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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.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

A fast data acquisition system for the study of transient events by high repetition rate time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Recent advances in commercially available data acquisition electronics embodying high speed A/D conversion coupled to increased memory storage have now made practical (at least within time intervals of a third of a millisecond or more) the capturing of all of the data generated by a high repetition rate time-of-flight mass spectrometer producing complete spectra every 25 to 35 microseconds. Such a system was assembled and interfaced with a personal computer for control and management of data. The applications are described for recording time-resolved spectra of individual vapor plumes induced from the pulsed-laser heating of material. Each laser pulse triggers the system to generate automatically a 3-dimensional (3-D) presentation of the time-resolved spectra with m/z labeling of the major mass peaks, plus an intensity versus time display of both the laser pulse and the resulting vapor pulse. The software also permits storing of data and its presentation in various additional forms.

Lincoln, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

List Models of Procedure Learning

This paper presents a new theory of the initial stages of skill acquisition and then employs the theory to model current and future training programs for fight management systems (FMSs) in modern commercial airliners like the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A320. The theoretical foundations for the theory are a new synthesis of the literature on human memory and the latest version of the ACT-R theory of skill acquisition.

Matessa, Michael P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

General purpose interface bus for personal computers used in wind tunnel data acquisition

The use of the general purpose interface bus IEEE-488 to met the special requirements of wind tunnel testing involving PCs is discussed. The gearing of instrumentation to minimize test time, the choice of software to meet computer memory constraints, the use of graphics for improved use of tunnel run time, and the choice of data acquisition equipment to remove bottlenecks are addressed.

Puram, Chith K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Multiple-User, Multitasking, Virtual-Memory Computer System

Computer system designed and programmed to serve multiple users in research laboratory. Provides for computer control and monitoring of laboratory instruments, acquisition and anlaysis of data from those instruments, and interaction with users via remote terminals. System provides fast access to shared central processing units and associated large (from megabytes to gigabytes) memories. Underlying concept of system also applicable to monitoring and control of industrial processes.

Generazio, Edward R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Particle displacement tracking applied to air flows

Electronic Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) techniques offer many advantages over conventional photographic PIV methods such as fast turn around times and simplified data reduction. A new all electronic PIV technique was developed which can measure high speed gas velocities. The Particle Displacement Tracking (PDT) technique employs a single cw laser, small seed particles (1 micron), and a single intensified, gated CCD array frame camera to provide a simple and fast method of obtaining two-dimensional velocity vector maps with unambiguous direction determination. Use of a single CCD camera eliminates registration difficulties encountered when multiple cameras are used to obtain velocity magnitude and direction information. An 80386 PC equipped with a large memory buffer frame-grabber board provides all of the data acquisition and data reduction operations. No array processors of other numerical processing hardware are required. Full video resolution (640x480 pixel) is maintained in the acquired images, providing high resolution video frames of the recorded particle images. The time between data acquisition to display of the velocity vector map is less than 40 sec. The new electronic PDT technique is demonstrated on an air nozzle flow with velocities less than 150 m/s.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Particle displacement tracking applied to air flows

Electronic Particle Image Velocimetric (PIV) techniques offer many advantages over conventional photographic PIV methods such as fast turn around times and simplified data reduction. A new all electronic PIV technique was developed which can measure high speed gas velocities. The Particle Displacement Tracking (PDT) technique employs a single CW laser, small seed particles (1 micron), and a single intensified, gated CCD array frame camera to provide a simple and fast method of obtaining two-dimensional velocity vector maps with unambiguous direction determination. Use of a single CCD camera eliminates registration difficulties encountered when multiple cameras are used to obtain velocity magnitude and direction information. An 80386 PC equipped with a large memory buffer frame-grabber board provides all of the data acquisition and data reduction operations. No array processors of other numerical processing hardware are required. Full video resolution (640 x 480 pixel) is maintained in the acquired images, providing high resolution video frames of the recorded particle images. The time between data acquisition to display of the velocity vector map is less than 40 sec. The new electronic PDT technique is demonstrated on an air nozzle flow with velocities less than 150 m/s.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Data reduction programs for a laser radar system

The listing and description of software routines which were used to analyze the analog data obtained from LIDAR - system are given. All routines are written in FORTRAN - IV on a HP - 1000/F minicomputer which serves as the heart of the data acquisition system for the LIDAR program. This particular system has 128 kilobytes of highspeed memory and is equipped with a Vector Instruction Set (VIS) firmware package, which is used in all the routines, to handle quick execution of different long loops. The system handles floating point arithmetic in hardware in order to enhance the speed of execution. This computer is a 2177 C/F series version of HP - 1000 RTE-IVB data acquisition computer system which is designed for real time data capture/analysis and disk/tape mass storage environment.

