NASA Tech Briefs January 2013

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Welcome to your Digital Edition of
NASA Tech Briefs and Photonics Tech Briefs
Included in This January Edition:
NASA Tech Briefs Photonics Tech Briefs
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Software is the Driving
Innovation for Consumer
Electronics
NASA Alloy Helps Fans
Maintain Fresh Air
in Tunnels
Photonics Tech Briefs
January 2013 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 37 No. 1
DIGIKEY.COM/NEW
NEW
PRODUCTS
ADDED DAILY
Photonics Solutions for the Design Engineer
January 2013
Supplement to NASA Tech Briefs
Trends In Fused Components For Fiber Lasers ....................................................................................IIa
Photonics Design Automation ............................................................................................................ 5a
Ultra-Compact, Superconducting Spectrometer-on-a-Chip at Submillimeter Wavelengths ........11a
Rad-Tolerant, Thermally Stable, High-Speed Fiber-Optic Network for Harsh Environments........11a
UV Resonant Raman Spectrometer With Multi-Line Laser Excitation ............................................12a
Towed Subsurface Optical Communications Buoy ..........................................................................12a
High-Collection-Efficiency Fluorescence Detection Cell ..................................................................14a
Product of the Month/New Products ................................................................................................16a
ON Semiconductor recently collaborated
with Teledyne Imaging Sensors to manufac-
ture an Extremely Large Stitched Read Out
Integrated Circuit (ELS ROIC) for astronomy.
The H4RG-15 image sensor, designed by
Teledyne, is the largest sensor ever produced
for infrared astronomy. To learn more, see
the new products section on page 16a.
(Image courtesy of ON Semiconductor)
Intro
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Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-784
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Intro
Software is the Driving
Innovation for Consumer
Electronics
NASA Alloy Helps Fans
Maintain Fresh Air
in Tunnels
January 2013 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 37 No. 1
DIGIKEY.COM/NEW
NEW
PRODUCTS
ADDED DAILY
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Intro
The widest selection of the newest products.
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22 Technology Focus: Sensors
22 Single-Photon-Sensitive HgCdTe Avalanche Photodiode Detector
22 Artificial Intelligence Software for Assessing Postural Stability
23 Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Silica Whispering-
Gallery Mode Resonators
24 3D Hail Size Distribution Interpolation/Extrapolation Algorithm
25 Color-Changing Sensors for Detecting the Presence of
Hypergolic Fuels
26 Materials & Coatings
26 Using Pre-Melted Phase Change Material to Keep Payloads in
Space Warm for Hours Without Power
26 Fibrillar Adhesive for Climbing Robots
28 Transformers: Shape-Changing Space Systems Built With
Robotic Textiles
30 Manufacturing & Prototyping
30 Microwave Sinterator Freeform Additive Construction System
(MS-FACS)
32 Development of a Centrifugal Technique for the Microbial
Bioburden Analysis of Freon (CFC-11)
34 Electronics/Computers
34 DSP/FPGA Design for a High-Speed Programmable S-Band
Space Transceiver
34 Memory Circuit Fault Simulator
35 On-Chip Power-Combining for High-Power Schottky Diode-
Based Frequency Multipliers
36 FPGA Vision Data Architecture
38 Mechanics/Machinery
38 Ultra-Compact Transputer-Based Controller for High-Level,
Multi-Axis Coordination
38 Magnetically Actuated Seal
39 Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot
Excavator
40 Hybrid Electrostatic/Flextensional Mirror for Lightweight, Large-
Aperture, and Cryogenic Space Telescopes
42 Physical Sciences
42 Wind-Driven Wireless Networked System of Mobile Sensors for
Mars Exploration
43 Analysis of the Effects of Streamwise Lift Distribution on Sonic
Boom Signature
44 In Situ Solid Particle Generator
46 Software
46 System for Contributing and Discovering Derived Mission and
Science Data
46 Remote Viewer for Maritime Robotics Software
46 Stackfile Database
46 Reachability Maps for In Situ Operations
47 JPL Space Telecommunications Radio System Operating Environment
4 www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013
1ahuary 2013 Vol. 37 No. 1
8 UpFront
10 Whos Who at NASA
12 NASA Patents
33 Technologies of the Month
62 NASAs Innovative Partnerships Office
63 Advertisers Index
20
14
57
F E A T U R E S
S O L U T I O N S
D E P A R T M E N T S
57 Product Focus: Imaging/Cameras
58 New Products/Software
N E W F O R D E S I G N E N G I N E E R S
S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T
14 Software is the Driving Innovation for
Consumer Electronics
20 Application Briefs
64 NASA Spinoff: Lightweight Alloy
(Solutions continued on page 6)
1a 18a
Follows page 32 in selected editions
only.
January 2013
ON Semiconductor recently collaborated with Teledyne Imaging Sensors to manufacture an Extremely Large Stitched Read Out Integrated Circuit (ELS ROIC) for astronomy. The H4RG-15 image sensor, designed by Teledyne, is the largest sensor ever produced for infrared astronomy. To learn more, see the new products section on page 16a.
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6 NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-734
Contents continued
Mcor Technologies (Dunleer, Ireland) offers 3D
printers that can create physical 3D models
such as this tire from standard letter/A4 paper.
When pages are cut and bound together, the
model can be tapped, threaded, hinged, and are
waterproof. With the latest printer, the full-color
IRIS, color passes all the way through the 3D part,
rather than resting on the surface. Learn more
about Mcors IRIS color 3D printer our Product
of the Month on page 57.
(Image courtesy of Mcor Technologies)
P R O D U C T O F T H E M O N T H
O N T H E C O V E R
57
Mcor Technologies (Dunleer, Ireland)
introduced the IRIS 3D printer that prints
parts in full color using standard letter-
sized paper.
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. Neither Associated Business Publications Co., Ltd. nor the United States
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States Government assumes any
liability resulting from the use of the information contained in this document, or warrants that
such use will be free from privately owned rights. The U.S. Government does not endorse any
commercial product, process, or activity identified in this publication.
Permissions: Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or
personal use of specific clients, is granted by Associated Business Publications, provided that
the flat fee of $3.00 per copy be paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (222 Rose
Wood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923). For those organizations that have been granted a photocopy
license by CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. The fee code for users of the
Transactional Reporting Service is: ISSN 0145-319X194 $3.00+ .00
47 RFI-SIM: RFI Simulation Package
48 ION Configuration Editor
48 Dtest Testing Software
48 IMPaCT Integration of Missions, Programs, and Core
Technologies
49 Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) Toolkit
50 Information Technology
50 Ionospheric Simulation System for Satellite Observations and
Global Assimilative Model Experiments ISOGAME
50 Estimating Torque Imparted on Spacecraft Using Telemetry
51 flexplan: Mission Planning System for the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter
52 Airborne Tomographic Swath Ice Sounding Processing System
53 PowderSim: Lagrangian Discrete and Mesh-Free Continuum
Simulation Code for Cohesive Soils
54 Basic Operational Robotics Instructional System
54 Multiple-Frame Detection of Subpixel Targets in Thermal Image
Sequences
55 Metric Learning to Enhance Hyperspectral Image Segmentation
56 Books and Reports
56 Sheet Membrane Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator
56 Motor Qualification for Long-Duration Mars Missions
56 Advanced Materials and Manufacturing for Low-Cost, High-
Performance Liquid Rocket Combustion Chambers
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Intro
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UP
FRONT
Have you cast your vote for the 2012 NASA Tech Briefs Readers Choice
Product of the Year? If not, you only have until January 20 to vote for the
one product you feel was the most significant introduction to the engineering
community in 2012. Find out more about the 12 nominees and submit your vote
at www.techbriefs.com/poy.
NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in
Alabama is using selective laser melting
(SLM) to create intricate metal parts for
the next heavy-lift rocket, the Space
Launch System (SLS).
SLM is similar to 3D printing, and is the
future of manufacturing. The machine
takes metal powder and uses a high-
energy laser to melt it in a designed pat-
tern. The laser will layer the melted dust
to fuse whatever part is needed from the
ground up, creating intricate designs. The
process produces parts with complex
geometries and precise mechanical prop-
erties from a 3D computer-aided design. Some of the printed engine parts will be struc-
turally tested and used in hot-fire tests of a J-2X engine, which will be used as the upper
stage engine for the SLS.
Visit www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/selective_melting.html for more informa-
tion. Watch a video of the SLM machine in action on Tech Briefs TV at www.techbriefs.
com/tv/SLM.
Linda Bell
Editorial Director
Ascent: Commemorating Shuttle
Ascent is a compilation of film and
video representing the best ground-
based Space Shuttle motion imagery
from the STS-114, STS-117, and STS-
124 missions. Download the free app
for the iPad at https://itunes.apple.
com/us/app/ascent-commemorating/
shuttle/id473973416.
The February issue will include our
annual industry update on the
Design & PLM Software industry,
including comments from executives
at leading software vendors.
> Next Month in NTB
The Mars Curiosity rover has used
its full array of instruments to ana-
lyze Martian soil for the first time.
Water, sulfur, and chlorine-contain-
ing substances showed up in samples
delivered to the rovers Sample
Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite. One
thing SAM checks for is organic com-
pounds that can be ingredients for
life. SAM tentatively identified one-
carbon organics, but it is possible
they may have been carried from
Earth by Curiosity and detected by
SAM. Watch Tech Briefs TV for the
latest videos of the mission at www.
techbriefs.com/tv/mars. Keep up
with Curiosity at http://mars.jpl.
nasa.gov/msl.
> Curiosity Update
> App of the Month
The first test piece produced on the M2 Cusing
Machine at NASA Marshall. (NASA/MSFC/Andy
Hardin)
Last Chance to Vote!
A system that uses ultrasound technology to look inside
car engines could lead to more efficient engines.
Ultrasound scans have been used in healthcare for many
years, but they have never been put to use in testing the
health of a modern combustion engine. Researchers at the
UKs University of Sheffield have devised a method of
using ultrasound to measure how efficiently an engines
pistons are moving up and down inside their cylinders.
Carmakers have to calculate how much oil will allow
the piston to move efficiently. Too much oil is wasteful
and ends up getting burnt in the engine, while too little
results in wear. The researchers are measuring lubricant film by transmitting ultrasonic
pulses through the cylinder wall from sensors attached to the outside. The reflections from
these pulses can then be recorded and measured.
Visit www.shef.ac.uk/news/nr/ultrasound-monitor-health-car-engine-1.230250 for more
information.
Ultrasound Can Monitor the Health of Your Car Engine
Sensors attached to the cylinder.
NASA Uses Futuristic Technology to Build New Rockets
The photo from last months Ap -
p lication Brief from Marlow Indus -
tries showing the ChemCam body
unit of the Mars Curiosity rover
should have included the following
photo credit: Photo courtesy of Los
Alamos National Lab oratory under
contract to NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013
Splitting hairs?
Try 90,000 slices.
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Whos Who at NASA
C
huck Jorgensen,
Chief Scientist for
the Neuro Engineering
Lab at NASA Ames
Research Center, cur-
rently works with bio -
electrical interfacing
and the detection of
human emotion. His subvocal speech
research was a 2006 finalist for the
Saatchi & Saatchi international prize for
world-changing ideas.
NASA Tech Briefs: What are you work-
ing on currently?
Chuck Jorgensen: Were looking at
ways to extract the human emotional
responses from various characteristics of
the speech signal, particularly the char-
acteristics called prosody [vocal stress
and intonation patterns]. Weve been
looking at the capability, for example, of
using prosody to detect emotional states
(fear, anger, happiness) analyzing typ-
ical microphone acoustic signals and
determining what the emotional state of
the individual is. Weve also been look-
ing at the automation of various systems
looking at overall human behavior.
Those human communication aspects
are broadcast on many channels. Those
channels are [traits] like your facial
expression, the timbre of your voice, the
dilation of your pupils, the rate of move-
ment of the eyes, and the rate at which
the body position changes in time.
NTB: What do you see as interesting
applications for this technology?
Jorgensen: Within NASA, Im current-
ly most interested in something that
would help in the identification of pilot
fatigue, where pilots may be reaching
fatigue states and not be consciously
aware of it. Fatigue begins to show up in
various properties of their performance,
in their voice, or in their emotional or
neurological response.
Theres a great interest in the com-
mercial community in determining peo-
ples emotional reactions. For example,
advertisers are very interested if youre
on the phone. They want to determine if
somebodys getting unhappy with their
service or whether theyre reacting posi-
tively to the pitch that they might be get-
ting over the Internet, or to some kind of
vocal communication. They want that
kind of feedback that sometimes were
missing in emails, where somebody has
to put the little smiling icon in the email.
NTB: How would you respond to some-
one who says a machine couldnt possibly
detect emotion as well as a human?
Jorgensen: Its certainly not at that
state, but weve observed actors attempt-
ing to show different emotions, and then
had the machine try to detect them.
What is interesting is that the human
raters of what emotion is being
expressed dont agree at a much higher
percentage than what some of our
machine evaluations report. So the
humans themselves cant always agree on
what emotion is being expressed. The
person can say Im trying to express a
happy emotion, but the observer can be
confused, whether theyre grimacing
sometimes, or whether theyre laughing.
NTB: What are your biggest design
challenges?
Jorgensen: Were looking at over 988
variables extracted from just the human
voice alone, and the challenges there
are formidable when determining which
variables are actually the drivers for the
different emotions, and how they have
to be combined mathematically into dif-
ferent models since we have pattern
recognition questions.
Were actually looking at some other
aspects of it as well, which is how to turn
those patterns into visual images or have
all those variables draw a picture. The
picture can be recognized as the emotion
of anger or happiness, and then tell you
the state of the system. This has applica-
tions beyond just emotions; it can be used
for system health monitoring as well.
To listen to a downloadable podcast of the
full interview, visit www.techbriefs.com/
podcast. For more information on licensing
and partnering opportunities related to the
technologies mentioned here, contact sumedha.
garud@nasa.gov or call 1-855-NASA-BIZ
(1-855-627-2249).
Chuck Jorgensen, Chief Scientist,
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
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www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-739
For more information on the inventions described here, contact the appropriate
NASA Field Centers Innovative Partnerships (IP) Office.
See page 62 for a list of office contacts.
Over the past three decades, NASA has granted more than 1000 patent licenses in virtually every area
of technology. The agency has a portfolio of thousands of patents and pending applications available
now for license by businesses and individuals, including these recently patented inventions:
Method of Making and Using
Shape Memory Polymer
Composite Patches
U.S. Patent No. 7,938,923
Patrick J. Hood, Kennedy Space
Center, Florida
Composite materials are widely used
in the aerospace industry to build air-
craft components such as fuselages,
wings, tail fins, and doors. To repair
damage to composites, a prepreg of
fibrous material is laid over the hole or
crack. A vacuum bag holds an electric
blanket in position over the repair area
while, at the same time, applying a com-
paction force to the prepreg.
Inconsistency of the heat provided by
the electric blanket, however, leads to
unreliability in the curing process.
A new invention provides a pre-
formed, cured patch to quickly and
cheaply repair any number of composite
materials. In order to mold the patch to
a desired shape, the resin must be acti-
vated, using heat or light to activate the
shape memory polymer. The resin and
the entire composite part then become
soft and can be mechanically deformed,
typically by hand, to the desired shape.
Wireless System and Method
for Collecting Motion and
Non-Motion Related Data of
a Rotating System
Stanley E. Woodward and Bryant D.
Taylor, Langley Research Center,
Hampton, VA
Sensor systems observe various tire
parameters of interest. Each of these sys-
tems, however, requires a dedicated sen-
sor for each measured parameter type,
increasing complexity and the cost of a
tire health monitoring system.
A wireless system uses only one sensor
to collect and record tire data. The sensor
installed or embedded in the tire is pow-
ered and read by a magnetic field
response recorder as the tire rotates dur-
ing vehicle operation. In the presence of
a time-varying magnetic field, a conductor
resonates to generate a harmonic
response having a frequency, amplitude,
and bandwidth. The magnetic field
response recorder wirelessly transmits the
time-varying magnetic field to the con-
ductor, and wirelessly detects the harmon-
ic response and the frequency, amplitude,
and bandwidth, associated therewith.
Real-Time Oil Reservoir
Evaluation Using
Nanotechnology
Jing Li and Meyya Meyyappan, Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Current mechanical, electromagnetic,
or optical sensor technologies are rela-
tively low-tech and passive, and do not
acquire data at sufficient distances to
permit reservoir managers to fully com-
prehend the chemical composition, vol-
ume, and dynamics of petroleum in a
given reservoir.
A system evaluates the status and
response of a mineral-producing field
by monitoring selected chemical and
physical properties in or adjacent to a
wellsite headspace. Nanotechnology
sensors are provided for one or more
underground mineral-producing well-
sites to determine the presence or
absence of each of two or more target
molecules in the fluid, relative humidi-
ty, temperature, and/or fluid pressure
adjacent to the well site, and flow direc-
tion and flow velocity for the fluid. A
nanosensor measures an electrical
parameter value and estimates a corre-
sponding environmental parameter
value, such as water or hydrocarbon
content. The system is small enough to
be located down-hole in each mineral-
producing horizon for the wellsite.
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Software is the
Driving Innovation for
Software is the
Driving Innovation for
TomTom, a leading provider of in-car location and navigation
devices, uses PTC Integrity, an application lifecycle management
solution that manages requirements, models, code, and test.
Y
ou may not realize it, but many of the
bells and whistles in the products that
you engage with on a daily basis are actu-
ally powered by software.
The vast array of features, including
the advanced electronics in your vehicle
as well as many of the special capabil-
ities in televisions, toys, and household
appliances are innovations that have
been made possible by software.
Software in products holds the key to
innovations that improve quality, safety,
and ease-of-use, as well as add new func-
tions. Software simply makes products
smarter. Think about how software has
changed our experiences with products.
Think about the smart products you
really love to use. Can you imagine a day
without using them?
In the past decade, a significant shift
has occurred for discrete manufacturing
organizations where software now deliv-
ers the majority of functionality and dif-
ferentiation in numerous products we
use in our everyday lives. In many cases,
software is now the product, and hard-
ware has been relegated to the role of
delivery platform. Discrete manufactur-
ing companies that can harness the
power of software for product innova-
tion will become leaders in their respec-
tive industries.
According to industry research firm
Aberdeen Group, the most successful
discrete manufacturers are 30% more
likely to use electronics and embedded
software to bring innovation to prod-
ucts. [Source: Product Analytics to
Engineering On Schedule and On
Budget, 2010].
There are many reasons why these
manufacturers have started to realize the
power of software, and why they are mak-
ing the shift in developing their products
in a very different way, including:
:Innovation and differentiation Soft ware
allows manufacturers to create a
unique user experience with products.
A CTO at one automotive company
said that over 50% of the buyers of its
vehicles do so in part because of the
features driven by software.
:More product variants Software allows
manufacturers to build more customer-
specific product variants in less time,
with less cost. Nokias move to the
Microsoft OS for smartphones means
they now can deliver the same hardware
to many countries around the world
with no need for localized keyboards
the software provides the right keyboard
for the right region and language.
:Reduce product manufacturing costs If
you manufacture 10 million units of a
product and can save $5 per device by
moving functionality from custom
hardware components into custom
software that runs on a commoditized
component, you save yourself $50 mil-
lion dollars in manufacturing costs.
Its really that simple. There are
examples from many industries that
are transitioning to this way of devel-
oping products, including automo-
tive, high-tech products, industrial,
Cov ToC
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Intro
Copyright 2013. COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. AutoCAD and Inventor are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries. LiveLink for AutoCAD and LiveLink for Inventor
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Intro
aerospace and defense, and medical
device manufacturers.
6 Improve customer satisfaction, after product
delivery There are many ways to
improve customer satisfaction, but a
well-designed product can actually
improve over time through software
updates. These products include the
car that can automatically download
software updates for service recom-
mendations, the smartphone that
updates its GPS system, or the refriger-
ator that tells you when its time to
change the water filter.
While software is providing these
organizations with competitive advan-
tages and offers many cost benefits, it
also significantly increases the risk and
complexity of product development and
delivery processes.
The Challenges of
Software Innovation
Software engineering is a new and dif-
ferent way of developing products and
bringing them to market. Instead of a
well-understood physical process, soft-
ware development is empirical, requir-
ing a highly iterative and collaborative
approach. This makes it difficult to
determine the state of release readiness
because you cant physically inspect soft-
ware for completeness or quality. Also,
the flexibility of software to be copied
and reused has created a proliferation of
software-driven product variants that are
hard to manage. As a result, software in
products increases complexity and,
therefore, quality may be compromised.
For example, software bugs contained in
automobiles and medical devices can
pose huge safety risks. Dealing with soft-
ware complexity can also cause schedule
delays, impacting time-to-market and
company profits.
Complexity is magnified when defects
are being tracked. When a defect is
found in one product, what about other
related products that also include this
defect? Its easy to fix by changing a line
or two of code, right? But what if that
line of code was reused (copied) to 10 or
100 or 1,000 other products? And sup-
pose the development organization is
siloed and little collaboration exists.
Defects like this cost organizations mil-
lions of dollars each year to manually
find and fix across product variants.
Several other areas including testing,
software change, and compliance all cre-
ate complexity in the management of
software development:
6Fixing, tracking and testing software is
typically done manually, resulting in
delays and poor quality.
6Software changes at 10 to 100x the rate
of hardware changes. Manag ing change
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Cov ToC
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Intro
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Cov ToC
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Intro
as requirements that are changed
late in the process be comes cum-
bersome, especially when the
change affects multiple product
variants.
New compliance regulations (ISO
26262 in automotive, for example)
also increase complexity, which
require traceability in software
development processes so that
companies can easily demonstrate
compliance.
Without formal integrated pro -
cesses for requirements, change man-
agement, testing, and reporting, the
potential for errors and delays can be
massive and expensive.
A New Approach is Needed
How can these challenges be met?
And what do designers need to know
when designing, simulating, and
manufacturing these software-inten-
sive products?
Design engineers need to understand
that software development processes are
part of the entire product development
process, and they must recognize that the
dynamics around the development of soft-
ware are far different than those of electri-
cal and mechanical design and develop-
ment, and to take these differences into
account when implementing the software
process. It is also important to determine
the interdependencies of the software
development process to the overall sys-
tem-wide process. Finally, the process
needs to extend across the entire design
and delivery spectrum. These processes
should allow for efficient and innova-
tive design and development, while
minimizing the likelihood of intro-
ducing defects into the product.
Another way to ensure that a
product development solution is
comprehensive and integrated is to
adopt a single product to manage
core engineering artifacts across the
product development lifecycle. With
an end-to-end automated software
engineering solution, software
development resources can be
focused on core product develop-
ment and product innovation, lead-
ing to more competitive product
lines and accelerated time-to-market
with new features.
Discrete manufacturing organiza-
tions that make these investments
to ensure that software develop-
ment is managed effectively and
accelerates innovation in products
can become the industry leaders and
deliver the types of products their cus-
tomers are demanding.
This article was written by Jake Simpson,
Division General Manager, Application
Lifecycle Management, at PTC in Needham,
MA. For more information, visit http://info.
hotims.com/45599-121.
PTCs Creo suite enables engineers to design, model, and
simulate all aspects of a car, including the electronics.
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Intro
NX CAE: Smarter decisions, better products.
Great Decisions in Product
Engineering #137.
A simulation specialist tries five design alternatives before lunch
and the company exceeds sales targets before mid-year.
Answers for industry.

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With NX CAE, engineers can modify geometry intuitively,
update simulation models automatically, and evaluate design
changes rapidly.
Sometimes, the smallest decision in product engineer-
ing has the greatest impact on a companys success.
NX CAE from Siemens PLM Software gives everyone
involved in analyzing your products performance the
solutions they need to efficiently model, solve and
evaluate results. The benefit: your engineering
organization rapidly explores game-changing
alternatives, makes smarter more timely decisions
and delivers great products.
Find out how NX simulation solutions can help you
make the decisions that make your product better.
Learn more at siemens.com/plm/nxcae-symposium.
See the 2012
NX CAE
Symposium
Presentations
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Intro
L ight-Control Systems Help NASA
Go Net Zero
EcoSystem
light control system

Lutron Electronics
Coopersburg, PA
800-523-9466
www.lutron.com
The Propellants North Administrative and Maintenance
Facility at Kennedy Space Center, located in Cape Canaveral,
FL, achieves net-zero energy use. To offset the costs of electric-
ity provided by a local utility, the center powers itself with
renewable resources. The new facility is NASAs first carbon-
neutral one, which means it is engineered to release no green-
house gas emissions during renovation or operation.
The facility actually generates more energy than it requires
in a 24-hour period, said Frank Kline, a NASA Construction of
Facilities project manager. And our ability to do that is largely
attributed to advanced lighting solutions, adding that lighting
typically consumes nearly 40 percent of a buildings energy.
More than 330 photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of the
Propellants North complex use sunlight to generate energy.
The buildings are also positioned on the property to maximize
the flow of light into the windows, decreasing the demand for
power needed for lighting the interior.
One of the broader energy-saving strategies NASA utilized
to reduce the buildings power draw was to improve the use of
natural light a strategy known as daylighting. The NASA
team recycled large windows and frames from the original
launch control center to increase available daylight in the
office areas.
The team relied on lighting-control technology to reduce
the energy consumed by the artificial lights in the facility. The
NASA designers needed a combination of controls in four
enclosed office spaces. The walls in the office areas are largely
comprised of windows, so the situation called for a wireless
lighting technology with remote operating capabilities.
With direct on-site support from Lutron Electronics, the
group selected a fully integrated lighting control system.
EcoSystem
wireless controls allow employees who occupy

glass-enclosed offices to control lighting levels wirelessly. To
automatically dim lights based on available natural light, the
EcoSystem digitally addressable dimming ballasts are automat-
ed to work individually or as a group.
