SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Localization”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 883 records · Page 49

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1987

Local Data Processing for a Robot Hand

Integrated-circuit microcomputers process signals among sensors, external controls, and end-effector motor. Multiple-microprocessor system within end effector of remote manipulator accepts data from sensors in end effector, commumnicates with external control system, and controls end-effector motor. External system includes central control computer (which interacts with operator) and display. Local dataprocessing system in end effector relieves external control system of some of its computational load and minimizes data communication load with external higher level controller.

Bejczy, A. K.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Pressure-Localizing Inserts for Bagging Laminations

Devices compress composite laminates to conform to tight inside corners of molds. Proposed use of pressure-localizing insert allows composite laminates to be compacted into tight corners by conventional pressure or vacuum-bagging techniques. Because of manufacturing technique, larger selection of part shapes becomes amenable to lamination.

Schmaling, Dave↗

NASA NTRS1986

A variable-frequency local oscillator for the frequency-hopping technique

The frequency hopping technique described elsewhere requires the use of a local oscillator whose output frequency may be rapidly and accurately changed by a fixed frequency increment. Such a device, capable of producing 16 different frequencies separated by 50 kHz over the range of 35.02 to 35.77 MHz, has been built for the Urbana MST (mesosphere stratosphere troposphere) radar facility. The design and construction of that device is described and illustrated.

Stitt, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A locally implicit method for fluid flow problems

The fluid flow inside the space shuttle main engine (SSME) traverses through a complex geometrical configuration. The flow is compressible, viscous, and turbulent with pockets of separated regions. Several computer codes are being developed to solve three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with different turbulence models for analyzing the SSME internal flow. The locally implicit scheme is a computationally efficient scheme which converges rapidly in multi-grid modes for elliptic problems. It has the promise of providing a rapidly converging algorithm for steady-state viscous flow problems.

Reddy, K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Sensitivity of overall vehicle stiffness to local joint stiffness

How overall vehicle stiffness is affected by local joint stiffness is discussed. By using the principle of virtual work and the minimum strain energy theorem, a closed form expression for the sensitivity coefficient was derived. The insensitivity of the vehicle stiffness to a particular joint, when its stiffness exceeds a certain value (or threshold value), was proven mathematically. In order to investigate the sensitivity of the structure to the joint stiffness, a so-called stick model was created, and the modeling technique is briefly described. Some data on joint stiffness of tested vehicles are also presented.

Chon, Choon T.↗

NASA NTRS1986

IUE study of the very local interstellar medium

The IUE and Copernicus results for the very local interstellar medium are compared. Despite its lower resolution, IUE produces results of comparable quality, giving important confirmation of Copernicus results on the density, temperature, turbulence, and deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in the region within 10 pc of the Sun. The stars observed are in a very low-density quarter of the galaxy: multicomponent structure seen in other directions may not be present in the direction of most of the observed stars. The exceedingly low densities observed in certain directions encourages the idea that EUV studies of certain normal stars may be possible.

Henry, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Channel access schemes and fiber optic configurations for integrated-services local area networks

Local Area Networks are in common use for data communications and have enjoyed great success. Recently, there is a growing interest in using a single network to support many applications in addition to traditional data traffic. These additional applications introduce new requirements in terms of volume of traffic and real-time delivery of data which are not met by existing networks. To satisfy these requirements, a high-bandwidth tranmission medium, such as fiber optics, and a distributed channel access scheme for the efficient sharing of the bandwidth among the various applications are needed. As far as the throughput-delay requirements of the various application are concerned, a network structure along with a distributed channel access are proposed which incorporate appropriate scheduling policies for the transmission of outstanding messages on the network. A dynamic scheduling policy was devised which outperforms all existing policies in terms of minimizing the expected cost per message. A broadcast mechanism was devised for the efficient dissemination of all relevant information. Fiber optic technology is considered for the high-bandwidth transmisison medium.

Nassehi, M. Mehdi↗

NASA NTRS1985

Multiwall/RSI concept for local application to space shuttle body flap

A titanium multiwall/reusable surface insulation (MW/RSI) TPS concept designed to prevent local erosion of the RSI tiles on the upper surface of the Space Shuttle Orbiter body flap was investigated. The concept, which consisted of a combination of a titanium multiwall tile and an RSI tile, was evaluated by thermal analysis and structural and thermal testing of one configuration to assess the attachment scheme and thermal behavior. Results indicate that the MW/RSI concept will remain attached to the vehicle and provide the required thermal protection.