Badavi, F. F.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Rapid mapping of polarization switching through complete information acquisition

Polarization switching in ferroelectric and multiferroic materials underpins a broad range of current and emergent applications, ranging from random access memories to field-effect transistors, and tunnelling devices. Switching in these materials is exquisitely sensitive to local defects and microstructure on the nanometre scale, necessitating spatially resolved high-resolution studies of these phenomena. Classical piezoresponse force microscopy and spectroscopy, although providing necessary spatial resolution, are fundamentally limited in data acquisition rates and energy resolution. This limitation stems from their two-tiered measurement protocol that combines slow (~1 s) switching and fast (~10 kHz–1 MHz) detection waveforms. Here we develop an approach for rapid probing of ferroelectric switching using direct strain detection of material response to probe bias. This approach, facilitated by high-sensitivity electronics and adaptive filtering, enables spectroscopic imaging at a rate 3,504 times faster the current state of the art, achieving high-veracity imaging of polarization dynamics in complex microstructures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2004

Portable Electromyograph

A portable electronic apparatus records electromyographic (EMG) signals in as many as 16 channels at a sampling rate of 1,024 Hz in each channel. The apparatus (see figure) includes 16 differential EMG electrodes (each electrode corresponding to one channel) with cables and attachment hardware, reference electrodes, an input/output-and-power-adapter unit, a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter, and a hand-held computer that contains a removable 256-MB flash memory card. When all 16 EMG electrodes are in use, full-bandwidth data can be recorded in each channel for as long as 8 hours. The apparatus is powered by a battery and is small enough that it can be carried in a waist pouch. The computer is equipped with a small screen that can be used to display the incoming signals on each channel. Amplitude and time adjustments of this display can be made easily by use of touch buttons on the screen. The user can also set up a data-acquisition schedule to conform to experimental protocols or to manage battery energy and memory efficiently. Once the EMG data have been recorded, the flash memory card is removed from the EMG apparatus and placed in a flash-memory- card-reading external drive unit connected to a personal computer (PC). The PC can then read the data recorded in the 16 channels. Preferably, before further analysis, the data should be stored in the hard drive of the PC. The data files are opened and viewed on the PC by use of special- purpose software. The software for operation of the apparatus resides in a random-access memory (RAM), with backup power supplied by a small internal lithium cell. A backup copy of this software resides on the flash memory card. In the event of loss of both main and backup battery power and consequent loss of this software, the backup copy can be used to restore the RAM copy after power has been restored. Accessories for this device are also available. These include goniometers, accelerometers, foot switches, and force gauges.

De Luca, Gianluca↗
DOE OSTI2025

Linking structural and rheological memory in disordered soft materials

Linking the macroscopic flow properties and nanoscopic structure is a fundamental challenge to understanding, predicting, and designing disordered soft materials. Under small stresses, these materials are soft solids, while larger loads can lead to yielding and the acquisition of plastic strain, which adds complexity to the task. In this work, we connect the transient structure and rheological memory of a colloidal gel under cyclic shearing across a range of amplitudes via a generalized memory function using rheo-X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (rheo-XPCS). Our rheo-XPCS data show that the nanometer scale aggregate-level structure recorrelates whenever the change in recoverable strain over some interval is zero. The macroscopic recoverable strain is therefore a measure of the nano-scale structural memory. We further show that yielding in disordered colloidal materials is strongly heterogeneous and that memories of prior deformation can exist even after the material has been subjected to flow.

