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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

A cycle timer for testing electric vehicles

The paper presents a cycle timer which enables the accurate following and repetition of SAE driving schedules of stop and go cycles, for electric vehicles, by reducing the human factor. The system which consists of a programmable read-only memory (PROM) stores each of these cycles, which are detailed, on its own plug-in card. The actual vehicle speed, and the PROM indicated desired speed are displayed on a dual scale meter allowing the driver to match them. A speed change is preceded by a half second buzzer warning and a new cycle by a one second warning. The PROM controls the recycle start time as well as the buzzer activation. A 5 volt regulator providing logic power, and a 12 volt dc-dc converter providing analog and memory power are described.

Soltis, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1980

RAM-Based parallel-output controller

Selected bit strings in serial-data link are extracted for processing. Controller is programmable interface between serial-data link and peripherals that accept parallel data. It can be used to drive displays, printers, plotters, digital-to-analog converters, and parallel-output ports.

Niswander, J. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Memory-Metal Electromechanical Actuators

Electrically controlled actuator produces predetermined force, torque, or displacement without motors, solenoids, or gears. Using memory-metal elements, actuator responds to digital input without electronic digitalto-analog conversion. To prevent overheating and consequent loss of hotformed shape, each element protected by thermostat turns off current when predetermined temperature is exceeded. Memory metals used to generate fast mechanical response to electric signals.

Ruoff, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Elevated temperature crack growth

The objective of the Elevated Temperature Crack Growth Project is to evaluate proposed nonlinear fracture mechanics methods for application to combustor liners of aircraft gas turbine engines. During the first year of this program, proposed path-independent (P-I) integrals were reviewed for such applications. Several P-I integrals were implemented into a finite-element postprocessor which was developed and verified as part of the work. Alloy 718 was selected as the analog material for use in the forthcoming experimental work. A buttonhead, single-edge notch specimen was designed and verified for use in elevated-temperature strain control testing with significant inelastic strains. A crack mouth opening displacement measurement device was developed for further use.

Yau, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Multirate digital control system design

Methods for multirate digital control system design are discussed. A simple method for sampling rate selection based on control bandwidths is proposed. Methods for generating a discrete-time state model of a sampled-data plant and a discrete-time equivalent to an analog cost function for a sampled-data plant are described. The succesive loop closures and linear quadratic Gaussian synthesis methods are reviewed, and a constrained optimization synthesis method is introduced. The proposed sampling rate selection, discretization, and synthesis methods are applied to two example design problems. Multirate and single-rate compensators synthesized by the different methods are compared, based on closed-loop responses, with compensators having the same real-time computation load.

Berg, Martin C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The real-time learning mechanism of the Scientific Research Associates Advanced Robotic System (SRAARS)

Scientific research associates advanced robotic system (SRAARS) is an intelligent robotic system which has autonomous learning capability in geometric reasoning. The system is equipped with one global intelligence center (GIC) and eight local intelligence centers (LICs). It controls mainly sixteen links with fourteen active joints, which constitute two articulated arms, an extensible lower body, a vision system with two CCD cameras and a mobile base. The on-board knowledge-based system supports the learning controller with model representations of both the robot and the working environment. By consecutive verifying and planning procedures, hypothesis-and-test routines and learning-by-analogy paradigm, the system would autonomously build up its own understanding of the relationship between itself (i.e., the robot) and the focused environment for the purposes of collision avoidance, motion analysis and object manipulation. The intelligence of SRAARS presents a valuable technical advantage to implement robotic systems for space exploration and space station operations.

Chen, Alexander Y.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Fast, Low-Power, Hysteretic Level-Detector Circuit

Circuit for detection of preset levels of voltage or current intended to replace standard fast voltage comparator. Hysteretic analog/digital level detector operates at unusually low power with little sacrifice of speed. Comprises low-power analog circuit and complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) digital circuit connected in overall closed feedback loop to decrease rise and fall times, provide hysteresis, and trip-level control. Contains multiple subloops combining linear and digital feedback. Levels of sensed signals and hysteresis level easily adjusted by selection of components to suit specific application.

Arditti, Mordechai↗
NASA NTRS1993

Acoustic charge transport technology investigation for advanced development transponder

Acoustic charge transport (ACT) technology has provided a basis for a new family of analog signal processors, including a programmable transversal filter (PTF). Through monolithic integration of ACT delay lines with GaAs metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) digital memory and controllers, these devices significantly extend the performance of PTF's. This article introduces the basic operation of these devices and summarizes their present and future specifications. The production and testing of these devices indicate that this new technology is a promising one for future space applications.

