Practical Open-Loop Optimistic Planning

We consider the problem of online planning in a Markov Decision Process when given only access to a generative model, restricted to open-loop policies - i.e. sequences of actions - and under budget constraint. In this setting, the Open-Loop Optimistic Planning (OLOP) algorithm enjoys good theoretical guarantees but is overly conservative in practice, as we show in numerical experiments. We propose a modified version of the algorithm with tighter upper-confidence bounds, KLOLOP, that leads to better practical performances while retaining the sample complexity bound. Finally, we propose an efficient implementation that significantly improves the time complexity of both algorithms

Spaceflight performance of several types of silicon solar cells on the LIPS 3 satellite

Results from exposure of several types of Solarex silicon cells to a space environment for nearly two years on the LIPS 3 satellite are presented. Experiments include standard thickness (10 mil) cells with and without back surface fields, and ultrathin (2 mil) cells also with and without back surface fields. A comparison between a widely used coverslide adhesive, DC 93-500 and a potential alternate is also presented. The major findings from the data are that the 2 mil cells without a back surface field show the smallest normalized short circuit current degradation and that the 10 mil back surface field cells show the greatest absolute power output for the radiation exposures and temperatures encountered. The new encapsulant (McGhan Nusil CV-2500) exhibits a degradation comparable to DC 93-500. A comparison is made with each of the cell types in this experiment with expectations based on JPL Radiation Handbook data

Laser Diode Induced Lighting Modules

Laser diodes have the potential of becoming the light engines of future lighting technology since they have negligible efficiency droop factor, unlike light emitting diodes. This study demonstrates the possibility of laser diodes coupled to phosphor targets being used as a solid state lighting system with high power applications. It was revealed that white light emitting modules with efficiency of up to 217 lumens per watt based on laser diodes can currently be made and upon further development of laser diode technology and relevant phosphor materials there is room for further improvements. The report also demonstrates the ability of this technology to produce a tailored emission spectrum for a given specific requirement. Two test lamp prototypes were made using laser diodes and phosphor targets and their emission characteristics were investigatedBrunel University London & EPSRC grant No. EP/K504208/

Solar radiation and atmospheric absorption in the mm wave region Semiannual report, 1 Apr. - 30 Sep. 1968

Study of absorption and emission of millimeter wave

Cathodoluminescence and electron microscopy of red quantum dots used for display applications

Cathodoluminescent imaging of the visible light emitted from quantum dots is reported. The shape and uniformity of individual particles is observed in the STEM electron image and the image of the particles created from their visible light collected simultaneously is shown. Visible light images of the 13nm sized particles are reported for clusters of particles. Emission spectra collected from a small clusters of QDs are also reported

Sound transmission testing of polymer compounds

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Polymer Testing. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier Ltd.Acoustic properties of polymer compounds are an important consideration for many applications. Currently, there are standard test methods for the determination of these properties. There is, however, no standard for the equipment used in these tests, only a specification for the test conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the operation and performance of a bench top laboratory sound testing system for its potential as a simple cost effective method for the initial evaluation of materials that require specific acoustic properties. The work was limited to an investigation of the property of sound transmission loss (STL). A study of the effect of the mounting conditions for the samples on the STL was carried out. Following this, a series of polymer and polymer composite samples was tested. The results presented demonstrate the potential for the testing system as an effective standard test method for the acoustic properties of polymer composites and other materials.Technology Strategy Board, U

Cathodoluminescence of nanocrystalline Y2O3:Eu3+ with various Eu3+ concentrations

© The Author(s) 2014. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Herein a study on the preparation and cathodoluminescence of monosized spherical nanoparticles of Y2O3:Eu3+ having a Eu3+ concentration that varies between 0.01 and 10% is described. The luminous efficiency and decay time have been determined at low a current density, whereas cathodoluminescence-microscopy has been carried out at high current density, the latter led to substantial saturation of certain spectral transitions. A novel theory is presented to evaluate the critical distance for energy transfer from Eu3+ ions in S6 to Eu3+ ions in C2 sites. It was found that Y2O3:Eu3+ with 1–2% Eu3+ has the highest luminous efficiency of 16lm/w at 15keV electron energy. Decay times of the emission from 5D0 (C2) and 5D1 (C2) and 5D0 (S6) levels were determined. The difference in decay time from the 5D0 (C2) and 5D1 (C2) levels largely explained the observed phenomena in the cathodoluminescence-micrographs recorded with our field emission scanning electron microscope

Measurement uncertainty for the Uniform Engine Testing Program conducted at NASA Lewis Research Center

An uncertainty analysis was conducted to determine the bias and precision errors and total uncertainty of measured turbojet engine performance parameters. The engine tests were conducted as part of the Uniform Engine Test Program which was sponsored by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD). With the same engines, support hardware, and instrumentation, performance parameters were measured twice, once during tests conducted in test cell number 3 and again during tests conducted in test cell number 4 of the NASA Lewis Propulsion Systems Laboratory. The analysis covers 15 engine parameters, including engine inlet airflow, engine net thrust, and engine specific fuel consumption measured at high rotor speed of 8875 rpm. Measurements were taken at three flight conditions defined by the following engine inlet pressure, engine inlet total temperature, and engine ram ratio: (1) 82.7 kPa, 288 K, 1.0, (2) 82.7 kPa, 288 K, 1.3, and (3) 20.7 kPa, 288 K, 1.3. In terms of bias, precision, and uncertainty magnitudes, there were no differences between most measurements made in test cells number 3 and 4. The magnitude of the errors increased for both test cells as engine pressure level decreased. Also, the level of the bias error was two to three times larger than that of the precision error