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At least 919 records · Page 51

Tradeoffs in implementing primary-backup protocols

One way to implement a fault-tolerant service is by using multiple servers that fail independently. The state of the service is replicated and distributed among these servers, and updates are coordinated so that even when a subset of the servers fail, the service remains available. A common approach to structuring such replicated services is to designate one server as the primary and all the others as backups. Clients make requests by sending messages only to the primary. If the primary fails, then a failover occurs and one of the backups takes over. This service architecture is commonly called the primary-backup or the primary-copy approach. In most such primary-backup protocols, when the primary receives a client request, it informs the backups about the request, and then responds to the client. Informally, this primary-backup protocol is non-blocking if the primary does not wait for an acknowledgement from the backups before it sends the response; otherwise, it is blocking. Most of the existing protocols are blocking as non-blocking protocols cannot be constructed for some kinds of failures. However, it is shown that non-blocking protocols can be constructed for most of the process and communication failures that are expected to occur in the primary-backup systems of the future. Since non-blocking protocols can theoretically achieve the smallest possible response time, this paper analyzes these protocols under various system parameters. Two kinds of non-blocking protocols are analyzed: one in which the processes use point-to-point communication to exchange messages, and the other in which processes use hardware broadcasts.

Budhiraja, Navin↗

Experimental analysis of computer system dependability

This paper reviews an area which has evolved over the past 15 years: experimental analysis of computer system dependability. Methodologies and advances are discussed for three basic approaches used in the area: simulated fault injection, physical fault injection, and measurement-based analysis. The three approaches are suited, respectively, to dependability evaluation in the three phases of a system's life: design phase, prototype phase, and operational phase. Before the discussion of these phases, several statistical techniques used in the area are introduced. For each phase, a classification of research methods or study topics is outlined, followed by discussion of these methods or topics as well as representative studies. The statistical techniques introduced include the estimation of parameters and confidence intervals, probability distribution characterization, and several multivariate analysis methods. Importance sampling, a statistical technique used to accelerate Monte Carlo simulation, is also introduced. The discussion of simulated fault injection covers electrical-level, logic-level, and function-level fault injection methods as well as representative simulation environments such as FOCUS and DEPEND. The discussion of physical fault injection covers hardware, software, and radiation fault injection methods as well as several software and hybrid tools including FIAT, FERARI, HYBRID, and FINE. The discussion of measurement-based analysis covers measurement and data processing techniques, basic error characterization, dependency analysis, Markov reward modeling, software-dependability, and fault diagnosis. The discussion involves several important issues studies in the area, including fault models, fast simulation techniques, workload/failure dependency, correlated failures, and software fault tolerance.

Iyer, Ravishankar, K.↗

Gyro-based Maximum-Likelihood Thruster Fault Detection and Identification

When building smaller, less expensive spacecraft, there is a need for intelligent fault tolerance vs. increased hardware redundancy. If fault tolerance can be achieved using existing navigation sensors, cost and vehicle complexity can be reduced. A maximum likelihood-based approach to thruster fault detection and identification (FDI) for spacecraft is developed here and applied in simulation to the X-38 space vehicle. The system uses only gyro signals to detect and identify hard, abrupt, single and multiple jet on- and off-failures. Faults are detected within one second and identified within one to five accords,