Pico Wireless wall-mounted control stations use Maestro
Wireless
technology and Radio Powr Savr
occupancy sensors
to allow occupants in the engineering and mechanics work
areas to control a specific group of lights. Large windows cap-
ture sunlight and naturally illuminate the space, allowing
EcoSystem daylight sensors to dim or turn off electric lights as
necessary. EcoSystem infrared occupancy sensors also turn
lights off when a space is empty, and turn lights on when a per-
son enters a space.
The building automation system monitors the facilitys ener-
gy use through KW meters installed in the electrical panels
throughout the building. The meter associated with the light-
ing panel has confirmed a significant electricity cost savings
from the lighting controls. But the best result coming out of
implementing the lighting controls was the transparency to
the occupants. They didnt even notice light levels automati-
cally changing throughout the day, Kline said. The lighting
system saves a lot of energy without requiring the occupants to
put any thought or effort into helping do so.
Other energy-efficient initiatives are in progress. For less
than $1.50 per day, for example, an electric or hybrid vehicle
can also be plugged into a solar-powered charging canopy. The
facilitys eight-car station is used for government or personal
vehicles to reduce dependency on petroleum and lower green-
house gas emissions.
Water conservation also factored into the design teams
plan. A 7,500-gallon rainwater-harvesting system supplies water
to sanitary fixtures and sprinklers. By incorporating the water
reclamation and storage onsite, NASA estimates the system off-
sets 195,000 gallons of treated water with rainwater. The system
A p p l i c a t i o n B r i e f s
A p p l i c a t i o n B r i e f s
NASAs Propellants North Facility in Cape Canaveral is the Agencys first car-
bon neutral facility.
By maximizing the use of daylight and minimizing energy waste, the facil-
ity is 52% more efficient than a traditional commercial building.
Cov ToC
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Intro
DEWE2- i nno v a t i o n
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NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 21 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-745
saves taxpayers the costs incurred for the
treated water and eliminates the need to
pump it from over 25 miles away.
The overall initiative to make the facil-
ity as energy-efficient as possible was
driven by Executive Orders 13423 and
13514, which mandate federal agencies
to give preference to using energy from
renewable sources and environmentally
preferable products in new construction
and major renovations.
According to Kline, the net-zero
efforts will likely continue in future
NASA facilities. I hope this is just the
start, he said.
For Free Info Visit
http://info.hotims.com/45599-115
Sensors Monitor
Curiositys Drilling Arm
Cryogenic sensor and load cell
FUTEK
Irvine, CA
800-23-FUTEK
www.futek.com
With the successful landing last
August, NASAs Curiosity rover is
maneuvering the surface of Mars, ana-
lyzing samples of soil. Two sensors were
developed by FUTEK for Curiosity. The
first is a cryogenic multi-axial load and
torsion sensor responsible for monitor-
ing the rovers drilling arm and its
robotic maneuvers as it retrieves sedi-
ments for analysis.
A secondary cryogenic load cell sits
aboard to supervise the precision and
force used to drill directly into the
Martian surface. Both sensors are
designed to operate around the clock in
temperature cycles from 23 F to as low
as -124 F.
For Free Info Visit
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Intro
Technology Focus: Sensors
A software package reads and analyzes
pressure distributions from sensors
mounted under a persons feet. Pressure
data from sensors mounted in shoes, or
in a platform, can be used to provide a
description of postural stability (assess-
ing competence to deficiency) and
enables the determination of the per-
sons present activity (running, walking,
squatting, falling). This package has
three parts: a preprocessing algorithm
for reading input from pressure sensors;
a Hidden Markov Model (HMM), which
is used to determine the persons present
activity and level of sensing-motor com-
petence; and a suite of graphical algo-
rithms, which allows visual representa-
tion of the persons activity and vestibu-
lar function over time.
In this innovation, the Hidden
Markov Model algorithm assesses cen-
ter-of-force time series data. Using the
Viterbi algorithm acting on center-of-
force velocity, these trajectories can be
classified into local equilibria separat-
ed by dynamic regions. These dynamic
regions represent control failures and,
ordinarily, lead into a new equilibrium.
However, the local equilibria wander
inside a broad safe zone of which the
size and shape are able to be quantified
(see figure). By quantifying the dwell
time, size, and shape of the equilibria,
the dynamic trajectories and the safe
zone as a whole, sensing-motor per-
formance can be assessed. For
instance, equilibria for subjects with
their eyes closed are shorter and more
diffuse than those for subjects with eyes
open.
This same algorithm can easily distin-
guish quiescent standing from squatting
Artificial Intelligence Software for Assessing Postural Stability
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
The purpose of this program was to
develop single-photon-sensitive short-
wavelength infrared (SWIR) and mid-
wavelength infrared (MWIR) avalanche
photodiode (APD) receivers based on
linear-mode HgCdTe APDs, for applica-
tion by NASA in light detection and
ranging (lidar) sensors. Linear-mode
photon-counting APDs are desired for
lidar because they have a shorter pixel
dead time than Geiger APDs, and can
detect sequential pulse returns from
multiple objects that are closely spaced
in range. Linear-mode APDs can also
measure photon number, which Geiger
APDs cannot, adding an extra dimen-
sion to lidar scene data for multi-photon
returns. High-gain APDs with low multi-
plication noise are required for efficient
linear-mode detection of single photons
because of APD gain statistics a low-
excess-noise APD will generate
detectible current pulses from single
photon input at a much higher rate of
occurrence than will a noisy APD operat-
ed at the same average gain. MWIR and
LWIR electron-avalanche HgCdTe APDs
have been shown to operate in linear
mode at high average avalanche gain (M
> 1000) without excess multiplication
noise (F = 1), and are therefore very
good candidates for linear-mode photon
counting. However, detectors fashioned
from these narrow-bandgap alloys
require aggressive cooling to control
thermal dark current. Wider-bandgap
SWIR HgCdTe APDs were investigated
in this program as a strategy to reduce
detector cooling requirements.
The first objective was to build SWIR
HgCdTe APDs, and to assess their suit-
ability for photon counting in linear
mode. The second objective was to
implement manufacturing improve-
ments to mitigate surface dark current,
improve reliability, and eliminate peak-
ing in the spectral response.
Voxtel manufactured and character-
ized 2.7-m-cutoff HgCdTe APDs, pub-
lishing excess noise data taken at the
highest avalanche gain levels yet demon-
strated for SWIR HgCdTe APDs (M =
80). Quantum efficiency was limited to
approximately 73% at 1,550 nm by par-
tial reflection from the non-coated opti-
cal entrance surface; quantum efficiency
near 94% is expected for these devices if
an anti-reflection coating is used.
Excellent yield of operable APD pixels
and uniformity of APD response were
both obtained, but the maximum ava-
lanche gain that could be achieved with
SWIR-cutoff material was deemed too
low to enable single-photon detection.
Comparison of Voxtels maximum gain
measurements suggests that this is an
inherent material limitation of the SWIR
alloy. Room-temperature responsivity of
about 5 kV/W and noise-equivalent
power (NEP) of 33.3 nW were measured
at 1550 nm when the APD operated at a
gain of M=6.6.
Completion of development of CdTe
surface passivation for MWIR HgCdTe
APDs presents the best opportunity to
further improve receiver sensitivity, as it
will enable operation at much higher
avalanche gain with reduced dark cur-
rent. This innovation can find use with
quantum information (encryption and
basic science), semiconductor inspec-
tion, and molecular spectroscopy.
This work was done by Andrew
Huntington of Voxtel, Inc. for Goddard Space
Flight Center. For more information, down-
load the Technical Support Package (free
white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
under the Physical Sciences category. GSC-
16140-1
Single-Photon-Sensitive HgCdTe Avalanche Photodiode Detector
Detector provides extra dimension to lidar scene data for multi-photon returns.
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Cov ToC
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Intro
or a hand raise and may be useful in
checking how well an astronaut is adjust-
ing to changes in gravitational field
strength, in the context of Earth re-entry
following space travel, or a Moon or Mars
mission. Also, this innovation can be used
to help a physical therapist gauge the
progress of a stroke patient relearning
skills like standing, walking, and running.
The algorithm can be used as a training
tool for athletes by quantifying their daily
behavior (time spent running, etc) during
training.
This work was a joint effort done by Erez
Lieberman, MIT and Harvard; Katharine
Forth, USRA; and William Paloski, NASA
Johnson Space Center. Inquiries concerning
rights for its commercial use should be
addressed to:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Director of Technology Licensing Office
Room NE 25-230
Five Cambridge Center, Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02142
Refer to MSC-24387-1, volume and num-
ber of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
page number.
NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com 23
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70
X
Y
The motivation of this work was to have
robust spectroscopic sensors for sensitive
detection and chemical analysis of organ-
ic and molecular compounds. The solu-
tion is to use silica sphere optical res-
onators to provide surface-enhanced
spectroscopic signal.
Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) res-
onators made from silica microspheres
were used for surface-enhanced Raman
scattering (SERS) without coupling to a
plasmonic mechanism. Large Raman sig-
nal enhancement is observed by exclu-
sively using 5.08-micron silica spheres
with 785-nm laser excitation. The advan-
tage of this non-plasmonic approach is
that the active substrate is chemically
inert silica, thermally stable, and relative-
ly simple to fabricate. The Raman signal
enhancement is broadly applicable to a
wide range of molecular functional
groups including aliphatic hydrocar-
bons, siloxanes, and esters. Applications
include trace organic analysis, particular-
ly for in situ planetary instruments that
require robust sensors with consistent
response.
WGM SERS using microspheres or
quartz surface structures provide a chem-
ically robust surface for sensor applica-
tions that could be cleaned by resistively
heating the sensor element. This is par-
ticularly useful for spacecraft instruments
used for the detection of organics in plan-
etary soils. The conventional silver-based
SERS substrates are limited by reactivity
of silver. In the case of gold SERS sub-
strates, high temperatures (<200 C) will
cause diffusion in the gold that degrades
the nanostructure. The use of WGM
SERS may also be used for surface analy-
sis in a manner similar to attenuated total
reflectance used in infrared spectroscopy.
The surface localized field enhancement
could be used to probe the upper layers
of a sample surface.
WGM resonances (1, 2, X =also termed
morphology-dependent resonances) take
place when an incident light becomes
trapped near the inner surface of a parti-
cle resulting from total internal reflection.
This results in enhancement of the
evanescent electromagnetic field at cer-
tain nodes near the surface of the particle.
WGM resonance structures have been
proposed as chemical sensors and when
coupled with conventional Plasmon-based
SERS, for single-molecule spectroscopy.
Very large enhancements are feasible by
using 5-micron silica microspheres.
Enhancement factors comparable to those
seen from noble metal spheroids are pos-
sible enhancements when the Raman-scat-
tered radiation also overlaps with a WGM
resonance. For microspheres with radius
of 5 microns, the enhancement factor can
exceed an order of magnitude. This is a
significant result that indicates that it
would be possible to observe SERS with
non-resonant scatterers.
This work was done by Mark S. Anderson
of Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. For more information, contact
iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov.
This invention is owned by NASA, and a
patent application has been filed. Inquiries
concerning nonexclusive or exclusive license
for its commercial development should be
addressed to the Patent Counsel, NASA
Management OfficeJPL. Refer to NPO-
47604.
Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Silica Whispering-
Gallery Mode Resonators
Silica sphere optical resonators are used to provide surface-enhanced spectroscopic signal.
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
The Safe Zone: Eighteen subjects stood for two intervals of two minutes each on an EquiTest plat-
form. Weight distribution from left foot (0) to right foot (1) is shown on the x-axis. Center-of-force in
the anterior (1)/posterior (0) direction is plotted on the y-axis, normalized by foot length. Color corre-
sponds to individual. The safe zone is elliptical in shape, but is far larger than the region encompassed
by a single equilibrium or any 2-minute standing interval.
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Intro
3D Hail Size Distribution Interpolation/Extrapolation Algorithm
Multiple sensors are not required.
John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Radar data can usually detect hail;
however, it is difficult for present day
radar to accurately discriminate between
hail and rain. Local ground-based hail
sensors are much better at detecting hail
against a rain background, and when
incorporated with radar data, provide a
much better local picture of a severe
rain or hail event.
The previous disdrometer interpola-
tion/extrapolation algorithm described
a method to interpolate horizontally
between multiple ground sensors (a
minimum of three) and extrapolate ver-
tically. This work is a modification to
that approach that generates a purely
extrapolated 3D spatial distribution
when using a single sensor.
A 3D high-resolution mapping of
hail, as well as rain, is desirable in many
instances. For example, hail mapping
in the vicinity of a launch vehicle on the
launch pad would help determine
whether or not damage has occurred
following a hail event. In addition to
quantifying the size and quantity of
hail, it is desirable to know where on
the vehicle hail impacts may have
occurred. A method that was previously
developed, and that required multiple
ground sensors, has been modified to
accommodate a single sensor. The 3D
extrapolation from a single (or multi-
ple) ground sensor can then be com-
pared to the 3D radar-generated spatial
map.
The 3D hydrometeor size interpola-
tion scheme described in previous work
assumes that a minimum of three
hydrometeor disdrometers (rain or hail)
are required for successful interpola-
tion/extrapolation of the hydrometeor
distribution in time and space. By simply
bypassing the gravity interpolation algo-
rithm for multiple sensors, it is shown
that good agreement between single
sites vs. multiple sites vs. radar is
obtained.
The software modification allows any
number of sensors, from 1 to N, to be
used in the 3D-DSD algorithm. As would
be expected, the more sensors that are
available, the better, but the requirement
for a minimum of three sensors has now
been eliminated. This disclosure demon-
strates that multiple sensors are not
required for successful implementation
of the 3D interpolation/extrapolation
algorithm. This is a great benefit, since it
is seldom that multiple sensors in the
required spatial arrangement are avail-
able for this type of analysis. This can be
used in conjunction with a single sensor
or an array of hail monitors, or single or
multiple rainfall disdrometers.
This work was done by John Lane of ASRC
Aerospace Corporation for Kennedy Space
Center. For more information, download the
Technical Support Package (free white
paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
Information Technology category. KSC-
13244
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Intro
Hypergolic fuel sensors were designed
to incorporate novel chemo chromic pig-
ments into substrates for use in various
methods of leak detection. There are
several embodiments to this invention
that would provide specific visual indica-
tion of hypergols used during and after
transfer. The ability to incorporate these
pigments into various polymer matrices
provides a unique opportunity to manu-
facture nearly any type of sensor shape
that is required. The vibrant color
change from yellow to black instanta-
neously shows the worker the presence
of hypergols in the area, providing the
worker the ability to immediately evacu-
ate the area.
The chemochromic pigments are
prepared in powder or liquid form for
addition into many different materials
in different articles. With the ability to
incorporate the pigment into a wide
range of materials, the sensor can take
any embodiment allowed by various
manufacturing methods. For example,
the sensor can be manufactured in the
form of polymer tape that can have
several unique structures designed for
different applications, from several lay-
ers to protect the tape from environ-
mental conditions, to re-useable adhe-
sive to allow for repositioning of the
sensor. The sensor can be extruded
into various size tapes or sheets, injec-
tion molded into uniquely shaped
parts, or incorporated into fibers with
fiber-spinning methods to make fab-
rics or personal protective equipment.
Add itionally, the sensor can be incor-
porated into a badge holder to be used
as a point leak detector. This can be
done by creating a clear, or nearly
clear, polymer cap for connection
points, and placing the sensing materi-
al at the end of the cap where it can be
seen by a technician.
These sensors provide the capability
for numerous areas to be constantly visu-
ally monitored for leaks. These sensors
are easy to replace and have a very low
implementation cost.
This work was done by Luke Roberson,
Janine Captain, Edgardo Santiago-Maldonado,
and Stanley Starr of Kennedy Space Center;
and Robert DeVor of ASRC Aerospace
Corporation. For more information, contact
the Kennedy Space Center Innovative Part -
nerships Office at 321-867-5033. KSC-
13351/636
Color-Changing Sensors for Detecting the Presence of
Hypergolic Fuels
Chemochromic pigment indicates the presence of hypergols, improving workers safety.
2013 Measurement Computing Corporation, 10 Commerce Way, Norton, MA 02766 info@mccdaq.com
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Intro
Materials & Coatings
Adding phase change material (PCM)
to a mission payload can maintain its tem-
perature above the cold survival limit,
without power, for several hours in space.
For the International Space Station, PCM
is melted by heaters just prior to the pay-
load translation to the worksite when
power is available. When power is cut off
during the six-hour translation, the PCM
releases its latent heat to make up the heat
loss from the radiator(s) to space. For the
interplanetary Probe, PCM is melted by
heaters just prior to separation from the
orbiter when power is available from the
orbiter power system. After the Probe sep-
arates from the orbiter, the PCM releases
its latent heat to make up the heat loss
from the Probe exterior to space.
Paraffin wax is a good PCM candidate.
It has a high solid-to-liquid enthalpy,
which is about 225 kJ/kg, and a range of
melting points. For example, C
18
H
38
has
a melting point of 28 C, which is well
within the payload temperature limits.
At the time of this reporting, paraffin
wax PCM had a TRL (technology readi-
ness level) of 7.
This work was done by Michael Choi of
Goddard Space Flight Center. For more informa-
tion, download the Technical Support Package
(free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
under the Materials & Coatings category.
GSC-16539-1
Using Pre-Melted Phase Change Material to Keep Payloads in
Space Warm for Hours Without Power
Fibrillar Adhesive for Climbing Robots
This material can be used to hang items on walls without the need for drilling holes, as surgical
sutures, or to attach and maneuver components during assembly.
A climbing robot needs to use its
adhesive patches over and over again as
it scales a slope. Replacing the adhesive
at each step is generally impractical. If
the adhesive or attachment mechanism
cannot be used repeatedly, then the
robot must carry an extra load of this
adhesive to apply a fresh layer with each
move. Common failure modes include
tearing, contamination by dirt, plastic
deformation of fibers, and damage from
loading/unloading. A gecko-like fibril-
lar adhesive has been developed that has
been shown useful for climbing robots,
and may later prove useful for grasping,
anchoring, and medical applications.
The material consists of a hierarchical
fibrillar structure that currently contains
two levels, but may be extended to three
or four levels in continuing work. The
contacting level has tens of thousands of
microscopic fibers made from a rubber-
like material that bend over and create
intimate contact with a surface to
achieve maximum van der Waals forces.
By maximizing the real area of contact
that these fibers make and minimizing
the bending energy necessary to achieve
that contact, the net amount of adhe-
sion has been improved dramatically.
The suspension structure consists of
millimeter-scale fibers that are bonded
to the contacting level through a wet
assembly step. These millimeter-sized
fibers serve as a discretized way of both
conforming to roughness on the surface
and distributing the overall climbing
loads down to the individual contacts.
These structures have been tested on an
experimental testbed meant to deter-
mine the contact forces very exactly, and
have also been demonstrated by hang-
ing weights off of a patch adhering to a
variety of walls (glass, metal, wood, plas-
tic, drywall, etc).
This material is fabricated via a mold-
ing process. A new process has been devel-
oped at JPL to make this process simpler,
more reliable, and to allow new geome-
tries not previously possible. These new
geometries will make the adhesive and
the reliability significantly better, and will
drive down cost and development time.
The process involves using optical
lithography to make a master pattern,
and from this master pattern, making a
reusable master mold that is used to cast
the adhesive strips. To create the master
photoresist pattern that will be used to
make the master mold, a self-aligned
double exposure technique was used.
Two different angled UV exposures are
performed using a single opaque pat-
tern on a transparent wafer. This simpli-
fies fabrication considerably.
A second advantage of this technique is
the ability to achieve right-angle wedge-
shaped structures with both sides of the
wedge leaning to the same side, i.e., an
actual overhang of the fibers, which is
more like the arrangement of a gecko
foots fibers. A third critical difference is
the use of a standard positive Novalac pho-
toresist, which has a wide process latitude.
The new microfabrication process has
allowed the shape of the wedge-like
fibers to be controlled. Prior to these
process improvements, only right-angle
wedges had been fabricated. Now, the
process not only allows for increased
control over the angle of these fibers,
but is also much more reliable, manufac-
turable, and cost-effective.
This work was done by Aaron Parness and
Victor E. White of Caltech for NASAs Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. For more information,
download the Technical Support Package
under the Materials & Coatings category.
NPO-48156
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Intro
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Intro
Materials & Coatings
Prior approaches to transformer-like
robots had only very limited success.
They suffer from lack of reliability, ability
to integrate large surfaces, and very mod-
est change in overall shape. Robots can
now be built from two-dimensional (2D)
layers of robotic fabric. This expands on
ideas of electronic fabrics for electronic
textiles, and incorporates sensors, actua-
tors, power, and communications. The
2D solution is easier/cheaper to fabri-
cate, packs more compactly, and ensures
a wider range of shape change than 3D
modules.
These transformers, a new kind of
robotic space system, are dramatically
different from current systems in at least
two ways. First, the entire transformer is
built from a single, thin sheet; a flexible
layer of a robotic fabric (ro-fabric); or
robotic textile (ro-textile). The ro-textile
would be produced as a gossamer-thin
(100 m) and light flexible layer, surviv-
able to extreme environments. Along its
large surface, the ro-fabric would be par-
titioned into modular cells. Each cell
would include, distributed within this
skin-like thin layer, all the structures for
spacecraft/robotic subsystems, including
propulsion and power (solar), avionics
and controls, sensing, actuation (e.g.,
shape- memory alloys), and communica-
tion (circuits and antennas).
Second, the ro-textile layer is fold-
able to small volume and self-unfolding
to adapt shape and function to mission
phases. Tightly folded at launch, it
would self-unfold to take the
shape/function needed by the mission
target, and then again transform its
shape as needed. For dramatic
changes, one can speculate it could
morph between a large solar sail for
interplanetary interstellar travel, its
component patches could separate in
swarms of winged flyers in atmosphere,
or it could take shape as a limbed robot
capable of surface mobility and sample
manipulation.
Some 3D payloads may still be need-
ed, e.g., some special instruments that
cannot be integrated as 2D structures;
these would be carried as payloads in
kernels around which the 2D layer
would fold. Proper partitioning of the
ro-fabric sheet would allow shaping of
practically any 3D shape, as insured by
various mathematical proofs. Flexible
layers would provide further freedom
for modification of shape at sub-cell res-
olution.
The surface of ro-fabrics is composed
of connected (zipped) multi-cell patches
that can separate to operate in forma-
tions; these may be all the same or spe-
cialized (e.g., one with more sensing cir-
cuitry). Each cell would normally embed
the circuits of all subsystems (electron-
ics/computing, propulsion, and power
photo-elements/imaging cells, actuators,
conductors for antennas, etc.).
A cell-based architecture fits well with
modular, reconfigurable electronics,
based on field programmable (FP)
arrays, or in general on distributed com-
puting/electronics. From computation-
al perspective, each (cm-size) cell of the
ro-textile could be a basic computation-
al element a single FPGA (field pro-
grammable gate array)/FPAA (FP
gate/analog array) mixed cell, a cluster
of cells, or a large-density array of FP
cells (the low density may be suitable for
non-silicon materials that may be
preferable for reasons other than high
integration). The ro-textile would be
built with materials that survive to
extreme environments without insula-
tion or thermal control.
In summary, this concept may be a
solution to faster, cheaper, and lighter
space systems, reducing the launch cost
and the redesign cost for new missions;
thus, one can launch more of them and
at shorter intervals, and send them to
more places after launch.
This work was done by Adrian Stoica of
Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
For more information, download the
Materials & Coatings category. NPO-48349
Transformers: Shape-Changing Space Systems Built With
Robotic Textiles
These easy-to-fabricate textiles can be used in robotics and smart habitats/shelters.
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Intro
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Intro
30 www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 30 www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013
Manufacturing & Prototyping
The harmful properties of lunar dust,
such as small size, glass composition,
abnormal surface area, and coatings of
imbedded nanophase iron, lead to a
unique coupling of the dust with
microwave radiation. This coupling can
be exploited for rapid sintering of lunar
soil for use as a construction material
that can be formed to take on an infinite
number of shapes and sizes.
This work describes a system concept
for building structures on the lunar sur-
face using lunar regolith (soil). This sys-
tem uses the ATHLETE (All-Terrain
Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer)
mobility system as a positioning system
with a microwave print head (similar to
that of a smaller-scale 3D printer). A pro-
cessing system delivers the lunar regolith
to the microwave print head, where the
microwave print head/chamber lays
down a layer of melted regolith. An arm
on the ATHLETE system positions the
layer depending on the desired struc-
ture.
In support of long-duration human
missions to the lunar surface, a variety of
in situ derived structures have been pro-
posed that would enhance the utility of a
permanent outpost, provide safety for
the outpost elements, and mitigate the
generation of dust. Using regolith in a
variety of ways, it has been proposed that
berms, paving, walls, roads, and other
structures could be constructed to serve
as permanent outpost. However, the
means of creating the in situ structures
with hardened surfaces remains a chal-
lenge.
A lunar regolith processing system
mounted on the underside of ATHLETE
will deliver correctly sized regolith parti-
cles to a microwave print head via a mate-
rial handling system. The microwave
print head with tunable microwave
chamber then lays down a layer of melt-
ed regolith as the ATHLETE arm traces a
pre-defined path forming a layer of
printed structure in any desired shape.
The process is repeated for subsequent
layers, allowing the system to construct
hard walls, vaults, domes, paving, and
other in situ structures. Since any solid
structure can be printed in this way, the
construction mechanism is named
Freeform Additive Construction System
(FACS), using a Microwave Sinterator
(MS) as a print head. Structures can be
modeled in advance using CAD systems,
and then sent to the lunar system to
make a FACS (FAX) of the structure on
the lunar surface.
The key to the microwave heating of
lunar soil is the coupling of certain
microwave frequencies to specific mate-
rials. This will improve the efficiency of
the device and expedite heating of
the soil. Since lunar soil is composed
of a variety of materials, a broadband
microwave emitter must be used such
as a magnetron or a traveling wave
tube amplifier. The microwave ener-
gy must be aimed into a resonant
chamber containing the regolith.
