Equipment concept design and development plans for microgravity science and applications research on space station: Combustion tunnel, laser diagnostic system, advanced modular furnace, integrated electronics laboratory

Taking advantage of the microgravity environment of space NASA has initiated the preliminary design of a permanently manned space station that will support technological advances in process science and stimulate the development of new and improved materials having applications across the commercial spectrum. Previous studies have been performed to define from the researcher's perspective, the requirements for laboratory equipment to accommodate microgravity experiments on the space station. Functional requirements for the identified experimental apparatus and support equipment were determined. From these hardware requirements, several items were selected for concept designs and subsequent formulation of development plans. This report documents the concept designs and development plans for two items of experiment apparatus - the Combustion Tunnel and the Advanced Modular Furnace, and two items of support equipment the Laser Diagnostic System and the Integrated Electronics Laboratory. For each concept design, key technology developments were identified that are required to enable or enhance the development of the respective hardware

Wind Energy Management

The book "Wind Energy Management" is a required part of pursuing research work in the field of Renewable Energy at most universities. It provides in-depth knowledge to the subject for the beginners and stimulates further interest in the topic. The salient features of this book include: - Strong coverage of key topics - User friendly and accessible presentation to make learning interesting as much as possible - Its approach is explanatory and language is lucid and communicable - Recent research papers are incorporate

STRICT: a language and tool set for the design of very large scale integrated circuits

PhD ThesisAn essential requirement for the design of large VLSI circuits is a design methodology which would allow the designer to overcome the complexity and correctness issues associated with the building of such circuits. We propose that many of the problems of the design of large circuits can be solved by using a formal design notation based upon the functional programming paradigm, that embodies design concepts that have been used extensively as the framework for software construction. The design notation should permit parallel, sequential, and recursive decompositions of a design into smaller components, and it should allow large circuits to be constructed from simpler circuits that can be embedded in a design in a modular fashion. Consistency checking should be provided as early as possible in a design. Such a methodology would structure the design of a circuit in much the same way that procedures, classes, and control structures may be used to structure large software systems. However, such a design notation must be supported by tools which automatically check the consistency of the design, if the methodology is to be practical. In principle, the methodology should impose constraints upon circuit design to reduce errors and provide' correctness by construction' . It should be possible to generate efficient and correct circuits, by providing a route to a large variety of design tools commonly found in design systems: simulators, automatic placement and routing tools, module generators, schematic capture tools, and formal verification and synthesis tools

Applications of artificial intelligence techniques to a spacecraft control problem

Artificial intelligence applied to spacecraft control proble

State of the art survey of technologies applicable to NASA's aeronautics, avionics and controls program

The state of the art survey (SOAS) covers six technology areas including flightpath management, aircraft control system, crew station technology, interface & integration technology, military technology, and fundamental technology. The SOAS included contributions from over 70 individuals in industry, government, and the universities

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study. Volume 2: Appendices

The current status of the Active Controls Technology (ACT) for the advanced subsonic transport project is investigated through analysis of the systems technical data. Control systems technologies under examination include computerized reliability analysis, pitch axis fly by wire actuator, flaperon actuation system design trade study, control law synthesis and analysis, flutter mode control and gust load alleviation analysis, and implementation of alternative ACT systems. Extensive analysis of the computer techniques involved in each system is included

Real-time analysis of video signals

Many practical and experimental systems employing image processing techniques have been built by other workers for various applications. Most of these systems are computer-based and very few operate in a real time environment. The objective of this work is to build a microprocessor-based system for video image processing. The system is used in conjunction with an on-line TV camera and processing is carried out in real time. The enormous storage requirement of digitized TV signals and the real time constraint suggest that some simplification of the data must take place prior to any viable processing. Data reduction is attained through the representation of objects by their edges, an approach often adopted for feature extraction in pattern recognition systems. A new technique for edge detection by applying comparison criteria to differentials at adjacent pixels of the video image is developed and implemented as a preprocessing hardware unit. A circuit for the generation of the co-ordinates of edge points is constructed to free the processing computer of this task, allowing it more time for on-line analysis of video signals. Besides the edge detector and co-ordinate generator the hardware built consists of a microprocessor system based on a Texas Instruments T.US 9900 device, a first-in-first-out buffer store and interface circuitry to a TV camera and display devices. All hardware modules and their power supplies are assembled in one unit to provide a standalone instrument. The problem chosen for investigation is analysis of motion in a visual scene. Aspects of motion studied concern the tracking of moving objects with simple geometric shapes and description of their motion. More emphasis is paid to the analysis of human eye movements and measurement of its point-of-regard which has many practical applications in the fields of physiology and psychology. This study provides a basis for the design of a processing unit attached to an oculometer to replace bulky minicomputer-based eye motion analysis systems. Programs are written for storage, analysis and display of results in real time