Kayalar, S.↗
NASA NTRS1959

Stability and Control Characteristics at Subsonic Speeds of a Flat-Top Arrowhead Wing-Body Combination

A wind-tunnel investigation was made to determine the longitudinal- and lateral-stability derivatives of a flat-top wing-body configuration at Mach numbers from 0.22 to 0.90 and Reynolds numbers of 3.5 and 17 million. The wing had a leading-edge sweepback of 78.9 deg and a cathedral of 45 deg on the outer panels. The tests included the determination of the effectiveness of elevon and rudder controls and also an investigation of ground effects. The model was tested at angles of attack up to 28 deg and angles of sideslip up to 18 deg. The dynamic response of this configuration has been determined from the wind-tunnel data for a simulated airplane having a wing loading of 17.7 pounds per square foot. The longitudinal data show a forward shift in aerodynamic center of 10 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord as the lift coefficient is increased above 0.1. Although flown in the lift range of decreasing stability, the simulated airplane did not encounter pitch-up in maneuvers initiated from steady level flight with zero static margin unless a load factor of 2.2 was exceeded. This maneuver margin was provided by a large value of pitching moment due to pitching velocity. The number of cycles to damp the Dutch roll mode to half amplitude, the time constants of the roll subsidence and spiral divergence modes, and control effectiveness in roll are computed. The lateral stability is shown to be positive but is marginal in meeting the military specifications for today's aircraft. An analog computer study has been made in five degrees of freedom (constant velocity) which illustrates that the handling characteristics are satisfactory. Several programed rolling maneuvers and coordinated turns also illustrate the handling qualities of the airplane.

Buell, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Transversal filter for parabolic phase equalization

An equalizer (10) for removing parabolic phase distortion from an analog signal (3), utilizing a pair of series connected transversal filters. The parabolic phase distortion is cancelled by generating an inverse parabolic approximation using a sinusoidal phase control filter (18). The signal (3) is then passed through an amplitude control filter (21) to remove magnitude ripple components.

Kelly, Larry R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Plant chlorophyll content meter

A plant chlorophyll content meter is described which collects light reflected from a target plant and separates the collected light into two different wavelength bands. These wavelength bands, or channels, are described as having center wavelengths of 700 nm and 840 nm. The light collected in these two channels are processed using photo detectors and amplifiers. An analog to digital converter is described which provides a digital representation of the level of light collected by the lens and falling within the two channels. A controller provided in the meter device compares the level of light reflected from a target plant with a level of light detected from a light source, such as light reflected by a target having 100% reflectance, or transmitted through a diffusion receptor. The percent of reflection in the two separate wavelength bands from a target plant are compared to provide a ratio which indicates a relative level of plant physiological stress. A method of compensating for electronic drift is described where a sample is taken when a collection lens is covered to prevent light from entering the device. This compensation method allows for a more accurate reading by reducing error contributions due to electronic drift from environmental conditions at the location where a hand-held unit is used.

Spiering, Bruce A.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Honeywell Cascade Distiller System Performance Testing Interim Results

The ability to recover and purify water through physiochemical processes is crucial for realizing long-term human space missions, including both planetary habitation and space travel. Because of their robust nature, distillation systems have been actively pursued as one of the technologies for water recovery. The Cascade Distillation System (CDS) is a vacuum rotary distillation system with potential for greater reliability and lower energy costs than existing distillation systems. The CDS was previously under development through Honeywell and NASA. In 2009, an assessment was performed to collect data to support down-selection and development of a primary distillation technology for application in a lunar outpost water recovery system. Based on the results of this testing, an expert panel concluded that the CDS showed adequate development maturity, TRL-4, together with the best product water quality and competitive weight and power estimates to warrant further development. The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Water Recovery Project (WRP) worked to address weaknesses identified by The Panel; namely bearing design and heat pump power efficiency. Testing at the NASA-JSC Advanced Exploration System Water Laboratory (AES Water Lab) using a prototype Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS) wastewater processor (Honeywell International, Torrance, Calif.) with test support equipment and control system developed by Johnson Space Center was performed to evaluate performance of the system with the upgrades. The CDS will also have been challenged with ISS analog waste streams and a subset of those being considered for Exploration architectures. This paper details interim results of the AES WRP CDS performance testing.

