281 research outputs found
Computer simulation of a pilot in V/STOL aircraft control loops
The objective was to develop a computerized adaptive pilot model for the computer model of the research aircraft, the Harrier II AV-8B V/STOL with special emphasis on propulsion control. In fact, two versions of the adaptive pilot are given. The first, simply called the Adaptive Control Model (ACM) of a pilot includes a parameter estimation algorithm for the parameters of the aircraft and an adaption scheme based on the root locus of the poles of the pilot controlled aircraft. The second, called the Optimal Control Model of the pilot (OCM), includes an adaption algorithm and an optimal control algorithm. These computer simulations were developed as a part of the ongoing research program in pilot model simulation supported by NASA Lewis from April 1, 1985 to August 30, 1986 under NASA Grant NAG 3-606 and from September 1, 1986 through November 30, 1988 under NASA Grant NAG 3-729. Once installed, these pilot models permitted the computer simulation of the pilot model to close all of the control loops normally closed by a pilot actually manipulating the control variables. The current version of this has permitted a baseline comparison of various qualitative and quantitative performance indices for propulsion control, the control loops and the work load on the pilot. Actual data for an aircraft flown by a human pilot furnished by NASA was compared to the outputs furnished by the computerized pilot and found to be favorable
Computer simulation of a single pilot flying a modern high-performance helicopter
Presented is a computer simulation of a human response pilot model able to execute operational flight maneuvers and vehicle stabilization of a modern high-performance helicopter. Low-order, single-variable, human response mechanisms, integrated to form a multivariable pilot structure, provide a comprehensive operational control over the vehicle. Evaluations of the integrated pilot were performed by direct insertion into a nonlinear, total-force simulation environment provided by NASA Lewis. Comparisons between the integrated pilot structure and single-variable pilot mechanisms are presented. Static and dynamically alterable configurations of the pilot structure are introduced to simulate pilot activities during vehicle maneuvers. These configurations, in conjunction with higher level, decision-making processes, are considered for use where guidance and navigational procedures, operational mode transfers, and resource sharing are required
Computer simulation of multiple pilots flying a modern high performance helicopter
A computer simulation of a human response pilot mechanism within the flight control loop of a high-performance modern helicopter is presented. A human response mechanism, implemented by a low order, linear transfer function, is used in a decoupled single variable configuration that exploits the dominant vehicle characteristics by associating cockpit controls and instrumentation with specific vehicle dynamics. Low order helicopter models obtained from evaluations of the time and frequency domain responses of a nonlinear simulation model, provided by NASA Lewis Research Center, are presented and considered in the discussion of the pilot development. Pilot responses and reactions to test maneuvers are presented and discussed. Higher level implementation, using the pilot mechanisms, are discussed and considered for their use in a comprehensive control structure
Effect of Localized Mechanical Indentation on Skin Water Content Evaluated Using OCT
The highly disordered refractive index distribution in skin causes multiple scattering of incident light and limits optical imaging and therapeutic depth. We hypothesize that localized mechanical compression reduces scattering by expulsing unbound water from the dermal collagen matrix, increasing protein concentration and decreasing the number of index mismatch interfaces between tissue constituents. A swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) system was used to assess changes in thickness and group refractive index in ex vivo porcine skin, as well as changes in signal intensity profile when imaging in vivo human skin. Compression of ex vivo porcine skin resulted in an effective strain of −58.5%, an increase in refractive index from 1.39 to 1.50, and a decrease in water volume fraction from 0.66 to 0.20. In vivo OCT signal intensity increased by 1.5 dB at a depth of 1 mm, possibly due to transport of water away from the compressed regions. These finding suggest that local compression could be used to enhance light-based diagnostic and therapeutic techniques
Soft and virtual corrections to pp -> H + X at NNLO
The contributions of virtual corrections and soft gluon emission to the
inclusive Higgs production cross section pp -> H + X are computed at
next-to-next-to-leading order in the heavy top quark limit. We show that this
part of the total cross section is well behaved in the sense of perturbative
convergence, with the NNLO corrections amounting to an enhancement of the NLO
cross section by \sim 5% for LHC and 10-20% for the Tevatron. We compare our
results with an existing estimate of the full NNLO effects and argue that an
analytic evaluation of the hard scattering contributions is needed.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 16 ps files embedded with epsf. Minor
modifications: references and note added, results unchange
The California Planet Survey. I. Four New Giant Exoplanets
