Terrestrial Portable Spacecraft-Mission-Support Stations

A data-communication and -processing network of compact, laptop-computer-based portable stations communicating via the World Wide Web (WWW) has been proposed as a relatively...

ASIC for Reed-Solomon Coding and Related Functions

The Reed-Solomon downlink application-specific integrated circuit (RSDL ASIC) performs Reed-Solomon encoding of telemetry data, internally generates all timing and control signals necessary...

Optoelectronic System Measures Tile Cavities

A hand-held optoelectronic shop tool measures cavities of the order of 6 in. (15 cm) in length and width, 2 to 4 in. (5 to 10 cm) in depth, with nominally flat side walls, and either curved or...

Automated Vision System Inspects a Large Surface

The figure schematically illustrates an automated electronic vision system that operates in conjunction with a scanning robot to inspect a large surface for damage. In the original...

Impedance-Based Cable Tester

The figure illustrates the major functional blocks of an impedance-based cable-testing apparatus that can locate an open or short circuit in a cable. There is no need to disconnect the cable from all other...

Low-Frequency Signal-Pickup Cable Tester

A cable-testing apparatus has been designed for use in detecting a short or open circuit in a cable, subject to a special frequency requirement as explained in the next paragraph. This cable tester is...

Automated Cable-Analyzer System – ACAS

An instrumentation system automates the detection and location of faults in multiconductor electrical cables. It can accelerate diagnoses of aircraft, automotive, or industrial cables, while reducing...

LTI Approach to Adaptive Narrow-Band Feedforward Control

A unified theory of linear time-invariant (LTI) representations has been developed for use in the analysis and design of adaptive, narrow-band, feedforward controllers for systems...

Improved Design of Adaptive Feedforward Tracking Systems

An improved method of analysis and design offers the potential to enhance the performances of adaptive feedforward tracking systems. The method can, in principle, make it possible to...

Sight-to-Touch Translator

The sight-to-touch translator (ST³) is a conceptual electronic apparatus that would generate a tactile representation of visible objects in its vicinity. The ST³ would be worn by a blind...

Optical Horizontal-Displacement Sensors for Crane Payloads

Sensors made largely of commercially available optical and electronic components are being developed for use in measuring small horizontal displacements of payloads suspended below...

Manipulator System for a Robotic Vehicle

A prototype manipulator system that includes two different arms has been tentatively selected for use on a semiautonomous robotic vehicle called Rocky 7 (see figure). [A previous version of this...

Multimedia Operator Interface for a Health-Care Robot

An operator interface is undergoing development along with other subsystems of a robot that would assist in caring for elderly and disabled patients. This development has been initiated...

Transmitting Power to Sensor Circuitry via Modulated Light

Modulated (as opposed to steady) light can be used in the optical transmission of power to remotely located sensor circuitry in a system like that described in the preceding...

General-Purpose Optically Powered Sensor and Control System

The figure schematically illustrates a prototype general-purpose, microprocessor-based sensor and control system in which power, data, and control signals are transmitted via...

ASIC for Viterbi Decoding With 2 ≤ K ≤ 15 and 1/2 ≥ r ≥ 1/6

An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) serves as a building block for a digital system that effects maximum-likelihood decoding of a Viterbi code (a binary...

Algorithm Estimates Doppler Shift in a Received DPSK Signal

An algorithm estimates the Doppler frequency shift in a received radio signal with square-wave-pulse binary differential-phase-shift-keyed (DPSK) modulation. [With little...

VLSI Neural Processors Based on Optimization Neural Networks

Compact analog/digital electronic data processors of a novel type are based on the concept of the optimization cellular neural network (OCNN) and are implemented in...