Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Remote Operations”

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.

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

At least 1,405 records · Page 78

An Application of the "Virtual Spacecraft" Concept in Evaluation of the Mars Pathfinder Lander Low Gain Antenna

The virtual spacecraft concept is embodied in a set of subsystems, either in the form of hardware or computational models, which together represent all, or a portion of, a spacecraft. For example, the telecommunications transponder may be a hardware prototype while the propulsion system may exist only as a simulation. As the various subsystems are realized in hardware, the spacecraft becomes progressively less virtual. This concept is enabled by JPL's Mission System Testbed which is a set of networked workstations running a message passing operating system called "TRAMEL" which stands for Task Remote Asynchronous Message Exchange Layer. Each simulation on the workstations, which may in fact be hardware controlled by the workstation, "publishes" its operating parameters on TRAMEL and other simulations requiring those parameters as input may "subscribe" to them. In this manner, the whole simulation operates as a single virtual system. This paper describes a simulation designed to evaluate a communications link between the earth and the Mars Pathfinder Lander module as it descends under a parachute through the Martian atmosphere toward the planet's surface. This link includes a transmitter and a low gain antenna on the spacecraft and a receiving antenna and receiver on the earth as well as a simulation of the dynamics of the spacecraft. The transmitter, the ground station antenna, the receiver and the dynamics are all simulated computationally while the spacecraft antenna is implemented in hardware on a very simple spacecraft mockup. The dynamics simulation is a record of one output of the ensemble of outputs of a Monte Carlo simulation of the descent. Additionally, the antenna/spacecraft mock-up system was simulated using APATCH, a shooting and bouncing ray code developed by Demaco, Inc. The antenna simulation, the antenna hardware, and the link simulation are all physically located in different facilities at JPL separated by several hundred meters and are linked via the local area network (LAN).

Pogorzelski, R. J.↗

Controlling Infrastructure Costs: Right-Sizing the Mission Control Facility

Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center is a space vehicle, space program agnostic facility. The current operational design is essentially identical to the original facility architecture that was developed and deployed in the mid-90's. In an effort to streamline the support costs of the mission critical facility, the Mission Operations Division (MOD) of Johnson Space Center (JSC) has sponsored an exploratory project to evaluate and inject current state-of-the-practice Information Technology (IT) tools, processes and technology into legacy operations. The general push in the IT industry has been trending towards a data-centric computer infrastructure for the past several years. Organizations facing challenges with facility operations costs are turning to creative solutions combining hardware consolidation, virtualization and remote access to meet and exceed performance, security, and availability requirements. The Operations Technology Facility (OTF) organization at the Johnson Space Center has been chartered to build and evaluate a parallel Mission Control infrastructure, replacing the existing, thick-client distributed computing model and network architecture with a data center model utilizing virtualization to provide the MCC Infrastructure as a Service. The OTF will design a replacement architecture for the Mission Control Facility, leveraging hardware consolidation through the use of blade servers, increasing utilization rates for compute platforms through virtualization while expanding connectivity options through the deployment of secure remote access. The architecture demonstrates the maturity of the technologies generally available in industry today and the ability to successfully abstract the tightly coupled relationship between thick-client software and legacy hardware into a hardware agnostic "Infrastructure as a Service" capability that can scale to meet future requirements of new space programs and spacecraft. This paper discusses the benefits and difficulties that a migration to cloud-based computing philosophies has uncovered when compared to the legacy Mission Control Center architecture. The team consists of system and software engineers with extensive experience with the MCC infrastructure and software currently used to support the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle program (SSP).

Martin, Keith↗

E-Control: First Public Release of Remote Control Software for VLBI Telescopes

Automating and remotely controlling observations are important for future operations in a Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). At the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell, in cooperation with the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, a software extension to the existing NASA Field System has been developed for remote control. It uses the principle of a remotely accessible, autonomous process cell as a server extension for the Field System. The communication is realized for low transfer rates using Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). It uses generative programming with the interface software generator idl2rpc.pl developed at Wettzell. The user interacts with this system over a modern graphical user interface created with wxWidgets. For security reasons the communication is automatically tunneled through a Secure Shell (SSH) session to the telescope. There are already successful test observations with the telescopes at O Higgins, Concepcion, and Wettzell. At Wettzell the software is already used routinely for weekend observations. Therefore the first public release of the software is now available, which will also be useful for other telescopes.