Wilson, Edward↗

NASA Tech Briefs, August 2008

Customizable Digital Receivers for Radar Two-Camera Acquisition and Tracking of a Flying Target Visual Data Analysis for Satellites A Data Type for Efficient Representation of Other Data Types Hand-Held Ultrasonic Instrument for Reading Matrix Symbols Broadband Microstrip-to-Coplanar Strip Double-Y Balun A Topographical Lidar System for Terrain-Relative Navigation Programmable Low-Voltage Circuit Breaker and Tester Electronic Switch Arrays for Managing Microbattery Arrays Topics covered include: Lower-Dark-Current, Higher-Blue-Response CMOS Imagers; Fabricating Large-Area Sheets of Single-Layer Graphene by CVD; Support for Diagnosis of Custom Computer Hardware; Providing Goal-Based Autonomy for Commanding a Spacecraft; Dynamic Method for Identifying Collected Sample Mass; Optimal Planning and Problem-Solving; Attitude-Control Algorithm for Minimizing Maneuver Execution Errors; Grants Document-Generation System; Heat-Storage Modules Containing LiNO3 3H2O and Graphite Foam; Precipitation-Strengthened, High-Temperature, High-Force Shape Memory Alloys; Improved Relief Valve Would Be Less Susceptible to Failure; Safety Modification of Cam-and-Groove Hose Coupling; Using Composite Materials in a Cryogenic Pump; Using Electronic Noses to Detect Tumors During Neurosurgery; Producing Newborn Synchronous Mammalian Cells; Smaller, Lower-Power Fast-Neutron Scintillation Detectors; Rotationally Vibrating Electric-Field Mill; Estimating Hardness from the USDC Tool-Bit Temperature Rise; Particle-Charge Spectrometer; Automated Production of Movies on a Cluster of Computers; FIDO-Class Development Rover; and Tone-Based Command of Deep Space Probes Using Ground Antennas.

Source record↗

Polyphony: A Workflow Orchestration Framework for Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing has delivered unprecedented compute capacity to NASA missions at affordable rates. Missions like the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and Mars Science Lab (MSL) are enjoying the elasticity that enables them to leverage hundreds, if not thousands, or machines for short durations without making any hardware procurements. In this paper, we describe Polyphony, a resilient, scalable, and modular framework that efficiently leverages a large set of computing resources to perform parallel computations. Polyphony can employ resources on the cloud, excess capacity on local machines, as well as spare resources on the supercomputing center, and it enables these resources to work in concert to accomplish a common goal. Polyphony is resilient to node failures, even if they occur in the middle of a transaction. We will conclude with an evaluation of a production-ready application built on top of Polyphony to perform image-processing operations of images from around the solar system, including Mars, Saturn, and Titan.

Space Exploration,↗

Online Cable Tester and Rerouter

Hardware and algorithms have been developed to transfer electrical power and data connectivity safely, efficiently, and automatically from an identified damaged/defective wire in a cable to an alternate wire path. The combination of online cable testing capabilities, along with intelligent signal rerouting algorithms, allows the user to overcome the inherent difficulty of maintaining system integrity and configuration control, while autonomously rerouting signals and functions without introducing new failure modes. The incorporation of this capability will increase the reliability of systems by ensuring system availability during operations.

Lewis, Mark↗

EMI / EMC Design for Class D Payloads (Resource Prospector / NIRVSS)

EMI/EMC techniques are applied to a Class D instrument (NIRVSS) to achieve low noise performance and reduce risk of EMI/EMC testing failures and/or issues during system integration and test. Basic techniques are not terribly expensive or complex, but do require close coordination between electrical and mechanical staff early in the design process. Low-cost methods to test subsystems on the bench without renting an EMI chamber are discussed. This method was applied to the NIRVSS instrument and achieved improvements up to 59dB on conducted emissions measurements between hardware revisions.

low noise↗

High Speed Bearing Wear Rate Measurements for Spacecraft Active Thermal Control Fluid Pumps with a Novel Pin on Disk Apparatus

A novel pin on disc tribometer was designed and constructed to generate a high-speed, wear coefficient database for hydrodynamic bearings that are typically used in canned motors found in the active thermal control circuits of robotic and inhabited spacecraft. The primary motivation for this work was the premature failure of the active external thermal control pump on the International Space Station in 2010. During the failure investigation of this incident, the root cause was postulated to be high speed wear of the bearings. Although a detailed forensic analysis gave credibility to this theory, the lack of wear coefficient data at relevant conditions prevented validation of this finding. The database generated from the new Extreme Environment Tribometer (EET) enabled a closure calculation within 5% of the observed wear from inspections of the failed hardware. Testing in anhydrous ammonia and surrogate fluid was performed to provide a means for simplified testing in the future and to populate a preliminary database for the design of future active thermal control systems on spacecraft. The EET and test techniques developed for the measurement of high-speed wear coefficients are available to future system designers.

