Tech Briefs

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A comprehensive library of technical briefs from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories covering all aspects of innovations in electronics, software, photonics, imaging, motion control, automation, sensors, test, materials, manufacturing, mechanical, and mechatronics.

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

An advanced docking system is undergoing development to enable softer, safer docking than was possible when using prior docking systems. This system is intended for original use in...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Columnar-vortex generators (CVG) have been proposed as means to increase the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft on aircraft or helicopter carriers and other ships at sea....

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

An assembly of sensors, denoted an electronic tongue, is undergoing development as a prototype of compact devices for use in measuring concentrations of contaminants in water. Thus...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Two-Finger EKG Method of Detecting Evasive Responses

A system based on acquisition and processing of electrocardiographic (EKG) signals from two fingers has been proposed as a means of determining whether a person is answering questions evasively. The system — in effect, a "lie detector" of sorts, would be used to gauge...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Tailoring Ion-Thruster Grid Apertures for Greater Efficiency

A report proposes tailoring the diameters of the apertures in the accelerator grid of an ion thruster to reduce the open grid area through which un-ionized propellant gas can escape. The result would be a reduction in the loss of propellant gas and a corresponding increase in...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Lidar for Guidance of a Spacecraft or Exploratory Robot

A report describes the Laser Mapper (LAMP) — a lightweight, compact, low-power lidar system under development for guidance of a spacecraft or exploratory robotic vehicle (rover) at Mars or another planet. The LAMP is intended especially for use during rendezvous of two spacecraft in...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A two-frequency, polarimetric, spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system has been proposed for measuring the moisture content of soil as a function of depth, even in the presence of...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A modular wireless data-acquisition and control system, now in operation at Kennedy Space Center, offers high performance at relatively low cost. The system includes a central station and...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A microwave-based system has been developed as a means of detecting ice on aircraft surfaces, with enough sensitivity to provide a warning before the ice accretes to a dangerous thickness. The...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A recently developed routing algorithm for broadcasting in an ad hoc wireless communication network takes account of, and exploits, the spatial relationships among the locations of nodes, in...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Electrochemical, H₂O₂-Boosted Catalytic Oxidation System

An improved water-sterilizing aqueous-phase catalytic oxidation system (APCOS) is based partly on the electrochemical generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This H2O2-boosted system offers significant improvements over prior dissolved-oxygen...

Briefs: Physical Sciences
Permanent Sequestration of Emitted Gases in the Form of Clathrate Hydrates

Underground sequestration has been proposed as a novel method of permanent disposal of harmful gases emitted into the atmosphere as a result of human activity. The method was conceived primarily for disposal of carbon dioxide (CO2, greenhouse gas causing global...

Briefs: Power

Cube-shaped thermoelectric devices energized by a particles from radioactive decay of 244Cm have been proposed as long-lived sources of power. These power cubes are intended...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences

An ultraviolet-absorption spectrometer system has been developed as a prototype instrument to be used in continuous, real-time monitoring to detect the growth of biofilms. Such monitoring...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Miniature Robotic Spacecraft for Inspecting Other Spacecraft

A report discusses the Miniature Autonomous Extravehicular Robotic Camera (Mini AERCam) — a compact robotic spacecraft intended to be released from a larger spacecraft for exterior visual inspection of the larger spacecraft. The Mini AERCam is a successor to the AERCam Sprint...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

An experimental miniature peristaltic pump exploits piezoelectrically excited flexural waves that travel around a ring: A fluid is carried in the containers formed in the valleys between the peaks of the...

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Briefs: Materials
Formulations for Stronger Solid Oxide Fuel-Cell Electrolytes

Tests have shown that modification of chemical compositions can increase the strengths and fracture toughnesses of solid oxide fuel-cell (SOFC) electrolytes. Heretofore, these solid electrolytes have been made of yttria- stabilized zirconia, which is highly conductive for oxygen ions...

Briefs: Materials

Semiconductor electronic devices and circuits based on silicon carbide (SiC) are being developed for use in high-temperature, high-power, and/or high-radiation conditions under which...

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Briefs: Materials
Nonlinear Thermoelastic Model for SMAs and SMA Hybrid

A constitutive mathematical model has been developed that predicts the nonlinear thermomechanical behaviors of shape-memory alloys (SMAs) and of shape- memory-alloy hybrid composite (SMAHC) structures, which are composite-material structures that contain embedded SMA actuators. SMAHC...

Briefs: Materials

One of the major challenges for NASA's next-generation reusable-launch-vehicle (RLV) program is the design of a cryogenic lightweight composite fuel...

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Briefs: Software
Simulation Testing of Embedded Flight Software

Virtual Real Time (VRT) is a computer program for testing embedded flight software by computational simulation in a workstation, in contradistinction to testing it in its target central processing unit (CPU). The disadvantages of testing in the target CPU include the need for an expensive test bed,...

Briefs: Software
Updated System-Availibility and Resource-Allocation Program

A second version of the Availability, Cost and Resource Allocation (ACARA) computer program has become available. The first version was reported in "System-Availability and Resource- Allocation Program" (LEW-15713), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 19, No. 8 (August 1995), page 54. To...

Briefs: Software
Software for Fault-Tolerant Matrix Multiplication

Formal Linear Algebra Recovery Environment is a computer program for high-performance, fault-tolerant matrix multiplication. The program is based on an extension of the prior theory and practice of fault-tolerant matrix·matrix multiplication of the form C = AB. This extension provides...

Briefs: Software
Routines for Computing Pressure Drops in Venturis

A set of computer- program routines has been developed for calculating pressure drops and recoveries of flows through standard venturis, nozzle venturis, and orifices. Relative to prior methods used for such calculations, the method implemented by these routines offers greater accuracy because it...

Briefs: Motion Control
A Software Architecture for Semiautonomous Robot Control

A software architecture has been developed to increase the safety and effectiveness with which tasks are performed by robots that are capable of functioning autonomously but sometimes are operated under control by humans. The control system of such a robot designed according to a prior...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A cylindrical-punch indentation technique has been developed as a means of measuring the nonlinear elastic responses of materials - more specifically, for measuring the moduli of...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Wavy-planform rotor blades for helicopters have been investigated for the first time in an effort to reduce noise. Two of the main sources of helicopter noise are blade/vortex interaction (BVI)...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Flexible heat pipes of an improved type are fabricated as layers of different materials laminated together into vacuum-tight sheets or tapes. In comparison with prior flexible heat pipes, these flexible...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Expandable Purge Chambers Would Protect Cryogenic Fittings

Expandable ice-prevention and cleanliness-preservation (EIP-CP) chambers have been proposed to prevent the accumulation of ice or airborne particles on quick-disconnect (QD) fittings, or on ducts or tubes that contain cryogenic fluids. In the original application for which the EIP-CP...

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