We present precise Doppler measurements of four stars obtained during the past decade at Keck Observatory by the California Planet Survey (CPS). These stars, namely, HD 34445, HD 126614, HD 13931, and Gl 179, all show evidence for a single planet in Keplerian motion. We also present Doppler measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) for two of the stars, HD 34445 and Gl 179, that confirm the Keck detections and significantly refine the orbital parameters. These planets add to the statistical properties of giant planets orbiting near or beyond the ice line, and merit follow-up by astrometry, imaging, and space-borne spectroscopy. Their orbital parameters span wide ranges of planetary minimum mass (M sin i = 0.38-1.9 M(Jup)), orbital period (P = 2.87-11.5 yr), semimajor axis (a = 2.1-5.2 AU), and eccentricity (e = 0.02-0.41). HD 34445 b (P = 2.87 yr, M sin i = 0.79 MJup, e = 0.27) is a massive planet orbiting an old, G-type star. We announce a planet, HD 126614 Ab, and an M dwarf, HD 126614 B, orbiting the metal-rich star HD 126614 (which we now refer to as HD 126614 A). The planet, HD 126614 Ab, has minimum mass M sin i = 0.38 MJup and orbits the stellar primary with period P = 3.41 yr and orbital separation a = 2.3 AU. The faint M dwarf companion, HD 126614 B, is separated from the stellar primary by 489 mas (33 AU) and was discovered with direct observations using adaptive optics and the PHARO camera at Palomar Observatory. The stellar primary in this new system, HD 126614 A, has the highest measured metallicity ([ Fe/ H] = + 0.56) of any known planet-bearing star. HD 13931 b (P = 11.5 yr, M sin i = 1.88 MJup, e = 0.02) is a Jupiter analog orbiting a near solar twin. Gl 179 b (P = 6.3 yr, M sin i = 0.82 M(Jup), e = 0.21) is a massive planet orbiting a faint M dwarf. The high metallicity of Gl 179 is consistent with the planet-metallicity correlation among M dwarfs, as documented recently by Johnson & Apps.NSF AST-0702821NASA NNX06AH52GMcDonald Observator
QCD
We discuss issues of QCD at the LHC including parton distributions, Monte
Carlo event generators, the available next-to-leading order calculations,
resummation, photon production, small x physics, double parton scattering, and
backgrounds to Higgs production.Comment: 115 pages, Latex, 47 figures, to appear in the Report of the ``1999
CERN Workshop on SM Physics (and more) at the LHC'', S. Catani, M. Dittmar,
D. Soper, W.J. Stirling, S. Tapprogge (convenors
System Parameters of the Transiting Extrasolar Planet HD 209458b
We derive improved system parameters for the HD 209458 system using a model
that simultaneously fits both photometric transit and radial velocity
observations. The photometry consists of previous Hubble Space Telescope STIS
and FGS observations, twelve I-band transits observed between 2001-2003 with
the Mt. Laguna Observatory 1m telescope, and six Stromgren b+y transits
observed between 2001-2004 with two of the Automatic Photometric Telescopes at
Fairborn Observatory. The radial velocities were derived from Keck/HIRES
observations. The model properly treats the orbital dynamics of the system, and
thus yields robust and physically self-consistent solutions. Our set of system
parameters agrees with previously published results though with improved
accuracy. For example, applying robust limits on the stellar mass of
0.93-1.20Msun, we find 1.26 < Rplanet < 1.42 Rjup and 0.59 < Mplanet < 0.70
Mjup. We can reduce the uncertainty on these estimates by including a stellar
mass-radius relation constraint, yielding Rplanet = 1.35 +/- 0.07 Rjup and
Mplanet = 0.66 +/- 0.04 Mjup. Our results verify that the planetary radius is
10-20% larger than predicted by planet evolution models, confirming the need
for an additional mechanism to slow the evolutionary contraction of the planet.
A revised ephemeris is derived, T0=2452854.82545 + 3.52474554E (HJD), which now
contains an uncertainty in the period of 0.016s and should facilitate future
searches for planetary satellites and other bodies in the HD 209458 system.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures. To appear in ApJ, 2005 Oct 2
The Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
This paper describes the Fifth Data Release (DR5) of the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS). DR5 includes all survey quality data taken through June 2005 and
represents the completion of the SDSS-I project (whose successor, SDSS-II will
continue through mid-2008). It includes five-band photometric data for 217
million objects selected over 8000 square degrees, and 1,048,960 spectra of
galaxies, quasars, and stars selected from 5713 square degrees of that imaging
data. These numbers represent a roughly 20% increment over those of the Fourth
Data Release; all the data from previous data releases are included in the
present release. In addition to "standard" SDSS observations, DR5 includes
repeat scans of the southern equatorial stripe, imaging scans across M31 and
the core of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, and the first spectroscopic data
from SEGUE, a survey to explore the kinematics and chemical evolution of the
Galaxy. The catalog database incorporates several new features, including
photometric redshifts of galaxies, tables of matched objects in overlap regions
of the imaging survey, and tools that allow precise computations of survey
geometry for statistical investigations.Comment: ApJ Supp, in press, October 2007. This paper describes DR5. The SDSS
Sixth Data Release (DR6) is now public, available from http://www.sdss.or
The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic
data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data
release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median
z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar
spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra
were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009
December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which
determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and
metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in
temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates
for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars
presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed
as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and
Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2).
The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been
corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be
in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point
Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of
data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at
http://www.sdss3.org/dr
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