Water immersion facility general description, spacecraft design division, crew station branch

The Water Immersion Facility provides an accurate, safe, neutral buoyancy simulation of zero gravity conditions for development of equipment and procedures, and the training of crews. A detailed description is given of some of the following systems: (1) water tank and support equipment; (2) communications systems; (3) environmental control and liquid cooled garment system (EcS/LCG); (4) closed circuit television system; and (5) medical support system

Current Performance and On-Going Improvements of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope

An overview of the current status of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope constructed and operated at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is presented. The basic design concept and the verified performance of the telescope system are described. Also given are the status of the instrument package offered to the astronomical community, the status of operation, and some of the future plans. The status of the telescope reported in a number of SPIE papers as of the summer of 2002 are incorporated with some updates included as of 2004 February. However, readers are encouraged to check the most updated status of the telescope through the home page, http://subarutelescope.org/index.html, and/or the direct contact with the observatory staff.Comment: 18 pages (17 pages in published version), 29 figures (GIF format), This is the version before the galley proo

Miniature exoplanet radial velocity array I: design, commissioning, and early photometric results

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a US-based observational facility dedicated to the discovery and characterization of exoplanets around a nearby sample of bright stars. MINERVA employs a robotic array of four 0.7 m telescopes outfitted for both high-resolution spec- troscopy and photometry, and is designed for completely autonomous operation. The primary science program is a dedicated radial velocity survey and the secondary science objective is to obtain high precision transit light curves. The modular design of the facility and the flexibility of our hardware allows for both science programs to be pursued simultaneously, while the robotic control software provides a robust and efficient means to carry out nightly observations. In this article, we describe the design of MINERVA including major hardware components, software, and science goals. The telescopes and photometry cameras are characterized at our test facility on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, CA, and their on-sky performance is validated. New observations from our test facility demonstrate sub-mmag photometric precision of one of our radial velocity survey targets, and we present new transit observations and fits of WASP-52b—a known hot-Jupiter with an inflated radius and misaligned orbit. The process of relocating the MINERVA hardware to its final destination at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona has begun, and science operations are expected to commence within 2015

The IFMIF-DONES remote handling control system: Experimental setup for OPC UA integration

The devices used to carry out Remote Handling (RH) manipulation tasks in radiation environments address requirements that are significantly different from common robotic and industrial systems due to the lack of repetitive operations and incompletely specified control actions. This imposes the need of control with human-in -the-loop operations. These RH systems are used on facilities such PRIDE, CERN, ESS, ITER or IFMIF-DONES, the reference used for this work. For the RH system is crucial to provide high availability, robustness against radiation, haptic devices for teleoperation and dexterous operation, and smooth coordination and integration with the centralized control room. To achieve this purpose is necessary to find the best approach towards a standard control framework capable of providing a standard set of functionalities, tools, interfaces, communications, and data formats to the different types of mechatronic devices that are usually considered for Remote Handling tasks. This previous phase of homogenization is not considered in most facilities, which leads towards a costly integration process during the commissioning phase of the facility.In this paper, an approach to the IFMIF-DONES RH Control framework with strong standard support based on protocols such as OPC UA has been described and validated through an experimental setup. This test bench includes a set of physical devices (PLC, conveyor belt and computers) and a set of OPC UA compatible software tools, configured and operable from any node of the University of Granada network. This proof-of-concept mockup provides flexibility to modify the dimension and complexity of the setup by using new virtual or physical devices connected to a unique backbone. Besides, it will be used to test different aspects such as control schemes, failure injection, network modeling, predictive maintenance studies, operator training on simulated/ real scenarios, usability or ergonomics of the user interfaces before the deployment. In this contribution, the results are described and illustrated using a conveyor belt set-up, a small but representative reference used to validate the RH control concepts here proposed.European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme 101052200 - EUROfusio

The Skylab Parasol

An alternate thermal protection system for the Skylab space station cluster was deemed necessary shortly after launch when severe damage occured to the orbital workshop as it passed through the period of maximum dynamic pressure. Data indicated that the combination micrometeoroid and thermal shield on the sun facing side of the vehicle had been destroyed. The simultaneous design, fabrication, and test of the Skylab Parasol System which was completed in 6 days of around-the-clock effort is described. The Skylab Parasol design was selected as the primary sunshade device based on simplicity of design, ability to fabricate quickly, and early demonstration of a working prototype which featured semiautomatic deployment from within the workshop under shirt sleeve environment conditions

A prototype telerobotic platform for live transmission line maintenance: review of design and development.

