NASA Tech Briefs, August 2006

Topics covered include: Measurement and Controls Data Acquisition System IMU/GPS System Provides Position and Attitude Data Using Artificial Intelligence to Inform Pilots of Weather Fast Lossless Compression of Multispectral-Image Data Developing Signal-Pattern-Recognition Programs Implementing Access to Data Distributed on Many Processors Compact, Efficient Drive Circuit for a Piezoelectric Pump; Dual Common Planes for Time Multiplexing of Dual-Color QWIPs; MMIC Power Amplifier Puts Out 40 mW From 75 to 110 GHz; 2D/3D Visual Tracker for Rover Mast; Adding Hierarchical Objects to Relational Database General-Purpose XML-Based Information Managements; Vaporizable Scaffolds for Fabricating Thermoelectric Modules; Producing Quantum Dots by Spray Pyrolysis; Mobile Robot for Exploring Cold Liquid/Solid Environments; System Would Acquire Core and Powder Samples of Rocks; Improved Fabrication of Lithium Films Having Micron Features; Manufacture of Regularly Shaped Sol-Gel Pellets; Regulating Glucose and pH, and Monitoring Oxygen in a Bioreactor; Satellite Multiangle Spectropolarimetric Imaging of Aerosols; Interferometric System for Measuring Thickness of Sea Ice; Microscale Regenerative Heat Exchanger Protocols for Handling Messages Between Simulation Computers Statistical Detection of Atypical Aircraft Flights NASA's Aviation Safety and Modeling Project Multimode-Guided-Wave Ultrasonic Scanning of Materials Algorithms for Maneuvering Spacecraft Around Small Bodies Improved Solar-Radiation-Pressure Models for GPS Satellites Measuring Attitude of a Large, Flexible, Orbiting Structur

Pre-consolidation of hybrid textiles for the production of web based thermoplastic composites

El objetivo de este TFG es desarrollar un nuevo proceso de pre-consolidación del material no tejido que se usará posteriormente para crear una pieza de fibra de carbono reciclada. El proceso de pre-consolidación nuevo permite una forma más efectiva de calentar, presionar y enfriar. Para ello se ha diseñado un prototipo con una máquina de aire caliente y una prensa de rodillos.Departamento de Química AnalíticaGrado en Ingeniería Mecánic

Robotic Swing Folding of three-dimensional UD-tape-based Reinforcement Structures

Hybridbauteile aus Langfaserverstärktem Thermoplast (LFT) und unidirektional endlosfaserverstärkten (UD-) Tapes bieten die Möglichkeit zur Gewichtseinsparung bei geringeren Fertigungskosten gegenüber reinen UD-Tape-Bauteilen. In hybriden Bauteilen wird die einfache Verarbeitung des LFT genutzt um Ecken, Rippen und weitere geometrisch anspruchsvolle Bauteilbereiche zu füllen, während Steifigkeit und Festigkeit durch das UD-Tape erhöht werden. Das Preforming ist der aufwändigste Schritt in der Verarbeitung des endlosfaserverstärkten UD-Tapes. Um die Wirtschaftlichkeit hybrider Bauteile zu erhöhen, muss dieser Aufwand minimiert werden. Bisherige Prozesse für das Preforming sind nicht an die Anforderungen von Verstärkungsstrukturen in hybriden Bauteilen angepasst und benötigen daher zusätzliche Handhabungsschritte um das Material bereit zu stellen, und teure, bauteilspezifische Werkzeuge, um das Material zu formen. Gleichzeitig bieten sie große Möglichkeiten bei der Bauteilkomplexität die nicht benötigt werden, da komplizierte Bauteilregionen in hybriden Bauteilen durch LFT abgebildet werden können. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Prozess für das flexible Preforming linearer Verstärkungsstrukturen aus UD-Tape-Streifen entwickelt, in Betrieb genommen und optimiert. Zusätzlich wird ein Algorithmus vorgestellt, mit dem die Preformgeometrie an die Prozessrestriktionen angepasst wird. Durch den neuen Prozess können Kosten für bauteilspezifische Preformwerkzeuge vermieden werden und Abweichungen in folgenden Prozessschritten können in der laufenden Produktion bei folgenden Werkstücken kompensiert werden

A 3D computer assisted Orthopedic Surgery Planning approach based on planar radiography

