85 research outputs found
Flight experience with lightweight, low-power miniaturized instrumentation systems
Engineers at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility (NASA-Dryden) have conducted two flight research programs with lightweight, low-power miniaturized instrumentation systems built around commercial data loggers. One program quantified the performance of a radio-controlled model airplane. The other program was a laminar boundary-layer transition experiment on a manned sailplane. NASA-Dryden personnel's flight experience with the miniaturized instrumentation systems used on these two programs is reported. The data loggers, the sensors, and the hardware and software developed to complete the systems are described. How the systems were used is described and the challenges encountered to make them work are covered. Examples of raw data and derived results are shown as well. Finally, future plans for these systems are discussed. For some flight research applications where miniaturized instrumentation is a requirement, the authors conclude that commercially available data loggers and sensors are viable alternatives. In fact, the data loggers and sensors make it possible to gather research-quality data in a timely and cost-effective manner
Letter to J. Wesley Cochran regarding the Southeastern Law Librarian, April 13, 1987
A letter from Timothy Coggins to J. Wesley Cochran regarding a deadline for the Southeastern Law Librarian
Validation of a method for ionospheric electron density reconstruction by means of vertical incidence data during quiet and storm periods
A preliminary validation of the technique developed using the NeQuick ionospheric model and the «effective ionization parameter» Az, based on vertical total electron content data ingestion, was carried out in a previous study. The current study was performed to extend the analyzed conditions and confirm the results. The method to validate this technique is based on a comparison between hourly F2 peak values measured with Vertical Incidence (VI) soundings and those calculated with the new technique. Data corresponding to different hours and seasons (equinox, summer solstice, and winter solstice) during the period 2000-2003 (high and medium solar activity conditions) were compared for all available ionosonde stations. The results show a good agreement between foF2 and hmF2 values obtained with the new technique and measurements from vertical incidence soundings during quiet and storms conditions.European Community Fifth Framework Programm
Orbiter Flying Qualities (OFQ) Workstation user's guide
This project was devoted to the development of a software package, called the Orbiter Flying Qualities (OFQ) Workstation, for working with the OFQ Archives which are specially selected sets of space shuttle entry flight data relevant to flight control and flying qualities. The basic approach to creation of the workstation software was to federate and extend commercial software products to create a low cost package that operates on personal computers. Provision was made to link the workstation to large computers, but the OFQ Archive files were also converted to personal computer diskettes and can be stored on workstation hard disk drives. The primary element of the workstation developed in the project is the Interactive Data Handler (IDH) which allows the user to select data subsets from the archives and pass them to specialized analysis programs. The IDH was developed as an application in a relational database management system product. The specialized analysis programs linked to the workstation include a spreadsheet program, FREDA for spectral analysis, MFP for frequency domain system identification, and NIPIP for pilot-vehicle system parameter identification. The workstation also includes capability for ensemble analysis over groups of missions
Space Based Real-Time Kinematic GPS for National Geodetic Survey Texas Height Modernization
Height Modernization is a program in NOAA\u27s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) that uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other new technologies to increase the accuracy of elevation measurements that comprise the vertical portion of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). Height Modernization Program within NGS is working with states to improve the height component of their survey control networks and related products. Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi (A&M-CC) was designated as the recipient of a grant under the Program during the most recent Congressional cycle. In order to best coordinate and manage the activities funded by the grant, A&M-CC has established the Texas Spatial Reference Center (TxSRC).
TxSRC will assist state agencies, private companies, public utilities and federal agencies in their efforts to improve the statewide network of control points as well as to support their use of GPS Continuing Operating Reference Stations (CORS). TxSRC plans to support the development of a statewide system of broadcasting Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP) for RTK-GPS. TxSRC will research methods of using NTRIP to locate and to collect information on geodetic monuments. NTRIP use is being considered as a way to overcome the limitations of RTK. Current RTKGPS implementations require cellular or radio modem connections as the mechanism for receiving differential corrections. This infrastructure is not available in many remote and rural areas of Texas.