The frequency, the chamber, or both
will need to be autonomously tuned
to excite frequencies that couple the
microwave energy with the regolith.
This will create a more efficient heat-
ing of the regolith.
The novelty of the FACS concept
lies in the unique capability of the
ATHLETE system as a positioning sys-
tem, coupled with an efficient materi-
al handling system and the ability of
the adjustable microwave chamber
MS print head to produce hard struc-
tures in the vacuum environment of
space, and result in a digitally printed
in situ structure using in situ raw
materials.
The simplest application of this
technology is a microwave road-paver.
Microwave Sinterator Freeform Additive Construction System
(MS-FACS)
This system can create hard surfaces for walkways, roadways, or landing pads.
The Microwave Sinterator Freeform Additive Construction System (MS-FACS) uses the ATHLETE mobility
system as a positioning system.
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Intro
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Intro
Manufacturing & Prototyping
This device will be able to create hard
surfaces in the immediate area of astro-
nauts for walkways, roadways, or landing
pads. These hard surfaces will mitigate
the effects of dust by limiting the expo-
sure in the immediate area of habitats
and minimizing the amount of dust
kicked up by the descent engines of
landing spacecraft.
This work was done by Alan S. Howe, Brian
H. Wilcox, Martin B. Barmatz, Michael B.
Mercury, Michael A. Seibert, and Richard R.
Rieber of Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. For more information, download
the Technical Support Package (free white
Manufacturing & Prototyping category.
NPO-48291
NASA Procedural Requirement
8020.12C entitled Planetary Protection
Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial
Missions states that the source-specific
encapsulated microbial density for
encapsulated organisms (div(0)) in non-
metallic materials ranges from 1-30
spores/cm
3
. The standard laboratory
procedure, NASA Standard Procedures
for the Microbial Examination of Space
Hardware, NHB 5340.1B, does not pro-
vide any direction into the methodolo-
gies to understand the bioburden within
such a fluid as CFC-11 (Freon). This gen-
eral specification value for the Freon
would be applicable to the Freon charged
within the Mars Science Laboratorys
(MSLs) Heat Rejection System. Due to
the large volume required to fill this sys-
tem, MSL could not afford to conserva-
tively allocate 55.8% of the total spore
budget of the entire laboratory system
(rover, descent stage, cruise stage, and
aeroshell) of 5.00 10
5
spores at launch.
A novel filtration approach was devel-
oped to analyze the Freon employing a
50 kDa molecular weight cutoff (MCO)
filter, followed by 0.22-m pore-size filter
to establish a calculated microbial
bioburden.
Filtration of microorganisms from liq-
uid matrices is a standard laboratory ap -
proach. Due to the volatility of Freon, a
standard vacuum filtration unit would
not suffice because of the lack of a cold
trap on the vacuum unit. A more eco-
nomical approach had to be devised. The
two-pronged concentration ap proach is
advantageous due to the fact that it ini-
tially concentrates the Freon from liters
to milliliters where it can then be feasibil-
ity filtered and microbes extracted from
the filter. This is a technology improve-
ment over prior art as it defines the spe-
cific parameters to concentrate microbial
organisms from a low-boiling-point fluid
such as Freon.
This work relates to the current MSL
mission but also has implications for
future NASA missions that will utilize the
same or similar heat rejection fluids. If the
same lot of material is utilized on a future
mission, then the experimentally derived
value can be directly used based on this
study (MSL-heritage). If a new lot or simi-
lar material composition is used in a
future mission, then this technology can
be employed or modified accordingly to
accommodate such a fluid. This technolo-
gy development will allow for a heritage-
based starting point for fluids on other
missions in which a calculated microbial
bioburden is necessary.
This work was done by James N.
Benardini, Robert C. Koukol, Gayane A.
Kazarians, and Fabian Morales of Caltech
for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For
more information, download the Technical
Support Package (free white paper) at
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Man -
ufacturing & Prototyping category. NPO-
48303
Development of a Centrifugal Technique for the Microbial
Bioburden Analysis of Freon (CFC-11)
Commercial applications include pharmaceutical development and quality assurance, and
chemical manufacturing.
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Intro
Technologies of the Month
For more information on these and other new, licensable inventions,
visit www.techbriefs.com/techsearch
Sponsored by
Non-Invasive Intra-Cranial Pressure
Monitoring
Because manned spaceflight still imposes unknown stresses
on the human body, NASA is seeking non-invasive technolog-
ical approaches for intra-cranial pressure measurement. A
baseline must be established on the ground, and then period-
ic measurements will be taken during flight possibly over
several months to a year. For consistency, it is important for the
same technology to be used both on the ground and in space.
The method and equipment must operate independent of
gravity and acceleration. Materials and designs for spaceflight
should anticipate the potential for high radiation exposure.
Respond to this TechNeed at:
www.techbriefs.com/tn/201301c.html
Email: nasatech@yet2.com
Phone: 781-972-0600
Better Foam Generation
Foam is a key indicator of efficacy and performance for a
range of consumer pharmaceutical and food products. A
company seeks cost-effective physical and mechanical tech-
nologies for enhanced foam generation and stability. Devices
that are able to generate a high volume of foam from low-con-
centration, surfactant-based formulations are especially of
interest. Possible solutions include packaging technologies
that alter the ingress of fluid dynamics in a surfactant-contain-
ing cage, or that impact the entrapment of air in a squeezable
bottle or aerosol. Nozzles and pharmaceutical/dermatologi-
cal foam-generation devices are also suitable options.
Respond to this TechNeed at:
www.techbriefs.com/tn/201301d.html
Phone: 781-972-0600
TechNeeds Requests for Technologies
TechNeeds are anonymous requests for technologies that you and your organization may be able to fulfill.
Responding to a TechNeed is the first step to gaining an introduction with a prospective buyer
for your technology solution.
Multiple-Input DC Converter Distributes
Power from Battery
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
The Direct Electric Power Converter (D-EPC), a semicon-
ductor switching circuit, controls power distribution among
multiple DC power sources without using a DC-DC converter.
During every pulse-width-modulation (PWM) cycle, the D-
EPC alternately activates one of the multiple inverter circuits,
which are connected to the power sources. The converter has
been proven experimentally to conduct charging operations
and distribute power between two DC power sources having
different voltages.
The D-EPC has common lower arms connected to both
negative terminals of the power sources (fuel cell stack and
battery, for example), as well as two positive terminals con-
nected to each power source. The lower arm consists of a
switch and a diode as a conventional inverter, while the upper
arms are built with bi-directional switches to prevent any short
circuit from occurring.
Get the complete report on this technology at:
www.techbriefs.com/tow/201301a.html
Phone: 781-972-0600
Piezo Technology Offers Precise Actuation,
Generates Less Heat
Parker Hannifin
VIVA piezo technology enables a valve to be direct-oper-
ated. The piezo element is protected from the fluid stream to
eliminate potential for clogging or contamination failure.
The valve is directly shifted by the VIVA arm, and requires
only a standard 40-micron air filter upstream. No minimum
air pressure is needed for operation.
The device generates about 90% less heat than solenoids in
lower-frequency operation; in higher-frequency operation,
voltage can be bled into an accumulator without generating
heat. The heat source can also be isolated from the actuator,
which offers much higher cycle times than solenoid-actuated
valves. Higher cycle times do not affect the low heat signature
of the piezo. The devices also provide precise actuation at low
current drops 1.5mA at 6.8V so that a single segment
(fieldbus or I/S) can operate up to 8x more control valves.
Get the complete report on this technology at:
www.techbriefs.com/tow/201301b.html
Phone: 781-972-0600
ADVERTISEMENT
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Intro
Electronics/Computers
Traditional command uplink receivers
are very limited in performance capabil-
ity, take a long time to acquire, cannot
operate on both uplink bands (NASA &
AFSCN), and only support low-rate com-
munications. As a result, transceivers
end up on many programs critical
paths, even though they should be a
standard purchased spacecraft subsys-
tem. Also, many missions are impacted
by the low effective uplink throughput.
In order to tackle these challenges, a
transceiver was developed that will pro-
vide on-site frequency agility, support of
high uplink rates, and operation on
both NASA and AFSCN frequency
bands.
The device is a low-power, high-relia-
bility, and high-performance digital sig-
nal processing (DSP) demodulator for
an on-orbit programmable command
receiver. There are several drivers avail-
able for the modulation technique.
Those drivers include receiver complex-
ity, power consumption, spectral effi-
ciency, and CCSDS (Consultative Com -
mittee for Space Data Systems) frame-
work recommendations. Previous re -
search suggests that GMSK (Gaussian
Minimum Shift Keying) and BPSK
(Binary Phase Shift Keying) are good
choices for the uplink modulation for-
mat. This approach is supported by
CCSDS and helps reduce receiver com-
plexity.
Analysis and derived simulations were
performed for power, bandwidth, clock
generator, bit synchronizer, and carrier
loop. At the time of this reporting, the
code was not yet written, and will evolve
from the existing analysis and simula-
tion.
The demodulator operates on the two
selected modes, BPSK and GMSK. The
bit rate covers multiple octaves and
includes a bit synchronizer function.
The modulator is unique in that it oper-
ates with high Doppler, over a large bit
rate range, and in a space environment.
In addition, this demodulator attempts
to maximize low power, small size, and
ease of modification to new applications.
Novel features of the innovation
include DSP logic for multiple modula-
tion types in a low-power and rad-toler-
ant platform. Advantages include on-
the-fly programmable low-power receive
communications for spacecraft.
This work was done by Jeffrey Janicik and
Assi Friedman of Innoflight, Inc. for Goddard
Space Flight Center. For more information,
under the Electronics/Computers category.
GSC-16030-1
DSP/FPGA Design for a High-Speed Programmable S-Band
Space Transceiver
Memory Circuit Fault Simulator
A wide variety of decision structures and formalisms is represented in the matrix evaluations.
Spacecraft are known to experience
significant memory part-related failures
and problems, both pre- and post-
launch. These memory parts include
both static and dynamic memories
(SRAM and DRAM). These failures
manifest themselves in a variety of ways,
such as pattern-sensitive failures, tim-
ing-sensitive failures, etc. Because of
the mission critical nature memory
devices play in spacecraft architecture
and operation, understanding their
failure modes is vital to successful mis-
sion operation.
To support this need, a generic simu-
lation tool that can model different data
patterns in conjunction with variable
write and read conditions was devel-
oped. This tool is a mathematical and
graphical way to embed pattern, electri-
cal, and physical information to perform
what-if analysis as part of a root cause
failure analysis effort.
The memory device is modeled as an
nm matrix structure that is mathemati-
cally transformed by a series of matrix
defined mathematical and logical oper-
ators that represent the read and write
operations. The mathematical transfor-
mation process is a multi-step process
that encompasses both logical and
physical information of the memory
array. The flexibility of MATLAB allows
elements of each operator to be a wide
variety of complex structures that
includes integer, floating point, or
character-based conditions and deci-
sion points. The application of opera-
tors can also include additional time
elements to provide for time-based
degradation of memory cells. The size
of matrices can be scaled to represent
large statistical concerns, or truncated
and reduced to focus on regions of
interest.
Pattern-sensitive testing schemes can
be modeled to reflect real-world test-
ing sequences. Moving inversion, walk-
ing, and disturb-based sequences are
examples of standard algorithmic pat-
terns that can be applied. De gra d a -
tions and faults can be modeled at
both the logical and physical levels
with this formulism. Logical to physi-
cal transformations are often at the
core of modern sophisticated memory
faults.
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Intro
A 1.6-THz power-combined Schottky
frequency tripler was designed to han-
dle approximately 30 mW input power.
The design of Schottky-based triplers at
this frequency range is mainly con-
strained by the shrinkage of the wave-
guide dimensions with frequency and
the minimum diode mesa sizes, which
limits the maximum number of diodes
that can be placed on the chip to no
more than two. Hence, multiple-chip
power-combined schemes become nec-
essary to increase the power-handling
capabilities of high-frequency multipli-
ers. However, the traditional power-
combining topologies that are used
below 1 THz present some inconven-
ience beyond 1 THz. The use of Y-junc-
tions or hybrid couplers to divide/com-
bine the input/output power at these
frequency bands increases unnecessarily
the electrical path of the signal in the
range of frequencies where waveguide
losses are considerable. Also, guarantee-
ing a perfect alignment of the very small
chips during assembly, in order to pre-
serve the balanced nature of the multi-
plier, is practically impossible with the
subsequent impact on the multiplier
performance.
The design presented here overcomes
these difficulties by performing the
power-combining directly on-chip. Four
E-probes are located at a single input
waveguide in order to equally pump
four mulitplying structures (featuring
two diodes each). The produced output
power is then recombined at the output
using the same concept. The four multi-
plying structures are physically connect-
ed on one chip, so that the alignment
and symmetry of the circuits can be very
On-Chip Power-Combining for High-Power Schottky Diode-
Based Frequency Multipliers
High-power solid-state sources operate at terahertz frequencies.
System designers often assume uniform
bit/byte performance while the physical
reality is represented by voltage- depend-
ent writes and cells with varying capaci-
tance and drive capability. The fault simu-
lator formulism presented here allows for
what-if analysis to help characterize this
logical to physical transformation.
This work was done by Douglas J. Sheldon
of Caltech and Tucker McClure of MathWorks
for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more
information, contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov.
The software used in this innovation is
available for commercial licensing. Please con-
tact Daniel Broderick of the California
Institute of Technology at danielb@caltech.edu.
Refer to NPO-48591.
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Intro
Electronics/Computers
well preserved. Contrary to traditional
frequency triplers, in this design the
input and output waveguides are per-
pendicular to the waveguide channels
where the diodes are located. Therefore,
the multiplier block is easier to fabricate
with silicon micromachining technology
instead of regular machining. The
expected conversion efficiency of the
tripler is 2 to 3% over a 20% band-
width, which is similar to that which is
simulated for an equivalent single-chip
tripler driven with one fourth the input
power.
This work was done by Goutam
Chattopadhyay, Imran Mehdi, Erich T.
Schlecht, and Choonsup Lee of NASAs Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech; Jose V.
Siles Fulbright Fellow at NASAs Jet
Propulsion Laboratory; Alain E. Maestrini of
the University of Paris; Bertrand Thomas of
Radiometer Physics; and Cecile D. Jung of
ORU for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Electronics/Computers category.
In accordance with Public Law 96-517,
the contractor has elected to retain title to this
invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its
commercial use should be addressed to:
Innovative Technology Assets Management
JPL
Mail Stop 202-233
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov
Refer to NPO-48155, volume and number
of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
page number.
1.9 THz On-Chip Power-Combining (2 chips).
Input
Waveguide
Multiplier
Chips
Output
Waveguide
DC Bias
0 300 600m
FPGA Vision Data Architecture
This is an aid to any FPGA vision processing, and can be
used by the automotive industry to detect collisions before
they occur, and for robotic autonomous navigation for
disaster relief.
JPL has produced a series of FPGA
(field programmable gate array) vision
algorithms that were written with cus-
tom interfaces to get data in and out of
each vision module. Each module has
unique requirements on the data inter-
face, and further vision modules are
continually being developed, each with
their own custom interfaces.
Each memory module had also been
designed for direct access to memory or
to another memory module. On the
development board originally used (an
Alpha Data XRC4), there were six inde-
pendent SSRAM (synchronous static
RAM) banks that allowed each module
sole access. For a flight mission, there
likely would be between one and three
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Intro
memory banks, and arbitration of those
banks would need to be supported,
interleaving access to individual memo-
ry banks between multiple modules.
An FPGA data architecture was
required to allow arbitration to onboard
DDR (double data rate) and/or SSRAM
memory, and to allow up to 10 to 30
independent agents access to that mem-
ory. It also required a method of
exchanging data directly between mod-
ules without reducing the throughput
of memory access. This architecture
also had to support both low-latency
reads and writes, and offer high
throughput.
Each FPGA vision module had slight-
ly different input and output require-
ments. Some required serial access to
data, and some were random access.
There were 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit
input/output widths. Three modules
could connect directly together in a
series or go directly to memory,
depending on runtime configuration
options. One of the larger difficulties
was posed by the random read access.
For industry-standard buses such as
AMBA, PLB, or OPB, a single random-
read request can take 5 to 10 clock
cycles, locking out all other users on
the bus until the request was complete.
This is far too slow for the vision mod-
ules and would effectively reduce per-
formance by 2 to 5 times.
An architecture was created that met
the same data throughput as the prior
custom interface that had no arbitra-
tion. The new architecture also allowed
for multiple memory types (DDR,
DDRII, SSRAM, NAND memory) with-
out any modification of the FPGA vision
modules themselves.
The current Rover Navigation FPGA
Vision system contains five vision mod-
ules: Rectification, Filtering, Disparity,
Feature Detector (via a Harris detector),
and Visual Odometry score computation
(via a sum of absolute differences opera-
tor). Further modules to handle path
planning are likely.
Each vision module has an agent
an interface to memory for both reads
and writes of different sizes. R32 means
a read agent of width 32 bits, and W8
means a write agent of width 8 bits. Each
memory bank has a single arbiter that
handles all memory requests to its bank.
Each agent maps to a single arbiter, but
because this mapping will be dependent
upon the memory devices used and the
number of memory devices available
(i.e. two DDR banks vs. six SSRAM
banks), there is a large multiplexer
called the vision agent to bank map-
ping, which assigns agents to appropri-
ate arbiters and memory banks.
Each agent can queue multiple mem-
ory requests and queue multiple
responses from memory. This allows
bursting of data for high throughput,
and de-couples the action of requesting
memory from the action of receiving
data. Many of the vision modules have
one part dedicated to computing the
location of the next request, and a sepa-
rate part dedicated to handling the data
at that location.
This work was done by Arin C. Morfopoulos
and Thang D. Pham of Caltech for NASAs Jet
under the Electronics/Computers category.
This invention is owned by NASA, and a
patent application has been filed. Inquiries
concerning nonexclusive or exclusive license for
its commercial development should be
addressed to the Patent Counsel, NASA
Management OfficeJPL. Refer to NPO-
47869.
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Intro
Mechanics/Machinery
The design of machines that rely on
arrays of servomotors such as robotic
arms, orbital platforms, and combina-
tions of both, imposes a heavy computa-
tional burden to coordinate their
actions to perform coherent tasks. For
example, the robotic equivalent of a per-
son tracing a straight line in space
requires enormously complex kinemat-
ics calculations, and complexity increas-
es with the number of servo nodes. The
conventional method of executing these
calculations is with a PC-style set of elec-
tronics including a powerful CPU (cen-
tral processing unit) microprocessor,
operating system, power supply, a num-
ber of peripherals, connectors to sup-
port each servo node, and a web of star-
topology wiring across the machine
(including flexing joints), generally
exceeding 100 conductors. In industry,
the most common implementation is
one or more dedicated PC cards mount-
ed on an ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture), PCI (Peripheral Com -
ponent Interc onnect), or VME bus.
These cards provide the I/O connectors
and supplement the CPU to execute the
massive kinematic calculations in real
time.
A new high-level architecture for coor-
dinated servo-machine control enables a
practical, distributed transputer alterna-
tive to conventional central processor
electronics. The solution is inherently
scalable, dramatically reduces bulkiness
and number of conductor runs through-
out the machine, requires only a frac-
tion of the power, and is designed for
cooling in a vacuum.
The benefit of this innovation is total
elimination of the central controller and
reducing the heavy web of star-topology
wiring across the machine to four wires
along a shared serial bus. This scalable
innovation results in decreased power
consumption, decreased bulk, and vacu-
um compatibility.
This controller places a digital signal
processor (DSP), instead of a micro-
processor, at each motor axis, each with
its own power supply, conduction cool-
ing, etc. The DSPs communicate via
CANbus over RS-485 hardware, forming
the heart of the transputer.
Features of the device include reduc-
tion in flex wear in serial-articulating
joints, streamlining of robotic structures
(with reduced wire-harness bulk), surviv-
ability in the case of a single-processor
failure, and uniformity in handling vari-
ous types of servos (brushless, brushed,
etc.) and sizes up to 300 W. Brushless
compatibility supports elimination of
brush-life limits and particulate genera-
tion. Power in the 2-wire bus flows
directly between regenerative power
nodes and motive power nodes, rather
than traversing the round-trip star topol-
ogy.
This work was done by Brian Zenowich,
Adam Crowell, and William T. Townsend of
Barrett Technology Inc. for Johnson Space
Center. For more information, download the
Mechanics/Machinery category.
commercial use should be addressed to
Barrett Technology Inc.
625 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-4555 USA
Phone: (617)252-9000
Fax: (617) 252-9021
E-mail: robot@barrett.com
Refer to MSC-24295-1, volume and num-
ber of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
page number.
Ultra-Compact Transputer-Based Controller for High-Level,
Multi-Axis Coordination
Features include reduction in flex wear, streamlining of robotic structures, survivability, and
uniformity in handling various types of servos.
Magnetically Actuated Seal
Design replaces existing pressure-actuated lift-off seals in turbopumps and eliminates low
pressure drains, thereby increasing overall efficiency.
Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
This invention is a magnetically actuat-
ed seal in which either a single electro-
magnet, or multiple electromagnets, are
used to control the seals position. This
system can either be an open/close type
of system or an actively controlled system.
A lift-off seal (LOS) is a type of shaft
seal used in a turbopump that does not
allow propellants to enter the turbine
during pre-start operations, such as
when a cryogenic turbopump is being
chilled-in or when the pump is being
primed prior to start. Typically, lift-off
seals are pressure activated and a low
constant pressure in the seals secondary
seal cavity is needed to provide the delta-
P necessary for the seal to open. This is
typically accomplished with an over-
board drain cavity. The LOS must
remain closed during pre-start opera-
tions. This prevents cryogenic liquid
from chilling-in the turbine, which
would result in excessive thermal shock,
and subsequent turbine blade cracking.
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Intro
During the start-transient, the LOS must
open to prevent propellant gasification
and sometimes to provide coolant to the
turbine disk. If it opens too soon, howev-
er, the turbine pressure can be higher
than the pump pressure, and result in
hot gas ingestion into the pump or bear-
ings. If it opens too late, the seal surface
speed becomes excessive, and results in
excessive wear and premature failure of
the seal.
The magnetically actuated LOS is
more reliable and requires no low-pres-
sure secondary seal cavity or overboard
drain (thereby improving efficiency).
An electromagnet is used to open and
close the seal at an exact prescribed
instant during the transient. Ad d i -
tionally, with the magnetically actuated
seal, the particular instant can be differ-
ent between the start transient and shut-
down transient. This allows for more
desirable and predictable transient per-
formance of the turbopump as well as
more certain wear performance of the
seal.
This work was done by Alex Pinera of
Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. for
Marshall Space Flight Center. For more infor-
mation, contact Sammy Nabors, MSFC
Commercialization Assistance Lead, at
sammy.a.nabors@nasa.gov. Refer to MFS-
32979-1.
Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot
Excavator
This design enables new ways of excavating for resources on planetary bodies.
The Regolith Advanced Surface
Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR)
excavator robot is a teleoperated mobil-
ity platform with a space regolith exca-
vation capability. This more compact,
lightweight design (<50 kg) has count-
er-rotating bucket drums, which results
in a net-zero reaction horizontal force
due to the self-cancelation of the sym-
metrical, equal but opposing, digging
forces.
This robot can operate in extremely
low-gravity conditions, such as on the
Moon, Mars, an asteroid, or a comet. In
addition, the RASSOR system is
designed to be easily transported to a
space destination on a robotic precursor
landing mission. The robot is capable of
traversing over steep slopes and difficult
regolith terrain, such as an impact crater
on the Moon, and has a reversible oper-
ation mode so that it can tolerate an
over-turning incident with a graceful
recovery, allowing regolith excavation
operations to continue.
The RASSOR excavator consists of a
mobility platform with tread belts on the
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Cov ToC
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Intro
port and starboard sides that are each
driven by electrical motors, but it could
also operate with a wheel system to fur-
ther reduce mass. Two batteries are
mounted in a saddlebag configuration
on either side. Two counter-rotating
bucket drum digging implements are
held by a rotating cantilever mechanism
at the fore and aft ends of the mobility
platform. The cantilever arms are raised
and lowered to engage the bucket drum
into the soil or regolith. A variable cut-
ting depth is possible by controlling the
angles of the cantilever arms.
The unit has three modes of opera-
tion: load, haul, and dump. During load-
ing, the bucket drums will excavate
soil/regolith by using a rotational
motion whereby scoops mounted on the
drums exteriors sequentially take multi-
ple cuts of soil/regolith while rotating at
approximately 20 revolutions per
minute. During hauling, the bucket
drums are raised by rotating the arms to
provide a clearance with the surface
being excavated. The mobility platform
can then proceed to move while the
soil/regolith remains in the raised buck-
et drums. Finally, when the excavator
reaches the end-user or dump location,
the bucket drums are commanded to
reverse their direction of rotation to the
opposite spin from digging, causing the
gathered materials to be expelled out of
each successive scoop. It can also stand
up in a vertical mode to deliver regolith
over the edge of a hopper container.
The RASSOR can operate with either
side up in a reversible mode and it can
flip itself over. This means the unit can
drive directly off of the deck of a lander
to deploy in low gravity, eliminating a
deployment mechanism, which saves
mass and increases reliability due to
decreased complexity. The RASSOR sys-
tem is scaleable and may be mounted on
mobility platforms of various sizes, and
has control equipment wireless signal
router, computer, joystick, E-stop, and
associated software.
This work was done by Robert P. Mueller,
Jonathan D. Smith, Tom Ebert, Rachel Cox,
Laila Rahmatian, and James Wood of
Kennedy Space Center; Jason Schuler of EASI;
and Andrew Nick of Sierra Lobo. For more
information, contact the Kennedy Space
Center Innovative Partnerships Office at 321-
867-5033. Refer to KSC-13664.
40 NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013
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A much lighter-weight
structure with higher
correction range uses
polymer-based membrane
mirror technology.
