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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Low SWaP Onboard Satellite Navigation, Guidance, and Control Technology

Onboard autonomy is a necessity for responsive space operations. Autonomous navigation, guidance, and control (NGC) enables space missions to reduce their dependence on high demand ground assets and costly ground personnel. It also allows for in-situ decision making and higher return on mission data. A flight software and hardware system providing this capability, called “autoNGC,” is currently being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for infusion into multiple future missions. The first build of autoNGC, providing autonomous navigation for lunar orbiting spacecraft, is targeted for completion by Fall 2024. It provides sensor fusion of multiple measurement types including pseudo-range from a weak signal Global Navigation Satellite Service (GNSS) receiver, 1-way and 2-way direct to Earth (DTE) range and Doppler, bearing and range from optical camera sensed images, and an accelerometer. AutoNGC is also being targeted for future missions that involve small body proximity operations, Sun Earth Libration point orbits, and distributed systems missions (DSMs) including those at outer planets. AutoNGC flight software is being built upon the plug-and-play architecture of the core Flight System (cFS) [Ref. 1]. Figure (Slide 7) shows the message-based software bus layout of various software applications (“apps”) consisting of the standard cFS apps and autoNGC interface apps and libraries. Accurate onboard navigation and timing is obtained through the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS) software library [Ref. 2], which fuses different measurement types through an extended Kalman filter (EKF) framework. Optical measurements that are ingested in GEONS are provided by the cFS Goddard Image Analysis and Navigation Tool (cGIANT) app [Ref. 3]. This app processes optical images to extract the bearing angles of the centroid of the imaged body (near or far), the range to the imaged body, and/or of the features on the surface of a body to perform terrain relative navigation (TRN). Measurement of range to the body’s center of mass can also be derived from the detection of the limb. The first build of autoNGC for a lunar orbiting spacecraft is a minimal size, weight, and power (SWaP) hardware design allowing for inclusion into CubeSats and SmallSat-size class buses. Advancements in miniaturized space processors, such as the SpaceCube 3.0 Mini and the SpaceCube Mini-Z [Ref. 4] are utilized for low SWaP while maintaining a high level of performance. Figure (Slide 11) shows the composition of the first autoNGC build. The current enclosure design has dimensions 12 cm x 17 cm x 13.5 cm. The box mass is expected to be less than 2 kg, and the nominal power is 21 W. The hardware interfaces are designed for flexibility with a variety of sensor inputs. The achievable navigation performance depends on the sensors utilized, including the onboard clock for 1-way pseudo-range measurements. Analysis using a configuration that consists of weak signal GPS, TRN, and 1-way DTE has shown position and velocity accuracies of 10 meters and 2 cm/s (3-σ ) RSS, respectively, with onboard time knowledge estimated to better than 13 ns (3-σ ), for a spacecraft in a representative 12-hour eccentric lunar orbit. Other measurement types such as x-rays from known pulsars (called XNAV) and cross-links can also be processed in GEONS. With the plug-and-play architecture of autoNGC, cFS apps can easily be added and replaced, even after launch. Goddard is actively seeking partners to collaborate in the development of additional capabilities for autoNGC, including industry, academia, and others across the US Government. Plans are being formulated to make the autoNGC software platform available for use by any US government organization to leverage the non-recurring engineering associated with the development of onboard autonomous NGC 3 capabilities. As advancements in space qualified sensors, microprocessors, and algorithms are made, the autoNGC platform provides a ready starting point for inclusion of these technologies.

C. J. Gramling↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhancing Worker Safety During Off-Site Construction of Energy-Efficient, Low-Carbon Exterior Envelope

The construction industry is not doing enough to embrace off-site modular construction. It is a missed opportunity for optimized energy efficiency because prefabricated exterior wall envelopes are lower in cost and faster and easier to install. Factory off-site construction offers improved safety for construction workers because work is done in a controlled environment, but lack of intent, understanding, and data is also a missed opportunity for enhancing worker safety. This research looks specifically at the prefabricated wall exterior envelope in the context of safety. The research question is "off-site factories build with ease of energy efficiency and lowered carbon emissions, but is the process safer?" This research was funded by NREL Student Training in Applied Research (STAR) program, University Partnerships Program, and Wells Fargo Bank. Key finding is that modular and prefabricated construction are perceived to be safer, but the accident rates are much higher than in the general construction and manufacturing industries. Proposed solutions to decrease accidents in off-site prefabricated construction includes safety training for workers, provide movable kiosks with PPE at workstations, ensure tools are well-maintained and place safety posters in visible locations. Future work includes improving worker safety to increase worker productivity, perform pilot demonstration, work with factory designers for new modular layout for worker safety, i.e., easy access to PPE kiosks, and work closely with OSHA so that they take notice of this safety niche.

