Electronics & Software

The Virtual EDF Builder (where "EDF" signifies Electronic Development Fixture) is a computer program that facilitates the use of the Internet for building and displaying digital models of three- dimensional (3D) objects that ordinarily comprise assemblies of solid models created previously...

Functional-layer software for the Coupled Layer Architecture for Robotics Autonomy (CLARAty) is being developed. [CLARAty was described in "Coupled-Layer Architecture for Advanced Software for Robots" (NPO-21218), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 12 (December 2002), page 48. To recapitulate: CLARAty was proposed to...

A Java-language library supports input and output (I/O) of image data and metadata (label data) in the format of the Video Image Communication and Retrieval (VICAR) image-processing software and in several similar formats, including a subset of the Planetary Data System (PDS) image file...

A software system processes navigational and sensory information in real time to generate a three- dimensional- appearing image of the external environment for viewing by crewmembers of a windowless aerospacecraft. The design of the particular aerospacecraft (the X-38) is such that the...

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...

An investigation of nonlinear mathematical models of dynamics has led to the selection of characteristics that could be useful for distinguishing mathematically between the behaviors of (1) intelligent or living systems and (2) nonliving systems. As contemplated here, an intelligent or living...

Performance Logging Services (PLS) is a software utility that tracks the performance of another program in terms of statistics of timing and use of memory buffers. The monitored program must utilize either the UNIX or the VxWorks operating system. PLS can monitor performance requirements in real...

HiMAP is an advanced, portable software system that implements highly modular, parallel computation of the possibly nonlinear, coupled behaviors of aeroelastic and other complex systems that comprise subsystems, each of which is modeled by use of software formulated within a separate...

The Integrated Composite Analyzer (ICAN) computer program, originally written in the FORTRAN language, has been completely recoded in Java to make it more widely usable. Whereas the original ICAN could be executed on only a limited number of platforms, ICAN/JAVA is compatible with almost all...

A system of software has been designed to enable autonomous operations of the three University-built miniature spacecraft of the Three Corner Sat mission, scheduled for launch in 2003. The main software subsystems and their functions are the following:

Mobile Router is operating system code residing in a network router allowing the router to provide mobile-ipv4 functionality for any attached nodes. Mobile Router enables the entire network to roam. It is no longer necessary for every node in the network to run mobile Internet Protocol (IP) software...

Release 3.0 of the Multi-Stage Runge-Kutta Circular Advection Solver is a computer program that solves the circular-advection problem by use of a general m-stage Runge-Kutta scheme (for m = 1, 2, and 4) on a Cartesian (x,y) grid with optimized coefficients. [The circular-advection problem, ¶u/¶t =...

A $90 million AUS (Australian dollar) upgrade ($49 million USD) to the Cronulla Sewage Treatment Plant in Southern Sydney, Australia, was undertaken to meet the requirements of a growing population and to add advanced sewage treatment processes including ultraviolet disinfection. During...

SMARTSHELL is a finite-element computer program for analyzing composite-material propulsion-system structural components (including shells) that are characterized as “smart” because they contain integral piezoelectric sensors and/or actuators. The program implements a unique mixed-field...

Strain Rate Dependent Analysis of Polymer Matrix Composites (STRANALPMC) is a computer program for analyzing strain-rate-dependent, nonlinear deformation and failure responses of composite materials in which the matrices are ductile polymers. Modified versions of the Ramaswamy-Stouffer...

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...