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At least 1,099 records · Page 61

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NASA NTRS1992

Analytical guidance law development for aerocapture at Mars

During the first part of this reporting period research has concentrated on performing a detailed evaluation, to zero order, of the guidance algorithm developed in the first period taking the numerical approach developed in the third period. A zero order matched asymptotic expansion (MAE) solution that closely satisfies a set of 6 implicit equations in 6 unknowns to an accuracy of 10(exp -10), was evaluated. Guidance law implementation entails treating the current state as a new initial state and repetitively solving the MAE problem to obtain the feedback controls. A zero order guided solution was evaluated and compared with optimal solution that was obtained by numerical methods. Numerical experience shows that the zero order guided solution is close to optimal solution, and that the zero order MAE outer solution plays a critical role in accounting for the variations in Loh's term near the exit phase of the maneuver. However, the deficiency that remains in several of the critical variables indicates the need for a first order correction. During the second part of this period, methods for computing a first order correction were explored.

Calise, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A global nonlinear tracking problem

The tracking problem for a globally minimum phase nonlinear system is considered. It is assumed that the signal to be tracked is slowly varying and a priori bounds on its magnitude are known. It is shown that if the system has bounded derivatives and exponentially stable zero dynamics then the system admits an output feedback controller which solves the tracking problem.

Dayawansa, W. P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Stochastic regulator theory for a class of abstract wave equations

A class of steady-state stochastic regulator problems for abstract wave equations in a Hilbert space - of relevance to the problem of feedback control of large space structures using co-located controls/sensors - is studied. Both the control operator, as well as the observation operator, are finite-dimensional. As a result, the usual condition of exponential stabilizability invoked for existence of solutions to the steady-state Riccati equations is not valid. Fortunately, for the problems considered it turns out that strong stabilizability suffices. In particular, a closed form expression is obtained for the minimal (asymptotic) performance criterion as the control effort is allowed to grow without bound.

Balakrishnan, A. V.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Second-order state estimation experiments using acceleration measurements

The estimation of dynamic states for feedback control of structural systems using second-order differential equations and acceleration measurements is described. The formulation of the observer model, and the design of the observer gains is discussed in detail. It is shown the second-order observer is highly stable because the stability constraints on the observer gains are model independent. The limitation of the proposed observer is the need for 'nearly' collocated actuators and accelerometers. Experimental results using a control-structure interaction testbed are presented that show the second-order observer provided more stability than a Kalman filter estimator without decreasing closed-loop performance.

Belvin, W. K.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Evaluation of an optimal guidance algorithm for aero-assisted orbit transfer

A detailed evaluation is performed of a guidance algorithm for aeroassisted orbit transfer that was developed earlier based on the method of matched asymptotic expansions. It is shown that, by exploiting the structure of the matched asymptotic expansion solution procedure, the original problem which requires the solution of a set of 20 implicit algebraic equations can be reduced to a problem of six implicit equations in six unknowns. The main contribution here is that it was possible to obtain a solution that is near optimal, requires a minimum of computation, and thus can be implemented in real time and on-board the vehicle. Guidance law implementation entails treating the current state as a new initial state and repetitively solving the matched asymptotic expansion problem to obtain the feedback controls.

Melamed, N.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Six-Degree-Of-Freedom Magnetic Vibration Isolator

Feedback control provides soft mount and damping of vibrations. Active magnetic suspension system centers inner structure in position and orientation with respect to principal Cartesian coordinate axes of base or outer structure, stationary with respect to building or vehicle. System helps to isolate suspended mass from vibrations of building or vehicle. Designed to isolate 500-kg experimental apparatus from vibrations of spacecraft, but also used on Earth, provided that its z axis vertical and system assisted by low-stiffness vertical spring that, in steady state, holds up inner structure at nominal vertical position.

Gerver, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Static and dynamic characteristics of a piezoceramic strut

The experimental study of a piezoceramic active truss is presented. This active strut is unique in that the piezoceramic configurations allow the stroke length of the strut not to be dependent on the piezoceramic material's expansion range but on the deflection range of the piezoceramic bender segment. A finite element model of a piezoceramic strut segment was constructed. Piezoceramic actuation was simulated using thermally induced strains. This model yielded information on the stiffness and force range of a bender element. The static and dynamic properties of the strut were identified experimentally. Feedback control was used to vary the stiffness of the strut. The experimentally verified model was used to explore implementation possibilities of the strut.