drywall↗
DOE OSTI2019

EGS Collab Experiment 2: Core Logs

Core logs and photos from the EGS Collab project Experiment 2 for the Top Vertical well (TV4100) and the Top Horizontal well (TV 4100) on the 4100 Level of SURF (the Sanford Underground Research Facility). The core logs are stored in a single PDF file with 5-ft run intervals. In the monitoring well IDs, "O" indicates that the well is orthogonal to the anticipated fracture plane, "T" refers to top, and "H" refers to horizontal. A core log CT scan for TV4100 and a layout image of the 4100 wells are included as well. Logs include: experiment number; borehole ID; depth interval; run number; final packed core box number; scribe line (yes/no; red-on-right convention); logging dates; logger initials; as well as sketches of core foliation, folding, and fracturing with additional details and notes on other features of interest. Shift reports include: date, location, personnel, summary of site activity, and field notes.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

WavePropaGator : interactive framework for X-ray free-electron laser optics design and simulations

This article describes the WavePropaGator (WPG) package, a new interactive software framework for coherent and partially coherent X-ray wavefront propagation simulations. The package has been developed at European XFEL for users at the existing and emerging free-electron laser (FEL) facilities, as well as at the third-generation synchrotron sources and future diffraction-limited storage rings. The WPG addresses the needs of beamline scientists and user groups to facilitate the design, optimization and improvement of X-ray optics to meet their experimental requirements. The package uses the Synchrotron Radiation Workshop (SRW) C/C++ library and its Python binding for numerical wavefront propagation simulations. The framework runs reliably under Linux, Microsoft Windows 7 and Apple Mac OS X and is distributed under an open-source license. The available tools allow for varying source parameters and optics layouts and visualizing the results interactively. The wavefront history structure can be used for tracking changes in every particular wavefront during propagation. The batch propagation mode enables processing of multiple wavefronts in workflow mode. The paper presents a general description of the package and gives some recent application examples, including modeling of full X-ray FEL beamlines and start-to-end simulation of experiments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

UEMtomaton: A Source-Available Platform to Aid in Start-up of Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Labs

The steady rise in the number of ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) labs, in addition to the opacity and lack of detailed descriptions of current approaches that would enable point-by-point construction, has created an opportunity for sharing common methods and instrumentation for (for example) automating data acquisition to assist in efficient lab start-up and to learn about common and robust protocols. In the spirit of open sharing of methods, we provide here a description of an entry-level method and user interface (UI) for automating UEM experiments, and we provide access to the source code and scripts (source-available) for ease of implementation or as a starting reference point for those entering or seeking to enter the field (https://github.com/CEMSFlannigan/UEMtomaton/releases/tag/v1.0). Core instrumentation and physical connections in the UEM lab at Minnesota are described. Interface communication schemes consisting of duo server-client pairs between critical components – the optical delay stage and the UEM digital camera – are presented, with emphasis placed on describing the logic and communications sequence designed to conduct automated series acquisitions. An application designed and programmed with C++/CLI as Windows Forms in Microsoft Visual Studio – dubbed UEMtomaton – is also presented. Key to the UI layout is centralization of the automation tasks and establishment of communication within the software rather than by interfacing with each individual workstation. It is our hope that this note provides useful insight for current and future UEM researchers, particularly with respect to generalizability and portability of the approach to emerging labs. Here, we note that while this basic, entry-level approach is certainly not the most sophisticated or comprehensive of those currently in use, we feel there is nevertheless value in clearly communicating a proven straightforward method to hopefully lower the barrier to entry into the field.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1989

Techniques for optimizing human-machine information transfer related to real-time interactive display systems

