Results for “user interfaces” — Page 36

NASA NTRS2016

Station Program Note Pull Automation

Upon commencement of my internship, I was in charge of maintaining the CoFR (Certificate of Flight Readiness) Tool. The tool acquires data from existing Excel workbooks on NASA's and Boeing's databases to create a new spreadsheet listing out all the potential safety concerns for upcoming flights and software transitions. Since the application was written in Visual Basic, I had to learn a new programming language and prepare to handle any malfunctions within the program. Shortly afterwards, I was given the assignment to automate the Station Program Note (SPN) Pull process. I developed an application, in Python, that generated a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that will be used by the International Space Station Safety & Mission Assurance team here at Johnson Space Center. The application will allow its users to download online files with the click of a button, import SPN's based on three different pulls, instantly manipulate and filter spreadsheets, and compare the three sources to determine which active SPN's (Station Program Notes) must be reviewed for any upcoming flights, missions, and/or software transitions. Initially, to perform the NASA SPN pull (one of three), I had created the program to allow the user to login to a secure webpage that stores data, input specific parameters, and retrieve the desired SPN's based on their inputs. However, to avoid any conflicts with sustainment, I altered it so that the user may login and download the NASA file independently. After the user has downloaded the file with the click of a button, I defined the program to check for any outdated or pre-existing files, for successful downloads, to acquire the spreadsheet, convert it from a text file to a comma separated file and finally into an Excel spreadsheet to be filtered and later scrutinized for specific SPN numbers. Once this file has been automatically manipulated to provide only the SPN numbers that are desired, they are stored in a global variable, shown on the GUI, and transferred over to a new Excel worksheet for comparison. I managed to get my application to acquire the CSWG (Computer Safety Working Group) and the SPNWG (Space Station Working Group) SPN's with just two mouse clicks for each pull, as opposed to several from the original process. When all three pulls are performed, an Excel sheet containing all three different results will be generated for the user to compare and determine which SPN's will be presented or reviewed the following month. The experience from this internship has been spectacular. As a high school senior who will begin attending college in the fall, this internship has been both educationally and occupationally beneficial. The internship has allowed me the opportunities to learn new programming languages, effectively network with NASA personnel from a variety of departments at JSC, and allowed me to learn new professional skills and etiquette. My internship at NASA's Johnson Space Center has further motivated me to pursue a Master's degree in Software Engineering and strive for a prosperous career with NASA as a civil servant.

Delgado, Ivan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Risk-Reduction Autonomy Implementation to Enable NASA Artemis Missions

To achieve NASA’s Artemis program mission objectives a high level of autonomy that is ubiquitous throughout the systems that are being developed will be necessary. The autonomous systems of Artemis will require a distributed autonomy capability, with autonomous systems organized functionally in a hierarchical architecture, where systems at higher levels of the hierarchy have authority over systems at lower levels. The challenge of developing autonomy technologies and Concepts of Operations (ConOps) for Artemis has been undertaken by the NASA Gateway Working Group. This group has developed requirements, architectures, ConOps, and interface control documents (ICDs), in the context of a hierarchical distributed architecture that includes the following: a Vehicle System Manager (VSM) that autonomously manages the entire Gateway; Module System Managers (MSMs) that autonomously manage each module; and System Managers (SMs) that autonomously manage systems within a module (i.e. ECLSS). A substantially high level of autonomy needs to be achieved by each element of the hierarchy (VSM, MSM, SM) to meet requirements for uncrewed operations; this includes conditions that will have minimal and/or delayed ground intervention (i.e. requirements for sustainability for months of operation without crew or ground support). To advance an implementation of this autonomy design (Gateway Autonomy Design – GAD), a collaboration was established between the Autonomous Systems Laboratory (ASL) at NASA Stennis Space Center and Lockheed Martin. The objectives of this partnership were the following: (1) to implement autonomy at the VSM, MSM, and SM levels; (2) to implement communications among a VSM, 2 MSMs, ORION (a visiting vehicle somewhat equivalent to a module) and 1 SM (a power system), and (3) test autonomous operations with representative use cases. A SM backed by a high-fidelity simulation was created to facilitate demonstrations of use cases that originated in a system of a module. Communication between the VSM and MSMs was implemented according to Concepts of Operations and Interface Control Documents (ICDs). Demonstrations were conducted to address nominal and off-nominal operations and multi-module interactions with the VSM. Additionally, user interfaces were created to provide awareness about ongoing processes and results while enhancing the demonstration. Demonstrations included the following use cases: (1) Orion as visiting vehicle registers with VSM; (2) VSM reschedules a module’s timelines when another module’s MSM task fails; and (3) a module’s Power System Manager (PSM) demonstration that included component failure diagnostics, tracing component failure to effected components, which in turn, reports failure information up to the VSM for acknowledgement and display. This paper will describe the detailed technology and autonomous systems developed, and the integrated multi-module demonstrations conducted. Also, challenges that must be met to fully implement the GAD defined by Gateway will be addressed.