Callahan, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Cognitive Challenges of Flying a Remotely Piloted Aircraft

A large variety of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) designs are currently in production or in development. These aircraft range from small electric quadcopters that are flown close to the ground within visual range of the operator, to larger systems capable of extended flight in airspace shared with conventional aircraft. Before RPA can operate routinely and safely in civilian airspace, we need to understand the unique human factors associated with these aircraft. The task of flying an RPA in civilian airspace involves challenges common to the operation of other highly-automated systems, but also introduces new considerations for pilot perception, decision-making, and action execution. RPA pilots participated in focus groups where they were asked to recall critical incidents that either presented a threat to safety, or highlighted a case where the pilot contributed to system resilience or mission success. Ninety incidents were gathered from focus-groups. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies. Some of these concerns have received significant attention in the literature, or are analogous to human factors of manned aircraft. The presentation will focus on issues that are poorly understood, and have not yet been the subject of extensive human factors study. Although many of the reported incidents were related to pilot error, the participants also provided examples of the positive contribution that humans make to the operation of highly-automated systems.

remote pilot station↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Human Challenges of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems

Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) range from small electric quadcopters that are flown close to the ground within visual range of the operator, to larger systems capable of extended flight in airspace shared with conventional aircraft. Before RPA can operate routinely and safely in civilian airspace, we need to understand the unique human factors associated with these aircraft. RPA pilots participated in focus groups where they were asked to recall critical incidents that either presented a threat to safety, or highlighted a case where the pilot contributed to system resilience or mission success. Ninety incidents were gathered from focus-groups. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies. Some of these concerns have received significant attention in the literature, or are analogous to human factors of manned aircraft. Although many of the reported incidents were related to pilot error, the participants also provided examples of the positive contribution that humans make to the operation of highly-automated systems.

Hobbs, Alan↗
NASA NTRS1989

A neural network for controlling the configuration of frame structure with elastic members

A neural network for controlling the configuration of frame structure with elastic members is proposed. In the present network, the structure is modeled not by using the relative angles of the members but by using the distances between the joint locations alone. The relationship between the environment and the joints is also defined by their mutual distances. The analog neural network attains the reaching motion of the manipulator as a minimization problem of the energy constructed by the distances between the joints, the target, and the obstacles. The network can generate not only the final but also the transient configurations and the trajectory. This framework with flexibility and parallelism is very suitable for controlling the Space Telerobotic systems with many degrees of freedom.

Tsutsumi, Kazuyoshi↗
NASA NTRS2001

Flight Computer Design for the Space Technology 5 (ST-5) Mission

As part of NASA's New Millennium Program, the Space Technology 5 mission will validate a variety of technologies for nano-satellite and constellation mission applications. Included are: a miniaturized and low power X-band transponder, a constellation communication and navigation transceiver, a cold gas micro-thruster, two different variable emittance (thermal) controllers, flex cables for solar array power collection, autonomous groundbased constellation management tools, and a new CMOS ultra low-power, radiation-tolerant, +0.5 volt logic technology. The ST-5 focus is on small and low-power. A single-processor, multi-function flight computer will implement direct digital and analog interfaces to all of the other spacecraft subsystems and components. There will not be a distributed data system that uses a standardized serial bus such as MIL-STD-1553 or MIL-STD-1773. The flight software running on the single processor will be responsible for all real-time processing associated with: guidance, navigation and control, command and data handling (C&DH) including uplink/downlink, power switching and battery charge management, science data analysis and storage, intra-constellation communications, and housekeeping data collection and logging. As a nanosatellite trail-blazer for future constellations of up to 100 separate space vehicles, ST-5 will demonstrate a compact (single board), low power (5.5 watts) solution to the data acquisition, control, communications, processing and storage requirements that have traditionally required an entire network of separate circuit boards and/or avionics boxes. In addition to the New Millennium technologies, other major spacecraft subsystems include the power system electronics, a lithium-ion battery, triple-junction solar cell arrays, a science-grade magnetometer, a miniature spinning sun sensor, and a propulsion system.

