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At least 19 records

The Integrated Sensor System Data Enhancement Package

The purpose of the Integrated Sensor System (ISS) Data Enhancement Package (DEP) is to improve the accuracies of the data obtained from the inflight tests performed on aircraft. The DEP is a microprocessor-based, flight-qualified electronics package that assimilates data from a Ring Laser Gyro (RGL) system, a standard NASA air data package, and other inputs. The DEP then processes these inputs in real-time to obtain optimal estimates of the aircraft velocity, attitude, and altitude. These estimates can be passed to the flight crew, downlinked, and/or stored on a mass storage medium. The DEP is now being built for the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Completion is anticipated in early 1984. A primary use of the ISS/DEP will be for the collection of quality data for the estimation of aircraft aerodynamic coefficients, including stability derivatives, using system identification methods. Initial anticipated applications will be on the AV-8B, F-14, and X-29 test aircraft.

Trankle, T. L.

Intelligent multi-sensor integrations

Growth in the intelligence of space systems requires the use and integration of data from multiple sensors. Generic tools are being developed for extracting and integrating information obtained from multiple sources. The full spectrum is addressed for issues ranging from data acquisition, to characterization of sensor data, to adaptive systems for utilizing the data. In particular, there are three major aspects to the project, multisensor processing, an adaptive approach to object recognition, and distributed sensor system integration.

Volz, Richard A.

Inertial navigation sensor integrated obstacle detection system

A system that incorporates inertial sensor information into optical flow computations to detect obstacles and to provide alternative navigational paths free from obstacles. The system is a maximally passive obstacle detection system that makes selective use of an active sensor. The active detection typically utilizes a laser. Passive sensor suite includes binocular stereo, motion stereo and variable fields-of-view. Optical flow computations involve extraction, derotation and matching of interest points from sequential frames of imagery, for range interpolation of the sensed scene, which in turn provides obstacle information for purposes of safe navigation.

Bhanu, Bir

Inertial navigation sensor integrated motion analysis for obstacle detection

The authors describe a maximally passive system for obstacle detection and avoidance designed for rotorcraft which benefits from the use of inertial data. The sensor options are briefly discussed, and sensor fusion needs are mentioned. Some critical system requirements and their effect on system implementation are discussed. In addition, high-level system implementation issues are presented.

Roberts, Barry

Inertial navigation sensor integrated motion analysis for autonomous vehicle navigation

Recent work on INS integrated motion analysis is described. Results were obtained with a maximally passive system of obstacle detection (OD) for ground-based vehicles and rotorcraft. The OD approach involves motion analysis of imagery acquired by a passive sensor in the course of vehicle travel to generate range measurements to world points within the sensor FOV. INS data and scene analysis results are used to enhance interest point selection, the matching of the interest points, and the subsequent motion-based computations, tracking, and OD. The most important lesson learned from the research described here is that the incorporation of inertial data into the motion analysis program greatly improves the analysis and makes the process more robust.

Roberts, Barry

RCTS: A flexible environment for sensor integration and control of robot systems; the distributed processing approach

Most robot systems lack a suitable hardware and software environment for the efficient research of new control and sensing schemes. Typically, engineers and researchers need to be experts in control, sensing, programming, communication and robotics in order to implement, integrate and test new ideas in a robot system. In order to reduce this time, the Robot Controller Test Station (RCTS) has been developed. It uses a modular hardware and software architecture allowing easy physical and functional reconfiguration of a robot. This is accomplished by emphasizing four major design goals: flexibility, portability, ease of use, and ease of modification. An enhanced distributed processing version of RCTS is described. It features an expanded and more flexible communication system design. Distributed processing results in the availability of more local computing power and retains the low cost of microprocessors. A large number of possible communication, control and sensing schemes can therefore be easily introduced and tested, using the same basic software structure.

Allard, R.

Sensor integration for urban applications

An overview of selected recent activities in the area of remote sensing for addressing some of th data collection and analysis efforts for urban areas is presented here.

remote sensing urban analysis

Fiber Optic Control System integration for advanced aircraft. Electro-optic and sensor fabrication, integration, and environmental testing for flight control systems

This report describes the design, development, and testing of passive fiber optic sensors and a multiplexing electro-optic architecture (EOA) for installation and flight test on a NASA-owned F-18 aircraft. This hardware was developed under the Fiber Optic Control Systems for Advanced Aircraft program, part of a multiyear NASA initiative to design, develop, and demonstrate through flight test 'fly-by-light' systems for application to advanced aircraft flight and propulsion control. This development included the design and production of 10 passive optical sensors and associated multiplexed EOA hardware based on wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) technology. A variety of sensor types (rotary position, linear position, temperature, and pressure) incorporating a broad range of sensor technologies (WDM analog, WDM digital, analog microbend, and fluorescent time rate of decay) were obtained from different manufacturers and functionally integrated with an independently designed EOA. The sensors were built for installation in a variety of aircraft locations, placing the sensors in a variety of harsh environments. The sensors and EOA were designed and built to have the resulting devices be as close as practical to a production system. The integrated system was delivered to NASA for flight testing on a NASA-owned F-18 aircraft. Development and integration testing of the system provided valuable information as to which sensor types were simplest to design and build for a military aircraft environment and which types were simplest to operate with a multiplexed EOA. Not all sensor types met the full range of performance and environmental requirements. EOA development problems provided information on directions to pursue in future fly-by-light flight control development programs. Lessons learned in the development of the EOA and sensor hardware are summarized.

Seal, Daniel W.

Fiber optic sensors

A survey of the developments in the field of fiber optics sensor technology is presented along with a discussion of the advantages of optical measuring instruments as compared with electronic sensors. The two primary types of fiber optics sensors, specifically those with multiwave fibers and those with monowave fibers, are described. Examples of each major sensor type are presented and discussed. Multiwave detectors include external and internal fiber optics sensors. Among the monowave detectors are Mach-Zender interferometers, Michelson interferometers, Sagnac interferometers (optical gyroscopes), waveguide resonators, and polarimeter sensors. Integrated optical sensors and their application in spectroscopy are briefly discussed.

Hesse, J.

Integrated Tactile Sensor for Robots

Proposed large-scale integrated (LSI) circuit gives robots, partshandling machines, and remote-control devices sense of touch. LSI circuits, placed on contact surfaces of manipulators combine functions of transduction, computing and communicating. Beneath layer of pressure sensitive rubber, resistivity of which changes with pressure, electrodes furnish pressuredependent signal to computation elements. Electrodes and computation elements contained in silicon integrated-circuit wafer.

Raibert, M. H.

A research on integrated-circuit sensors for gas chromatography

Fabrication of a miniature gas chromatograph column using integrated circuit technology was studied and found to be feasible. A bonding problem of forming a strong, gas tight seal between two wafers of silicon has prevented the completion of the column design. Continuing research using tin or a chromium-gold bond promises to overcome the problems of using the proposed gold-eutectic bond. Specifications for the miniature gas chromatograph column are: a spiral capillary column of semi-circular cross section, 30 micron radius, and a total length of 6.9 meters etched into a silicon structure 50 mm in diameter and 0.625 mm thick.

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