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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An instrument is undergoing development for use in measuring both the horizontal direction and the horizontal speed of wind in the speed range from 60 to 300 mph (about 27 to 134 m/s) at a rate of at least...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Two electronic circuits that generate controlled power-turn-on and power-turn-off transients have been developed. These circuits are parts of a suite of test equipment used to measure...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Mechanized Harvesting of Plants in a Controlled Environment
The proposed Plant Harvesting Mechanization System (PHARMS) would comprise machinery and controls for semiautomated harvesting of plants grown in a controlled environment. The PHARMS was conceived as a prototype of harvesters to be incorporated into life-support systems of spacecraft and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Normally, the damage that results in a total loss of the primary flight control of a transport airplane, including all the engines on one side, would be catastrophic. Dryden Flight...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
High-Velocity, Pulsed Wire Arc Spray
A high-velocity, pulsed wire arc spraying apparatus has been proposed and partly developed in an effort to improve the quality of coatings deposited by thermal spray techniques. In this apparatus, material from a wire arc is atomized and propelled toward a deposition substrate by a repetitively pulsed plasma...
Briefs: Software
Software for Electromagnetic Detection of Buried Explosives
U-HUNTER (also called “UXOHUNTER”) is a computer program that affords knowledge-based real-time sensor- fusion and display capabilities for detecting buried objects and materials of interest. U-HUNTER is intended especially for inferring the presence of buried unexploded ordnance and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Aircraft Anti-Icing Systems Utilizing Induced Hydrophobicity
Aircraft anti-icing systems of a proposed type would utilize static electric fields to reduce or eliminate the electrostatic forces that bond ice and water to metal surfaces. These would be lightweight, low-power-consumption, inexpensive systems that would be installed on the surfaces of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A project is underway in the Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL) at Dryden Flight Research Center to reduce the uncertainties in heat-flux measurements. The impetus for this project is provided,...
Briefs: Research Lab
A method of massively parallel computation on supercomputers has been developed to facilitate numerical simulation of electromagnetic fields in the vicinities of electrically large and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Physical Model of Immune-Inspired Computing
A mathematical model that represents several physical and mental behaviors has been developed to enable the phenomenological description of basic functions of immune systems. This development is part of a continuing effort to improve the autonomy of robots and spacecraft by use of computational methods...
Briefs: Medical
Mathematical Model of a Quantum Decision Maker
A mathematical model of a quantum analog-computing device that would simulate the human decision-making process has been developed. Like the immune-inspired- computing model described in the preceding article, this model is intended to contribute to improvement in the autonomy of robots and spacecraft.
Briefs: Information Technology
IIR Filters for Postprocessing Noisy Test Data
A little-known parametric form of an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter has been found to be useful in digital postprocessing of noisy test signals. The filter equation is:
y(n) = α[x(n) + x(n – 1)] + γy(n – 1),
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Tests of Finger Seals
A report discusses tests of finger seals, which were described in “Pressure- Balanced, Low-Hysteresis Finger Seal” (LEW-16840), which appears on page 52 in this issue. Like a labyrinth or brush seal, a finger seal is used (typically in a gas turbine) to minimize a leakage flow along a rotating shaft. The report describes...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Low-Power, Zero-Vibration Sorption Coolers
A report discusses three designs of proposed low-power, zero-vibration coolers for infrared instruments planned to be flown aboard spacecraft to perform astrophysical observations far from Earth. The designs take advantage of the radiative precooling available in the projected deep-space operational...
Briefs: Research Lab
Inhibited Carrier Transfer in Ensembles of Quantum Dots
A report presents an experimental study of time-resolved, temperature-dependent photoluminescence in InxGa1–x As/GaAs specimens containing In0.6Ga0.4As quantum dots (QDs) distributed at several different areal densities on a GaAs surface and capped with GaAs. The specimens were fabricated by...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Study of Amplification in Optocoupler-Equivalent Circuits
A report presents a theoretical and experimental study of amplification in electronic circuits that include combinations of discrete light sources (e.g., lightemitting diodes) and photodetectors (e.g., reverse-biased photodiodes), which combinations perform essentially the same functions as...
Briefs: Aerospace
Area Production in Supercritical, Transitional Mixing Layers
This paper presents a study of area production in mixing layers undergoing transition to turbulence. These layers evolve from the mixing of two initially segregated counterflowing streams under supercritical conditions. The study may contribute to development of means to control area...
Briefs: Medical
Nanolaminate Mirrors With Integral Figure-Control Actuators
A report discusses the development of thin-shell curved mirrors comprised of metallic multilayer nanolaminate substrates that contain integral inplane actuators for controlling surface figure with micron-level precision. These mirrors, intended for incorporation into scientific imaging...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Paraffin-Actuated Heat Switch for Mars Surface Applications
Missions to the surface of Mars pose unique thermal-control challenges to rover and lander systems. With diurnal temperature changes greater than 100 °C, the presence of a Mars atmosphere, and limited power for night-time heating, the thermal-control engineer is faced with a fundamental...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The figure depicts the basic optical layouts for (1) conventional laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and (2) a newer method of LDV based partly on the use of two optical fibers. Whereas...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Stabilization and Registration of Sequential Video Images
A computational process converts a sequence of digitized video images of the same scene into stabilized, coregistered images of an area of interest within the scene. The process corrects for motion of the area of interest or of the camera (as manifested by rotation, translation, and/or...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Focal-plane arrays of quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) featuring adjacent pixels sensitive to different colors have been proposed. An array of this type would make it...
Briefs: Software
The Complexity of the Diagnosis Problem
A report presents a study of the complexity of an algorithm that performs model-based diagnosis of a complex hardware system. [In model-based diagnosis, an algorithm detects logical inconsistencies between observational data and a description (mathematical model) of the system.] In the study, the problem of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Design Concepts for the ISS TransHab Module
Twelve reports present concepts for the design of structural and functional systems, subsystems, and components of the proposed TransHab module — an inflatable, lightweight habitation module that would be used by crewmembers of the International Space Station and would serve as a prototype of habitation...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Characteristics of Supercritical Transitional Mixing Layers
This report describes a study of threedimensional, temporal mixing layers between different fluids initially flowing at different velocities under supercritical conditions. The study involved direct numerical simulations by use of a validated mathematical model of high-pressurefluid...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Infrared CO2 Sensor With Built-In Calibration Chambers
A proposed infrared CO2 sensor, operated in conjunction with suitable readout, data-processing, and control circuitry, could be calibrated repeatedly during operation to compensate for changes in sensor response induced by such phenomena as aging and changes in temperature. The sensor would...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Solid-State Potentiometric CO Sensor
A solid-state sensor was developed that measures the concentrations of one or more gases of interest in a mixture of gases. This simple solid-state sensor produces a voltage signal that is sensitive to CO concentration from percent to ppm (parts per million) levels. It was intended originally for use in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A relatively inexpensive Sun sensor for determining the absolute heading of planetary rovers to within ± 3° using a monochrome charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is presented. The...
Briefs: Software
A method of designing improved monolithic planar arrays of superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) for use as photodetectors has been conceived. These arrays would be suitable for...
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