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Digital circuit has faster response to load changes. Digital power-factor controller senses changing motor-load torques by sampling open-circuit voltage across gate-controlled silicon switch. Circuit responds more rapidly to hanging loads than analog power-factor controllers because no low-pass filter is in feedback loop.
A Digital Flight Control Systems Verification Laboratory (DFCSVL) has been established at NASA Ames Research Center. This report describes the major elements of the laboratory, the research activities that can be supported in the area of verification and validation of digital flight control systems (DFCS), and the operating scenarios within which these activities can be carried out. The DFCSVL consists of a palletized dual-dual flight-control system linked to a dedicated PDP-11/60 processor. Major software support programs are hosted in a remotely located UNIVAC 1100 accessible from the PDP-11/60 through a modem link. Important features of the DFCSVL include extensive hardware and software fault insertion capabilities, a real-time closed loop environment to exercise the DFCS, an integrated set of software verification tools, and a user-oriented interface to all the resources and capabilities.
State-of-the-art digital hardware and software for the simulation of complex structural dynamic interactions, such as those which occur in rotating structures (engine systems). System were incorporated in a designed to use an array of processors in which the computation for each physical subelement or functional subsystem would be assigned to a single specific processor in the simulator. These node processors are microprogrammed bit-slice microcomputers which function autonomously and can communicate with each other and a central control minicomputer over parallel digital lines. Inter-processor nearest neighbor communications busses pass the constants which represent physical constraints and boundary conditions. The node processors are connected to the six nearest neighbor node processors to simulate the actual physical interface of real substructures. Computer generated finite element mesh and force models can be developed with the aid of the central control minicomputer. The control computer also oversees the animation of a graphics display system, disk-based mass storage along with the individual processing elements.
Aspen, conifer and mixed aspen/conifer forests were mapped for a 15-quadrangle study area in the Utah-Idaho Bear River Range using LANDSAT multispectral scanner data. Digital classification and statistical analysis of LANDSAT data allowed the identification of six groups of signatures which reflect different types of aspen/conifer forest mixing. Photo interpretations of the print symbols suggest that such classes are indicative of mid to late seral aspen forests. Digital print map overlays and acreage calculations were prepared for the study area quadrangles. Further field verification is needed to acquire additional information about the nature of the forests. Single date LANDSAT analysis should be a cost effective means to index aspen forests which are at least in the mid seral phase of conifer invasion. Since aspen canopies tend to obscure understory conifers for early seral forests, a second date analysis, using data taken when aspens are leafless, could provide information about early seral aspen forests.
The potential of digital image processing systems costing $20,000 or less for geographic information systems is assessed with the emphasis on the volume of data to be handled, the commercial hardware systems available, and the basic software for: (1) data entry, conversion and digitization; (2) georeferencing and geometric correction; (3) data structuring; (4) editing and updating; (5) analysis and retrieval; (6) output drivers; and (7) data management. Costs must also be considered as tangible and intangible factors.
While digital terrain grids are now in wide use, accurate delineation of drainage basins from these data is difficult to efficiently automate. A recursive order N solution to this problem is presented. The algorithm is fast because no point in the basin is checked more than once, and no points outside the basin are considered. Two applications for terrain analysis and one for remote sensing are given to illustrate the method, on a basin with high relief in the Sierra Nevada. This technique for automated basin delineation will enhance the utility of digital terrain analysis for hydrologic modeling and remote sensing.