In recent years the needs of ground-based researcher-analysts to access real-time engineering data in the form of processed information has expanded rapidly. Fortunately, the capacity to deliver that information has also expanded. The development of advanced display systems is essential to the success of a research test activity. Those developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATR), range from simple alphanumerics to interactive mapping and graphics. These unique display systems are designed not only to meet basic information display requirements of the user, but also to take advantage of techniques for optimizing information display. Future ground-based display systems will rely heavily not only on new technologies, but also on interaction with the human user and the associated productivity with that interaction. The psychological abilities and limitations of the user will become even more important in defining the difference between a usable and a useful display system. This paper reviews the requirements for development of real-time displays; the psychological aspects of design such as the layout, color selection, real-time response rate, and interactivity of displays; and an analysis of some existing WATR displays.

Granaas, Michael M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

MetaPoL: Immersive VR based Indoor Patterns of Life (PoL) and Anomalies Data Generation for Insider Threat Modeling in Nuclear Security

Insider threats are perhaps the most serious challenges that nuclear and radiological security systems face. Insiders pose such a great threat due to their access, authority, and knowledge, granting them opportunities to bypass dedicated nuclear and radiological security elements. For example, in one of the latest major insider threat incidents to nuclear security, the Doel-4 nuclear powerplant in Belgium suffered a shutdown, the threat of nuclear materials diversion, and long-term loss of tens of millions of dollars. Seven years of investigation concluded that it was an inside job and attempted sabotage. In this regard, there is an immediate need for R&D and technology integration in the domain of modeling indoor Patterns-of-Life (PoL) and anomaly detection. This can be achieved by using datasets of facility users’ mobility and activity, which can support the design of algorithms for insider threat modeling and detection. However, due to classification, privacy, sensitivity, and safety protocols, such datasets from real physical nuclear reactor facilities are not only hard to share, but also not always feasible to deploy and collect. Aiming to find an alternate solution, our proposed demonstration work - MetaPoL, is the first-ever (for the application space) immersive VR (virtual reality) environment of a real-world secure facility and allows users to move-and-stay through the designed indoor physical layout and also encounter NPCs (non-player characters) that emulate other facility users. In the MetaPoL an interactive user performs realistic spatio-temporal movement, dwelling and activities using a Meta Quest Pro VR headset, and that generates high-frequency (in time) high-resolution (in space) indoor spatial-temporal datasets that are valuable for PoL modeling and anomaly detection research specifically for insider threat modeling and detection mission. Such generated realistic, rich in context, and mission specific datasets can boost AI/Machine Learning based research for modeling and detecting insider threats in nuclear security and nonproliferation.

Gunaratne, Chathika↗
DOE OSTI2021

SECARB Regional Project Assessment

The SECARB Cranfield Early Test Project was designed to safely demonstrate large-scale, long-term CO 2 injection and storage in a CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operation and associated saline reservoir. Storage during EOR operations has the potential to offset commercial costs, holding a significant promise for future large-scale deployment in the southeastern United States. Denbury Onshore LLC began CO 2 -EOR operations in July 2008 at the Cranfield oilfield located east of Natchez, Mississippi (Figure 1). The location offered an ideal setting to investigate storage monitoring at a commercial CO 2 -EOR operation. The field team, led by the Gulf Coast Carbon Center of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, deployed the largest suite of monitoring, verification, accounting (MVA) technologies to collect data to assess long-term CO 2 utilization and storage. The CO 2 injection interval is within the 3,000-meter-deep fluvial lower Tuscaloosa Formation, a large and regionally extensive saline reservoir, at a broad four-way structural closure that defines the Cranfield oilfield. Tests were conducted in the oil-producing area as well as in the non-oil-producing brine aquifer. The CO 2 used during EOR operation was transported via pipeline from the Jackson Dome, a natural source of CO 2 . The study focused on four integrated research areas: (1) the High-Volume Injection Test area (HiVIT); (2) the Detailed Area of Study (DAS); (3) the Geomechanical area; and (4) the near-surface observatory, also called the “P-site.” CO 2 injection occurred at the HiVIT and the DAS (Figure 2 and Figure 3). The DAS was located down-dip of the oil-water interface of the Cranfield oilfield. The well layout included one injection well and two down-dip observation wells. The team was the first of the regional partnerships to monitor more than 1 million metric tons of CO 2 . At the end of the project, the team monitored more than 11 million metric tons of CO 2 injected and 5 million metric tons of CO 2 stored. The Cranfield Project was the fifth project worldwide, and the first such project in the United States, to reach this CO 2 injection volume while being monitored to demonstrate storage effectiveness.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2014