Fernando Figueroa↗

NASA NTRS2022

Real-Time Exposure Control and Instrument Operation With the NEID Spectrograph GUI

The NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope at Kitt Peak has completed its first full year of science operations and is reliably delivering sub-m/s precision radial velocity measurements. The NEID instrument control system uses the TIMS package (Bender et al. 2016), which is a client-server software system built around the twisted python software stack. During science observations, interaction with the NEID spectrograph is handled through a pair of graphical user interfaces (GUIs), written in PyQT, which wrap the underlying instrument control software and provide straightforward and reliable access to the instrument. Here, we detail the design of these interfaces and present an overview of their use for NEID operations. Observers can use the NEID GUIs to set the exposure time, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, and other relevant parameters for observations, configure the calibration bench and observing mode, track or edit observation metadata, and monitor the current state of the instrument. These GUIs facilitate automatic spectrograph configuration and target ingestion from the nightly observing queue, which improves operational efficiency and consistency across epochs. By interfacing with the NEID exposure meter, the GUIs also allow observers to monitor the progress of individual exposures and trigger the shutter on user-defined SNR thresholds. In addition, inset plots of the instantaneous and cumulative exposure meter counts as each observation progresses allow for rapid diagnosis of changing observing conditions as well as guiding failure and other emergent issues.

Arvind F Gupta↗

NASA NTRS1984

SMP: A solid modeling program

A prototype solid modeling program, SMP, developed by CSC for Langley Research Center (LaRC) is documented in this paper. The SMP software is employed by the System and Experiments Branch (SEB) of the Space Systems Division (SSD) for preliminary space station design, but is intended as a general purpose tool. The SMP document provides details concerning: the basic geometric modeling primitives and associated operators, the data representation scheme utilized to structure the geometric model, the available commands for both editing and displaying the solid model, the interactive user interface and the input/output interfaces to external software, and the utility of the package in the LaRC computing environment. The document is sufficiently detailed to serve both as a user's guide and reference manual.

Randall, D. P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The virtual windtunnel: Visualizing modern CFD datasets with a virtual environment

This paper describes work in progress on a virtual environment designed for the visualization of pre-computed fluid flows. The overall problems involved in the visualization of fluid flow are summarized, including computational, data management, and interface issues. Requirements for a flow visualization are summarized. Many aspects of the implementation of the virtual windtunnel were uniquely determined by these requirements. The user interface is described in detail.

Bryson, Steve↗

NASA NTRS1999

Scientific Programming Using Java and C: A Remote Sensing Example

This paper presents results of a project to port code for processing remotely sensed data from the UNIX environment to Windows. Factors considered during this process include time schedule, cost, resource availability, reuse of existing code, rapid interface development, ease of integration, and platform independence. The approach selected for this project used both Java and C. By using Java for the graphical user interface and C for the domain model, the strengths of both languages were utilized and the resulting code can easily be ported to other platforms. The advantages of this approach are discussed in this paper.

