Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “computer vision”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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

At least 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Automated Counting of Particles To Quantify Cleanliness

A machine vision system, similar to systems used in microbiological laboratories to count cultured microbes, has been proposed for quantifying the cleanliness of nominally precisely cleaned hardware by counting residual contaminant particles. The system would include a microscope equipped with an electronic camera and circuitry to digitize the camera output, a personal computer programmed with machine-vision and interface software, and digital storage media. A filter pad, through which had been aspirated solvent from rinsing the hardware in question, would be placed on the microscope stage. A high-resolution image of the filter pad would be recorded. The computer would analyze the image and present a histogram of sizes of particles on the filter. On the basis of the histogram and a measure of the desired level of cleanliness, the hardware would be accepted or rejected. If the hardware were accepted, the image would be saved, along with other information, as a quality record. If the hardware were rejected, the histogram and ancillary information would be recorded for analysis of trends. The software would perceive particles that are too large or too numerous to meet a specified particle-distribution profile. Anomalous particles or fibrous material would be flagged for inspection.

Rhode, James↗
NASA NTRS2015

Psychophysical Calibration of Mobile Touch-Screens for Vision Testing in the Field

The now ubiquitous nature of touch-screen displays in cell phones and tablet computers makes them an attractive option for vision testing outside of the laboratory or clinic. Accurate measurement of parameters such as contrast sensitivity, however, requires precise control of absolute and relative screen luminances. The nonlinearity of the display response (gamma) can be measured or checked using a minimum motion technique similar to that developed by Anstis and Cavanagh (1983) for the determination of isoluminance. While the relative luminances of the color primaries vary between subjects (due to factors such as individual differences in pre-retinal pigment densities), the gamma nonlinearity can be checked in the lab using a photometer. Here we compare results obtained using the psychophysical method with physical measurements for a number of different devices. In addition, we present a novel physical method using the device's built-in front-facing camera in conjunction with a mirror to jointly calibrate the camera and display. A high degree of consistency between devices is found, but some departures from ideal performance are observed. In spite of this, the effects of calibration errors and display artifacts on estimates of contrast sensitivity are found to be small.

gamma correction↗
DOE OSTI2026

Future Generation High Performance Computing Center (FG-HPCC): RFI Technical Considerations

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) is interested in receiving information about technologies that could be available in the 2029-2030 timeframe that may serve to enable the vision for a Future Generation High Performance Computing (HPC) Center (FG-HPCC) described in this document. The future HPC Center vision has been conceived to meet the future mission needs of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). LLNS envisions a center composed not of many independent clusters, but of heterogeneous elements accessible to users as a single system. The capabilities will be integrated to create a scalable, flexible, yet tightly coupled computing center capable of integrated HPC, AI, and cloud-like workloads.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1993

Optical information processing at NASA Ames Research Center

The combination of analog optical processors with digital electronic systems offers the potential of tera-OPS computational performance, while often requiring less power and weight relative to all-digital systems. NASA is working to develop and demonstrate optical processing techniques for on-board, real time science and mission applications. Current research areas and applications under investigation include optical matrix processing for space structure vibration control and the analysis of Space Shuttle Main Engine plume spectra, optical correlation-based autonomous vision for robotic vehicles, analog computation for robotic path planning, free-space optical interconnections for information transfer within digital electronic computers, and multiplexed arrays of fiber optic interferometric sensors for acoustic and vibration measurements.

Reid, Max B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

An application of microprocessors to a Mars Roving Vehicle

This paper presents an approach to a microprocessor based computing system for a Mars Roving Vehicle. This represents a practical example in that it combines a breadboard robot (the Rover) with a distributed microprocessor computing system, both of which are under development at JPL and are being considered for a 1984 Mars Rover Mission. A summary of the Rover functions is presented, along with an approach of applying distributed computers. The Rover is then partitioned into its main subsystems (executive, locomotion, manipulation, and vision) and subsystem and system interfaces established. Computing requirements are discussed and a system diagram developed.

Dobrotin, B. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The program of the Techniques Development Laboratory in aviation weather forecasting

Some operational and experimental products developed for aviation weather forecasting are briefly described. Experimental products include surface dew point, obstructions to vision, boundary layer model, computer-worded terminal forecasts, terminal alerting procedure, generalized equivalent Markov, and radar forecasts (0-2 hours).

