SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “sensor augmentation”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2015

Augmented Virtual Reality Laboratory

Real time motion tracking hardware has for the most part been cost prohibitive for research to regularly take place until recently. With the release of the Microsoft Kinect in November 2010, researchers now have access to a device that for a few hundred dollars is capable of providing redgreenblue (RGB), depth, and skeleton data. It is also capable of tracking multiple people in real time. For its original intended purposes, i.e. gaming, being used with the Xbox 360 and eventually Xbox One, it performs quite well. However, researchers soon found that although the sensor is versatile, it has limitations in real world applications. I was brought aboard this summer by William Little in the Augmented Virtual Reality (AVR) Lab at Kennedy Space Center to find solutions to these limitations.

Resolved Skeleton↗

NASA NTRS1979

An investigation of corner separation within a thrust augmenter having Coanda jets

The development of separation in corners of thrust augmentor wings having Coanda jets was investigated using hot film surface sensors and pressure transducers. Separation on the test augmentor began at a corner very close to the augmentor exit and then rapidly proceeded upstream. Measurements of the pressure fields in the corner region indicated that a modified form of the Stratford criterion could be used to predict the onset of separation. Testing was conducted over a range of nozzle pressure ratios, aspect ratios, diffuser angles, and designs of the boundary layer and Coanda nozzles.

Seiler, M. R.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Development of a remote digital augmentation system and application to a remotely piloted research vehicle

A cost-effective approach to flight testing advanced control concepts with remotely piloted vehicles is described. The approach utilizes a ground based digital computer coupled to the remotely piloted vehicle's motion sensors and control surface actuators through telemetry links to provide high bandwidth feedback control. The system was applied to the control of an unmanned 3/8-scale model of the F-15 airplane. The model was remotely augmented; that is, the F-15 mechanical and control augmentation flight control systems were simulated by the ground-based computer, rather than being in the vehicle itself. The results of flight tests of the model at high angles of attack are discussed.

Edwards, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS2005

TAMDAR Sensor Validation in 2003 AIRS II

This study entails an assessment of TAMDAR in situ temperature, relative humidity and winds sensor data from seven flights of the UND Citation II. These data are undergoing rigorous assessment to determine their viability to significantly augment domestic Meteorological Data Communications Reporting System (MDCRS) and the international Aircraft Meteorological Data Reporting (AMDAR) system observational databases to improve the performance of regional and global numerical weather prediction models. NASA Langley Research Center participated in the Second Alliance Icing Research Study from November 17 to December 17, 2003. TAMDAR data taken during this period is compared with validation data from the UND Citation. The data indicate acceptable performance of the TAMDAR sensor when compared to measurements from the UND Citation research instruments.

Daniels, Taumi S.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Sensor Selection and Data Validation for Reliable Integrated System Health Management