Prados, Donald↗

NASA NTRS2013

Development and Integration of an Advanced Stirling Convertor Linear Alternator Model for a Tool Simulating Convertor Performance and Creating Phasor Diagrams

A simple model of the Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASC) linear alternator and an AC bus controller has been developed and combined with a previously developed thermodynamic model of the convertor for a more complete simulation and analysis of the system performance. The model was developed using Sage, a 1-D thermodynamic modeling program that now includes electro-magnetic components. The convertor, consisting of a free-piston Stirling engine combined with a linear alternator, has sufficiently sinusoidal steady-state behavior to allow for phasor analysis of the forces and voltages acting in the system. A MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed to interface with the Sage software for simplified use of the ASC model, calculation of forces, and automated creation of phasor diagrams. The GUI allows the user to vary convertor parameters while fixing different input or output parameters and observe the effect on the phasor diagrams or system performance. The new ASC model and GUI help create a better understanding of the relationship between the electrical component voltages and mechanical forces. This allows better insight into the overall convertor dynamics and performance.

Metscher, Jonathan F.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Development and Integration of an Advanced Stirling Convertor Linear Alternator Model for a Tool Simulating Convertor Performance and Creating Phasor Diagrams

A simple model of the Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASC) linear alternator and an AC bus controller has been developed and combined with a previously developed thermodynamic model of the convertor for a more complete simulation and analysis of the system performance. The model was developed using Sage, a 1-D thermodynamic modeling program that now includes electro-magnetic components. The convertor, consisting of a free-piston Stirling engine combined with a linear alternator, has sufficiently sinusoidal steady-state behavior to allow for phasor analysis of the forces and voltages acting in the system. A MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed to interface with the Sage software for simplified use of the ASC model, calculation of forces, and automated creation of phasor diagrams. The GUI allows the user to vary convertor parameters while fixing different input or output parameters and observe the effect on the phasor diagrams or system performance. The new ASC model and GUI help create a better understanding of the relationship between the electrical component voltages and mechanical forces. This allows better insight into the overall convertor dynamics and performance.

Metscher, Jonathan F.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Common modeling system for digital simulation

The Joint Modeling and Simulation System is a tri-service investigation into a common modeling framework for the development digital models. The basis for the success of this framework is an X-window-based, open systems architecture, object-based/oriented methodology, standard interface approach to digital model construction, configuration, execution, and post processing. For years Department of Defense (DOD) agencies have produced various weapon systems/technologies and typically digital representations of the systems/technologies. These digital representations (models) have also been developed for other reasons such as studies and analysis, Cost Effectiveness Analysis (COEA) tradeoffs, etc. Unfortunately, there have been no Modeling and Simulation (M&S) standards, guidelines, or efforts towards commonality in DOD M&S. The typical scenario is an organization hires a contractor to build hardware and in doing so an digital model may be constructed. Until recently, this model was not even obtained by the organization. Even if it was procured, it was on a unique platform, in a unique language, with unique interfaces, and, with the result being UNIQUE maintenance required. Additionally, the constructors of the model expended more effort in writing the 'infrastructure' of the model/simulation (e.g. user interface, database/database management system, data journalizing/archiving, graphical presentations, environment characteristics, other components in the simulation, etc.) than in producing the model of the desired system. Other side effects include: duplication of efforts; varying assumptions; lack of credibility/validation; and decentralization in policy and execution. J-MASS provides the infrastructure, standards, toolset, and architecture to permit M&S developers and analysts to concentrate on the their area of interest.

