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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 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Collaborative Mission Design at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has developed and tested two facilities dedicated to increasing efficiency in key mission design processes, including payload design, mission planning, and implementation plan development, among others. The Integrated Design Center (IDC) is a state-of-the-art concurrent design facility which allows scientists and spaceflight engineers to produce project designs and mission plans in a real-time collaborative environment, using industry-standard physics-based development tools and the latest communication technology. The Mission Simulation Lab (MiSL), a virtual reality (VR) facility focused on payload and project design, permits engineers to quickly translate their design and modeling output into enhanced three-dimensional models and then examine them in a realistic full-scale virtual environment. The authors were responsible for envisioning both facilities and turning those visions into fully operational mission design resources at LaRC with multiple advanced capabilities and applications. In addition, the authors have created a synergistic interface between these two facilities. This combined functionality is the Interactive Design and Simulation Center (IDSC), a meta-facility which offers project teams a powerful array of highly advanced tools, permitting them to rapidly produce project designs while maintaining the integrity of the input from every discipline expert on the project. The concept-to-flight mission support provided by IDSC has shown improved inter- and intra-team communication and a reduction in the resources required for proposal development, requirements definition, and design effort.

Gough, Kerry M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

GPR Robotic Assisted Non-Destructive Evaluation of Concrete Structures - 20196

Reinforced concrete structures are always under exposure of internal or external deteriorations due to many factors such as environmental, nuclear radiation or even construction deficiencies. The use of nondestructive test is one of the reliable methods to inspect structural members. In this case, GPR has a good capability to detect inside deteriorations of concrete structures. However, in many cases it is hard to inspect structural members by hand due to safety issues or inaccessibility. Thus, an alternative way to reduce such risks is to employ robot to carry nondestructive equipment. In this research, twelve reinforced concrete RC beams (8 x 16 x 96, width, height and length) are cast in the lab. Three RC beams have no defect and nine others various defects such as corrosion, de-bonded bars, void, delamination and honeycombing. The one-point load is applied at the center of the RC beam. The loading level is carried out at three levels: 50%, 75% and 100% of maximum load and total load-displacement diagram are performed. The load is held at each level and the robotic GPR is used to scan the side of RC beams. Then, RADAN software is employed to find out any defects at different loading conditions and visualize the crack propagation. The RADAN results show that the pattern of crack propagation for corrosion and debonding are same. Also, the load-displacement results present that inside defect cause reduction of load-capacity of RC beam. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Testbed Demonstration of a Microgrid Building Block Prototype

With the adoption of ambitious climate action goals, the penetration level of distributed energy resources (DERs) is rapidly increasing. Microgrids are an efficient way to integrate these DERs, facilitating their operation and control. Additionally, microgrids enhance the overall resilience of the distribution system by serving critical loads both within and outside their boundaries. However, the need for substantial customized engineering leads to a high cost of development, installation and maintenance of microgrids. To address this challenge, Microgrid Building Blocks (MBB) are proposed to reduce the deployment cost of microgrids through modular, standardized design and implementation. This work presents a testbed demonstrating the integrated power conversion, control, and communication functionalities of an MBB. The testbed is formed by a real-time electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation combined with a hardware and software prototype of MBB. The use cases supported by the MBB testbed are enumerated. The islanded operation, voltage regulation, and optimal dispatch capabilities of an MBB-based microgrid controller are validated through a case study.

Somda, Baza [Virginia Tech]↗
DOE OSTI2022

Power Hardware-In-the-Loop Hydropower and Ultracapacitor Hybrid Testbed

Widespread deployment of a proof-of-concept technological solution for power system performance improvement can be accelerated through onsite demonstration and pilot projects. Digital real-time simulation with power hardware-in-the-loop in controlled lab environment is the precursor to de-risk the timely and efficient execution of field demonstration and pilot projects. However, the detailed process of development, characterization, and calibration of such high fidelity simulation testbed needs to be documented in a reproducible and publicly accessible manner to leverage across broader research and development communities. This paper presents such a laboratory testbed to study black start capability of a run-of-river hydro + ultracapacitor hybrid system. Beside the high-fidelity model of the islanded grid with hydropower unit, the testbed includes the energy storage, grid following inverter, and grid emulator hardware. Several aspects such as storage characterization, control and various parameter settings necessary to capture frequency transients during load restoration are described in a comprehensive manner, which led to an effective and timely execution of black start field demonstration with an actual hydropower plant.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Status Report on Development of MARCH Module Designs

The Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility was constructed in the late 1950’s, provided thousands of transient irradiations before being placed in standby in 1994, and was restarted in 2017 in order to resume its crucial role in nuclear heated safety research. Advances in modern computational capabilities and a resurgence of interest in novel reactor technology have created an opportunity for emphasizing modern science-based and separate effects test capabilities at TREAT. An innovative approach to this type of testing leverages the relatively low radioisotope accumulation during brief TREAT irradiations by arranging small fresh fuel specimens in low activation hardware “modules” so that they can be easily extracted and shipped for examination within weeks. The concept was termed the Minimal Activation Retrievable Capsule Holder (MARCH) irradiation vehicle system, and its maturation began under a Lab Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project starting in fiscal year 2017. Within the first year of this project, enough design and predictive modeling had been performed to prove the principle and ascertain support from major direct-funded DOE fuel development programs including the Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) program that sponsored the first modern fueled test to be performed in TREAT using the MARCH system. Since the design was modular in nature, it was straightforward for other sources to adopt and mature viable test modules while the LDRD project continued concurrently for two more years in conceptualizing and demonstrating the viability of other innovative modules. Many of these modules were adopted for continued development and irradiation under the Advanced Fuels Campaign and other direct sources. This report summarizes the MARCH modules that were conceptualized, designed, and deployed to date with the primary aim of providing reference information to future experiment designers.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2006

Microshutter Arrays for the JWST NIRSpec

A primary goal of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to characterize the birth and evolution of galaxies by imaging and spectroscopic observations. The telescope will use a Near Infrared Camera and a Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) to carry out this program. The 3.6 x 3.6 field of NIRSpec will contain thousands of candidate high redshift galaxies. With such a high candidate object density, simultaneous multi-object capability is essential. This capability requires a programmable object selection mask to eliminate sky background and to reduce source confusion caused. We are developing a two-dimensional programmable field mask for NIRSpec. These masks employ micromechanical (MEMS) techniques to provide source selection over the NIRSpec field of view. The first flight format arrays (171x365 shutters) have been fabricated and full functionality of these arrays has been demonstrated in lab tests. Qualification tests are in progress to demonstrate readiness for flight, and will be complete in the early fall of 2006. In this paper, I describe performance of this critical new technology, and progress in making the devices ready for a 2008 delivery to ESA for inclusion in the NIRSpec.

Moseley, Samuel H.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Microshutter Arrays for the JWST NIRSpec

A primary goal of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to characterize the birth and evolution of galaxies by imaging and spectroscopic observations. The telescope will use a Near Infrared Camera and a Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) to carry out this program. The 3.6' x 3.6' field of NIRSpec will contain thousands of candidate high redshift galaxies. With such a high candidate object density, simultaneous multi-object capability is essential. This capability requires a programmable object selection mask to eliminate sky background and to reduce source confusion caused. We are developing a two-dimensional programmable field mask for NIRSpec. These masks employ micromechanical (MEMS) techniques to provide source selection over the NIRSpec field of view. The first flight format arrays (171x365 shutters) have been fabricated and full functionality of these arrays has been demonstrated in lab tests.

Moseley, Samuel H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Manual Crew Override of Vehicle Landings Following G-Transitions

