Application Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Multi-Bit-Rate Switcher Is Part of High-Definition Upgrade at NASA
FOR-A
Waltham, MA
714-867-3311
www.for-a.com
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD,...
Application Briefs: Imaging
Clustered Storage System Enables Image Geoprocessing of Earth’s Surface
Isilon Systems
Seattle, WA
206-315-7500
www.isilon.com
NASA World Wind is an open-source, virtual globe...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
NASA Announces 2006 Invention of the Year
A team from Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, has been awarded the 2006 NASA Government Invention of the Year for an actuator and sensor system that is more durable than a piezoelectric system,...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Power of Data Acquisition Technology Convergence
Modern digital technology and a little imagination have led to today’s most popular devices, like the MP3 player — a tiny digital music player that you can carry in your shirt pocket,...
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
2006 Product of the Year Awards and Design Contest Winners
The 2006 NASA Tech Briefs (NTB) and Photonics Tech Briefs (PTB) Readers’ Choice Product of the Year Awards were presented recently by the editors of NTB and PTB at an awards dinner...
Articles: Software
The 3D Product Development Triple Play
President & Chief Executive Officer
VISTAGY, Inc.
Waltham, MA
Today, every company is searching for a sustainable competitive advantage, and getting great...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-Accuracy, High-Dynamic-Range Phase-Measurement System
A digital phase meter has been designed to satisfy stringent requirements for measuring differences between phases of radiofrequency (RF) subcarrier signals modulated onto laser beams involved in the operation of a planned space-borne gravitational- wave-detecting heterodyne laser...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Multi-Antenna Radar Systems for Doppler Rain Measurements
Use of multiple-antenna radar systems aboard moving high-altitude platforms has been proposed for measuring rainfall. The platforms contemplated in the proposal would be primarily spacecraft, but, in principle, the proposal could also apply to aircraft. The problem of measuring rainfall...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Simple, Compact, Safe Impact Tester
An apparatus has been designed and built for testing the effects, on moderatesized objects, of cushioned decelerations having magnitudes ranging up to several hundred g [where g = normal Earth...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
600-GHz Electronically Tunable Vector Measurement System
A compact, high-dynamic-range, electronically tunable vector measurement system that operates in the frequency range from ≈560 to ≈635 GHz has been developed as a prototype of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Modular Architecture for the Measurement of Space Radiation
A modular architecture has been conceived for the design of radiation-monitoring instruments used aboard spacecraft and in planetary-exploration settings. This architecture reflects...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Smart Data Node in the Sky
A document discusses the physical and engineering principles affecting the design of the Smart Data Node in the Sky (SDNITS) — a proposed Earthorbiting satellite for relaying scientific data from other Earth-orbiting satellites to one or more ground station(s). The basic concept of the SDNITS is similar to that of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pseudo-Waypoint Guidance for Proximity Spacecraft Maneuvers
A paper describes algorithms for guidance and control (G&C) of a spacecraft maneuvering near a planet, moon, asteroid, comet, or other small astronomical body. The algorithms were developed following a model- predictive-control approach along with a convexification of the governing...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Update on Controlling Herds of Cooperative Robots
A document presents further information on the subject matter of “Controlling Herds of Cooperative Robots” (NPO-40723), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 30, No. 4 (April 2006), page 81. To recapitulate: A methodology for controlling a herd of cooperative and autonomous mobile robots exploring the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Simulation and Testing of Maneuvering of a Planetary Rover
A report discusses the development of a computational model of a Mars Explorer Rover maneuvering across terrain under varying conditions. The model is used to increase understanding of the rover dynamics. Increased understanding is helpful in planning further tests and in extending the...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Improved On-Chip Measurement of Delay in an FPGA or ASIC
An improved design has been devised for on-chip-circuitry for measuring the delay through a chain of combinational logic elements in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
VLSI Design of a Turbo Decoder
A very-large-scale- integrated-circuit (VLSI) turbo decoder has been designed to serve as a compact, high-throughput, low-power, lightweight decoder core of a receiver in a data-communication system. In a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Architecture of an Autonomous Radio Receiver
A program to develop an autonomous radio receiver compatible with a variety of digital communication schemes is underway. The proposed receiver, to be implemented largely in software, would...
Briefs: Software
Resource Selection and Ranking
Surfer is an extensible framework for selecting and ranking grid resources. A resource is defined as anything that needs selecting such as compute resources, storage resources, and data resources. The user specifies the set of resource types desired, the constraints that must hold over all the resources, and the...
Briefs: Software
Accident/Mishap Investigation System
InvestigationOrganizer (IO) is a Webbased collaborative information system that integrates the generic functionality of a database, a document repository, a semantic hypermedia browser, and a rulebased inference system with specialized modeling and visualization functionality to support accident/mishap...
Briefs: Medical
Simplified Identification of mRNA or DNA in Whole Cells
A recently invented method of detecting a selected messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence offers two important advantages over prior such methods: it is simpler and can be implemented by means of compact equipment. The simplification and miniaturization...
Briefs: Medical
Printed Multi-Turn Loop Antennas for RF Biotelemetry
Printed multi-turn loop antennas have been designed for contactless powering of, and reception of radio signals transmitted by, surgically implantable biotelemetric sensor units operating...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Retaining Rings for Industrial Fastening Applications
A discussion of retaining rings inevitably must begin with a debunking of myths; namely, that one style of retaining ring will function better than all other types in all instances. No...
Briefs: Materials
Glass/BNNT Composite for Sealing Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
A material consisting of a barium calcium aluminosilicate glass reinforced with 4 weight percent of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) has shown promise for use as a sealant in planar...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Single-Source Precursors for Solar-Cell Absorbers
Improved single-source precursor compounds have been invented for use in spray chemical vapor deposition (spray CVD) of chalcopyrite semiconductor absorber layers of thin-film solar...
Briefs: Materials
Spray CVD for Making Solar-Cell Absorber Layers
Spray chemical vapor deposition (spray CVD) processes of a special type have been investigated for use in making CuInS2 absorber layers of thin-film solar photovoltaic cells from...
Briefs: Materials
Making Ternary Quantum Dots From Single-Source Precursors
A process has been devised for making ternary (specifically, CuInS2) nanocrystals for use as quantum dots (QDs) in a contemplated next generation of high-efficiency solar...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A Method of Assembling Compact Coherent Fiber-Optic Bundles
A method of assembling coherent fiber-optic bundles in which all the fibers are packed together as closely as possible is undergoing development. The method is based...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Manufacturing Diamond Under Very High Pressure
A process for manufacturing bulk diamond has been made practical by the invention of the High Pressure and Temperature Apparatus capable of applying the combination of very high temperature and high pressure needed to melt carbon in a sufficiently large volume. The rate of growth achievable in this...
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