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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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At least 1,225 records · Page 68
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Moving NASA Beyond Low Earth Orbit: Future Human-Automation-Robotic Integration Challenges

This presentation will provide an overview of current human spaceflight operations. It will also describe how future exploration missions will have to adapt and evolve in order to deal with more complex missions and communication latencies. Additionally, there are many implications regarding advanced automation and robotics, and this presentation will outline future human-automation-robotic integration challenges.

human-robotic↗
NASA NTRS2016

3D Robot User Interfaces

Presentation that summarizes the 3D robot user interfaces developed by the ARC Intelligent Robotics Group.

robotics↗
NASA NTRS1995

Relay Satellite Orbit Selection Considerations for Future Robotics Missions to Explore Venus

Discusses orbit design trades relevant to use of a Venus orbiting relay satellite supporting a variety of potential Venus robotic mission types. The emphasis is on the impact of mission tele- communications requirements on selection of a relay satellite orbit and its characteristics that can benefit or hinder mission performance for the potential robotic missions now under consideration.

Venus↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility Study of a Robotic Science Arm on Future Martian Rotorcraft

Science arms are indispensable tools for planetary exploration, allowing vehicles to interact with and manipulate their surroundings in a manner similar to a human field geologist. A majority of the rovers and landers sent to Mars, beginning with Viking I and II in 1976, have made extensive use of these articulated, arm-like devices that allow for sample collection, surface preparation, instrument positioning, and the deployment of ground-contact sensors. Although proven useful, traditional rovers and landers are limited by the rough and difficult terrain of Mars. However, given the successful demonstration of flight on Mars by the Ingenuity helicopter, efforts are underway to outfit larger rotorcraft with science payloads to allow them to explore Mars’ surface and lower atmosphere with significantly more efficiency than land vehicles. Such vehicles could also be designed to work in tandem with landers or rovers. The Mars Science Helicopter (MSH) is a conceptual hexacopter design that is currently under early development by both NASA Ames and JPL. Equipping a vehicle like MSH with a science arm has the potential to further expand its scientific capabilities. This paper approaches the mission and design requirements to equip a science arm on MSH while highlighting the unique technical challenges for robotic arm and science instrument capability. Current plans for MSH development do not include the addition of a robotic arm to the vehicle. However, it is anticipated that future variants of the MSH design might well incorporate such adaptable surface interactive capabilities.

Robotic Science Arm↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Robotic Sunphotometry to Enable Over-ocean Aerosol Characterization

We present developmentsforthe Sea-going Sky-Scanning Sun-tracking Advanced Research Ra-diometer(SeaSTAR), a ship-basedinstrument for aerosol characterizationover the ocean. Sun-tracking measurements of spectral solar irradiance are madein the conventional manner using filter-photodiode radiometers, and co-aligned polarizing filters are switched into the optical paths of the radiometersto measure polarized sky-radiance measurements. A robust high-performance robot with camera-feedback sun-tracking, and inertial measurement unit feed-forward motion-compensationis used for the sun-and sky-viewing modes respectively. An inverse-kinematics solver is used to point the instrument at the chosen position relative to the sunand ensure that the polarizer axis remains in the desired orientation, allowing the Stokes vector components of the sky radiance to be resolved by rotating the measurement barrel about a third robot axis. SeaSTAR aims to provide a resource for cost-effective validation of aerosol property measurements over the oceans in support of satellite missions such as PACE, SBG and GLIMR.

Robotic↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Entry, Descent, and Landing GN&C System Evaluation via Cable-Driven Emulation Robotics

An innovative cable-driven parallel robot named the Six Degree-of-Freedom Tendon Actu- ated Robot (STAR), recently developed by researchers at NASA Johnson Space Center, was built to enable entry, descent, and landing (EDL) emulation experiments. Upon functional testing and system verification, STAR employed several simulated EDL trajectories to validate velocimeter LIDAR-based sensor models for cooperative terrain relative navigation applica- tions for its first testing campaign. The STAR lab also hosted researchers from Astrobotic to evaluate the real-time performance of a newly developed sensor payload, UltraNav, through hardware in-the-loop-testing (HWIL). This work introduces the STAR system along with its accompanying testing utilities and capabilities, and deliver the experimental methodology and results of test campaigns performed with the STAR facility to date.

navigation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Astrobee: Completed, Current, and Future Research Using Free Flying Robots on the International Space Station

After four years on the International Space Station (ISS), the Astrobee Research Facility, has completed over 130 Test Sessions logging over 1000 hours of operations. Managed by the NASA ISS Program OZ office and supported by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in California, the Astrobee Team maintains three identical free-flying Astrobee robots for research on the ISS. As a technology demonstration platform, the Astrobee Robots are available for Guest Scientists to use for a spectrum of research capabilities.

