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At least 1,639 records · Page 91
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Systems Innovation: Modernization & Efficiencies for ESH&Q Reviews

Environmental compliance reviews at INL have traditionally been managed through fragmented systems, relying on multiple spreadsheets and manual processes. This inefficiency led to time-consuming status updates and redundant tasks, such as manually sending reminder emails and transferring data from Excel to the Environmental Review Process (ERP). Initial attempts to streamline these processes using Power Automate and Excel revealed significant limitations, necessitating a more comprehensive solution. To address these immediate inefficiencies, automated workflows were developed using Power Automate. These workflows were designed to send scheduled status update reminders and capture responses through standardized forms, with submitted data flowing directly into centralized Excel trackers. This automation reduced the administrative burden, improved data accuracy, and enabled faster, more consistent reporting. Specifically, email automation achieved a 65% efficiency gain, while data integration saw a 48% improvement, resulting in 91% of project statuses being updated within two months. Despite the improvements brought by Power Automate, the fragmented nature of the review processes persisted. To further enhance efficiency and accuracy, the Integrated Review Tool (IRT) was developed. The IRT aims to centralize review initiation and connect team systems, creating an interconnected data infrastructure that preserves team autonomy while enhancing overall efficiency. This tool automates email reminders, centralizes reviews, and streamlines data integration, significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of environmental compliance reviews. The design and development of the IRT involved advanced systems methodology, process mapping, project management, and collaboration with subject matter experts. The minimum viable product design is 100% complete, and system development is currently underway, with expected outcomes including a centralized entry point for all ESH&Q reviews, automated routing, real-time tracking and analytics, AI integration, and a user-friendly interface. This project demonstrates the potential of leveraging automation and integrated systems to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making in environmental reporting and compliance processes at INL.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Utilizing Expert Knowledge in Estimating Future STS Costs

A method of estimating the costs of future space transportation systems (STSs) involves classical activity-based cost (ABC) modeling combined with systematic utilization of the knowledge and opinions of experts to extend the process-flow knowledge of existing systems to systems that involve new materials and/or new architectures. The expert knowledge is particularly helpful in filling gaps that arise in computational models of processes because of inconsistencies in historical cost data. Heretofore, the costs of planned STSs have been estimated following a "top-down" approach that tends to force the architectures of new systems to incorporate process flows like those of the space shuttles. In this ABC-based method, one makes assumptions about the processes, but otherwise follows a "bottoms up" approach that does not force the new system architecture to incorporate a space-shuttle-like process flow. Prototype software has been developed to implement this method. Through further development of software, it should be possible to extend the method beyond the space program to almost any setting in which there is a need to estimate the costs of a new system and to extend the applicable knowledge base in order to make the estimate.

Fortner, David B.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Development of a Bayesian Belief Network Runway Incursion and Excursion Model

In a previous work, a statistical analysis of runway incursion (RI) event data was conducted to ascertain the relevance of this data to the top ten Technical Challenges (TC) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aviation Safety Program (AvSP). The study revealed connections to several of the AvSP top ten TC and identified numerous primary causes and contributing factors of RI events. The statistical analysis served as the basis for developing a system-level Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model for RI events, also previously reported. Through literature searches and data analysis, this RI event network has now been extended to also model runway excursion (RE) events. These RI and RE event networks have been further modified and vetted by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel. The combined system-level BBN model will allow NASA to generically model the causes of RI and RE events and to assess the effectiveness of technology products being developed under NASA funding. These products are intended to reduce the frequency of runway safety incidents/accidents, and to improve runway safety in general. The development and structure of the BBN for both RI and RE events are documented in this paper.