Marshall Space Flight Center,
Alabama
A lightweight, cryogenically capable,
scalable, deformable mirror has been
developed for space telescopes. This
innovation makes use of polymer-based
membrane mirror technology to enable
large-aperture mirrors that can be easily
launched and deployed. The key compo-
nent of this innovation is a lightweight,
large-stroke, cryogenic actuator array
that combines the high degree of mirror
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Intro
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OriginLab Corporation
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NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-772
figure control needed with a large actua-
tor influence function. The latter aspect
of the innovation allows membrane mir-
ror figure correction with a relatively low
actuator density, preserving the light-
weight attributes of the system.
The principal components of this
technology are lightweight, low-profile,
high-stroke, cryogenic-capable piezo-
electric actuators based on PMN-PT
(piezoelectric lead magnesium niobate-
lead titanate) single-crystal configured
in a flextensional actuator format; high-
quality, low-thermal-expansion polymer
membrane mirror materials developed
by NeXolve; and electrostatic coupling
between the membrane mirror and the
piezoelectric actuator assembly to mini-
mize problems such as actuator print-
through. PMN-PT single-crystal material
provides a piezoelectric driver that deliv-
ers appreciable strain from above room
temperature to less than 20 K. The com-
bination of a polymer membrane mate-
rial for the mirror and the flextensional
actuator design results in a very light-
weight structure with a large range of
aberration correction.
The membrane mirror is a low-stiff-
ness component that requires relatively
low actuator force. The flextensional
actuator design is a low-force, high-dis-
placement (>400 microns), lightweight
piezoelectric positioning technology.
The combination of the two results in a
much lighter-weight structure with high-
er correction range than can be
achieved with conventional piston-style
actuators and glass face sheets. To com-
bat actuator print-through and to lessen
actuator density, a hybrid piezoelectric-
electrostatic actuation approach was
developed. The actuators push on an
electrode plate held at a high voltage.
The plate is coupled to the mirror
through the electrostatic field estab-
lished by the applied voltage, but does
not make direct mechanical contact with
the mirror. As the actuators move the
electrode plate, the mirror is stretched
or relaxed as needed. This allows a high
degree of figure control with a relatively
small actuator density. Control can be
further enhanced by including multiple
actuators for each electrode plate, allow-
ing both piston and tip/tilt motion.
This work was done by Brian Patrick and
James Moore of ManTech NeXolve Corp., and
Wesley Hackenberger and Xiaoning Jiang of
TRS Technologies, Inc. for Marshall Space
Flight Center. For more information, contact
Sammy Nabors, MSFC Commercialization
Assistance Lead, at sammy.a.nabors@nasa.gov.
Refer to MFS-32878-1.
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Intro
Physical Sciences
A revolutionary way is proposed of
studying the surface of Mars using a
wind-driven network of mobile sensors:
GOWON. GOWON would be a scalable,
self-powered and autonomous distrib-
uted system that could allow in situ map-
ping of a wide range of environmental
phenomena in a much larger portion of
the surface of Mars compared to earlier
missions. It could improve the possibili-
ty of finding rare phenomena such as
blueberries or bio-signatures and
mapping their occurrence, through
random wind-driven search. It would
explore difficult terrains that were
beyond the reach of previous mis-
sions, such as regions with very steep
slopes and cluttered surfaces.
GOWON has a potentially long life
span, as individual elements can be
added to the array periodically. It
could potentially provide a cost-
effective solution for mapping wide
areas of Martian terrain, enabling
leaving a long-lasting sensing and
searching infrastructure on the sur-
face of Mars.
Thanks to earlier exploration mis-
sions, there is a much better under-
standing of the natural characteris-
tics of Mars; in particular, average
wind speeds of 15 to 20 m/s and
much higher maximum speeds have
been characterized. There are com-
munication satellite systems in place
that orbit Mars and that can monitor
its surface. Future Mars missions can
leverage these characteristics and
capabilities, and may do so by
exploiting, for example, recent
advances in power scavenging tech-
niques, micro-devices using MEMS
technologies, miniature instru-
ments, low-power wireless devices,
mesh networking technologies, low-
power data management strategies,
and novel system architectures. The
system proposed here addresses this
opportunity using such technology
advances in a distributed system of
wind-driven sensors, referred to as
Moballs.
The Moballs could communicate
with each other and Earth through a
satellite system orbiting Mars.
Moballs would also use peer-to-peer
Wind-Driven Wireless Networked System of Mobile Sensors for
Mars Exploration
GOne with the Wind ON-Mars (GOWON-Mars): A mobile sensor network that could be used on
any windy solar system body, such as Mars or Titan.
A depiction of Moballs being released on Mars.
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Intro
MICRO-EPSILON
Raleigh, NC 27617 / USA
Phone +1/919 787 9707
me-usa@micro-epsilon.com
www.micro-epsilon.com
Laser-line profile camera for precise
profile measurement
3D view of the target plus intensity image
Profile frequency up to 4kHz
Series LLT 2700/2710
Compact sensor design with integrated
controller / image analysis
Series gapCONTROL
For non-contact gap measurement
Typical applications:
Welding & Joining processes,
Measuring flushness, Proximity
monitoring, Collision avoidance,
Part alignment and Quality control
2D/3D LASER
PROFILE SENSORS
NEW
MICRO-EPSILON
Raleigh, NC 27617 / USA
Phone +1/919 787 9707
me-usa@micro-epsilon.com
www.micro-epsilon.com
Laser-line profile camera for precise
profile measurement
3D view of the target plus intensity image
Profile frequency up to 4kHz
Series LLT 2700/2710
Compact sensor design with integrated
controller / image analysis
Series gapCONTROL
For non-contact gap measurement
Typical applications:
Welding & Joining processes,
Measuring flushness, Proximity
monitoring, Collision avoidance,
Part alignment and Quality control
2D/3D LASER
PROFILE SENSORS
NEW
NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com
communication to create a network of
sharing data, computing, and sensing
tasks. The Moballs would negotiate with
each other locally and share tasks intelli-
gently in order to optimize the entire
systems resources (energy, memory, and
communication bandwidth).
Moballs would exploit local resources
for locomotion and power: they would
be wind-driven, and so do not need
energy for locomotion. The energy
required for sensing, data processing,
and communication could be generated
from sunlight. In addition, the Moballs
could harvest energy from their motion
and vibrations, thermoelectricity, and
other energy scavenging techniques,
when they are in shadow. Together this
allows each Moball to have a low mass,
enabling a large number of Moballs to
be deployed by a single mission.
The effectiveness of sensor networks,
as opposed to a single sophisticated
sensor, is now well understood in a ter-
restrial setting. Mobile sensor networks
are also gaining traction. There exist
several proposals, for example, to
exploit the accelerometers that exist in
handheld cellphones to characterize
earthquakes. Here it is the mobility of
the cellphone users, the fact that they
move about randomly and unpre-
dictably, and that they are in constant
contact with base stations that allow
this. One can think of GOWON as such
a mobile sensor network, making a wide
range of measurements distributed
across the Martian terrain, and leverag-
ing natural resources and facilities cur-
rently in place on Mars, such as existing
satellite systems.
GOWON would be a system comple-
mentary to current Mars missions, mak-
ing measurements over a much larger
geographic expanse than current in situ
experiments, providing ground-truth
for orbiting experiments, and helping
identify promising locations for future
manned and un manned missions.
This work was done by Faranak Davoodi
and Neil Murphy of Caltech for NASAs Jet
contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov.
Innovative Technology Assets Management
JPL
Mail Stop 202-233
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov
Refer to NPO-48601, volume and number
page number.
Investigation of sonic boom has been
one of the major areas of study in aero-
nautics due to the benefits a low-boom
aircraft has in both civilian and military
applications. Current Federal Aviation
Administration regulations prohibit
supersonic flight over land due to poten-
tial effects the sonic boom may have on
structures and humans.
This work conducts a numerical
analysis of the effects of streamwise lift
distribution on the shock coalescence
characteristics. A simple wing-canard-
stabilator body model is used in the
numerical simulation. The streamwise
lift distribution is varied by fixing the
canard at a deflection angle while trim-
ming the aircraft with the wing and the
stabilator at the desired lift coefficient.
The lift and the pitching moment coef-
ficients are computed using the Missile
DATCOM v. 707. The flow field around
the wing-canard-stabilator body model
is resolved using the OVERFLOW-2
flow solver. Overset/chimera grid
topology is used to simplify the grid
generation of various configurations
representing different streamwise lift
distributions. The numerical simula-
tions are performed without viscosity
unless it is required for numerical sta-
bility. All configurations are simulated
at Mach 1.4, angle-of-attack of 1.50, lift
coefficient of 0.05, and pitching
moment coefficient of approximately 0.
Four streamwise lift distribution config-
urations were tested.
The pressure signatures are meas-
ured at 1.6 body lengths below the air-
craft on the symmetry plane of the air-
Analysis of the Effects of Streamwise Lift
Distribution on Sonic Boom Signature
The objective is to find ways to reduce sonic booms.
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
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Intro
Physical Sciences
craft. The results to note are the rela-
tive location and the strength of the
shocks for different configurations.
Correlating between the amount of
positive lift generated by a lifting sur-
face and the shock location, it is clear
to see that shock of the lifting surface
that generates more positive lift
arrives at the measurement point in
front of the shocks of lifting surface
that generate less positive lift. This
observation is valid for all three lifting
surfaces. This is clearly evident when
comparing the shocks of the wing and
canard for different configurations.
The observation is not as clear in the
stabilator; however, it is still valid when
examining a magnified view of the
plot. This shows that lift can directly
influence the local Mach angle of
shocks. In addition, an observation can
be made that the shock of the wing that
generates more positive lift is stronger
compared to shocks generated from
wing with less positive lift.
From the above observation of rela-
tionships among the lift, shock
strength, local Mach angle, and shock
location, it can be reasoned that the
shock coalescence can be mitigated if
all shocks generated on the aircraft are
of equal strength. The shocks of such
configuration would propagate at a
same angle, which would prevent shock
coalescence. Therefore, instead of pro-
ducing two strong sonic booms, it
would produce multiple, weaker sonic
booms.
This work was done by Paul Yoo of Dryden
Flight Research Center. For more information,
under the Physical Sciences category. DRC-
009-025
In Situ Solid Particle Generator
This system enables filter testing, and fluid and gas dynamic research, in closed-system, non-
standard, or extreme environments.
John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Particle seeding is a key diagnostic
component of filter testing and flow
imaging techniques. Typical particle
generators rely on pressurized air or gas
sources to propel the particles into the
flow field. Other techniques involve liq-
uid droplet atomizers. These conven-
tional techniques have drawbacks that
include challenging access to the flow
field, flow and pressure disturbances to
the investigated flow, and they are pro-
hibitive in high-temperature, non-stan-
dard, extreme, and closed-system flow
conditions and environments.
In this concept, the particles are sup-
plied directly within a flow environ-
ment. A particle sample cartridge con-
taining the particles is positioned some-
where inside the flow field. The parti-
cles are ejected into the flow by mechan-
ical brush/wiper feeding and sieving
that takes place within the cartridge
chamber. Some aspects of this concept
are based on established material han-
dling techniques, but they have not
been used previously in the current con-
figuration, in combination with flow
seeding concepts, and in the current
operational mode. Unlike other particle
generation methods, this concept has
control over the particle size range
ejected, breaks up agglomerates, and is
gravity-independent. This makes this
device useful for testing in microgravity
environments.
Before any particles can be generated
in the flow, the cartridge chamber is
filled with the solid particles of choice. A
programmable mechanical motor pro-
viding a range of rotational motion is
used to drive a helical brush (or wiper)
inside the chamber. Due to the action of
the brush, the particles are dragged
across the length of the internal cham-
ber, particularly along the surface of the
fine mesh screen, causing the particles to
pass through the screen. The flow
around the cylindrical body of the car-
tridge then entrains the ejected particles
into the flow stream. System components
consist of: a motor, flange supports for
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Cov ToC
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Intro
mounting and sealing the internal cham-
ber volume, a drive shaft and tube con-
duit, a particle sample cartridge, a helical
wire brush or wiper, a fine mesh screen,
and screws (see figure). An optional
aerodynamic leading edge can be used
to streamline or stabilize the flow around
the cartridge body, and to decrease flow
effects as the particles are entrained in
the flow. Alternately, a turbulence gener-
ating element can be used to accelerate
the spreading angle of the particle flow,
as a result of turbulent mixing, for more
complete particle coverage throughout
the flow stream.
The concept provides the additional
advantages of unlimited choice of solid
particles, including somewhat sharp and
abrasive particles; no need for an out-
side pressurized gas feed source; com-
plete containment and enclosure of the
flow environment; and the ability to be
used in non-standard (temperature and
pressure) environments and closed sys-
tems. Additionally, the rate of particle
flux and the upper cut size of particles
delivered to the flow can be controlled.
The particles can also be released and
distributed over a broad cross-section of
the flow duct/pipe.
This work was done by Juan H. Agui of
Glenn Research Center, and R. Vijayakumar
of Aerfil. For more information, download
Physical Sciences category.
Inquiries concerning rights for the commer-
cial use of this invention should be addressed
to NASA Glenn Research Center, Innovative
Partnerships Office, Attn: Steven Fedor, Mail
Stop 48, 21000 Brookpark Road,
Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-
18837-1.
NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 45
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The In Situ Solid Particle Generator supplies particles directly within a flow environment.
Flange
Screen
Particle
Sample
Cartridge
Helical
Brush
Brush
Shaft
Tube
Conduit
Shaft
Drive
Stepper
Motor
Coupler
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Intro
Software
System for Contributing and
Discovering Derived Mission
and Science Data
A system was developed to provide a
new mechanism for members of the mis-
sion community to create and con-
tribute new science data to the rest of
the community. Mission tools have
allowed members of the mission com-
munity to share first order data (data
that is created by the missions process
in command and control of the space-
craft or the data that is captured by the
craft itself, like images, science results,
etc.). However, second and higher order
data (data that is created after the fact by
scientists and other members of the mis-
sion) was previously not widely dissemi-
nated, nor did it make its way into the
mission planning process.
This software allows members of the
mission community to create and con-
tribute second and higher order data
into the set of mission data for use in
planning and operations of a mission.
This kind of data is indexed and treat-
ed in the same way as first order data.
The data is discoverable by other users
and can be part of the planning
process. The system improves the abili-
ty to share results, make discoveries,
and aid in the operations of a mission.
At the time of this reporting, this capa-
bility was not available in other soft-
ware.
This work was done by Michael N. Wallick,
Mark W. Powell, Khawaja S. Shams, Megan
C. Mickelson, Darrick M. Ohata, James A.
Kurien, and Lucy Abramyan of Caltech for
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more
This software is available for commercial
licensing. Please contact Daniel Broderick of
the California Institute of Technology at
danielb@caltech.edu. Refer to NPO-48217.
Remote Viewer for
Maritime Robotics Software
This software is a viewer program for
maritime robotics software that provides
a 3D visualization of the boat pose, its
position history, ENC (Electrical
Nautical Chart) information, camera
images, map overlay, and detected
tracks.
It is usually very difficult to under-
stand the internal states of onboard
robotics software. One common
approach is text-based printouts on a
terminal, but it is very difficult to inter-
pret large amounts of data printed out
on the screen. Another challenge is that
the network connection to the robot
might not be reliable, where constantly
monitoring the data at high bandwidth
is impossible.
This software provides a Qt-based
viewer that is intended to be used with
onboard robotics software to visualize
its internal states and the situational
awareness of the robot. OpenGL is used
to render vehicle/objects/ENC data,
etc. in 3D. It uses UDP (User Datagram
Protocol) communication to talk to the
onboard software, so each side of the
robot and the viewer program can be
stopped and started at any time, and
the performance degrades graciously
over lossy wireless communications
links. It can also save a log of the viewer
messages and replay at various speeds,
so that it can reconstruct and analyze
what happens in the field trials. Other
features include QuickTime-based
movie creation, overlay of maps, and
display of ENC objects.
This software is easily adopted by
other robotics projects. It serves as an
engineering display for software debug-
ging/monitoring, and also a tool to
explain to sponsors/customers what the
onboard navigation/perception/con-
trol algorithms are doing.
This work was done by Yoshiaki Kuwata,
Michael Wolf, Terrance L. Huntsberger, and
Andrew B. Howard of Caltech for NASAs Jet
under the Software category. NPO-48126
Stackfile Database
This software provides storage
retrieval and analysis functionality for
managing satellite altimetry data. It
improves the efficiency and analysis
capabilities of existing database software
with improved flexibility and documen-
tation. It offers flexibility in the type of
data that can be stored. There is effi-
cient retrieval either across the spatial
domain or the time domain. Built-in
analysis tools are provided for frequent-
ly performed altimetry tasks.
This software package is used for stor-
ing and manipulating satellite measure-
ment data. It was developed with a focus
on handling the requirements of repeat-
track altimetry missions such as Topex
and Jason. It was, however, designed to
work with a wide variety of satellite meas-
urement data [e.g., Gravity Recovery
And Climate Experiment GRACE).
The software consists of several com-
mand-line tools for importing, retriev-
ing, and analyzing satellite measure-
ment data.
This work was done by Robert deCarvalho,
Shailen D. Desai, Bruce J. Haines, Gerhard
L. Kruizinga, and Christopher Gilmer of
For more information, contact iaoffice@
jpl.nasa.gov.
Reachability Maps for In
Situ Operations
This work covers two programs that
accomplish the same goal: creation of a
reachability map from stereo imagery
that tells where operators of a robotic
arm can reach or touch the surface, and
with which instruments. The programs
are marsreach (for MER) and
phxreach. These programs make use
of the planetary image geometry (PIG)
library. However, unlike the other pro-
grams, they are not multi-mission.
Because of the complexity of arm kine-
matics, the programs are specific to each
mission.
In each case, the input consists of XYZ
and surface normal data. The output is a
multiband image, co-registered to the
input image. Each band represents a
predefined combination of arm instru-
ment and arm configuration (e.g., elbow
up, elbow down), and the value indi-
cates whether or not the instrument can
observe (see or touch) the surface at the
corresponding pixel.
This software models the arm precise-
ly, using the same algorithms as the
flight software. It is thus uniquely suited
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Intro
to determining reachability and safety of
robot arm operations. The MER RAT
instrument provides additional informa-
tion beyond just a flag it supplies a
preload value, which indicates how
much force the arm can apply at that
spot. The MER reachability program
considers collisions of the arm with ter-
rain in determining reachability; the
PHX program does not.
These programs provide this reacha-
bility information in an easy-to-use for-
mat by combining the surface position
and orientation, arm kinematics, instru-
ment mounting, and instrument
approach angles. This software is also
integrated into the ground data system
and the automated processing pipelines.
It understands the EDR and RDR file
formats and metadata, and products tai-
lored for in situ surface operations.
This work was done by Robert G. Deen,
Patrick C. Leger, Matthew L. Robinson, and
Robert G. Bonitz of Caltech for NASAs Jet
JPL Space
Telecommunications Radio
System Operating
Environment
A flight-qualified implementation of a
Software Defined Radio (SDR)
Operating Environment for the JPL-SDR
built for the CoNNeCT Project has been
developed. It is compliant with the
NASA Space Telecommunications Radio
System (STRS) Architecture Standard,
and provides the software infrastructure
for STRS compliant waveform applica-
tions. This software provides a standards-
compliant abstracted view of the JPL-
SDR hardware platform. It uses industry
standard POSIX interfaces for most
functions, as well as exposing the STRS
API (Application Programming In -
terface) required by the standard. This
software includes a standardized inter-
face for IP components instantiated
within a Xilinx FPGA (Field Program -
mable Gate Array).
The software provides a standardized
abstracted interface to platform re -
sources such as data converters, file sys-
tem, etc., which can be used by STRS
standards conformant waveform applica-
tions. It provides a generic SDR operat-
ing environment with a much smaller
resource footprint than similar products
such as SCA (Software Communications
Architecture) compliant implementa-
tions, or the DoD Joint Tactical Radio
Systems (JTRS).
This work was done by James P. Lux, Minh
Lang, Kenneth J. Peters, Gregory H. Taylor,
Courtney B. Duncan, David S. Orozco, Ryan
A. Stern, Earl R. Ahten, and Mike Girard of
Software category.
RFI-SIM: RFI Simulation
Package
RFI-SIM simulates the RFI environ-
ment to estimate the interference
from terrestrial emitters into space-
craft, or vice versa. A high-fidelity sim-
ulation of the RFI environment has
been developed by employing all
antenna-related and radar system-
related parameters of multiple emit-
ters, as well as that of the desired
spacecraft.
In the simulation, the real-time analy-
sis of the interference and its effects on
error budgets of a desired radar system
is taken into account. This provides a
reliable tool for radar system design to
deal with RFI issues and to evaluate the
sensitivity of various parts of a radar sys-
tem including antenna pattern, RF
front-end and digital processing to RFI
signals.
The simulator is capable of a high-
fidelity, complex, and real-time simula-
tion of RFI environment. It is flexible
enough to be employed for various sce-
narios and for several NASA missions.
RFI-SIM can perform the following in
support of radar system design and per-
formance analyses:
Error budget analyses due to RFI on a
space-borne radar system;
Sensitivity analysis of the various radar
parameters, as well as hardware specs,
in the presence of RFI;
Verification of the radar system design
at several stages of RF and digital com-
ponents in order to evaluate their
robustness against RFI;
Assistance in algorithm development
for RFI detection and removal
approach;
Based on the available database, the
Beyond measuring angles,
Novotechniks R-Series of
rotary position sensors can be
programmed and reprogrammed
for your applications angle, CW/CCW
direction and single or redundant output
can be selected.
R-Series sensors utilize the orientation of
a magnetic field to determine measurement
angle. An embedded microprocessor
converts the magnetic orientation to an
analog output that is repeatable to within
0.03% or 0.1 of measurement range
depending on model.
For complete R-Series information, visit www.novotechnik.com/rs
Novotechnik U.S., Inc.
155 Northboro Road Southborough, MA 01772
Telephone: 508-485-2244 Fax: 508-485-2430
Siedle Group
Key specifications include:
Resolution: 12/14-bit
Protection class: to IP67
Measurement range:
up to 360
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e
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Intro
Software
RFI environment over North America
at L-band has been reliably and suc-
cessfully simulated and validated so it
can be used for L-band space-borne
radars in the RFI environment; and
<Estimation of the interference from
space-borne radars into terrestrial FAA
radars regarding FAA compatibility
issues.
This work was done by Hirad Ghaemi and
Curtis W. Chen of Caltech for NASAs Jet
under the Software category.
ION Configuration Editor
The configuration of ION (Inter -
planetary Overlay Network) network
nodes is a manual task that is complex,
time-consuming, and error-prone. This
program seeks to accelerate this job and
produce reliable configurations.
The ION Configuration Editor is a
model-based smart editor based on
Eclipse Modeling Framework technolo-
gy. An ION network designer uses this
Eclipse-based GUI to construct a data
model of the complete target network
and then generate configurations. The
data model is captured in an XML file.
Intrinsic editor features aid in achieving
model correctness, such as field fill-in,
type-checking, lists of valid values, and
suitable default values. Additionally, an
explicit validation feature executes cus-
tom rules to catch more subtle model
errors. A survey feature provides a set
of reports providing an overview of the
entire network, enabling a quick assess-
ment of the models completeness and
correctness. The configuration feature
produces the main final result, a com-
plete set of ION configuration files
(eight distinct file types) for each ION
node in the network.
This work was done by Richard L. Borgen
of Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. For more information, contact
iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov.
Dtest Testing Software
This software runs a suite of arbitrary
software tests spanning various soft-
ware languages and types of tests (unit
level, system level, or file comparison
tests). The dtest utility can be set to
automate periodic testing of large
suites of software, as well as running
individual tests. It supports distributing
multiple tests over multiple CPU cores,
if available.
The dtest tool is a utility program
(written in Python) that scans through
a directory (and its subdirectories) and
finds all directories that match a cer-
tain pattern (directory name starts with
test_ or test-) and then executes
any tests in that directory as described
in simple configuration files. The tests
are completely arbitrary and are not
tied to any specific programming lan-
guage. A variety of tests is available to
support comparing test output files
with pre-validated versions. Dtest can
be used in an automated testing envi-
ronment or by an individual software
developer to manually create or main-
tain individual tests. Dtest accumulates
test results in data files that can be used
for reporting test results by email or on
a Web site.
At the time of creation, only unit-level
testing utilities such as Junit, CppUnit,
etc. existed that focused on tests for a
specific language. The dtest utility gen-
eralizes these capabilities to arbitrary
types of tests.
This work was done by Abhinandan Jain,
Jonathan M. Cameron, and Steven Myint of
Software category.
IMPaCT Integration of
Missions, Programs, and
Core Technologies
IMPaCT enables comprehensive
information on current NASA missions,
prospective future missions, and the
technologies that NASA is investing in,
or considering investing in, to be
accessed from a common Web-based
interface. It allows dependencies to be
established between missions and tech-
nology, and from this, the benefits of
investing in individual technologies can
be determined. The software also allows
various scenarios for future missions to
be explored against resource con-
straints, and the nominal cost and
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Intro
NASA Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-776
schedule of each mission to be modi-
fied in an effort to fit within a pre-
scribed budget.
The objective is to establish linkages
between future missions and technolo-
gies so that a more rational technology
investment program can be carried out
and the benefits of technologies to mis-
sions can be explored systematically. The
software manages the primary data ele-
ments of Technology Sets, Technologies,
Mission Sets, Missions, Time Lines, and
Funding Profiles. The software reports
and graphs the interrelationships
(dependencies) among these elements
in an aggregating Portfolio.
A Portfolio in IMPaCT is a set of mis-
sions and/or mission concepts and their
associated technologies that can be
selected by the user for the purpose of
analyzing and exploring mission sce-
nario options. Portfolios are particularly
useful for understanding how a set of
missions and technologies can be
accommodated in a constrained fund-
ing profile by changing launch dates
and/or reducing mission costs.
