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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Weighing Scales Based on Low-Power Strain-Gauge Circuits
Weighing scales (e.g., kitchen and bathroom scales) of a proposed type would incorporate sensory devices like the one described in "Low-Power, Microprocessor-Controlled Strain-Gauge Circuit" (NPO-19750), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 21, No. 1 (January 1997), page 45. Unlike other weighing scales...
Briefs: Software
Generating Maps of the Ionosphere From GPS Measurements
The Global Ionospheric Monitoring and Forecasting System (GIMSYS) computer program generates global maps of the total electron content (TEC) (electron density integrated over all altitude) of the ionosphere, maps of ionospheric irregularities, and related data byproducts. The maps are...
Briefs: Software
Program for Simulating Rotor Dynamics on Personal Computers
ARDS (Analysis of RotorDynamic Systems) is a public-domain computer program that simulates transient and steady-state dynamics of a rotary machine that can include as many as five interconnected flexible shafts. ARDS can be used to analyze the dynamics of such diverse machines as...
Briefs: Software
Software for Monitoring and Controlling DSN Operations
Network Monitor and Control (NMC) Automation Assembly (AA) is a component of the NMC software system, which is used for controlling an antenna connection in the Deep Space Network. NMC AA could also be adapted to commercial applications (e.g., chemical processing), in which human operators must...
Briefs: Materials
Alkoxides of lithium have been found to be useful as electrolyte additives to improve the low-temperature performance of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. As explained...
Briefs: Materials
Aliphatic esters have been found to be useful as electrolyte additives for improving the low-temperature performances of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. The discovery...
Briefs: Materials
Ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) has been found to be a suitable cosolvent, along with three other carbonate solvents, for incorporation into electrolytes to enhance the low-temperature...
Briefs: Materials
Titanium disulfide has been found to be attractive as an alternative to graphite as the anode material in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells that are required to operate at...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Expendable Composite-Layup Dies From Rapid-Prototype Masters
A method that exploits rapid prototyping has been conceived to reduce the time and cost associated with the production of small quantities of composite-material parts that have complex shapes. In this method, mandrels and dies used in forming composite layups are sized and shaped by...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Punch-and-die sets have been designed for use in rounding corners of rectangular metal sheets to specified radii. One of the traditional procedures for rounding a corner on a rectangular...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Model of Pyrolysis of Biomass in a Fluidized-Bed Reactor
A mathematical model has been formulated to describe the pyrolysis of biomass in a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor. The reactor is a vertical cylinder that contains a mixture of biomass particles and sand. Superheated steam enters the reactor through holes in the bottom and flows out freely at...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
System for Delivering Gas Samples to Multiple Instruments
A system that samples gases at multiple remote locations and delivers the gases to two or possibly more gas-monitoring instruments (e.g., mass spectrometers) has been developed. The system includes a transport (suction) pump that draws the gases from the sampling locations, through transport...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A portable apparatus that operates at atmospheric pressure generates a beam of monatomic oxygen. The apparatus is designed to be used in a dry, noncontact process for removing organic...
Briefs: Information Technology
General-Purpose Wavelet Program
"S+Wavelets" is the name of a computer program that implements a suite of mathematical "tools" for wavelet analysis of signals (including two-dimensional signals that represent images.) Wavelets, being localized in both time and frequency (or space and wave number), serve as means for transforming and extracting...
Briefs: Information Technology
Automated Generation of Reports of Mars Rover Operations
A document describes a system for the automated generation of reports of operations of a robotic exploratory vehicle (rover) on Mars. The automated report-generation system supplants a predominantly manual system, thereby making more information available in less time and reducing the...
Briefs: Materials
Filled skutterudites have shown promise as semiconducting materials with superior thermoelectric properties at temperatures up to at least 650 °C. This finding is a breakthrough in a continuing...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Two polarization-recycling techniques have been proposed to increase the efficiency of illumination of liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels. The motivation for this proposal lies in the...
Briefs: Materials
Liquid and paste polyorganosiloxane formulations (which become high-temperature- and oxidation-resistant organosilicone-based ceramics upon curing) have been invented for use in (1)...
Briefs: Materials
Polyorganosiloxane Waterproofing for Porous Ceramics
Liquid waterproofing agents based on polyorganosiloxanes have been invented for use in treating porous, lightweight, fibrous ceramic thermal-insulation materials in both tile (rigid) and blanket (flexible) forms. Whereas silane-based waterproofing materials developed previously for this purpose...
Briefs: Materials
A technique for holding sensor lead wires in place on substrates made of SiC-based monolithic ceramic or SiC/SiC fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composite materials involves...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Polymeric Composite Materials for Dental Fillings
Composite materials that include combinations of metal oxide and silica nanoparticles in polymeric matrices have been invented for primary use as dental fillings, dental and bone adhesives, and the like. There have been previous efforts to develop polymeric replacements for the amalgam...
Briefs: Materials
A thin polymer/metal laminate has been developed for use as an envelope material for lightweight heat pipes and heat-pipe radiators that operate at temperatures up to 360 K. The...
Briefs: Materials
Hybrid Composite Structures Made From Polybenzoxazole Fibers
Hybrid composite-material (fiber/matrix) structures of a proposed type would incorporate recently developed polybenzoxazole (PBO) fibers that feature high strengths and high moduli of elasticity and which can be made in much thinner sections than are possible with graphite fibers. The PBO...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A Mass-Spectrometer System for Detecting Gas Leaks
The Hydrogen Umbilical Mass Spectrometer (HUMS) consists of an integrated sample delivery system, a commercial mass-spectrometer- based gas analyzer, and a set of calibration gas mixtures traceable to NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology). The system, except for the calibration gas...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed system for simultaneous characterization of the instability of several precise, low-noise oscillators of nominally equal frequency would be built around a commercially...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed digital carrier-signal-tracking loop in a radio transponder could be programmed to operate in either a perfect-integration or an imperfect-integration mode. Although originally...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved design for a conical log-spiral antenna (see Figure 1) simplifies construction and improves alignment. The radiating-element substructure of such an antenna must be properly...
Briefs: Software
Programming Language for Automated Scheduling and Planning
The ASPEN Modeling Language (AML) has been developed for use in the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN) software system. As described in prior NASA Tech Briefs articles, ASPEN is an object-oriented system that contains a modular, reconfigurable, reusable set of...
Briefs: Software
Communication Software for Distributed Application Programs
The Task Remote Asynchronous Message Exchange Layer (Tramel) software reduces the costs of distributing application programs across computer networks, including the Internet. Tramel implements robust, reliable, simple, highly portable interprocess communication, such that distributed...
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