BACKGROUND Manual control during exploration spaceflight consists of both planned automated supervisory control and unplanned crew override. This crew override capability is critical to enable overall mission success during landing contingencies. However, the introduction of manual override capabilities must be implemented to enable crews to mitigate risks introduced by human error. Adaptive changes in the sensorimotor system can manifest during g-transitions as spatial disorientation. While training and landing aids enable successful landing through disorientation, these adaptive changes may increase cognitive demand that needs to be accounted for in the manual control strategy. It is important to characterize these effects as soon as possible following the G-transition to develop appropriate countermeasures. METHODS The following study seeks to inform the risk associated with altered sensorimotor and vestibular function impacting critical mission tasks. We aim to characterize the effects of short and long-duration weightlessness on manual control following G-transitions using simulated lunar landing on a six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion base, a fixed base simulation, and a supervisory control tablet task. The primary goal is to understand the impact of spaceflight on crew ability to perform manual crew override and supervisory control. This aim will be assessed by comparing pre- versus postflight simulation performance in crewmembers assigned to either short duration (< 30 day) or long duration (~6- month) missions to the International Space Station (ISS). We hypothesize there will be postflight increases in the percent time that pilots are outside of the acceptable range for recommended vehicle state parameters and the reaction time for secondary cognitive tasks. Ground-based control subjects, who are demographically matched to the crew considering age (± 5 years) and gender, will undergo the same testing schedule as the crew to examine the effects of flight phase independent of microgravity exposure. The second aim is to examine how adaptive changes in vestibular and cognitive function relate to changes in manual crew override proficiency. Crew performance for a sensorimotor perceptual test battery will evaluate motion perception tracking, roll nulling, and/or vection sensitivity using the 6DOF motion base. We hypothesize that a higher severity of vestibular alterations will be associated with increased percent time outside of guidance limits. Motion sickness severity and sleepiness will also be evaluated. To determine the impact of “just-in-time” training, the third aim seeks to compare performance during on-board lunar landing tasks conducted late in-flight to early postflight. We hypothesize that proficiency on the “just-in-time” laptop trainer late in mission will be positively correlated with early postflight proficiency on the same task. The final aim will establish assessments of performance, training protocols, and the learning progression in a ground-control cohort of first-time users. RESULTS The assessment of the learning progression associated with the piloting task on the motion base system with thirty ground subjects will be reported. Learning curves will be established across four distinct sessions and within session considering trial difficulty. The difficulty of the landing task can be modulated with the landing divert distance and cross or downrange difficulty. Results may include changes in performance across multiple trials of a multi-attribute lunar tablet supervisory control task. Preliminary investigations of eighteen subjects who completed vestibular threshold and motion perception tasks offer expected performance ranges for upcoming preflight crew evaluations. The results yielded an average roll threshold of 0.46 ± 0.30 deg/s and an average roll nulling root mean square error performance of 2.52 ± 0.52 deg/s. RELEVANCE This project will deliver an operational demonstration of crew monitoring capability following spaceflight and identify potential deficits that may require remediation. Comparison of individual vestibular and cognitive changes with crew performance will help better characterize the manual control risks associated with sensorimotor alterations. Ground testing will evaluate learning progression, refine training protocols, and serve as a control cohort for comparisons to crew performance. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge contributions from Draper, the Dynamic Skills Trainer (DST) Lab, and the Software, Robotics, and Simulation Division toward the development of the lunar landing simulation platforms. This project is funded by the Human Health Countermeasures Element.

Hannah M. Weiss↗
DOE OSTI2015

Berkeley Lab WINDOW

WINDOW features include: - Microsoft Windows TM interface - algorithms for the calculation of total fenestration product U-values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient consistent with ASHRAE SPC 142, ISO 15099, and the National Fenestration Rating Council - a Condensation Resistance Index in accordance with the NFRC 500 Standard - and integrated database of properties - imports data from other LBNL window analysis software: - Import THERM file into the Frame Library - Import records from IGDB and OPtics5 into the Glass Library for the optical properties of coated and uncoated glazings, laminates, and applied films. Program Capabilities WINDOW 7.2 offers the following features: The ability to analyze products made from any combination of glazing layers, gas layers, frames, spacers, and dividers under any environmental conditions and at any tilt; The ability to model complex glazing systems such as venetian blinds and roller shades. Directly accessible libraries of window system components, (glazing systems, glazing layers, gas fills, frame and divider elements), and environmental conditions; The choice of working in English (IP), or Systeme International (SI) units; The ability to specify the dimensions and thermal properties of each frame element (header, sills, jamb, mullion) in a window; A multi-band (wavelength-by-wavelength) spectral model; A Glass Library which can access spectral data files for many common glazing materials from the Optics5database; A night-sky radiative model; A link with the DOE-2.1E and Energy Plus building energy analysis program. Performance Indices and Other Results For a user-defined fenestration system and user-defined environmental conditions, WINDOW calculates: The U-value, solar heat gain coefficient, shading coefficient, and visible transmittance for the complete window system; The U-value, solar heat gain coefficient, shading coefficient, and visible transmittance for the glazing system (center-of-glass values); The U-values of the frame and divider elements and corresponding edge-of-glass areas (based on generic correlations); The total solar and visible transmittance and reflectances of the glazing system. Color properties, i.e. L*, a*, and b* color coordinates, dominant wavelength, and purity for transmitted and reflected (outdoor) solar radiation; The damage-weighted transmittance of the glazing system between 0.3 an 0.38 microns; The angular dependence of the solar and visible transmittances, solar and visible reflectances, solar absorptance, and solar heat gain coefficient of the glazing system; The percent relative humidity of the inside and outside air for which condensation will occur on the interior and exterior glazing surfaces respectively; The center-of-glass temperature distribution.

