INVERSE METHOD OF NANOINDENTATION BY LASER INTERFEROMETRY

Nanoindentation is a process characterized by the continuous measurement of the force applied to and the resulting displacement of a sample. Commercial indenters are cost-prohibitive; therefore, a low-cost module using a unique inverse method of nanoindentation was developed. Using this method, the force and displacement data are obtained indirectly from the interferometer images. A final design was selected, analyzed, and constructed. Lastly, a series of indentation events were performed, validating both the mechanism and the approach to nanoindentation

NASA Tech Briefs, April 1995

This issue of the NASA Tech Briefs has a special focus section on video and imaging, a feature on the NASA invention of the year, and a resource report on the Dryden Flight Research Center. The issue also contains articles on electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer programs, mechanics, machinery, manufacturing/fabrication, mathematics and information sciences and life sciences. In addition to the standard articles in the NASA Tech brief, this contains a supplement entitled "Laser Tech Briefs" which features an article on the National Ignition Facility, and other articles on the use of Lasers

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 29)

Abstracts are provided for 115 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1986 through June 1986. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent application

A Generic Test Platform for Automated Camera Module Validation

Nowadays every smart phone has at least one camera, sometimes even three or more. Even most of the very basic phones has a camera inbuild. This huge demand on camera module business has brought new challenges also to development since the number of versions has riced together with tighter schedules. Camera module validation is a big part of the development phase as every development version needs to be validated carefully. When working with camera module suppliers, every round of validation contains a set of different tests including but not limiting to image quality, hardware and functional, electromagnetic compatibility and reliability tests. So far, the tests have been mostly developer driven and at most semi-manual including image capturing manually and reporting results manually. This kind of things consumes a lot of time and money as the engineer is tied to do simple manual tasks when one could be doing more valuable work. Not to mention the losses for the company if the product doesn’t reach the market in time because of the schedule wasn’t reached. Test automation brings heavily needed time savings but there hasn’t been good enough software that is capable to automate tests in various different categories mentioned above. The goal with the test automation is to also limit human made errors to minimum and to generate comparable results so that both the supplier and the customer can do the same tests and get the same results. This is important to be able to rely on suppliers’ test results. This thesis introduces a way to create automated testing system on top of the existing test software. The idea is to add another layer of software on top of graphical user interface and introduce scripting framework with modules that enables easy development of new automated tests and generic reporting. General test cases are introduced in this thesis to get overall horizontal picture of the validation process. The goal of the thesis was to deliver a very general platform to enable automated camera module validation in as many sectors as possible. The platform does give a lot of benefits in the validation and was taken successfully into use in various tests. The system is huge and there comes a lot of new feature requests all the time. There are also some ideas to further develop for example in report generation and script syntax checks.Nykyisin jokaisessa älypuhelimessa on vähintään yksi kamera, joissakin jopa kolme tai enemmän. Jopa kaikista yksinkertaisimmissa peruspuhelimissa on kamera usein sisäänrakennettuna. Suuri kysyntä on tuonut uusia haasteita kameramoduulien kehitykseen, sillä tiukempien aikataulujen lisäksi myös erilaisten versioiden määrä on kasvanut. Kameramoduulien kehitysvaiheessa validointi on suuressa roolissa. Työskennellessä kameramoduulitoimittajien kanssa, jokainen validointikierros sisältää ainakin kuvanlaadun, laitteiston toiminnallisuuden, sähkömagneettisen yhteensopivuuden sekä luotettavuuden testauksen. Tähän asti testit ovat olleet pääasiassa kehittäjien tekemiä, usein korkeintaan puoliautomatisoituja, pitäen sisällään käsin tehdyn kuvankaappauksen sekä raportoinnin. Tällaiset käsin tehtävät työt vievät valtavasti aikaa sekä rahaa, kun kehittäjät ovat sidottuna yksinkertaisiin tehtäviin eivätkä ratkomassa isompia ongelmia. Puhumattakaan yritykselle tulevista tappioista, jos tuote ei ennätä markkinoille ajallaan esimerkiksi vaillinaisen testauksen vuoksi. Testiautomaatio tuo paljon kaivattua ajansäästöä, sillä aiemmin ei ole ollut saatavilla ohjelmistoa, mikä pystyisi automatisoimaan näin laajan kirjon eri tyyppisiä testejä. Testiautomaation tavoitteena on lisäksi vähentää käyttäjän tekemiä virheitä, sekä tuottaa vertailtavissa olevia tuloksia. Tällöin sekä toimittajat että tilaaja voivat tehdä samat testit omissa tiloissaan ja saada vertailukelpoiset tulokset. Tämä on ensiarvoisen tärkeää, jotta tilaaja pystyy luottamaan toimittajilta saatuihin testituloksiin. Tämä diplomityö esittelee yhden ratkaisun testiautomaation kehittämiselle olemassa olevan testijärjestelmän päälle. Ajatus on tuoda olemassa olevan graafisen käyttöliittymän päälle yksi ohjelmakerros lisää, jolla ohjataan erillisten komentosarjojen avulla koko ohjelmistoa. Lisätty modulaarinen kerros mahdollistaa uusien automaattisten testien helpon kehityksen ja yleiskäyttöisen raportoinnin. Diplomityössä esitellään yleiset testitapaukset, jotta saadaan horisontaalinen käsitys siitä, millainen koko validointiprosessi on. Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää testialusta kameramoduulien validointiin, joka olisi käytettävissä mahdollisimman monessa eri tyyppisessä testissä. Testiohjelmisto otettiin käyttöön osana validointiprosessia onnistuneesti useassa eri testitapauksessa. Koko testijärjestelmä on hyvin laaja ja vaatimuksia uusille ominaisuuksille tulee jatkuvasti. Työn lopuksi käsitelläänkin hieman parannus- ja jatkokehitysehdotuksia liittyen muun muassa raporttien tuottamiseen ja komentosarjojen syntaksin tarkistukseen