For new access to space systems with challenging mission requirements, effective implementation of integrated system health management (ISHM) must be available early in the program to support the design of systems that are safe, reliable, highly autonomous. Early ISHM availability is also needed to promote design for affordable operations; increased knowledge of functional health provided by ISHM supports construction of more efficient operations infrastructure. Lack of early ISHM inclusion in the system design process could result in retrofitting health management systems to augment and expand operational and safety requirements; thereby increasing program cost and risk due to increased instrumentation and computational complexity. Having the right sensors generating the required data to perform condition assessment, such as fault detection and isolation, with a high degree of confidence is critical to reliable operation of ISHM. Also, the data being generated by the sensors needs to be qualified to ensure that the assessments made by the ISHM is not based on faulty data. NASA Glenn Research Center has been developing technologies for sensor selection and data validation as part of the FDDR (Fault Detection, Diagnosis, and Response) element of the Upper Stage project of the Ares 1 launch vehicle development. This presentation will provide an overview of the GRC approach to sensor selection and data quality validation and will present recent results from applications that are representative of the complexity of propulsion systems for access to space vehicles. A brief overview of the sensor selection and data quality validation approaches is provided below. The NASA GRC developed Systematic Sensor Selection Strategy (S4) is a model-based procedure for systematically and quantitatively selecting an optimal sensor suite to provide overall health assessment of a host system. S4 can be logically partitioned into three major subdivisions: the knowledge base, the down-select iteration, and the final selection analysis. The knowledge base required for productive use of S4 consists of system design information and heritage experience together with a focus on components with health implications. The sensor suite down-selection is an iterative process for identifying a group of sensors that provide good fault detection and isolation for targeted fault scenarios. In the final selection analysis, a statistical evaluation algorithm provides the final robustness test for each down-selected sensor suite. NASA GRC has developed an approach to sensor data qualification that applies empirical relationships, threshold detection techniques, and Bayesian belief theory to a network of sensors related by physics (i.e., analytical redundancy) in order to identify the failure of a given sensor within the network. This data quality validation approach extends the state-of-the-art, from red-lines and reasonableness checks that flag a sensor after it fails, to include analytical redundancy-based methods that can identify a sensor in the process of failing. The focus of this effort is on understanding the proper application of analytical redundancy-based data qualification methods for onboard use in monitoring Upper Stage sensors.

Garg, Sanjay↗

NASA NTRS1993

Contact sensing from force measurements

This article addresses contact sensing (i.e., the problem of resolving the location of a contact, the force at the interface, and the moment about the contact normals). Called 'intrinsic' contact sensing for the use of internal force and torque measurements, this method allows for practical devices that provide simple, relevant contact information in practical robotic applications. Such sensors have been used in conjunction with robot hands to identify objects, determine surface friction, detect slip, augment grasp stability, measure object mass, probe surfaces, and control collision and for a variety of other useful tasks. This article describes the theoretical basis for their operation and provides a framework for future device design.

Bicchi, Antonio↗

NASA NTRS1993

Primary display latency criteria based on flying qualities and performance data

With a pilots' increasing use of visual cue augmentation, much requiring extensive pre-processing, there is a need to establish criteria for new avionics/display design. The timeliness and synchronization of the augmented cues is vital to ensure the performance quality required for precision mission task elements (MTEs) where augmented cues are the primary source of information to the pilot. Processing delays incurred while transforming sensor-supplied flight information into visual cues are unavoidable. Relationships between maximum control system delays and associated flying qualities levels are documented in MIL-F-83300 and MIL-F-8785. While cues representing aircraft status may be just as vital to the pilot as prompt control response for operations in instrument meteorological conditions, presently, there are no specification requirements on avionics system latency. To produce data relating avionics system latency to degradations in flying qualities, the Navy conducted two simulation investigations. During the investigations, flying qualities and performance data were recorded as simulated avionics system latency was varied. Correlated results of the investigation indicates that there is a detrimental impact of latency on flying qualities. Analysis of these results and consideration of key factors influencing their application indicate that: (1) Task performance degrades and pilot workload increases as latency is increased. Inconsistency in task performance increases as latency increases. (2) Latency reduces the probability of achieving Level 1 handling qualities with avionics system latency as low as 70 ms. (3) The data suggest that the achievement of desired performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 120 ms. (4) These data also suggest that avoidance of inadequate performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 150 ms.

Funk, John D., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Development and Test of Robotically Assisted Extravehicular Activity Gloves

