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At least 127 records · Page 7

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2015

Antenna Design Considerations for the Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit

NASA is designing an Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AEMU)to support future manned missions beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). A key component of the AEMU is the communications assembly that allows for the wireless transfer of voice, video, and suit telemetry. The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) currently used on the International Space Station (ISS) contains a radio system with a single omni-directional resonant cavity antenna operating slightly above 400 MHz capable of transmitting and receiving data at a rate of about 125 kbps. Recent wireless communications architectures are calling for the inclusion of commercial wireless standards such as 802.11 that operate in higher frequency bands at much higher data rates. The current AEMU radio design supports a 400 MHz band for low-rate mission-critical data and a high-rate band based on commercial wireless local area network (WLAN) technology to support video, communication with non-extravehicular activity (EVA) assets such as wireless sensors and robotic assistants, and a redundant path for mission-critical EVA data. This paper recommends the replacement of the existing EMU antenna with a new antenna that maintains the performance characteristics of the current antenna but with lower weight and volume footprints. NASA has funded several firms to develop such an antenna over the past few years, and the most promising designs are variations on the basic patch antenna. This antenna technology at UHF is considered by the authors to be mature and ready for infusion into NASA AEMU technology development programs.

antenna design↗

NASA NTRS2000

Wireless Telemetry and Command (T and C) Program

The Wireless Telemetry and Command (T&C) program is to investigate methods of using commercial telecommunications service providers to support command and telemetry services between a remote user and a base station. While the initial development is based on ground networks, the development is being done with an eye towards future space communications needs. Both NASA and the Air Force have indicated a plan to consider the use of commercial telecommunications providers to support their space missions. To do this, there will need to be an understanding of the requirements and limitations of interfacing with the commercial providers. The eventual payoff will be the reduced operations cost and the ability to tap into commercial services being developed by the commercial networks. This should enable easier realization of EP services to the end points, commercial routing of data, and quicker integration of new services into the space mission operations. Therefore, the ultimate goal of this program is not just to provide wireless radio communications for T&C services but to enhance those services through wireless networking and provider enhancements that come with the networks. In the following chapters, the detailed technical procedure will be showed step by step. Chapter 2 will talk about the general idea of simulation as well as the implementation of data acquisition including sensor array data and GPS data. Chapter 3 will talk about how to use LabVEEW and Component Works to do wireless communication simulation and how to distribute the real-time information over the Internet by using Visual Basic and ActiveX controls. Also talk about the test configuration and validation. Chapter 4 will show the test results both from In-Lab test and Networking Test. Chapter 5 will summarize the whole procedure and give the perspective for the future consideration.

Jiang, Hui↗

DOE OSTI2022

Distributed Real-time Plume Monitoring for Deep Sea Mineral Extraction

In the emerging industry of deep-sea mining for minerals and deposits (e.g. polymetallic nodules for nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese), more data is required to understand the effects of sediment plume generation and predict the distribution of disturbed sediment. There are two main sources of plume generation, the first being at the active mining site where the “collector” directly removes the top layer of the sea floor. The other is the “midwater plume” consisting of unwanted sediment that was collected during extraction that is pumped back into the aphotic zone. The vast majority of plume generation is caused by the collector, causing detrimental and long-lasting impacts on seafloor ecosystems due to the lack of wave activity or strong currents at the sea floor. Therefore, it is crucial to invest in the infrastructure to support the study and constant monitoring over a large area of the sea floor where plume generation is present. Due to the limited number of usable channels and power requirements, current subsea wireless communications technologies are not well suited to instrumenting the large areas of the sea floor needed to monitor plume migration. The scope of this effort is to transition experimental demonstrations of high-bandwidth, full-duplex scalable underwater laser communications to the seafloor in an open ocean environment. Specifically tackling challenges associated with the dynamic nature of the subsea world, including but not limited to, deployment logistics, sustainability, and range. The goal is to enable the internet of underwater things for deep sea industries by broadening the capabilities of subsea communications. By using high-precision laser transmitters, many of the challenges current subsea optical systems face can be circumvented, such as power consumption, interference, and bandwidth limitations. This approach lends itself to wireless interlinking multi-node networks, in series or parallel, facilitating the implementation of a wide array of sensor types. This interlinking allows all the data gathered from the network to be processed through a single hardline uplink to the surface, lowering the complexity required for near real-time data processing. Additionally, the laser control systems produce metadata that can be used to help characterize the water column between the nodes. Combining data from various sensors such as turbidity, temperature, current velocity with metadata such as beam attenuation and deflection can produce a high-resolution model of sea floor conditions around an active mining zone. The resulting near real-time model can be used to optimize location and flow rate of the mining operation to minimize and quantify the environmental impact.