Shallow Water Offshore Wind Optimization for the Great Lakes (DE-FOA-0000415) Final Report: A Conceptual Design for Wind Energy in the Great Lakes

The primary objective of the project was to develop a innovative Gravity Base Foundation (GBF) concepts, including fabrication yards, launching systems and installation equipment, for a 500MW utility scale project in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie). The goal was to lower the LCOE by 25%. The project was the first to investigate an offshore wind project in the Great Lakes and it has furthered the body of knowledge for foundations and installation methods within Lake Erie. The project collected historical geotechnical information for Lake Erie and also used recently obtained data from the LEEDCo Icebreaker Project (FOA DE-EE0005989) geotechnical program to develop the conceptual designs. Using these data-sets, the project developed design wind and wave conditions from actual buoy data in order to develop a concept that would de-risk a project using a GBF. These wind and wave conditions were then utilized to create reference designs for various foundations specific to installation in Lake Erie. A project partner on the project (Weeks Marine) provided input for construction and costing the GBF fabrication and installation. By having a marine contractor with experience with large marine projects as part of the team provides credibility to the LCOE developed by NREL. NREL then utilized the design and construction costing information as part of the LCOE model. The report summarizes the findings of the project; Developed a cost model and “baseline” LCOE; Documented Site Conditions within Lake Erie; Developed Fabrication, Installation and Foundations Innovative Concept Designs; Evaluated LCOE Impact of Innovations; Developed Assembly line “Rail System” for GBF Construction and Staging; Developed Transit-Inspired Foundation Designs which incorporated: Semi-Floating Transit with Supplemental Pontoons Barge mounted Winch System; Developed GBF with “Penetration Skirt”; Developed Integrated GBF with Turbine Tower; Developed Turbine, Plant Layout and O&M Strategies. The report details lowering LCOE by 22.3% and identified additional strategies that could further lower LCOE when building an utility scale wind farm in the Great Lakes.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Deep Energy Retrofit Performance Metric Comparison: Eight California Case Studies

In this paper we will present the results of monitored annual energy use data from eight residential Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) case studies using a variety of performance metrics. For each home, the details of the retrofits were analyzed, diagnostic tests to characterize the home were performed and the homes were monitored for total and individual end-use energy consumption for approximately one year. Annual performance in site and source energy, as well as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) emissions were determined on a per house, per person and per square foot basis to examine the sensitivity to these different metrics. All eight DERs showed consistent success in achieving substantial site energy and CO 2 e reductions, but some projects achieved very little, if any source energy reduction. This problem emerged in those homes that switched from natural gas to electricity for heating and hot water, resulting in energy consumption dominated by electricity use. This demonstrates the crucial importance of selecting an appropriate metric to be used in guiding retrofit decisions. Also, due to the dynamic nature of DERs, with changes in occupancy, size, layout, and comfort, several performance metrics might be necessary to understand a project’s success.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A New Concurrent Engineering Tool for the New Mission Design Center at NASA Ames Research Center