Over the past two years, the High Performance EVA Glove (HPEG) project under NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funded an effort to develop an electromechanically-assisted space suit glove. The project was a collaboration between the Johnson Space Center's Software, Robotics, and Simulation Division and the Crew and Thermal Systems division. The project sought to combine finger actuator technology developed for Robonaut 2 with the softgoods from the ILC Phase VI EVA glove. The Space Suit RoboGlove (SSRG) uses a system of three linear actuators to pull synthetic tendons attached to the glove's fingers to augment flexion of the user's fingers. To detect the user's inputs, the system utilizes a combination of string potentiometers along the back of the fingers and force sensitive resistors integrated into the fingertips of the glove cover layer. This paper discusses the development process from initial concepts through two major phases of prototypes, and the results of initial human testing. Initial work on the project focused on creating a functioning proof of concept, designing the softgoods integration, and demonstrating augmented grip strength with the actuators. The second year of the project focused on upgrading the actuators, sensors, and software with the overall goal of creating a system that moves with the user's fingers in order to reduce fatigue associated with the operation of a pressurized glove system. This paper also discusses considerations for a flight system based on this prototype development and address where further work is required to mature the technology.

Rogers, Jonathan M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Novel Observing Strategies (NOS) and Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT) for Disaster Resilience

"Earth systems have now been observed continuously for more than 50 years, not only from space but also from airplanes, balloons and in-situ sensors. With the addition of commercial remote sensing providers, many more Internet-of-Things sensors and new NASA and international observatories being planned, these incredible amounts of data will soon be augmented by even larger amounts of diverse data and therefore will become more and more difficult to access, integrate, understand and utilize. At the same time, because of climate change and its impacts, in order to predict, manage, and mitigate the effects of extreme science events and disasters, the information produced by all of this data needs to be optimized, organized and analyzed in such a way that it can be utilized by traditional as well as many new non-traditional users. This calls for the development of observing systems that are agile, coordinated and responsive to events of interest, and for information systems to be dynamic, interactive and fast. With these objectives in mind, the Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program has been developing technologies that will allow for the development of Novel Observing Strategies (NOS) in a distributed, coordinated fashion (i.e., similar to an “Internet-of-Earth-Things”), as well as for the development of novel information systems or Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT) that will build a digital replica of the past and current states of the Earth systems, will derive forecasts of future states under nominal assumptions and will also offer the capability to investigate many hypothetical evolution scenarios under varying impact assumptions. Both NOS and ESDT will be facilitated by the unprecedented advances of Artificial Intelligence technologies, especially Machine Learning (ML), for extracting relevant information from these large amounts of data, for fusing and assimilating diverse data together and for running complex models faster. Together NOS and ESDT will help build the capabilities needed to anticipate, predict and mitigate the effects of future disasters."

Earth Science Remote Sensing; Information Systems↗

NASA NTRS1982

A flight test maneuver autopilot for a highly manueverable aircraft

A flight test maneuver autopilot (FTMAP) is currently being flown to increase the quality and quantity of the data obtained in the flight testing of the highly maneuverable aircraft technology (HiMAT) remotely piloted research vehicle (RPRV). The FTMAP resides in a ground-based digital computer and was designed to perform certain prescribed maneuvers precisely, while maintaining critical flight parameters within close tolerances. The FTMAP operates as a non-flight-critical outer loop controller and augments the vehicle primary flight control system. The inputs to the FTMAP consist of telemetry-downlinked aircraft sensor data. During FTMAP operation, the FTMAP computer replaces normal pilot inputs to the aircraft stick and throttle positions. The FTMAP maneuvers include straight-and-level flight, level accelerations and decelerations, pushover pullups, and windup turns. The pushover pullups can be executed holding throttle or Mach number fixed. The windup turns can be commanded by either normal acceleration or angle of attack. The operational procedures, control mode configuration, and initial simulation results are discussed.

Roncoli, R. B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Automation and Robotics for Space-Based Systems, 1991

A NASA Langley workshop on Automation and Robotics for Space-Based Systems was held on December 10, 1991. This conference proceedings document presents the overhead slides from each speaker at this event. The purpose of this in-house workshop was to assess the state-of-the-art of automation and robotics for space operations from a LaRC perspective and to identify areas of opportunity for future research. The workshop was sponsored by the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee, chaired by Mr. Raymond C. Montgomery. Nineteen talks were given, reflecting a high level of interest in the field of automation at NASA Langley. Over half of the presentations came from the Automation Technology Branch, covering telerobotic control, EVA and IVA robotics, hand controllers for teleoperation, sensors, neural networks, and automated structural assembly, all applied to space missions. Other talks covered RMS active damping augmentation, space crane work, modeling, simulation, and control of large, flexible space manipulators, and virtual passive controller designs for space robots.

