Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “online”

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 145 records · Page 8

Web-based Decision Support System Tools: the Soil and Water Assessment Tool Online Visualization and Analyses (SWATOnline) and NASA Earth Observation Data Downloading and Reformatting Tool (NASAaccess)

The current influx of climate related information required scientists to communicate their findings to decision makers in governments, disaster preparedness organizations, and the general public. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a powerful modelling tool that allows scientists to simulate many of the physical processes involved in the water cycle. This article presents the design, methods and development efforts to overcome some of the limitations of the previously developed SWAT visualization software programs by creating a set of modular web applications that can be duplicated, customized, and run. Moreover, this article features a web application development tool for climate data retrieval. The NASAaccess fetches, extracts and reformats climate data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration servers and outputs data compatible with hydrological models. This work has the potential to increase the SWAT's model impact on non-technically trained stakeholders and decision makers charged with water and climate management.

Tethys↗

Simultaneous Trajectory Tracking Control and Online Mass Estimation for a Regolith Excavating Robot via Integral Concurrent Learning

An adaptive controller is developed for a regolith excavation robot to determine the mass of excavated material and to account for the effects of gravity and friction while on the surface of other celestial bodies. A data-based integral concurrent learning (ICL) parameter update law accounts for and estimates the unknown mass, gravity, and friction parameters. A Lyapunov-based analysis proves that the trajectory tracking error and the parameter estimate errors exponentially converge to zero. An estimation of the mass of regolith excavated by the robot is calculated from the estimated parameters. A simulation study is performed to show the performance of the developed technique. Simulation results show that for 3 kilograms of excavated material, the mass estimate has an error of 4.9 grams.

Max L. Greene↗

Mercury Trek: A New Online NASA Visualization and Analysis Portal

In its investigations of the planet Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER returned an immense amount of data detailing the dynamic surface of our solar system’s innermost planet. As the European and Japanese space agencies prepared for the launch of BepiColombo, the next mission to explore Mercury, BepiColombo’s project science team asked NASA to produce a new portal within the Solar System Treks suite (https://trek.nasa.gov) featuring data returned by MESSENGER from Mercury. This new portal would be used both for mission planning and for public outreach by the BepiColombo mission. While initially populated with Messenger data, the portal is also being designed to facilitate visualization, analysis, and dissemination of data from BepiColombo after it commences science operations in orbit around Mercury. The initial release of the Mercury Trek in 2019 shortly followed the launch of BepiColombo on its journey to Mercury.

B. H. Day↗

Online NASA Software Estimating Tools (ONSET): A Suite of Web-Based Cost Analysis Tools

This paper provides an overview of ONSET theOnline NASA Software Estimating Tools suite of web-basedcosts analysis tools. ONSET is comprised of the AnalogySoftware Cost Tool (ASCoT) [1], and the CubeSat Or MicrosatProbabilistic and Analogies Cost Tool (COMPACT) [2]. TheOnline NASA Space Estimation Tool (ONSET) has beendeveloped to provide a standardized platform for hosting webbasedNASA cost estimation tools on NASA ONCE (OneNASA Cost Engineering). It evolved from the BETA version ofASCoT (The NASA Analogy Software Cost Tool) which wasreleased in 2017 and was presented at the 2017 IEEEAerospace Conference. This first release of ONSET contains anew version of ASCoT as well as the first official release ofCOMPACT (CubeSat Or Microsat Probabilistic + AnalogiesCost Tool). In this paper we will provide an overview ofONSET, all its features and a high-level summary of bothASCoT and COMPACT. The heart of both tools arealgorithms for analogy-based estimation based on system levelinputs.

Johnson, James↗

PVT+AUDIO. Online Psychoacoustic Testing iOS App for Evaluating AAM/UAM Noise Resonse

PVT+AUDIO is an extension of the existing Psychomoter Vigilance Task application that NASA released over 2 years ago for evaluating pilot fatigue. PVT+AUDIO is designed to present audio stimuli using a method of limits to determine the relationship between objective acoustic parameters and psychacoustic response, for application to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Responses include annoyance, acceptance, blend with ambient sound, and detection. The app runs within Apple's iOS ecosystem and utilizes binaural audio simulations of vehicles and ambient sound, and is designed to compensate for headphone response. A prototype experiment is described, along with issues related to calibration and subject engagement.

aircraft noise disturbance↗

An On-Board Off-Board Framework for Online Replanning: Applied to UAVs in Urban Environments

Autonomous systems are being used in a multitude of areas at an increasing rate and require a high level of adaptivity and intelligence to operate safely, especially under faulty conditions. This paper introduces a novel genetic algorithm tailored for UAV trajectory replanning, with an improved execution time via search space reduction based on the operating conditions of the UAV and its remaining mission. A unique characteristic of the replanning agent is its fast-start and adaptive properties, pre-seeding candidates with partial solutions and dynamically tuning elitism, crossover, and mutation rates in correspondence to the average fitness and diversity of the population. A population restart mechanism and early stopping mechanism are evaluated as well to assess their effect on solution quality and runtime. Previous work on genetic algorithms for UAV replanning were conducted with short trajectories in a small state space. Our UAV operates in a 56,000 square meter simulated urban environment, with static obstacles and a total of 53 possible waypoints. The agent increases the safety and reliability of UAV autonomy when operating under faulty conditions and when replanning is required.

