Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have developed new software that can be used to analyze and optimize transport grids for electricity, gas, and water, even at the planning stage, based on numerical simulations. This can lighten the tasks of retrofitting and expansion, save energy...

All over the country, millions of Americans still live behind dams or levees, and if these were to fail and unleash catastrophic flooding, as some did in New Orleans in 2005, property and life might once again pay the price. Answers to at least some of the problem are now on the way,...

The earlier a problem is detected, the easier it can be solved. Before implementing complex programs in a time-consuming process, computer scientists also want to know whether they will reach the desired performance. The PALLADIO simulation tool, developed by Professor Ralf Reussner at the Karlsruhe...

A gas sensor could one day be used to detect chemical weapon vapors or indicators of disease more precisely than current models do. The device also consumes less power, which is crucial for stretching battery life in a mineshaft or an isolated clinic.A pump and compressor collect gas from the first...

Scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have directed the first self-assembly of nanoparticles into device-ready materials. Through a technique based on blending nanoparticles with block co-polymer...

Lidar is a useful tool for taking metrology measurements without the need for physical contact with the parts under test. Lidar instruments are aimed at a target using azimuth and elevation stages, then focus a beam of coherent, frequency modulated laser...

JPL has measured and calibrated a WR2.2 waveguide wafer probe from GGB Industries in order to allow for measurement of circuits in the 325–500 GHz range. Circuits were measured, and one of the circuits exhibited 10 dB of gain at 475 GHz.

This software package interfaces with various gas stream devices such as pressure transducers, flow meters, flow controllers, valves, and analyzers such as a mass spectrometer. The software provides excellent user interfacing with various windows that provide time-domain graphs, valve state buttons,...

Nonlinear observers were originally developed based on the ideas of variable structure control, and for the purpose of detecting disturbances in complex systems. In this anomaly detection application, these observers were designed for estimating the distributed state of fluid flow in a...

This passive laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) instrument simultaneously measures multiple trace gases in the atmospheric column including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and resolves their concentrations at different altitudes....

Modern hyperspectral imaging systems are able to acquire far more data than can be downlinked from a spacecraft. Onboard data compression helps to alleviate this problem, but requires a system capable of power efficiency and high throughput. Software solutions have limited...

Iridium Interfacial Stack (IrIS) is the sputter deposition of high-purity tantalum silicide (TaSi2-400 nm) / platinum (Pt-200 nm) / iridium (Ir-200 nm) / platinum (Pt- 200 nm) in an ultra-high vacuum system followed by a 600 ºC anneal in nitrogen for 30 minutes. IrIS simultaneously acts as both a bond metal and a...

Due to distances and relative motions among the transmitter, target object, and receiver, the time-base between any transmitted and received signal will undergo distortion. Pre-distortion of the transmitted signal to compensate for this time-base distortion allows reception of an undistorted signal....

A multichannel electrometer voltmeter that employs a mechanical resonator maintained in sustained amplitude-stabilized oscillation has been developed for the space-based measurement of an Internal Electrostatic Discharge Monitor (IESDM) sensor. The IESDM is new sensor technology...

To satisfy the Major Constituents Analysis (MCA) requirements for the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor (VCAM), this software analyzes the relative abundance ratios for N2, O2, Ar, and CO2 as a function of time and constructs their best-estimate mean. A histogram is first...

PSSEARCH provides predictive sea state estimation, coupled with closedloop feedback control for automated ride control. It enables a manned or unmanned watercraft to determine the 3D map and sea state conditions in its vicinity in real time. Adaptive path-planning/...

LEGION is a lightweight C-language software library that enables distributed asynchronous data processing with a loosely coupled set of compute nodes. Loosely coupled means that a node can offer itself in service to a larger task at any time and can withdraw itself from service...

The Mission Data System provides a framework for modeling complex systems in terms of system behaviors and goals that express intent. Complex activity plans can be represented as goal networks that express the coordination of goals on different state variables of the system. Real-time...

This software provides an automated capability to measure and qualify the frequency stability performance of the Deep Space Network (DSN) ground system, using daily spacecraft tracking data. The results help to verify if the DSN performance is...

This software displays a full summary of information regarding the overflight opportunities between any set of lander and orbiter pairs that the user has access to view. The information display can be customized, allowing the user to choose which fields to view/hide and filter.

Graphene is a single atomic layer of graphite. It is optically transparent and has high electron mobility, and thus has great potential to make transparent conductive electrodes. This invention contributes towards the development of graphene transparent conductive...

A fabrication process is reported for prototype emitters of THz radiation, which operate cryogenically, and should provide a fast, stable blackbody source suitable for characterization of THz devices. The fabrication has been demonstrated and, at the time of this...

Absorber-coupled microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) arrays were developed for submillimeter and farinfrared astronomy. These sensors comprise arrays of lambda/2 stepped microwave impedance resonators patterned on a 1.5-mm-thick silicon membrane, which is optimized for optical coupling. The...

NASA’s initiative for Lunar and Martian exploration will require long lived, robust drive systems for manned vehicles that must operate in hostile environments. The operation of these mechanical drives will pose a problem because of the existing extreme...

Most people know me as the editor of high-tech engineering magazines such as Defense Tech Briefs, Embedded Technology, Photonics Tech Briefs, and Lighting Technology. What they don’t know is that for the past 39 years I’ve maintained an exciting part-time career as an auto racing writer and photographer. In that time I’ve...