Neidhardt, Alexander↗

Remote systems development

Potential space missions of the nineties and the next century require that we look at the broad category of remote systems as an important means to achieve cost-effective operations, exploration and colonization objectives. This paper addresses such missions, which can use remote systems technology as the basis for identifying required capabilities which must be provided. The relationship of the space-based tasks to similar tasks required for terrestrial applications is discussed. The development status of the required technology is assessed and major issues which must be addressed to meet future requirements are identified. This includes the proper mix of humans and machines, from pure teleoperation to full autonomy; the degree of worksite compatibility for a robotic system; and the required design parameters, such as degrees-of-freedom. Methods for resolution are discussed including analysis, graphical simulation and the use of laboratory test beds. Grumman experience in the application of these techniques to a variety of design issues are presented utilizing the Telerobotics Development Laboratory which includes a 17-DOF robot system, a variety of sensing elements, Deneb/IRIS graphics workstations and control stations. The use of task/worksite mockups, remote system development test beds and graphical analysis are discussed with examples of typical results such as estimates of task times, task feasibility and resulting recommendations for design changes. The relationship of this experience and lessons-learned to future development of remote systems is also discussed.

Olsen, R.↗

Estimation of General Area Dose Rates During Closure Weld Operations on the DOE Standard Canister Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference 2024

The Department of Energy (DOE) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Road Ready Demonstration Project is an effort to package DOE-managed SNF for road-ready dry storage. A key operation in this demonstration is performing the closure weld on the DOE Standard Canister after it has been loaded with the SNF. Planning the closure weld operations is ongoing and must consider what parts of the operations (if any) can be done manually and what parts must be done remotely. A key parameter to inform the evolving planning of these operations is the dose rate in the vicinity of the canister and the dose hazard posed to the closure weld operators and collocated workers. This study developed a Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) model of the closure weld operation, which was used to estimate general area dose rates as well as dose rates to the welding location, weld operators, and collocated workers. These estimates provide some insight into the potential radiation exposure hazard for workers during the operations and are a factor to be considered in the ongoing development of designs, technology, processes, and administrative controls for packaging DOE-managed SNF for road-ready dry storage.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Gaming the beamlines—employing reinforcement learning to maximize scientific outcomes at large-scale user facilities

Abstract Beamline experiments at central facilities are increasingly demanding of remote, high-throughput, and adaptive operation conditions. To accommodate such needs, new approaches must be developed that enable on-the-fly decision making for data intensive challenges. Reinforcement learning (RL) is a domain of AI that holds the potential to enable autonomous operations in a feedback loop between beamline experiments and trained agents. Here, we outline the advanced data acquisition and control software of the Bluesky suite, and demonstrate its functionality with a canonical RL problem: cartpole. We then extend these methods to efficient use of beamline resources by using RL to develop an optimal measurement strategy for samples with different scattering characteristics. The RL agents converge on the empirically optimal policy when under-constrained with time. When resource limited, the agents outperform a naive or sequential measurement strategy, often by a factor of 100%. We interface these methods directly with the data storage and provenance technologies at the National Synchrotron Light Source II, thus demonstrating the potential for RL to increase the scientific output of beamlines, and layout the framework for how to achieve this impact.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification, Revision 2020.10.0

UPC++ is a C++11 library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification, Revision 2021.9.0

UPC++ is a C++ library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Distributed Renewables for Arctic Energy: A Case Study