Curcija, DraganCharlie↗
DOE OSTI2018

FY18 L2 Milestone #6360 Report: Initial Capability of an Arm-based Advanced Architecture Prototype System and Software Environment

The Vanguard program informally began in January 2017 with the submission of a white paper entitled "Sandia's Vision for a 2019 Arm Testbed" to NNSA headquarters. The program proceeded in earnest in May 2017 with an announcement by Doug Wade (Director, Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing and Institutional R&D at NNSA) that Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) would host the first Advanced Architecture Prototype platform based on the Arm architecture. In August 2017, Sandia formed a Tri-lab team chartered to develop a robust HPC software stack for Astra to support the Vanguard program goal of demonstrating the viability of Arm in supporting ASC production computing workloads. This document describes the high-level Vanguard program goals, the Vanguard-Astra project acquisition plan and procurement up to contract placement, the initial software stack environment planned for the Vanguard-Astra platform (Astra), a description of how the communities of users will utilize the platform during the transition from the open network to the classified network, and initial performance results.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

SO3/H2SO4 continuous real-time sensor demonstration at a power plant

We present results from field testing of a new, innovative sensor developed to measure SO3/H2SO4 continuously and in real time at a coal-fired power plant. The system utilizes the sensitivity, specificity, and real-time capabilities of mid-infrared (Mid-IR) laser-based sensor technology, along with a heated, close-coupled cell mounted directly to a power plant duct. Measurements were made by the laser sensor over a 2-day period and compared to results from the accepted method, EPA 8A, which requires a 30-minute collection, labor intensive processing, and off-site analysis at a lab. In contrast to the condensation method, the laser sensor continuously samples flue gas and reports measurements of the concentration of SO3/H2SO4, SO2 ever second with unattended operation. This initial demonstration proved the sensor concept and paves the way for its use for optimizing sorbent injection used to neutralize SO3/H2SO4. Optimized sorbent injection will enable significant cost savings associated with efforts to mitigate the presence and effects of SO3/H2SO4 such as “Blue Plume”, air heater fouling, and duct corrosion. In particular, the real-time, actionable information will enable better control of additive injection in flex conditions and variable fuels.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Photobiocatalysis for Abiological Transformations

