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At least 541 records · Page 30

Efficient Scalable Contact Network Generation from Population Data

Modeling the contacts among a population is critical to understanding the dynamics of a disease outbreak. Contact networks, where nodes are individuals and edges are contacts among them, are used to represent these complex individual-level interactions. In this work, we are given the daily activity schedules of an urban population that represent the activity location and time of individuals in a population during a single twenty four hour period over multiple days. Using collocation to determine contact between individuals, our goal is to extract hourly contact networks from large-scale activity data. We improve upon the existing adjacency matrix-based method by implementing our custom sparse matrix multiplication algorithm. Starting with a Python implementation, we achieve a 1600x speed up in the computation with a fast custom designed sparse matrix multiplier algorithm implemented in the C++ language. This work is central to future parallel designs of the problem.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Simulation of Combustion Systems with Realistic g-jitter

In this project a transient, fully three-dimensional computer simulation code was developed to simulate the effects of realistic g-jitter on a number of combustion systems. The simulation code is capable of simulating flame spread on a solid and nonpremixed or premixed gaseous combustion in nonturbulent flow with simple combustion models. Simple combustion models were used to preserve computational efficiency since this is meant to be an engineering code. Also, the use of sophisticated turbulence models was not pursued (a simple Smagorinsky type model can be implemented if deemed appropriate) because if flow velocities are large enough for turbulence to develop in a reduced gravity combustion scenario it is unlikely that g-jitter disturbances (in NASA's reduced gravity facilities) will play an important role in the flame dynamics. Acceleration disturbances of realistic orientation, magnitude, and time dependence can be easily included in the simulation. The simulation algorithm was based on techniques used in an existing large eddy simulation code which has successfully simulated fire dynamics in complex domains. A series of simulations with measured and predicted acceleration disturbances on the International Space Station (ISS) are presented. The results of this series of simulations suggested a passive isolation system and appropriate scheduling of crew activity would provide a sufficiently "quiet" acceleration environment for spherical diffusion flames.

Mell, William E.↗

Operational Dynamic Configuration Analysis

Sectors may combine or split within areas of specialization in response to changing traffic patterns. This method of managing capacity and controller workload could be made more flexible by dynamically modifying sector boundaries. Much work has been done on methods for dynamically creating new sector boundaries [1-5]. Many assessments of dynamic configuration methods assume the current day baseline configuration remains fixed [6-7]. A challenging question is how to select a dynamic configuration baseline to assess potential benefits of proposed dynamic configuration concepts. Bloem used operational sector reconfigurations as a baseline [8]. The main difficulty is that operational reconfiguration data is noisy. Reconfigurations often occur frequently to accommodate staff training or breaks, or to complete a more complicated reconfiguration through a rapid sequence of simpler reconfigurations. Gupta quantified a few aspects of airspace boundary changes from this data [9]. Most of these metrics are unique to sector combining operations and not applicable to more flexible dynamic configuration concepts. To better understand what sort of reconfigurations are acceptable or beneficial, more configuration change metrics should be developed and their distribution in current practice should be computed. This paper proposes a method to select a simple sequence of configurations among operational configurations to serve as a dynamic configuration baseline for future dynamic configuration concept assessments. New configuration change metrics are applied to the operational data to establish current day thresholds for these metrics. These thresholds are then corroborated, refined, or dismissed based on airspace practitioner feedback. The dynamic configuration baseline selection method uses a k-means clustering algorithm to select the sequence of configurations and trigger times from a given day of operational sector combination data. The clustering algorithm selects a simplified schedule containing k configurations based on stability score of the sector combinations among the raw operational configurations. In addition, the number of the selected configurations is determined based on balance between accuracy and assessment complexity.