thermal control↗

Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA): Development of Swarm Autonomy Capability and Scalability for Spacecraft

The Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy project is developing a suite of software tools that enable an operator to command and receive data from a swarm as a single entity, enable a swarm to autonomously coordinate its actions via distributed decision making and reactive closed-loop control, and model swarm behavior in the presence of anomalies or failures. Our use case is the mapping of the electron density of the ionosphere using radio tomography by coordinating the selection of appropriate GPS channels, and by recording Total Electron Count (TEC)measurements. DSA will be demonstrated on board the NASA Ames Starling mission a swarm of four small, LEO spacecraft, scheduled to launch in 2021. We will also perform a ground demonstration with simulated and hardware-in-the-loop elements, to validate the tools for controlling swarms of up to 100 assets.The capability to communicate autonomously between the swarm satellites is demonstrated via a sophisticated simulation architecture. Historical Plasma sphere TEC data obtained via dual-band Novatel GPS Receivers are utilized as a representative input data set for the swarm. The representative TEC data and GPS satellite observability information is fed to the autonomous software package in place of a true real-time ground data collection process. The swarm satellites actively share status updates amongst one another and utilize multi-agent decision making to optimally identify regions of interest in the TEC distribution. The software,aware of the bandwidth limitations of the swarm satellites, prioritizes explorative measurements,which define the range of observability for the satellites, as well as exploitative measurements,which focus on maximizing the observance potential of regions with prolonged, elevated TEC density. The science of this study can ultimately be used to determine the dynamics and coupling of Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere and their response to solar and terrestrial inputs. The findings can be applied to the imaging of critical, transient phenomena in the magnetosphere in later missions. Meanwhile, the swarm autonomy capabilities have far reaching potential in future satellite missions.As an experimental demonstration of the autonomous capabilities of the network, a message is first printed within a core Flight Executive (cFE) application. Two cFE applications that communicate with one another within the same core Flight System (cFS) are shown.Communication between mission applications on the internal cFE bus is extended to utilize Data Distribution Service (DDS) for vehicle-to-vehicle networking. The DDS middle ware provides reliable delivery, routing, and topic subscription features over User Data gram Protocol (UDP).Leveraging Linux containerization, a networked set of satellite instances are generated by script to simulate swarm behavior. Swarm commanding and synchronization through the network is demonstrated under various topologies and data-loss conditions. Finally, autonomous swarms calability from 2 satellites to 100 satellites is shown.

Fugate, Jason↗

Final Scientific/Technical Report-FREE-piston Zero Emissions Refrigerator (FREEZER)

The FREE-piston Zero Emissions Refrigerator (FREEZER™) is a natural refrigerant Stirling-cycle cooler developed by AMSC in partnership with Heatcraft, targeted as a replacement refrigeration system for walk-in coolers or freezers found commonly in restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, etc. The FREEZER™, combined with a closed-loop CO2 heat-transfer system, had the goal to provides an efficient (Target COP = 1.4), zero ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) and near zero GWP (Global Warming Potential) refrigeration solution with no synthetic, flammable, or toxic refrigerants. Other near zero GWP refrigeration systems do not exist at the scale and performance level of FREEZER. ARPA-E Continuation Funding enabled the design and fabrication of one Advanced Development Unit (ADU) cooler and two Field Test Unit (FTU) coolers, and a new revised Field Test Unit (new FTU). Heatcraft was to extensively test the various coolers at their facilities, which closely simulate real-world conditions. The original plan was to install and operate FREEZER FTUs alongside a traditional cooling solution at one or more customer locations to obtain data on direct performance comparisons with existing commercial refrigeration systems. Success in this FREEZER refinement and field-test project will establish the basis for a new class of environmentally friendly refrigeration systems that will revolutionize the industry. The hardware developed under the program is shown below in Figure 1. Five Stirling-cycle machines were built within the program, with a sixth cooler still under construction. The original DU and the ADU coolers met the performance target with a coefficient of performance (COP) of 1.2. The FTU was underperforming during the initial tuning of the free-piston Stirling cycle dynamics when there was a catastrophic failure of the fasteners on pressure boundary. This caused a pause to the program while the failure mechanism was investigated. The root cause was an inadequate flange design that allowed an excessive cyclic loading on the fasteners, leading to a fatigue failure. It was determined that existing FTU design could not be reasonably salvaged in a safe manner, and that fact, combined with the lower-than-expected performance of the new experimental heat exchanger modules lead to the design of the “new FTU” with a more conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger design which should get close to the design target COP of 1.4, but have a higher overall machine cost. The program ran out of time before the fabrication of the new FTU was completed, but AMSC is still working on the cooler, with the majority of the parts fabricated, and hopes to have the unit under test sometime in early 2022, after which it will be shipped to Heatcraft for additional testing.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Qualification plan for the ultraviolet spectrometer experiment (S-169), revision A