Hybrid wheelchair controller for handicapped and quadriplegic patients

In this dissertation, a hybrid wheelchair controller for handicapped and quadriplegic patient is proposed. The system has two sub-controllers which are the voice controller and the head tilt controller. The system aims to help quadriplegic, handicapped, elderly and paralyzed patients to control a robotic wheelchair using voice commands and head movements instead of a traditional joystick controller. The multi-input design makes the system more flexible to adapt to the available body signals. The low-cost design is taken into consideration as it allows more patients to use this system

NASA Tech Briefs, November 1993

Topics covered: Advanced Manufacturing; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences

The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

NASA Tech Briefs, August 2010

Topics covered include: Technology Focus: Mechanical Components; Electronics/Computers; Software; Materials; Mechanics/Machinery; Manufacturing; Bio-Medical; Physical Sciences; Information Sciences; and Books and Reports

Application of precision engineering for nanometre focussing of hard X-rays in synchrotron beam lines

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Many modern synchrotron beamlines are able to focus X-rays to a few microns in size. Although the technology to achieve this is well established, performing routine experiments with such beams is still time consuming and requires careful set up. Furthermore there is a need to be able to carry out experiments using hard X-ray beams with even smaller beams of between 100nm and 10nm. There are focussing optics that are able to do this but integrating these optics into a stable and a usable experimental set up are challenging. Experiments can often take some hours and any change in position of the beam on the sample will adversely affect the quality of the results. Experiments will often require scanning of the beam across the sample and so mechanisms suitable for high resolution but stable scanning are required. Performing routine experiments with nanometre sized beams requires mechanical systems to be able to position the sample, focussing optics, detectors and diagnostics with significantly higher levels of stability and motion resolution than is required from so called micro focus beam lines. This dissertation critically reviews precision engineering and associated technologies that are relevant for building nano focus beamlines, and the following key issues are explored: • Long term position stability due to thermal effects • Short term position stability due to vibration • Position motion with nanometre incremental motion • Results of some tests are presented and recommendations given. Some test results are presented and guidance on designing nano focus beamlines presented.Diamond Light Sourc