A simple, manually operated mechanical device will ensure a smooth and predictable motion when feeding filler wire into a molten weld pool in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). This device simplifies and/or reduces the requirements for a dexterous hand to hold and manipulate filler wire. This device will...

A photodetector circuit has been built for use in the receiver portion of a continuous-wave infrared Doppler lidar system for atmospheric research. As in nearly all Doppler lidar systems, the detection of the return signal in this system involves heterodyning, in a photodetector, with a...

DataSlate is an easy-to-use Java-language computer program for displaying coregistered raster images representing large sets of data. The program includes a main viewing module that can display image data that have been converted into a special DataSlate format called "SimpleStruct" by use of an...

A lidar apparatus called a microaltimeter has been proposed for use aboard a spacecraft in orbit around the Earth for mapping land and sea surfaces, including such features of special interest as ice, tree canopies, and flood plains. The microaltimeter is short for "microlaser altimeter" and...

Optoelectronic instruments for real-time, in situ monitoring of particle fallout are undergoing development. Settings in which these instruments could prove useful include clean rooms for assembly of optical and electronic equipment, food-packaging facilities, and other industrial facilities in...

A computer program enables the simultaneous monitoring and control of two commercial digital instrumentation recorders, each comprising a variable-rate buffer and a data tape recorder. The program can issue all standard tape-motion-related commands (fast forward, rewind, record, forward,...

TFaNS is a computer program that predicts the tone noise that emanates from the fan stage of a turbofan engine. With the help of this program, engineers working to reduce fan tone noise can study the effects of proposed design changes and are thus more likely to be successful in their...

SAR Processing System Precision Processor (SPS PP) is one of the computer programs used in the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) [where "SAR" means "synthetic-aperture radar"] to generate image data products. SPS PP ingests data that have been received from the RADARSAT (a Canadian...

The SAR Processing System Control Processor (SPS CP) computer program performs sequencing and job-control functions within the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) [where "SAR" means "synthetic-aperture radar"]. SPS CP interacts with the Product-Distribution-and-Management (PDM) system of the...

SAR Processing System ScanSAR Processor (SPS SSP) is a computer program that is used in the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) to processes scanSAR downlink data from the RADARSAT (a Canadian Earth-observation satellite) into a suite of image data products. ["SAR" means "synthetic-aperture...

Prober Assistant Measurement System (PAMS) is a computer program that automates the time-consuming process of testing microfabricated devices (integrated circuits and/or microelectromechanical systems) at the wafer level. PAMS was written specifically for use with the Karl Suss probe...