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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A modular architecture has been conceived for the design of radiation-monitoring instruments used aboard spacecraft and in planetary-exploration settings. This architecture reflects...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Smart Data Node in the Sky
A document discusses the physical and engineering principles affecting the design of the Smart Data Node in the Sky (SDNITS) — a proposed Earthorbiting satellite for relaying scientific data from other Earth-orbiting satellites to one or more ground station(s). The basic concept of the SDNITS is similar to that of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pseudo-Waypoint Guidance for Proximity Spacecraft Maneuvers
A paper describes algorithms for guidance and control (G&C) of a spacecraft maneuvering near a planet, moon, asteroid, comet, or other small astronomical body. The algorithms were developed following a model- predictive-control approach along with a convexification of the governing...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Update on Controlling Herds of Cooperative Robots
A document presents further information on the subject matter of “Controlling Herds of Cooperative Robots” (NPO-40723), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 30, No. 4 (April 2006), page 81. To recapitulate: A methodology for controlling a herd of cooperative and autonomous mobile robots exploring the surface...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Simulation and Testing of Maneuvering of a Planetary Rover
A report discusses the development of a computational model of a Mars Explorer Rover maneuvering across terrain under varying conditions. The model is used to increase understanding of the rover dynamics. Increased understanding is helpful in planning further tests and in extending the...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
An improved design has been devised for on-chip-circuitry for measuring the delay through a chain of combinational logic elements in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A very-large-scale- integrated-circuit (VLSI) turbo decoder has been designed to serve as a compact, high-throughput, low-power, lightweight decoder core of a receiver in a data-communication system. In a typical...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A program to develop an autonomous radio receiver compatible with a variety of digital communication schemes is underway. The proposed receiver, to be implemented largely in software, would configure...
Briefs: Software
Resource Selection and Ranking
Surfer is an extensible framework for selecting and ranking grid resources. A resource is defined as anything that needs selecting such as compute resources, storage resources, and data resources. The user specifies the set of resource types desired, the constraints that must hold over all the resources, and the...
Briefs: Software
Accident/Mishap Investigation System
InvestigationOrganizer (IO) is a Webbased collaborative information system that integrates the generic functionality of a database, a document repository, a semantic hypermedia browser, and a rulebased inference system with specialized modeling and visualization functionality to support accident/mishap...
Briefs: Medical
Simplified Identification of mRNA or DNA in Whole Cells
A recently invented method of detecting a selected messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence offers two important advantages over prior such methods: it is simpler and can be implemented by means of compact equipment. The simplification and miniaturization...
Briefs: Medical
Printed multi-turn loop antennas have been designed for contactless powering of, and reception of radio signals transmitted by, surgically implantable biotelemetric sensor units operating at...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A discussion of retaining rings inevitably must begin with a debunking of myths; namely, that one style of retaining ring will function better than all other types in all instances. No one...
Briefs: Materials
A material consisting of a barium calcium aluminosilicate glass reinforced with 4 weight percent of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) has shown promise for use as a sealant in planar solid...
Briefs: Materials
Improved single-source precursor compounds have been invented for use in spray chemical vapor deposition (spray CVD) of chalcopyrite semiconductor absorber layers of thin-film solar...
Briefs: Materials
Spray chemical vapor deposition (spray CVD) processes of a special type have been investigated for use in making CuInS2 absorber layers of thin-film solar photovoltaic cells from either of two...
Briefs: Materials
A process has been devised for making ternary (specifically, CuInS2) nanocrystals for use as quantum dots (QDs) in a contemplated next generation of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A method of assembling coherent fiber-optic bundles in which all the fibers are packed together as closely as possible is undergoing development. The method is based...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Manufacturing Diamond Under Very High Pressure
A process for manufacturing bulk diamond has been made practical by the invention of the High Pressure and Temperature Apparatus capable of applying the combination of very high temperature and high pressure needed to melt carbon in a sufficiently large volume. The rate of growth achievable in this...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In a proposed direct methanol fuel-cell electric-power-generating system, the fuel-cells would consume neat methanol, in contradistinction to the dilute aqueous methanol solutions consumed in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A proposed biosensing system would be based on a combination of (1) a sensing volume containing antibodies immobilized in a sol-gel matrix and (2) an optical interferometer having a ring...
Briefs: Information Technology
Algorithm Would Enable Robots to Solve Problems Creatively
A control architecture and algorithms to implement the architecture have been conceived to enable a robot to learn from its experiences and to combine knowledge gained from prior experiences in such a way as to be able to solve new problems. The architecture is an abstraction of an...
Briefs: Information Technology
Hypothetical Scenario Generator for Fault-Tolerant Diagnosis
The Hypothetical Scenario Generator for Fault-tolerant Diagnostics (HSG) is an algorithm being developed in conjunction with other components of artificial- intelligence systems for automated diagnosis and prognosis of faults in spacecraft, aircraft, and other complex engineering systems....
Briefs: Information Technology
A mathematical model describes the evaporation of drops of a hydrocarbon liquid composed of as many as hundreds of chemical species. The model is intended especially for application to any of...
Briefs: Information Technology
A Robustly Stabilizing Model Predictive Control Algorithm
A model predictive control (MPC) algorithm that differs from prior MPC algorithms has been developed for controlling an uncertain nonlinear system. This algorithm guarantees the resolvability of an associated finite-horizon optimal-control problem in a receding horizon implementation. Given...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Development of Vapor-Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal System
A report describes recent accomplishments of a continuing effort to develop the vapor-phase catalytic ammonia removal (VPCAR) process for recycling wastewater for consumption by humans aboard a spacecraft in transit to Mars. The VPCAR process is implemented by a system of highly integrated...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Several Developments in Space Tethers
Five reports address different aspects of development of tethers to be deployed from spacecraft in orbit around the Earth. The first report discusses proposed optoelectronic tracking of retroreflective objects located at intervals or of retroreflective coats along the entire length of a tether to measure...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Design Concept for a Nuclear Reactor-Powered Mars Rover
A report presents a design concept for an instrumented robotic vehicle (rover) to be used on a future mission of exploration of the planet Mars. The design incorporates a nuclear fission power system to provide long range, long life, and high power capabilities unachievable through the use of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Formation-Initialization Algorithm for N Spacecraft
A paper presents an algorithm to initialize a formation of N distributed spacecraft in deep space. Such formations will enable variable-baseline interferometers in future NASA missions designed to study the structure and origin of the universe. The algorithm described in the paper reflects some...
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