Mons, Ishan↗

NASA NTRS2003

Performance Evaluation Modeling of Network Sensors

Substantial benefits are promised by operating many spatially separated sensors collectively. Such systems are envisioned to consist of sensor nodes that are connected by a communications network. A simulation tool is being developed to evaluate the performance of networked sensor systems, incorporating such metrics as target detection probabilities, false alarms rates, and classification confusion probabilities. The tool will be used to determine configuration impacts associated with such aspects as spatial laydown, and mixture of different types of sensors (acoustic, seismic, imaging, magnetic, RF, etc.), and fusion architecture. The QualNet discrete-event simulation environment serves as the underlying basis for model development and execution. This platform is recognized for its capabilities in efficiently simulating networking among mobile entities that communicate via wireless media. We are extending QualNet's communications modeling constructs to capture the sensing aspects of multi-target sensing (analogous to multiple access communications), unimodal multi-sensing (broadcast), and multi-modal sensing (multiple channels and correlated transmissions). Methods are also being developed for modeling the sensor signal sources (transmitters), signal propagation through the media, and sensors (receivers) that are consistent with the discrete event paradigm needed for performance determination of sensor network systems. This work is supported under the Microsensors Technical Area of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Advanced Sensors Collaborative Technology Alliance.

probability of detection↗

DOE OSTI2020

5G Enabled Energy Innovation: Advanced Wireless Networks for Science (Workshop Report)

Rapidly expanding, new telecommunications infrastructure based on 5G technologies will disrupt and transform how we design, build, operate, and optimize scientific infrastructure and the experiments and services enabled by that infrastructure, from continental-scale sensor networks to centralized scientific user facilities, from intelligent Internet of Things devices to supercomputers. Concurrently, 5G will introduce, or exacerbate, challenges related to protecting infrastructure and associated scientific data as well as to fully leveraging opportunities related to expanded infrastructure scale and complexity. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science operates scientific infrastructure, supporting some of the nation’s most advanced intellectual discoveries, spanning the country and including 30 world-class user facilities from supercomputers to accelerators. Along with field experiments and remote observatories, every aspect of DOE’s scientific enterprise will be affected by 5G, which amounts to a complete renovation of the underpinnings of the nation’s information infrastructure. In this report we explore the scientific opportunities and new research challenges associated with 5G, ranging from scalability to heterogeneity to cybersecurity. The rapid commercial deployment of 5G opens the opportunity to rethink and reinvent DOE’s scientific infrastructure and experimentation, from intelligent sensor networks at unprecedented scales to a digital continuum of cyberinfrastructure spanning low-power sensors, high-performance computing embedded within and at the edge of the network, and DOE’s large-scale user instrument and computing facilities. New programming paradigms, workflow and data frameworks, and AI-based system design, operation, and autonomous adaptation and optimization will be necessary in order to exploit these new opportunities. Field deployments and centralized scientific instruments can also be revolutionized, moving (without traditional performance penalties) from wired to wireless connectivity for data and control systems, improving flexibility, and opening new sensing modalities, including the use of the 5G electromagnetic spectrum itself as an environmental probe. For DOE science, in contrast to commercial 5G applications and settings, devices will be deployed in extreme environments such as cryogenically cooled instrument control systems and in remote settings with harsh conditions, requiring the design of new materials for RF communication and edge processing to operate in these regimes. Concurrently, 5G infrastructure comprises both hardware and sophisticated software systems - currently closed and proprietary. The cybersecurity challenges to 5G-empowered reinvention mirror the complexity and variety of new 5G features, from virtualization to private network slices to ubiquitous access. Research is also needed in order to accelerate the development of secure and open 5G software infrastructure, reducing reliance on hardware and software produced outside the United States and providing the transparency and rigorous evaluation and testing afforded through open software. Twelve broad research thrusts are laid out in four chapters, with a companion fifth chapter (and three additional research thrusts) underscoring the needs and opportunities for an aggressive testbed program co-designed by networking experts and scientists involved in the 15 research thrusts. The urgency of undertaking this research is fueled by a global, accelerating deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure that is designed for entertainment and commercial applications - barely scratching the surface of what 5G can do to extend U.S. leadership in scientific discovery.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2002