Green, Lawrence L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Automated system function allocation and display format: Task information processing requirements

An important consideration when designing the interface to an intelligent system concerns function allocation between the system and the user. The display of information could be held constant, or 'fixed', leaving the user with the task of searching through all of the available information, integrating it, and classifying the data into a known system state. On the other hand, the system, based on its own intelligent diagnosis, could display only relevant information in order to reduce the user's search set. The user would still be left the task of perceiving and integrating the data and classifying it into the appropriate system state. Finally, the system could display the patterns of data. In this scenario, the task of integrating the data is carried out by the system, and the user's information processing load is reduced, leaving only the tasks of perception and classification of the patterns of data. Humans are especially adept at this form of display processing. Although others have examined the relative effectiveness of alphanumeric and graphical display formats, it is interesting to reexamine this issue together with the function allocation problem. Currently, Johnson Space Center is the test site for an intelligent Thermal Control System (TCS), TEXSYS, being tested for use with Space Station Freedom. Expert TCS engineers, as well as novices, were asked to classify several displays of TEXSYS data into various system states (including nominal and anomalous states). Three different display formats were used: fixed, subset, and graphical. The hypothesis tested was that the graphical displays would provide for fewer errors and faster classification times by both experts and novices, regardless of the kind of system state represented within the display. The subset displays were hypothesized to be the second most effective display format/function allocation condition, based on the fact that the search set is reduced in these displays. Both the subset and the graphic display conditions were hypothesized to be processed more efficiently than the fixed display conditions.

Czerwinski, Mary P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

High Resolution, High Frame Rate Video Technology

Papers and working group summaries presented at the High Resolution, High Frame Rate Video (HHV) Workshop are compiled. HHV system is intended for future use on the Space Shuttle and Space Station Freedom. The Workshop was held for the dual purpose of: (1) allowing potential scientific users to assess the utility of the proposed system for monitoring microgravity science experiments; and (2) letting technical experts from industry recommend improvements to the proposed near-term HHV system. The following topics are covered: (1) State of the art in the video system performance; (2) Development plan for the HHV system; (3) Advanced technology for image gathering, coding, and processing; (4) Data compression applied to HHV; (5) Data transmission networks; and (6) Results of the users' requirements survey conducted by NASA.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1990

An update of engine system research at the Army Propulsion Directorate

The Small Turboshaft Engine Research (STER) program provides a vehicle for evaluating the application of emerging technologies to Army turboshaft engine systems and to investigate related phenomena. Capitalizing on the resources at hand, in the form of both the NASA facilities and the Army personnel, the program goal of developing a physical understanding of engine system dynamics and/or system interactions is being realized. STER entries investigate concepts and components developed both in-house and out-of-house. Emphasis is placed upon evaluations which evolved from on-going basic research and advanced development programs. Army aviation program managers are also encouraged to make use of STER resources, both people and facilities. The STER personnel have established their reputations as experts in the fields of engine system experimental evaluations and engine system related phenomena. The STER facility has STER program provides the Army aviation community the opportunity to perform system level investigations, and then to offer the findings to the entire engine community for their consideration in next generation propulsion systems. In this way results of the fundamental research being conducted to meet small turboshaft engine technology challenges expeditiously find their way into that next generation of propulsion systems.

Bobula, George A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Study of the Application of Separation Control by Unsteady Excitation to Civil Transport Aircraft

This study provides a preliminary assessment of the potential benefits of applying unsteady separation control to transport aircraft. Estimates are given for some of the costs associated with a specific application to high-lift systems. High-leverage areas for future research were identified during the course of the study. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase 1 consisted of a coarse screening of potential applications within the aerodynamics discipline. Potential benefits were identified and in some cases quantified in a preliminary way. Phase 2 concentrated on the application to the wing high-lift system, deemed to have the greatest potential benefit for commercial transports. A team of experts, including other disciplines (i.e. hydraulic, mechanical, and electrical systems, structures, configurations, manufacturing, and finance), assessed the feasibility, benefits, and costs to arrive at estimates of net benefits. In both phases of the study, areas of concern and areas for future research were identified. In phase 3 of this study, the high-leverage areas for future research were prioritized as a guide for future efforts aimed at the application of active flow control to commercial transport aircraft.