Kamani, Krutarth M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-C↗
NASA NTRS2003

Software for Acquiring Image Data for PIV

PIV Acquisition (PIVACQ) is a computer program for acquisition of data for particle-image velocimetry (PIV). In the PIV system for which PIVACQ was developed, small particles entrained in a flow are illuminated with a sheet of light from a pulsed laser. The illuminated region is monitored by a charge-coupled-device camera that operates in conjunction with a data-acquisition system that includes a frame grabber and a counter-timer board, both installed in a single computer. The camera operates in "frame-straddle" mode where a pair of images can be obtained closely spaced in time (on the order of microseconds). The frame grabber acquires image data from the camera and stores the data in the computer memory. The counter/timer board triggers the camera and synchronizes the pulsing of the laser with acquisition of data from the camera. PIVPROC coordinates all of these functions and provides a graphical user interface, through which the user can control the PIV data-acquisition system. PIVACQ enables the user to acquire a sequence of single-exposure images, display the images, process the images, and then save the images to the computer hard drive. PIVACQ works in conjunction with the PIVPROC program which processes the images of particles into the velocity field in the illuminated plane.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Hermetic Seal Designs for Sample Return Sample Tubes

Prototypes have been developed of potential hermetic sample sealing techniques for encapsulating samples in a ≈1-cm-diameter thin-walled sample tube that are compatible with IMSAH (Integrated Mars Sample Acquisition and Handling) architecture. Techniques include a heat-activated, finned, shape memory alloy plug; a contracting shape memory alloy activated cap; an expanding shape memory alloy plug; and an expanding torque plug. Initial helium leak testing of the shape memory alloy cap and finned shape memory alloy plug seals showed hermetic- seal capability compared against an industry standard of <1×10-8 atm-cc/s He. These tests were run on both clean tubes and dirty tubes dipped in MMS (Mojave Mars Simulant). The leak tests were also performed after thermal cycling between -135 and +55 ºC to ensure seal integrity after Martian diurnal cycles. Developmental testing is currently being done on the expanding torque plug, and expanding shape memory alloy plug seal designs. The finned shape memory alloy (SMA) plug currently shows hermetic sealing capability based on preliminary tests.

Younse, Paulo J.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Conceptualizing impact assessment as a learning process

This paper explores how project developers and their consultants, government regulators and stakeholders can learn from the impact assessment (IA) process, thus potentially improving its effectiveness and enhancing project sustainability. Despite the benefits that learning can bring to an organization, failure to learn appears commonplace both within the IA process and, once approved, subsequent industrial development. To nurture organizational learning through IA, enabling structures that foster information sharing and interpretation and enhance organizational memory are needed. In this paper learning outcomes are grouped into three categories: acquisition of knowledge and skills, developing new behaviors and developing sustainability-oriented norms and values. Means to achieve such outcomes include education and training, experiential learning, learning through public participation (social learning) and a ‘learning organization approach’. Societal expectations increasingly demand not only projects that ‘pass’ the review criteria of regulators, financiers and the community, but IA processes capable of delivering sustainable outcomes that include learning and sharing of knowledge. It is proposed that learning be treated as a purposeful – not as an accidental – outcome of IA, and facilitated by adopting a ‘learning organization approach’ coupled with best practice such as early stakeholder engagement. - Highlights: • Proponents are challenged to develop projects that deliver sustainable outcomes. • Passing the test of government approval may be insufficient to obtain a social license. • Learning by all stakeholders is vital to meet these challenges. • Learning outcomes have to go beyond instrumental learning to reach new behaviors, norms and values. • A “learning organization approach” can promote mutual learning and improve project design.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1989

Development of a software interface for optical disk archival storage for a new life sciences flight experiments computer

The current Life Sciences Laboratory Equipment (LSLE) microcomputer for life sciences experiment data acquisition is now obsolete. Among the weaknesses of the current microcomputer are small memory size, relatively slow analog data sampling rates, and the lack of a bulk data storage device. While life science investigators normally prefer data to be transmitted to Earth as it is taken, this is not always possible. No down-link exists for experiments performed in the Shuttle middeck region. One important aspect of a replacement microcomputer is provision for in-flight storage of experimental data. The Write Once, Read Many (WORM) optical disk was studied because of its high storage density, data integrity, and the availability of a space-qualified unit. In keeping with the goals for a replacement microcomputer based upon commercially available components and standard interfaces, the system studied includes a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) for interfacing the WORM drive. The system itself is designed around the STD bus, using readily available boards. Configurations examined were: (1) master processor board and slave processor board with the SCSI interface; (2) master processor with SCSI interface; (3) master processor with SCSI and Direct Memory Access (DMA); (4) master processor controlling a separate STD bus SCSI board; and (5) master processor controlling a separate STD bus SCSI board with DMA.