Multipoint sensing by intelligent collectives

Many remote sensing applications require that multiple sensors collect data simultaneously at spatially distributed locations and their information combined in order to characterize the phenomena of interest. Several basic classes of such multipoint measurement systems may be identified. For each, centralized methods exist for combining the raw data from the various sensors. However, recent advancements have given rise to small, integrated nodes comprised of one or more miniaturized sensors, processor, wireless communications capability and power supplies. Collections of these may be deployed and self-organized into intelligent sensor networks capable of performing cooperative signal processing locally, thereby providing substantial benefits.

multipoint measurement sensor networks↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optimal Communication Topology Construction and Sensor Selection for Independent Airspace Surveillance

The paper presents an approach with no estimation feedback to sensors selection and communication network topology computation for independent airspace surveillance with maximum outcome and minimum cost using ground based distributed sensing, computing and communication network infrastructure. The selection criteria includes maximum airspace coverage with minimal resources, minimum communication time and power consumption while guaranteeing the system observability and providing in-time high quality information to both stationary and mobile users. The developed algorithms use multi-objective optimization strategy taking into account trade-offs between conflicting objectives and are implemented using off-the-shelf computational tools. The algorithms are validated in a desktop simulation environment using synthetic sensors data generated for a simulated multi-vehicle flight scenario in the selected regional airspace and parameters of a notional wireless communication network.

Distributed sensing↗

NASA NTRS2018

International Space Station Future Correlation Analysis Improvements

Ongoing modal analyses and model correlation are performed on different configurations of the International Space Station (ISS). These analyses utilize on-orbit dynamic measurements collected using four main ISS instrumentation systems: External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS), Internal Wireless Instrumentation System (IWIS), Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), and Structural Dynamic Measurement System (SDMS). Remote Sensor Units (RSUs) are network relay stations that acquire flight data from sensors. Measured data is stored in the Remote Sensor Unit (RSU) until it receives a command to download data via RF to the Network Control Unit (NCU). Since each RSU has its own clock, it is necessary to synchronize measurements before analysis. Imprecise synchronization impacts analysis results. A study was performed to evaluate three different synchronization techniques: (i) measurements visually aligned to analytical time-response data using model comparison, (ii) Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD), and (iii) lag from cross-correlation to align measurements. This paper presents the results of this study.

time synchronization↗

DOE OSTI2021

Novel Temperature Sensors and Wireless Telemetry for Active Condition Monitoring of Advanced Gas Turbines

The objective of the program is to develop and engine test hardware and software technologies that will enable active condition monitoring to be implemented on hot gas path turbine blades in large industrial gas turbines. The specific objectives are (1) to fabricate and install Smart Turbine Blades with thermally sprayed sensors and high temperature wireless telemetry systems in a gas turbine engine, (2) to integrate the component engine test data with remaining useful life (RUL) models and develop an approach for networking the component RUL data with Siemens' Power Diagnostics® engine monitoring system. These significant advances carried out in Phase 1 in temperature wide bandgap telemetry, along with new induced power driver and receiver geometry combined with an innovative approach to transmit digital data wirelessly will enable the opportunity to proceed with more technical innovation. The Phase 2 program focused on validation testing of sensor-wireless telemetry package in spin rig and advanced operation-based assessment (OBA) model utilizing artificial intelligence. Significant efforts were dedicated on the download of the technology onto components to be tested an actual gas turbine engine for full realization of active condition monitoring for Smart Turbine Blades.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Near-field passive sensor for the monitoring of high-temperature oxidative corrosion of metals

