Stories
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Autogenic Clinical/Lab System (ACLS) is a personal-computer-based instrumentation system for physiological training. This system can be used to implement a program of multiparameter...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits containing electronically reconfigurable arrays of transistors have been proposed as means to implement a forthcoming generation of a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed active tactile display device would present textual and graphical information to a blind person. The concept of this device is a byproduct of recent research on the use of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
System for Monitoring the Environment of a Spacecraft Launch
A system that includes sensors and computers that communicate via an intranet enables both real-time monitoring and subsequent analysis of acoustic, overpressure, and thermal aspects of a spacecraft-launch environment and the structural response (vibration and strain) to that...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A heterodyne optical interferometer of a type used to measure small displacements can be augmented to suppress a phenomenon, called "self-interference," that tends to limit the achievable...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Storage batteries based on intercalation of lithium and bromine in graphite have been proposed. Like other storage batteries, these could be recharged electrically. Optionally, these...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Signal Processor for Doppler Measurements in Icing Research
An advanced signal processor has been developed to enable high-resolution measurement of the frequency and phase shifts of noisy laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) and phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) signals. The purpose of the measurements is to exploit the phase Doppler principle to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An experimental traveling-wave photomixing device generates narrow-band electromagnetic radiation at frequencies up to a few terahertz. The device is, potentially, a prototype of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A proposed monolithic planar array of miniature dipole antennas, diodes, and associated input/output circuitry would serve as a prototype of image sensors for submillimeter-wavelength video cameras (see Figure...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A special-purpose communications subsystem provides a push-to-talk signal to a communication system as if the individual was directly wired to the system. The subsystem also permits...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A three-stage power amplifier has been developed, capable of operating without tuning, over a wide frequency band ranging well above 100 GHz. The original intended application of this...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A humidity interlock has been developed to prevent damage that could be caused by condensation of water on a delicate and expensive laser crystal that must be maintained at a temperature...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Simulation System is a computing system capable of large-scale mathematical modeling for real-time simulation of the behavior of a complex system that could include many different...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Small electric power cells based on the direct conversion of kinetic energy of alpha particles into electricity have been proposed. These cells are expected to function continuously over...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
"PR-2" denotes a proposed spaceborne radar system for measuring three-dimensional rainfall profiles and rainfall velocities. The PR-2 system would incorporate a number of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A system for determining the locations of nearby lightning strikes from electric-field and acoustic measurements has been developed. This system evolved from the system described in...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-Performance Photodetector Circuit for Doppler Lidar
A photodetector circuit has been built for use in the receiver portion of a continuous-wave infrared Doppler lidar system for atmospheric research. As in nearly all Doppler lidar systems, the detection of the return signal in this system involves heterodyning, in a photodetector, with a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A method of automated synthesis of electronic circuits involves the use of a linear (as defined below) genome representation of circuit elements and of connections among them, plus a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Thyristors (semiconductor controlled rectifiers) made from silicon carbide have been fabricated and tested as prototypes of power-switching devices capable of operating at temperatures up to 350 °C. The...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Small Lidar Altimeter Would Operate at Low Light Levels
A lidar apparatus called a microaltimeter has been proposed for use aboard a spacecraft in orbit around the Earth for mapping land and sea surfaces, including such features of special interest as ice, tree canopies, and flood plains. The microaltimeter is short for "microlaser altimeter" and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Integrated signaling devices of a proposed type would utilize thermal coupling to transfer digital signals between electronic circuits that are required to be kept electrically isolated from...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved Ignitor and Keeper Power Supplies for Hall Thruster
Ignitor and keeper power supplies have been developed specifically for a Hall-effect thruster with a cold cathode. Prior to the development of these power supplies, difficulties had been observed in the operation of cold-cathode Hall thrusters; in particular, they did not start reliably...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Development of a Range-Safety Smart System
Range Safety Officers (RSOs) are used by NASA and other government agencies to assure protection of life and property during launch operations. The current decision-making system used by the RSOs at NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) and the National Ranges, including the Eastern Range (ER) and Western...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure schematically depicts a heterodyne photonic apparatus built around three continuous-wave, near-infrared diode lasers. This apparatus generates electromagnetic radiation at...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Advanced unicouples that contain carefully tailored combinations of thermoelectric materials are being investigated in an effort to develop thermoelectric power generators that would operate with...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A developmental apparatus and process for the fabrication of photonic devices utilize intense, focused laser light projected and/or diffracted in controlled patterns. The apparatus and process can be...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
In today's manufacturing world, the need for ultraprecise position measurement and control grows as feature sizes shrink in the semiconductor industry and the world of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Microelectromechanical single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switches with predominantly planar configurations have been proposed for use in radio-frequency (RF) circuits. These switches would have overall...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Making Submicron Features by Ion Etching Through PMMA Masks
Experiments have shown that a substrate can be patterned with submicron features by the following procedure:
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