IMPaCT can display this information
interactively or it can also be down-
loaded using reporting routines to stan-
dard formats such as Adobe .pdf files,
MS Excel, or MS Word. IMPaCT has
been developed at JPL under NASAs
Planetary Science Program Support task
to aid NASA in planning and defining a
viable portfolio of missions and tech-
nologies.
This work was done by Carlos P. Balacuit,
James A. Cutts, Craig E. Peterson, Patricia
M. Beauchamp, Susan K. Jones, Winnie N.
Hang, and Shahin D. Dastur of Caltech for
information, go to the IMPaCT web site:
https://impacts.jpl.nasa.gov.
Integrated Systems Health
Management (ISHM)
Toolkit
A framework of software components
has been implemented to facilitate the
development of ISHM systems accord-
ing to a methodology based on Re -
liability Centered Maintenance (RCM).
This framework is collectively referred
to as the Toolkit and was developed
using General Atomics Health MAP
technology.
The toolkit is intended to provide
assistance to software developers of mis-
sion-critical system health monitoring
applications in the specification, imple-
mentation, configuration, and deploy-
ment of such applications. In addition
to software tools designed to facilitate
these objectives, the toolkit also pro-
vides direction to software developers in
accordance with an ISHM specification
and development methodology. The
development tools are based on an
RCM approach for the development of
ISHM systems. This approach focuses
on defining, detecting, and predicting
the likelihood of system functional fail-
ures and their undesirable conse-
quences.
The toolkit provides users with an
object-oriented environment in which
to specify and program software appli-
cation behavior that leverages model-
based reasoning specifically targeted
for ISHM applications. Furthermore,
the application has been designed to
follow a recommended RCM-based
ISHM system design methodology, pro-
viding guidance to the developer in
building the overall capability of the
ISHM system. The advantages of the
ISHMToolkit include: (1) guidance to
ISHM system developers based on a
proven methodology that strives to
detect, diagnose, and predict those sys-
tem failures that interfere with mission
objectives; (2) access to reusable class
libraries and behaviors; (3) the ability
to leverage model-based reasoning; (4)
the incorporation of graphical pro-
gramming capabilities; (5) access to a
central supervisory software layer that
operates and correlates over aggregat-
ed information; and (6) a layered
ISHM architecture that conforms to
Open System Architecture standards.
The toolkit is a software environment
designed for leveraging reusable
libraries developed by General Atomics
that provide generic class definition,
generic class behavior, and generic fail-
ure models. The toolkit also provides
capability for building or extending
such class libraries.
This work was done by Meera Venkatesh,
Ravi Kapadia, Mark Walker, and Kim
Wilkins of General Atomics for Stennis Space
Center. Inquiries concerning rights for its
General Atomics
3550 General Atomics Court
San Diego, CA 92121
Telephone No. (858) 676-7169
Refer to SSC-00367, volume and number
page number.
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Intro
Information Technology
Modeling and imaging the Earths
ionosphere as well as understanding its
structures, inhomogeneities, and distur-
bances is a key part of NASAs
Heliophysics Directorate science
roadmap. This invention provides a
design tool for scientific missions
focused on the ionosphere. It is a scien-
tifically important and technologically
challenging task to assess the impact of a
new observation system quantitatively on
our capability of imaging and modeling
the ionosphere. This question is often
raised whenever a new satellite system is
proposed, a new type of data is emerg-
ing, or a new modeling technique is
developed. An example is the proposed
COSMIC-Follow-On mission (COSMIC
stands for Constellation Observing
System for Meteorology, Ionosphere,
and Climate). The proposed constella-
tion would be part of a new observation
system with more low-Earth orbiters
tracking more radio occultation signals
broadcast by Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) than those offered by
the current GPS and COSMIC observa-
tion system.
A simulation system was developed to
fulfill this task. The system is composed
of a suite of software that combines the
Global Assimilative Ionospheric Model
(GAIM) including first-principles and
empirical ionospheric models, a multi-
ple-dipole geomagnetic field model,
data assimilation modules, observation
simulator, visualization software, and
orbit design, simulation, and optimiza-
tion software.
The software system can assess the
improvements to GAIM that assimilate
data collected using a concerned observ-
ing system. The GNSS observation sys-
tem, for instance, consists of the GNSS
constellations that transmit L-band
radio signals, low-Earth orbiting GNSS
receiver constellations, and ground-
based GNSS receiver networks. The
satellites and ground networks can be
designed with an existing, or any, distri-
bution to meet user requirements, such
as achieving global coverage with uni-
formly distributed observations. Under
this system, an empirical ionospheric
model or the GAIM physics model simu-
lates a nominal or disturbed ionosphere
for a specific experiment. The observa-
tion simulator uses the designed observ-
ing scenario (LEO constellations and
ground-based receiver networks) to sim-
ulate total electron content (TEC)
observations along receiver-transmitter
radio links. An Observation System
Simulation Experiment (OSSE) can
then be conducted by assimilating the
synthetic observations into GAIM to
quantitatively assess the degree of
improvement of modeled ionospheric
specifications under the observing sce-
nario. The model that is used for data
assimilation assessment can differ sub-
stantially from the model that is used to
simulate the observations. Visualization
software is used to examine and analyze
the assimilating models performance.
This work was done by Xiaoqing Pi,
Anthony J. Mannucci, Olga Verkhoglyadova,
Philip Stephens, and Byron A. Iijima of Caltech
for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more
licensing. Please contact Daniel Broderick of the
California Institute of Technology at
Ionospheric Simulation System for Satellite Observations and
Global Assimilative Model Experiments ISOGAME
Modeling helps develop improved systems to study the ionosphere.
Estimating Torque Imparted on Spacecraft Using Telemetry
Methodology is straightforward and does not involve the use of any complex supporting ground
software.
There have been a number of mis-
sions with spacecraft flying by planetary
moons with atmospheres; there will be
future missions with similar flybys. When
a spacecraft such as Cassini flies by a
moon with an atmosphere, the space-
craft will experience an atmospheric
torque. This torque could be used to
determine the density of the atmos-
phere. This is because the relation
between the atmospheric torque vector
and the atmosphere density could be
established analytically using the mass
properties of the spacecraft, known drag
coefficient of objects in free-molecular
flow, and the spacecraft velocity relative
to the moon. The density estimated in
this way could be used to check results
measured by science instruments. Since
the proposed methodology could esti-
mate disturbance torque as small as 0.02
N-m, it could also be used to estimate
disturbance torque imparted on the
spacecraft during high-altitude flybys.
When the expected value of torque
imparted on the spacecraft is low and
within the control authority of the reac-
tion wheel assemblies (RWAs), mission
design engineers will use these RWAs to
control the spacecraft attitude. Relative
to thrusters, RWA can produce better
pointing control and stability perform-
ance. To estimate the disturbance
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Intro
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flexplan is a mission planning and scheduling (MPS) tool
that uses soft algorithms to define mission scheduling rules
and constraints. This allows the operator to configure the tool
for any mission without the need to modify or re-compile code.
In addition, flexplan uses an ID system to track every output on
the schedule to the input from which it was generated. This
allows flexplan to receive feedback as the schedules are execut-
ed, and update the status of all activities in a Web-based client.
flexplan outputs include various planning reports, stored com-
mand loads for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO),
ephemeris loads, and pass scripts for automation.
flexplan covers the end-to-end loop of MPS and allows users
to adapt the system to their requirements quickly and easily. At
the core of flexplans scheduling process is a soft algorithm gen-
eration engine that requires no recompiling of the tool whenev-
er flight rules change. This engine is largely responsible for the
ease of adaptability of flexplan to the different mission phases,
requirements, and styles of planning and scheduling operations.
flexplans modular architecture allows its components to inter-
act with each other via the database. This allows different com-
flexplan: Mission Planning
System for the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter
The tool can be configured for any mission
without the need to modify or re-compile code.
torque imparted on the Cassini spacecraft, the proposed
methodology exploits the unique and known relation between
the disturbance torque and the RWA-based attitude control
error during an Enceladus or Titan flyby.
To estimate the disturbance torque imparted on the Cassini
spacecraft, the unique and known relation between the distur-
bance torque and the attitude and attitude rate control errors
during an Enceladus flyby (or a Titan flyby) on reaction wheels
was used. The effectiveness of this methodology is illustrated
using telemetry data obtained from the 50-km Enceladus-3
flyby. Results determined using this approach were compared
with those determined using the time rate of change of space-
craft angular momentum approach. Results of this flyby deter-
mined that using this new approach compared very well with
that estimated using the angular momentum approach. In
effect, density estimates made using these two independent
engineering methodologies could cross check each other.
Moreover, density estimates determined using these methods
could also be used to cross check science-based density esti-
mates.
This method could be used to estimate very small torque
imparted on the spacecraft. The methodology is straightfor-
ward and does not involve the use of any complex supporting
ground software. This methodology uses telemetry data that are
available at high telemetry frequency, and the telemetry data
involved (per-axis attitude control errors and per-axis attitude
rate control errors) are floating-point data with high accuracy.
This work was done by Allan Y. Lee, Eric K. Wang, and Glenn A.
Macala of Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more infor-
mation, contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov. NPO-47545
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Intro
ponents to be run at different times or
concurrently by different operators. This
architecture also allows flexplan to be eas-
ily extended with additional modules to
support specific mission requirements or
needs. The LRO MPS uses flexplans core
modules plus additional modules devel-
oped using existing flexplan capabilities
to support LROs flight software memory
loads generation and modeling, a slew
maneuver planning tool, and Web-based
mission status reporting.
The flexplan components are divided
into two categories: core components
that are modules responsible for the
generation of conflict-free schedules,
and supporting components that are
modules supporting additional require-
ments for the LRO and for the status
awareness of planned activities.
flexplan offers three advantages over
existing systems:
1. Use of soft algorithms to define mis-
sion scheduling rules and constraints.
This allows the operators to define
how planning and scheduling is
accomplished, without the need for
manufacturer modification to the
software. All scheduling rules and
constraints can be placed under con-
figuration management, allowing the
operation team to easily create and
use rules for different phases of the
mission.
2. Tracking ID. All inputs and outputs
into and from flexplan are assigned a
unique ID. This allows the opera-
tions team to identify the source of
scheduled activities. It also allows
flexplan to receive execution feed-
back for all schedule activities and
update the activities status on a Web-
based client for improved mission
awareness.
3. Open XML format for all scheduling
inputs. A single XML structure is used
to ingest all scheduling inputs, regard-
less of the nature or source of the
input. This allows new scheduling
inputs to be processed without the
need to configure the external inter-
face to a specific input format.
flexplan is also used in the scheduling
operations of the LDCM (Landsat Data
Continuity Mission) spacecraft, also at
GSFC, which is currently undergoing
final mission and ground readiness test-
ing to prepare for upcoming launch in
January of 2013, and undergoing cus-
tomization for operational use in the
TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay
Satellites) Space Network upgrade proj-
ect, SGSS, a joint venture between NASA
GSFC and WSC.
This work was done by Assaf Barnoy and
Theresa Beech of GMV USA for Goddard Space
Flight Center. For more information, down-
under the Information Technology category.
GSC-15558-1
Airborne Tomographic Swath Ice Sounding Processing System
This program enables 2D ice thickness measurement.
Glaciers and ice sheets modulate glob-
al sea level by storing water deposited as
snow on the surface, and discharging
water back into the ocean through melt-
ing. Their physical state can be charac-
terized in terms of their mass balance
and dynamics. To estimate the current
ice mass balance, and to predict future
changes in the motion of the Greenland
and Antarctic ice sheets, it is necessary to
know the ice sheet thickness and the
physical conditions of the ice sheet sur-
face and bed. This information is
required at fine resolution and over
extensive portions of the ice sheets.
The ice sheet has two major interfaces:
the upper surface interface, between the
air and the snow or ice; and the basal
interface, between the ice and bedrock
or subglacial water. In between, there are
internal layers that originate from slight
density changes or ancient volcanic
deposits. Due to the broad antenna pat-
tern of the sounding radar system, each
image resolution cell will contain signals
from the left and from the right of the
antenna array, and originating from the
surface and from the bed. To resolve
these signals and to achieve swath sound-
ing capability, an array of receiving
antennas in the cross track direction is
used. A tomographic algorithm has been
developed to take raw data collected by a
multiple-channel synthetic aperture
sounding radar system over a polar ice
sheet and convert those data into two-
dimensional (2D) ice thickness measure-
ments. Prior to this work, conventional
processing techniques only provided
one-dimensional ice thickness measure-
ments along profiles.
In this innovative development sup-
ported in part by NASA ESTO, airborne
tomographic ice sounding technology
was used to successfully image the reflec-
tivity and topography of the surface as
well as the reflectivity of the ice sheet
base and ice sheet thickness. From the
surface topography and ice thickness
measurements, the 3D basal topography
can be computed. For the first time, one
A 3D perspective of the Russell Glacier bed in Greenland produced from the 2011 Ice Bridge mission
data using the Tomographic Processor.
3
8

k
m
18 km
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Intro
PowderSim is a calculation tool that combines a discrete-ele-
ment method (DEM) module, including calibrated interparti-
cle-interaction relationships, with a mesh-free, continuum,
SPH (smoothed-particle hydrodynamics) based module that
utilizes enhanced, calibrated, constitutive models capable of
mimicking both large deformations and the flow behavior of
regolith simulants and lunar regolith under conditions antici-
pated during in situ resource utilization (ISRU) operations.
The major innovation introduced in PowderSim is to use a
mesh-free method (SPH-based) with a calibrated and slightly
modified critical-state soil mechanics constitutive model to
extend the ability of the simulation tool to also address full-
scale engineering systems in the continuum sense. The
PowderSim software maintains the ability to address particle-
scale problems, like size segregation, in selected regions with a
traditional DEM module, which has improved contact physics
and electrostatic interaction models.
PowderSim provides answers with comprehensive cohesive-
contact models and a new charge-spot model for electrostatic
forces arising from localized charge patches on the surfaces and
in the interiors of individual particles. For systems that are too
large to be simulated with a discrete element approach,
PowderSim incorporates a continuum-based SPH module, which
when considering the addition of a calibrated, cohesive, constitu-
tive model (Lunar Regolith Constitutive Model (LRCM)), is a
novel use of mesh-free methods. Because of the discrete and con-
tinuum methods implemented in the same framework, the soft-
ware can capture dynamic particulate material behavior at a vari-
ety of spatial scales from the coarse-grain scale (DEM) to the bulk
scale (SPH). The DEM capability also supports clustering, which
allows it to capture a rich variety of shape detail. Advanced con-
PowderSim: Lagrangian
Discrete and Mesh-Free
Continuum Simulation Code
for Cohesive Soils
John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
is able to see through kilometers-thick ice sheets and meas-
ure the 3D bottom topography and its scattering properties,
across a several-kilometers-wide swath. Validation with inde-
pendent measurements indicates that this technique provides
accurate topographic measurement of ice sheet surface and
bed, and can be used for local ice sheet bed mapping.
The tomographic sounding processing system is composed
of several major modules: a sub-aperture, back-projection
azimuth compression with ray-bending correction; a
MUSIC/ML arrival angle estimation to estimate surface/bed
return arrival angles; and post-processing modules including
data regrid and DEM (digital elevation model) mosaic. It pro-
duces the ice thickness map and the bedmap as the final prod-
uct.
This work was done by Xiaoqing Wu, Ernesto Rodriguez, and
Anthony Freeman of Caltech; and Ken Jezek of Ohio State University
for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, down-
load the Technical Support Package (free white paper) at
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Information Technology category.
NPO-48638
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Intro
tact models and charge spots capture
many effects of contact plasticity and hys-
teresis, roughness, adhesion, and electro-
static interaction of particles. The SPH
capability for bulk material behavior uses
the LRCM to capture the critical-state
behavior of cohesive lunar regolith.
This work was done by Scott Johnson, Otis
Walton, and Randolph Settgast of Grainflow
Dynamics for Glenn Research Center. For
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Infor -
mation Technology category.
Inquiries concerning rights for the commer-
cial use of this invention should be addressed
to NASA Glenn Research Center, Innovative
Partnerships Office, Attn: Steven Fedor, Mail
Stop 48, 21000 Brookpark Road,
Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-
18801-1.
Multiple-Frame Detection of Subpixel Targets in Thermal
Image Sequences
This technique has applicability in fire detection, and tracking ships, ground vehicles, and aircraft.
The new technology in this approach
combines the subpixel detection infor-
mation from multiple frames of a
sequence to achieve a more sensitive
detection result, using only the informa-
tion found in the images themselves. It is
taken as a constraint that the method is
automated, robust, and computationally
feasible for field networks with con-
strained computation and data rates.
This precludes simply downloading a
video stream for pixel-wise co-registra-
tion on the ground. It is also important
that this method not require precise
knowledge of sensor position or direc-
tion, because such information is often
not available. It is also assumed that the
scene in question is approximately pla-
nar, which is appropriate for a high-alti-
tude airborne or orbital view.
This approach tracks scene content to
estimate camera motion and finds geo-
metric relationships between the
images. An initial stage identifies stable
image features, or interest points, in
consecutive frames, and uses geometric
relationships to estimate a homogra-
phy a transformation mapping
between frames. Interest points general-
ly correspond to regions of high infor-
mation or contrast. Previous work pro-
vides a wide range of interest point
detectors. In this innovation, SIFT
(Scale Invariant Feature Transform) key-
points recovered by a difference of
Gaussians (DoG) operator applied at
multiple scales are used. A nearest-
neighbor matching procedure identifies
candidate matches between frames. The
end result of this first step is a list of can-
didate interest points and descriptors in
each frame.
An important benefit of SIFT detec-
tion is that the system permits absolute
georeferencing based on image contents
alone. The SIFT features alone provide
sufficient information to geolocate a hot
pixel. This suggests an initial characteri-
zation phase where the remote observer
transmits high-contrast, SIFT descriptors
along with images of the (fire-free) sur-
face. The ground system, with possible
human assistance, would determine the
SIFT features geographic locations.
During regular operations, the system
can query the database to find geo-
graphic locations of new observations.
Any preferred single- or multiple-chan-
nel detection rule is applied independ-
ently in each frame with a very lenient
threshold. Then, the algorithm matches
consecutive detections across potentially
large displacements, and associates
them into tracks, i.e., unique physical
events with a precise geographic loca-
tion, that may appear in multiple
frames. Finally, the system considers the
entire sequence history of each track to
make the final detection decision.
This work was done by David R.
Thompson of Caltech and Robert Kremens
of Rochester Institute of Technology for
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Infor -
mation Technology category. NPO-48129
The Basic Operational Robotics
Instructional System (BORIS) is a six-
degree-of-freedom rotational robotic
manipulator system simulation used
for training of fundamental robotics
concepts, with in-line shoulder, offset
elbow, and offset wrist. BORIS is used
to provide generic robotics training to
aerospace professionals including
flight crews, flight controllers, and
robotics instructors. It uses forward
kinematic and inverse kinematic algo-
rithms to simulate joint and end-effec-
tor motion, combined with a multibody
dynamics model, moving-object con-
tact model, and X-Windows based
graphical user interfaces, coordinated
in the Trick Simulation modeling envi-
ronment.
The motivation for development of
BORIS was the need for a generic sys-
tem for basic robotics training. Before
BORIS, introductory robotics training
was done with either the SRMS
(Shuttle Remote Manipulator System)
or SSRMS (Space Station Remote
Manipulator System) simulations. The
unique construction of each of these
systems required some specialized
training that distracted students from
the ideas and goals of the basic robot-
ics instruction.
This work was done by Brian Keith Todd of
Johnson Space Center, James Fischer of Titan
Systems Corp., and Jane Falgout and John
Schweers of L-3 Communications. For further
information, contact the JSC Innovation
Partnerships Office at (281) 483-3809. MSC-
24850-1
Basic Operational Robotics Instructional System
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Intro
Metric Learning to Enhance Hyperspectral Image Segmentation
Unsupervised hyperspectral image
segmentation can reveal spatial trends
that show the physical structure of the
scene to an analyst. They highlight bor-
ders and reveal areas of homogeneity
and change. Segmentations are inde-
pendently helpful for object recogni-
tion, and assist with automated produc-
tion of symbolic maps. Additionally, a
good segmentation can dramatically
reduce the number of effective spectra
in an image, enabling analyses that
would otherwise be computationally
prohibitive. Specifically, using an over-
segmentation of the image instead of
individual pixels can reduce noise and
potentially improve the results of statisti-
cal post-analysis.
In this innovation, a metric learning
approach is presented to improve the
performance of unsupervised hyper-
spectral image segmentation. The pro-
totype demonstrations attempt a
superpixel segmentation in which the
image is conservatively over-segment-
ed; that is, the single surface features
may be split into multiple segments,
but each individual segment, or super-
pixel, is ensured to have homogenous
mineralogy.
A segmentation strategy was tested
based on the Felzenszwalb algorithm
for its simplicity and computational
efficiency. This approach represents
the hyperspectral image as an 8-con-
nected grid of pixels that can begin as
independent segments. Edges between
nodes represent the distance between
neighboring spectra, and each is
weighted according to a measure of dis-
tance between pixels. The algorithm
iteratively joins neighboring pixels
together into larger segments, and
describes each segment by the mini-
mum spanning tree of edges that joins
all segments in the cluster.
Hyperspectral segmentation algo-
rithms partition images into spectrally
homogenous regions. However, the
exact definition of homogeneity is
dependent on the chosen similarity met-
ric. The segmentation algorithm is aug-
mented with a task-specific distance met-
ric. Here, a Mahalanobis distance metric
is used, learned from training data. By
leveraging a (small) set of labeled pixels
with known mineralogical interpreta-
tions, the metric suppresses uninforma-
tive spectral content. Multiclass linear
discriminant analysis (LDA) is used to
maximize the ratio of between-class vs.
within-class separation, defined by the
Rayleigh quotient computed over
labeled training data. Other distance
metrics and segmentation strategies are
possible, and can be substituted for
these choices in modular fashion as dif-
ferent applications demand.
This work was done by David R.
Thompson and Rebecca Castano of Caltech,
Brian Bue of Rice University, and Martha S.
Gilmore of Wesleyan University for NASAs Jet
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Intro
Books & Reports
Sheet Membrane Spacesuit
Water Membrane
Evaporator
A document describes a sheet mem-
brane spacesuit water membrane evapo-
rator (SWME), which allows for the use
of one common water tank that can sup-
ply cooling water to the astronaut and
to the evaporator. Test data showed that
heat rejection performance dropped
only 6 percent after being subjected to
highly contaminated water. It also
exhibited robustness with respect to
freezing and Martian atmospheric simu-
lation testing. Water was allowed to
freeze in the water channels during test-
ing that simulated a water loop failure
and vapor backpressure valve failure.
Upon closing the backpressure valve
and energizing the pump, the ice even-
tually thawed and water began to flow
with no apparent damage to the sheet
membrane.
The membrane evaporator also serves
to de-gas the water loop from entrained
gases, thereby eliminating the need for
special degassing equipment such as is
needed by the current spacesuit system.
As water flows through the three
annular water channels, water evapo-
rates with the vapor flowing across the
hydrophobic, porous sheet membrane
to the vacuum side of the membrane.
The rate at which water evaporates, and
therefore, the rate at which the flowing
water is cooled, is a function of the dif-
ference between the water saturation
pressure on the water side of the mem-
brane, and the pressure on the vacuum
side of the membrane. The primary the-
ory is that the hydrophobic sheet mem-
brane retains water, but permits vapor
pass-through when the vapor side pres-
sure is less than the water saturation
pressure. This results in evaporative
cooling of the remaining water.
This work was done by Grant Bue and
Luis Trevino of Johnson Space Center; Felipe
Zapata and Paul Dillion of ERC, Inc.; and
Juan Castillo, Walter Vonau, Bob Wilkes,
Matthew Vogel, and Curtis Frodge of Jacobs
Technology. For more information, down-
under the Mechanics/Machinery category.
MSC-24840-1
Motor Qualification for
Long-Duration Mars
Missions
Qualification of motors for deep
space under extreme thermal environ-
ments to be encountered during the
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
is required to verify the reliability and
validate mission assurance require-
ments. The motor assembly must survive
all ground operations, plus the nominal
670 Martian-day (or sol) mission that
includes summer and winter seasons of
the Mars environment. The motor
assembly was tested and characterized
under extreme temperature conditions
with reference to hardware require-
ments. The motor assembly has been
proved to be remarkably robust and dis-
played no sign of degradation due to the
3 (three times per JPL design princi-
ples) thermal environmental exposure
to the punishing Mars surface opera-
tions cycles. The motor characteristics
obtained before, during, and post-test
comparisons for the surface operations
cycles are within measurement error of
one another.
The motors withstood/survived 2,010
extreme temperature cycles with a T of
190 C deep temperature cycles, repre-
senting three times the expected ther-
mal cycling exposure during the MSL
surface operations. The qualification
test hardware elements (A200 motor
assembly, encoders, and resolver) have
not shown any signs of degradation due
to the PQV (Package Qualification and
Verification) testing. The test hardware
has demonstrated sufficient life to sur-
vive the deep thermal cycles associated
with MSL mission surface operations for
three lives.
This work was done by Rajeshuni
Ramesham, Michael R. Johnson, Darren T.
Cooper, Warren S. Lau, Kobie T. Boykins,
Jonathan D. Perret, and Richard A. Rainen
of Caltech; and Andrea Greb of Orbital for
information, download the Technical
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
Mechanics/Machinery category. NPO-
48760
Advanced Materials and
Manufacturing for Low-
Cost, High-Performance
Liquid Rocket Combustion
Chambers
A document describes the low-cost
manufacturing of C103 niobium alloy
combustion chambers, and the use of a
high-temperature, oxidation-resistant
coating that is superior to the standard
silicide coating. The manufacturing
process involved low-temperature spray
deposition of C103 on removable plastic
mandrels produced by rapid prototyp-
ing. Thin, vapor-deposited platinum-
indium coatings were shown to substan-
tially improve oxidation resistance rela-
tive to the standard silicide coating.