Painter, Rick↗

NASA NTRS2000

Optimization of Microelectronic Devices for Sensor Applications

The NASA/JPL goal to reduce payload in future space missions while increasing mission capability demands miniaturization of active and passive sensors, analytical instruments and communication systems among others. Currently, typical system requirements include the detection of particular spectral lines, associated data processing, and communication of the acquired data to other systems. Advances in lithography and deposition methods result in more advanced devices for space application, while the sub-micron resolution currently available opens a vast design space. Though an experimental exploration of this widening design space-searching for optimized performance by repeated fabrication efforts-is unfeasible, it does motivate the development of reliable software design tools. These tools necessitate models based on fundamental physics and mathematics of the device to accurately model effects such as diffraction and scattering in opto-electronic devices, or bandstructure and scattering in heterostructure devices. The software tools must have convenient turn-around times and interfaces that allow effective usage. The first issue is addressed by the application of high-performance computers and the second by the development of graphical user interfaces driven by properly developed data structures. These tools can then be integrated into an optimization environment, and with the available memory capacity and computational speed of high performance parallel platforms, simulation of optimized components can proceed. In this paper, specific applications of the electromagnetic modeling of infrared filtering, as well as heterostructure device design will be presented using genetic algorithm global optimization methods.

Cwik, Tom↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Software for Optical (Laser) Ground Station Monitor and Control

Previous NASA laser communication missions have been supported by ground terminals specific to the mission. The Low-Cost Optical Terminal project (LCOT) aims to serve as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), reusable, and modular optical ground terminal prototype, provide a blueprint for future optical ground terminals, and enable optical communication experiments with a variety of spacecraft from Low Earth Orbit to lunar orbit. The goal of the internship was the development of LCOT’s Gimbal Monitor and Control (GMC) application, within the LCOT Monitor and Control Subsystem (MCS). Mount control software PWI4 was provided by mount and gimbal vendor Planewave Instruments; developed in Python, GMC integrates and interfaces with PWI4 using third party libraries such as Protobuf and RabbitMQ. As a stand in for the Monitor and Control Subsystem (MCS), a test Graphical User Interface (GUI) was created to send commands to and receive telemetry from the GMC application; these commands and telemetry are sent through the RabbitMQ message bus as Protobuf encoded messages. GMC then interfaces with PWI4 which passes along desired commands and telemetry to and from a vendor provided mount and gimbal simulator. The GMC software developed allows LCOT’s Monitor and Control Subsystem (MCS) to take advantage of the existing mount control software, advancing LCOT’s efforts in the development of the MCS. The MCS and GMC software developed will contribute to LCOT’s goal as a flexible and modular optical ground terminal prototype and blueprint, which supports development towards a potential optical ground terminal network.

space communications↗

NASA NTRS2021

Vertiport Automation Software Architecture and Requirements

The purpose of Vertiport Automation Software Architecture and Requirements was developed to mature the Vertiport Automation System (VAS) described in the High-Density Automated Vertiport ConOps, into a set of artifacts that enable the development of a VAS prototype. The scope of document was to develop: (1) A VAS Software Architecture diagram that logically organizes VAS functionality into specific software components; (2) VAS Software Trade Study identifying existing commercial products and NASA research that can be used in part or with modifications to fulfill VAS functionality. (3) A set of VAS Functional Requirements which decompose the VAS concept into software functionality, including any interfaces and data flows needed; (4) A set of VAS Test Approaches describing a methodology for verification of the VAS Functional Requirements; and (5) An application user experience (UX) design study describing the general features needed in a VAS user interface.

Advanced Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRS1993

Integration and evaluation of a simulator designed to be used within a dynamic prototyping environment

