieve a goal. The controller dynamically determines current goals and their current criticality, choosing and scheduling tasks to achieve those goals in the time available. It incorporates rule-based goal reasoning, a TMS-based criticality propagation mechanism, and a real-time scheduler. The controller has been used to build a knowledge-based situation assessment system that formed a major component of a real-time, distributed, cooperative problem solving system built under DARPA contract. It is also being employed in other applications now in progress.

Morgan, Keith↗
NASA NTRS1990

Potential for integrated optical circuits in advanced aircraft with fiber optic control and monitoring systems

Fiber optic technology is expected to be used in future advanced weapons platforms as well as commercial aerospace applications. Fiber optic waveguides will be used to transmit noise free, high speed data between a multitude of computers as well as audio and video information to the flight crew. Passive optical sensors connected to control computers with optical fiber interconnects will serve both control and monitoring functions. Implementation of fiber optic technology has already begun. Both the military and NASA have several programs in place. A cooperative program, called FOCSI (Fiber Optic Control System Integration), between NASA Lewis and the NAVY to build, environmentally test and flight demonstrate sensor systems for propulsion and flight control systems is currently underway. Integrated Optical Circuits (IOC's) are also being given serious consideration for use in advanced aircraft systems. IOC's will result in miniaturization and localization of components to generate, detect optical signals and process them for use by the control computers. In some complex systems IOC's may be required to perform calculations optically if the technology is ready, replacing some of the electronic systems used today. IOC's are attractive because they will result in rugged components capable of withstanding severe environments in advanced aerospace vehicles. Manufacturing technology developed for microelectronic integrated circuits applied to IOC's will result in cost effective manufacturing. This paper reviews the current FOCSI program and describes the potential role of IOC's in FOCSI applications.

Robert Baumbick↗
NASA NTRS1985

Energy efficient transport technology: Program summary and bibliography

The Energy Efficient Transport (EET) Program began in 1976 as an element of the NASA Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) Program. The EET Program and the results of various applications of advanced aerodynamics and active controls technology (ACT) as applicable to future subsonic transport aircraft are discussed. Advanced aerodynamics research areas included high aspect ratio supercritical wings, winglets, advanced high lift devices, natural laminar flow airfoils, hybrid laminar flow control, nacelle aerodynamic and inertial loads, propulsion/airframe integration (e.g., long duct nacelles) and wing and empennage surface coatings. In depth analytical/trade studies, numerous wind tunnel tests, and several flight tests were conducted. Improved computational methodology was also developed. The active control functions considered were maneuver load control, gust load alleviation, flutter mode control, angle of attack limiting, and pitch augmented stability. Current and advanced active control laws were synthesized and alternative control system architectures were developed and analyzed. Integrated application and fly by wire implementation of the active control functions were design requirements in one major subprogram. Additional EET research included interdisciplinary technology applications, integrated energy management, handling qualities investigations, reliability calculations, and economic evaluations related to fuel savings and cost of ownership of the selected improvements.

Middleton, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Flight Test Implementation of a Second Generation Intelligent Flight Control System

The NASA F-15 Intelligent Flight Control System project team has developed a series of flight control concepts designed to demonstrate the benefits of a neural network-based adaptive controller. The objective of the team was to develop and flight-test control systems that use neural network technology, to optimize the performance of the aircraft under nominal conditions, and to stabilize the aircraft under failure conditions. Failure conditions include locked or failed control surfaces as well as unforeseen damage that might occur to the aircraft in flight. The Intelligent Flight Control System team is currently in the process of implementing a second generation control scheme, collectively known as Generation 2 or Gen 2, for flight testing on the NASA F-15 aircraft. This report describes the Gen 2 system as implemented by the team for flight test evaluation. Simulation results are shown which describe the experiment to be performed in flight and highlight the ways in which the Gen 2 system meets the defined objectives.

Williams-Hayes, Peggy S.↗