CSI related dynamics and control issues in space robotics

The research addressed includes: (1) CSI issues in space robotics; (2) control of elastic payloads, which includes 1-DOF example, and 3-DOF harmonic drive arm with elastic beam; and (3) control of large space arms with elastic links, which includes testbed description, modeling, and experimental implementation of colocated PD and end-point tip position controllers

Experimental validation of docking and capture using space robotics testbeds

This presentation describes the application of robotic and computer vision systems to validate docking and capture operations for space cargo transfer vehicles. Three applications are discussed: (1) air bearing systems in two dimensions that yield high quality free-flying, flexible, and contact dynamics; (2) validation of docking mechanisms with misalignment and target dynamics; and (3) computer vision technology for target location and real-time tracking. All the testbeds are supported by a network of engineering workstations for dynamic and controls analyses. Dynamic simulation of multibody rigid and elastic systems are performed with the TREETOPS code. MATRIXx/System-Build and PRO-MATLAB/Simulab are the tools for control design and analysis using classical and modern techniques such as H-infinity and LQG/LTR. SANDY is a general design tool to optimize numerically a multivariable robust compensator with a user-defined structure. Mathematica and Macsyma are used to derive symbolically dynamic and kinematic equations

Impact of hot-carrier degradation on the low-frequency noise in MOSFETs under steady-state and periodic large-signal excitation

This letter reports the diagnostic power of the low-frequency noise analysis (steady-state and periodic large-signal excitation) in MOSFETs subjected to hot-carrier degradation. The LF noise under periodic large-signal excitation is shown to increase more rapidly than the LF noise in steady-state. Moreover the improvement in the LF noise performance due to periodic large-signal excitation, observed for fresh devices, gradually diminishes as the devices are subjected to hot-carrier stress

L'Afrique des pouvoirs et la démocratie

Gruénais Marc-Eric, Schmitz Jean. L'Afrique des pouvoirs et la démocratie. In: Cahiers d'études africaines, vol. 35, n°137, 1995. La démocratie déclinée. pp. 7-17

The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Rotor Source Noise Modeling

A new physics-based method called Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustic Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) is used to demonstrate the change in rotor harmonic noise of a helicopter operating at different ambient conditions. FRAME is based upon a non-dimensional representation of the governing acoustic and performance equations of a single rotor helicopter. Measured external noise is used together with parameter identification techniques to develop a model of helicopter external noise that is a hybrid between theory and experiment. The FRAME method is used to evaluate the main rotor harmonic noise of a Bell 206B3 helicopter operating at different altitudes. The variation with altitude of Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, known to be a strong function of the helicopter s advance ratio, is dependent upon which definition of airspeed is flown by the pilot. If normal flight procedures are followed and indicated airspeed (IAS) is held constant, the true airspeed (TAS) of the helicopter increases with altitude. This causes an increase in advance ratio and a decrease in the speed of sound which results in large changes to BVI noise levels. Results also show that thickness noise on this helicopter becomes more intense at high altitudes where advancing tip Mach number increases because the speed of sound is decreasing and advance ratio increasing for the same indicated airspeed. These results suggest that existing measurement-based empirically derived helicopter rotor noise source models may give incorrect noise estimates when they are used at conditions where data were not measured and may need to be corrected for mission land-use planning purposes

Separation of Main and Tail Rotor Noise Sources from Ground-Based Acoustic Measurements Using Time-Domain De-Dopplerization

A new method of separating the contributions of helicopter main and tail rotor noise sources is presented, making use of ground-based acoustic measurements. The method employs time-domain de-Dopplerization to transform the acoustic pressure time-history data collected from an array of ground-based microphones to the equivalent time-history signals observed by an array of virtual inflight microphones traveling with the helicopter. The now-stationary signals observed by the virtual microphones are then periodically averaged with the main and tail rotor once per revolution triggers. The averaging process suppresses noise which is not periodic with the respective rotor, allowing for the separation of main and tail rotor pressure time-histories. The averaged measurements are then interpolated across the range of directivity angles captured by the microphone array in order to generate separate acoustic hemispheres for the main and tail rotor noise sources. The new method is successfully applied to ground-based microphone measurements of a Bell 206B3 helicopter and demonstrates the strong directivity characteristics of harmonic noise radiation from both the main and tail rotors of that helicopter

A Parameter Identification Method for Helicopter Noise Source Identification and Physics-Based Semi-Empirical Modeling

A new physics-based parameter identification method for rotor harmonic noise sources is developed using an acoustic inverse simulation technique. This new method allows for the identification of individual rotor harmonic noise sources and allows them to be characterized in terms of their individual non-dimensional governing parameters. This new method is applied to both wind tunnel measurements and ground noise measurements of two-bladed rotors. The method is shown to match the parametric trends of main rotor Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, allowing accurate estimates of BVI noise to be made for operating conditions based on a small number of measurements taken at different operating conditions

A Semi-Empirical Noise Modeling Method for Helicopter Maneuvering Flight Operations

A new model for Blade-Vortex Interaction noise generation during maneuvering flight is developed in this paper. Acoustic and performance data from both flight and wind tunnels are used to derive a non-dimensional and analytical performance/acoustic model that describes BVI noise in steady flight. The model is extended to transient maneuvering flight (pure pitch and roll transients) by using quasisteady assumptions throughout the prescribed maneuvers. Ground noise measurements, taken during maneuvering flight of a Bell 206B helicopter, show that many of the noise radiation details are captured. The result is a computationally efficient Blade-Vortex Interaction noise model with sufficient accuracy to account for transient maneuvering flight. The code can be run in real time to predict transient maneuver noise and is suitable for use in an acoustic mission-planning tool

Spreading of Denmark Strait overflow water in the western subpolar North Atlantic : insights from eddy-resolving simulations with a passive tracer

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 45 (2015): 2913–2932, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-14-0179.1.The oceanic deep circulation is shared between concentrated deep western boundary currents (DWBCs) and broader interior pathways, a process that is sensitive to seafloor topography. This study investigates the spreading and deepening of Denmark Strait overflow water (DSOW) in the western subpolar North Atlantic using two ° eddy-resolving Atlantic simulations, including a passive tracer injected into the DSOW. The deepest layers of DSOW transit from a narrow DWBC in the southern Irminger Sea into widespread westward flow across the central Labrador Sea, which remerges along the Labrador coast. This abyssal circulation, in contrast to the upper levels of overflow water that remain as a boundary current, blankets the deep Labrador Sea with DSOW. Farther downstream after being steered around the abrupt topography of Orphan Knoll, DSOW again leaves the boundary, forming cyclonic recirculation cells in the deep Newfoundland basin. The deep recirculation, mostly driven by the meandering pathway of the upper North Atlantic Current, leads to accumulation of tracer offshore of Orphan Knoll, precisely where a local maximum of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) inventory is observed. At Flemish Cap, eddy fluxes carry ~20% of the tracer transport from the boundary current into the interior. Potential vorticity is conserved as the flow of DSOW broadens at the transition from steep to less steep continental rise into the Labrador Sea, while around the abrupt topography of Orphan Knoll, potential vorticity is not conserved and the DSOW deepens significantly.This work is supported by ONR Award N00014-09-1-0587, the NSF Physical Oceanography Program, and NASA Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Program.2016-06-0