Development of different low-cost
plastic thrust chamber mandrel materi-
als and prototyping processes (selective
laser sintering and stereolithography)
yielded mandrels with good dimensional
accuracy (within a couple of mils) for
this stage of development.
The feasibility of using the kinetic
metallization cold-spray process for fab-
rication of free-standing C103 thrusters
on removable plastic mandrels was also
demonstrated. The ambient and elevat-
ed temperature mechanical properties
of the material were shown to be reason-
ably good relative to conventionally
processed C103, but the greatest poten-
tial benefit is that cold-sprayed cham-
bers require minimal post-process
machining, resulting in substantially
lower machining and material costs.
The platinum-iridium coating was
shown to provide greatly increased oxi-
dation resistance over the silicide when
evaluated through oxyacetylene torch
testing to as high as 300 F (150 C).
The iridium component minimizes reac-
tion with the niobium alloy chamber at
high temperatures, and provides the
high-temperature oxidation resistance
needed at the throat.
This work was done by Brian E. Williams
and Victor M. Arrieta of Ultramet for Johnson
Space Center. For more information, down-
under the Manufacturing & Prototyping cat-
egory. MSC-24495-1
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Intro
Industrial Cameras
The Imaging Source, Charlotte, NC, offers
monochrome and color industrial cameras
with 1.2 megapixel resolution and CMOS
Aptina MT9M021 sensors. They feature a
global shutter, frame rate up to 25 fps, USB
2.0 interface, and optional trigger and digi-
tal I/Os. The cameras measure 36 x 36 x 25
mm. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-100
SWIR Camera
Xenics, Leuven, Belgium, has introduced the
Bobcat-640 low-noise, low-dark-current SWIR
camera for GigE Vision or CameraLink. It fea-
tures an InGaAs detector for machine vision
and high-temperature process control. Power
over Ethernet is possible for standalone operation.
With onboard image processing, it operates as a complete IR camera
system. Image quality is optimized with onboard signal processing
with 14-bit A-to-D conversion. For Free Info Visit http://info.
hotims.com/45599-101
CCD Image Sensors
Truesense Imaging, Rochester, NY, offers
1080p and 4-megapixel sensors. The KAI-
02170 image sensor is a 1" optical format
device in 1080p (1920 1080) resolution,
supporting frame rates up to 60 fps. The
KAI-04070 provides 4-megapixel (2048 x
2048) resolution in a 4/3 optical format at
up to 28 fps. The devices are available in monochrome, Bayer Color,
and TRUESENSE Sparse Color Filter Pattern configurations.
For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-102
High-Speed Cameras
Vision Research, Wayne, NJ, offers Phantom Miro cameras for
high-speed imaging that feature a flip-out LCD touchscreen for on-
camera control and monitoring.
Camera settings can be changed with a
few taps on the touchscreen, which dou-
bles as a monitor for live preview and
playback from internal memory. The
cameras are available in four models:
LC110, LC310, LC120, and LC320S.
The LC110 and LC310 feature high light sensitivity for low-light
images, the LC120 uses micro-lenses on its sensor to achieve high
light sensitivity, and the LC320S includes a single HD-SDI port for
alternate monitoring. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.
com/45599-103
Digital Microscope
Saelig Company, Pittsford, NY, offers the
MV600UM2 USB digital color inspection micro-
scope with magnification up to 600X. It provides
an integrated 2.0 MP digital/video camera and
PC functions for measurement and image trans-
fer. It is portable, and is designed for high-magni-
fication examination of surfaces such as metal fin-
ishes and surface treatments. In most cases, the
device must be used with the stand provided
because of image shake when handheld. For Free Info Visit http://
info.hotims.com/45599-104
USB Board Camera
Videology Imaging Solutions, Greenville,
RI, has introduced the 20C20XW-USB board
camera that uses Pixims Seawolf sensor. The
camera measures 32 mm square by 18.5 mm
deep without the lens. Power and video are
provided through a single USB cable. A CS
style metal lens mount is available. The cam-
era can capture precise images in virtually
any lighting environment, or any wide dynamic range scene up to
120dB. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-105
Product of the Month
Mcor Technologies, Dunleer, Ireland, has introduced the IRIS color 3D printer that prints in more than one
million hues simultaneously, creating photorealistic physical objects from 3D data. The IRIS delivers True Colour,
printing different hues simultaneously, including pure black. The machines build material is standard Letter/A4
size paper, either new or used. The IRISs patented 3D color ink permeates the entire part, not just the surface,
resulting in printabilty on all surfaces, including undercuts and sidewalls. Models can be disposed of in the recy-
cling bin for cradle-to-grave sustainability. When pages are cut and bound together, the model is tough, durable,
and stable, with no infiltration required. The printer employs water-based adhesive, eliminating toxic fumes, lasers,
airborne powders, or toxic resins. Color resolution is 5760 1440 508 dpi, and machine resolution is 0.004". File
formats for printing include STL, OBJ, and VRML, and the system is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista,
and Windows 7.
Product Focus: Imaging/Cameras
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Intro
ACHIEVING
EFFICIENCY
T
H
E
E
S
S
E
N
T
IA
L
A
U
T
O
M
O
T
IV
E
T
E
C
H
N
O
L
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G
Y
E
V
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T
April 16-18, 2013
Cobo Center Detroit, Michigan, USA
As we strive to achieve efciency, the resulting signicant
and exciting challenges are once again positioning the
automobile industry as the industry of choice for the worlds
best and brightest engineering minds. Vast opportunities
await those companies and individuals that dare to be
creative and dream big.
sae.org/congress
Host Company
Learn more!
Tier One
Strategic Partner
Infrared Video Thermometers
The OS-VIR50 series of digital infrared video ther-
mometers from Omega Engineering, Stamford, CT,
features dual lasers that indicate ideal measuring dis-
tance where the two laser points converge to a 1" tar-
get spot. They also feature a color LED bargraph for
viewing trends, a 150-millisecond response time, and a
type K thermocouple input. For Free Info Visit
Industrial Computer
MPL, Dattwil, Switzerland, offers the PIP6-11
embedded industrial computer with the Intel
Atom Z530P CPU. It operates from -20 C to

60 C without throttling or the need of a fan.
Features include an internal 9-36VDC industrial
power supply, 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 7 USB 2.0 ports, and 2 RS-232
ports. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-107
Resistance Meter
The TEGAM 1740 milliohm resistance meter
from TEGAM, Geneva, OH, can make 100 readings
per second with an accuracy of 0.05%. The
meter provides 10 different ranges from 20 mil-
liohm to 20 megohm full scale. Multifunction keys provide front-panel
control of range selection, reading modes, delays, triggers, and meas-
urement hold. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-108
Pressure Sensors
Servoflo Corp., Lexington, MA, offers
the MS4425 Series of temperature-com-
pensated piezoresistive pressure sensors
available in pressure ranges from 0-1 psi to 0-300
psi. The sensors are compensated from 0 C to 50 C with 0.15% of
span non-linearity in the gauge. With a dual-in-line package, the sen-
sors have
1
8" barbed ports, which mate with
3
32" ID tubing. For Free Info
Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-109
Switches
Vaunix Technology Corp., Haverhill, MA,
offers the LSW Series Lab Brick switch products
with a 10W power handling capability in single
pole double throw (SPDT) and single pole four
throw (SP4T) configurations. The switches
have manual, internal, and external switch con-
trol capability, and can be controlled and programmed directly from
the included GUI or through external control inputs. For Free Info
Visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-110
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Intro
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-816 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-813
ENGINEERING
SERVICES
Plastics & Electronics Mold
Making and design. PCB
fabrication and Circuit
design. Reverse engineer-
ing and software unlock-
ing. Prototype work and
full manufacturing. Medical government and con-
sumer projects. In business 60 years. Hi Tech engi-
neering and old-fashioned customer service. One-
stop shopping for all of your plastics and electronics
engineering. Outsource Industries Inc.; info@out-
sourceindustries.com; www.outsourceindustries.com
Outsource Industries Inc.
VERY HIGH
RESOLUTION
LENSES WITH
LOW DISTORTION
The TOP-29 lens is a very
High Resolution 29MM F/3.0
lens with minimal distortion,
and a flat field, used for measurement, machine
vision and other high performance applications.
Custom packaging, integrated filters and custom
aperture ratios are available. Design assistance is
available from Universe Kogaku America.
Web: www.ukaoptics.com;
email: info@ukaoptics.com; or phone: 516-624-2400.
Universe Kogaku America
Product Spotlight
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-811 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-814 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-812
LOCALIZED HEAT UP
TO 1500C IN A
NANOSECOND
Indium Corporation provides NanoFoil-based
materials that deliver energy in a controlled and pre-
cise manner for joining, energetics, and heating
applications. NanoFoil is an instantaneous heat
source applicable to a variety of applications in many
industries (semiconductor, aerospace, automobile,
electronics, biomedical, and defense markets).
NanoFoil is a predictable and controllable material
proven to lower total manufacturing costs while pro-
viding repeatable and reliable bonds and reactions.
www.indium.com
Indium Corporation
MULTIPHYSICS
E-ZINE
Now is your chance to
learn what your peers
have achieved through
the use of multiphysics
simulation. The latest edi-
tion of COMSOL News
gives you over 25 user sto-
ries that illustrate recent
achievements in industry -
all made possible by COMSOLs modeling tool.
Instantly download your digital copy today at:
www.comsol.com/ntblit
COMSOL, Inc.
PRECISION
ORIFICES & FILTERS
Bird Precision offers laser-
drilled, wire-lapped ruby and
sapphire orifices.
Huge variety of Orifices,
Inserts, Connectors and
Fittings Unique micron ori-
fices series sizes from .0004"
thru .081" Highly repeatable
flow from < .5sccm at 5psi Extreme wear & chemi-
cal resistance Engineering resources & design
guides. Please visit our award winning website for
more information. Bird Precision, Waltham, MA;
Tel: 800-454-7369; Fax: 800-370-6308; e-mail:
sales@birdprecision.com; www.birdprecision.com.
Bird Precision
PRECISION
LINEAR MOTION
PRODUCTS
HaydonKerk Motion So-
lutions specializes in the
design and manufactur ing
of stepper motor based lin-
ear actuators, leadscrews,
nut assemblies, linear rails,
slides and guides providing
customized designs to solve complex engineering
problems requiring precision linear motion.
www.HaydonKerk.com
HaydonKerk Motion Solutions
DATA ANALYSIS
AND GRAPHING
SOFTWARE
Founded in 1992, Origin -
Lab develops data analysis
and graphing software for
users in corporations, government agencies, col-
leges, and universities worldwide. Its flagship prod-
ucts, Origin and OriginPro, provide a comprehen-
sive solution for scientists and engineers at any tech-
nical level to analyze, graph, and professionally pre -
sent data. Origin version 9.0 is now available.
www.originlab.com/Origin9
OriginLab Corporation
USED
LABORATORY
EQUIPMENT
PhotoMachining, Inc. is
a contract laser manufac-
turer and custom systems
builder. We specialize in
laser micromachining
using lasers from the far IR through the UV. In addi-
tion, we sell used, refurbished, and like new labora-
tory equipment including lasers, optics, optical hard-
ware, electronics, microscopes, etc. Contact
sales@photomachining.com, or phone 603-882-
9944. www.photomachining.com
PhotoMachining, Inc.
THE ULTIMATE
MECHANICAL
CONNECTIONS
POLYGON PROFILES are
the solution to any coupling,
sliding, power transmission,
torque, stress, fatigue, or space problems you may
have. Precision ground to give superb strength, a
high capacity for torque, and long life. Self-aligning,
self-centering feature eliminates alignment
problems, with minimal backlash and reduced
vibration. Suitable for fixed and sliding connec -
tions; available on oval, 3-sided and 4-sided, custom
produced to your specifications. Call 1-877-546-
6378 or visit www.generalpolygon.com; e-mail:
joepitassintb@generalpolygon.com
General Polygon
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Intro
Join Dr. Mark Yeoman, Director and Founder of Continuum Blue, as he discusses some of the advanced structural mechanics
projects Continuum Blue has been involved in. As analysis consultants working with customers from a wide range of industries,
Continuum Blue requires a robust one-stop multiphysics analysis environment that provides for customers analysis needs. This
Webinar will focus on structural mechanics simulation with examples from various industries such as oil & gas, automotive, and
medical implants.
Structural Mechanics with
COMSOL Multiphysics
Live Presentation Thursday, January 10, 2013, 2:00 pm ET
This 60-minute webinar includes:
Live Q&A session
Application Demo
Access to archived event on demand
Webinars
Upcoming...
Presenters:
John Dunec
Vice President of Sales,
NW US
COMSOL, Inc.
Mark Yeoman
Managing Director
Continuum Blue, Ltd.
Please visit www.techbriefs.com/webinar135
Color and Light Source Measurement
for Design Engineers
Live Presentation Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 2:00 pm ET
Live Q&A session
Application Demo
Presenter:
Randy Klimek
Regional Sales Manager
Konica Minolta
This Webinar will provide a background theory of light and color measurement, basic lighting science, and measurement metrics.
We will discuss the operation and procedures for using measurement instruments for light and color specification. Learn about the
benefits of using measurement instruments in a variety of industries such as automotive, display, LED, and general lighting.
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Intro
Join David Morse, Chief of Technology, as he discusses the engine of innovation at NASAs Ames Research Center. ARC specializes
in space, Earth, and biological research; entry, descent and landing systems; small satellite missions; next-generation airspace sys-
tems; green aviation; development of market-changing, disruptive technologies; and fostering a commercial space industry.
Also presented in this Webinar will be the High-Speed 3D Laser Scanner, developed by NASAs Ames Research Center. The high-
speed 3D laser scanner creates a highly accurate 3D map of a surface for measuring flaws or deviations on that surface. It was
originally designed to scan Space Shuttle Orbiter thermal tiles. Sign up today and learn more about this amazing 3D scanner!
NASA Scanning Technology Creates
3D Maps of Surface Flaws
Live Presentation Thursday, January 17, 2013, 2:00 pm ET
Live Q&A session
Application Demo
Presenters:
Joseph Lavelle
Senior Research Engineer
and Project Manager
NASA Ames Research Center
David Morse
Chief of Technology Partnerships
NASA Ames Research Center
NECTOR S Power System
Innovation in Design
Live Presentation Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 2:00 pm ET
Live Q&A session
Application Demo
Presenter:
Alexander Hunt III
TE Connectivity
Global Product Manager
Lighting industry experts that are closely monitoring the technology shift from traditional lighting to solid state lighting are predicting
a 50% conversion rate by the end of 2015. Therefore, lighting designers and engineers are focusing all of their efforts to develop
SSL luminaires to support this rapid transition.
This Webinar will introduce you to the innovation behind the NECTOR S Power System, a modular wiring system that offers complete
versatility and ultimate flexibility in lighting design.
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Intro
NASAs Technology Sources
If you need further information about new technologies presented in NASA Tech Briefs,
request the Technical Support Package (TSP) indicated at the end of the brief. If a TSP is not
available, the Innovative Partnerships Office at the NASA field center that sponsored the
research can provide you with additional information and, if applicable, refer you to the
innovator(s). These centers are the source of all NASA-developed technology.
Ames Research Center
Selected technological strengths: Information
Technology; Biotechnology; Nanotechnology;
Aerospace Operations Systems; Rotorcraft;
Thermal Protection Systems.
Lisa L. Lockyer
(650) 604-1754
lisa.l.lockyer@nasa.gov
Dryden Flight Research Center
Selected technological strengths:
Aerodynamics; Aeronautics Flight Testing;
Aeropropulsion; Flight Systems; Thermal
Testing; Integrated Systems Test and
Validation.
Yvonne D. Gibbs
(661) 276-3720
yvonne.d.gibbs@nasa.gov
Glenn Research Center
Aeropropulsion; Communications; Energy
Technology; High-Temperature Materials
Research.
Kathleen Needham
(216) 433-2802
kathleen.k.needham@nasa.gov
Goddard Space Flight Center
Selected technological strengths: Earth and
Planetary Science Missions; LIDAR; Cryogenic
Systems; Tracking; Telemetry; Remote Sensing;
Command.
Nona Cheeks
(301) 286-5810
nona.k.cheeks@nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Selected technological strengths: Near/Deep-
Space Mission Engineering; Microspacecraft;
Space Communications; Information Systems;
Remote Sensing; Robotics.
Indrani Graczck
(818) 354-4906
indrani.graczck-1@nasa.gov
Johnson Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Artificial
Intelligence and Human Computer Interface;
Life Sciences; Human Space Flight
Operations; Avionics; Sensors;
Communications.
David Leestma
(281) 483-3809
david.c.leestma@nasa.gov
Kennedy Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Fluids and
Fluid Systems; Materials Evaluation; Process
Engineering; Command, Control, and Monitor
Systems; Range Systems; Environmental
Engineering and Management.
David R. Makufka
(321) 867-6227
david.r.makufka@nasa.gov
Langley Research Center
Selected technological strengths: Aerodynamics;
Flight Systems; Materials; Structures; Sensors;
Measurements; Information Sciences.
Elizabeth B. Plentovich
(757) 864-2857
elizabeth.b.plentovich@nasa.gov
Marshall Space Flight Center
Selected technological strengths: Materials;
Manufacturing; Nondestructive Evaluation;
Biotechnology; Space Propulsion; Controls and
Dynamics; Structures; Microgravity Processing.
Jim Dowdy
(256) 544-7604
jim.dowdy@nasa.gov
Stennis Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Propulsion
Systems; Test/Monitoring; Remote Sensing;
Nonintrusive Instrumentation.
Ramona Travis
(228) 688-3832
ramona.e.travis@ssc.nasa.gov
National Technology Transfer Center
Darwin Molnar
Wheeling, WV
(800) 678-6882
NASA HEADQUARTERS
Innovative Partnerships Program Office
Doug Comstock, Director
(202) 358-2221
doug.comstock@nasa.gov
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) &
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
Programs
Carl Ray, Program Executive
(202) 358-4652
carl.g.ray@nasa.gov
Published by....................................... Tech Briefs Media Group,
an SAE International Company
Publisher.....................................................Joseph T. Pramberger
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Technical/Managing Editor.........................................Ted Selinsky
Technical Writers.........................................................Shirl Phelps
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NASA Tech Briefs are provided by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, Innovative Partnerships Program:
Administrator...............................................Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
Chief Technologist.......................................................Mason Peck
Technology Transfer Program Executive................Daniel Lockney
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Bill Hague
...........................................................................at (310) 457-6783
CO, UT, MT, WY, ID, NM ...............................................Tim Powers
...........................................................................at (973) 409-4762
S. Calif., AZ, NV ...............................................................Tom Boris
...........................................................................at (949) 715-7779
Integrated Media Consultants................................Patrick Harvey
...........................................................................at (973) 409-4686
Angelo Danza
...........................................................................at (973) 874-0271
Michael Barboza
...........................................................................at (973) 545-2565
Jason Weinstein
...........................................................................at (973) 545-2566
Tom Wright
...........................................................................at (973) 545-2464
Reprints........................................................................Jill Kaletha
.................................................................at (866) 879-9144, x168
w w w . t e c h b r i e f s . c o m
NASAs Technology Sources
If you need further information about new technologies presented in NASA Tech Briefs,
request the Technical Support Package (TSP) indicated at the end of the brief. If a TSP is not
available, the IPO at the NASA field center that sponsored the research can provide you with
additional information and, if applicable, refer you to the innovator(s). These centers are the
source of all NASA-developed technology.
Ames Research Center
Selected technological strengths: Information
Technology; Biotechnology; Nanotechnology;
Aerospace Operations Systems; Rotorcraft;
Thermal Protection Systems.
David Morse
(650) 604-4724
david.r.morse@nasa.gov
Dryden Flight Research Center
Aerodynamics; Aeronautics Flight Testing;
Aeropropulsion; Flight Systems; Thermal
Testing; Integrated Systems Test and
Validation.
Ron Young
(661) 276-3741
ronald.m.young@nasa.gov
Glenn Research Center
Aeropropulsion; Communications; Energy
Technology; High-Temperature Materials
Research.
Kimberly A. Dalgleish-Miller
(216) 433-8047
kimberly.a.dalgleish@nasa.gov
Goddard Space Flight Center
Selected technological strengths: Earth and
Planetary Science Missions; LIDAR; Cryogenic
Systems; Tracking; Telemetry; Remote Sensing;
Command.
Nona Cheeks
(301) 286-5810
nona.k.cheeks@nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Selected technological strengths: Near/Deep-
Space Mission Engineering; Microspacecraft;
Space Communications; Information Systems;
Remote Sensing; Robotics.
Indrani Graczyk
(818) 354-2241
indrani.graczyk@jpl.nasa.gov
Johnson Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Artificial
Intelligence and Human Computer Interface;
Life Sciences; Human Space Flight
Operations; Avionics; Sensors;
Communications.
John E. James
(281) 483-3809
john.e.james@nasa.gov
Kennedy Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Fluids and
Fluid Systems; Materials Evaluation; Process
Engineering; Command, Control, and Monitor
Systems; Range Systems; Environmental
Engineering and Management.
David R. Makufka
(321) 867-6227
david.r.makufka@nasa.gov
Langley Research Center
Selected technological strengths: Aerodynamics;
Flight Systems; Materials; Structures; Sensors;
Measurements; Information Sciences.
Michelle Ferebee
(757) 864-5617
michelle.t.ferebee@nasa.gov
Marshall Space Flight Center
Selected technological strengths: Materials;
Manufacturing; Nondestructive Evaluation;
Biotechnology; Space Propulsion; Controls and
Dynamics; Structures; Microgravity Processing.
Terry L. Taylor
(256) 544-5916
terry.taylor@nasa.gov
Stennis Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Propulsion
Systems; Test/Monitoring; Remote Sensing;
Nonintrusive Instrumentation.
Ramona Travis
(228) 688-3832
ramona.e.travis@ssc.nasa.gov
NASA HEADQUARTERS
Daniel Lockney, Technology Transfer
Program Executive
(202) 358-2037
daniel.p.lockney@nasa.gov
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs
Rich Leshner, Program Executive
(202) 358-4920
rleshner@nasa.gov
w w w . t e c h b r i e f s . c o m
NASAs Innovative Partnerships
Office (IPO)
NASAs R&D efforts produce a robust supply of promising technologies with applications in many indus-
tries. A key mechanism in identifying commercial applications for this technology is NASAs national
network of laboratories and business support entities. The network includes ten NASA field centers,
and a full tie-in with the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for Technology Transfer. To explore tech-
nology transfer, development, and collaboration opportunities with NASA, visit www.ipp.nasa.gov.
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Intro
Advertisers Index
For free product literature, enter advertisers reader service numbers at www.techbriefs.com/rs, or visit the
Web site listed beneath their ad in this issue.
Advertisers listed in bold-face type have banner ads on the NASA Tech Briefs Web site www.techbriefs.com
Reader Service
Company Number Page
Reader Service
Company Number Page
Abrisa Technologies ..........................................799 ..........................14a
Advanced Circuits ..............................................767 ............................17
Aeroflex ..............................................................774 ............................44
Agilent Technologies..........................................736 ..............................9
AllMotion, Inc.....................................................776 ............................49
ATI Industrial Automation ................................746 ............................24
AutomationDirect ..............................................743 ............................27
Avnet Electronics ................................................735 ..............................7
AWAIBA ..............................................................779 ............................53
Bird Precision ....................................................807 ............................59
Boyd Coatings Research Co., Inc.......................820 ............................48
COMSOL, Inc. ................................................740, 808 ............15, 59
Deposition Sciences Inc. ....................................754 ............................3a
Dewetron Inc. ....................................................745 ............................21
Digi-Key Corporation ......................................731 ................COV I, 2
Edmund Optics ..................................................755 ............................5a
General Polygon Systems ..................................809 ............................59
Goodfellow Corporation....................................818 ............................29
GPD Optoelectronics Corp. ..............................758 ............................8a
GT Advanced Technologies ..............................763 ..........................18a
Harting, Inc. of North America ........................734 ..............................6
HaydonKerk Motion Solutions ........................810 ..........................59
Helical Products Co., Inc. ..................................750 ............................37
ID Quantique......................................................791 ..........................13a
Image Science Ltd. ............................................760 ..........................16a
Imagineering, Inc. ..............................................732 ..............................3
Indium Corporation ..........................................811 ............................59
Insaco Inc. ..........................................................742 ............................16
International Rectifier........................................749 ............................36
Kaman Precision Products | Measuring ............737 ............................10
Krell Technologies, Inc. ....................................792 ..........................13a
Labsphere, Inc. ..................................................793 ..........................13a
Lambda Research Corp. ....................................794 ..........................13a
Laser World Of Photonics 2013 ........................762 ..........................10a
M.S. Kennedy Corporation..............................748 ..........................35
Master Bond Inc. ................................................769 ............................40
MathWorks ..........................................................733 ..............................5
Measurement Computing Corp. ......................747 ..........................25
Micro-Epsilon Messtechnik GmbH....................773 ............................43
Miller-Stephenson Chemical Co. ......................768 ............................28
Minalex Corporation..........................................752 ............................32
Morehouse Instrument Company ....................770 ............................39
Motor & Drive Systems 2013..............................781 ............................55
Mouser Electronics, Inc. ..................................729 ..................COV II
National Instruments..........................................784....................COV IV
Newark/element14 ............................................738 ............................11
Newcomb Spring Corporation ..........................777 ............................51
Novotechnik........................................................775 ............................47
Ocean Optics, Inc. ..............................................753, 800 ............1a, 14a
OFS | Specialty Photonics Division....................764 ..........................10a
Omega Engineering ........................................730 ............................1
Omicron USA ....................................................744 ............................18
Optometrics ........................................................785, 801 ..........12a, 13a
OriginLab Corporation......................................772, 812 ..............41, 59
Outsource Industries, Inc. ................................813 ............................59
PhotoMachining, Inc. ........................................814 ............................59
Photon Engineering ..........................................759 ............................9a
Photonis USA......................................................756 ............................6a
PI (Physik Instrumente) LP ..............................789 ............................45
Piezosystem Jena ................................................795 ..........................13a
PixelTeq ..............................................................757 ............................7a
Proto Labs, Inc. ..............................................751 ..........................31
Raptor Photonics ................................................790 ..........................15a
Reynard Corporation ........................................761 ..........................17a
SAE International ..............................................782, 783 ....58, COV III
Siemens PLM Software ......................................741 ............................19
SmallPC.com ......................................................780 ............................51
Smalley Steel Ring Company ............................739 ............................12
Spectrogon US Inc. ............................................796 ..........................13a
Synopsys, Inc., Optical Solutions Group ..........797 ..........................14a
TAL Technologies Inc. ......................................819 ............................53
Tech-X Corporation ..........................................787 ............................13
Universe Kogaku America, Inc. ......................816 ..........................59
Wavelength Electronics ......................................798 ..........................13a
Xenon Corporation............................................788 ..........................12a
yet2.com ................................................................................................33
Reader Service
Company Number Page
NASA Tech Briefs, ISSN 0145-319X, USPS 750-070, copyright 2013 in U.S. is published
monthly by Tech Briefs Media Group, an SAE International Company, 261 Fifth Avenue,
Suite 1901, New York, NY 10016. The copyright information does not include the (U.S.
