Electrical/​Electronics

A spacecraft may be unable to communicate critical data associated with a serious or catastrophic failure. A brief report proposes a system, somewhat like a commercial aircraft "black box," for retrieving these data. A microspacecraft attached to the prime spacecraft would continually store recent...

A system of interface electronic circuitry that includes a data packetizer and a data depacketizer has been developed to enable the downlinking of both standard- and high-definition television (SDTV and HDTV) signals from a space shuttle or the International Space Station. The...

A stereoscopic machine-vision system offers a capability for robust tracking of objects in three dimensions (3D). The system is suitable for use in a variety of robotic applications. The system hardware includes a pan-tilt-verge camera and aiming mechanism assembly and a board that holds...

Two modifications improve the performance of a circularly polarized microstrip-patch-array antenna described in U.S. Patent 5,661,994. Because the phase difference between the orthogonal sides in the original design was 135°, there was substantial cross-polarization and waste of power. One...

Direct methanol fuel cells integrated with fuel reservoirs have been proposed as power sources in applications that involve power demands up to about 50 W. A prior concept of direct methanol fuel cells as alternatives to re- chargeable batteries in such applications was reported previously in...

High-performance lithium-ion electro- chemical cells and batteries have been developed to satisfy a need for longer lifetimes and greater capacities in the power supplies of the life-support systems attached to space suits. These and similar cells and batteries could also be used on Earth to satisfy...

An electronic system based on long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) sensors is being developed to detect aircraft flying near an upward-aimed, high-power laser beam. In the intended application, the system would alert a human laser operator and/or generate a signal to turn off the laser whenever...

A class of optoelectronic noncontact computer-controlled scanning surface profilometers is undergoing development for use in automated or semiautomated in- spection of nominally flat surfaces. When fully developed, these profilometers would generate three-dimensional maps of the scanned surfaces for...

A system based on ultrasonic sensors has been developed as a means of tracking moving objects with centimeter accuracy. The system is intended especially for tracking pertinent parts of the body of a human subject engaged in control of a remote anthropomorphic robot or immersed in a...

An improved method of generating audible alarms has been invented for stressful environments in which there may be consid- erable background noise and where the intended recipients of the alarms also need to pay att- ention to sounds other than the alarms. An aircraft cockpit is a typical...