A cooperative advanced digital research experiment (CADRE) was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), in which nonlinear control algorithms developed by the RAE were tested on the F-8C digital fly-by-wire (DFBW) aircraft based at the Dryden Flight Research Facility. In the initial phase of the collaboration, some variable-gain algorithms, referred to collectively as variable integral control to optimize response (VICTOR) algorithms, were fight tested. With VICTOR, various measures available within the control system are used to vary gains and time-constants within the closed loop and thereby enhance the control capability of the system, while reducing the adverse effects of sensor noise on the control surfaces. A review of design procedures for VICTOR and results of preliminary flight tests are presented. the F-8C aircraft is operated in the remotely augmented vehicle (RAV) mode, with the control laws implemented as FORTRAN programs on a ground-based computer. Pilot commands and sensor information are telemetered to the ground, where the data are processed to form surface commands which are then telemetered to the ground, where the data are processed to form surface commands which are then telemetered back to the aircraft. The RAV mode represents a single-string (simplex) system and is therefore vulnerable to a hardover since comparison monitoring is not possible. Hence, extensive error checking is conducted on both the ground and airborne computers to prevent the development of potentially hazardous situations. Experience with the RAV monitoring and validation procedures is described.
The MSS sensor on LANDSAT 4 is, in certain performance aspects, different from those on LANDSATS 1 through 3. These differences created some concern in the NASA research community as to whether individual data sets can be registered accurately enough to produce acceptable data sets for multitemporal data analysis. The use of LANDSAT 4 MSS digital data in temporal data sets is examined and a method is presented for estimating temporal registration accuracy based on the use of an X-Y digitizer and grey tone electrostatic plots. Results indicate that the RMS temporal registration errors are not significantly different from the temporal data sets generated using LANDSAT 4 and LANDSAT 2 data (33.35 meters) and the temporal data set constructed from two LANDSAT 2 data sets (33.61 meters). A derivation of the model used to evaluate the temporal registration is included.
This paper describes a high performance, digital, BPSK modem designed to improve the telemetry data handling capability of NASA's Deep Space Network. The data rate is continuously variable from 0.5 Mbps to 30 Mbps. It uses newly designed, high speed digital alogrithms for receive filtering, carrier tracking, bit timing and AGC. The carrier and bit time tracking loops have been designed to provide fast acquisition and low tracking phase jitter at E sub b/N sub 0 as low as -4 dB and bit transition density as low as 10%. The performance of the modem is within 0.65 dB below 10 Mbps, 1.0 dB from 10 Mbps to 20 Mbps, and 1.5 dB above 20 Mbps of theoretical coherent BPSK at a BER of 0.0004.
Pulsed ruby laser sheet illumination of the spray is used for the initial recording of data on very-high-resolution photographic film. The digitization of mosaic elements is effected with a vidicon and video digitizer whose output is stored in computer RAM memory for processing. Highly nonspherical elements and a broad range of drop diameters (8-2000 microns) resulting from the unusual rheological properties of the fuel-additive system are accommodated by the device configuration and algorithms. It is found that the generation of two-dimensional images by means of scattered light also eliminates errors resulting from variations in the index of refraction and from the submicron scattering sites that are often present within the modified fuel. No a priori information on the drop size distribution or on the system response to various drop sizes is required.
The design and operation of the cooperative advanced digital research experiment (CADRE) to develop nonlinear pitch flight control algorithms is described, and the results of an in-flight evaluation using the F-8C digital fly-by-wire (DFBW) research aircraft are presented. The CADRE controller is described, including the initial filter, linear command prefilter, nonlinear command prefilter, and gain scheduling. The variable-integral control-to-optimize response of the controller is considered, and CADRE parameter combinations are addressed. The remotely-augmented-vehicle interface used in the DFBW aircraft experiment is discussed. The distanct-tracking and close-formation tracking evaluation tasks for the aircraft are described along with evaluation configurations, and the test results are presented and discussed. The latter indicate that a nonlinear adaptive controller is a feasible control system technique for the fighter tracking task.
Small, low-cost comparator with 24-bit-precision yields ratio signal from pair of analog or digital input signals. Arithmetic logic chips (bit-slice) sample two 24-bit analog-to-digital converters approximately once every millisecond and accumulate them in two 24-bit registers. Approach readily modified to arbitrary precision.
