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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Grease-Resistant O Rings for Joints in Solid Rocket Motors
There is a continuing effort to develop improved O rings for sealing joints in solid-fuel rocket motors. Following an approach based on the lessons learned in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, investigators have been seeking O-ring materials that exhibit adequate resilience for...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
An improved method of designing and fabricating laminated composite-material (matrix/fiber) structures containing embedded shape-memory-alloy (SMA) actuators has been devised....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A mechanical amplifier has been devised to multiply the stroke of a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) intended for use at liquid helium temperatures. Interferometry holds the key to high angular...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A method of testing explosive and pyrotechnic devices involves exploding the devices inside swell sleeves. Swell sleeves have been used previously for measuring forces. In the present method, they are...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's new Propulsion Flight Test Fixture (PFTF), designed in house, is an airborne engine-testing facility that enables engineers to gather flight data on small experimental engines....
Briefs: Information Technology
An improved approach to the mathematical modeling of feedback control of thermal networks has been devised. Heretofore software for feedback control of thermal networks has been developed by...
Briefs: Information Technology
A methodology is emerging from efforts to design a mission operations facility.
A methodology for designing operational facilities for collaboration by multiple experts has begun to take shape...
Briefs: Information Technology
Artifacts that are fabricated with the help of molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) are undergoing development for use as dimensional calibration standards with sub-micron widths. Such standards...
Briefs: Materials
Efforts are under way to develop a special class of thin-shell curved mirrors for high-resolution imaging in visible and infrared light in a variety of terrestrial or extraterrestrial...
Briefs: Motion Control
Linear back-drive differentials have been proposed as alternatives to conventional gear differentials for applications in which there is only limited rotational motion (e.g., oscillation). The finite nature of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An eight-pole radial magnetic bearing has been modified into a switched-reluctance electric motor capable of operating at a speed as high as 8,000 rpm at a temperature as high as 1,000 °F...
Briefs: Motion Control
A strategy for autonomous navigation of a robotic vehicle across hazardous terrain involves the use of a measure of traversability of terrain within a fuzzy-logic conceptual framework....
Briefs: Medical
Semiselective Optoelectronic Sensors for Monitoring Microbes
Sensor systems are under development for use in real-time detection and quantitation of microbes in water without need for sampling. These systems include arrays of optical sensors; miniature, portable electronic data-acquisition circuits; and optoelectronic interfaces between the sensor...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Evaluation of Charge Storage and Decay in Spacecraft Insulators
Two reports discuss methods for evaluating the magnitude of electrostatic charging that occurs in spacecraft dielectric materials (in particular, polyimides) during prolonged exposure to radiation in outer space. The reports describe experiments on the electrical resistivities and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Hot-wire probes having dimensions of the order of nanometers have been proposed for measuring temperatures (and possibly velocities) in boundary-layer flows at spatial resolutions much finer...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Efforts are under way to develop deformable mirrors equipped with microscopic electrostatic actuators that would be used to maintain their reflective surfaces in precise shapes...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Fiber-Optic Ammonia Sensors
Reversible, colorimetric fiber-optic sensors are undergoing development for use in measuring concentrations of ammonia in air at levels relevant to human health [0 to 50 parts per million (ppm)]. A sensor of this type includes an optical fiber that has been modified by replacing a portion of its cladding with a polymer...
Briefs: Materials
The performance of a composite part is primarily determined by the orientation of fibers in the plies. Designers wishing to exploit the full potential of composite...
Briefs: Materials
Low-EC-Content Electrolytes for Low-Temperature Li-Ion Cells
Electrolytes comprising LiPF6 dissolved at a concentration of 1.0 M in three different mixtures of alkyl carbonates have been found well suited for use in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells at low temperatures. These and other electrolytes have been investigated in continuing...
Briefs: Materials
High-energy-density alkaline electrochemical capacitors based on electrodes made of transition-metal nitride nanoparticles are undergoing development. Transition-metal nitrides (in particular,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Survivable Failure Data Recorders for Spacecraft
A spacecraft may be unable to communicate critical data associated with a serious or catastrophic failure. A brief report proposes a system, somewhat like a commercial aircraft "black box," for retrieving these data. A microspacecraft attached to the prime spacecraft would continually store recent...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed integrated circuit based on quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) would function as a bit-serial adder. This circuit would serve as a prototype building block for demonstrating the feasibility of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Architectures that would exploit the distinct characteristics of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) have been proposed for digital communication networks that connect advanced digital...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A radio receiver system that features enhanced capabilities for remote sensing by use of reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals has been developed. This system was designed...
Briefs: Software
Software for a GPS-Reflection Remote-Sensing System
A special-purpose software Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver designed for remote sensing with reflected GPS signals is described in "Delay/Doppler-Mapping GPS-Reflection Remote-Sensing System" (NPO-30385), which appears on the previous page. The input accepted by this program comprises raw...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic system distributes a reference signal of low noise and highly stabilized phase and frequency (100 MHz) from an atomic frequency standard to a remote facility at a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An improved method of calibration has been devised for instruments that utilize tunable lasers to measure the absorption spectra of atmospheric gases in order to determine the relative...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The figure is a simplified cross section of a microscopic optical switch that was partially developed at the time of reporting the information for this article. In a fully developed version,...
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