Astrobee↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SOLL-E: A Module Transport and Placement Robot for Autonomous Assembly of Discrete Lattice Structures

This paper presents the design and development of a transport and placement robot that demonstrates autonomous assembly of structural building blocks. The robots are intended to serve as a critical component of automated structural assembly and maintenance systems. The Scaling Omni-directional Lattice Locomoting Explorer (SOLL-E) uses a 5-DoF bipedal inchworm locomotion architecture with locking foot and cargo grippers. The locomotion system employs large magnet gap diameter BLDC motors with moderate timing belt gearing for primary joints, and DC planetary gearmotors for turning. Foot and cargo grippers are identical, with servo-actuated locking mechanisms. Three modular controller boards are used to control these actuators in real-time, with command and telemetry data transferred between the server and each controller board via WiFi. Functionality and performance were evaluated in a ground demonstration.

robotics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Improving Sim-to-Real Transfer in Vision-Based Robot Navigation Via Instance-Level GAN-Based Data Augmentation

Achieving robust vision-based robotic tasks requires large amounts of data, which are often difficult to obtain in real-world scenarios. Simulators and synthetic data offer a cost-effective alternative, but the visual gap between simulation and reality hinders the performance of models when deployed in real-world environments. In this paper, we present a data augmentation pipeline that integrates a foundation model (Segment Anything Model) with an unsupervised image-to-image translation model (CycleGAN) for instance-level domain transfer from simulation to reality. This pipeline enables the generation of realistic labeled data from synthetic images for training supervised machine learning models in vision-based navigation tasks. We evaluate our approach on real-world data for ego-vehicle pose estimation, a critical autonomous navigation task involving the prediction of cross-track position and heading angle relative to road center line markings. The results of our tests show that our GAN-based data augmentation pipeline significantly outperforms models trained solely on simulation data or on data processed with standard image augmentation methods for sim-to-real transfer, enhancing model robustness and generalizability in real-world scenarios. Our method provides a scalable and flexible data augmentation tool for leveraging large synthetic datasets to enhance vision-based robotic navigation tasks.

artificial intelligence↗
DOE OSTI2014

Microfluidic-Based Robotic Sampling System for Radioactive Solutions

A novel microfluidic based robotic sampling system has been developed for sampling and analysis of liquid solutions in nuclear processes. This system couples the use of a microfluidic sample chip with a robotic system designed to allow remote, automated sampling of process solutions in-cell and facilitates direct coupling of the microfluidic sample chip with analytical instrumentation. This system provides the capability for near real time analysis, reduces analytical waste, and minimizes the potential for personnel exposure associated with traditional sampling methods. A prototype sampling system was designed, built and tested. System testing demonstrated operability of the microfluidic based sample system and identified system modifications to optimize performance.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Autonomous Robot for Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Inspection

Shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) are critical to energy conversion efficiency of power plants. Eddy current examination is a way to evaluate working conditions of these tubes. However, the current testing apparatus requires human to manually insert an eddy current testing (ECT) probe into and extract it out of individual tubes, and meanwhile monitor measurement results for diagnosis. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive procedure even for an experienced technician. To tackle this challenge, in this work, we developed a robot enabled ECT system for autonomous inspection of STHEs. The robotic platform employs Mecanum wheeled chassis for high mobility, machine vision to locate tube bundle and tube inlets, a rotational Cartesian mechanism to operate at planes with all possible inclinations, and a task-specific mechanism for ECT probe delivery. Machine vision locates tube bundle and tube inlets by an April tag detection algorithm and a Circle Hough Transform (CHT) algorithm, respectively. Assisted by a guidance cone, the ECT probe is continuously fed into the tubes with a fill factor of 0.819. During this process, the eddy current data are automatically collected and real-time analyzed by convolutional neural networks (CNN), showing accuracy of nearly 100% for identifying defective and non-defective tubes and 85% for four types of defective tubes and non-defective tubes.

autonomy, deep learning, eddy current testing, hea↗
DOE OSTI2017

Wearable Robots for Worker Assistance - 17464

Wearable Robots is a fast growing field with exoskeleton devices focused on augmenting, enhancing, and assisting human movement and strength. Devices have been designed for people with spinal cord injuries, stroke survivors, medical rehabilitation, assistance to the elderly, and recreation to aid in sports. For manufacturing and industry, devices are quickly being developed that allow the human and the robot to interact in a synergistic fashion to accomplish a task. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Mobile Robots and Remote Characterisation Systems for Nuclear Decommissioning - 16028