The qualification methods used to verify that the UVS hardware meets the technical requirements of the contract are defined. Included in this plan are test location, the qualification UVS to be tested, test objectives, and all tests required to verify that the UVS meets all performance and environmental requirements of the CEI specification. Additionally, environmental test conditions, testing time or cycles, allowable maintenance, logging requirements, manner of analysis, and utilization of test results, disposition of test specimens, failure criteria, retest requirements, facilities and support requirements, and the time phasing of the tests are presented.

Eckard, L. D., Jr.↗

Orion Boiler Plate Airdrop Test System

On the 29th of February 2012 the Orion Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) project attempted to perform an airdrop test of a boilerplate test article for the second time. The first attempt (Cluster Development Test 2, July 2008) to deliver a similar boilerplate from a C-17 using the Low Velocity Air Drop (LVAD) technique resulted in the programmer parachute failing to properly inflate, the test article failing to achieve the desired test initiation conditions, and the test article a total loss. This paper will pick up where the CDT-2 failure investigation left off, describing the test technique that was adopted, and outline the modeling that was performed to gain confidence that the second attempt would be successful. The second boiler plate test (Cluster Development Test 3-3) was indeed a complete success and has subsequently been repeated several times, allowing the CPAS project to proceed with the full scale system level development testing required to integrate the hardware to the first Entry Flight Test vehicle as well as go into the Critical Design Review with minimum risk and a mature design.

Machin, Ricardo A.↗

Process Control Plan to Monitor Acceptable Levels of Flux and other residues

IPC J-STD –001G, Amendment 1 requires that the assembler have a sampling plan to assure that the process remains in control once qualified and validated. It is well documented that electrochemical failures occur at component sites where flux residues are not fully activated. It is also well known that specific components have a higher risk of electrochemical failure. Selecting a control plan that monitors the process and its performance on challenging components provides assurance that the process maintains control once established during process qualification. The test board used to qualify the process establishes an upper and lower spec limit for each of the component types on the test board. Surface Insulation Resistance upper and lower control limits, using challenging components that are representative of production hardware, represent a golden process condition. The golden image is a measure of process deviations that represents the performance of a resistance curve within a specific period. The objective is to judge whether the process in or out of control.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Reliability and Maintainability Analysis for the Amine Swingbed Carbon Dioxide Removal System

