Stories
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A versatile electronic timing-and-control unit, denoted a rotorcraft strobe controller, has been developed for use in controlling stroboscopes, lasers, video cameras, and other instruments...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
As part of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from TACOM (Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command) - a division of the U.S. Army -Adiabatics used multiphysics...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A proposed method of measuring gravitational acceleration would involve the application of polarization spectroscopy to an ultracold, vertically moving cloud of atoms (an atomic fountain). A...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A modular, integrated, completely solid-state system designed to harvest and store solar energy is under development. Called the "power tile," the hybrid device consists of a photovoltaic...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A charge-coupled-device (CCD) based high-speed imaging system, called a real-time, event-driven (RARE) camera, is undergoing development. This camera is capable of readout from multiple...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
There has long been a desire to deposit conductive paths directly on molded plastic structures, combining the electrical and mechanical functions in one...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Self-Inflatable/Self-Rigidizable Reflectarray Antenna
A report describes recent progress in a continuing effort to develop large reflectarray antennas to be deployed in space. Major underlying concepts were reported in two prior NASA Tech Briefs articles: "Inflatable Reflectarray Antennas" (NPO-20433), Vol. 23, No. 10 (October 1999), page 50 and...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Specially formulated diffusion filter materials have successfully optimized the legibility of miniature display viewing areas, providing brighter and more enhanced images for a...
Briefs: Information Technology
Serially concatenated turbo codes have been proposed to satisfy requirements for low bit- and word-error rates and for low (in comparison with related previous codes) complexity of...
Briefs: Information Technology
Enhanced Software for Scheduling Space-Shuttle Processing
The Ground Processing Scheduling System (GPSS) computer program is used to develop streamlined schedules for the inspection, repair, and refurbishment of space shuttles at Kennedy Space Center. A scheduling computer program is needed because space-shuttle processing is complex and it is...
Briefs: Information Technology
An algorithm for the identification of stars from a charge-coupled-device (CCD) image of a star field has been extended for use with narrower field-of-view images. Previously, the...
Briefs: Medical
The figure schematically depicts an instrumentation system, called a "fiber optic-based integration system" (FOBIS), that is undergoing development to enable real-time monitoring of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Bending actuators of a proposed type would partly resemble ordinary bending actuators, but would include simple additional components that would render them capable of exerting large forces at small displacements. Like...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A compact optoelectronic sensor unit measures the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky. The data acquired by this chip are processed in an external processor to estimate the relative orientation of the axis...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Micro Sun Sensor for Spacecraft
A report describes the development of a compact micro Sun sensor for use as a part of the attitude determination subsystem aboard future miniature spacecraft and planetary robotic vehicles.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Space missions requiring the highest upset rate immunity typically turn to rad-hard system designs. Unfortunately, these systems are many generations behind...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed optoelectronic instrument would identify targets rapidly, without need to radiate an interrogating signal, apply identifying marks to the targets, or equip...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A finned-ladder structure has been invented in an effort to improve the design of the slow-wave circuit of a traveling-wave tube (TWT). The point of departure for the design effort was a prototype TWT...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Directional Radio-Frequency Identification Tag Reader
A directional radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader has been designed to facilitate finding a specific object among many objects in a crowded room. The device could be an adjunct to an electronic inventory system that tracks RFID-tagged objects as they move through reader-equipped...
Briefs: Materials
Some changes have been incorporated into a proposed method of manufacturing regular arrays of precisely sized, shaped, positioned, and oriented carbon nanotubes. Such arrays could be...
Briefs: Software
Software for Checking Statecharts
HiVy is a software tool set that enables verification through model checking of designs represented as finite-state machines or statecharts. HiVy provides automated translation of (1) statecharts created by use of the MathWorks Stateflow® program to (2) Promela, the input language of the Spin model checker, which...
Briefs: Software
Program Predicts Broadband Noise From a Turbofan Engine
Broadband Fan Noise Prediction System (BFaNS) is a computer program that, as its name indicates, predicts the broadband noise generated by the fan stage of a turbofan engine. This noise is the sum of (1) turbulent- inflow noise, which is caused by turbulence impinging on leading edges of the...
Briefs: Software
Protocol for Delay-Tolerant Data-Communication Network
As its name partly indicates, the Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) Bundle Protocol is a protocol for delay-tolerant transmission of data via communication networks. This protocol was conceived as a result of studies of how to adapt Internet protocols so that Internet-like services could be...
Briefs: Software
Software Implements a Space-Mission File-Transfer Protocol
CFDP is a computer program that implements the CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems) File Delivery Protocol, which is an international standard for automatic, reliable transfers of files of data between locations on Earth and in outer space. CFDP administers concurrent file...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The figure presents selected views of a modular rake of 17 pitot probes for measuring both transient and steady-state pressures in a supersonic wind tunnel. In addition to pitot tubes visible in the figure, the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The combination of a de-embedding technique and a direct on-substrate measurement technique has been devised to enable measurement of the electrical characteristics (impedances,...
Briefs: Software
Predicting Accumulations of Ice on Aerodynamic Surfaces
LEWICE is a computer program that predicts the accumulation of ice on two-dimensional aerodynamic surfaces under conditions representative of the flight of an aircraft through an icing cloud. The software first calculates the airflow surrounding the body of interest, then uses the airflow to...
Briefs: Medical
An improved computational-simulation system for interactive medical imaging has been invented. The system displays high-resolution, three-dimensional-appearing images of anatomical objects based on...
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Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
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Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
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SAE Automotive Engineering Podcast: Additive Manufacturing
Podcasts: Defense
A New Approach to Manufacturing Machine Connectivity for the Air Force
On-Demand Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Streamlining Manufacturing with Integrated Digital Planning and Simulation
On-Demand Webinars: Automotive