Harnessing biocatalysts for novel abiological transformations is a longstanding goal of synthetic chemistry. Combining the merits of biocatalysis and photocatalysis allows for selective transformations fueled by visible light and offers many advantages including new reactivity, high enantioselectivity, greener syntheses, and high yields. Photoinduced electron or energy transfer enables synthetic methodologies that complement conventional two electron processes or offer orthogonal pathways for developing new reactions. Enzymes are well suited and can be tuned by directed evolution to exert control over radical intermediates thereby suppressing undesirable reactions and delivering high chemo- and stereoselectivities. Within the past decade, the combination of biocatalysis and photocatalysis was mainly focused on exploiting light-regenerated cofactors to increase native enzymatic activity. However, recent developments have demonstrated that the combination can unlock new-to-nature chemistry. Particularly, the discovery and application of new strategies are well poised to expand the applications of photobiocatalysis. In the past three years, our lab has been studying the combinations of photocatalysis and biocatalysis which can be applied to create new synthetic methodologies and solve challenges in synthetic organic chemistry. Our efforts have expanded the strategies for combining external photocatalysts with enzymes through the construction of a synergistic cooperative stereoconvergent reduction system consisting of photosensitized energy transfer and ene-reductase catalyzed alkene reduction. Additionally, our efforts have also extended the capability of cofactor-dependent photoenzymatic systems to include enantioselective bimolecular radical hydroalkylations of alkenes by irradiating electron donor-acceptor complexes comprised of enzymatic redox active cofactors and unnatural substrates. In this Account, we highlight strategies developed by our group and others for combining biocatalysis and photocatalysis with the aim of introducing nonnatural reactivity to enzymes. Presently, strategies applied to achieve this goal include the repurposing of newly discovered photoactive enzymes, the elucidation of new photoreactivity within cofactor-dependent enzymes, the combination of external photocatalysts with enzymes, and the construction of artificial photoenzymes. By demonstrating the successful application of these strategies for achieving selective new-to-nature transformations, we hope to spur interest in the expanding the scope of photobiocatalytic systems through the use and extension of these strategies and creation of new strategies. In addition, we hope to elucidate the intuition in synergizing the unique capabilities of biocatalysis and photocatalysis so that photobiocatalysis can be recognized as a potential solution to difficult challenges in synthetic organic chemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1991

Evolution user requirements for the restructured space station

Space Station Freedom (SSF) is designed to be an Earth orbiting multidisciplinary R&D facility capable of evolving to accommodate a variety of potential uses. In order to identify SSF evolution requirement and define potential growth configurations, NASA-Langley is analyzing user resource requirements for the post-PMC time frame. The analysis goal is to define resource levels, including crew, power, and volume, which allow full utilization of SSF capabilities commensurate with minimum essential user requirements. Multiple scenarios were studied including core R&D and combined SEI plus R&D utilization. An analysis is presented of a core R&D utilization scenario. Included are discussions of resource allocation assumptions for specific R&D disciplines, user requirements trends, and growth resource projections. These preliminary results show total resource requirements of 13 crew, 150 kW power, and additional lab volume equivalent to a second U.S. lab module. Additionally, orthogonal growth structure was identified as required to support SSF systems and users.

Leath, K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-14273-DND

ATOL is a World-unique lab facility that supports investigations / proof-of-concept studies to explore NextGen operations, procedures, and technologies. ATOL was originally created to fill a research gap at LaRC between low fidelity desk-top simulations and the high fidelity Cockpit Motion Facility for human-in-the-loop studies. Development began more than 10 years ago to study new ATM concept feasibility and distributed ATM flight deck capabilities in the en-route domain. First formal experiment in 2001. Capability was created as research requirements/goals dictated. Development philosophy is to develop models to the level of fidelity needed for studies. Simulation has numerous models/capabilities at varying levels of fidelity.

Tod Lewis↗
DOE OSTI2017

135 Xe measurements with a two-element CZT-based radioxenon detector for nuclear explosion monitoring

Measurement of elevated concentrations of xenon radioisotopes ( 131m Xe, 133m Xe, 133 Xe and 135 Xe) in the atmosphere has been shown to be a very powerful method for verifying whether or not a detected explosion is nuclear in nature. These isotopes are among the few with enough mobility and with half-lives long enough to make their detection at long distances realistic. Existing radioxenon detection systems used by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) suffer from problems such as complexity, need for high maintenance and memory effect. To study the response of CdZnTe (CZT) detectors to xenon radioisotopes and investigate whether it is capable of mitigating the afore-mentioned issues with the current radioxenon detection systems, a prototype detector utilizing two coplanar CZT detectors was built and tested at Oregon State University. The detection system measures xenon radioisotopes through beta-gamma coincidence technique by detecting coincidence events be-tween the two detectors. Here in this paper, we introduce the detector design and report our measurement results with radioactive lab sources and 135 Xe produced in the OSU TRIGA reactor. Minimum Detectable Concentration (MDC) for 135 Xe was calculated to be 1.47 ± 0.05 mBq/m 3 .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2004

Carbon Dioxide Dispersion in the Combustion Integrated Rack Simulated Numerically