I have performed a reliability & maintainability analysis for the Amine Swingbed payload system. The Amine Swingbed is a carbon dioxide removal technology that has gone through 2,400 hours of International Space Station on-orbit use between 2013 and 2016. While the Amine Swingbed is currently an experimental payload system, the Amine Swingbed may be converted to system hardware. If the Amine Swingbed becomes system hardware, it will supplement the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) as the primary CO2 removal technology on the International Space Station. NASA is also considering using the Amine Swingbed as the primary carbon dioxide removal technology for future extravehicular mobility units and for the Orion, which will be used for the Asteroid Redirect and Journey to Mars missions. The qualitative component of the reliability and maintainability analysis is a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). In the FMEA, I have investigated how individual components in the Amine Swingbed may fail, and what the worst case scenario is should a failure occur. The significant failure effects are the loss of ability to remove carbon dioxide, the formation of ammonia due to chemical degradation of the amine, and loss of atmosphere because the Amine Swingbed uses the vacuum of space to regenerate the Amine Swingbed. In the quantitative component of the reliability and maintainability analysis, I have assumed a constant failure rate for both electronic and nonelectronic parts. Using this data, I have created a Poisson distribution to predict the failure rate of the Amine Swingbed as a whole. I have determined a mean time to failure for the Amine Swingbed to be approximately 1,400 hours. The observed mean time to failure for the system is between 600 and 1,200 hours. This range includes initial testing of the Amine Swingbed, as well as software faults that are understood to be non-critical. If many of the commercial parts were switched to military-grade parts, the expected mean time to failure would be 2,300 hours. Both calculated mean times to failure for the Amine Swingbed use conservative failure rate models. The observed mean time to failure for CDRA is 2,500 hours. Working on this project and for NASA in general has helped me gain insight into current aeronautics missions, reliability engineering, circuit analysis, and different cultures. Prior my internship, I did not have a lot knowledge about the work being performed at NASA. As a chemical engineer, I had not really considered working for NASA as a career path. By engaging in interactions with civil servants, contractors, and other interns, I have learned a great deal about modern challenges that NASA is addressing. My work has helped me develop a knowledge base in safety and reliability that would be difficult to find elsewhere. Prior to this internship, I had not thought about reliability engineering. Now, I have gained a skillset in performing reliability analyses, and understanding the inner workings of a large mechanical system. I have also gained experience in understanding how electrical systems work while I was analyzing the electrical components of the Amine Swingbed. I did not expect to be exposed to as many different cultures as I have while working at NASA. I am referring to both within NASA and the Houston area. NASA employs individuals with a broad range of backgrounds. It has been great to learn from individuals who have highly diverse experiences and outlooks on the world. In the Houston area, I have come across individuals from different parts of the world. Interacting with such a high number of individuals with significantly different backgrounds has helped me to grow as a person in ways that I did not expect. My time at NASA has opened a window into the field of aeronautics. After earning a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, I plan to go to graduate school for a PhD in engineering. Prior to coming to NASA, I was not aware of the graduate Pathways program. I intend to apply for the graduate Pathways program as positions are opened up. I would like to pursue future opportunities with NASA, especially as my engineering career progresses.

Dunbar, Tyler↗

TPSAS-NF1676L-13538-DND

Highly loaded composite struts from a proposed truss-based Altair lunar lander descent stage concept were selected for development under NASA's Advanced Composites Technology program. Predicted compressive member forces during launch and ascent of over -100,000 lbs were much greater than the tensile loads. The development of a capability for experimental evaluation of the structural performance of these struts is presented. Strut lengths range from 60 to over 120 inches, and compressive launch and ascent loads can exceed -100,000 lbs, or approximately two times the corresponding tensile loads. Allowing all possible compressive structural responses, including elastic buckling, were primary considerations for designing the test hardware. NASA's industry partner designed and built highly loaded struts that were delivered to NASA for testing. Their design, fabricated on a washout mandrel, had a uniform-diameter composite tube with composite tapered ends. Each tapered end contained a titanium end fitting with facing conical ramps that are overlaid and overwrapped with composite materials. The highly loaded struts were loaded in both tension and compression, with ultimate failure produced in compression. Test results for these struts are presented and discussed, along with measured deflections, strains and observed failure mechanisms.