Bartram, Peter N.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Achieving High Performance With TCP Over 40 GbE on NUMA Architectures for CMS Data Acquisition

TCP and the socket abstraction have barely changed over the last two decades, but at the network layer there has been a giant leap from a few megabits to 100 gigabits in bandwidth. At the same time, CPU architectures have evolved into the multicore era and applications are expected to make full use of all available resources. Applications in the data acquisition domain based on the standard socket library running in a Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architecture are unable to reach full efficiency and scalability without the software being adequately aware about the IRQ (Interrupt Request), CPU and memory affinities. During the first long shutdown of LHC, the CMS DAQ system is going to be upgraded for operation from 2015 onwards and a new software component has been designed and developed in the CMS online framework for transferring data with sockets. This software attempts to wrap the low-level socket library to ease higher-level programming with an API based on an asynchronous event driven model similar to the DAT uDAPL API. It is an event-based application with NUMA optimizations, that allows for a high throughput of data across a large distributed system. This paper describes the architecture, the technologies involved and the performance measurements of the software in the context of the CMS distributed event building.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1986

Levels of Information Processing in a Fitts law task (LIPFitts)

State-of-the-art flight technology has restructured the task of human operators, decreasing the need for physical and sensory resources, and increasing the quantity of cognitive effort required, changing it qualitatively. Recent technological advances have the most potential for impacting a pilot in two areas: performance and mental workload. In an environment in which timing is critical, additional cognitive processing can cause performance decrements, and increase a pilot's perception of the mental workload involved. The effects of stimulus processing demands on motor response performance and subjective mental workload are examined, using different combinations of response selection and target acquisition tasks. The information processing demands of the response selection were varied (e.g., Sternberg memory set tasks, math equations, pattern matching), as was the difficulty of the response execution. Response latency as well as subjective workload ratings varied in accordance with the cognitive complexity of the task. Movement times varied according to the difficulty of the response execution task. Implications in terms of real-world flight situations are discussed.

Mosier, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A design for a 1984 Mars rover

A Mars rover is planned for the mid-1980's as a follow-up to the Viking program, and as a prelude to a return-to-earth mission of Martian samples in the late eighties or early nineties. An overall view of the rover's configuration is presented with a summary of basic design parameters. Six subsystems are outlined: computing, with a 10 to the 8th bit bubble memory; mobility, designed for a journey of 100 km in 2 earth years; science sample acquisition, including a soil auger and hard rock drill; power, supplied by an RTG and stored in batteries; telecommunication, with 50 K bit UHF transmission relayed through an orbiter; and visual imaging, employing two television cameras, each with an 800 x 800 pixel charge coupled device. Scientific research goals include information about Martian seismic characteristics, magnetic field, surface heat flow, chemical composition, geology along a transverse, and meteorology. Attention is given to the necessity of rover autonomy from earth commands.

Dobrotin, B. M.↗
DOE OSTI2015

FPGA remote update for nuclear environments

The Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear (IPFN) has developed dedicated re-configurable modules based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices for several nuclear fusion machines worldwide. Moreover, new Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture (ATCA) based modules developed by IPFN are already included in the ITER catalogue. One of the requirements for re-configurable modules operating in future nuclear environments including ITER is the remote update capability. Accordingly, this work presents an alternative method for FPGA remote programing to be implemented in new ATCA based re-configurable modules. FPGAs are volatile devices and their programming code is usually stored in dedicated flash memories for properly configuration during module power-on. The presented method is capable to store new FPGA codes in Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memories using the PCIexpress (PCIe) network established on the ATCA back-plane, linking data acquisition endpoints and the data switch blades. The method is based on the Xilinx Quick Boot application note, adapted to PCIe protocol and ATCA based modules. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