Shideler, John L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

An analysis of the crossover between local and massive separation on airfoils

Massive separation on airfoils operating at high Reynolds number is an important problem to the aerodynamicist, since its onset generally determines the limiting performance of an airfoil, and it can lead to serious problems related to aircraft control as well as turbomachinery operation. The phenomenon of crossover between local separation and massive separation on realistic airfoil geometries induced by airfoil thickness is investigated for low speed (incompressible) flow. The problem is studied both for the asymptotic limit of infinite Reynolds number using triple-deck theory, and for finite Reynolds number using interacting boundary-layer theory. Numerical results are presented which follow the evolution of the flow as it develops from a mildly separated state to one dominated by the massively separated flow structure as the thickness of the airfoil geometry is systematically increased. The effect of turbulence upon the evolution of the flow is considered, and the impact is significant, with the principal effect being the suppression of the onset of separation. Finally, the effect of surface suction and injection for boundary-layer control is considered. The approach which was developed provides a valuable tool for the analysis of boundary-layer separation up to and beyond stall. Another important conclusion is that interacting boundary-layer theory provides an efficient tool for the analysis of the effect of turbulence and boundary-layer control upon separated vicsous flow.

Barnett, M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Solution of elliptic PDEs by fast Poisson solvers using a local relaxation factor

A large class of two- and three-dimensional, nonseparable elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) is presently solved by means of novel one-step (D'Yakanov-Gunn) and two-step (accelerated one-step) iterative procedures, using a local, discrete Fourier analysis. In addition to being easily implemented and applicable to a variety of boundary conditions, these procedures are found to be computationally efficient on the basis of the results of numerical comparison with other established methods, which lack the present one's: (1) insensitivity to grid cell size and aspect ratio, and (2) ease of convergence rate estimation by means of the coefficient of the PDE being solved. The two-step procedure is numerically demonstrated to outperform the one-step procedure in the case of PDEs with variable coefficients.

Chang, Sin-Chung↗

NASA NTRS1986

A molecular cloud in the local, hot interstellar medium

Echelle spectra recorded at the D lines of Na I are reported for nine A or F stars. Lying at approximate distances ranging from 25 to 230 pc, the stars are projected on or near the high-latitude molecular cloud MBM 12 at l = 159 deg, b = -34 deg. Among a subgroup of five of these stars separated by no more than 1.2 deg on the sky, four which are located at distances d more than 70 pc show strong interstellar D line absorption near the radial velocity of the CO emission observed in this general direction. The fifth star, at roughly 60 pc, shows no detectable absorption. MBM 12 therefore probably lies at roughly 65 pc, within the local region filled primarily by very hot, low-density gas, a conclusion supported by the large internal velocity dispersion of the molecular cloud complex.

Hobbs, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

IUE observations of neutral hydrogen and deuterium in the local interstellar medium

Small-aperture, high-dispersion IUE spectra have been obtained of seven late-type stars that, in general, confirm previous Copernicus results concerning the distribution of hydrogen and deuterium in the local interstellar medium. In addition, the IUE Ly Alpha spectra of Altair, and of the Alpha Cen components, suggest that multiple velocity components exist in these two directions.

Landsman, W. B.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The HRS GTO program to study the neutral hydrogen column density and D/H ratio in the local interstellar medium

Theoretical line profiles are presented that demonstrate why 100,000 spectral resolution and high S/N are needed to derive accurate column densities from spectral lines that lie close to the flat part of the curve of growth and may contain multiple velocity components. The aim of the Space Telescope high-resolution-spectrograph observing program is to obtain column densities in the hydrogen and deuterium Lyman alpha lines along a variety of lines of sight within and extending beyond the local cloudlet, in which the sun is located near an edge. The broad chromospheric Lyman alpha emission lines of late-type stars are used as background sources against which to measure the interstellar absorption features. Profiles of interstellar absorption features in Mg II and Fe II lines will be obtained to derive the broadening parameter and/or identify possible multiple velocity components in the lines of sight.