Alaska is a vast state that stretches into the Arctic Circle. Roughly 140,000 people in the state are dependent on isolated electric grids, traditionally burning expensive fossil fuels. This has negative impacts on air quality and climate. As the climate warms, fuel supply chains and traditional ways of life are threatened. Renewable electric sources offer a clean, resilient alternative with less volatile costs, but there are a variety of technical, social, economic, and political challenges to developing renewable energy systems in remote Arctic communities. Examples include harsh operating conditions, lack of local technical and managerial capacity, complex funding mechanisms, and glacial permitting processes. In this study, we interview one group of communities that are interested in adding renewable energy to their systems to understand the needs and challenges they face, and then another group that has successfully installed renewable energy, to understand how they overcame such challenges and the lessons they learned. Notable results include the importance of local buy-in, education, and technical involvement, procuring external funding sources, inter-community collaboration, installing bespoke systems, and working with reliable equipment suppliers. The goal of this report is to orient and inspire Arctic communities that want to begin their renewable transition, by providing helpful examples and points of contact.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification (Rev. 2023.9.0)

UPC++ is a C++ library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Cybersecurity Incident Response Guide for Wind

As wind energy systems become increasingly digitized and interconnected, they face a growing array of cyber threats that can disrupt operations, compromise safety, and trigger cascading impacts across the energy ecosystem. The Wind Incident Response Guide provides a structured, wind-specific framework for preparing for, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyber incidents. Drawing on lessons from field demonstrations, cyber-physical testbeds, and stakeholder engagement across the wind sector, this guide integrates technical, operational, and regulatory considerations to support asset owners, operators, and responders. It outlines key roles and responsibilities, maps incident response phases to wind-specific scenarios, and highlights applicable laws, regulations, standards, and best practices. By tailoring general cybersecurity principles to the unique architectures and operational constraints of wind systems—including remote access, legacy components, and environmental interfaces—this guide aims to enhance resilience, reduce response time, and support coordinated action across public and private stakeholders. It is intended as a practical resource for utilities, developers, regulators, and emergency managers working to secure the future of wind energy.

17 - WIND ENERGY↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification (Revision 2022.3.0)

UPC++ is a C++ library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification, Revision 2023.3.0

UPC++ is a C++ library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification (Revision 2021.3.0)

UPC++ is a C++11 library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification, Revision 2022.9.0

UPC++ is a C++ library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

UPC++ v1.0 Specification, Revision 2020.3.0

UPC++ is a C++11 library providing classes and functions that support Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) programming. The key communication facilities in UPC++ are one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). All communication operations are syntactically explicit and default to non-blocking; asynchrony is managed through the use of futures, promises and continuation callbacks, enabling the programmer to construct a graph of operations to execute asynchronously as high-latency dependencies are satisfied. A global pointer abstraction provides system-wide addressability of shared memory, including host and accelerator memories. The parallelism model is primarily process-based, but the interface is thread-safe and designed to allow efficient and expressive use in multi-threaded applications. The interface is designed for extreme scalability throughout, and deliberately avoids design features that could inhibit scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

TDRSS data handling and management system study. Ground station systems for data handling and relay satellite control

Results of a two-phase study of the (Data Handling and Management System DHMS) are presented. An original baseline DHMS is described. Its estimated costs are presented in detail. The DHMS automates the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) ground station's functions and handles both the forward and return link user and relay satellite data passing through the station. Direction of the DHMS is effected via a TDRSS Operations Control Central (OCC) that is remotely located. A composite ground station system, a modified DHMS (MDHMS), was conceptually developed. The MDHMS performs both the DHMS and OCC functions. Configurations and costs are presented for systems using minicomputers and midicomputers. It is concluded that a MDHMS should be configured with a combination of the two computer types. The midicomputers provide the system's organizational direction and computational power, and the minicomputers (or interface processors) perform repetitive data handling functions that relieve the midicomputers of these burdensome tasks.

Source record↗

Preliminary flight tests of an oculometer

A remote sensing oculometer has been successfully operated during flight tests. This device was able to track the pilot's eye-point-of-regard (lookpoint) consistently and unobtrusively in the flight environment. The instantaneous position of the lookpoint was determined to within approximately 1 degree. Data were recorded on both analog and video tape. The video data consisted of continuous scenes of the aircraft's instrument display and a superimposed white dot (simulating the lookpoint) dwelling or moving from instrument to instrument as the pilot monitored the display information during landing approaches.

Middleton, D. B.↗