The NASA Ames Mission Design Center (MDC) has undergone a significant transformation process in recent years, culminating in becoming a true Concurrent Engineering Center. The underlying goal of this transformation is to better serve the Ames PI community in a cost-effective and rapidly-responsive way, providing quality products pivotal to the decision-making proposal strategy of our center. The four pillars of the change focus on four areas: personnel, physical places, tools, and training. Personnel: the MDC switched from using a dedicated pool of engineers—mostly entry-level career—for a matrixed approach with more experienced Subject Matter Experts, usually involved in spaceflight projects. These SMEs get detailed to the MDC for the duration of the study on a part-time or full-time basis. Physical places: The physical aspect pertains mostly to the layout of the new Engineering building and the dedicated concurrent engineering layout to foster collaboration. The current plan includes a dedicated space for concurrent engineering sessions as well as dedicated project rooms for concept studies. Tool: the MDC team is developing a new in-house concurrent engineering tool to facilitate concurrent engineering sessions. The team leveraged the many lessons learned and insight gained from using the current concurrent engineering tool, in use since 2007. SMEs have been involved throughout its design and development, ensuring accuracy and providing validity to the implementation approach. This new tool is database-driven and allows a team to work concurrently on the same model of a mission concept. “Workspaces” are provided for each of the traditional spacecraft mission design disciplines, including cost accounting and systems engineering. There are multiple tiers of fidelity available within each workspace, which can be completed parametrically or independently from the other disciplines as needed or synchronously with the other disciplines. A “commit” step synchronizes a workspace with the mission database and identifies any potential conflicts, along with the user who entered the conflicting data. A Mission Summary workspace enables a Study Lead to run an effective CE session, displaying key graphics, workspace status information, and technical and monetary budget information. This new CE tool will be undergoing Beta Testing with its primary user base and a limited Parts database in the summer of 2020. The team plans to release the first fully operational version in December 2020. Training: working in early concept development and maturation for a space mission requires a unique mindset and being comfortable with uncertainties in an environment where requirements are not yet fully developed, and where changes and trade-offs happen at a high tempo. The MDC started a weekly training program to ensure a common knowledge base on how do develop and mature early concept studies, as well as how to operate in a concurrent engineering environment. In conclusion, the MDC transformation will provide the overall PI community focused on cost-effective small satellite scientific missions with a powerful tool to address and mature early concepts more effectively and efficiently.

David Mauro↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effects of antenna beam chromaticity on redshifted 21 cm power spectrum and implications for hydrogen epoch of reionization array

Unaccounted for systematics from foregrounds and instruments can severely limit the sensitivity of current experiments from detecting redshifted 21 cm signals from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Upcoming experiments are faced with a challenge to deliver more collecting area per antenna element without degrading the data with systematics. This paper and its companions show that dishes are viable for achieving this balance using the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) as an example. Here, we specifically identify spectral systematics associated with the antenna power pattern as a significant detriment to all EoR experiments which causes the already bright foreground power to leak well beyond ideal limits and contaminate the otherwise clean EoR signal modes. A primary source of this chromaticity is reflections in the antenna-feed assembly and between structures in neighboring antennas. Using precise foreground simulations taking wide-field effects into account, we provide a generic framework to set cosmologically motivated design specifications on these reflections to prevent further EoR signal degradation. We show that HERA will not be impeded by such spectral systematics and demonstrate that even in a conservative scenario that does not perform removal of foregrounds, HERA will detect the EoR signal in line-of-sight k-modes, k{sub ∥}≳0.2 h Mpc{sup −1}, with high significance. Under these conditions, all baselines in a 19-element HERA layout are capable of detecting EoR over a substantial observing window on the sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing Development of Emissions Detection (Final Report)

