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: Electronics & Computers

Suitably patterned arrays (blocks) of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) have been proposed as fault-tolerant universal logic gates. These block QCA gates could be used to realize the potential of QCA...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A data-processor architecture that would incorporate elements of both conventional very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuitry and quantum- dot cellular automata (QCA) has been proposed to...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

A method of manufacturing regular arrays of precisely sized, shaped, positioned, and oriented carbon nanotubes has been proposed. Arrays of carbon nanotubes could prove useful in...

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Briefs: Information Technology

United Space Alliance (USA) developed and used a new software development method to meet technical, schedule, and budget challenges faced...

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Briefs: Materials

Over the last 40 years, a series of misconceptions regarding mica capacitor applications has led novice users to consistently over- derate wound...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Folded horns have been conceived as alternatives to straight horns used as resonators and strain amplifiers in power ultrasonic systems. Such systems are used for cleaning, welding,...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A modification of a pressure-actuated joint has been proposed to improve its pressure actuation in such a manner as to reduce the potential for leakage of the pressurizing fluid. The specific joint for which...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A Seat Track Attach Mechanism (SAM) is a multiple-use clamping device intended for use in mounting various objects on the standard seat tracks used on the International Space Station...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

An experiment and calculation have demonstrated the feasibility of a technique of compact storage of paraboloidal mirrors made of thin composite-material (multiple layers of carbon...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Force-Measuring Clamps

Force-measuring clamps have been invented to facilitate and simplify the task of measuring the forces or pressures applied to clamped parts. There is a critical need to measure clamping forces or pressures in some applications — for example, while bonding sensors to substrates or while clamping any sensitive or delicate...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A relatively simple, manually operated tool enables precise bending (typically, within ±1/2° of the specified bend angle) of a metal tube located in a confined space, with a...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Turbulence in Supercritical O₂/H₂ and C₇H₁₆/N₂ Mixing Layers

This report presents a study of numerical simulations of mixing layers developing between opposing flows of paired fluids under supercritical conditions, the purpose of the study being to elucidate chemical-species- specific aspects of turbulence. The simulations were...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

An improved design has been proposed for a cryostat of a type that maintains a desired low temperature mainly through boiloff of a liquid cryogen (e.g., liquid nitrogen) at...

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Briefs: Software
Software for Viewing Landsat Mosaic Images

A Windows-based computer program has been written to enable novice users (especially educators and students) to view images of large areas of the Earth (e.g., the continental United States) generated from image data acquired in the Landsat observations performed circa the year 1990. The large-area...

Briefs: Software
Updated Integrated Mission Program

Integrated Mission Program (IMP) is a computer program for simulating spacecraft missions around the Earth, Moon, Mars, and/or other large bodies. IMP solves the differential equations of motion by use of a Runge-Kutta numerical-integration algorithm. Users control missions through selection from a large menu...

Briefs: Software
Software for Sharing and Management of Information

DIAMS is a set of computer programs that implements a system of collaborative agents that serve multiple, geographically distributed users communicating via the Internet. DIAMS provides a user interface as a Java applet that runs on each user’s computer and that works within the context of the...

Briefs: Software
Update on Integrated Optical Design Analyzer

Updated information on the Integrated Optical Design Analyzer (IODA) computer program has become available. IODA was described in “Software for Multidisciplinary Concurrent Optical Design” (MFS-31452), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 10 (October 2001), page 8a. To recapitulate: IODA facilitates...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Custom Software for Infrared Camera Image Acquisition and Control

Infrared cameras based on hybrid focal-plane array sensors are unlike consumer video products such as camcorders. They are complicated imaging devices that output very large amounts of digital image data at high speeds, require multiple levels of camera control, and produce...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical-Quality Thin Polymer Membranes

A method of fabricating both curved and flat thin polymer membranes of optical quality has been developed. The method was originally intended to enable the fabrication of lightweight membrane imaging and interferometric optics, possibly with apertures multiple meters wide, for use in scientific instruments...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Brushlike arrays of carbon nanotubes embedded in microstrip waveguides provide highly efficient (high-Q) mechanical resonators that will enable ultra-miniature radio-frequency (RF)...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Electromechanical resonators of a proposed type would comprise single carbon nanotubes suspended between electrodes (see Figure 1). Depending on the nanotube length, diameter, and...

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Briefs: Motion Control

A precision piezoelectric positioning system with high-bandwidth and high-power enables a new class of precision machining called Vibration Assisted Machining. The actuator and...

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Briefs: Medical
Growth Conditions To Reduce Oxalic Acid Content of Spinach

A controlled environment agricultural (CEA) technique to increase the nutritive value of spinach has been developed. This technique makes it possible to reduce the concentration of oxalic acid in spinach leaves. It is desirable to reduce the oxalic acid content because oxalic acid acts...

Briefs: Medical

The hydrodynamic focusing bioreactor (HFB) is a bioreactor system designed for three-dimensional cell culture and tissue-engineering investigations on orbiting spacecraft and in...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
SpaceWire Driver Software for Special DSPs

A computer program provides a high-level C-language interface to electronics circuitry that controls a SpaceWire interface in a system based on a space qualified version of the ADSP-21020 digital signal processor (DSP). SpaceWire is a spacecraft-oriented standard for packet-switching data-communication...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Proposed integrated-circuit modules called "nanoconverters" would derive DC power from impinging electromagnetic beams having frequencies in the terahertz range. Nanoconverters are composed of...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Signal-conditioning amplifier recorders (SCAmpRs) have been proposed as a means of simplifying and upgrading the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Ground Measurement System (GMS), which is a versatile...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Software for Remote Monitoring of Space-Station Payloads

Telescience Resource Kit (TReK) is a suite of application programs that enables geographically dispersed users to monitor scientific payloads aboard the International Space Station (ISS). TReK provides local ground support services that can simultaneously receive, process, record,...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

The figure depicts a prototype of a robotic-manipulator gripping device that includes two passive compliant fingers, suitable for picking up and manipulating objects that have irregular shapes...

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Webcasts

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On-Demand Webinars: Defense

From Data to Decision: How AI Enhances Warfighter Readiness

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

April Battery & Electrification Summit

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Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Tech Update: 3D Printing for Transportation in 2024

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Upcoming Webinars: Materials

Unleashing Epoxy's Potential: Ensuring Hermetic Sealing in Modern...

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Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement

Building an Automotive EMC Test Plan

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

The Moon and Beyond from a Thermal Perspective

Videos