Development and Evaluation of Sensor Concepts for Ageless Aerospace Vehicles: Report 6 - Development and Demonstration of a Self-Organizing Diagnostic System for Structural Health Monitoring

This report describes a significant advance in the capability of the CSIRO/NASA structural health monitoring Concept Demonstrator (CD). The main thrust of the work has been the development of a mobile robotic agent, and the hardware and software modifications and developments required to enable the demonstrator to operate as a single, self-organizing, multi-agent system. This single-robot system is seen as the forerunner of a system in which larger numbers of small robots perform inspection and repair tasks cooperatively, by self-organization. While the goal of demonstrating self-organized damage diagnosis was not fully achieved in the time available, much of the work required for the final element that enables the robot to point the video camera and transmit an image has been completed. A demonstration video of the CD and robotic systems operating will be made and forwarded to NASA

Development and Evaluation of Sensor Concepts for Ageless Aerospace Vehicles: Report 5 - Phase 2 Implementation of the Concept Demonstrator

This report describes the second phase of the implementation of the Concept Demonstrator experimental test-bed system containing sensors and processing hardware distributed throughout the structure, which uses multi-agent algorithms to characterize impacts and determine a suitable response to these impacts. This report expands and adds to the report of the first phase implementation. The current status of the system hardware is that all 192 physical cells (32 on each of the 6 hexagonal prism faces) have been constructed, although only four of these presently contain data-acquisition sub-modules to allow them to acquire sensor data. Impact detection.. location and severity have been successfully demonstrated. The software modules for simulating cells and controlling the test-bed are fully operational. although additional functionality will be added over time. The visualization workstation displays additional diagnostic information about the array of cells (both real and simulated) and additional damage information. Local agent algorithms have been developed that demonstrate emergent behavior of the complex multi-agent system, through the formation of impact damage boundaries and impact networks. The system has been shown to operate well for multiple impacts. and to demonstrate robust reconfiguration in the presence of damage to numbers of cells

Physical Intelligent Sensors

This paper proposes the development of intelligent sensors as part of an integrated systems approach, i.e. one treats the sensors as a complete system with its own sensing hardware (the traditional sensor), A/D converters, processing and storage capabilities, software drivers, self-assessment algorithms, communication protocols and evolutionary methodologies that allow them to get better with time. Under a project being undertaken at the NASA s Stennis Space Center, an integrated framework is being developed for the intelligent monitoring of smart elements. These smart elements can be sensors, actuators or other devices. The immediate application is the monitoring of the rocket test stands, but the technology should be generally applicable to the Integrated Systems Health Monitoring (ISHM) vision. This paper outlines progress made in the development of intelligent sensors by describing the work done till date on Physical Intelligent Sensors (PIS). The PIS discussed here consists of a thermocouple used to read temperature in an analog form which is then converted into digital values. A microprocessor collects the sensor readings and runs numerous embedded event detection routines on the collected data and if any event is detected, it is reported, stored and sent to a remote system through an Ethernet connection. Hence the output of the PIS is data coupled with confidence factor in the reliability of the data which leads to information on the health of the sensor at all times. All protocols are consistent with IEEE 1451.X standards. This work lays the foundation for the next generation of smart devices that have embedded intelligence for distributed decision making capabilities

Heath Monitoring of Thermal Protection Systems - Preliminary Measurements and Design Specifications

The work reported here is the first stage of a project that aims to develop a health monitoring system for Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) that enables a vehicle to safely re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. The TPS health monitoring system is to be integrated into an existing acoustic emissions-based Concept Demonstrator, developed by CSIRO, which has been previously demonstrated for evaluating impact damage of aerospace systems

Physical Intelligent Sensors

This paper proposes the development of intelligent sensors as part of an integrated systems approach, i.e. one treats the sensors as a complete system with its own sensing hardware (the traditional sensor), A/D converters, processing and storage capabilities, software drivers, self-assessment algorithms, communication protocols and evolutionary methodologies that allow them to get better with time. Under a project being undertaken at the NASA s Stennis Space Center, an integrated framework is being developed for the intelligent monitoring of smart elements. These smart elements can be sensors, actuators or other devices. The immediate application is the monitoring of the rocket test stands, but the technology should be generally applicable to the Integrated Systems Health Monitoring (ISHM) vision. This paper outlines progress made in the development of intelligent sensors by describing the work done till date on Physical Intelligent Sensors (PIS). The PIS discussed here consists of a thermocouple used to read temperature in an analog form which is then converted into digital values. A microprocessor collects the sensor readings and runs numerous embedded event detection routines on the collected data and if any event is detected, it is reported, stored and sent to a remote system through an Ethernet connection. Hence the output of the PIS is data coupled with confidence factor in the reliability of the data which leads to information on the health of the sensor at all times. All protocols are consistent with IEEE 1451.X standards. This work lays the foundation for the next generation of smart devices that have embedded intelligence for distributed decision making capabilities

Development and Evaluation of Sensor Concepts for Ageless Aerospace Vehicles: Report 3 - Design of the Concept Demonstrator