Machine Learning↗

Trajectory Planning and Online Performance Model Estimation for Advanced Air Mobility

We propose a framework for adaptive guidance based on optimal control and estimation using closed-loop performance models. In the proposed approach, parameters of a reduced-order performance model are estimated in real time so that trajectories and guidance commands are replanned with more accurate knowledge of the system's response and performance capabilities. To apply this methodology to flight control systems, we introduce a simple yet expressive performance model modified from a reference linear design model. The proposed framework is applied to guidance of a simulated Advanced Air Mobility class concept aircraft experiencing control effector failures. We demonstrate that, by optimizing performance model parameters in real time, guidance commands can be intelligently adjusted to recover system stability and the performance of a full-order vehicle model, even in the event of effector failures. Furthermore, the reduced-order performance model requires a fraction of the computational cost of the full-order model, facilitating real-time use of adaptive, optimal guidance.

Differential dynamic programming↗

Trajectory Planning and Online Performance Model Estimation for Advanced Air Mobility

We propose a framework for adaptive guidance based on optimal control and estimation using closed-loop performance models. In the proposed approach, parameters of a reduced-order performance model are estimated in real time so that trajectories and guidance commands are replanned with more accurate knowledge of the system's response and performance capabilities. To apply this methodology to flight control systems, we introduce a simple yet expressive performance model modified from a reference linear design model. The proposed framework is applied to guidance of a simulated Advanced Air Mobility class concept aircraft experiencing control effector failures. We demonstrate that, by optimizing performance model parameters in real time, guidance commands can be intelligently adjusted to recover system stability and the performance of a full-order vehicle model, even in the event of effector failures. Furthermore, the reduced-order performance model requires a fraction of the computational cost of the full-order model, facilitating real-time use of adaptive, optimal guidance.

Differential dynamic programming↗

Professor Created On-line Biology Laboratory Course

This paper will share the creation, implementation, and modification of an online college level general biology laboratory course offered for non-science majors as a part of a General Education Curriculum. The ability of professors to develop quality online laboratories will address a growing need in Higher Education as more institutions combine course sections and look for suitable alternative course delivery formats due to declining departmental budgets requiring reductions in staffing, equipment, and supplies. Also, there is an equal or greater need for more professors to develop the ability to create online laboratory experiences because many of the currently available online laboratory course packages from publishers do not always adequately parallel on-campus laboratory courses, or are not as aligned with the companion lecture sections. From a variety of scientific simulation and animation web sites, professors can easily identify material that closely fit the specific needs of their courses, instructional environment, and students that they serve. All too often, on-campus laboratory courses in the sciences provide what are termed confirmation experiences that do NOT allow students to experience science as would be carried out by scientists. Creatively developed online laboratory experiences can often provide the type of authentic investigative experiences that are not possible on-campus due to the time constraints of a typical two-hour, once-per-week-meeting laboratory course. In addition, online laboratory courses can address issues related to the need for students to more easily complete missing laboratory assignments, and to have opportunities to extend introductory exercises into more advanced undertakings where a greater sense of scientific discovery can be experienced. Professors are strongly encourages to begin creating online laboratory exercises for their courses, and to consider issues regarding assessment, copyrights, and Intellectual Property concerns.

Bowman, Arthur W.↗

Internet Business Solutions

Cogent Software, Inc. was formed in January 1995 by David Atkinson and Irene Woerner, both former employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Several other Cogent employees also worked at JPL. Atkinson headed JPL's Information Systems Technology section and Woerner lead the Advanced User Interfaces Group. Cogent's mission is to help companies organize and manage their online content by developing advanced software for the next generation of online directories and information catalogs. The company offers a complete range of Internet solutions, including Internet access, Web site design, local and wide-area networks, and custom software for online commerce applications. Cogent also offers DesignSphere Online, an electronic community for the communications arts industry. Customers range from small offices to manufacturers with thousands of employees, including Chemi-Con, one of the largest manufacturers of capacitors in the world.

Source record↗

Institute for Advanced Education in Geospatial Sciences Educating the Next Generation of Scientists

The project, as stated earlier is sponsored by NASA and is located at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS. It has two principal investigators with one of them, Pam Lawhead, serving as the Director of the Institute. The goal of the project is to create fifty online courses in Remote Sensing over the five year life of the project. Each year ten courses are put out for bid and the best ten submissions are accepted. This request for proposals insures that the course creators are content experts. Equivalence of product drives the online hosting of the courses. That is, we want the online presentation and delivery of each course to be as multi-media intensive as is effective. The goal is not to replace existing courses but, to provide courses created by content experts to as many colleges and universities as possible. This effort to create and host online courses has as its final goal the creation of a very large college educated workforce prepared to use the vast stores of information gathers by NASA and other remote sensing industries to enhance life on this planet.

Lawhead, Pamela↗