K Chauncey Wu↗

Enhanced Control, Optimization, and Integration of Distributed Energy Applications (ECO-IDEA)

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered with Xcel Energy, Schneider Electric, Varentec, and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to meet the goals of the Enabling Extreme Real-Time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE) program. This project developed and validated an innovative data-enhanced hierarchical control architecture that enables the efficient, reliable, resilient, and secure operation of future distribution systems with a high penetration of distributed energy resources like solar energy. The architecture enables a hybrid control approach where a centralized control layer is complemented by distributed control algorithms for solar inverters and autonomous control of grid edge devices. It is fully interoperable and includes all the cybersecurity aspects necessary for reliable and secure system operation. The hybrid approach can seamlessly integrate multiple voltage-regulation technologies, both at central and grid-edge levels, which enables reliable and efficient system operation in the face of unpredictable conditions. The overarching goal of the Eco-Idea project is to develop, validate, and deploy a unique and innovative Data-Enhanced Hierarchical Control (DEHC) architecture that comprehensively addresses the formidable challenges associated with proliferation of high penetration of distributed PV such as reverse power flows, transients from variability of PV systems, feeder load balancing, and voltage stability. These issues are exposing the weaknesses of existing grid operations and controls - including, but not limited to, lack of grid situational awareness, heuristic and slow-acting control actions, latency of control for emergency situations, and points of failure in communications. The proposed architecture will comprehensively resolve the deficiencies of current operational settings - where monitoring and control solutions proposed across industry and academia may not be interoperable and may not coexist in the same system - and will enable an efficient, reliable, resilient, and secure operation of future distribution systems with penetration of solar energy well beyond current limits. The DEHC architecture was developed and validated rigorously through hardware-in-loop simulations in the laboratory environment and deployed on the field.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

International Space Station Common Cabin Air Assembly Condensing Heat Exchanger Hydrophilic Coating Failures and Lessons Learned

The ability to control the temperature and humidity of an environment or habitat is critical for human survival. These factors are important to maintaining human health and comfort, as well as maintaining mechanical and electrical equipment in good working order to support the human and to accomplish mission objectives. The temperature and humidity of the International Space Station (ISS) United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) cabin air is controlled by the Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA). The CCAA consists of a fan, a condensing heat exchanger (CHX), an air/water separator, temperature and liquid sensors, and electrical controlling hardware and software. The CHX is the primary component responsible for control of temperature and humidity. The CCAA CHX contains a chemical coating that was developed to be hydrophilic and thus attract water from the humid influent air. This attraction forms the basis for water removal and therefore cabin humidity control. However, there have been several instances of CHX coatings becoming hydrophobic and repelling water. When this behavior is observed in an operational CHX, the unit s ability to remove moisture from the air is compromised and the result is liquid water carryover into downstream ducting and systems. This water carryover can have detrimental effects on the cabin atmosphere quality and on the health of downstream hardware. If the water carryover is severe and widespread, this behavior can result in an inability to maintain humidity levels in the USOS. This paper will describe the operation of the five CCAAs within in the USOS, the potential causes of the hydrophobic condition, and the impacts of the resulting water carryover to downstream systems. It will describe the history of this behavior and the actual observed impacts to the ISS USOS. Information on mitigation steps to protect the health of future CHX hydrophilic coatings and potential remediation techniques will also be discussed.

Balistreri, Steven F.↗

Pulsar Based Timing for Grid Synchronization

Existing synchronization systems in the power grid, such as the global positioning system, are susceptible to temporary or permanent failures due to various unpredictable and uncontrollable factors such as cyber-attack and electromagnetic interferences, thus affecting the accuracy and reliability of generated timing signal. In this article, a pulsar astronomy-based timing system is proposed to provide an alternative synchronization signal. Further, this clock will offer significant security improvements to power grid applications, such as a wide-area monitoring system, which depends on a precise timing signal. The hardware and software frameworks are described in detail. First, a high-speed sampling hardware platform is designed to collect signals from radio telescopes. Then a periodic pulse extraction method with three steps is proposed to process the pulsar signal, including polyphase filterbanks, incoherent de-dispersion, and sliding window folding. Lastly, three experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the frameworks. The generated pulsar timing pulse is presented, and the factors affecting its accuracy are also discussed. The analysis results demonstrate that the pulsar signals can provide high-accurate timing pulses for grid synchronization.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