Klein, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An integrated dexterous robotic testbed for space applications

An integrated dexterous robotic system was developed as a testbed to evaluate various robotics technologies for advanced space applications. The system configuration consisted of a Utah/MIT Dexterous Hand, a PUMA 562 arm, a stereo vision system, and a multiprocessing computer control system. In addition to these major subsystems, a proximity sensing system was integrated with the Utah/MIT Hand to provide capability for non-contact sensing of a nearby object. A high-speed fiber-optic link was used to transmit digitized proximity sensor signals back to the multiprocessing control system. The hardware system was designed to satisfy the requirements for both teleoperated and autonomous operations. The software system was designed to exploit parallel processing capability, pursue functional modularity, incorporate artificial intelligence for robot control, allow high-level symbolic robot commands, maximize reusable code, minimize compilation requirements, and provide an interactive application development and debugging environment for the end users. An overview is presented of the system hardware and software configurations, and implementation is discussed of subsystem functions.

Li, Larry C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Color Helmet Mounted Display System with Real Time Computer Generated and Video Imagery for In-Flight Simulation

NASA Ames Research Center and the US Army are developing the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) using a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter for the purpose of flight systems research. A primary use of the RASCAL is in-flight simulation for which the visual scene will use computer generated imagery and synthetic vision. This research is made possible in part to a full color wide field of view Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) system that provides high performance color imagery suitable for daytime operations in a flight-rated package. This paper describes the design and performance characteristics of the HMD system. Emphasis is placed on the design specifications, testing, and integration into the aircraft of Kaiser Electronics' RASCAL HMD system that was designed and built under contract for NASA. The optical performance and design of the Helmet mounted display unit will be discussed as well as the unique capabilities provided by the system's Programmable Display Generator (PDG).

Sawyer, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS2003

Terrain Portrayal for Head-Down Displays Flight Test

The Synthetic Vision Systems General Aviation (SVS-GA) element of NASA's Aviation Safety Program is developing technology to eliminate low visibility induced General Aviation (GA) accidents through the application of synthetic vision techniques. SVS displays present computer generated 3-dimensional imagery of the surrounding terrain to greatly enhance pilot's situation awareness (SA), reducing or eliminating Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT), as well as Low-Visibility Loss of Control (LVLOC) accidents. In addition to substantial safety benefits, SVS displays have many potential operational benefits that can lead to flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) resembling those conducted in visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Potential benefits could include lower landing minimums, more approach options, reduced training time, etc. SVS conducted research will develop display concepts providing the pilot with an unobstructed view of the outside terrain, regardless of weather conditions and time of day. A critical component of SVS displays is the appropriate presentation of terrain to the pilot. The relationship between the realism of the terrain presentation and resulting enhancements of pilot SA and pilot performance has been largely undefined. Comprised of coordinated simulation and flight test efforts, the terrain portrayal for head-down displays (TP-HDD) test series examined the effects of two primary elements of terrain portrayal: variations of digital elevation model (DEM) resolution and terrain texturing. Variations in DEM resolution ranged from sparsely spaced (30 arc-sec/2,953ft) to very closely spaced data (1 arc-sec/98 ft). Variations in texture involved three primary methods: constant color, elevation-based generic, and photo-realistic, along with a secondary depth cue enhancer in the form of a fishnet grid overlay. The TP-HDD test series was designed to provide comprehensive data to enable design trades to optimize all SVS applications, as well as develop requirements and recommendations to facilitate the implementation and certification of SVS displays. The TP-HDD flight experiment utilized the NASA LaRC Cessna 206 Stationaire and evaluated eight terrain portrayal concepts in an effort to confirm and extend results from the previously conducted TP-HDD simulation experiment. A total of 15 evaluation pilots, of various qualifications, accumulated over 75 hours of dedicated research flight time at Newport News (PHF) and Roanoke (ROA), VA, airports from August through October, 2002. This report will present results from the portion of testing conducted at Roanoke, VA.

