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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Ka-Band Autonomous Formation Flying Sensor
A Ka-band integrated range and bearing- angle formation sensor called the Autonomous Formation Flying (AFF) Sensor has been developed to enable deep-space formation flying of multiple spacecraft. The AFF Sensor concept is similar to that of the Global Positioning System (GPS), but the AFF Sensor would not...
Briefs: Software
Software for Probabilistic Risk Reduction
A computer program implements a methodology, denoted probabilistic risk reduction, that is intended to aid in planning the development of complex software and/or hardware systems. This methodology integrates two complementary prior methodologies: (1) that of probabilistic risk assessment and (2) a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
CMOS VLSI Active-Pixel Sensor for Tracking
An architecture for a proposed active pixel sensor (APS) and a design to implement the architecture in a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuit provide for some advanced features that are expected to be especially desirable for tracking pointlike features...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Lightweight, deployable antennas for a variety of outer-space and terrestrial applications would be designed and fabricated according to the concept of cold hibernated elastic memory (CHEM)...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Microstrip-patch-style antennas that generate monopole radiation patterns similar to those of quarter-wave whip antennas can be designed to have dimensions smaller than those needed...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Although the preponderance of electronic equipment in our professional environment makes work more convenient, these devices complicate demands on...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A 2-to-48-MHz Phase-Locked Loop
A 2-to-48-MHz phase-locked loop (PLL), developed for the U.S. space program, meets or exceeds all space shuttle clock electrical interface requirements by taking as its reference a 2-to-48-MHz clock signal and outputting a phaselocked clock signal set at the same frequency as the reference clock with transistor-...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Some Improvements in Signal-Conditioning Circuits
Two documents present wide-ranging discussions of some issues in the design and operation of signal-conditioning circuits. The first document focuses on active low-pass filter circuits that contain resistors, capacitors, and operational amplifiers. It describes design and operational problems...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Humans have been using tools to make farming easier since the dawn of civilization. Since the turn of the 20th century, the growing use of mechanized power to till and sow...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A new design for a water-filtering device combines rotating filtration with reverse osmosis to create a rotating reverse- osmosis system. Rotating filtration has been used for separating plasma...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Multispectral Scanner for Monitoring Plants
A multispectral scanner has been adapted to capture spectral images of living plants under various types of illumination for purposes of monitoring the health of, or monitoring the transfer of genes into, the plants. In a health-monitoring application, the plants are illuminated with full-spectrum visible...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Brush/Fin Thermal Interfaces
Brush/fin thermal interfaces are being developed to increase heat-transfer efficiency and thereby enhance the thermal management of orbital replaceable units (ORUs) of electronic and other equipment aboard the International Space Station. Brush/fin thermal interfaces could also be used to increase heat-transfer...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Compensating for Effects of Humidity on Electronic Noses
A method of compensating for the effects of humidity on the readouts of electronic noses has been devised and tested. The method is especially appropriate for use in environments in which humidity is not or cannot be controlled — for example, in the vicinity of a chemical spill, which can...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
As an alternative to conventional tubing instrumentation for measuring airflow, designers and technicians at Glenn Research Center have been fabricating packaging components and assembling a set of unique...
Briefs: Information Technology
Coding schemes have been designed and investigated specifically for optical and electronic data-communication channels in which information is conveyed via pulse-position modulation...
Briefs: Motion Control
Improving Control of Two Motor Controllers
A computer program controls motors that drive translation stages in a metrology system that consists of a pair of two-axis cathetometers. This program is specific to Compumotor Gemini (or equivalent) motors and the Compumotor 6K-series (or equivalent) motor controller. Relative to the software supplied...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
System for Better Spacing of Airplanes En Route
An improved method of computing the spacing of airplanes en route, and software to implement the method, have been invented. The purpose of the invention is to help air-traffic controllers minimize those deviations of the airplanes from the trajectories preferred by their pilots that are needed to...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Two-Armed, Mobile, Sensate Research Robot
The Anthropomorphic Robotic Testbed (ART) is an experimental prototype of a partly anthropomorphic, humanoid- size, mobile robot. The basic ART design concept provides for a combination of two-armed coordination, tactility, stereoscopic vision, mobility with navigation and avoidance of obstacles, and...
Briefs: Information Technology
Algorithm for Training a Recurrent Multilayer Perceptron
An improved algorithm has been devised for training a recurrent multilayer perceptron (RMLP) for optimal performance in predicting the behavior of a complex, dynamic, and noisy system multiple time steps into the future. [An RMLP is a computational neural network with self-feedback and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Nutation Damper for a Spin- Stabilized Spacecraft
A document proposes an improved liquid- ring nutation damper for a spin-stabilized spacecraft. The improvement addresses the problem of accommodating thermal expansion of the damping liquid. Heretofore, the problem has been solved by either (1) filling the ring completely with liquid and...
Briefs: Motion Control
The Directional Acceleration Vector-Driven Displacement of Fluids (DAVDDOF) system, under development at the time of reporting the information for this article, would be a relatively compact,...
Briefs: Communications
Orbiter Interface Unit and Early Communication System
A report describes the Orbiter Interface Unit (OIU) and the Early Communication System (ECOMM), which are systems of electronic hardware and software that serve as the primary communication links for the International Space Station (ISS). When a space shuttle is at or near the ISS during...
Briefs: Motion Control
A control system has been designed to keep a balloon-borne scientific instrument pointed toward a celestial object within an angular error of the order of an arc second. The design is...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
An apparatus for measuring the rate of flow and the mass density of a liquid or slurry includes a special section of pipe instrumented with microwave and sonic sensors, and a computer...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
White-Light Nulling Interferometers for Detecting Planets
A report proposes the development of a white-light nulling interferometer to be used in conjunction with a single-aperture astronomical telescope that would be operated in outer space. When such a telescope is aimed at a given star, the interferometer would suppress the light of that star...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Making Precise Resonators for Mesoscale Vibratory Gyroscopes
An alternative approach to the design and fabrication of vibratory gyroscopes is founded on the use of fabrication techniques that yield best results in the mesoscopic size range, which is characterized by overall device dimensions of the order of a centimeter. This approach stands in...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
An electronic instrument that could detect the potentially dangerous buildup of ice on an airplane wing is undergoing development. The instrument is based on a microwave transmission...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
An improved type of exhaust nozzle has been invented to help optimize the performances of multitube detonative combustion engines. The invention is applicable to both air-breathing and...
Briefs: Software
Development of Methodology for Programming Autonomous Agents
A brief report discusses the rationale for, and the development of, a methodology for generating computer code for autonomous-agent-based systems. The methodology is characterized as enabling an increase in the reusability of the generated code among and within such systems, thereby...
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