This document is the final report to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE for contract DE-FE0031873) awarded to Colorado State University (CSU). CSU and partners at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, University of Texas Arlington, and University of Texas at Austin organized several testing rounds to provide knowledge focused on advancing the detection capabilities of emissions monitoring devices. With this funding opportunity the research group began by establishing the Advancing the Development of Emission Detection (ADED) program, with the goal focused on enhancing the accuracy, reliability, and field applicability of methane detection technologies. This effort aimed to address the critical challenges of identifying and quantifying methane emissions while enabling industry stakeholders to meet regulatory compliance and environmental sustainability goals. The program engaged with industry, government, and technology stakeholders to promote adoption and consensus on testing techniques for methane detection solutions. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, contributes significantly to global warming, and the oil and natural gas (O&G) sector is a primary source of methane emissions. Regulatory measures such as leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs have been implemented to address emissions. However, traditional LDAR approaches, reliant on handheld and component-level measurements, are resource-intensive. To address these limitations and move with evolving regulations, advanced methane technologies are emerging. These solutions include ground-based sensors, mobile systems (e.g., drones, vehicles, and aircraft), and satellite-based platforms. They offer innovative capabilities for autonomous monitoring, larger spatial coverage, and emission quantification using methods such as tracer gas techniques and inverse modeling with Gaussian plume analysis. The ADED program began with creating protocols for methane controlled release (CR) testing these continuous monitoring (CM) and survey technologies that detect and monitor methane emissions at O&G facilities. The protocols were then implemented throughout testing of CM and survey devices at CSU’s Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center (METEC) facility from 2021 through 2024. As apart of the protocol, solutions that tested under the ADED program installed their solutions at METEC, documented their system under test, and provided detection reports to the METEC team for analysis. The METEC team would provide the solutions with analyzed reports of their emissions and ground truth data of the releases conducted during their testing session. Under the ADED program, CMs were also tested at O&G facilities for a six week test run of challenge release (ChR) releases. The findings from the ADED program underscore the critical role of collaborative research and innovation in tackling methane emissions, offering a pathway for the oil and gas sector to achieve significant environmental and economic benefits. Results from METEC testing saw improvement of performance and accuracy across all solutions over the extent of the ADED experiments. The results also showed a variance in CM solution performance between CRs and ChRs. That variance pushed the team to further analyze the differences between CR testing environments and field conditions. With the drive from regulations and that variance in field conditions, the ADED team began designing a new CR testing protocol and additions to the METEC testing facility. The METEC team is furthering the progress made through the ADED program with awarded funding from DE-FE0032276. This funding pushes the development of METEC’s addition with new equipment, allowing for an updated facility layout. METEC still facilitates for traditional facilities, with a legacy pad, while expanding an new design based on how O&G infrastructure has Final Report - Contract Number: DE-FE0031873 been changed over the last decade. Throughout the ADED program the team has also been working with international partners to ensure staying in the trend globally. International partners have been essential in moving the new protocol forward to implement into CR testing at the METEC facility in Spring 2025.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Beamline K11 DIAD: a new instrument for dual imaging and diffraction at Diamond Light Source

The Dual Imaging and Diffraction (DIAD) beamline at Diamond Light Source is a new dual-beam instrument for full-field imaging/tomography and powder diffraction. This instrument provides the user community with the capability to dynamically image 2D and 3D complex structures and perform phase identification and/or strain mapping using micro-diffraction. The aim is to enable in situ and in operando experiments that require spatially correlated results from both techniques, by providing measurements from the same specimen location quasi-simultaneously. Using an unusual optical layout, DIAD has two independent beams originating from one source that operate in the medium energy range (7–38 keV) and are combined at one sample position. Here, either radiography or tomography can be performed using monochromatic or pink beam, with a 1.4 mm × 1.2 mm field of view and a feature resolution of 1.2 µm. Micro-diffraction is possible with a variable beam size between 13 µm × 4 µm and 50 µm × 50 µm. One key functionality of the beamline is image-guided diffraction, a setup in which the micro-diffraction beam can be scanned over the complete area of the imaging field-of-view. This moving beam setup enables the collection of location-specific information about the phase composition and/or strains at any given position within the image/tomography field of view. The dual beam design allows fast switching between imaging and diffraction mode without the need of complicated and time-consuming mode switches. Real-time selection of areas of interest for diffraction measurements as well as the simultaneous collection of both imaging and diffraction data of (irreversible) in situ and in operando experiments are possible.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Application of performance portability solutions for GPUs and many-core CPUs to track reconstruction kernels

Next generation High-Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are presented with significant computational challenges, both in terms of data volume and processing power. Using compute accelerators, such as GPUs, is one of the promising ways to provide the necessary computational power to meet the challenge. The current programming models for compute accelerators often involve using architecture-specific programming languages promoted by the hardware vendors and hence limit the set of platforms that the code can run on. Developing software with platform restrictions is especially unfeasible for HEP communities as it takes significant effort to convert typical HEP algorithms into ones that are efficient for compute accelerators. Multiple performance portability solutions have recently emerged and provide an alternative path for using compute accelerators, which allow the code to be executed on hardware from different vendors. We apply several portability solutions, such as Kokkos, SYCL, C++17 std::execution::par and Alpaka, on two mini-apps extracted from the mkFit project: p2z and p2r. These apps include basic kernels for a Kalman filter track fit, such as propagation and update of track parameters, for detectors at a fixed z or fixed r position, respectively. The two mini-apps explore different memory layout formats. We report on the development experience with different portability solutions, as well as their performance on GPUs and many-core CPUs, measured as the throughput of the kernels from different GPU and CPU vendors such as NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