McLean, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An update of engine system research at the Army Propulsion Directorate

The Small Turboshaft Engine Research (STER) program provides a vehicle for evaluating the application of emerging technologies to Army turboshaft engine systems and to investigate related phenomena. Capitalizing on the resources at hand, in the form of both the NASA facilities and the Army personnel, the program goal of developing a physical understanding of engine system dynamics and/or system interactions is being realized. STER entries investigate concepts and components developed both in-house and out-of-house. Emphasis is placed upon evaluations which have evolved from on-going basic research and advanced development programs. Army aviation program managers are also encouraged to make use of STER resources, both people and facilities. The STER personnel have established their reputations as experts in the fields of engine system experimental evaluations and engine system related phenomena. The STER facility has demonstrated its utility in both research and development programs. The STER program provides the Army aviation community the opportunity to perform system level investigations, and then to offer the findings to the entire engine community for their consideration in next generation propulsion systems. In this way results of the fundamental research being conducted to meet small turboshaft engine technology challenges expeditiously find their way into that next generation of propulsion systems.

Bobula, George A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A linguistic geometry for space applications

We develop a formal theory, the so-called Linguistic Geometry, in order to discover the inner properties of human expert heuristics, which were successful in a certain class of complex control systems, and apply them to different systems. This research relies on the formalization of search heuristics of high-skilled human experts which allow for the decomposition of complex system into the hierarchy of subsystems, and thus solve intractable problems reducing the search. The hierarchy of subsystems is represented as a hierarchy of formal attribute languages. This paper includes a formal survey of the Linguistic Geometry, and new example of a solution of optimization problem for the space robotic vehicles. This example includes actual generation of the hierarchy of languages, some details of trajectory generation and demonstrates the drastic reduction of search in comparison with conventional search algorithms.

Stilman, Boris↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge

Historically knowledge acquisition has proven to be one of the greatest barriers to the development of intelligent systems. Current practice generally requires lengthy interactions between the expert whose knowledge is to be captured and the knowledge engineer whose responsibility is to acquire and represent knowledge in a useful form. Although much research has been devoted to the development of methodologies and computer software to aid in the capture and representation of some of some types of knowledge, little attention has been devoted to procedural knowledge. NASA personnel frequently perform tasks that are primarily procedural in nature. Previous work is reviewed in the field of knowledge acquisition and then focus on knowledge acquisition for procedural tasks with special attention devoted to the Navy's VISTA tool. The design and development is described of a system for the acquisition and representation of procedural knowledge-TARGET (Task Analysis and Rule Generation Tool). TARGET is intended as a tool that permits experts to visually describe procedural tasks and as a common medium for knowledge refinement by the expert and knowledge engineer. The system is designed to represent the acquired knowledge in the form of production rules. Systems such as TARGET have the potential to profoundly reduce the time, difficulties, and costs of developing knowledge-based systems for the performance of procedural tasks.

Saito, T.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations: KSC Autonomous Test Engineer

The KSC Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) program has a long history at KSC. Now a part of the Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations (ACLO) mission, this software system has been sporadically developed over the past 20+ years. Originally designed to provide health and status monitoring for a simple water-based fluid system, it was proven to be a capable autonomous test engineer for determining sources of failure in. the system, As part.of a new goal to provide this same anomaly-detection capability for a complicated cryogenic fluid system, software engineers, physicists, interns and KATE experts are working to upgrade the software capabilities and graphical user interface. Much progress was made during this effort to improve KATE. A display ofthe entire cryogenic system's graph, with nodes for components and edges for their connections, was added to the KATE software. A searching functionality was added to the new graph display, so that users could easily center their screen on specific components. The GUI was also modified so that it displayed information relevant to the new project goals. In addition, work began on adding new pneumatic and electronic subsystems into the KATE knowledgebase, so that it could provide health and status monitoring for those systems. Finally, many fixes for bugs, memory leaks, and memory errors were implemented and the system was moved into a state in which it could be presented to stakeholders. Overall, the KATE system was improved and necessary additional features were added so that a presentation of the program and its functionality in the next few months would be a success.

