Tech Briefs

Electronics & Software

Access our comprehensive library of technical briefs on electronics and software, from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories.

8,33,42,44,45,47,52,54,68
-1
4620
30
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A circuit generates sinusoidal excitation signals for a shaft-angle resolver and, like the arctangent circuit described in the preceding article, generates an analog voltage proportional to the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A circuit generates an analog voltage proportional to an angle, in response to two sinusoidal input voltages having magnitudes proportional to the sine and cosine of the angle, respectively. That is to...
Feature Image
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A horn antenna (see Figure 1) has been developed to satisfy requirements specific to its use as an essential component of a high-efficiency Ka-band amplifier: The combination of the horn antenna and an...
Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Arrays of CdZnTe photodetectors and associated electronic circuitry have been built and tested in a continuing effort to develop focal-plane image sensor systems for hard-x-ray telescopes. Each...
Feature Image
Briefs: Motion Control
In the area of maintaining conventional motorcycle stability, engineers have established a series of tests that measure the wobble, weave, and kickback of every new model before it is released...
Feature Image
Briefs: Information Technology
Application of the Hilbert-Huang Transform to Financial Data
A paper discusses the application of the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method to time-series financial-market data. The method was described, variously without and with the HHT name, in several prior NASA Tech Briefs articles and supporting documents.
Briefs: Information Technology
Mapping From an Instrumented Glove to a Robot Hand
An algorithm has been developed to solve the problem of mapping from (1) a glove instrumented with joint-angle sensors to (2) an anthropomorphic robot hand. Such a mapping is needed to generate control signals to make the robot hand mimic the configuration of the hand of a human attempting to...
Briefs: Information Technology
Measuring Low-Order Aberrations in a Segmented Telescope
The in-focus PSF optimizer (IPO) is an algorithm for use in monitoring and controlling the alignment of the segments of a segmented-mirror astronomical telescope. IPO is so named because it computes wavefront aberrations of the telescope from digitized point-spread functions (PSFs) measured...
Briefs: Information Technology
Support for User Interfaces for Distributed Systems
An extensible Java™ software framework supports the construction and operation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for distributed computing systems typified by ground control systems that send commands to, and receive telemetric data from, spacecraft.
Briefs: Information Technology
Software Template for Instruction in Mathematics
Intelligent Math Tutor (IMT) is a software system that serves as a template for creating software for teaching mathematics.
Briefs: Software
Simulating a Direction-Finder Search for an ELT
A computer program simulates the operation of direction-finding equipment engaged in a search for an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) aboard an aircraft that has crashed. The simulated equipment is patterned after the equipment used by the Civil Air Patrol to search for missing aircraft. The...
Briefs: Software
Telephone-Directory Program
eDirectory is a computer program that makes it possible to view entries in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) telephone directory by use of PalmPilot ™ (or equivalent) personal digital assistants. When one uses eDirectory, a single click causes the downloading of a current copy of the directory (which is updated...
Briefs: Software
Processing GPS Occultation Data To Characterize Atmosphere
GOAS [Global Positioning System (GPS) Occultation Analysis System] is a computer program that accepts signaloccultation data from GPS receivers aboard low-Earth-orbiting satellites and processes the data to characterize the terrestrial atmosphere and, in somewhat less comprehensive fashion,...
Briefs: Software
Software for Secondary-School Learning About Robotics
The ROVer Ranch is an interactive computer program designed to help secondary-school students learn about space-program robotics and related basic scientific concepts by involving the students in simplified design and programming tasks that exercise skills in mathematics and science. The tasks...
Briefs: Software
Data-Driven Software Framework for Web-Based ISS Telescience
Software that enables authorized users to monitor and control scientific payloads aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from diverse terrestrial locations equipped with Internet connections is undergoing development. This software reflects a data-driven approach to distributed...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Simulating a Direction-Finder Search for an ELT
A computer program simulates the operation of direction-finding equipment engaged in a search for an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) aboard an aircraft that has crashed.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A method of adaptive setting of a threshold level for the detection of pulses in a pulse-position modulation (PPM) free-space optical communication system has been developed. In simplified...
Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A method of maintaining radio communication despite the emergence of unpredictable fades and nulls in the radiation pattern of an antenna has been proposed. The method was originally...
Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Coupled receiver/decoders have been proposed for receiving weak single-channel phase-modulated radio signals bearing low-rate-turbo-coded binary data. Originally intended for use in receiving...
Feature Image
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A design concept for the receiver portion of a proposed free-space optical communication terminal calls for integration of its communication and pointing detectors. As explained...
Feature Image
Briefs: Information Technology
Two Methods for Efficient Solution of the Hitting-Set Problem
A paper addresses much of the same subject matter as that of "Fast Algorithms for Model-Based Diagnosis" (NPO-30582), which appears elsewhere in this issue of NASA Tech Briefs.
Briefs: Information Technology
Biased Randomized Algorithm for Fast Model-Based Diagnosis
A biased randomized algorithm has been developed to enable the rapid computational solution of a propositional-satisfiability (SAT) problem equivalent to a diagnosis problem. The closest competing methods of automated diagnosis are described in the preceding article "Fast Algorithms for...
Briefs: Information Technology
Two improved new methods for automated diagnosis of complex engineering systems involve the use of novel algorithms that are more efficient than prior algorithms used for the same purpose. Both the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Information Technology
Virtually every design decision, from a simple sketch to complex system drawings, is informed by calculations. Yet, in the race to get projects completed and products and...
Feature Image
Briefs: Information Technology
Telephone-Directory Program
eDirectory is a computer program that makes it possible to view entries in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) telephone directory by use of PalmPilot™ (or equivalent) personal digital assistants.
Briefs: Information Technology
Fuzzy Logic Engine
The Fuzzy Logic Engine is a software package that enables users to embed fuzzy-logic modules into their application programs.
Briefs: Information Technology
Encryption for Remote Control via Internet or Intranet
A data-communication protocol has been devised to enable secure, reliable remote control of processes and equipment via a collision-based network, while using minimal bandwidth and computation. The network could be the Internet or an intranet. Control is made secure by use of both a password...
Briefs: Information Technology
A quantum algorithm provides for the encoding of an exponentially large number of classical data bits by use of a smaller (polynomially large) number of quantum bits (qubits). The...
Feature Image
Briefs: Software
Generating Animated Displays of Spacecraft Orbits
Tool for Interactive Plotting, Sonification, and 3D Orbit Display (TIPSOD) is a computer program for generating interactive, animated, four-dimensional (space and time) displays of spacecraft orbits.

Videos