MCMB-LiNiCoAlO2-Based Li-Ion Cells with Methyl Propionate-Based Electrolytes for Very Low Temperature Applications
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Smart, M. C.↗
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Results for “Smart applications”
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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NASA programs in advanced sensors and measurement technology for aeronautical applications
NASA involvement in the development, implementation, and experimental use of advanced aeronautical sensors and measurement technologies is presently discussed within the framework of specific NASA research centers' activities. The technology thrusts are in the fields of high temperature strain gages and microphones, laser light-sheet flow visualization, LTA, LDV, and LDA, tunable laser-based aviation meteorology, and fiber-optic CARS measurements. IR thermography and close-range photogrammetry are undergoing substantial updating and application. It is expected that 'smart' sensors will be increasingly widely used, especially in conjunction with smart structures in aircraft and spacecraft.
Conway, Bruce A.↗
Automation and control of off-planet oxygen production processes
This paper addresses several aspects of the automation and control of off-planet production processes. First, a general approach to process automation and control is discussed from the viewpoint of translating human process control procedures into automated procedures. Second, the control issues for the automation and control of off-planet oxygen processes are discussed. Sensors, instruments, and components are defined and discussed in the context of off-planet applications, and the need for 'smart' components is clearly established.
Marner, W. J.↗
Real-time in situ sensors and control integration for life support systems
The limitations of the state-of-the-art for in situ sensors are discussed and a program of adaptation and enhancement of off-the-shelf sensor technologies and of innovation and research to develop more appropriate sensor technologies for life support systems is offered. By critically assessing the state-of-the-art in multifunctional sensors and smart sensors, research and development requirements for life support systems can be defined. Consideration is given to the desirable characteristics of smart sensors for life support applications, and some preliminary concepts for hierarchical integration of in situ sensors and control elements are presented.
Voecks, G. E.↗
Discrete-Layer Piezoelectric Plate and Shell Models for Active Tip-Clearance Control
The objectives of this work were to develop computational tools for the analysis of active-sensory composite structures with added or embedded piezoelectric layers. The targeted application for this class of smart composite laminates and the analytical development is the accomplishment of active tip-clearance control in turbomachinery components. Two distinct theories and analytical models were developed and explored under this contract: (1) a discrete-layer plate theory and corresponding computational models, and (2) a three dimensional general discrete-layer element generated in curvilinear coordinates for modeling laminated composite piezoelectric shells. Both models were developed from the complete electromechanical constitutive relations of piezoelectric materials, and incorporate both displacements and potentials as state variables. This report describes the development and results of these models. The discrete-layer theories imply that the displacement field and electrostatic potential through-the-thickness of the laminate are described over an individual layer rather than as a smeared function over the thickness of the entire plate or shell thickness. This is especially crucial for composites with embedded piezoelectric layers, as the actuating and sensing elements within these layers are poorly represented by effective or smeared properties. Linear Lagrange interpolation polynomials were used to describe the through-thickness laminate behavior. Both analytic and finite element approximations were used in the plane or surface of the structure. In this context, theoretical developments are presented for the discrete-layer plate theory, the discrete-layer shell theory, and the formulation of an exact solution for simply-supported piezoelectric plates. Finally, evaluations and results from a number of separate examples are presented for the static and dynamic analysis of the plate geometry. Comparisons between the different approaches are provided when possible, and initial conclusions regarding the accuracy and limitations of these models are given.
Heyliger, P. R.↗
Launch vehicle flight control augmentation using smart materials and advanced composites (CDDF Project 93-05)
The Marshall Space Flight Center has a rich heritage of launch vehicles that have used aerodynamic surfaces for flight stability such as the Saturn vehicles and flight control such as on the Redstone. Recently, due to aft center-of-gravity locations on launch vehicles currently being studied, the need has arisen for the vehicle control augmentation that is provided by these flight controls. Aerodynamic flight control can also reduce engine gimbaling requirements, provide actuator failure protection, enhance crew safety, and increase vehicle reliability, and payload capability. In the Saturn era, NASA went to the Moon with 300 sq ft of aerodynamic surfaces on the Saturn V. Since those days, the wealth of smart materials and advanced composites that have been developed allow for the design of very lightweight, strong, and innovative launch vehicle flight control surfaces. This paper presents an overview of the advanced composites and smart materials that are directly applicable to launch vehicle control surfaces.