Automation↗

NASA NTRS1991

Formulation of full state feedback for infinite order structural systems

The estimation of exact displacement and displacement rate feedback kernels from finite dimensional control solutions based on finite element structural models is discussed. These kernels are then transformed to equivalent curvature and curvature rate feedback kernels. These curvature kernels are augmented with single point displacement and rotation feedback to account for rigid body motions. A growing class of sensors known as area-averaging sensors is used to measure the curvature and curvature rate state functions. The output of area-averaging sensors equals the convolution of all structural curvature states with the spatial sensitivity function of the sensors. Transforming the discrete feedback gains into continuous feedback kernels and employing area-averaging sensors make it possible to implement full state feedback for infinite order structural systems.

Miller, David W.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Toward an IMU-based Space Suit Motion Capture System

Spacesuits are complex engineering systems that sustain human health and enable performance outside of Earth-like environments. These systems must support human mobility and physical workload demands while minimizing injury risk during extravehicular activity (EVA). Future EVA on the lunar surface during the Artemis program is expected to be more frequent and require higher physical workloads than previous EVAs during the ISS, Shuttle, or Apollo programs. Hence it is important to optimize future as well as current spacesuits to be efficient and comfortable for the success of space and planetary missions. To enable this, an efficient method is needed to test these spacesuits on the ground.When testing spacesuits in ground environments, it is often necessary to understand the kinematics of the suit to validate the design against relevant requirements or characterize the physical workload necessary to operate the suit. This is a challenging task for traditional optical motion capture (OMC) approaches: suit-mounted OMC markers are easily occluded by the subject or environment and may become detached during testing. Controlling lighting and reflectivity of objects in the motion capture volume is also difficult. Fixed-position OMC cameras also constrain testing to a small and contrived laboratory environment, disallowing kinematics capture in field environments.One promising alternative is the use of suit-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs). These sensors are small, unobtrusive, and portable, but come at the cost of increased sensor noise and complexity of the software and mathematics to analyze the collected data. To this end, engineers at NASA are developing the Augmented Suit Inverse Kinematics (ASIK) system, a complete motion capture methodand inverse kinematics solver which relies solely on a network of wireless IMUs attached to the major kinematic segments of the spacesuit. The ASIK modeling language allows for the simple inclusion of probabilistic priors such as suit size and shape or IMU positions and rotations. Furthermore, to increase accuracy and reduce operational overhead to use this motion capture approach, the developed inverse kinematics solver exploits so-called self-calibratingalgorithmic techniques, which reduce the need for precise alignment of the sensors on the segments or scripted functional calibration procedures. The ASIK system was tested in a 7-subject pilot study. Each subject donned NASA’s new prototype exploration spacesuit in the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) facility at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The subjects were outfitted with a set of 14 APDM (Portland, OR, USA) Opal IMUs, 12 of which were used in the ASIK model to estimate lower body and trunk kinematics. The subjects were also outfitted with a set of reflective OMC markers and traditional OMC data was collected and processed. Presented results will include characterization of ASIK-derived suit joint angles accuracy against an optical motion capture datum. Discussion of these results, as well as discussion of system calibration and nuances of mathematical observability, will be included.If successful, IMU-based motion capture will enable testing and validation of spacesuits more frequently, with less overhead, in more extreme environments. Future work will apply these techniques to common spacesuit testing tasks, such as gait, mobility, and balance assessment, physical workload characterization, and ergonomics evaluations.