It is proposed that a space-based (SB) RTK-GPS should be used to provide corrections in areas where no other corrections can be obtained without additional terrestrial infrastructure development. The proposed solution uses the Hughes Network System\u27s Directway broadband internet satellite to send corrections to remote sites. Data would be received at the remote site and then locally broadcast to rover users. This SB-RTK-GPS will allow TxSRC to utilize the existing network of CORS sites. The CORS will be used to generate the corrections that provide NTRIP. This research will investigate the configuration concerns and other and technical aspects of this proposed methodology.
Reprinted with permission from The Institute of Navigation (http://ion.org/) and The Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, (pp. 1079-1082). Fairfax, VA: The Institute of Navigation
Interactive art, immersive technology and live performance
University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.This research explores the impact of combining interactive art and immersive technology with live performance. An interactive system was designed to combine the movement of human performers with physical simulations in order to generate complex visualizations that respond to the performers in real-time. This system was used prominently in a series of live performances including dance, music and physical theatre. The performances and system evolved symbiotically throughout this practice-based research. The capabilities of the interactive system was inspired by the demands of each live performance and, in turn, each performance was inspired by the evolving capabilities of the system. A number of immersive technologies including 360 degree stereoscopic visuals, surround sound and physical modeling were added to the system and explored within the context of live interactive performance.
Self-reflections of the researcher’s role as interactive artist and technologist is provided. These reflections suggest that the underlying system should be built as flexible and as scalable as possible to cater for different sized venues and budgets. A basic framework is provided for building such a system, utilizing open source software, pre-existing hardware and the flexibility of modern network architectures.
Two major works are examined in detail, a physical theatre show and an immersive installation, both paying homage to the classic Australian children’s novel, Dot and the Kangaroo. Interviews with the performers, artists and key contributors of these productions were conducted. These interviews were analyzed using grounded theory techniques to gain insights into the use of interactive and immersive technologies within the productions and how it impacted their professional craft.
The interactive technology was found to bring an element of ‘aliveness’ to the visuals, but were most successful when tightly integrated with the physical choreography to portray a specific part of the narrative. The interactive components were perceived to assume many different roles within these productions including that of character, digital set, theatrical mask and lighting state as the artists attempt to identify with the technology through their own personal knowledge base and expertise. The 360 degree visuals of the interactive installation immersed the participants in a digital depiction of the Australian bush, and invited a sense of exploration and play. The large scale installation allowed multiple children to experience the work simultaneously, while live actors promoted a richness of movement and facilitated social interactions amongst the participants.
The artistic productions, technological system design and findings based on interviews, analysis and self-reflection are presented as contributions towards the relatively unexplored intersection between interactive art, immersive technology and live performance
Tox21Enricher-Shiny: an R Shiny application for toxicity functional annotation analysis
Inference of toxicological and mechanistic properties of untested chemicals through structural or biological similarity is a commonly employed approach for initial chemical characterization and hypothesis generation. We previously developed a web-based application, Tox21Enricher-Grails, on the Grails framework that identifies enriched biological/toxicological properties of chemical sets for the purpose of inferring properties of untested chemicals within the set. It was able to detect significantly overrepresented biological (e.g., receptor binding), toxicological (e.g., carcinogenicity), and chemical (e.g., toxicologically relevant chemical substructures) annotations within sets of chemicals screened in the Tox21 platform. Here, we present an R Shiny application version of Tox21Enricher-Grails, Tox21Enricher-Shiny, with more robust features and updated annotations. Tox21Enricher-Shiny allows users to interact with the web application component (available at http://hurlab.med.und.edu/Tox21Enricher/) through a user-friendly graphical user interface or to directly access the application’s functions through an application programming interface. This version now supports InChI strings as input in addition to CASRN and SMILES identifiers. Input chemicals that contain certain reactive functional groups (nitrile, aldehyde, epoxide, and isocyanate groups) may react with proteins in cell-based Tox21 assays: this could cause Tox21Enricher-Shiny to produce spurious enrichment analysis results. Therefore, this version of the application can now automatically detect and ignore such problematic chemicals in a user’s input. The application also offers new data visualizations, and the architecture has been greatly simplified to allow for simple deployment, version control, and porting. The application may be deployed onto a Posit Connect or Shiny server, and it uses Postgres for database management. As other Tox21-related tools are being migrated to the R Shiny platform, the development of Tox21Enricher-Shiny is a logical transition to use R’s strong data analysis and visualization capacities and to provide aesthetic and developmental consistency with other Tox21 applications developed by the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
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