-1
7140
30
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thin-layered structures containing arrays of micromachined horns, denoted solid micro-horn arrays (SMIHAs), have been conceived as improved means of matching acoustic impedances between...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An improved closed-loop controller has been built for a three-axis piezoelectric positioning stage. The stage can be any of a number of commercially available or custom-made units that...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A method of dynamic self-locking has been demonstrated to be effective as a means of stabilizing the wavelength of light emitted by a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that is an...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In an alternative version of a proposed bimaterial thermal compensator for a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonator, a mechanical element having nonlinear stiffness would be added to...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Internal Water Vapor Photoacoustic Calibration
Water vapor absorption is ubiquitous in the infrared wavelength range where photoacoustic trace gas detectors operate. This technique allows for discontinuous wavelength tuning by temperature-jumping a laser diode from one range to another within a time span suitable for photoacoustic calibration. The...
Briefs: Information Technology
A recently developed method of constructing protograph-based low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes provides for low iterative decoding thresholds and minimum distances proportional to...
Briefs: Information Technology
Minimizing Input-to-Output Latency in Virtual Environment
A method and apparatus were developed to minimize latency (time delay) in virtual environment (VE) and other discrete-time computer-based systems that require real-time display in response to sensor inputs. Latency in such systems is due to the sum of the finite time required for information...
Briefs: Information Technology
PrimeSupplier Cross-Program Impact Analysis and Supplier Stability Indicator Simulation Model
PrimeSupplier, a supplier cross-program and element-impact simulation model, with supplier solvency indicator (SSI), has been developed so that the shuttle program can see early indicators of supplier and product line stability, while identifying the...
Briefs: Information Technology
Integrated Planning for Telepresence With Time Delays
A conceptual “intelligent assistant” and an artificial-intelligence computer program that implements the intelligent assistant have been developed to improve control exerted by a human supervisor over a robot that is so distant that communication between the human and the robot involves...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Battery Cell Voltage Sensing and Balancing Using Addressable Transformers
A document discusses the use of saturating transformers in a matrix arrangement to address individual cells in a high-voltage battery. This arrangement is able to monitor and charge individual cells while limiting the complexity of circuitry in the battery. The arrangement...
Briefs: Information Technology
Gaussian and Lognormal Models of Hurricane Gust Factors
A document describes a tool that predicts the likelihood of land-falling tropical storms and hurricanes exceeding specified peak speeds, given the mean wind speed at various heights of up to 500 feet (150 meters) above ground level. Empirical models to calculate mean and standard deviation of...
Briefs: Software
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is the highest- flux reactor-based source of neutrons for condensed-matter...
Briefs: Software
For a wide range of engineers and scientists, the sound generated by a vibrating structure represents a critically important phenomenon. These sounds can be of significance for accomplishing rapid, low-cost...
Briefs: Software
Propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves generated by an electric dipole are used for a variety of applications, including geological mapping of mineral deposits on the ocean floor, cellular or...
Briefs: Software
Spacecraft Station-Keeping Trajectory and Mission Design Tools
Two tools were developed for designing station-keeping trajectories and estimating delta-v requirements for designing missions to a small body such as a comet or asteroid. This innovation uses NPOPT, a non-sparse, general-purpose sequential quadratic programming (SQP) optimizer and the...
Briefs: Software
Integrated Modeling of Spacecraft Touch-And-Go SamplingIntegrated Modeling of Spacecraft Touch-And-Go Sampling
An integrated modeling tool has been developed to include multi-body dynamics, orbital dynamics, and touch-and-go dynamics for spacecraft covering three types of end- effectors: a sticky pad, a brush-wheel sampler, and a pellet gun.
Briefs: Software
Simulation of Attitude and Trajectory Dynamics and Control of Multiple Spacecraft
Agora software is a simulation of spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics. It supports spacecraft models composed of multiple rigid bodies or flexible structural models. Agora simulates multiple spacecraft simultaneously, supporting rendezvous, proximity operations,...