This paper provides an updated summary of the research being conducted at the University of Manchester, UK, in support of the decommissioning plan for the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, UK. The research is being conducted in collaboration with a number of companies including Sellafield Ltd, the National Nuclear Laboratory and Forth Engineering Ltd. The primary focus of the research is in support of the decommissioning of the legacy facilities on the Sellafield site, however the technology can be applied to other nuclear sites, both modern and legacy, as well as in other industries such as oil and gas, petrochemical and the marine industry. The progress on the development of novel characterisation platforms (mobile robots) and sensing systems is presented including the AVEXIS underwater inspection system, a robot spider for remote operations and algorithms for efficient compression of Lidar point cloud data. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

3-D Volumetric Gamma-ray Imaging and Source Localization with a Mobile Robot - 18124

Radiation detection has largely been a manual inspection process with point sensors such as Geiger-Muller counters and scintillation spectrometers to date. While their observations of source proximity prove useful, they lack the directional information necessary for efficient source localization and characterization in cluttered environments with multiple radiation sources. The recent commercialization of Compton gamma cameras provides directional information to the broader radiation detection community for the first time. This paper presents the integration of a Compton gamma camera with a self-localizing ground robot for accurate 3D radiation mapping. Using the position and orientation of the robot, radiation images from the gamma camera are accumulated over a traversed path in a shared frame of reference to construct a consistent voxel grid-based radiation map. The peaks of the map at pre-specified energy windows are selected as the source location estimates, which are compared to the ground truth source locations. The proposed approach localizes multiple sources to within an average of 0.2 m in two 5 x 4 m{sup 2} and 14 x 6 m{sup 2} laboratory environments. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Automation and Use of Robotics for Decommissioning Tasks - 18322

Decommissioning across the globe is being executed largely by manual labor. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has concluded that the nuclear industry has not fully exploited or implemented current technological capabilities, and relies on sometimes outdated technology to perform decommissioning tasks [1]. To address this issue, EPRI recently published the report Evaluation of System Automation and Robotics for Decommissioning Applications (EPRI 3002010599) [2]. To facilitate wide usage of the guidance by technology developers, the report is publicly available at no cost. The use of more efficient and effective decommissioning technologies and processes could reduce the decommissioning project schedule and therefore reduce the period-dependent costs incurred throughout the decommissioning project. Such systems may also offer a substantial benefit with respect to worker safety and radiation exposure reduction. However, tasks for which use of such systems is beneficial must be carefully considered, being robust and generally trouble free to operate in the demanding environment of commercial power plant decommissioning. A review of the major tasks involved in the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is presented, with a critical assessment of the benefits for the use of robotics and/or automation. Recommendations for areas of future research and development are identified. The results of this project will be beneficial to global organizations working on development of engineered systems for decommissioning applications by providing a focus on priority tasks. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Robotic Measurement of Holdup Deposit Volume in Gaseous Diffusion Piping to Quantify U-235 Content - 18375

During D and D of old gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facilities, radiometric assay of U-235 holdup in pipes is a costly, time consuming, and labor-intensive process. Subject to human interpretation using approximate modeling, radiometric assay introduces significant challenges. Taking advantage of routine demolition activities in which D and D cuts pipes open, robotic in-pipe assay is explored. The novel method introduced here generates models of the internal pipe and deposit surface geometries that are used to derive volumetric quantities. The pipe surface is sensed using a non-contact inductive proximity sensor and the deposit surface is sensed using an optical laser triangulation sensor. These sensors are mounted on a spinning disk and driven down the pipe to construct a helical point cloud of discrete measurements. Surfaces are fit to each of the two point clouds to create a watertight volume that represents the holdup. This provides the location and volume per foot of pipe that is used to compare against criticality incredible (CI) thresholds during evaluation. The robotic system collects data autonomously, deploying and returning to the same pipe opening from which it is launched. This provides redundant measurements of the pipe and deposit surfaces as well as odometry used in localization. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Additive Manufacturing Advances to Facilitate Novel Robot and Remote System Construction - 18493

Additive manufacturing (AM), in both polymer and metal, has advanced to the point where it can significantly facilitate robot and remote system design and implementation. Properly used AM creates features and capabilities otherwise not possible in machined or cast products. AM design rules are still being developed and must be applied differently based on the process and purpose of the final component, but progress is being made in practical implementation. Polymer-based AM has been commercially available for quite some time and is regularly used for prototyping and test fitting parts before they are fabricated from metal or produced in low production quantity parts that do not require high structural strength. Metal printing processes are more diverse than polymer print processes. Both polymer and metal printing systems can be used to make parts or complete systems for robotics. Two implementation examples that illustrate the possibilities and identify issues that remain in metal printing are: a dual arm hydraulic manipulator and a distal link of an excavator arm. The dual arm hydraulic manipulator was printed in titanium using an e-beam fusing process. All hydraulics and electrical cabling passageways were printed into the manipulator; there are no external hoses or cables. The distal link of an excavator arm was printed using a wire-fed metal inert gas process. The excavator was then used for digging as part of an equipment exposition validating the structural integrity of the printed part. (authors)

3D PRINTING↗