Briefs: Materials

Metal- and Oxide-Containing Carbons Made From Graphite Oxide

Carbon-based materials containing, variously, metals and metal oxides can be synthesized according to a method that involves reactions of metal chlorides with materials of general...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Methodology for Optimizing Designs of Rotating Turbine Disks

A methodology for optimizing the fundamental structural designs of rotating turbine disks has been developed to aid in preliminary evaluations of various gas-turbine-engine...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Rib Valve as Shutter for Air Swirler in Combustor Nozzle

A rib valve is under consideration for use as a shutter in an air swirler in the fuel nozzle of a variable-geometry combustor. In the original application, the variable-geometry...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Switching Protocol for Optical Packet Data Communication

The figure illustrates aspects of a proposed switching protocol for optical packet data communication that would serve as an alternative to the older store-and-forward and header-first...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Flush Airdata Sensing System for the X-33 Aerospace Vehicle

A novel airdata system based on flush-mounted pressure sensors has been developed for the X-33 aerospace vehicle. Denoted the "X-33 flush airdata sensing" (FADS) system, it was...

Briefs: Materials

MoSi₂-Based Composite Materials for Aircraft Engines

MoSi₂-based composite materials are among the advanced materials undergoing development as potential strong, stiff, lightweight replacements for the nickel-based superalloys...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Walking Robot for Internal Inspection of Thin-Wall Ducts

A walking robot connected to external instrumentation via a tether has been proposed to enable visual inspections, retrieval of loose objects, and some repairs inside thin-wall round...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Automated Cargo-Tracking Transponders

Credit-card-sized electronic transponders have been proposed for use in tracking cargo anywhere on Earth. A transponder would be carried on a cargo container, where it would act as a "smart tag." The...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Biomorphic Explorers

"Biomorphic explorers" are a class of proposed small robots that would be equipped with microsensors and would feature animallike adaptability and mobility. These robots would capture key features, a specific design or...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Optoelectronic Generation of Optical and Microwave Signals

The figure schematically illustrates an optoelectronic apparatus that generates both an optical output and an electronic output (typically at frequencies in the range from hundreds...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Using CT Data in Finite-Element Models of MMC Components

X-ray-based Computed Tomography (CT) has been linked with finite-element analysis to provide a capability for structural characterization of as-manufactured parts— especially for the...

Briefs: Information Technology

Robust Aeroservoelastic-Stability Margins

In aeroservoelastic (ASE)-stability analysis, one considers the coupling of the aerodynamic, inertial, structural, actuation, and control-system elements of the dynamics of an aircraft. The...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Ultrathin Packaging of Multiple Integrated-Circuit Chips

A process being developed for ultrathin packaging of multiple integrated-circuit chips and associated microelectromechanical components makes it possible to fabricate a minimally...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Remote In-Flight Infrared Imaging for Analyzing Surface Flows

The feasibility of remotely acquiring infrared images (thermograms) of aircraft surfaces in flight to locate flow-transition boundaries has been investigated. As used here,...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Fabrication of Thinned QWIP Arrays for Improved Performance

Focal-plane-array (FPA) hybrids of quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) thinned to the membrane level are undergoing development. The developmental QWIPs in question are of...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Engine Monitoring Based on Normalized Vibration Spectra

An electronic engine-health-monitoring system is based on (1) computation of frequency-phase-normalized (FPN) spectra from the digitized outputs of vibration sensors and (2) the use of...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Optical Remote Detection of Ice on Aircraft Surfaces

An imaging spectroscopic technique is undergoing development for use in remote detection of ice and mapping of the thickness of ice on aircraft surfaces. The technique is based on the...

Briefs: Information Technology

Algorithm for Initialization of a Convolutional Decoder

An algorithm effects rapid initialization of a convolutional decoder. This algorithm can be applied "on the fly"; that is while the decoder is receiving a stream of convolutionally...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Parallel-Processing CDMA Detector With Neural Network

A proposed improved code-division multiple-access (CDMA) detector would achieve high resistance to jamming of weak ("far") received signals by strong ("near") ones. The problem of such...

Briefs: Information Technology

Improved Parallel Computation of Electromagnetic Scattering

An improved method of parallel computation of the electromagnetic-scattering characteristics of complexly shaped objects has been devised. This method belongs to a class of methods...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Bound-to-Quasi-Bound Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetectors

Multiple-quantum-well Al_xGa_{1 - x}As photodetectors that exploit transitions of electrons from quantum-well bound states to quasi-bound states are undergoing...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Sensor Combines Technologies to Achieve Application Versatility

By combining patented digital Silver-in-Glass® and analog conductive plastic technologies in a single environmentally sealed unibody package, Spectrol Electronics' DigiSense™...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Measurements of Radiation in the Atmosphere

The recent summit meeting held in Kyoto, Japan, has brought world-wide attention to the issue of global climate change. For the past 5 years, the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

"Smart" Camera for Precise Mapping and Targeting

A "smart" video camera, called the "GI-Eye," generates digital image data that are automatically tagged with georegistration meta-data to indicate the precise position and attitude of the...

Briefs: Motion Control

Improved Roller and Gear Drives for Robots and Vehicles

Two types of gear drives have been devised to improve the performances of robotic mechanisms. One type features a dual-input/single-output differential-drive configuration intended to...

Briefs: Motion Control

Electrostatic Displacement Control Compensates for Spring

The figure schematically illustrates part of an accelerometer in which a feedback control subsystem applies voltages to generate electrostatic forces to minimize the displacement of a...