This report provides an outline of the essential features of a Structural Health Monitoring Concept Demonstrator (CD) that will be constructed during the next eight months. It is emphasized that the design cannot be considered to be complete, and that design work will continue in parallel with construction and testing. A major advantage of the modular design is that small modules of the system can be developed, tested and modified before a commitment is made to full system development. The CD is expected to develop and evolve for a number of years after its initial construction. This first stage will, of necessity, be relatively simple and have limited capabilities. Later developments will improve all aspects of the functionality of the system, including sensing, processing, communications, intelligence and response. The report indicates the directions this later development will take

An analysis of the security of the Republic of China on Taiwan

Until the publication of 1992 Nien Kuo-fang Pao-kao Shu (1992 National Defence Report, Republic of China) by the Ministry of National Defence, and Kuo-fang Waichiao Pai-pi Shu (White Paper on National Defence and Diplomacy) by the Institute for National Policy Research in 1992, there was no single text or collection of readings, written from a ROC perspective or addressing issues of ROC's concern, which was available for people interested in national security. This dissertation is intended to fill that gap by broadening the theoretical and empirical evaluation of Taiwan's national security to encompass military, political and economic factors. The primary objective of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of the ROC's approach to national security through an examination both of the dynamics of the numerous security threats confronting Taiwan and of the measures instituted to preserve and enhance national security. To accomplish this the study is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 will provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of national security. Discussions focus on: the goal of national security; the sources and nature of threats to national security; and the measures to preserve and enhance national security. Chapter 2 considers the military dimensions of Taiwan's security. The following questions will be asked: Under what conditions might the PRC attack Taiwan? Is the PRC capable of gaining control of Taiwan by force? What are the most likely military options to be employed by the PRC should it decide to attack Taiwan? How capable is the ROC of defending itself? And what defence options are available for Taiwan? Chapter 3 examines the impact of the Taiwan independence movement (TIM) on Taiwan's political stability and national security. It centres on the following questions: What are the motives for the pursuit of Taiwan independence? What are both the ROC's and the PRC's attitudes towards the TIM? Will "self-determination" be applicable to Taiwan? And what will be the likely impact of TIM on Taiwan's security? Chapter 4 considers the economic dimension of security. GATT is used as a case study, and the implications of membership for the government and the economy of Taiwan are examined. As with any initiative, many questions have been raised. Because of Taiwan's excessive dependence on exports, its economic success depends in no small way on its ability to keep open its avenues of trade with the outside world. Cutting off those avenues could threaten both Taiwan's economic success and national security. Since survival is essential to Taiwan, in addition to the pursuit of economic growth and development, an independent war capability and sufficient forces are required for safeguarding Taiwan's security. In order to reach this goal, military modernisation is the only option. Thus, Chapter 5 will try to answer the following questions: What are the motives driving Taiwan's accelerated military modernisation? Will Taiwan be able to break through Peking's blockade and procure the weaponry needed for self-defence? Will the economy of Taiwan be able to continuously sustain such huge defence expenditures? Will the armed forces be able to recruit and retain an adequate number of skilled military personnel for the advanced and sophisticated weapons procured? And what will be the potential impacts of cross-Strait arms race on Taiwan Strait stability? In the final Chapter 6 some concluding remarks on the preceding Chapters are drawn. Taiwan should: continue its policy of cautious rapprochement with the PRC; make every effort to prevent any further deterioration in the military balance in the Taiwan Strait; use its economic success as a diplomatic tool to strengthen its relations with countries around the world

Black Boxes : Airport Space, Liminal Mechanisms, and Systems of Autobiography

Treating the first-person experience of airport space as an ethnographic tool, this thesis examines spatial perception and its breakdown in multiple examples of imagined and real twentieth century spatial constructs. First, it considers examples of failed or redundant mechanisms which function as liminal constructs, either through their presence as physical objects or through use as tools with which to perceive liminal spaces. It emphasizes their function as points of access for narrative and delineates their status as examples of failure in relation to Bruno Latour's use of the term "black box," appropriated from the world of air crash investigation, and to Walter Benjamin's collection and juxtaposition of research in Tbe Arcades Project. Second, it explores the type and sequence of spaces encountered by a traveller in a large contemporary international airport, and those behaviours that are inscribed and prescribed upon people and mechanisms therein. It critiques Marc Auge' s ideas of the "non-place" through explorations of a distinctly airport-specific culture and possible deconstructions of airport space by passenger use and mechanical and architectural functions. Finally, it relates these to narrative space through an examination and practice of systemic approaches to autobiography in works by Georges Perec, Michel Leiris, and Raymond Queneau. It uses the first-person construction of a narrative of airport space-a first-person "silent reading" of public space-to construct a system of research through which twentieth-century liminal space may be inhabited and critiqued from within and on its own terms. Thus the constraint and potential offered by these diverse liminal spaces are deconstructed in terms of the personal narrative, and through use of airport space demonstrate an inhabiting of research through an innovative and revealing method