Electronics & Software

A special navigation system is being developed to provide high-quality information on the position and attitude of a moving platform (an aircraft or spacecraft), for use in pointing and stabilization of a hyperspectral remote-sensing system carried aboard the platform. The system also serves to...

Pattern Interpretation and Recognition Application Toolkit Environment (PIRATE) is a block-oriented software system that aids the development of application programs that analyze signals in real time in order to recognize signal patterns that are indicative of conditions or events of interest. PIRATE...

A report describes a series of computational models conceived as an improvement over prior models for determining effects of solar-radiation pressure on orbits of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. These models are based on fitting coefficients of Fourier functions of...

A document describes mathematical derivations and applications of autonomous guidance algorithms for maneuvering spacecraft in the vicinities of small astronomical bodies like comets or asteroids. These algorithms compute fuel- or energy-optimal trajectories for typical maneuvers by solving...

A computational method and software to implement the method have been developed to sift through vast quantities of digital flight data to alert human analysts to aircraft flights that are statistically atypical in ways that signify that safety may be adversely affected. On a typical day, there are...

A reference architecture is defined for an object-oriented implementation of domains, arrays, and distributions written in the programming language Chapel.

A visual-tracker computer program controls an articulated mast on a Mars rover to keep a designated feature (a target) in view while the rover drives toward the target, avoiding obstacles. Several prior visual tracker programs have been tested on rover platforms; most require very small and well-estimated motion...

Measurement and Controls Data Acquisition System (MCDAS) is an application program that integrates the functions of two stand-alone programs: one for acquisition of data, the other for controls.

NETMARK is a flexible, high-throughput software system for managing, storing, and rapid searching of unstructured and semi-structured documents. NETMARK transforms such documents from their original highly complex, constantly changing, heterogeneous...

A family of general-purpose miniature housings has been designed to contain diverse sensors, actuators, and drive circuits plus associated digital electronic readout and control circuits. Each housing fits within an envelope having dimensions of about 2-1.4 by 1-3.4 by 1.2 in. (about 5.7...

Schottky diodes based on semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes are being developed as essential components of the next generation of submillimeter-wave sensors and sources. Initial performance predictions have shown that the performance characteristics of these devices can exceed those of the state-of-the-art...

A system of software has been developed to coordinate the operation of an autonomous Earth-observing sensorweb. Sensorwebs are collections of sensor units scattered over large regions to gather data on spatial and temporal patterns of physical, chemical, or biological phenomena in those regions....

A computer program helps to blend the power of automated-search software, which is able to generate large numbers of design solutions, with the insight of expert designers, who are able to identify preferred designs but do not have time to examine all the solutions. From among the many...

The X-Windows Process Validation Table (PVT) Widget Class ("Class" is used here in the object oriented programming sense of the word) was devised to simplify the task of implementing network registration services for Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) graphical user interface (GUI) computer programs. Heretofore, ISP PVT...

A Java-language computer program has been written to facilitate mining of data in files in the Shuttle Data Center (SDC) archives. This program can be executed on a variety of workstations or via Web-browser programs. This program is partly similar to prior C-language programs used for the same...

PayLoad Utilization Modeler (PLUM) is a statistical-modeling computer program used to evaluate the effectiveness of utilization of the International Space Station (ISS) in terms of the number of research facilities that can be operated within a specified interval of time. PLUM is designed to balance...