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Intro
Spinoff
Alloy-Enhanced Fans Maintain Fresh Air in Tunnels
A lightweight alloy finds uses in cars, ships, planes, and road/rail tunnels.
Spinoff is NASAs annual publication featuring successfully commercialized
NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development
of products and services in the fields of health and medicine, consumer goods,
transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources.
T
he Partnership for Next Gen eration Vehicles (PNGV) is
not a NASA initiative to develop powerful new rockets
and spacecraft, even though it may sound like one. PNGV
was a partnership established by the Clinton Administration
between the federal government and the U.S. Council for
Automotive Research to develop technologies that improve fuel
efficiency and reduce emissions from cars and trucks.
In support of this effort, Jonathan Lee, a materials engineer
at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, worked
with a major automobile manufacturer in 1995 to develop a
strong aluminum alloy for high-temperature applications. The
aim was to use the alloy for manufacturing parts for an internal
combustion engine, as well as for NASAs propulsion applica-
tions. When funding from PNGV ended, Marshall continued
to support the alloys development. Together with PoShou
Chen, a scientist with Morgan Research Corp., Lee invented a
high-strength aluminum alloy called MSFC-398 that, when test-
ed, was three to four times stronger than conventional alu-
minum alloys at high temperatures.
By the late 1990s, NASA scientists had successfully developed
and patented this technology, which has great potential appli-
cations not for just automotive, but also for aerospace, marine,
and commercial applications.
The most recent success of this technology was in 2010. Twin
City Fan Companies Ltd. in Minneapolis, MN, lic ensed the
alloy to make impellers (blades and hubs) for safety ventilation
fans in rail and road tunnels.
They wanted a high-temperature
alloy that would have the strength
and properties needed for safety
fan impellers at very high temper-
atures. The division of Twin City
Fan Companies that is marketing
the first fans made with the NASA
aluminum alloy is Clarage, based
in Pulaski, TN.
Twin City Fan licensed the
NASA alloy with a specific applica-
tion in mind: tunnel safety fans
for the European market, where
fans must be able to operate in
752 F for two hours. The reason
for the high-temperature require-
ment is the fan must be able to
operate successfully when there is
a fire in a road or rail tunnel. When spinning in one direction,
the fan provides clean air to the people inside; when spinning
in the other direction, it removes the smoke and gasses from
the fire.
Before the NASA alloy, there were two ways to meet these
temperature requirements. One was to use existing aluminum
to make a bigger fan that spins more slowly. The drawback to
this approach was that a bigger fan requires more space. Using
the NASA alloy, the fan is smaller relative to the competition,
and the tunnel can be smaller as well. In addition, the proper-
ties of the material allowed the fans to run hotter, leading to
safety smoke exhaust at temperatures beyond what tunnel
designers anticipated.
The other solution was to make the fan blades out of steel,
but this required a specialized motor to turn and reverse the
fan. Steel weighs roughly three times more than aluminum. If
it is three times as heavy on the rotating parts, the bearings are
heavier, the shaft is heavier, and the motor is heavier.
While Twin City Fan has purchased the tools to produce
three sizes of the fan, it plans to manufacture 12 different sizes
in total. In 2011, Clarage sold the first of its fans made with the
NASA alloy to a company testing the fans to certify them to
European standards.
Visit www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/13010 for
the full story.
Clarage is using MSFC-398 to make the impellers of safety fans for road and
rail tunnels.
Jonathan Lee, one of the in -
ventors of MSFC-398.
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Intro
The
Propulsion
P121750
Find these and much more at www.sae.org
Charging, Batteries, Interoperability
SAE J2954 Wireless Charging of Electric and Plug-in
Hybrid Vehicles
HEV and EV Battery Technology SAE Standards
Subscription
SAE 2012 Convergence
, The premier transportation

electronics event
Safety
SAE J2344 Guidelines for Electric Vehicle Safety
Fire Safety; 2007 and 2008 Book
Basic Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Safety Webinar
Smart Grid, Energy Conversion/
Consumption, Energy Sources
SAE J2847/3 Communication between Plug-in
Vehicles and the Utility Grid for Reverse Power Flow
Electric Vehicle Technology-Smart Grid & Infrastracture
2011 SAE Technical Paper Collection
Braking for Electric/Hybrid Vehicles; session, SAE 2012
Brake Colloquium & Exhibition
Advanced Vehicle Drivetrains & Engines
SAE J1711 Recommended Practice for Measuring
the Exhaust Emissions & Fuel Economy of Hybrid-Electric
Vehicles; Including Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles
Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles
Book
SAE 2012 Competition for the Transmission of the
Future Symposium
Electric, Fuel Cell, & Hybrid Vehicles
Alternative Cars in the 21st Century, Second Edition-A
New Personal Transportation Paradigm
Vehicle ElectricationSAE Online Magazine evsae.com
SAE 2013 Electric Vehicle / Hybrid Vehicle Technologies
Symposia
Evolution
SAE J1772
EV Conductive
Charge Coupler
Helping make electromobility a global reality.
Standards & Resources from SAE International
Plus, Vehicle Electrication Professional Certicationcoming Fall 2012
NEW! The SAE Global Technology LibraryElectric Vehicle

Many say the automotive industry could well
be standing before a paradigm shift with
respect to propulsion. If so, a future that uses
environmentally friendly motors partially or
entirely powered by electricity represents one of
the most challenging and profound technological
transformations of our time.
In the 1900s, early automobile manufacturers came
to SAE to freely exchange ideas and expand their
knowledge on the new form of transportation
at that time. It was the go-to forum for solving
common design challenges, reducing costs and
increasing safety, reliability, and comfort of the
horseless carriage.
Today, as then, SAE is at the forefront of advancing
new forms of transportation by addressing the
challenges associated with vehicle electrication
and connectivity through its global, market-driven,
voluntary consensus standards program and its
library of mobility engineering information -- the
largest of its kind.
SAE: Advancing the Advanced Vehicle
Lead standards development organization by the Smart Grid
Interoperability Panel
SmartGrid standards harmonization activities with ISO, IEC, utilities, IEEE,
EPRI, ZigBee Alliance, & HomePlug Power Alliance
Rechargeable Energy Storage System (RESS) safety efforts through US
DoTs NHSTA cooperative research project
29 standards development committees and 774 members involved in
Vehicle Electrication
260 representatives from 150 organizations participate on the SAE
Battery Standards Steering Committee
http://saegtl.org/ev/
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Intro
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Intro
January 2013
ON Semiconductor recently collaborated
with Teledyne Imaging Sensors to manufac-
ture an Extremely Large Stitched Read Out
Integrated Circuit (ELS ROIC) for astronomy.
The H4RG-15 image sensor, designed by
Teledyne, is the largest sensor ever produced
for infrared astronomy. To learn more, see
the new products section on page 16a.
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Intro
IIa www.techbriefs.com Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013
H
igh-power fiber lasers have been
increasingly used for material pro-
cessing, metal cutting, and welding appli-
cations due to high wall-plug efficiency,
compactness, and superb long term reli-
ability
[1, 2]
. Fused fiber components
enable reliable, efficient, high-power
fiber laser systems operating in continu-
ous wave (high power) or pulsed regimes
such as ultrafast (high peak power).
Common fused fiber components
include the fiber mode-field adapter
(MFA), fused fiber combiner (FFC), and
fiber end cap (FEC) in addition to
fusion splicing of dissimilar fibers
[3, 4]
.
These devices allow power scaling of
high-power fiber lasers. Key require-
ments for the components are low trans-
mission loss, good long-term reliability,
and high power handling capability.
Fabrication of these parts requires both
specific optical design and advanced
fiber fusion process solutions.
A bi-directionally pumped single
stage fiber laser is shown in Figure 1.
The laser cavity consists of active gain
fiber (e.g. Yb-doped double clad fiber),
a high-reflection fiber Bragg grating
(HR FBG) with reflectivity of typically
>99%, and an output coupler (OC)
FBG with reflectivity of typically around
5-10%. Low loss mode-field adapting
splicing between gain fiber and
HR/OC passive fiber is important for
efficient laser operation and good out-
put beam quality. The laser is pumped
by combined multi-mode (MM) laser
diodes (LD) from both directions to
enable high-power laser output.
Multiple LDs are combined with a
fused fiber combiner to deliver high-
energy power for pumping the laser
cavity in an all-fiber configuration.
A fiber end cap, which allows expan-
sion of the laser beam in the glass
before exiting to the free space, miti-
gates detrimental end-face damage at
high power by reducing the power den-
sity of the exit beam. Performance of
these components is critical for main-
taining efficient, reliable, long-term
operation of the laser system.
Fabrication Requirements
To enable high output power of the
fiber laser, efficient coupling of MM
pump beams into the fiber and low loss
transmission of the laser beam between
different fibers are both critical. This
imposes challenges for fabricating the
necessary fused fiber components.
The fused-component optical design
must be sound to ensure proper cou-
pling of MM beams and laser beams
between fibers. Brightness must be con-
served for MM beam propagation and
the fiber mode-field between dissimilar
fibers needs to be properly matched.
Fiber taper, geometric or diffusion taper,
must be adiabatic.
A fusion process with a high degree of
fusion temperature control, a high tem-
perature uniformity and an accurate
heating time control are necessary to
ensure high-quality fiber fusion without
introducing abnormality to the fibers. A
good process results in low transmission
loss and high splice strength. Macro and
micro bending loss and excitation of
high order beams must be minimized
for single mode fiber laser operation.
This poses stringent requirements for
the heat source used in the fusion
process, including:
(a) uniform heating around the fiber
due to its circular shape,
(b) wide temperature range to accom-
modate different fiber sizes,
(c) consistent heating to allow a pre-
cise fusion process repeatedly, and
d) clean fusion process to ensure
minimum temperature rise around
the processed fiber area as the MM
pump beam sees the surface of
the fiber cladding. Minute surface
contaminants could absorb laser
energy and generate heat on the
fiber surface.
Production Methods
Two main production methods have
been developed over the years fila-
ment fusion and arc fusion.
Graphite filament fusion is based on a
resistively heated refractory element
typically an inverted Omega shape for
uniform heating around the fiber
(Figure 2).
Arc-discharge fusion is an alternative
method commonly used for telecom
Trends In Fused Components
For Fiber Lasers
Figure 1. Schematic of a bi-directionally pumped fiber laser
Figure 2. Graphite filament for high-perform-
ance fusion process
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Intro
ELITE PERFORMANCE. ZERO COMPROMISE.
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Intro
2a www.techbriefs.com Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013
applications. This method generally uses
two electrodes to heat the fiber and has
limited temperature uniformity around
the fiber, especially for large-diameter
fibers. Recently, a three electrode con-
figuration has been used to alleviate this
issue. However, care must be taken to
maintain the same operating condition
of the three electrodes to ensure tem-
perature uniformity. In addition, elec-
trodes, typically made of Tungsten, tend
to contaminate the fiber during the
fusion process. This effect must be miti-
gated, especially for high-power fiber
laser applications.
Filament fusion offers a robust solution
for fiber laser applications. This tech-
nique has excellent temperature unifor-
mity, good fusion control and consisten-
cy. It can be more readily scaled to larger
diameter fibers and fiber bundles with
different loop diameters. Additionally, fil-
ament width can be tailored for different
fiber splicing and tapering applications.
More importantly, graphite does not oxi-
dize so the filament fusion process is
clean. Using this process, high-power
components can be easily, reliably, and
consistently fabricated.
Splicing Between Fibers
Fusion splicing of dissimilar fibers is
important for coupling a fiber laser beam
from one fiber to the other. Transmission
losses for both laser beam (typically single
mode) in the fiber core and multi-mode
pump beam in the fiber cladding must be
minimized for high power handling capa-
bility. Sufficient splice strength must be
maintained to ensure long-term reliabili-
ty of the laser system. Examples of splices
between two different 20m/400m pas-
sive fibers and between active and passive
20m/400m fibers are shown in Figures
3.1 and 3.2, respectively. Using filament
fusion, splice strength of >200 kpsi can be
readily achieved. Splice loss depends on
the fiber type; typical splice loss is <0.03
dB for single mode fiber splicing.
Mode Field Adapters
When splicing two different fibers
together, the mode-fields of the fibers
are generally not the same. In this case,
mode-field adapting is necessary to
reduce the transmission loss between
the fibers.
The thermally expanded core (TEC)
method, utilizing sustained heat to dif-
fuse the fiber core and expand the
mode-field of the fiber, is a common
technique. Figure 4 shows a mode-field
adapting example between two fibers
with mode-field diameters of 6.5 m
and 12.4 m, respectively. In this case,
the two fibers were spliced together
then fire-polished, a method where the
splice head is moved back and forth
across the splice joint to reduce losses
and to enhance the splice strength.
Figure 4 shows that by using the fire
polish process multiple times (a dot is
shown for each pass) the splice loss
between these fibers is re duced to
<0.03 dB.
End Caps
A fiber end cap expands the laser
beam inside the fiber. It is an important
device to reduce power density at the exit
surface between glass and air interface,
reducing the risk of exit surface damage.
To fabricate this device, a MM end-cap
fiber with its core significantly larger
than the core of the laser fiber is spliced
to the laser fiber. Cladding size of the
MM fiber can be the same or larger than
the laser fiber depending on the output
power. The end-cap fiber is then cleaved,
typically to the length of around 1mm.
To further suppress the reflection from
the end-cap exit surface, the end-cap
fiber can be either angle cleaved or coat-
ed with anti-reflection coating. Figure 5
shows an end cap with a 400m laser
fiber spliced to a 1mm end-cap fiber.
Fused Combiners
for Power Scaling
A fused fiber combiner is essential for
combining multiple laser beams for
power scaling. One method to fabricate
such a device is to taper a fused fiber
bundle, cleave the tapered fiber bundle
end and splice it to an output fiber.
Therefore, laser beams from multiple
fibers are coupled into one fiber.
When combining MM beams, such a
device requires brightness conservation,
low transmission, and good high power
handling capability. Figure 6.1 shows typ-
Figure 3.1. Image of spliced 20m/400m LMA
passive fibers
Figure 3.2. Splice between 20m/400m hexa-
gon active fiber and passive fiber
Figure 4. Optimized mode-field matching between dissimilar fibers (loss is 0.03 dB in this case)
Figure 5. Fiber end cap with 1-mm output fiber
Fiber Lasers
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Intro
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Intro
ical performance of a 7:1 MM combiner
fabricated using a Vytran GPX-3400 Glass
Processing System. This combiner com-
bines 7 MM beams with numerical aper-
ture (NA) of <0.15 from 105m/125m
fibers and outputs to a 125-m double
clad fiber. This device has average trans-
mission loss of <1%. Total combined out-
put power is 800W. The measured tem-
perature rise at 800W is 22 degrees at the
output coating interface.
Examples of a 19:1 MM combiner and
(6+1):1 combiner are also shown in
Figure 6.2. Large count combiners up to
over 61 input ports are possible using
large filament with a GPX-3400 system.
In addition, filament fusion makes it
possible to control the degree of fusion
via different fusion temperatures to pro-
duce lightly fused or fully fused devices,
which result in different beam coupling
characteristics.
Further power scaling requires that
multiple single mode fiber lasers be
combined coherently or incoherently.
Incoherent beam combining scales up
the output power but results in some
beam quality loss. Laser brightness is
generally degraded in this case.
Coherent beam combining (CBC)
not only scales up the output power but
also increases the brightness of the
laser. To achieve this, individual lasers
must meet an in-phase condition before
combining. Figure 7 shows an example
of CBC of two fiber lasers in all-fiber
and all-passive configuration using a
2x2 fused fiber coupler. In this case, the
combined output power from one exit
power is 101.5W
[5]
.
Conclusions
High-performance fused fiber compo-
nents are essential for high-power fiber
lasers. Filament fusion technology has
been broadly deployed for several years
due to its precise temperature control,
uniformity and the high reliability of the
resulting splices and components. Some
examples of devices that can be pro-
duced with this technology include
splices, mode-field adapters, end caps
and combiners. These components can
be produced in high volumes with relia-
bility and consistency, enabling mass pro-
duction of demanding high-power CW
fiber lasers as well as high-peak-power
ultrafast lasers.
This article was written by Jean-Michel
Pelaprat, CEO, and Dr. Baishi Wang,
Director, Vytran, LLC (Morganville, NJ). For
more information, contact Mr. Pelaprat at
jmp@vytran.com, or visit http://info.hotims.
com/45599-200.
References
1. V. P. Gapontsev, Penetration of fiber lasers
into industrial market, Proc. SPIE 6873,
Fiber Lasers V: Technology, Systems, and
Applications, edited by J. Broeng, et. al.,
(2008)
2. D. Kliner et. al. 4-kW fiber laser for metal
cutting and welding, Proc. of SPIE 7914,
Fiber Lasers VIII: Technology, Systems,
and Applications, edited by Jay W. Dawson
(2011)
3. A. D. Yablon, Optical Fiber Fusion
Splicing, Springer, (2005)
4. B. S. Wang and E. Mies, Review of
Fabrication Techniques for Fused Fiber
Components for Fiber Lasers, Proc. SPIE
7195, Fiber Lasers VI: Technology,
Systems, and Applications, edited by D. V.
Gapontsev et. al., (2009)
5. B. S. Wang and Anthony Sanchez, All-
fiber passive coherent combining of high
power lasers, Opt. Eng., 50(11), 111606
(2011)
Figure 6.1. 800W combiner power from a 125-m output fiber via a 7:1 fused fiber combiner.
Figure 6.2. Examples of different combiners fabricated using GPX-3400 (a) 19:1 MM combiner (b)
(6+1):1 combiner.
Figure 7. Power scaling via coherent beam combining.
Fiber Lasers
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com
START BUILDING NOW!
Contact our Tech Support
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Applications
Photonics Design Automation
Taking a Building Block Approach to
Optical Chip Design
F
uelled by an increasing demand for
bandwidth combined with a contin-
ued drive towards cost and size reduc-
tion, larger scale photonics integrated
circuits are now clearly breaking
through. For example, fiber optics net-
works are rapidly embracing 40Gbps
and 100Gbps data rates, where the
transmitters and receivers often
include photonic integrated circuits.
And the cost and size reduction in
10Gbps transceivers has driven several
companies to successfully leverage
photonic chips. The growing FTTH
Figure 1. Photonics Design Automation in Action. Chip photo is courtesy of TU/e COBRA and shows a
high-speed PIC for use in FTTH applications.
Figure 2. The integrated Product Creation Process (iPCP) forms the basis for Photonics Design
Automation.
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Intro
6a Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-756
Applications Applications
Amplifier
Figure 3a. Advanced Tunable Laser Design.
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 7a
P: 303.273.9700 E: info@pixelleq.con
www.pixelleq.con
Conpacl ullispeclral Canera
3 Cuslon nlerchangeable Fillers
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Photonics West
Booth 1831
MULTISPECTRAL
IMAGING & SENSING
(fiber to the home) market is driving demand for integrated
photonic splitters as well as monolithically integrated BiDi
transceivers. And there are exciting applications in fiber
sensing and bioscience that are now benefiting from optical
chips as well.
At the same time, many photonics players have recognized
that it is unaffordable to run their own fab and thus rely on
foundries to manufacture these photonic integrated circuits.
However the maturing field of integrated photonics needs
better tools to streamline the design, packaging and fabrica-
tion of photonic chips. One approach is to borrow these tools
from the integrated electronics industry that has successfully
used foundries for a long time. By using design automation
tools, photonic chip designs can become first-time-right. This,
in turn, can lead to large cost savings through increased yields,
by reducing the number of wafer iterations and by participat-
ing in Multi Project Wafer (MPW) runs.
In the electronics industry, the use of Electronics Design
Automation (EDA) is widespread. A foundry offers an
extensive set of building blocks (BBs), which a designer can
use to create a complex device. These building blocks and
their combination are guaranteed to work as expected if the
given design rules are respected. Software supports each step
in the design process, from physical analysis to layout and
design rule checks before the final design is sent to the
foundry. Advanced simulation tools can be directly linked to
this EDA environment and greatly assist the designer in his
work.
Within the context of several European programs, such as
Paradigm, Helios and Memphis, a large number of European
companies and institutions have worked together to set up a
Photonics Design Automation (PDA) tool-set with this capabil-
ity. Just like in EDA, photonic foundries define a number of
building blocks in software tools ranging from physical and cir-
cuit simulators to mask layout.
Since the building blocks of one foundry are often very sim-
ilar to those of other foundries, many designs can be easily
ported from one foundry to another. Such a transfer can be
done with hardly any changes to the chip performance, but
with significant changes to the mask layout in order to accom-
modate different processes at the other foundry.
Figure 3b. Photonic Design Automation creates a framework where com-
plex designs are seamlessly translated into functioning chips. The pictures
show an advanced tunable laser design (3a) fabricated in a Multi Project
Wafer run (3b) (courtesy of Effect Photonics).
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Intro
Integrated Product
Creation Process
Underpinning the generic manufac-
turing concept is the fact that product
design, process design, and high-yield
manufacturing are intimately linked
and cannot be separated. For this rea-
son, the key information flow between
the different stages of product and
process development needs to be made
available to all stakeholders through
the use of software. When system engi-
neers, design engineers, and process
engineers work seamlessly together to
design both the product as well as the
required fabrication processes, this is
known as the integrated Product
Creation Process (iPCP) as shown in
Figure 2.
This iPCP has been implemented in sev-
eral European projects by developing
foundry specific design kits. These kits allow
users to benefit from mature technologies,
while avoiding recurring costs by streamlin-
ing the discussions between the designers
and the engineers at the foundry.
Using Photonic Design
Automation Tools
A designer of a Photonic Integrated
Circuit (PIC) starts by modeling any
components that are not part of a
foundry's standard building blocks
through the use of a propagation simu-
lator. Once those building blocks are
defined, the designer can combine
them together with the foundry's stan-
dard building blocks and analyze the
performance of a complete chip using a
circuit simulator. It is through the use of
design kits that the foundry's standard
building blocks become available to the
PIC designer. In the circuit simulator,
the wavelength dependent scattering
matrix of each building block is used to
efficiently calculate the overall behavior
of the chip. The designer can thus
quickly optimize a photonic integrated
circuit for best performance, highest
yield, lowest cost, and robustness against
manufacturing tolerances.
One particular advantage of working
with Photonics Design Automation is
that a foundry can make available
unique building blocks that are covered
by patents or trade secrets. The unique
building block is shown as a bounding
box that hides what is inside the box,
but does detail the location of input
and output waveguides as well as the
functionality of the building block
through a wavelength dependent scat-
tering matrix.
Once a satisfactory design has been
created with a specific foundry and pack-
age in mind, it can be transferred via the
PDA framework
[1]
to MaskEngineer or
other mask layout software. The mask
layout can then be further optimized,
after which the PIC design is translated
into mask files. During this process,
automatic post processing takes place
that obeys design rules set by the
foundry. For example, a waveguide may
have to be wider on the mask than in the
original design in order to compensate
for a known amount of underetch. Or
the definition of a waveguide may
involve a local mask inversion if the
waveguide is created using lift-off rather
than through etching. In addition, the
PDA framework will perform foundry
specific design rule checks (DRC) at the
logical and mask levels. The design can,
8a Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013
TE-cooled Extended Response to 2.6 microns available
See us at
Photonics West
Booth #
Applications
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 9a
The missing piece in
the prototype process.
520.733.9557
440 S. Williams Blvd., Suite 106
Tucson, Arizona 85711
www.photonengr.com
With FRED, your rst prototype is your last.
Have you ever wondered why your initial prototypes dont perform exactly as
designed? If so, then youre missing an essential piece of the prototyping process
the FRED Optical Engineering Software from Photon Engineering.
FRED seamlessly integrates with optical and mechanical CAD programs
to help you design, analyze, and produce prototypes that are true to
your vision. With FRED, you can create the highest delity real-world
models possible and its optimization capability maximizes system
performance by automatically searching the solution space to
achieve your design goals saving you both time and money.
No matter howlarge or small your rmis, whether
your focus is optical or mechanical design, FREDis
the solution in the prototyping process.
for example, be checked for the mini-
mum allowable bending radius. Or a
check is performed to ensure that metal-
ization and waveguide layers are neither
overlapping nor closer than a minimum
distance.
The designer will subsequently send
the mask files to the foundry, which per-
forms final processing. If a protected
building block is used, the foundry will
replace the bounding box with the actu-
al design layout. The foundry may also
Figure 4. Photonic Design Automation brings a first-time-right environment to photonic integrated circuits. The figure shows an FM-DD receiver designed
by VLC Photonics comparing tested performance vs. simulation for the first run on a MPW wafer.