Lai, Chok Fung↗

Clonal Selection Based Artificial Immune System for Generalized Pattern Recognition

The last two decades has seen a rapid increase in the application of AIS (Artificial Immune Systems) modeled after the human immune system to a wide range of areas including network intrusion detection, job shop scheduling, classification, pattern recognition, and robot control. JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has developed an integrated pattern recognition/classification system called AISLE (Artificial Immune System for Learning and Exploration) based on biologically inspired models of B-cell dynamics in the immune system. When used for unsupervised or supervised classification, the method scales linearly with the number of dimensions, has performance that is relatively independent of the total size of the dataset, and has been shown to perform as well as traditional clustering methods. When used for pattern recognition, the method efficiently isolates the appropriate matches in the data set. The paper presents the underlying structure of AISLE and the results from a number of experimental studies.

pattern recognition↗

Measurements of control stability characteristics of a wind-tunnel model using a transfer function method

Recent state-of-the-art techniques in rotor systems include the use of active feedback to augment the dynamic control characteristics of an aircraft system. A recent test of a stoppable rotor with blade circulation blowing was conducted in the Ames Research Center's 40by 80-ft wind tunnel. A major part of the test schedule was dedicated to the acquisition of data to determine the stability of a closed-loop hub-moment feedback control system. Therefore, the open-loop control response was measured at several flight conditions to ascertain the stability of the system prior to the final closed-loop feedback control test. Measurements were made during both the stopped and rotating rotor modes, and open-loop Bode plots were obtained for the control loops associated with the moments about the longitudinal and lateral axis.

Chopra, I.↗

A CLIPS prototype for autonomous power system control

The model of the system assumes a constant power source and loads (experiments) whose power demands exceed the supply. Experiments are described by their name, power consumption, time for a complete run, present status and the state of the load. The power consumption of each load is set at a constant level but can be dynamically modified by the operator. The status specifies if the experiment is running, paused, completed or failed. The state compensates for the lack of actual feedback sensor data, by signifying the stability of the load. Experiments are scheduled to keep as many running as possible with the current system limitations. A graphics oriented user interface is embedded into the rule-based system to enable an operator to easily experiment with the system.

Vezina, James M.↗

Rotor blade-vortex interaction noise reduction and vibration using higher harmonic control

The use of higher harmonic control (HHC) of blade pitch to reduce blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise is examined by means of a rotor acoustic test. A dynamically scaled, four-bladed, articulated rotor model was tested in a heavy gas (Freon-12) medium. Acoustic and vibration measurements were made for a large range of matched flight conditions where prescribed (open loop) HHC pitch schedules were superimposed on the normal (baseline) collective and cyclic trim pitch. A novel sound power measurement technique was developed to take advantage of the reverberance in the hard walled tunnel. Quantitative sound power results are presented for a 4/rev (4P) collective pitch HHC. By comparing the results using 4P HHC to corresponding baseline (no HHC) conditions, significant midfrequency noise reductions of 5-6 dB are found for low-speed descent conditions where BVI is most intense. For other flight conditions, noise is found to increase with the use of HHC. LF loading noise, as well as fixed and rotating frame vibration levels, show increased levels.

Brooks, Thomas F.↗

Degradation of Coflon in Methanol at Temperatures Around 140 C

An unexpected and significant physico-chemical degradation of Coflon PVDF specimens was observed at the end of 1994 during routine scheduled exposure exercises on strained material. The intent was to age various samples, including some strained in a 4-point bend configuration, in methanol at 140 C and subsequently submit the aged samples to various tests including dynamic fatigue and fracture toughness. However, the samples deteriorated to such an extent that such testing was not possible: only when conditions were made less severe was it found possible to perform such testing. The purpose of the current report is to describe the nature of the PVDF deterioration observed during a number of tests performed to examine this phenomenon. This report also records, as Appendix 1, some SEM/X-ray microanalysis data on Coflon samples exposed to a methanol/amine mixture, and to other amine or H2S-aged samples.

Campion, R. P.↗

Overview of the Third Convection and Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX-3)

The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) is a series of field research investigations sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The third field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-3) is scheduled for 6 August - 23 September, 1998 to study tropical cyclone development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft remote sensing instrumentation. This study will yield high spatial and temporal information of hurricane structure, dynamics, and motion. These data, when analyzed within the context of more traditional aircraft, satellite, and ground-based radar observations, should provide additional insight to hurricane modelers and forecasters who continually strive to improve hurricane predictions. During CAMEX-3, NASA will deploy a high attitude ER-2 and medium altitude DC-8 aircraft from Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Ground-based instrumentation will also be stationed on Andros Island, Bahamas. Opportunities for coordinated aircraft missions with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Research Division are also being planned. This presentation will provide an overview of the CAMEX-3 missions and key case studies sampled. Data availability and access will also be discussed.