Hughes, Monica F.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation Project

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) is a critical need for manned spaceflight, especially in deep space where communication delays essentially leave crews on their own for critical operations like docking. Previously developed AR&D sensors have been large, heavy, power-hungry, and may still require further development (e.g. Flash LiDAR). Other approaches to vision-based navigation are not computationally efficient enough to operate quickly on slower, flight-like computers. The key technical challenge for visual odometry is to adapt it from the current terrestrial applications it was designed for to function in the harsh lighting conditions of space. This effort leveraged Draper Laboratory’s considerable prior development and expertise, benefitting both parties. The algorithm Draper has created is unique from other pose estimation efforts as it has a comparatively small computational footprint (suitable for use onboard a spacecraft, unlike alternatives) and potentially offers accuracy and precision needed for docking. This presents a solution to the AR&D problem that only requires a camera, which is much smaller, lighter, and requires far less power than competing AR&D sensors. We have demonstrated the algorithm’s performance and ability to process ‘flight-like’ imagery formats with a ‘flight-like’ trajectory, positioning ourselves to easily process flight data from the upcoming ‘ISS Selfie’ activity and then compare the algorithm’s quantified performance to the simulated imagery. This will bring visual odometry beyond TRL 5, proving its readiness to be demonstrated as part of an integrated system.Once beyond TRL 5, visual odometry will be poised to be demonstrated as part of a system in an in-space demo where relative pose is critical, like Orion AR&D, ISS robotic operations, asteroid proximity operations, and more.

Robinson, Shane↗
NASA NTRS2016

Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation Project

Autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) is a critical need for manned spaceflight, especially in deep space where communication delays essentially leave crews on their own for critical operations like docking. Previously developed AR&D sensors have been large, heavy, power-hungry, and may still require further development (e.g. Flash LiDAR). Other approaches to vision-based navigation are not computationally efficient enough to operate quickly on slower, flight-like computers. The key technical challenge for visual odometry is to adapt it from the current terrestrial applications it was designed for to function in the harsh lighting conditions of space. This effort leveraged Draper Laboratory's considerable prior development and expertise, benefitting both parties. The algorithm Draper has created is unique from other pose estimation efforts as it has a comparatively small computational footprint (suitable for use onboard a spacecraft, unlike alternatives) and potentially offers accuracy and precision needed for docking. This presents a solution to the AR&D problem that only requires a camera, which is much smaller, lighter, and requires far less power than competing AR&D sensors. We have demonstrated the algorithm's performance and ability to process 'flight-like' imagery formats with a 'flight-like' trajectory, positioning ourselves to easily process flight data from the upcoming 'ISS Selfie' activity and then compare the algorithm's quantified performance to the simulated imagery. This will bring visual odometry beyond TRL 5, proving its readiness to be demonstrated as part of an integrated system. Once beyond TRL 5, visual odometry will be poised to be demonstrated as part of a system in an in-space demo where relative pose is critical, like Orion AR&D, ISS robotic operations, asteroid proximity operations, and more.

Robinson, Shane↗
NASA NTRS2004

Compact Microscope Imaging System with Intelligent Controls

The figure presents selected views of a compact microscope imaging system (CMIS) that includes a miniature video microscope, a Cartesian robot (a computer- controlled three-dimensional translation stage), and machine-vision and control subsystems. The CMIS was built from commercial off-the-shelf instrumentation, computer hardware and software, and custom machine-vision software. The machine-vision and control subsystems include adaptive neural networks that afford a measure of artificial intelligence. The CMIS can perform several automated tasks with accuracy and repeatability . tasks that, heretofore, have required the full attention of human technicians using relatively bulky conventional microscopes. In addition, the automation and control capabilities of the system inherently include a capability for remote control. Unlike human technicians, the CMIS is not at risk of becoming fatigued or distracted: theoretically, it can perform continuously at the level of the best human technicians. In its capabilities for remote control and for relieving human technicians of tedious routine tasks, the CMIS is expected to be especially useful in biomedical research, materials science, inspection of parts on industrial production lines, and space science. The CMIS can automatically focus on and scan a microscope sample, find areas of interest, record the resulting images, and analyze images from multiple samples simultaneously. Automatic focusing is an iterative process: The translation stage is used to move the microscope along its optical axis in a succession of coarse, medium, and fine steps. A fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the image is computed at each step, and the FFT is analyzed for its spatial-frequency content. The microscope position that results in the greatest dispersal of FFT content toward high spatial frequencies (indicating that the image shows the greatest amount of detail) is deemed to be the focal position.