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biomédica (área de especialização em Informática Médica)The main goal of this work consisted in develop a system to perform the 3D reconstruction of bone models from radiographic images. This system can be then integrated with a commercial software that performs pre-operative planning of orthopedic surgeries. The benefit of performing this 3D reconstruction from planar radiography is that this modality has some advantages over other modalities that perform this reconstruction directly, like CT and MRI. To develop the system it was used radiographic images of the femur obtained from medical image databases online. It was also used a generic model of the femur available in the online repository BEL. This generic model completes the information missing in the radiographic images. It was developed two methods to perform the 3D reconstruction through the deformation of the generic model, one uses triangulation of extracted edge points and the other don't. The first method was not successful, the final model had very low thickness, possibly because the triangulation process was not performed correctly. With the second method it was obtained a 3D bone model of the femur aligned with the radiographic images of the patient and with the same size as the patient's bone. However, the obtained model still needs some adjustment to coincide fully with reality. To perform this is necessary to enhance the deformation step of the model so that it will have the same shape as the patient's bone. The second method is more advantageous because it doesn't need the parameters of the x-ray imaging system. However, it's necessary to enhance the step deformation of this method so that the final model matches patient's anatomy.O principal objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em desenvolver um sistema capaz de realizar a reconstrução 3D de modelos ósseos a partir de imagens radiográficas. Este sistema pode posteriormente ser integrado num produto comercial que realiza o planeamento pré-operativo de cirurgias ortopédicas. O benefício de realizar esta reconstrução 3D a partir de radiografias está relacionado com o facto desta modalidade ter vantagens em relação às outras modalidades que fazem esta reconstrução diretamente, como as modalidades CT e MRI. Para desenvolver este sistema foram usadas imagens radiográficas do fémur obtidas através de bases de dados online de imagens médicas. Também foi usado um modelo genérico do fémur disponível no repositório online BEL. Este modelo genérico completa a informação que está em falta nas imagens radiográficas. Foram desenvolvidos dois métodos, que realizam a reconstrução 3D através da deformação do modelo genérico sendo que num é feita a triangulação de pontos dos contornos e noutro não. O primeiro método não foi bem sucedido, visto que o modelo final tinha uma espessura muito pequena, possivelmente devido ao facto do processo de triangulação não ter sido executado corretamente. Com o segundo método foi obtido um modelo 3D do fémur alinhado com as imagens radiográficas do paciente e com o mesmo tamanho do osso do paciente. No entanto, o modelo obtido carece ainda de alguma afinação de modo a coincidir na íntegra com a realidade. Para fazer isto é necessário melhorar o passo de deformação do modelo, para que este fique com a mesma forma do osso do paciente. O segundo método é mais vantajoso porque não necessita dos parâmetros dos sistema de raios- X. No entanto, é necessário melhorar o passo de deformação deste método para que o modelo final coincida com a anatomia do paciente

Drilling-Riveting Coupled Automated System

This thesis deals with the issue of hybrid material joints in the automotive industrial field, with a particular focus on blind riveting process optimization for composite to aluminum connections. This aspect results from the efforts of modern carmakers to integrate dissimilar materials in the same body-in-white (BIW) structure, in order to improve fuel economy and vehicle performance and meet emission regulations. The thesis first presents a general overview of joining strategies adopted as the alternatives of the conventional spot welding technique, which is not suitable for multi-material joints. The analysis then continues with the benchmark of the main Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) concerning their material integration strategies and current joining technologies. Innovative riveting methods and their experimental performance assessment will be presented, with the target of improving the benchmark data for future FCA application involving lightweight and dissimilar materials

Atlas of sensations - on sensibilities in a computational design practice

The driving force behind the body of work of SPAN is defined by the application of advanced computational design methodologies. This dissertation can be understood as a cartography (in the best tradition of an atlas) of the work of the practice from its founding year 2003 until 2017 - a period profoundly shaped by the progress made in technological advances. These technological means allow SPAN to discuss architectural project through a series of different lenses such as conceptualization, planning, fabrication to the maintenance of the designed objects, through the use of emerging technical opportunities wither this be the interrogation of novel geometries (Blocks, Ore, Barcelona Recursion), computational methods of rationalization (Expo Façade) or advanced methods of fabrication (Robots, as for example in Plato's Columns). In a parallel move between the necessities and desires of the practice and the ambitious studios and seminars in academia, novel toolsets and design concepts are developed to address contemporary architectural problems. These areas can be understood as different territories of interrogation, forming a landscape of opportunities, or as we describe it internally in our office: a design ecology. The interrogation of these distinct territories, and the unique way in which SPAN assembles those various elements to something larger than its parts, is what constitutes part of SPAN's contribution to the discipline. Apart from projects and visual work, SPAN´s contribution to discourse started early with papers to conferences such as IASS (International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures) in 2007, Design Modeling Symposium in 2008, and ACADIA (Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture) in 2008, which included ideas such as the application of tissue engineering in architecture, aspects of artifact and affect, fabrication, and considerations on architectural details in complex curved geometries. Within the Atlas of Sensations, a second ecology is defined by the contribution to the paradigm shift in the discourse from the continuous to the hyper-articulated surface, which contains an additional level of information. A surface, which describes architectural properties through the deep pochés, folds, joints, niches, and arches it generates.  The question is: How does this shift in the conception of architecture affect the qualities of the design, and by extension the context these objects construct? To further investigate this question the work focuses on one part of the practice's design ecology: design sensibilities. In order to interrogate this question, the presented work observes these moments in SPAN's practice through the lens of geometrical properties. Ultimately resulting in thoughts on Postdigital design ecologies that discuss aspects of design agency in our contemporary age

Annual Report 2018-2019

It contains the statement of R&D works undertaken, achievement made and the expenditure by the laboratory during the financial year 2018-2019

Proceedings of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES

This open access book is a compilation of selected papers from 2021 DigitalFUTURES—The 3rd International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2021). The work focuses on novel techniques for computational design and robotic fabrication. The contents make valuable contributions to academic researchers, designers, and engineers in the industry. As well, readers encounter new ideas about understanding material intelligence in architecture