Barret, C.↗
Mars Mission Surface Operation Simulation Testing of Lithium-Ion Batteries
The objectives of this program are to 1) Assess viability of using lithium-ion technology for future NASA applications, with emphasis upon Mars landers and rovers which will operate on the planetary surface; 2) Support the JPL 2003 Mars Exploration Rover program to assist in the delivery and testing of a 8 AHr Lithium-Ion battery (Lithion/Yardney) which will power the rover; 3) Demonstrate applicability of using lithium-ion technologyfor future Mars applications: Mars 09 Science Laboratory (Smart Lander) and Future Mars Surface Operations (General). Mission simulation testing was carried out for cells and batteries on the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander and the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover.
Smart, M. C.↗
Telescoping Mechanics: A New Paradigm for Composite Behavior Simulation
This report reviews the application of telescoping mechanics to composites using recursive laminate theory. The elemental scale is the fiber-matrix slice, the behavior of which propagates to laminate. The results from using applications for typical, hybrid, and smart composites and composite-enhanced reinforced concrete structures illustrate the versatility and generality of telescoping scale mechanics. Comparisons with approximate, single-cell, and two- and three-dimensional finite-element methods demonstrate the accuracy and computational effectiveness of telescoping scale mechanics for predicting complex composite behavior.
Chamis, C. C.↗
Nanotechnology: A Vast Field for the Creative Mind
Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing field worldwide. Nanotechnology is the development of smart systems for many different applications by building from the molecular level up. Current research, sponsored by The National Nanotechnology Alliance in the US will be described. Future needs in manpower of different disciplines will be discussed. Nanotechnology is a field of research that could allow developing countries to establish a technological infrastructure. The nature of nanotechnology requires professionals in many areas, such as engineers, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, materials scientists, etc. One of the materials that provide unique properties for nanotechnology is carbon nanotubes. At Goddard we have develop a process to produce nanotubes at lower costs and without metal catalysts which will be of great importance for the development of new materials for space applications and others outside NASA. Nanotechnology in general is a very broad and exciting field that will provide the technologies of tomorrow including biomedical applications for the betterment of mankind. There is room in this area for many researchers all over the world. The key is collaboration, nationally and internationally.
Benavides, Jeannette↗
Tunable Optical Assembly with Vibration Dampening
Since their market introduction in 1995, fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) have emerged as excellent means of measuring such parameters as strain and temperature. Distributed-grating sensing is particularly beneficial for such structural-health monitoring applications such as those of 'smart' structures or integrated vehicle health management in aerospace vehicles. Because of the variability of their output wavelengths, tunable lasers have become widely used as means of measuring FBGs. Several versions of a lightweight assembly for strain-tuning an FBG and dampening its vibrations have been constructed. The main components of such an assembly are one or more piezoelectric actuators, an optical fiber containing one or more Bragg grating(s), a Bragg-grating strain-measurement system, and a voltage source for actuation. The piezoelectric actuators are, more specifically, piezoceramic fiber composite actuators and, can be, still more specifically, of a type known in the art as macro-fiber composite (MFC) actuators. In fabrication of one version of the assembly, the optical fiber containing the Bragg grating(s) is sandwiched between the piezoelectric actuators along with an epoxy that is used to bond the optical fiber to both actuators, then the assembly is placed in a vacuum bag and kept there until the epoxy is cured. Bonding an FBG directly into an MFC actuator greatly reduces the complexity, relative to assemblies, that include piezoceramic fiber composite actuators, hinges, ferrules, and clamp blocks with setscrews. Unlike curved actuators, MFC actuators are used in a flat configuration and are less bulky. In addition, the MFC offers some vibration dampening and support for the optical fiber whereas, in a curved piezoelectric actuator assembly, the optical fiber is exposed, and there is nothing to keep the exposed portion from vibrating.