Linsky, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer and the local interstellar medium

The EUV Explorer (EUVE) mission is described, with emphasis on the overall capabilities of the instrumentation and the relevance of the mission to determining parameters of the local interstellar medium. The primary purpose of the mission is to search the celestial sphere for astronomical sources of EUV radiation (100-1000 A). The search will be accomplished with the use of three EUV telescopes, sensitive to different segments of the EUV band. A fourth telescope will perform a high-sensitivity search of a limited sample of the sky in the shortest-wavelength bands. The all-sky survey will be carried out in the first six months of the mission. The second six months of the mission, conducted entirely by Guest Investigators selected by NASA, will be devoted to spectroscopic observations of selected EUV sources. The instrumentation is now well developed. The best mirror has full-width/half-energy spread of 8 arcsec and a surface finish of 20 A. Prototype thin-film bandpass filters have been flown on the Space Shuttle and their performance optimized. Prototype detectors have been developed which have 600 by 600-pixel imaging capability and up to 80-percent quantum efficiency in parts of the EUV band.

Bowyer, Stuart↗

NASA NTRS1986

Cyclotron maser radiation from a source structure localized perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field

Particle simulations were used to investigate the properties of electromagnetic radiation produced by the cyclotron maser instability in a source region which is localized in the direction perpendicular to the uniform magnetic field. In the procedure used, the simulation model of Pritchett and Strangeway (1985) for the generation of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) along an auroral field line was modified to include inhomogeneities perpendicular to the magnetic field. The results are compared with the previous homogeneous simulations with regard to efficiency and saturation mechanism and with expectations based on the feedback model. The implications for the generation and propagation of AKR are discussed.

Pritchett, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Geomagnetic activity and local modulations of cosmic rays circa 1 GV

Solar-sector synchronous modulations of the particulate cosmic radiation reaching the earth's atmosphere have been studied using low altitude satellite and surface data. The flux in the broad maximum of the galactic cosmic ray differential spectrum (near GV rigidity) exhibits an intermittent north-south asymmetry (NSA) in mid and high geomagnetic latitudes. During the 1964 and 1965 years of sunspot minimum, this modulation had a negative rigidity dependence and strong correlations with geomagnetic disturbance index (ap) and interplanetary magnetic field direction. Taken together with other features, this ap dependence is consistent with the hypothesis that reconnection of the interplanetary and geomagnetic fields should produce a local NSA independent of much larger scale NSAs associated with cosmic ray gradients in the heliosphere. This finding is also consistent with suggestions that solar activity influence on atmospheric processes may be mediated by the resulting modulations of upper tropospheric ionization.

Ely, J. T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Electrostatic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability produced by a localized electric field perpendicular to an external magnetic field

The evolution of a plasma with a localized electric field perpendicular to an external magnetic field is shown to be dominated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. For small ion gyroradius, the instability is similar to the fluid mode. When the ion gyroradius is an appreciable fraction of the spatial extent of the electric field, the plasma is not in equilibrium, and the initial drift profile relaxes. Subsequent evolution still leads to vortex flows.

Pritchett, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Distribution of calmodulin in corn seedlings - Immunocytochemical localization in coleoptiles and root apices

Immunofluorescence techniques have been used to study the distribution of calmodulin in several tissues in etiolated corn (Zea mays, var. Bear Hybrid) seedlings. Uniform staining was seen in the background cytoplasm of most cell types. Cell walls and vacuoles were not stained. In coleoptile mesophyll cells the nucleoplasm of most nuclei was stained as was the stroma of most amyloplasts. The lumen border of mature tracheary elements in coleoptiles also stained. In the rootcap the most intensely stained regions were the cytoplasms of columella cells and of the outermost cells enmeshed in the layer of secreted slime. Nuclei in the rootcap cells did not stain distinctly, but those in all cell types of the root meristem did. Also in the root meristem, the cytoplasm of metaxylem elements stained brightly. These results are compared and contrasted with previous data on the localization of calmodulin in pea root apices and epicotyls and discussed in relation to current hypotheses on mechanisms of gravitropism.

Dauwalder, M.↗