Eye-controlled ''teletypewriter''

Oculometer provides dynamic measurement of subject's look direction, and its outputs can be used to generate visual display of his look pattern and/or to cause equipment operation associated with his lookpoint at given times. Measured eye-direction information could be used as control input at man/machine interface

Method for repair of thin glass coatings

A method of repairing cracks or damaged areas in glass, in particular, glass coatings provided on tile. The method includes removing the damaged area using a high speed diamond burr drilling out a cavity that extends slightly into the base material of the tile. All loose material is then cleaned from the drilled out cavity and the cavity is filled adjacent the upper surface of the coating with a filler material including chopped silica fibers mixed with a binder. The filler material is packed into the cavity and a repair coating is applied by means of a brush or sprayed thereover. The repair includes borosilicate suspended in solution. Heat is applied at approximately 2100 F. for approximately five minutes for curing the coating, causing boron silicide particles of the coating to oxidize forming a very fluid boron-oxide rich glass which reacts with the other frits to form an impervious, highly refractory layer

A survey of new technology for cockpit application to 1990's transport aircraft simulators

Two problems were investigated: inter-equipment data transfer, both on board the aircraft and between air and ground; and crew equipment communication via the cockpit displays and controls. Inter-equipment data transfer is discussed in terms of data bus and data link requirements. Crew equipment communication is discussed regarding the availability of CRT display systems for use in research simulators to represent flat panel displays of the future, and of software controllable touch panels

A BIOMECHANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF OLYMPIC FLATWATER CANOEING

Simulation of sporting activities for the purpose of assessing physiological parameters and for conditioning athletes has been an important development within the sports world. The purpose of this study was to compare Olympic flatwater canoeing technique to that of an ergometer developed by Pyke et al. at Dalhousie University. The comparison, using three national team members, was both physiological and biomechanical in order to determine; 1) if accurate physiological measurements focusing on the upper body during racing conditions could be matched while using the laboratory ergometer; 2) if the ergometer movement patterns closely approximated the actual on-water racing stroke. The results indicated that the techniques were similar physiologically and different biomechanically. VE and VO2 max, for the 500 m. race and for a simulated 500 m. trial were close and consistent across all S's. Results for the 1000 m. were acceptable, but not as accurate as the 500 m. The use of the Pyke ergometer was judged on the whole to be a valid physiological testing procedure. The major difficulty with the ergometer was that it forced all S's to alter their racing strokes in order to successfully maintain movement of the mechanism. Changes in movement and velocity patterns of the trunk, arms and hands of all S's were considerable and led to the conclusion that this ergometer, in its original design, not be used as a training device

Innovations in Hay Harvesting and Storing

Haymaking in the humid parts of the U.S. is the most risky operation that farmers engage in. Standing hay is extremely high in moisture and must be dried to at least 25% moisture less before it can be stored without spoilage. Most farmers rely on natural field drying processes to cure their hay. Natural drying is often slowed by high relative humidity. Rainfall frequently occurs before the hay has dried which further slows the drying process and can result in serious nutrient and yield losses. Haymaking is also a labor-intensive farming operation and, until recently, involved a large amount of manual labor. Most of the problems associated with haymaking could be solved if hay dried quickly in the field, or if it could be stored at high moisture without spoilage. A combination of both rapid drying and high moisture storage could revolutionize haymaking. These problem areas, as well as the labor problem, have attracted considerable research interest in recent years

Smart Materials as Intelligent Insulation

In order to provide a robust infrastructure for the transmission and distribution of electrical power, understanding and monitoring equipment ageing and failure is of paramount importance. Commonly, failure is associated with degradation of the dielectric material; therefore the introduction of a smart moiety into the material is a potentially attractive means of continual condition monitoring. It is important that any introduction of smart groups into the dielectric does not have any detrimental effect on the desirable electrical and mechanical properties of the bulk material. Initial work focussed on the introduction of fluorophores into a model dielectric system. Fluorescence is known to be a visible effect even at very low concentrations of active fluorophores and therefore was thought well suited to such an application. It was necessary both to optimise the active fluorophore itself and to determine the most appropriate manner in which to introduce the fluorophores into the insulating system. This presentation will describe the effect of introducing fluorophores into polymeric systems on the dielectric properties of the material and the findings thus far [1]. Alternative smart material systems will also be discussed along with the benefits and limitations of smart materials as electric field sensors

Rapid, Precise, and High-Sensitivity Acquisition of Paleomagnetic and Rock-Magnetic Data: Development of a Low-Noise Automatic Sample Changing System for Superconducting Rock Magnetometers

Among Earth sciences, paleomagnetism is particularly linked to the statistics of large sample sets as a matter of historical development and logistical necessity. Because the geomagnetic field varies over timescales relevant to sedimentary deposition and igneous intrusion, while the fidelity of recorded magnetization is modulated by original properties of rock units and by alteration histories, "ideal" paleomagnetic results measure remanent magnetizations of hundreds of samples at dozens of progressive demagnetization levels, accompanied by tests of magnetic composition on representative sister specimens. We present an inexpensive, open source system for automating paleomagnetic and rock magnetic measurements. Using vacuum pick-and-place technology and a quartz-glass sample holder, the system can in one hour measure remanent magnetizations, as weak as a few pAm2, of ~30 specimens in two vertical orientations with measurement errors comparable to those of the best manual systems. The system reduces the number of manual manipulations required per specimen ~8 fold

Satellite material contaminant optical properties

The Air Force Wright Research and Development Center and the Arnold Engineering Development Center are continuing a program for measuring optical effects of satellite material outgassing products on cryo-optic surfaces. Presented here are infrared (4000 to 700 cm(-1)) transmittance data for contaminant films condensed on a 77 K geranium window. From the transmittance data, the contaminant film refractive and absorptive indices (n, k) were derived using an analytical thin-film interference model with a nonlinear least-squares algorithm. To date 19 materials have been studied with the optical contents determined for 13 of those. The materials include adhesives, paints, composites, films, and lubricants. This program is continuing and properties for other materials will be available in the future

Development of probabilistic models for quantitative pathway analysis of plant pest introduction for the EU territory

This report demonstrates a probabilistic quantitative pathway analysis model that can be used in risk assessment for plant pest introduction into EU territory on a range of edible commodities (apples, oranges, stone fruits and wheat). Two types of model were developed: a general commodity model that simulates distribution of an imported infested/infected commodity to and within the EU from source countries by month; and a consignment model that simulates the movement and distribution of individual consignments from source countries to destinations in the EU. The general pathway model has two modules. Module 1 is a trade pathway model, with a Eurostat database of five years of monthly trade volumes for each specific commodity into the EU28 from all source countries and territories. Infestation levels based on interception records, commercial quality standards or other information determine volume of infested commodity entering and transhipped within the EU. Module 2 allocates commodity volumes to processing, retail use and waste streams and overlays the distribution onto EU NUTS2 regions based on population densities and processing unit locations. Transfer potential to domestic host crops is a function of distribution of imported infested product and area of domestic production in NUTS2 regions, pest dispersal potential, and phenology of susceptibility in domestic crops. The consignment model covers the several routes on supply chains for processing and retail use. The output of the general pathway model is a distribution of estimated volumes of infested produce by NUTS2 region across the EU28, by month or annually; this is then related to the accessible susceptible domestic crop. Risk is expressed as a potential volume of infested fruit in potential contact with an area of susceptible domestic host crop. The output of the consignment model is a volume of infested produce retained at each stage along the specific consignment trade chain