Shams, Qamar A.↗
Radiation Tolerance and Mitigation for Neuromorphic Processors
Neuromorphic processors are designed to execute Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) at very high speed using only a fraction of the electrical power needed to run a DNN on a traditional CPU or GPU. This unique capability makes Neuromorphic processors a prime candidate for space systems, where advanced computational tasks like image analysis, depth map reconstruction, or rover control need to be executed in a power-starved environment. In contrast to the growing number of applications of Neuromorphic processors in smart phones, the automotive and robotics domain, the space environment is unforgiving because of extreme temperatures and high levels of radiation. Any space system, operating beyond LEO requires computing hardware that is resilient against radiation effects. However, Neuromorphic processors have not yet been designed or tested for their radiation tolerance. In this report, we consider traditional methods of detection of radiation events and mitigation via redundancy and gauge their effectiveness on DNNs. In contrast to traditional flight software, however, neural networks represent a statistical algorithm, which might affect its resilience against radiation events. We will focus on the analysis of the tolerance of DNNs with respect to radiation events and discuss techniques to detect radiation hits using on-chip triple modular redundancy (TMR) on an Intel Loihi neuromorphic processor and to mitigate radiation damage. We describe an architecture for on-chip TMR for the Intel Loihi and present results of initial experiments.
Neural Networks↗
Enhancing Metal Additive Manufacturing Training with the Advanced Vision Language Model: A Pathway to Immersive Augmented Reality Training for Non-Experts
This paper introduces an innovative training system for the Renishaw AM400 metal printer, leveraging the synergy of the advanced Vision Language Model (VLM) with Augmented Reality (AR) within the Digital Twins (DT) framework. Aimed at overcoming the limitations of conventional training methods in metal additive manufacturing (AM), our system integrates AR to provide an immersive learning environment, enhancing the real-world experience with interactive digital overlays. The core of the system lies in its use of VLM, which, pre-trained on diverse datasets, excels in processing multi-modal data, thereby offering nuanced and contextually relevant guidance for trainees. Key experiments demonstrate the system’s effectiveness, particularly highlighting the usage of VLM as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent to integrate external tools like YOLO-v7 for valve state classification and CRAFT for control panel text recognition. This approach significantly improves recognition accuracy, operational understanding, and human–machine interaction, especially for non-expert users, making complex metal AM operations more accessible. The research not only showcases the potential of AR and VLM in industrial training but also sets a new standard for smart manufacturing practices, indicating broader applications in various industrial domains.
Metal additive manufacturing↗
Characterization on Smart Optics Using Ellipsometry
Recently, NASA Langley Research Center developed a smart active optical concept to filter narrow band pass or to control optical intensity. To characterize developed smart optics materials, we have measured thickness and reflection properties of the materials using a WVASE32 ellipsometry. This project allowed us to: (1) prepare the smart optical materials for measurement of thickness and optical properties at NASA Langley Research Center; (2) measure thickness and optical properties of the smart optical materials; (3) evaluate the measured properties in terms of applications for narrow band-pass filters. The outcomes of this research provide optical properties and physical properties of the smart optics on a selected spectral range. The applications of this development were used for field-controlled spectral smart filters.
Song, Kyo D.↗
Mechanical Response of Elastomers to Magnetic Fields
Elastomeric materials represent an important class of engineering materials, which are widely used to make components of structures, machinery, and devices for vibration and noise control. Elastomeric material possessing conductive or magnetic properties have been widely used in applications such as conductive and magnetic tapes, sensors, flexible permanent magnets, etc. Our interest in these materials has focussed on understanding and controlling the magnitude and directionality of their response to applied magnetic fields. The effect of magnetic fields on the mechanical properties of these materials has not been the subject of many published studies. Our interest and expertise in controllable fluids have given us the foundation to make a transition to controllable elastomers. Controllable elastomers are materials that exhibit a change in mechanical properties upon application of an external stimuli, in this case a magnetic field. Controllable elastomers promise to have more functionality than conventional elastomers and therefore could share the broad industrial application base with conventional elastomers. As such, these materials represent an attractive class of smart materials, and may well be a link that brings the applications of modern control technologies, intelligent structures and smart materials to a very broad industrial area. This presentation will cover our research work in the area of controllable elastomers at the Thomas Lord Research Center. More specifically, the presentation will discuss the control of mechanical properties and mathematical modeling of the new materials prepared in our laboratories along with experiments to achieve adaptive vibration control using the new materials.
