Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Inverse Rectennas for Two-Way Wireless Power Transmission

The term "inverse rectenna" may seem like an oxymoron at first glance. However, preliminary experiments have demonstrated that a rectenna of suitable design can be made to operate in...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Heat Pipes for Temperature Control in Electronics

As electronic circuits become more densely packaged and higher in power, maintaining them within permissible temperature ranges becomes a major issue. This is especially true in the case of...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Emergency-Shutoff Valves Would Be Triggered by Accelerations

Automatic valves have been proposed for shutting off flows of liquids when abnormally large accelerations occur. These valves could be used, for example, to prevent outflows of...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Lightweight "Beach-Ball" Robotic Vehicles

Lightweight, inflatable robotic vehicles (rovers) that superficially resemble beach balls and that could be driven by wind and/or electric power are undergoing development. These rovers were...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

GPS Drives Interactive Map Showing Position of Test Airplane

An electronic system that comprises airborne and ground-based subsystems generates data for a global real-time interactive map (GRIM) that displays the current position and...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Software for Navigation of a Spacecraft Flying in Formation

The Spacecraft Autonomous Navigation System using GPS for Earth Orbiters (SANS-GEO) computer program is designed to perform the navigation calculations that will enable the New...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Training Neural Networks With Fewer Quantization Bits

A method for reducing the number of bits of quantization of synaptic weights during training of an artificial neural network involves the use of the cascade back-propagation learning...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Program Performs High-Precision Spacecraft-Constellation Navigation

The Multiple Interferometric Ranging Analysis using GPS Ensemble (MIRAGE) computer program processes spacecraft-tracking data to determine orbits of single satellites, or...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Terrestrial Portable Spacecraft-Mission-Support Stations

A data-communication and -processing network of compact, laptop-computer-based portable stations communicating via the World Wide Web (WWW) has been proposed as a relatively...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Finite-Element Model of Piezoelectric and Thermal Effects

A mathematical model that includes layerwise finite elements has been developed for use in numerical simulation of the coupled electrical, mechanical, and thermal responses of...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Passive Capture Joint WithThree Degrees of Freedom

A new joint, proposed for use on an attachable debris shield for the International Space Station Service Module, has potential for commercial use in situations where hardware must be...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Automatic Thermal Switches With No Moving Parts

Quasi-thermostatic gas-gap thermal switches have been proposed. These switches would operate automatically, would contain no moving parts, would not require power supplies or controls, would...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Simulations in Support of Towed Flight Demonstration

The Eclipse flight project was established to demonstrate a reusable-launch-vehicle concept developed by Kelly Space and Technology, Inc. An F-106 delta-wing aircraft was chosen as the...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Improved Two-Wavelength Focal-Plane Array of QWIPs

A focal-plane array (FPA) of GaAs-based quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) that would detect images in two wavelength bands simultaneously is undergoing development. From ratios...

Briefs: Materials

Software for Probabilistic Analysis of Composite Structures

GENOA is an advanced, completely integrated, hierarchical software package for computationally simulating the thermal and mechanical responses of high-temperature composite...

Briefs: Materials

Ion-Beam-Deposited DLC Coatings on Fine-Grain CVD Diamond

Ion-beam-deposited surface layers of diamond-like carbon (DLC) on fine-grain chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond have been found to be effective in reducing friction and wear in a...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Miniature Side-Bore Sample-Acquisition Mechanism

The figure illustrates various aspects of a proposed mechanism that would be mounted in an instrumented penetrator dart for use in acquiring a sample of soil. In operation, the dart would be...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Microscopic Heat Exchangers, Valves, Pumps, and Flowmeters

Microscopic forced-flow heat-transfer systems containing heat exchangers, flow channels, electrostatically driven peristaltic pumps, and related components have been proposed. These...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Delta-Doped CCDs as Low-Energy-Particle Detectors

Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) of a type developed previously for imaging in ultraviolet light have been found to be useful as detectors of electrons and other charged particles with kinetic...

Briefs: Materials

Matrix and Coating Polymers for Composite LOX Containers

Two poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s (PAEPOs) have been found to be suitable as matrix and coating materials for composite-material (matrix/fiber) tanks and pipes that contain...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Procedure for Designing Safe Robots

A methodology for designing robots provides for satisfying both safety and performance requirements. Heretofore, most robot-design efforts have been focussed on maximizing performance, with only...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Laser Anemometer Measures Flow in a Centrifugal Compressor

Detailed measurements of complex flow fields within the NASA Low Speed Centrifugal Compressor (LSCC) have been acquired. The measurement data provide insight into the fundamental...