Kwok, Ka Martin↗
DOE OSTI2024

Application of performance portability solutions for GPUs and many-core CPUs to track reconstruction kernels

Next generation High-Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are presented with significant computational challenges, both in terms of data volume and processing power. Using compute accelerators, such as GPUs, is one of the promising ways to provide the necessary computational power to meet the challenge. The current programming models for compute accelerators often involve using architecture-specific programming languages promoted by the hardware vendors and hence limit the set of platforms that the code can run on. Developing software with platform restrictions is especially unfeasible for HEP communities as it takes significant effort to convert typical HEP algorithms into ones that are efficient for compute accelerators. Multiple performance portability solutions have recently emerged and provide an alternative path for using compute accelerators, which allow the code to be executed on hardware from different vendors. We apply several portability solutions, such as Kokkos, SYCL, C++17 std::execution::par, Alpaka, and OpenMP/OpenACC, on two mini-apps extracted from the mkFit project: p2z and p2r. These apps include basic kernels for a Kalman filter track fit, such as propagation and update of track parameters, for detectors at a fixed z or fixed r position, respectively. The two mini-apps explore different memory layout formats. We report on the development experience with different portability solutions, as well as their performance on GPUs and many-core CPUs, measured as the throughput of the kernels from different GPU and CPU vendors such as NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

Kwok, Ka Hei Martin↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Human Factors Evaluation of a Methodology for Pressurized Crew Module Acceptability for Zero-Gravity Ingress of Spacecraft

This project aimed to develop a methodology for evaluating performance and acceptability characteristics of the pressurized crew module volume suitability for zero-gravity (g) ingress of a spacecraft and to evaluate the operational acceptability of the NASA crew return vehicle (CRV) for zero-g ingress of astronaut crew, volume for crew tasks, and general crew module and seat layout. No standard or methodology has been established for evaluating volume acceptability in human spaceflight vehicles. Volume affects astronauts'ability to ingress and egress the vehicle, and to maneuver in and perform critical operational tasks inside the vehicle. Much research has been conducted on aircraft ingress, egress, and rescue in order to establish military and civil aircraft standards. However, due to the extremely limited number of human-rated spacecraft, this topic has been un-addressed. The NASA CRV was used for this study. The prototype vehicle can return a 7-member crew from the International Space Station in an emergency. The vehicle's internal arrangement must be designed to facilitate rapid zero-g ingress, zero-g maneuverability, ease of one-g egress and rescue, and ease of operational tasks in multiple acceleration environments. A full-scale crew module mockup was built and outfitted with representative adjustable seats, crew equipment, and a volumetrically equivalent hatch. Human factors testing was conducted in three acceleration environments using ground-based facilities and the KC-135 aircraft. Performance and acceptability measurements were collected. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of variance and nonparametric techniques.

Sanchez, Merri J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Control of Wind Tunnel Operations Using Neural Net Interpretation of Flow Visualization Records

Neural net control of operations in a small subsonic/transonic/supersonic wind tunnel at Lewis Research Center is discussed. The tunnel and the layout for neural net control or control by other parallel processing techniques are described. The tunnel is an affordable, multiuser platform for testing instrumentation and components, as well as parallel processing and control strategies. Neural nets have already been tested on archival schlieren and holographic visualizations from this tunnel as well as recent supersonic and transonic shadowgraph. This paper discusses the performance of neural nets for interpreting shadowgraph images in connection with a recent exercise for tuning the tunnel in a subsonic/transonic cascade mode of operation. That mode was operated for performing wake surveys in connection with NASA's Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) noise reduction program. The shadowgraph was presented to the neural nets as 60 by 60 pixel arrays. The outputs were tunnel parameters such as valve settings or tunnel state identifiers for selected tunnel operating points, conditions, or states. The neural nets were very sensitive, perhaps too sensitive, to shadowgraph pattern detail. However, the nets exhibited good immunity to variations in brightness, to noise, and to changes in contrast. The nets are fast enough so that ten or more can be combined per control operation to interpret flow visualization data, point sensor data, and model calculations. The pattern sensitivity of the nets will be utilized and tested to control wind tunnel operations at Mach 2.0 based on shock wave patterns.

Buggele, Alvin E.↗