Hood, Robbie↗

Economic dispatch for electricity merchant with energy storage and wind plant: State of charge based decision making considering market impact and uncertainties

Here this paper investigates how the market impact of electricity merchants and uncertainty of wind generation affect their co-optimized scheduling policy, specifically for merchants who have both energy storage and wind plants. In the existing literature, merchants' trading actions are usually assumed not to affect market prices; however, a large-scale energy storage merchant's actions can affect market prices. To this end, we approximate the electricity price by a linear function of the quantity of power traded by the merchant in the reward function to achieve decision-making incorporating the market impact. This paper utilizes the dynamic programming approach to analyze merchants' optimal multi-period decision-making incorporating market impact, uncertain wind generation, and energy storage constraints. First, our results demonstrate that for a merchant with co-located energy storage facilities and wind power plants, the energy storage's feasible state of charge (SOC) range can be segmented into four possible sub-ranges by three analytically developed SOC reference points. The unique optimal trading decision can be achieved by comparing the current energy inventory and the SOC references of the next period. Second, our results show that market impact and uncertainties substantially change the optimal storage scheduling policy by impacting the values of the reference points. To mitigate the negative effect of the merchant's market impact on buying and selling actions, the merchant may reduce the amount of generating or pumping electricity each period to maximize profit. Moreover, we identify and investigate the trade-off between market price and transaction quantity. Our findings provide co-optimized scheduling guidance for electricity merchants with co-located energy storage and renewable power plants systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Description of and preliminary tests results for the Joint Damping Experiment (JDX)

An effort is currently underway to develop an experiment titled joint Damping E_periment (JDX) to fly on the Space Shuttle as Get Away Special Payload G-726. This project is funded by NASA's IN-Space Technology Experiments Program and is scheduled to fly in July 1995 on STS-69. JDX will measure the influence of gravity on the structural damping of a three bay truss having clearance fit pinned joints. Structural damping is an important parameter in the dynamics of space structures. Future space structures will require more precise knowledge of structural damping than is currently available. The mission objectives are to develop a small-scale shuttle flight experiment that allows researchers to: (1) characterize the influence of gravity and joint gaps on structural damping and dynamic behavior of a small-scale truss model, and (2) evaluate the applicability of low-g aircraft test results for predicting on-orbit behavior. Completing the above objectives will allow a better understanding and/or prediction of structural damping occurring in a pin jointed truss. Predicting damping in joints is quite difficult. One of the important variables influencing joint damping is gravity. Previous work has shown that gravity loads can influence damping in a pin jointed truss structure. Flying this experiment as a GAS payload will allow testing in a microgravity environment. The on-orbit data (in micro-gravity) will be compared with ground test results. These data will be used to help develop improved models to predict damping due to pinned joints. Ground and low-g aircraft testing of this experiment has been completed. This paper describes the experiment and presents results of both ground and low-g aircraft tests which demonstrate that damping of the truss is dramatically influenced by gravity.

Bingham, Jeffrey G.↗

Early Development of the First Earth Venture Mission: How CYGNSS Is Using Engineering Models to Validate the Design

In response to the recommendations made in the National Research Council' s Ear th Science and Applications 2007 Decadal Sur vey, NASA has initiated the Ear th Venture line of mission oppor tunities. The fir st orbital mission chosen for this competitively selected, cost and schedule constrained, Pr incipal Investigator -led oppor tunity is the CYclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). The goal of CYGNSS is to understand the coupling between ocean sur face proper ties, moist atmospher ic thermodynamics, radiation, and convective dynamics in the inner core of a tropical cyclone. The CYGNSS mission is compr ised of eight Low Ear th Obser ving (LEO) micr osatellites that use GPS bi-static scatterometry to measure ocean sur face winds.

Wells, James↗

Overview of the Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN) Activity

The Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN) activity is a collaboration between Georgia Tech and NASA to design and develop a 1,000 lb gross weight class eVTOL research aircraft. The vision for RAVEN is that the aircraft will serve as a “flying laboratory” for enduring research and technology development applications across the realm of eVTOL technologies. A major goal of RAVEN is to disseminate the aircraft design geometry and data from flight tests for the benefit of the broader aeronautics community. Initial research applications will include flight dynamics, controls, acoustics, and automation/autonomy. The aircraft is based on the airframe of a fixed-wing experimental homebuilt airplane that will be modified to incorporate a distributed propulsion system, battery system, fly-by-wire flight control system, and avionics to enable remotely piloted operation. The aircraft is being designed to use commercial off-the-shelf components to the maximum extent practicable to save costs and to accelerate the development schedule without compromising the goal of publishing design geometry and test data. The RAVEN activity is also focused on workforce development by training the next generation of aerospace engineers in eVTOL technologies.