Pokines, Brett J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Conical Euler analysis and active roll suppression for unsteady vortical flows about rolling delta wings

A conical Euler code was developed to study unsteady vortex-dominated flows about rolling, highly swept delta wings undergoing either forced motions or free-to-roll motions that include active roll suppression. The flow solver of the code involves a multistage, Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme that uses a cell-centered, finite-volume, spatial discretization of the Euler equations on an unstructured grid of triangles. The code allows for the additional analysis of the free to-roll case by simultaneously integrating in time the rigid-body equation of motion with the governing flow equations. Results are presented for a delta wing with a 75 deg swept, sharp leading edge at a free-stream Mach number of 1.2 and at 10 deg, 20 deg, and 30 deg angle of attack alpha. At the lower angles of attack (10 and 20 deg), forced-harmonic analyses indicate that the rolling-moment coefficients provide a positive damping, which is verified by free-to-roll calculations. In contrast, at the higher angle of attack (30 deg), a forced-harmonic analysis indicates that the rolling-moment coefficient provides negative damping at the small roll amplitudes. A free-to-roll calculation for this case produces an initially divergent response, but as the amplitude of motion grows with time, the response transitions to a wing-rock type of limit cycle oscillation, which is characteristic of highly swept delta wings. This limit cycle oscillation may be actively suppressed through the use of a rate-feedback control law and antisymmetrically deflected leading-edge flaps. Descriptions of the conical Euler flow solver and the free-to roll analysis are included in this report. Results are presented that demonstrate how the systematic analysis of the forced response of the delta wing can be used to predict the stable, neutrally stable, and unstable free response of the delta wing. These results also give insight into the flow physics associated with unsteady vortical flows about delta wings undergoing forced motions and free-to-roll motions, including the active suppression of the wing-rock type phenomenon. The conical Euler methodology developed is directly extend able to three-dimensional calculations.

Lee-Rausch, Elizabeth M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

An AC-electromagnetic bearing for flywheel energy storage in space

A repulsive type AC-electromagnetic bearing was developed and tested. It was conceived on the basis of the so-called Magnetic River suspension for high-speed trains. The appearance of the bearing is similar to the traditional DC-type electromagnetic bearing but the operating principle is different. The magnets are fed with alternating current instead of direct current and the rotor is fitted with a conducting sleeve (e.g. aluminum) instead of a ferromagnetic sleeve. The repulsion is due to induction of eddy-currents in the conducting sleeve. The bearing is inherently stable and requires no feedback control. It provides support in five degrees of freedom such that a short rotor may be fully supported by a single bearing. These capabilities were demonstrated experimentally. On the down side, the load carrying capacity and the damping obtained so far were quite low compared to the DC-type bearing. Also, significant heating of the conducting sleeve was experienced. The AC-bearing is essentially a modified induction motor and there are strong indications that it can be run both as a motor and as a generator with no commutator requirements. It is therefore considered to be a good candidate for support of energy storage flywheels in space.

Nikolajsen, Jorgen L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A self-learning rule base for command following in dynamical systems

In this paper, a self-learning Rule Base for command following in dynamical systems is presented. The learning is accomplished though reinforcement learning using an associative memory called SAM. The main advantage of SAM is that it is a function approximator with explicit storage of training samples. A learning algorithm patterned after the dynamic programming is proposed. Two artificially created, unstable dynamical systems are used for testing, and the Rule Base was used to generate a feedback control to improve the command following ability of the otherwise uncontrolled systems. The numerical results are very encouraging. The controlled systems exhibit a more stable behavior and a better capability to follow reference commands. The rules resulting from the reinforcement learning are explicitly stored and they can be modified or augmented by human experts. Due to overlapping storage scheme of SAM, the stored rules are similar to fuzzy rules.

Tsai, Wei K.↗

NASA NTRS1993

An integrated collision prediction and avoidance scheme for mobile robots in non-stationary environments

A formulation that makes possible the integration of collision prediction and avoidance stages for mobile robots moving in general terrains containing moving obstacles is presented. A dynamic model of the mobile robot and the dynamic constraints are derived. Collision avoidance is guaranteed if the distance between the robot and a moving obstacle is nonzero. A nominal trajectory is assumed to be known from off-line planning. The main idea is to change the velocity along the nominal trajectory so that collisions are avoided. A feedback control is developed and local asymptotic stability is proved if the velocity of the moving obstacle is bounded. Furthermore, a solution to the problem of inverse dynamics for the mobile robot is given. Simulation results verify the value of the proposed strategy.

Kyriakopoulos, K. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Active damping with a reaction mass actuator

This paper presents analytical and experimental results in actively damping flexible structures with reaction mass actuators. A two degree of freedom spring-mass model of a flexible structure is analyzed and the key parameters of actuator mass participation and pole-zero separation are related to the maximum damping achievable from rate feedback control. The main conclusion of the paper is that the larger the pole-zero separation the larger the amount of damping that can be imparted to a structural mode. Laboratory experiments conducted on an 8-foot truss structure support the analytical predictions.

Spanos, John↗

NASA NTRS1991

Need for active structures in future large IR and sub-mm telescopes

The potential of active structures technology for future IR and sub-mm telescopes deployed in space is discussed. A space infrared telescope with an aperture of at least 8 m, operating at about 50 k with surface precision better that 0.5 microns is required for future work in space IR and sub-mm astronomy. Telescope parameters, noise, and sensitivity are discussed. The effects of large scale figure errors are examined and conceptual designs of future space IR and sub-mm telescopes are presented. Possible uses of active structures technology and feedback control in future IR and sub-mm space observatories are suggested.