This paper reports technical design of a novel experimental test facility, using haptic-enabled teleoperation of robotic manipulators, for live transmission line maintenance. The goal is to study and develop appropriate techniques in repair overhead power transmission lines by allowing linemen to wirelessly guide a remote manipulator, installed on a crane bucket, to execute dexterous maintenance tasks, such as twisting a tie wire around a cable. Challenges and solutions for developing such a system are outlined. The test facility consists of a PHANToM Desktop haptic device (master site), an industrial hydraulic manipulator (slave site) mounted atop a Stewart platform, and a wireless communication channel connecting the master and slave sites. The teleoperated system is tested under different force feedback schemes, while the base is excited and the communication channel is delayed and/or lossy to emulate realistic network behaviors. The force feedback schemes are: virtual fixture, augmentation force and augmented virtual fixture. Performance of each scheme is evaluated under three measures: task completion time, number of failed trials and displacement of the slave manipulator end-effector. The developed test rig has been shown to be successful in performing haptic-enabled teleoperation for live-line maintenance in a laboratory setting. The authors aim at establishing a benchmark test facility for objective evaluation of ideas and concepts in the teleoperation of live-line maintenance tasks

The effect of offsite construction on occupational health and safety

The continuous desire to improve health and safety in UK construction has in recent years been challenged to adopt offsite strategies in order to address the poor health and safety record of construction. Despite the benefits of using offsite there has been little research on the actual benefits and disadvantages of the effect of offsite on occupational health and safety. This is important given that the UK government has promoted the use of offsite to improve health and safety performance. This thesis provides a strategy for the management of offsite risk and a risk management tool has been developed. The study investigated offsite manufacturers views on offsite activities and risks in comparison with insitu activities and risks. This was achieved through three phases: phase I comprised two expert group interviews, phase II involved ergonomic audits and phase III consisted of three semi-structured interviews with three offsite manufacturers. The thesis identified that there are significant health and safety benefits of offsite. The benefits relate to specific activities within the offsite categories and context studied. Examples include the elimination of work at height, reduction in noise, reduction in work in confined space, reduction in congested work with trade overlap and greater control over work in the factory. The research revealed that there are still potential health and safety risks with offsite. Examples include; transportation and delivery of units of large size and weight with associated high consequence craneage and handling risks (unit fall and hand injury), whole body vibration, cuts, MSDs, RSIs, fumes and slips trips and falls. There appears to be little in the literature to support the identification of offsite risk issues. The study identified strategies to eliminate and reduce offsite residual risks. The case study investigated solutions to further reduce residual risks, which were further explored in phase III the semi-structured interviews. The solutions are grouped into four approaches: process change, workplace environment designing out risks, automation and the use of tools. An offsite risk management tool was developed which transfers knowledge from the study to provide awareness and management of offsite risk. The thesis provides a contribution to knowledge by providing a better understanding of offsite risks, offsite residual risks and strategies used to reduce residual risks

Infrastructure for deployment of power systems

A preliminary effort in characterizing the types of stationary lunar power systems which may be considered for emplacement on the lunar surface from the proposed initial 100-kW unit in 2003 to later units ranging in power from 25 to 825 kW is presented. Associated with these power systems are their related infrastructure hardware including: (1) electrical cable, wiring, switchgear, and converters; (2) deployable radiator panels; (3) deployable photovoltaic (PV) panels; (4) heat transfer fluid piping and connection joints; (5) power system instrumentation and control equipment; and (6) interface hardware between lunar surface construction/maintenance equipment and power system. This report: (1) presents estimates of the mass and volumes associated with these power systems and their related infrastructure hardware; (2) provides task breakdown description for emplacing this equipment; (3) gives estimated heat, forces, torques, and alignment tolerances for equipment assembly; and (4) provides other important equipment/machinery requirements where applicable. Packaging options for this equipment will be discussed along with necessary site preparation requirements. Design and analysis issues associated with the final emplacement of this power system hardware are also described

Recent Developments in the Design, Capabilities and Autonomous Operations of a Lightweight Surface Manipulation System and Test-bed

The first generation of a versatile high performance device for performing payload handling and assembly operations on planetary surfaces, the Lightweight Surface Manipulation System (LSMS), has been designed and built. Over the course of its development, conventional crane type payload handling configurations and operations have been successfully demonstrated and the range of motion, types of operations and the versatility greatly expanded. This enhanced set of 1st generation LSMS hardware is now serving as a laboratory test-bed allowing the continuing development of end effectors, operational techniques and remotely controlled and automated operations. This paper describes the most recent LSMS and test-bed development activities, that have focused on two major efforts. The first effort was to complete a preliminary design of the 2nd generation LSMS that has the capability for limited mobility and can reposition itself between lander decks, mobility chassis, and fixed base locations. A major portion of this effort involved conducting a study to establish the feasibility of, and define, the specifications for a lightweight cable-drive waist joint. The second effort was to continue expanding the versatility and autonomy of large planetary surface manipulators using the 1st generation LSMS as a test-bed. This has been accomplished by increasing manipulator capabilities and efficiencies through both design changes and tool and end effector development. A software development effort has expanded the operational capabilities of the LSMS test-bed to include; autonomous operations based on stored paths, use of a vision system for target acquisition and tracking, and remote command and control over a communications bridge

Life science payloads planning study integration facility survey results

The integration facility survey effort described is structured to examine the facility resources needed to conduct life science payload (LSP) integration checkout activities at NASA-JSC. The LSP integration facility operations and functions are defined along with the LSP requirements for facility design. A description of available JSC life science facilities is presented and a comparison of accommodations versus requirements is reported