Speer, David↗
NASA NTRS2006

Four-Quadrant Analog Multipliers Using G4-FETs

Theoretical analysis and some experiments have shown that the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) 4-gate transistors known as G4-FETs can be used as building blocks of four-quadrant analog voltage multiplier circuits. Whereas a typical prior analog voltage multiplier contains between six and 10 transistors, it is possible to construct a superior voltage multiplier using only four G4-FETs. A G4-FET is a combination of a junction field-effect transistor (JFET) and a metal oxide/semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). It can be regarded as a single transistor having four gates, which are parts of a structure that affords high functionality by enabling the utilization of independently biased multiple inputs. The structure of a G4-FET of the type of interest here (see Figure 1) is that of a partially-depleted SOI MOSFET with two independent body contacts, one on each side of the channel. The drain current comprises of majority charge carriers flowing from one body contact to the other that is, what would otherwise be the side body contacts of the SOI MOSFET are used here as the end contacts [the drain (D) and the source (S)] of the G4-FET. What would otherwise be the source and drain of the SOI MOSFET serve, in the G4-FET, as two junction-based extra gates (JG1 and JG2), which are used to squeeze the channel via reverse-biased junctions as in a JFET. The G4-FET also includes a polysilicon top gate (G1), which plays the same role as does the gate in an accumulation-mode MOSFET. The substrate emulates a fourth MOS gate (G2). By making proper choices of G4-FET device parameters in conjunction with bias voltages and currents, one can design a circuit in which two input gate voltages (Vin1,Vin2) control the conduction characteristics of G4-FETs such that the output voltage (Vout) closely approximates a value proportional to the product of the input voltages. Figure 2 depicts two such analog multiplier circuits. In each circuit, there is the following: The input and output voltages are differential, The multiplier core consists of four G4- FETs (M1 through M4) biased by a constant current sink (Ibias), and The G4-FETs in two pairs are loaded by two identical resistors (RL), which convert a differential output current to a differential output voltage. The difference between the two circuits stems from their input and bias configurations. In each case, provided that the input voltages remain within their design ranges as determined by considerations of bias, saturation, and cutoff, then the output voltage is nominally given by Vout = kVin1Vin2, where k is a constant gain factor that depends on the design parameters and is different for the two circuits. In experimental versions of these circuits constructed using discrete G4- FETs and resistors, multiplication of voltages in all four quadrants (that is, in all four combinations of input polarities) was demonstrated, and deviations of the output voltages from linear dependence on the input voltages were found to amount to no more than a few percent. It is anticipated that in fully integrated versions of these circuits, the deviations from linearity will be made considerably smaller through better matching of devices.

Mojarradi, Mohammad↗
NASA NTRS2014

Biomechanics of the Treadmill Locomotion on the International Space Station

Exercise prescriptions completed by International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers are typically based upon evidence obtained during ground-based investigations, with the assumption that the results of long-term training in weightlessness will be similar to that attained in normal gravity. Coupled with this supposition are the assumptions that exercise motions and external loading are also similar between gravitational environments. Normal control of locomotion is dependent upon learning patterns of muscular activation and requires continual monitoring of internal and external sensory input [1]. Internal sensory input includes signals that may be dependent on or independent of gravity. Bernstein hypothesized that movement strategy planning and execution must include the consideration of segmental weights and inertia [2]. Studies of arm movements in microgravity showed that individuals tend to make errors but that compensation strategies result in adaptations, suggesting that control mechanisms must include peripheral information [3-5]. To date, however, there have been no studies examining a gross motor activity such as running in weightlessness other than using microgravity analogs [6-8]. The objective of this evaluation was to collect biomechanical data from crewmembers during treadmill exercise before and during flight. The goal was to determine locomotive biomechanics similarities and differences between normal and weightless environments. The data will be used to optimize future exercise prescriptions. This project addresses the Critical Path Roadmap risks 1 (Accelerated Bone Loss and Fracture Risk) and 11 (Reduced Muscle Mass, Strength, and Endurance). Data were collected from 7 crewmembers before flight and during their ISS missions. Before launch, crewmembers performed a single data collection session at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Three-dimensional motion capture data were collected for 30 s at speeds ranging from 1.5 to 9.5 mph in 0.5 mph increments with a 12-camera system. During flight, each crewmember completed up to 6 data collection sessions spread across their missions, performing their normal exercise prescription for the test day, resulting in varying data collection protocols between sessions. Motion data were collected by a single HD video camera positioned to view the crewmembers' left side, and tape markers were placed on their feet, legs, and neck on specific landmarks. Before data collection, the crewmembers calibrated the video camera. Video data were collected during the entire exercise session at 30 Hz. Kinematic data were used to determine left leg hip, knee, and ankle range of motion and contact time, flight time, and stride time for each stride. 129 trials in weightlessness were analyzed. Mean time-normalized strides were found for each trial, and cross-correlation procedures were used to examine the strength and direction of relationships between segment movement pattern timing in each gravitational condition. Cross-correlation analyses between gravitational conditions revealed highly consistent movement patterns at each joint. Peak correlation coefficients occurred at 0% phase, indicating there were no lags in movement timing. Joint ranges of motion were similar between gravitational conditions, with some slight differences between subjects. Motion patterns in weightlessness were highly consistent at a given speed with those occurring in 1G, indicating that despite differing sensory input, subjects maintain running kinematics. The data suggest that individuals are capable of compensating for loss of limb weight when creating movement strategies. These results have important implications for creating training programs for use in weightlessness as practitioners can have greater confidence in running motions transferring across gravitational environments. Furthermore, these results have implications for use by researchers investigating motor control mechanisms and investigating hypotheses related to movement strategies when using sensory input that is dependent upon gravity.

DeWitt, John↗