Munoz, B. C.↗
Smart Congestion Control for Delay- and Disruption Tolerant Networks
In this paper, we propose a novel congestion control framework for delay- and disruption tolerant networks (DTNs). The proposed framework, called Smart-DTN-CC, adjusts its operation automatically as a function of the dynamics of the underlying network. It employs reinforcement learning, a machine learning technique known to be well suited to problems in which the environment, in this case the network, plays a crucial role; yet, no prior knowledge about the target environment can be assumed, i.e., the only way to acquire information about the environment is to interact with it through continuous online learning. Smart-DTN-CC nodes get input from the environment (e.g., its buffer occupancy, set of neighbors, etc), and, based on that information, choose an action to take from a set of possible actions. Depending on an action’s effectiveness in controlling congestion, it will be given a reward. Smart-DTN-CC’s goal is to maximize the overall reward which translates to minimizing congestion. To our knowledge, Smart-DTN-CC is the first DTN congestion control framework that has the ability to automatically and continuously adapt to the dynamics of the target environment which allows Smart-DTNCC to deliver adequate performance in a variety of DTN applications and scenarios. As demonstrated by our experimental evaluation, Smart-DTN-CC is able to consistently outperform existing DTN congestion control mechanisms under a wide range of network conditions and characteristics.
Hirata, Celso M.↗
Microprocessors for real time displays and control of space teleoperators
This paper describes the use of microprocessors for smart displays in a space teleoperator project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The application of microprocessor systems to demonstrate the utility of smart displays for a wrist mounted force/torque sensor and end-effector mounted proximity sensors are discussed as are the laboratory hardware and software configurations. These displays assist the operator in making critical real time decisions. Avenues for future development of these concepts are also presented.
Paine, G.↗
Aerospace Sensor Systems: From Sensor Development To Vehicle Application
This paper presents an overview of years of sensor system development and application for aerospace systems. The emphasis of this work is on developing advanced capabilities for measurement and control of aeropropulsion and crew vehicle systems as well as monitoring the safety of those systems. Specific areas of work include chemical species sensors, thin film thermocouples and strain gages, heat flux gages, fuel gages, SiC based electronic devices and sensors, space qualified electronics, and MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) as well as integrated and multifunctional sensor systems. Each sensor type has its own technical challenges related to integration and reliability in a given application. The general approach has been to develop base sensor technology using microfabrication techniques, integrate sensors with "smart" hardware and software, and demonstrate those systems in a range of aerospace applications. Descriptions of the sensor elements, their integration into sensors systems, and examples of sensor system applications will be discussed. Finally, suggestions related to the future of sensor technology will be given. It is concluded that smart micro/nano sensor technology can revolutionize aerospace applications, but significant challenges exist in maturing the technology and demonstrating its value in real-life applications.
Hunter, Gary W.↗
Shape Control of Solar Collectors Using Shape Memory Alloy Actuators
Solar collectors that are focused on a central receiver are designed with a mechanism for defocusing the collector or disabling it by turning it out of the path of the sun's rays. This is required to avoid damaging the receiver during periods of inoperability. In either of these two cases a fail-safe operation is very desirable where during power outages the collector passively goes to its defocused or deactivated state. This paper is principally concerned with focusing and defocusing the collector in a fail-safe manner using shape memory alloy actuators. Shape memory alloys are well suited to this application in that once calibrated the actuators can be operated in an on/off mode using a minimal amount of electric power. Also, in contrast to other smart materials that were investigated for this application, shape memory alloys are capable of providing enough stroke at the appropriate force levels to focus the collector. Design and analysis details presented, along with comparisons to test data taken from an actual prototype, demonstrate that the collector can be repeatedly focused and defocused within accuracies required by typical solar energy systems. In this paper the design, analysis and testing of a solar collector which is deformed into its desired shape by shape memory alloy actuators is presented. Computations indicate collector shapes much closer to spherical and with smaller focal lengths can be achieved by moving the actuators inward to a radius of approximately 6 inches. This would require actuators with considerably more stroke and some alternate SMA actuators are currently under consideration. Whatever SMA actuator is finally chosen for this application, repeatability and fatigue tests will be required to investigate the long term performance of the actuator.
Lobitz, D. W.↗