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At least 73 records · Page 4

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NASA NTRS1971

Heuristic theory of positron-helium scattering.

An error in a previous modified adiabatic approximation (Drachman, 1966), due to a lack of generality in the form of the short-range correlation part of the wave function for L greater than zero, is corrected heuristically by allowing the monopole suppression parameter to depend on L. An L-dependent local potential is constructed to fit the well-known positron-hydrogen s, p, and d wave phase shifts below the rearrangement threshold. The same form of potential yields a positron-helium cross-section in agreement with a recent experimental measurement near threshold.

Drachman, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Some heuristic procedures for analyzing random vibration of nonlinear oscillators.

The stationary response of a lightly damped nonlinear oscillator subjected to wideband random excitation can be examined as an example of thermal equilibrium. It may be assumed that the response consists of a series of free-vibration cycles with small random fluctuations in phase and amplitude. Certain statistical properties of the response can be estimated by averaging corresponding properties of the free vibration with respect to cycle amplitude distributions. Such heuristic procedures for determining the expected frequency and the autocorrelation function of the stationary response are outlined. Some additional results concerning first-passage problems for nonlinear oscillators are included.

Crandall, S. H.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Properties of heuristic search strategies

A directed graph is used to model the search space of a state space representation with single input operators, an AND/OR is used for problem reduction representations, and a theorem proving graph is used for state space representations with multiple input operators. These three graph models and heuristic strategies for searching them are surveyed. The completeness, admissibility, and optimality properties of search strategies which use the evaluation function f = (1 - omega)g = omega(h) are presented and interpreted using a representation of the search process in the plane. The use of multiple output operators to imply dependent successors, and thus obtain a formalism which includes all three types of representations, is discussed.

Vanderbrug, G. J.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Stellar occultations by turbulent planetary atmospheres. I - A heuristic scattering model. II - The Beta Scorpii events

Effects of atmospheric turbulence on stellar-occultation inversion procedures are investigated using a heuristic scattering model that is believed to reproduce the essential features of turbulence. A quantitative estimate is made of the size of the error in deducing the mean refractivity profile of a planetary atmosphere, taking into account constant as well as exponential scattering. It is shown that ordinary turbulence has no important effect on the average intensity profile in a stellar occultation but could have an important instantaneous effect. A critical examination of possible manifestations of turbulent scattering during occultations of Beta Sco by Jupiter indicates that all observed phenomena during these events can be understood in terms of scintillations produced by turbulence.

Hubbard, W. B.↗

NASA NTRS1976

A heuristic finite-state model of the human driver in a car-following situation

An approach to modeling human driver behavior in single-lane car following which is based on a finite-state decision structure is considered. The specific strategy at each point in the decision tree was obtained from observations of typical driver behavior. The synthesis of the decision logic is based on position and velocity thresholds and four states defined by regions in the phase plane. The performance of the resulting assumed intuitively logical model was compared with actual freeway data. The match of the model to the data was optimized by adapting the model parameters using a modified PARTAN algorithm. The results indicate that the heuristic model behavior matches actual car-following performance better during deceleration and constant velocity phases than during acceleration periods.

Burnham, G. O.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Selection of actuator locations for static shape control of large space structures by heuristic integer programing

Orbiting spacecraft such as large space antennas have to maintain a highly accurate space to operate satisfactorily. Such structures require active and passive controls to mantain an accurate shape under a variety of disturbances. Methods for the optimum placement of control actuators for correcting static deformations are described. In particular, attention is focused on the case were control locations have to be selected from a large set of available sites, so that integer programing methods are called for. The effectiveness of three heuristic techniques for obtaining a near-optimal site selection is compared. In addition, efficient reanalysis techniques for the rapid assessment of control effectiveness are presented. Two examples are used to demonstrate the methods: a simple beam structure and a 55m space-truss-parabolic antenna.

Haftka, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Selection of actuator locations for static shape control of large space structures by heuristic integer programing

Orbiting spacecraft such as large space antennas have to maintain a highly accurate shape to operate satisfactorily. Such structures require active and passive controls to maintain an accurate shape under a variety of disturbances. Methods for the optimum placement of control actuators for correcting static deformations are described. In particular, attention is focused on the case were control locations have to be selected from a large set of available sites, so that integer programing methods are called for. The effectiveness of three heuristic techniques for obtaining a near-optimal site selection is compared. In addition, efficient reanalysis techniques for the rapid assessment of control effectiveness are presented. Two examples are used to demonstrate the methods: a simple beam structure and a 55m space-truss-parabolic antenna.

Haftka, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1988

An approach to combining heuristic and qualitative reasoning in an expert system

An approach to combining the heuristic reasoning from shallow knowledge and the qualitative reasoning from deep knowledge is described. The shallow knowledge is represented in production rules and under the direct control of the inference engine. The deep knowledge is represented in frames, which may be put in a relational DataBase Management System. This approach takes advantage of both reasoning schemes and results in improved efficiency as well as expanded problem solving ability.