A design approach for high speed normalization of digital signals was developed. A reciprocal look up table technique is employed, where a digital value is mapped to its reciprocal via a high speed memory. This reciprocal is then multiplied with an input signal to obtain the normalized result. Normalization improves considerably the accuracy of certain feature identification algorithms. By using the concept of pipelining the multispectral sensor data processing rate is limited only by the speed of the multiplier. The breadboard system was found to operate at an execution rate of five million normalizations per second. This design features high precision, a reduced hardware complexity, high flexibility, and expandability which are very important considerations for spaceborne applications. It also accomplishes a high speed normalization rate essential for real time data processing.
The performance of the Interim Digital SAR Processor (IDP) was evaluated. The IDP processor was originally developed for experimental processing of digital SEASAT SAR data. One phase of the system upgrade which features parallel processing in three peripheral array processors, automated estimation for Doppler parameters, and unsupervised image pixel location determination and registration was executed. The method to compensate for the target range curvature effect was improved. A four point interpolation scheme is implemented to replace the nearest neighbor scheme used in the original IDP. The processor still maintains its fast throughput speed. The current performance and capability of the processing modes now available on the IDP system are updated.
The Advanced Flighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 program is investigating the integration of emerging technologies into an advanced fighter aircraft. The three major technologies involved are the triplex digital flight control system; decoupled aircraft flight control; and integration of avionics, pilot displays, and flight control. In addition to investigating improvements in fighter performance, the AFTI/F-16 program provides a look at generic problems facing highly integrated, flight-crucial digital controls. An overview of the AFTI/F-16 systems is followed by a summary of flight test experience and recommendations.
LANDSAT-4 Thematic Mapper (TM) digital image products recorded onto computer compatible tapes (CCTs), which were available for internal research purposes prior to August, 1983, are reviewed. The SCROUNGE image processing system at Goddard Space Flight Centr generated in tape formats: (1) raw band-sequential data (CCT-BT), generally used for internal transportation of digital data from one ground processing system to another; (2) calibrated data (CCT-AT), useful for reseachers doing radiometric characterization; and (3) geometrically resampled data (CCT-PT), the final product. The formats represent different steps in the process of producing fully-corrected TM data. The CCT-BT images are re-sequenced from telemetry format to image format, but are uncorrected radiometrically and geometrically. The CCT-AT images had data from two faulty data channels replaced and all data radiometrically calibrated. The CCT-PT images were resampled by cubic convolution procedures to provide a geometrically corrected image using satellite ephemeris and altitude data and scan-mirror correction data. The final product, the CCT-PT, is the one to which all of the radiometric and geometric corrections were applied.
This report contains the development of a digital outer-loop three dimensional radio navigation (3-D RNAV) flight control system for a small commercial jet transport. The outer-loop control system is designed using optimal stochastic limited state feedback techniques. Options investigated using the optimal limited state feedback approach include integrated versus hierarchical control loop designs, 20 samples per second versus 5 samples per second outer-loop operation and alternative Type 1 integration command errors. Command generator tracking techniques used in the digital control design enable the jet transport to automatically track arbitrary curved flight paths generated by waypoints. The performance of the design is demonstrated using detailed nonlinear aircraft simulations in the terminal area, frequency domain multi-input sigma plots, frequency domain single-input Bode plots and closed-loop poles. The response of the system to a severe wind shear during a landing approach is also presented.
The image characteristics of digital data generated by LANDSAT 4 thematic mapper (TM) are discussed. Digital data from the TM resides in tape files at various stages of image processing. Within each image data file, the image lines are blocked by a factor of either 5 for a computer compatible tape CCT-BT, or 4 for a CCT-AT and CCT-PT; in each format, the image file has a different format. Nominal geometric corrections which provide proper geodetic relationships between different parts of the image are available only for the CCT-PT. It is concluded that detector 3 of band 5 on the TM does not respond; this channel of data needs replacement. The empty bin phenomenon in CCT-AT images results from integer truncations of mixed-mode arithmetric operations.