This study reports on the development and testing of a passive wireless device designed to track temperature and corrosion behavior in SS304H stainless steel under elevated temperatures. The ANSYS HFSS software was utilized to model and optimize the design of an inductor-capacitor (LC) resonator passive wireless sensors fabricated using platinum designs printed onto an aluminum oxide support operating at frequencies between (50–190 MHz). The optimal LC wireless sensor designs were then fabricated using screen-printing and sintering methods. Here, the sensors were tested by placing the sensor onto polished SS304H flat substrates and heated to 900–1050 °C in air. Wireless acquisition of sensor data during heating, cooling, and isothermal stages was achieved through a Pt loop antenna connected to an RF signal generator and a network analyzer.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS2016

Semi-Autonomous Vehicle Project

The primary objective this summer is "evaluating standards for wireless architecture for the internet of things". The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity which enables these objects to collect and exchange data and make decisions based on said data. This was accomplished by creating a semi-autonomous vehicle that takes advantage of multiple sensors, cameras, and onboard computers and combined them with a mesh network which enabled communication across large distances with little to no interruption. The mesh network took advantage of what is known as DTN - Disruption Tolerant Networking which according to NASA is the new communications protocol that is "the first step towards interplanetary internet." The use of DTN comes from the fact that it will store information if an interruption in communications is detected and even forward that information via other relays within range so that the data is not lost. This translates well into the project because as the car moves further away from whatever is sending it commands (in this case a joystick), the information can still be forwarded to the car with little to no loss of information thanks to the mesh nodes around the driving area.

Stewart, Christopher↗

NASA NTRS2006

Wireless augmented reality communication system

The system of the present invention is a highly integrated radio communication system with a multimedia co-processor which allows true two-way multimedia (video, audio, data) access as well as real-time biomedical monitoring in a pager-sized portable access unit. The system is integrated in a network structure including one or more general purpose nodes for providing a wireless-to-wired interface. The network architecture allows video, audio and data (including biomedical data) streams to be connected directly to external users and devices. The portable access units may also be mated to various non-personal devices such as cameras or environmental sensors for providing a method for setting up wireless sensor nets from which reported data may be accessed through the portable access unit. The reported data may alternatively be automatically logged at a remote computer for access and viewing through a portable access unit, including the user's own.

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2014

Wireless Augmented Reality Communication System

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2014

Wireless Augmented Reality Communication System

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2016

Wireless Augmented Reality Communication System

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2013

Characterization Test Report for the Mnemonics-UCS Wireless Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor System

The scope of this testing includes the Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor System delivered to KSC: two interrogator (transceiver) systems, four temperature sensors, with wooden mounting blocks, two antennas, two power supplies, network cables, and analysis software. Also included are a number of additional temperature sensors and newly-developed hydrogen sensors

Duncan, Joshua J.↗

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↗

DOE OSTI2020

Wireless Sensing and Communication Capability from In-Core to a Monitoring Center

Significant cost savings can be made if electrical cables can be replaced by wireless technology in current Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) and in advance reactor designs. Wireless technology can also provide in-core opportunities by significantly reducing the number of penetrations in the pressure vessel, cost and complexity of sensor installation and by increasing the efficiency of current and advanced reactors. Unlike other deployment scenarios for an industrial environment, operators need to have centralized control over all the networks. Centralized control will reduce implementation costs, provide single point control and enable monitoring of network devices, improve security, and enhance connectivity. Micro-sensors that can simultaneously monitor temperature and pressure within a fuel rod inside nuclear reactors will enable preventative actions during abnormal operating conditions. This ability could avert accidents and enable the expedient development of accident tolerant fuels. A novel micro-sensor suite (~ mm) to simultaneously measure multiple parameters such as temperature, strain, pressure, and neutron/gamma flux inside a fuel rod is being developed for use in reactors. The necessary communication architecture is also being developed to transmit measurement signals from the core to the plant's data cloud or control room. A three three-tier strategy has been developed to support wireless transmission of in-core measurements to the control room or to a secure cloud platform for control, analytics, and decision-making purposes. 1. In-core: data signal from in-core to outside of the pressure vessel within the containment building 2. Containment building: data signal from inside to the outside of the containment building and into the balance of the plant network 3. Balance of the plant network: information transmitted to the data cloud and control room This plan presents a wireless sensing and communication system for use within a reactor core and elsewhere. The communication technology is advantageous to compensate for network equipment failures and adverse data transmission conditions. Wireless technology will significantly increase the resiliency of the plants network system. The wireless system naturally provides multiple transmission path capability and data redundancy.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