Jiang, Wei-Si↗

NASA NTRS1988

Engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods

Some engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods are presented and the discussion focuses on the dependency matrix that indicates the relationship between problem functions and variables. Coordination of the subproblem optimizations is shown to be typically achieved through the use of exact or approximate sensitivity analysis. Areas for further development are identified.

Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods

Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

An architecture for heuristic control of real-time processes

Abstract Process management combines complementary approaches of heuristic reasoning and analytical process control. Management of a continuous process requires monitoring the environment and the controlled system, assessing the ongoing situation, developing and revising planned actions, and controlling the execution of the actions. For knowledge-intensive domains, process management entails the potentially time-stressed cooperation among a variety of expert systems. By redesigning a blackboard control architecture in an object-oriented framework, researchers obtain an approach to process management that considerably extends blackboard control mechanisms and overcomes limitations of blackboard systems.

Raulefs, P.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Resolution of seven-axis manipulator redundancy: A heuristic issue

An approach is presented for the resolution of the redundancy of a seven-axis manipulator arm from the AI and expert systems point of view. This approach is heuristic, analytical, and globally resolves the redundancy at the position level. When compared with other approaches, this approach has several improved performance capabilities, including singularity avoidance, repeatability, stability, and simplicity.

Chen, I.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A heuristic approach to worst-case carrier-to-interference ratio maximization in satellite system synthesis

Consideration is given to the problem of allotting GEO locations to communication satellites so as to maximize the smallest aggregate carrier-to-interference (C/I) ratio calculated at any test point (assumed earth station). The location allotted to each satellite must be within the satellite's service arc, and angular separation constraints are enforced for each pair of satellites to control single-entry EMI. Solutions to this satellite system synthesis problem (SSSP) are found by embedding two heuristic procedures for the satellite location problem (SLP), in a binary search routine to find an estimate of the largest increment to the angular separation values that permits a feasible solution to SLP and SSSP. Numerical results for a 183-satellite, 208-beam example problem are presented.

Reilly, Charles H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Engineering applications of heuristic multilevel optimization methods

Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Combining factual and heuristic knowledge in knowledge acquisition

A knowledge acquisition technique that combines heuristic and factual knowledge represented as two hierarchies is described. These ideas were applied to the construction of a knowledge acquisition interface to the Expert System Analyst (OPERA). The goal of OPERA is to improve the operations support of the computer network in the space shuttle launch processing system. The knowledge acquisition bottleneck lies in gathering knowledge from human experts and transferring it to OPERA. OPERA's knowledge acquisition problem is approached as a classification problem-solving task, combining this approach with the use of factual knowledge about the domain. The interface was implemented in a Symbolics workstation making heavy use of windows, pull-down menus, and other user-friendly devices.

Gomez, Fernando↗

NASA NTRS1991

VHP - An environment for the remote visualization of heuristic processes

A software system called VHP is introduced which permits the visualization of heuristic algorithms on both resident and remote hardware platforms. The VHP is based on the DCF tool for interprocess communication and is applicable to remote algorithms which can be on different types of hardware and in languages other than VHP. The VHP system is of particular interest to systems in which the visualization of remote processes is required such as robotics for telescience applications.

Crawford, Stuart L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Post-game analysis: An initial experiment for heuristic-based resource management in concurrent systems

In concurrent systems, a major responsibility of the resource management system is to decide how the application program is to be mapped onto the multi-processor. Instead of using abstract program and machine models, a generate-and-test framework known as 'post-game analysis' that is based on data gathered during program execution is proposed. Each iteration consists of (1) (a simulation of) an execution of the program; (2) analysis of the data gathered; and (3) the proposal of a new mapping that would have a smaller execution time. These heuristics are applied to predict execution time changes in response to small perturbations applied to the current mapping. An initial experiment was carried out using simple strategies on 'pipeline-like' applications. The results obtained from four simple strategies demonstrated that for this kind of application, even simple strategies can produce acceptable speed-up with a small number of iterations.

Yan, Jerry C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Heuristic-based scheduling algorithm for high level synthesis

A new scheduling algorithm is proposed which uses a combination of a resource utilization chart, a heuristic algorithm to estimate the minimum number of hardware units based on operator mobilities, and a list-scheduling technique to achieve fast and near optimal schedules. The schedule time of this algorithm is almost independent of the length of mobilities of operators as can be seen from the benchmark example (fifth order digital elliptical wave filter) presented when the cycle time was increased from 17 to 18 and then to 21 cycles. It is implemented in C on a SUN3/60 workstation.

Mohamed, Gulam↗