Shrading, Nicholas J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human System Risk Communication: Directed Acyclic Graphs

- The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) is responsible for the management of a portfolio of 30 human system risks that NASA tracks and configuration manages to mitigate for future crewed exploration missions. - The HSRB has been exploring the concept of causal diagrams (in the form of Directed Acyclic Graphs or DAGs) as an approach to creating knowledge graphs for each risk to enable shared mental models of causal flow from spaceflight hazards to mission outcomes among HSRB Stakeholders. - These diagrams are intended to improve insight and communication of risk across the myriad subject matter experts and management interested in human system risk reduction. This includes program managers, systems engineers, and operators in addition to the Human Health and Performance Directorate. - The DAG project was intended to create the foundation for composition of the 30 baselined DAGs into a single risk network and software is being developed in parallel to enable this forward work.

directed acrylic graph↗
NASA NTRS2013

Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations: Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer

The Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) program has a long history at KSC. Now a part of the Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations (ACLO) mission, this software system has been sporadically developed over the past 20 years. Originally designed to provide health and status monitoring for a simple water-based fluid system, it was proven to be a capable autonomous test engineer for determining sources of failure in the system. As part of a new goal to provide this same anomaly-detection capability for a complicated cryogenic fluid system, software engineers, physicists, interns and KATE experts are working to upgrade the software capabilities and graphical user interface. Much progress was made during this effort to improve KATE. A display of the entire cryogenic system's graph, with nodes for components and edges for their connections, was added to the KATE software. A searching functionality was added to the new graph display, so that users could easily center their screen on specific components. The GUI was also modified so that it displayed information relevant to the new project goals. In addition, work began on adding new pneumatic and electronic subsystems into the KATE knowledge base, so that it could provide health and status monitoring for those systems. Finally, many fixes for bugs, memory leaks, and memory errors were implemented and the system was moved into a state in which it could be presented to stakeholders. Overall, the KATE system was improved and necessary additional features were added so that a presentation of the program and its functionality in the next few months would be a success.

Schrading, J. Nicolas↗
DOE OSTI2024

Review of Technical Photovoltaic Key Performance Indicators and the Importance of Data Quality Routines

Technical key performance indicators (KPIs) are important metrics used to assess and quantitatively summarize various aspects of photovoltaic (PV) systems, including long-term performance, economic viability, and carbon footprint. Herein, a group of experts of the International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme Task 13 collect and describ the most important technical KPIs used in the industry. Thereby, a set of best practices for reliably handling PV system data is presented and the impact of data quality and climatic variability on KPI calculation is investigated. Further, the effective use of technical KPIs allows triggering data-driven and informed decisions to optimize PV systems and providing a comprehensive overview of how PV systems operate across different conditions and climates. With the worldwide growth of the PV industry, more companies operate/own PV systems in different regions, where the climatic and seasonal profiles differ. This requires context-aware evaluation of KPIs, or the judicious application of multiple KPIs, to ensure that each asset is evaluated correctly. Beyond that, there is untapped potential in the utilization of KPIs through geospatial mapping and extrapolation of fleet KPIs. This study demonstrates that the uncertainty in KPI estimation is not well understood and depends on data quality, climatic variability, and system configuration.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Software Tool for Integrated Optical Design Analysis

Design of large precision optical systems requires multi-disciplinary analysis, modeling, and design. Thermal, structural and optical characteristics of the hardware must be accurately understood in order to design a system capable of accomplishing the performance requirements. The interactions between each of the disciplines become stronger as systems are designed lighter weight for space applications. This coupling dictates a concurrent engineering design approach. In the past, integrated modeling tools have been developed that attempt to integrate all of the complex analysis within the framework of a single model. This often results in modeling simplifications and it requires engineering specialist to learn new applications. The software described in this presentation addresses the concurrent engineering task using a different approach. The software tool, Integrated Optical Design Analysis (IODA), uses data fusion technology to enable a cross discipline team of engineering experts to concurrently design an optical system using their standard validated engineering design tools.