McDowell, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2026

QCalEval: Benchmarking Vision-Language Models for Quantum Calibration Plot Understanding

Quantum computing calibration depends on interpreting experimental data, and calibration plots provide the most universal human-readable representation for this task, yet no systematic evaluation exists of how well vision-language models (VLMs) interpret them. We introduce QCalEval, the first VLM benchmark for quantum calibration plots: 243 samples across 87 scenario types from 22 experiment families, spanning superconducting qubits and neutral atoms, evaluated on six question types in both zero-shot and in-context learning settings. The best general-purpose zero-shot model reaches a mean score of 72.3, and many open-weight models degrade under multi-image in-context learning, whereas frontier closed models improve substantially. A supervised fine-tuning ablation at the 9-billion-parameter scale shows that SFT improves zero-shot performance but cannot close the multimodal in-context learning gap. As a reference case study, we release NVIDIA Ising Calibration 1, an open-weight model based on Qwen3.5-35B-A3B that reaches 74.7 zero-shot average score.

Cao, Shuxiang↗
NASA NTRS2007

The "Biologically-Inspired Computing" Column

Self-managing systems, whether viewed from the perspective of Autonomic Computing, or from that of another initiative, offers a holistic vision for the development and evolution of biologically-inspired computer-based systems. It aims to bring new levels of automation and dependability to systems, while simultaneously hiding their complexity and reducing costs. A case can certainly be made that all computer-based systems should exhibit autonomic properties [6], and we envisage greater interest in, and uptake of, autonomic principles in future system development.

Hinchey, Mike↗
NASA NTRS1991

Medical informatics and telemedicine: A vision

The goal of medical informatics is to improve care. This requires the commitment and harmonious collaboration between the computer scientists and clinicians and an integrated database. The vision described is how medical information systems are going to impact the way medical care is delivered in the future.

Clemmer, Terry P.↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-performance computing in water resources hydrodynamics

In this work, we present a vision of future water resources hydrodynamics codes that can fully utilize the strengths of modern high-performance computing. The advances to computing power, formerly driven by the improvement of central processing unit processors, now focus on parallel computing and, in particular, the use of graphics processing units (GPUs). However, this shift to a parallel framework requires refactoring the code to make efficient use of the data as well as changing even the nature of the algorithm that solves the system of equations. These concepts along with other features such as the precision for the computations, dry regions management, and input/output data are analyzed in this paper. A 2D multi-GPU flood code applied to a large-scale test case is used to corroborate our statements and ascertain the new challenges for the next-generation parallel water resources codes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1994

An architecture for real-time vision processing

To study the feasibility of developing an architecture for real time vision processing, a task queue server and parallel algorithms for two vision operations were designed and implemented on an i860-based Mercury Computing System 860VS array processor. The proposed architecture treats each vision function as a task or set of tasks which may be recursively divided into subtasks and processed by multiple processors coordinated by a task queue server accessible by all processors. Each idle processor subsequently fetches a task and associated data from the task queue server for processing and posts the result to shared memory for later use. Load balancing can be carried out within the processing system without the requirement for a centralized controller. The author concludes that real time vision processing cannot be achieved without both sequential and parallel vision algorithms and a good parallel vision architecture.

Chien, Chiun-Hong↗
NASA NTRS1995

Help for the Visually Impaired

The Low Vision Enhancement System (LVES) is a video headset that offers people with low vision a view of their surroundings equivalent to the image on a five-foot television screen four feet from the viewer. It will not make the blind see but for many people with low vision, it eases everyday activities such as reading, watching TV and shopping. LVES was developed over almost a decade of cooperation between Stennis Space Center, the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and Visionics Corporation. With the aid of Stennis scientists, Wilmer researchers used NASA technology for computer processing of satellite images and head-mounted vision enhancement systems originally intended for the space station. The unit consists of a head-mounted video display, three video cameras, and a control unit for the cameras. The cameras feed images to the video display in the headset.

Source record↗