Timothy Mcgrath↗

NASA NTRS1989

Experimental studies of adaptive structures for precision performance

An experimental study was made of the adaptive structure concept. Experimental data were obtained for a three-longeron, thirteen-bay truss-type test structure. This test structure can be softly suspended as well as rigidly clamped at the central bay. The load-carrying active member consists of a stack of concentric piezoelectric wafers, an eddy current displacement sensor, and a strain gage force sensor. A bridge (or compound) feedback technique developed in communication engineering is applied to the problem of active damping augmentation in adaptive structures. Using collocated force and velocity feedback around the active member, a desired output mechanical impedance can be implemented to maximize energy absorption by the active members. In addition, large gains can be implemented to linearize the active member's nonlinear behavior. Good agreements with linear finite element analysis was found for both static and dynamic structural responses. An 11 percent damping in the first bending mode was demonstrated in the closed-loop damping experiment.

Chen, G.-S.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The role of the Remotely Augmented Vehicle (RAV) laboratory in flight research

An overview is presented of the unique capabilities and historical significance of the Remotely Augmented Vehicle (RAV) Lab at NASA-Dryden. The role is reviewed of the RAV Lab in enhancing flight test programs and efficient testing of new aircraft control laws. The history of the RAV Lab is discussed with a sample of its application using the X-29 aircraft. The RAV Lab allows for closed or open loop augmentation of the research aircraft while in flight using ground based, high performance real time computers. Telemetry systems transfer sensor and control data between the ground and the aircraft. The RAV capability provides for enhanced computational power, improved flight data quality, and alternate methods for the testing of control system concepts. The Lab is easily reconfigured to reflect changes within a flight program and can be adapted to new flight programs.

Cohen, Dorothea↗

NASA NTRS2013

Software Tools to Support the Assessment of System Health

This presentation provides an overview of three software tools that were developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center to support the assessment of system health: the Propulsion Diagnostic Method Evaluation Strategy (ProDIMES), the Systematic Sensor Selection Strategy (S4), and the Extended Testability Analysis (ETA) tool. Originally developed to support specific NASA projects in aeronautics and space, these software tools are currently available to U.S. citizens through the NASA Glenn Software Catalog. The ProDiMES software tool was developed to support a uniform comparison of propulsion gas path diagnostic methods. Methods published in the open literature are typically applied to dissimilar platforms with different levels of complexity. They often address different diagnostic problems and use inconsistent metrics for evaluating performance. As a result, it is difficult to perform a one ]to ]one comparison of the various diagnostic methods. ProDIMES solves this problem by serving as a theme problem to aid in propulsion gas path diagnostic technology development and evaluation. The overall goal is to provide a tool that will serve as an industry standard, and will truly facilitate the development and evaluation of significant Engine Health Management (EHM) capabilities. ProDiMES has been developed under a collaborative project of The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) based on feedback provided by individuals within the aircraft engine health management community. The S4 software tool provides a framework that supports the optimal selection of sensors for health management assessments. S4 is structured to accommodate user ]defined applications, diagnostic systems, search techniques, and system requirements/constraints. One or more sensor suites that maximize this performance while meeting other user ]defined system requirements that are presumed to exist. S4 provides a systematic approach for evaluating combinations of sensors to determine the set or sets of sensors that optimally meet the performance goals and the constraints. It identifies optimal sensor suite solutions by utilizing a merit (i.e., cost) function with one of several available optimization approaches. As part of its analysis, S4 can expose fault conditions that are difficult to diagnose due to an incomplete diagnostic philosophy and/or a lack of sensors. S4 was originally developed and applied to liquid rocket engines. It was subsequently used to study the optimized selection of sensors for a simulation ]based aircraft engine diagnostic system. The ETA Tool is a software ]based analysis tool that augments the testability analysis and reporting capabilities of a commercial ]off ]the ]shelf (COTS) package. An initial diagnostic assessment is performed by the COTS software using a user ]developed, qualitative, directed ]graph model of the system being analyzed. The ETA Tool accesses system design information captured within the model and the associated testability analysis output to create a series of six reports for various system engineering needs. These reports are highlighted in the presentation. The ETA Tool was developed by NASA to support the verification of fault management requirements early in the Launch Vehicle process. Due to their early development during the design process, the TEAMS ]based diagnostic model and the ETA Tool were able to positively influence the system design by highlighting gaps in failure detection, fault isolation, and failure recovery.