The human computer interface (HCI) prototyping environment is designed to allow developers to rapidly prototype systems so that the interface and functionality of a system can be evaluated and iteratively refined early in the development process. This keeps development costs down by modifying the interface during the requirements definition phase, thus minimizing changes that need to be made during and after flight code development. Problems occur within a system when the user interface is not adequately developed and when designers and developers have an incomplete understanding of the system requirements. A process has been developed for prototyping on-board payload displays for Space Station Freedom. This prototyping process consists of five phases: identification of known requirements, analysis of the requirements, development of a formal design representation and specification, development of the prototype, and evaluation of the prototype. The actual development of the prototype involves prototyping the displays, developing a low fidelity simulator, building of an interface (or communication) between the displays and the simulator, integration of these components, and testing to ensure that the interface does what the developer expects. This research integrates and evaluates a software tool which has been developed to serve as a simulator within the prototyping environment. The tool is being evaluated to determine whether or not it meets the basic requirements which are needed for a low fidelity simulator within this environment. In order to evaluate the architecture and its components, a human computer interface for and a simulator of an automobile have been developed as a prototype. The individual components (i.e., the interface and simulator) have been developed, and the current research was designed to integrate and test the complete working system within the prototyping environment. The following sections will describe the architecture and components of the rapid prototyping environment, the development of a system to assess the environment, and the integration and evaluation of PERCNET.

Moore, Loretta A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Implementation of a low-cost, commercial orbit determination system

This paper describes the implementation and potential applications of a workstation-based orbit determination system developed by Storm Integration, Inc. called the Precision Orbit Determination System (PODS). PODS is offered as a layered product to the commercially-available Satellite Tool Kit (STK) produced by Analytical Graphics, Inc. PODS also incorporates the Workstation/Precision Orbit Determination (WS/POD) product offered by Van Martin System, Inc. The STK graphical user interface is used to access and invoke the PODS capabilities and to display the results. WS/POD is used to compute a best-fit solution to user-supplied tracking data. PODS provides the capability to simultaneously estimate the orbits of up to 99 satellites based on a wide variety of observation types including angles, range, range rate, and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. PODS can also estimate ground facility locations, Earth geopotential model coefficients, solar pressure and atmospheric drag parameters, and observation data biases. All determined data is automatically incorporated into the STK data base, which allows storage, manipulation and export of the data to other applications. PODS is offered in three levels: Standard, Basic GPS and Extended GPS. Standard allows processing of non-GPS observation types for any number of vehicles and facilities. Basic GPS adds processing of GPS pseudo-ranging data to the Standard capabilities. Extended GPS adds the ability to process GPS carrier phase data.

Corrigan, Jim↗

NASA NTRS1999

TADS--A CFD-Based Turbomachinery Analysis and Design System with GUI: User's Manual

The primary objective of this study was the development of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based turbomachinery airfoil analysis and design system, controlled by a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The computer codes resulting from this effort are referred to as TADS (Turbomachinery Analysis and Design System). This document is intended to serve as a User's Manual for the computer programs which comprise the TADS system, developed under Task 18 of NASA Contract NAS3-27350, ADPAC System Coupling to Blade Analysis & Design System GUI and Task 10 of NASA Contract NAS3-27394, ADPAC System Coupling to Blade Analysis & Design System GUI, Phase II-Loss, Design and, Multi-stage Analysis. TADS couples a throughflow solver (ADPAC) with a quasi-3D blade-to-blade solver (RVCQ3D) in an interactive package. Throughflow analysis and design capability was developed in ADPAC through the addition of blade force and blockage terms to the governing equations. A GUI was developed to simplify user input and automate the many tasks required to perform turbomachinery analysis and design. The coupling of the various programs was done in such a way that alternative solvers or grid generators could be easily incorporated into the TADS framework. Results of aerodynamic calculations using the TADS system are presented for a highly loaded fan, a compressor stator, a low speed turbine blade and a transonic turbine vane.