When discharged into an International Space Station (ISS) payload rack, a carbon dioxide (CO2) portable fire extinguisher (PFE) must extinguish a fire by decreasing the oxygen in the rack by 50 percent within 60 sec. The length of time needed for this oxygen reduction throughout the rack and the length of time that the CO2 concentration remains high enough to prevent the fire from reigniting is important when determining the effectiveness of the response and postfire procedures. Furthermore, in the absence of gravity, the local flow velocity can make the difference between a fire that spreads rapidly and one that self-extinguishes after ignition. A numerical simulation of the discharge of CO2 from PFE into the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) in microgravity was performed to obtain the local velocity and CO2 concentration. The complicated flow field around the PFE nozzle exits was modeled by sources of equivalent mass and momentum flux at a location downstream of the nozzle. The time for the concentration of CO2 to reach a level that would extinguish a fire anywhere in the rack was determined using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a computational fluid dynamics code developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology specifically to evaluate the development of a fire and smoke transport. The simulation shows that CO2, as well as any smoke and combustion gases produced by a fire, would be discharged into the ISS cabin through the resource utility panel at the bottom of the rack. These simulations will be validated by comparing the results with velocity and CO2 concentration measurements obtained during the fire suppression system verification tests conducted on the CIR in March 2003. Once these numerical simulations are validated, portions of the ISS labs and living areas will be modeled to determine the local flow conditions before, during, and after a fire event. These simulations can yield specific information about how long it takes for smoke and combustion gases produced by a fire to reach a detector location, how large the fire would be when the detector alarms, and the behavior of the fire until it has been extinguished. This new capability could then be used to optimize the location of fire detectors and fire-suppression ports as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of fire suppressants and response strategies. Numerical data collected from these simulations could also be used to develop a virtual reality fire event for crew training and fire safety awareness. This work is funded by NASA's Bioastronautics Initiative, which has the objective of ensuring and enhancing the health, safety, and performance of humans in space. As part of this initiative, the Microgravity Combustion Science Branch at the NASA Glenn Research Center is conducting spacecraft fire safety research to significantly improve fire safety on inhabited spacecraft.

Wu, Ming-Shin↗
NASA NTRS2011

Advanced Rigid Ablative TPS

NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate s (ESMD) Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) Technology Development Project (TDP) and the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate s (ARMD) Hypersonics Project are developing new advanced rigid ablators in an effort to substantially increase reliability, decrease mass, and reduce life cycle cost of rigid aeroshell-based entry systems for multiple missions. Advanced Rigid Ablators combine ablation resistant top layers capable of high heat flux entry and enable high-speed EDL with insulating mass-efficient bottom that, insulate the structure and lower the areal weight. These materials may benefit Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) vendors and may potentially enable new NASA missions for higher velocity returns (e.g. asteroid, Mars). The materials have been thermally tested to 400-450 W/sq cm at the Laser Hardened Materials Evaluation Lab (LHMEL), Hypersonics Materials Evaluation Test System (HyMETS) and in arcjet facilities. Tested materials exhibit much lower backface temperatures and reduced recession over the baseline materials (PICA). Although the EDL project is ending in FY11, NASA in-house development of advanced ablators will continue with a focus on varying resin systems and fiber/resin interactions.

Gasch, Matthew J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Hardware Design and Testing of SUPERball, A Modular Tensegrity Robot

We are developing a system of modular, autonomous "tensegrity end-caps" to enable the rapid exploration of untethered tensegrity robot morphologies and functions. By adopting a self-contained modular approach, different end-caps with various capabilities (such as peak torques, or motor speeds), can be easily combined into new tensegrity robots composed of rods, cables, and actuators of different scale (such as in length, mass, peak loads, etc). As a first step in developing this concept, we are in the process of designing and testing the end-caps for SUPERball (Spherical Underactuated Planetary Exploration Robot), a project at the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab (DTRL) within NASA Ames's Intelligent Robotics Group. This work discusses the evolving design concepts and test results that have gone into the structural, mechanical, and sensing aspects of SUPERball. This representative tensegrity end-cap design supports robust and repeatable untethered mobility tests of the SUPERball, while providing high force, high displacement actuation, with a low-friction, compliant cabling system.

Tensegrity↗