eVTOL↗

Estimating value of information for heliostat washing operations at solar thermal plants

Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants depend on thousands of heliostats whose reflectance declines as dust accumulates. Operators routinely measure reflectance to estimate soiling and, in turn, inform cleaning schedules, but the value of collecting more frequent or more accurate data has not been formally quantified. This study introduces a Monte Carlo discrete event simulation framework that integrates stochastic models of soiling, weather, and measurement error with a dynamic cleaning dispatch policy to estimate annual energy production and operations costs. Applied to two representative central-receiver field configurations, the results show that both the frequency and accuracy of reflectance measurements can meaningfully impact plant performance. In both case studies, reducing measurement intervals yields significant returns, with the energy gains greatly exceeding the cost of more frequent data collection. The simulation framework serves as a decision-support tool for CSP operators, allowing them to input site-specific soiling conditions, measurement accuracy, and survey frequency to evaluate the tradeoffs between data collection cost and energy recovery, and to identify measurement strategies that maximize plant profit.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

A workstation-based evaluation of a far-field route planner for helicopters

Helicopter flight missions at very low, nap of the Earth, altitudes place a heavy workload on the pilot. To aid in reducing this workload, Ames Research Center has been investigating various types of automated route planners. As part of an automated preflight mission planner, a route planner algorithm aids in selecting the overall (far-field) route to be flown. During the mission, the route planner can be used to replan a new route in case of unexpected threats or change in mission requirements. An evaluation of a candidate route planning algorithm, based on dynamic programming techniques is described. This algorithm meets most of the requirements for route planning, both preflight and during the mission. In general, the requirements are to minimize the distance and/or fuel and the deviation from a flight time schedule, and must be flyable within the constraints of available fuel and time.

Warner, David N., Jr.↗

Calibration of a COTS Integration Cost Model Using Local Project Data

The software measures and estimation techniques appropriate to a Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) integration project differ from those commonly used for custom software development. Labor and schedule estimation tools that model COTS integration are available. Like all estimation tools, they must be calibrated with the organization's local project data. This paper describes the calibration of a commercial model using data collected by the Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) of the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC). The model calibrated is SLIM Release 4.0 from Quantitative Software Management (QSM). By adopting the SLIM reuse model and by treating configuration parameters as lines of code, we were able to establish a consistent calibration for COTS integration projects. The paper summarizes the metrics, the calibration process and results, and the validation of the calibration.

Boland, Dillard↗

Advanced Optical Measurement Techniques

This research analyzes four areas: (1) Improved Techniques for Optical Measurement; (2) KC-135 Low Gravity Simulation Flight Preparation; (3) In-Line Holographic Microscopy; and (4) Holographic Optical Schlieren System (HOSS). The first task provides for laboratory breadboarding of advanced optical measurement techniques which appear promising for use in Material Processing System (MPS) flight experiments. A laboratory schlieren system has been constructed which simulates a similar optical system on the Fluids Experiment System (FES) which is to be flown on Spacelab 3. The second task allows improved optical systems and breadboards to be built for experiments and hardware tests on the KC-135 aircraft. A new, more stable Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been developed and components have been ordered. The third task is concerned with improvements on the optical system being used to study immiscible fluids. Experiments studying the dynamics of nucleation and the separation of immiscible fluids have been conducted. The four task involves building breadboard reconstruction systems for holograms taken in the HOSS. The HOSS is an early prototype of the Fluids Experiments System (FES) which is scheduled to fly on Spacelab 3.

Owen, R. B.↗

A Convex Approach to Fault Tolerant Control

The design of control laws for dynamic systems with the potential for actuator failures is considered in this work. The use of Linear Matrix Inequalities allows more freedom in controller design criteria than typically available with robust control. This work proposes an extension of fault-scheduled control design techniques that can find a fixed controller with provable performance over a set of plants. Through convexity of the objective function, performance bounds on this set of plants implies performance bounds on a range of systems defined by a convex hull. This is used to incorporate performance bounds for a variety of soft and hard failures into the control design problem.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