A technology recharges batteries in up to one-tenth the time of conventional methods. The device creates conditions within the battery that allow power to be input as fast as the cell can accept the charge. By creating a charging “ecosystem,” the optimum battery charging conditions are...

New polyester compositions feature desired electrical characteristics without unduly deteriorating the other valued melt viscosity, processing, and shaped article properties. The electrically conductive polyester has strong conductivity at low carbon black loading. The use of carbon black with...

A global organization needs innovative technologies that will decrease the surface friction between steel surfaces. Thin, 0.2-mm steel components must come into shear contact with each other, resulting in slip, wear, and heat. The components are lubricated to reduce friction. Any proposed solution must have some...

By minimizing the distance between the rotating vanes of a turbine and the static case structure housing the rotating blades, a client seeks to improve the efficiency of jet engines. Eliminating system leakage is essential to providing the most amount of energy for the lowest cost. The compressor fans of a turbine...

Dr. Robert Okojie, Research Electronics Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center, develops harsh-environment microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Okojie currently processes, fabricates, tests, and packages silicon carbide pressure sensors,...

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) have very limited diagnostic and no prognostic capabilities, while current smart sensor designs do not have the capability to communicate over Fieldbus networks. The aim is to interface smart sensors with PLCs so that health and status information, such as failure mode...

A cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC heterodyne receiver module has demonstrated a system noise temperature of 100 K or less at 166 GHz. This module builds upon work previously described in “Development of a 150-GHz MMIC Module Prototype for Large-Scale CMB Radiation” (NPO-47664), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 35,...

An interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) onboard processor concept and algorithm has been developed for the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument on the Surface and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. This is a mission-critical subsystem that will...

The scanning microwave limb sounder (SMLS) will use technological improvements in low-noise mixers to provide precise data on the Earth’s atmospheric composition with high spatial resolution. This project focuses on the design and implementation of a real-time control system...

Lithium primary and lithium ion secondary batteries provide high specific energy and energy density. The use of these batteries also helps to reduce launch weight. Both primary and secondary cells can be packaged as highrate cells, which can present a threat to crew and equipment in the event of external or internal short...

A document discusses a multi-Gigabitper- second, Ka-band transceiver with a software-defined modem (SDM) capable of digitally encoding/decoding data and compensating for linear and nonlinear distortions in the end-to-end system, including the traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA). This innovation can...

A receiver gain modulation circuit (RGMC) was developed that modulates the power gain of the output of a radiometer receiver with a test signal. As the radiometer receiver switches between calibration noise references, the test signal is mixed with the calibrated noise and thus produces an ensemble set of...

Sources in the THz range are required in order for NASA to implement heterodyne instruments in this frequency range. The source that has been demonstrated here will be used for an instrument on the SOFIA platform as well as for upcoming astrophysics missions. There are currently no electronic sources in the...

A document describes the CoNNeCT Baseband Processor Module (BPM) based on an updated processor, memory technology, and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The BPM was developed from a requirement to provide sufficient computing power and memory storage to conduct experiments for a Software Defined Radio (SDR)...

An increasing number of parts are designed with digital control interfaces, including phase shifters and variable attenuators. When designing an antenna array in which each antenna has independent amplitude and phase control, the number of digital control lines that must be set...

A paper discusses NEXUS, a common, next-generation avionics interconnect that is transparently compatible with wired, fiber-optic, and RF physical layers; provides a flexible, scalable, packet switched topology; is fault-tolerant with submicrosecond detection/recovery...

Ndarts software provides algorithms for computing quantities associated with the dynamics of articulated, rigid-link, multibody systems. It is designed as a general- purpose dynamics library that can be used for the modeling of robotic platforms, space vehicles, molecular dynamics, and other such applications. The architecture and algorithms...

In the domain of telerobotic operations, the primary challenge facing the operator is to understand the state of the robotic platform. One key aspect of understanding the state is to visualize the physical location and configuration of the platform. As there is a wide variety of mobile robots, the...

Operation of in situ space assets, such as rovers and landers, requires operators to acquire a thorough understanding of the environment surrounding the spacecraft. The following programs help with that understanding by providing higherlevel information characterizing the surface, which is not immediately obvious...

The Athena simulation software supports an analyst from DoD or other federal agency in making stability and reconstruction projections for operational analyses in areas like Iraq or Afghanistan. It encompasses the use of all elements of national power: diplomatic, information, military, and economic (DIME), and anticipates their effects on...