Moore, Jim↗
NASA NTRS2010

Space Suit CO2 Washout During Intravehicular Activity

Space suit carbon dioxide (CO2) washout refers to the removal of CO2 gas from the oral-nasal area of a suited astronaut's (or crewmember's) helmet using the suit's ventilation system. Inadequate washout of gases can result in diminished mental/cognitive abilities as well as headaches and light headedness. In addition to general discomfort, these ailments can impair an astronaut s ability to perform mission-critical tasks ranging from flying the space vehicle to performing lunar extravehicular activities (EVAs). During design development for NASA s Constellation Program (CxP), conflicting requirements arose between the volume of air flow that the new Orion manned space vehicle is allocated to provide to the suited crewmember and the amount of air required to achieve CO2 washout in a space suit. Historically, space suits receive 6.0 actual cubic feet per minute (acfm) of air flow, which has adequately washed out CO2 for EVAs. For CxP, the Orion vehicle will provide 4.5 acfm of air flow to the suit. A group of subject matter experts (SM Es) among the EVA Systems community came to an early consensus that 4.5 acfm may be acceptable for low metabolic rate activities. However, this value appears very risky for high metabolic rates, hence the need for further analysis and testing. An analysis was performed to validate the 4.5 acfm value and to determine if adequate CO2 washout can be achieved with the new suit helmet design concepts. The analysis included computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling cases, which modeled the air flow and breathing characteristics of a human wearing suit helmets. Helmet testing was performed at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to provide a gross-level validation of the CFD models. Although there was not a direct data correlation between the helmet testing and the CFD modeling, the testing data showed trends that are very similar to the CFD modeling. Overall, the analysis yielded results that were better than anticipated, with a few unexpected findings that could not easily be explained. Results indicate that 4.5 acfm is acceptable for CO2 washout and helmet design. This paper summarizes the results of this CO2 washout study.

Augustine, Phillip M.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Predictive Battery Lifetime Modeling at NREL [Slides]

Battery lifetime models are used to extrapolate data from accelerated aging tests to simulate degradation in real-world applications such as electric vehicles and battery energy storage systems. Methods developed at NREL utilize both expert domain-knowledge and machine-learning to identify models, using statistical methods such as cross-validation and bootstrap resampling to interrogate model performance and quantify uncertainty. These models can be utilized in systems level simulations to predict battery performance or technoeconomic models to estimate the lifetime cost of battery systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bridging the Gap Between Modern UX Design and Particle Accelerator Control Room Interfaces

Accelerator control systems often represent relatively complex and safety-sensitive human-machine interfaces within process control industries. These systems are technically robust and reflect the cumulative integration of solutions built and adapted across decades. One of the regular, unfortunate casualties of provisional accelerator control system updates is their human-system interfaces (HSIs) which often lag behind modern usability and design standards. An additional challenge is that although there is a multitude of established human factors (HF), and user experience (UX) principles for everyday digital applications, there are very few (if any) established principles for complex and safety-critical applications for an accelerator. This paper argues for the importance of established HF and UX principles (herein referred to as human-centered design principles) into the development of accelerator HSIs, emphasizing the need for clarity, consistency, responsiveness, and cognitive accessibility. Drawing from HF/UX best practices and human-centered design, this paper discusses how these approaches can enhance operator performance, reduce human error, and improve accelerator personnel collaboration. Case studies from Accelerator Control Operations Research Network (ACORN) at Fermilab are explored to demonstrate how interfaces built with human-centered design principles can scale with system complexity while remaining intuitive and efficient for diverse user roles including operators, machine experts, and engineers. By bridging the gap between traditional control system design and modern human-centered design methods, this paper provides a roadmap for evolving accelerator HSIs into more usable, maintainable, and effective tools.

Hill, Rachael [Idaho Natl. Lab.]↗