Briefs: Software
Port-O-Sim Object Simulation Application
Port-O-Sim is a software application that supports engineering modeling and simulation of launch-range systems and subsystems, as well as the vehicles that operate on them. It is flexible, distributed, object-oriented, and real-time. A scripting language is used to configure an array of simulation objects...
Briefs: Software
An efficient diagnosis engine — a combination of mathematical models and algorithms — has been developed for identifying faulty components in a possibly complex engineering system. This model-based...
Briefs: Software
FPGA Boot Loader and Scrubber
A computer program loads configuration code into a Xilinx field-programmable gate array (FPGA), reads back and verifies that code, reloads the code if an error is detected, and monitors the performance of the FPGA for errors in the presence of radiation. The program consists mainly of a set of VHDL files (wherein...
Briefs: Software
DSN Simulator
The DSN Simulator (wherein “DSN” signifies NASA’s Deep Space Network) is an updated version of the software described in “DSN Array Simulator” (NPO-44506), Software Tech Briefs (Special supplement to NASA Tech Briefs), Vol. 32, No. 9 (September 2008), page 26. To recapitulate: This software is used for computational modeling...
Briefs: Software
Proton Upset Monte Carlo Simulation
The Proton Upset Monte Carlo Simulation (PROPSET) program calculates the frequency of on-orbit upsets in computer chips (for given orbits such as Low Earth Orbit, Lunar Orbit, and the like) from proton bombardment based on the results of heavy ion testing alone. The software simulates the bombardment of modern...
Briefs: Software
A method of automated detection of negative obstacles (potholes, ditches, and the like) ahead of ground vehicles at night involves processing of imagery from thermal-infrared cameras...
Briefs: Software
Algorithms for planning flight paths of autonomous aerobots (robotic blimps) to be deployed in scientific exploration of remote planets are undergoing development. These algorithms are also adaptable...
Briefs: Software
Tracking Debris Shed by a Space-Shuttle Launch Vehicle
The DEBRIS software predicts the trajectories of debris particles shed by a space-shuttle launch vehicle during ascent, to aid in assessing potential harm to the space-shuttle orbiter and crew. The user specifies the location of release and other initial conditions for a debris particle. DEBRIS...
Briefs: Software
Oxygen Generation System Laptop Bus Controller Flight Software
The Oxygen Generation System Laptop Bus Controller Flight Software was developed to allow the International Space Station (ISS) program to activate specific components of the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) to perform a checkout of key hardware operation in a microgravity environment, as...
Briefs: Software
Estimating Thruster Impulses From IMU and Doppler Data
A computer program implements a thrust impulse measurement (TIM) filter, which processes data on changes in velocity and attitude of a spacecraft to estimate the small impulsive forces and torques exerted by the thrusters of the spacecraft reaction control system (RCS). The velocity-change data...
Briefs: Software
Cliffbot Maestro (see figure) permits teleoperation of remote rovers for field testing in extreme environments. The application user interface provides two sets of tools for operations: stereo image browsing and command...
Briefs: Software
Monitoring and Controlling an Underwater Robotic Arm
The SSRMS Module 1 software is part of a system for monitoring an adaptive, closed-loop control of the motions of a robotic arm in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where buoyancy in a pool of water is used to simulate the weightlessness of outer space. This software is so named because the...
Top Stories
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
2025 Holiday Gift Guide for Engineers: Tech, Tools, and Gadgets
INSIDER: Research Lab
Scientists Create Superconducting Semiconductor Material
Blog: Software
Quiz: Materials
Blog: Aerospace
Tech Briefs Wrapped 2025: Top 10 Technology Stories
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
Upcoming Webinars: Motion Control
Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
Upcoming Webinars: Energy
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Podcasts: Medical
How Wearables Are Enhancing Smart Drug Delivery
Podcasts: Power
SAE Automotive Podcast: Solid-State Batteries
Podcasts: Power