Koiro, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS2011

3D Orbit Visualization for Earth-Observing Missions

This software visualizes orbit paths for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), but was designed to be general and applicable to any Earth-observing mission. The software uses the Google Earth user interface to provide a visual mechanism to explore spacecraft orbit paths, ground footprint locations, and local cloud cover conditions. In addition, a drill-down capability allows for users to point and click on a particular observation frame to pop up ancillary information such as data product filenames and directory paths, latitude, longitude, time stamp, column-average dry air mole fraction of carbon dioxide, and solar zenith angle. This software can be integrated with the ground data system for any Earth-observing mission to automatically generate daily orbit path data products in Google Earth KML format. These KML data products can be directly loaded into the Google Earth application for interactive 3D visualization of the orbit paths for each mission day. Each time the application runs, the daily orbit paths are encapsulated in a KML file for each mission day since the last time the application ran. Alternatively, the daily KML for a specified mission day may be generated. The application automatically extracts the spacecraft position and ground footprint geometry as a function of time from a daily Level 1B data product created and archived by the mission s ground data system software. In addition, ancillary data, such as the column-averaged dry air mole fraction of carbon dioxide and solar zenith angle, are automatically extracted from a Level 2 mission data product. Zoom, pan, and rotate capability are provided through the standard Google Earth interface. Cloud cover is indicated with an image layer from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aboard the Aqua satellite, which is automatically retrieved from JPL s OnEarth Web service.

Jacob, Joseph C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-Flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

Small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) operate in low-altitude, uncontrolled airspace – where support services for their operators (UASOs) are not currently provided. NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is identifying the potential risks and hazards to sUAS operations to provide, inform, and improve the designs of In-time Aviation Safety Management Systems (IASMS). The IASMS will include a suite of data-driven tools that compile and analyze data collected from aviation systems and environmental sources to predict hazards, and provide information to allow operators to mitigate these risks (Young et al., 2020). These risk and hazard services can be run and displayed to operators on graphical user interfaces (GUIs), as they relate to a vehicle(s)’ route of flight. These interfaces offer both a means to present hazard service output and offer an opportunity to test user understanding of the information, user decision making, and the best ways to present such data to an operator. Based on these future technologies and intended missions, it is important to investigate interface requirements and evaluate how operators might use these tools. Presenting salient and meaningful risk assessment information to operators is necessary to increase situation awareness and ultimately safety. Building on previous research (Feldman et al., 2022), a usability study comparing two GUIs was conducted to explore how individuals interacted with different styles of information displays. A series of pre-flight hazard and risk-assessment tasks were developed to evaluate participant performance using the Supplemental Data Service Provider Consolidated Dashboard and the Human Automation Team Interface System interfaces. Participants were trained to use both GUIs and their performance was analysed across different scenarios involving multiple sUASs. Performance on simple tasks and the System Usability Scale scores were reported by Feldman et al., 2023. Additional analyses and evaluations on more complex tasks (e.g., risk assessment, prioritization), workload and response times are examined in this paper.

sUAV interfaces↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

Small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) operate in low-altitude, uncontrolled airspace – where support services for their operators (UASOs) are not currently provided. NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is identifying the potential risks and hazards to sUAS operations to provide, inform, and improve the designs of In-time Aviation Safety Management Systems (IASMS). The IASMS will include a suite of data-driven tools that compile and analyze data collected from aviation systems and environmental sources to predict hazards, and provide information to allow operators to mitigate these risks (Young et al., 2020). These risk and hazard services can be run and displayed to operators on graphical user interfaces (GUIs), as they relate to a vehicle(s)’ route of flight. These interfaces offer both a means to present hazard service output and offer an opportunity to test user understanding of the information, user decision making, and the best ways to present such data to an operator. Based on these future technologies and intended missions, it is important to investigate interface requirements and evaluate how operators might use these tools. Presenting salient and meaningful risk assessment information to operators is necessary to increase situation awareness and ultimately safety. Building on previous research (Feldman et al., 2022), a usability study comparing two GUIs was conducted to explore how individuals interacted with different styles of information displays. A series of pre-flight hazard and risk-assessment tasks were developed to evaluate participant performance using the Supplemental Data Service Provider Consolidated Dashboard and the Human Automation Team Interface System interfaces. Participants were trained to use both GUIs and their performance was analysed across different scenarios involving multiple sUASs. Performance on simple tasks and the System Usability Scale scores were reported by Feldman et al., 2023. Additional analyses and evaluations on more complex tasks (e.g., risk assessment, prioritization), workload and response times are examined in this paper.

sUAV interfaces↗