Melcher, Kevin J.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Software Testbed for Developing and Evaluating Integrated Autonomous Subsystems

To implement fault tolerant autonomy in future space systems, it will be necessary to integrate planning, adaptive control, and state estimation subsystems. However, integrating these subsystems is difficult, time-consuming, and error-prone. This paper describes Intelliface/ADAPT, a software testbed that helps researchers develop and test alternative strategies for integrating planning, execution, and diagnosis subsystems more quickly and easily. The testbed's architecture, graphical data displays, and implementations of the integrated subsystems support easy plug and play of alternate components to support research and development in fault-tolerant control of autonomous vehicles and operations support systems. Intelliface/ADAPT controls NASA's Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Testbed (ADAPT), which comprises batteries, electrical loads (fans, pumps, and lights), relays, circuit breakers, invertors, and sensors. During plan execution, an experimentor can inject faults into the ADAPT testbed by tripping circuit breakers, changing fan speed settings, and closing valves to restrict fluid flow. The diagnostic subsystem, based on NASA's Hybrid Diagnosis Engine (HyDE), detects and isolates these faults to determine the new state of the plant, ADAPT. Intelliface/ADAPT then updates its model of the ADAPT system's resources and determines whether the current plan can be executed using the reduced resources. If not, the planning subsystem generates a new plan that reschedules tasks, reconfigures ADAPT, and reassigns the use of ADAPT resources as needed to work around the fault. The resource model, planning domain model, and planning goals are expressed using NASA's Action Notation Modeling Language (ANML). Parts of the ANML model are generated automatically, and other parts are constructed by hand using the Planning Model Integrated Development Environment, a visual Eclipse-based IDE that accelerates ANML model development. Because native ANML planners are currently under development and not yet sufficiently capable, the ANML model is translated into the New Domain Definition Language (NDDL) and sent to NASA's EUROPA planning system for plan generation. The adaptive controller executes the new plan, using augmented, hierarchical finite state machines to select and sequence actions based on the state of the ADAPT system. Real-time sensor data, commands, and plans are displayed in information-dense arrays of timelines and graphs that zoom and scroll in unison. A dynamic schematic display uses color to show the real-time fault state and utilization of the system components and resources. An execution manager coordinates the activities of the other subsystems. The subsystems are integrated using the Internet Communications Engine (ICE). an object-oriented toolkit for building distributed applications.

Testbed↗

NASA NTRS2006

Development of an Extra-vehicular (EVA) Infrared (IR) Camera Inspection System

Designed to fulfill a critical inspection need for the Space Shuttle Program, the EVA IR Camera System can detect crack and subsurface defects in the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) sections of the Space Shuttle s Thermal Protection System (TPS). The EVA IR Camera performs this detection by taking advantage of the natural thermal gradients induced in the RCC by solar flux and thermal emission from the Earth. This instrument is a compact, low-mass, low-power solution (1.2cm3, 1.5kg, 5.0W) for TPS inspection that exceeds existing requirements for feature detection. Taking advantage of ground-based IR thermography techniques, the EVA IR Camera System provides the Space Shuttle program with a solution that can be accommodated by the existing inspection system. The EVA IR Camera System augments the visible and laser inspection systems and finds cracks and subsurface damage that is not measurable by the other sensors, and thus fills a critical gap in the Space Shuttle s inspection needs. This paper discusses the on-orbit RCC inspection measurement concept and requirements, and then presents a detailed description of the EVA IR Camera System design.

Gazarik, Michael↗