Rapp, Donald↗

NASA NTRS1993

Robust stabilization of the Space Station in the presence of inertia matrix uncertainty

This paper presents a robust H-infinity full-state feedback control synthesis method for uncertain systems with D11 not equal to 0. The method is applied to the robust stabilization problem of the Space Station in the face of inertia matrix uncertainty. The control design objective is to find a robust controller that yields the largest stable hypercube in uncertain parameter space, while satisfying the nominal performance requirements. The significance of employing an uncertain plant model with D11 not equal 0 is demonstrated.

Wie, Bong↗

NASA NTRS1994

Designing An Approximately Balanced LQG Compensator

Method of designing approximately balanced, low-order linear-quadratic-Gaussian LQG compensator for use in feedback control of flexible structure devised. Low-order controller and estimator controls flexible structure efficiently.

Gawronski, Wodek↗

NASA NTRS1994

Active Vibration Dampers For Rotating Machinery

Active dampers developed to suppress vibrations in rotating machinery. Essentially feedback control systems and reciprocating piezoelectric actuators. Similar active damper containing different actuators described in LEW-14488. Concept also applicable to suppression of vibrations in stationary structures subject to winds and earthquakes. Active damper offers adjustable suppression of vibrations. Small and lightweight and responds faster to transients.

Kascack, Albert F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Development of an advanced spacecraft tandem mass spectrometer

The purpose of this research was to apply current advanced technology in electronics and materials to the development of a miniaturized Tandem Mass Spectrometer that would have the potential for future development into a package suitable for spacecraft use. The mass spectrometer to be used as a basis for the tandem instrument would be a magnetic sector instrument, of Nier-Johnson configuration, as used on the Viking Mars Lander mission. This instrument configuration would then be matched with a suitable second stage MS to provide the benefits of tandem MS operation for rapid identification of unknown organic compounds. This tandem instrument is configured with a newly designed GC system to aid in separation of complex mixtures prior to MS analysis. A number of important results were achieved in the course of this project. Among them were the development of a miniaturized GC subsystem, with a unique desorber-injector, fully temperature feedback controlled oven with powered cooling for rapid reset to ambient conditions, a unique combination inlet system to the MS that provides for both membrane sampling and direct capillary column sample transfer, a compact and ruggedized alignment configuration for the MS, an improved ion source design for increased sensitivity, and a simple, rugged tandem MS configuration that is particularly adaptable to spacecraft use because of its low power and low vacuum pumping requirements. The potential applications of this research include use in manned spacecraft like the space station as a real-time detection and warning device for the presence of potentially harmful trace contaminants of the spacecraft atmosphere, use as an analytical device for evaluating samples collected on the Moon or a planetary surface, or even use in connection with monitoring potentially hazardous conditions that may exist in terrestrial locations such as launch pads, environmental test chambers or other sensitive areas. Commercial development of the technology could lead to a new family of environmental test instruments that would be small and portable, yet would give quick analyses of complex samples.

Drew, Russell C.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Guidance law development for aeroassisted transfer vehicles using matched asymptotic expansions

This report addresses and clarifies a number of issues related to the Matched Asymptotic Expansion (MAE) analysis of skip trajectories, or any class of problems that give rise to inner layers that are not associated directly with satisfying boundary conditions. The procedure for matching inner and outer solutions, and using the composite solution to satisfy boundary conditions is developed and rigorously followed to obtain a set of algebraic equations for the problem of inclination change with minimum energy loss. A detailed evaluation of the zeroth order guidance algorithm for aeroassisted orbit transfer is performed. It is shown that by exploiting the structure of the MAE solution procedure, the original problem, which requires the solution of a set of 20 implicit algebraic equations, can be reduced to a problem of 6 implicit equations in 6 unknowns. A solution that is near optimal, requires a minimum of computation, and thus can be implemented in real time and on-board the vehicle, has been obtained. Guidance law implementation entails treating the current state as a new initial state and repetitively solving the zeroth order MAE problem to obtain the feedback controls. Finally, a general procedure is developed for constructing a MAE solution up to first order, of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation based on the method of characteristics. The development is valid for a class of perturbation problems whose solution exhibits two-time-scale behavior. A regular expansion for problems of this type is shown to be inappropriate since it is not valid over a narrow range of the independent variable. That is, it is not uniformly valid. Of particular interest here is the manner in which matching and boundary conditions are enforced when the expansion is carried out to first order. Two cases are distinguished-one where the left boundary condition coincides with, or lies to the right of, the singular region, and another one where the left boundary condition lies to the left of the singular region. A simple example is used to illustrate the procedure where the obtained solution is uniformly valid to O(Epsilon(exp 2)). The potential application of this procedure to aeroassisted plane change is also described and partially evaluated.

Calise, Anthony J.↗