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Intro
www.world-of-photonics.net MUNICH, GERMANY
MAY 1316, 2013
LIGHT APPLI ED
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It revolves around both research and applications and
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Practical orientation? Experience it in our sector-specic
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21st International Trade Fair and Congress
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Applications
add process control modules. And when the PIC design is part
of a Multi Project Wafer (MPW) run, the foundry will collect
the mask files from all participating users and place them in
individual reticles. When the mask set is ready, the wafers can
then be processed by the foundry.
Multi Project Wafer Runs
While Photonic Design Automation delivers indispensable
tools to streamline chip runs for foundries and creates a first-
time-right environment for PIC designers, PDA brings an addi-
tional reduction of development costs by enabling Multi
Project Wafer (MPW) runs. In a Multi Project Wafer run, the
costs for chip fabrication, masks and set-up time are shared
between multiple users. This significantly reduces the barrier
to photonic integration and allows photonic chips to be intro-
duced for smaller volume applications than hitherto possi-
ble
[2]
.
[2]
as described in this article
has been successfully applied to (MPW) runs in InP
[3]
,
TriPleX
[4]
, as well as silicon photonics technologies
[5]
.
Moreover, the effective use of PDA in well over 100 designs
using six different foundries and two packaging providers in
less than a year demonstrates that photonics can indeed
greatly benefit from leveraging these automation tools. Note
that PDA is not only indispensable for photonic foundries,
the same approach can be just as beneficial for an in-house
wafer fab. The PDA framework also allows third parties to
develop versatile libraries of building blocks or to introduce
convenient plug-ins, such as the two Arrayed Waveguide
Grating plug-ins that were actively used in the above men-
tioned MPW runs.
Bright Outlook
The biggest immediate benefit from deploying reusable
building blocks in stable and mature processes, independent
of whether its in a commercial foundry or an in-house fab,
is that it improves yield and significantly brings down the
costs of the chips as well as the associated development. This
in itself is huge, because there are many applications, such as
FTTH or data warehousing, where many millions of photon-
ic chips can be deployed, but where the cost of optics has
often still proven to be a barrier. But beyond bringing down
the costs for high-volume applications, Photonics Design
Automation also allows photonic chips to be introduced to a
wider audience. There any many applications such as in bio-
science, defense and fiber sensing, where volumes are small-
er but that could benefit enormously from using integrated
photonic chips. And PDA may just be the tool that now
brings within reach those lower volume, but equally impor-
tant, applications.
This article was written by Twan Korthorst, MSc.EE, CEO, and
Remco Stoffer, PhD, Product Specialist, PhoeniX Software (Enschede,
Netherlands). For more information, contact Mr. Korthorst or Mr.
Stoffer at info@phoenixbv.com, or visit http://info.hotims.com/45599-
201.
References
[1] Photonic Design Kits: http://www.phoenixbv.com/designkits
[2] M.K. Smit et al: Generic foundry model for InP-based photonics,
IET Optoelectronics, Vol 5(2011), No. 5, p. 187-194
[3] InP MPW brokering organisation: JePPIX -http://www.jeppix.eu
[4] TriPleX foundry: LioniX -http://www.lionixbv.com
[5] SOI MPW brokering organisation: ePIXfab http://www.epixfab.eu
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com 11a
Future NASA destinations will be chal-
lenging to get to, have extreme environ-
mental conditions, and may present diffi-
culty in retrieving a spacecraft or its data.
Space Photonics is developing a radiation-
tolerant (rad-tolerant), high-speed, multi-
channel fiber-optic transceiver, associated
reconfigurable intelligent node commu-
nications architecture, and supporting
hardware for intravehicular and ground-
based optical networking applications.
Data rates approaching 3.2 Gbps per
channel will be achieved.
The high-speed 3.2-Gbps compo-
nents, coupled with their Intelligent
Node architecture, or universally with
other architectures, will allow for orders
of magnitude increases in the levels of
automated onboard science data pro-
cessing. Pure hardware processing capa-
bilities have been achieved with the flex-
ibility of reprogrammability utilizing
FPGA control chips in the Intelligent
Node architecture. Rad-tolerant versions
of the current FPGA being evaluated are
available through Xylinx. Due to the
high-speed designs and partnerships
with custom laser diode and photodiode
manufacturers, total power require-
ments of the complete four-channel, 2.0-
Gbps FireRing products are less than 1.5
Watts. Similar results are anticipated
from the proposed 3.2-Gbps develop-
ment effort. Additional packaging inno-
vations as alternatives to costly hermetic
sealing, passive integration, and heat dis-
sipation will also compliment this aspect
of the proposed effort.
The ultimate goal of this project will
be the successful design, fabrication,
and demonstration of a rad-hard, single-
channel, 3.2-Gbps serial fiber-optic
transceiver that is universally compatible
with virtually all protocols and architec-
tures that interest NASA and the DoD.
Key functional attributes and/or
improvements beyond the current state
of the art in harsh-environment fiber-
optic networking components are
improved thermal stability, reduced
power dissipation, reduced size and
mass, special-purpose data processing,
reconfigurable computing, protocol-
transparent/multiprotocol-compatible,
subsystem data transfer, intra-system
data transfer, data system support, and
proven materials, fabrication, and pack-
aging processes.
This work was done by Matt Leftwich,
Tony Hull, Michael Leary, and Marcus
Leftwich of Space Photonics, Inc. for
Goddard Space Flight Center. For more
information, download the Technical
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Physical
Sciences category. GSC-16414-1
Rad-Tolerant, Thermally Stable, High-Speed Fiber-Optic
Network for Harsh Environments
Small size, wide spectral bandwidth,
and highly multiplexed detector read-
out are required to develop powerful
multi-beam spectrometers for high-red-
shift observations. Currently available
spectrometers at these frequencies are
large and bulky. The grating sizes for
these spectrometers are prohibitive.
This fundamental size issue is a key limi-
tation for space-based spectrometers for
astrophysics applications.
A novel, moderate-resolving-power
(R-700), ultra-compact spectrograph-
on-a-chip for millimeter and submil-
limeter wavelengths is the solution. Its
very small size, wide spectral band-
width, and highly multiplexed detector
readout will enable construction of
powerful multi-beam spectrometers for
high-redshift observations. The octave-
bandwidth, background-limited per-
formance of this spectrometer is com-
parable to that of a diffraction grating,
but in a photolithographically devel-
oped thin-film package. This novel
photolithographic on-chip spectrome-
ter camera is compact, delivering 200
to 500 km/s spectral resolution over an
octave bandwidth for hundreds of pix-
els in the telescopes field of view.
The spectrometer employs a filter
bank consisting of planar, litho-
graphed, superconducting transmis-
sion line resonators. Each millimeter-
wave resonator is weakly coupled to
both the feedline and to the inductive
portion of a lumped-element micro -
wave kinetic inductance detector
(MKID). Incoming millimeter-wave
radiation breaks Cooper pairs in the
MKID, modifying its kinetic inductance
and resonant frequency, allowing for
frequency-multiplexed readout. This is
realized using thin-film lithographic
structures on a silicon wafer, with tita-
nium nitride MKID resonators.
The ultra-compact superconducting
spectrometer approach offers the poten-
tial for hundreds of individual spectrom-
eters integrated into a 2D focal plane for
future ground- and space-based astro-
physics instruments.
Thi s wor k was done by Gout am
Chattopadhyay, Jonas Zmuidzinas, Charles M.
Bradford, Henry G. Leduc, Peter K. Day, Loren
Swenson, Steven Hailey-Dunsheath, Roger C.
OBrient, Stephen Padin, Erik D. Shirokoff,
and Christopher McKenney of Caltech;
Theodore Reck of ORAU; Jose V. Siles of
Fulbright/JPL; Peter Barry, Simon Doyle, and
Philip Mauskopf of Cardiff University; Nuria
Llombart of Universidad Complutense de
Madrid; Attila Kovacs of the University of
Minnesota; and Dan P. Marrone of the
University of Arizona for NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. For more information, download
Physical Sciences category. NPO-48592
Ultra-Compact, Superconducting Spectrometer-on-a-Chip
at Submillimeter Wavelengths
These spectrometer modules can be used for future astrophysics missions that require
compact cryogenic spectrometers.
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Intro
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The innovation allows critical, high-bandwidth submarine
communications at speed and depth. This reported innovation
is a subsurface optical communications buoy, with active neu-
tral buoyancy and streamlined flow surface veins for depth
control. This novel subsurface positioning for the towed com-
munications buoy enables substantial reduction in water-
absorption and increased optical transmission by eliminating
the intervening water absorption and dispersion, as well as by
reducing or eliminating the beam spread and the pulse spread-
ing that is associated with submarine-launched optical beams.
This work was done by Robert C. Stirbl and William H. Farr of
Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information,
contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov. NPO-47737
Towed Subsurface Optical
Communications Buoy
UV Resonant Raman
Spectrometer With Multi-Line
Laser Excitation
A Raman spectrometer employs two or more UV (ultravio-
let) laser wavelengths to generate UV resonant Raman
(UVRR) spectra in organic samples. Resonant Raman scat-
tering results when the laser excitation is near an electronic
transition of a molecule, and the enhancement of Raman
signals can be several orders of magnitude. In addition, the
Raman cross-section is inversely proportional to the fourth
power of the wavelength, so the UV Raman emission is
increased by another factor of 16, or greater, over visible
Raman emissions. The Raman-scattered light is collected
using a high-resolution broadband spectrograph. Further
suppression of the Rayleigh-scattered laser light is provided
by custom UV notch filters.
The complete Raman instrument is compact and robust,
and suitable for in-situ chemical analysis. By employing mul-
tiple UV lasers at a suitable wavelength spacing, a matrix of
resonant Raman bands can be generated for organic com-
pounds in the UV that are distinct and easily resolvable from
the fluorescence emission in the visible-wavelength region.
The multiple excitation laser wavelengths produce a repeat-
ed series of Raman bands, each with the same frequency
shifts from the corresponding excitation laser. UV laser exci-
tation, in addition, allows a resonant enhancement of the
Raman scattering in organic compounds such as aromatic
hydrocarbons, nucleic acids, and proteins. The multiple
excitation wavelengths can be generated from a single UV
laser by using stimulated Raman scattering in a hydrogen gas
cell. This coherent, multi-wavelength light source has the
ideal frequency spacing to maximize spectral coverage and
to avoid overlap of adjacent Raman spectra.
This work was done by James L. Lambert, James M. Kohel, James
P. Kirby, John Michael Morookian, and Michael J. Pelletier of
Caltech for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more informa-
tion, contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov. NPO-47423
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com 13a
IR Filters for Thermal
Imaging
Spectrogon manufactures in -
fra red filters and windows with
high transmission, high rejection
outside the passband, while
maintaining excellent coating uniformity for thermal imag-
ing applications such as cryogenically cooled IR detectors and
for uncooled microbolometers. Our filters and windows
range in dimension from 6.0 to 200.0 mm with dicing
capabilities down to as small as 1.0 x1.0 mm. Custom designs
are always welcome. (973) 331-1191
www.spectrogon.com
Photonics West Booth #2329
Free-running NIR Photon
Counter NEW: MMF
optical input!
NOW AVAILABLE with a
Multimode fiber input! The id220
based on InGaAs/InP APD from ID Quantique (IDQ) is a
major breakthrough for single photon detection in free-run-
ning mode at telecom wavelengths in which asynchronous
photon detection is essential. The device has been specially
designed for achieving low dark count rate. The module can
operate at three detection probabilities and with an
adjustable deadtime.
www.idquantique.com
BiOS Booth #8817/Photonics West Booth #817
Announcing TracePro 7.3
Optical Software
The TracePro 7.3 release from
Lambda Research Corporation en -
hances its opto-mechanical analysis
and design capabilities by adding a
fully automated, interactive solar
analysis utility. This utility uses user-defined input for geo-
graphical location, period of sun travel, and solar power emis-
sion to simulate cloudy to clear day calculations. Utility out-
put includes irradiance, candela and flux reports on targets.
http://lambdares.com/software_products/tracepro/utilities/
Easily Control Hand-Held,
Portable Laser Systems
The FL591FL from Wavelength Electronics
allows you to easily prototype your laser sys-
tem using our popular FL500 laser diode driv-
er. The FL591FL can drive a single 500 mA output, or two 250
mA independent outputs in Constant Current or Constant
Power modes. It features low noise electronics, low quiescent
current, and feedback/monitor signals to accurately charac-
terize your laser. The small size and light weight of the FL500
make it ideal for airborne applications, and the dual-channel
output is perfect for sighting and detection. (406) 587-4910
www.teamwavelength.com/ptb4
Diffraction Gratings
Optometrics operates several master dif-
fraction grating production labs, produc-
ing both classically ruled and holographic
replication masters to optimize their OEM
customers instrument performance.
Optometrics also supports those cus-
tomers in need of regenerating less efficient grating replication
masters, resulting in improved quality and manufacturing efficien-
cies. Optometrics also provides pre-aligned sub-assemblies, optical
replication, optical filters, patterned optical coatings, polka-dot
beamsplitters, wire grid polarizers and mirrors.
www.optometrics.com/
Piezo Focus Positioner
Series MIPOS
The piezo focus nanopositioning
actuators of the MIPOS series from
Piezosystem Jena were developed for
fine adjustment of microscope objec-
tive lenses. The piezo focus devices
are compatible with Zeiss, Olympus,
Nikon or Leica. The high position resolution makes the series
MIPOS well suited for "single photon" or "super resolution
microscopy".
www.piezojena.com
Photonics West PREVIEW
Labsphere-Your Global Partner for Light
Measurement
Labsphere, Inc. is part of the Halma p.l.c.
group of companies and is headquartered in
North Sutton NH, with a satellite facility in
Shanghai China and a global network of distri-
bution partners. Labsphere specializes in the
design and manufacture of high end light
measurement solutions for the LED/SSL light-
ing industry, uniform sources for remote sensing and imager cal-
ibration, optical coatings and materials, and instrumentation
and reflectance standards for spectroscopy applications.
www.labsphere.com
Photonics West Booth # 1931
Rev2 Automated Micro-Polisher
Krells next generation of Rev
Polishers feature automated z-axis
movement. This micro-feed func-
tion gradually advances compo-
nents to the polishing surface at a
controlled rate. Connector air-pol-
ishing for fiber denub and epoxy
removal, traditionally performed
manually, is now integrated in Rev.
Additionally, bare fibers can be pol-
ished without damage or breakage.
www.krelltech.com
Photonics West Booth # 4100
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Intro
CODE V delivers optical
design innovations that
enable reduced
manufacturing costs
CODE V
optical design software, version 10.5 from

Synopsys, offers new and improved optimization and toler-
ancing capabilities for the design of high-performance optical
systems with reduced sensitivity to manufacturing and align-
ment errors. This helps designers create systems in CODE V
that not only perform as specified, but are also less expensive
to manufacture and can be assembled faster.
www.opticalres.com
High Precision Optical
Coatings
ZC&R Coatings for Optics, an
Abrisa Technologies company, pro-
vides high-efficiency coatings that
are applied via electron beam guns
or ion-assisted deposition to influence and control reflection,
absorbance, resistance, glare, and electrical activity. AR, ITO
and IMITO, hot & cold mirrors, UV & IR blockers, LWP &
SWP filters, dichroic color correctors, and more.
http://abrisatechnologies.com/products-services/
coating-solutions/
Meet the Game
Changer
Introducing the Ocean Optics
Apex 785 Raman Spectrometer --
the first spectrometer in our new
Elite Series. Designed for bench-
top performance in a modular footprint, Apex delivers excep-
tional resolution and sensitivity. Eliminate the trade-offs
between sensitivity and resolution and get more information
from your data with Apex from Ocean Optics.
www.elitespectrometers.com
Photonics West PREVIEW
Discover the Latest
Advances in LEDs and
Solid-State Lighting
From the publishers of NASA Tech
Briefs, Lighting Technology digital
magazine features design tutorials,
tech reports, application notes and
product news on energy-efficient
LEDs.
www.lightingtechbriefs.com.
A new fluorescence cell has been developed for the laser
induced fluorescence (LIF) detection of formaldehyde. The
cell is used to sample a flow of air that contains trace concen-
trations of formaldehyde. The cell provides a hermetically
sealed volume in which a flow of air containing formaldehyde
can be illuminated by a laser. The cell includes the optics for
transmitting the laser beam that is used to excite the formalde-
hyde and for collecting the resulting fluorescence. The novel-
ty of the cell is its small size and simple design that provides a
more robust and cheaper alternative to the state of the art.
Despite its simplicity, the cell provides the same sensitivity to
detection as larger, more complicated cells.
Laser induced fluorescence detection uses a laser to excite
the atomic or molecular species of interest to a higher energy
state. As the excited species relaxes, it fluoresces, i.e., it releas-
es a photon. A photon-counting photomultiplier tube (PMT)
is used to detect the emitted photon. The design parameters
that determine the sensitivity of LIF detection are the excita-
tion rate, the fluorescence collection efficiency, and the back-
ground from stray laser light. The design used for LIF detec-
tion is based on a multi-pass cell design, such as a White or
Herriott cell. In these implementations, two or three mirrors
are used to obtain multiple reflections of the laser (30+ passes)
within the cell, resulting in increased laser fluence in the detec-
tion region and thus, higher detection sensitivity.
A smaller, simpler, and more robust LIF detection cell was
designed for a new instrument prototype. The primary consid-
eration in the detection cell is the sensitivity it provides to
detecting a species with LIF. The new design forgoes the mul-
tipass approach that increases laser fluence. Instead, the focus
is on the increased fluorescence collection efficiency and
decreased stray light factors. The new fluorescence detection
cell uses a single laser pass that is carefully baffled to reduce
stray light. The key features in the reduction of stray light are
the placement of precision, laser-machined apertures; the use
of high-grade black absorptive paint; and wedged or angled
anti-reflection-coated laser windows.
The small detection volume illuminated by the single laser pass
allows higher numerical aperture optics to collect the fluores-
cence. An aspheric lens with NA = 0.66 is used to image the fluo-
rescence on a large-area PMT. The use of the high NA aspheric
lens and the placement of the PMT close to the illuminated vol-
ume are the key features for the high collection efficiency.
The overall performance of the cell is comparable to the per-
formance of a White-type multipass cell that has 32 passes. The
size of the new cell is half the size of a White cell with compara-
ble sensitivity. All components are either off-the-shelf or standard
products. No custom optics were used in this design. Most impor-
tantly, the cell is extremely simple to adjust or align, and once
aligned, it is insensitive to thermal and mechanical distortions.
This work was done by Thomas Hanisco and Maria Cazorla of
Goddard Space Flight Center, and Andrew Swanson of the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County. For more information, download the
Technical Support Package (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/
tsp under the Physical Sciences category. GSC-16433-1
High-Collection-Efficiency
Fluorescence Detection Cell
A relatively compact and economical unit is
used for the detection of formaldehyde.
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Intro
Cool
Cooler
Leading the way in
Ultra-Sensivity and
Long Exposures.
Introducing PentaVac, the next generation in vacuum
technology from Raptor Photonics, enabling our cameras
to be cooled to an extreme low of -111C. The ultimate
solution for ultra-sensivity and long exposures.
www.raptorphotonics.com/pentavac
See us at Photonics West
Booth #4128
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Intro
Silicon Solar Cells
Imec (Leuven, Belgium) has developed a
20.04% large-area industrial-level silicon
solar cell. Imecs PERC-cell is compatible
with the requirements of industrial pho-
tovoltaic production. It is a large-area
(125mm x 125mm) Cz p-type silicon cell
with a simple homogeneous emitter and Ag-sin-
gle screen-printed front side contacts (65m finger width), two bus-
bars, and an adapted Al back-side metallization. The transfer of this
process to 156mm x 156mm wafers is ongoing.
Infrared Image Sensor
ON Semiconductor (Phoenix,
AZ) has collaborated with Teledyne
Imaging Sensors (Camarillo, CA) to
manufacture an Extremely Large
Stitched Read Out Integrated Cir-
cuit (ELS ROIC) for astronomy.
The H4RG-15 image sensor, de-
signed by Teledyne, is the latest generation of a 20-year effort spon-
sored by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, and Teledyne internal funding to develop
increasingly larger and more powerful infrared sensors for astronom-
ical research.
The 16 megapixel H4RG-15, which consists
of Teledynes HgCdTe detector material hy-
bridized to a CMOS readout circuit, is the
largest sensor ever produced for infrared as-
tronomy. An enabling technology in the de-
velopment of the H4RG-15 is the ability to fab-
ricate and reliably yield the 63mm x 63mm
stitched CMOS ROIC using ON Semiconduc-
tors proprietary 180 nanometer process tech-
nology. The ROIC is so large that only four
die fit onto a 200mm wafer.
For Free Info Visit
USB 3.0 CMOSIS-Sensor-
Based Cameras
Lumenera Corporation (0ttawa. Ontario,
Canada) has introduced a new line of cameras
that pair CMOSIS sensors with
a USB 3.0 interface.
This new product line
features six distinct
color, monochrome
and NIR enhanced
cameras based on the CMO-
SIS CMV4000 (Lt425) and CMV2000 (Lt225)
megapixel sensors. Product highlights include a
robust, sleek enclosure, compact design for inte-
gration, as well as industrial and scientific mod-
els. Built-in FPGA-based image processing en-
sures the highest image quality without having to
compromise on performance.
For Free Info Visit
MTF Testing Multi-Waveband
Image Science has been providing customised systems
for MTF measurement since 1991 for both production
and R&D applications. Other optical parameters meas-
ured include Distortion, EFL, Field Curvature, Encircled
Energy, Transmission and
Strehl Ratio. Please visit:
www.image-science.co.uk
for more information.
New Products
Product of the Month
Chip-Based Video Camera
Lattice Semiconductor Corpora-
tion (Bridgewater, NJ) recently
demonstrated a LatticeECP3-based
video camera supporting NITs
NSC1005 Wide Dynamic Range
(WDR) 720p image sensor. The
NSC1005 high dynamic range image
sensor from NIT (Verrieres le Buis-
son, France) is available mounted on
a headboard, called the Widy Board,
complete with lens and is intended for use with the Lattice HDR-60
Video Camera Development Kit. The sensor is fully supported with a
60 frames per second color Image Signal Processing (ISP) pipeline
implemented on a LatticeECP3(TM) FPGA. The hardware is de-
signed to support full 720p resolution of the NIT NSC1005 sensor at
60fps in streaming mode through the FPGA, without the need for an
external frame buffer. Other features include high-quality DeBayer
operating in the log domain, Auto White Balance, Gamma Correction
and Overlay for both character and graphics. Lattice HDMI PHY IP
enables output to HDMI/DVI monitors.
New Products
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Intro
Photonics Tech Briefs, January 2013 www.techbriefs.com Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-761
Epoxy Based UV Curable System
With outstanding light transmission properties and optical clar-
ity, Master Bond (Hackensack, NJ) UV15 is widely used for a vari-
ety of bonding, coating and sealing applications in the optical,
electronic and optoelectronic industries. This epoxy based UV
curable system is 100% reactive and does not contain any solvents
or other volatiles.
Master Bond UV15 will cure quickly and easily when exposed to
a UV light source with a wavelength range between 320-365 nm. It typically cures in thicknesses
of a few microns to 0.015-0.020 inches in 15-30 seconds or less. UV15 cures by a cationic reaction
and produces bonds that have lower shrinkage (1-2%) and higher temperature resistance than
most UV systems. Its glass transition temperature (Tg) is 90-95C with a straight UV cure. When
post cured for 30 minutes at 125C, the Tg is 125-130C. The service temperature range for this
system is -80F to +350F.
Surface Mount Photodiode with Daylight Filter
Opto Diode (Newbury Park, CA), a division of ITW, has intro-
duced the ODD-900-001, a surface-mount photodiode with a daylight
filter. The new photodiode offers low capacitance and short switching
time in a surface-mount package, making it ideally suited for indus-
trial photoelectric control applications.
It features high sensitivity ranging from 730nm to 1100nm spectral range, with peak sensitivity at
940nm. The electro-optical characteristics at 25 C offer typical responsivity of 0.44 A/W, typical re-
verse dark current at 5 nA, total capacitance at 25 pF, and typical rise/fall times of 50/50 nSecs.
Opto Diodes new ODD-900-001with daylight filter operates from -25 C to +85 C; the storage
temperature range is between -40 C and +85 C. Power dissipation is 150mW at (or below)
25 C (free air temperature). Reliable and rugged, the new device also features a soldering tem-
perature of 260 C (soldering time is 5 seconds, maximum).
Galvo and Controller Combination
Aerotechs (Pittsburgh, PA) Nmark AGV-HP advanced gal-
vanometers use innovative optical feedback technology to increase
resolution to greater than 24 bits. Both the standard AGV and
higher performance AGV-HP series scanners may be directly
driven by Aerotechs Nmark CLS galvo controller, which offers a full
suite of advanced application tools that include Position Synchronized
Output (PSO) and Infinite Field of View (IFOV). The AGV is available with 10, 14,
and 20mm apertures with standard F-Theta lens interfaces to provide maximum ap-
plication flexibility. The AGV can be configured to accommodate 1064, 532, and 355nm wave-
lengths, with other wavelengths available upon request.
Both the AGV and AGV-HP have thermally stable feedback transducers with virtually no gain
or offset drift. The Nmark CLS uses advanced interpolation electronics to provide greater than
24-bits of effective resolution. Onboard real-time 2D calibration ensures accurate beam place-
ment over the entire field of view.
Tunable Lenses
Edmund Optics (EO) (Barrington, NJ) has introduced new C-
Mount Focus-Tunable Lenses. When a control current is applied to the
lens, its focal range is adjusted from +80 to +200mm. This variable tun-
ing range - the ability to adjust focal length - allows the user to replace
multi-lens focus or zoom systems, saving space, time and cost. In order
to shift the focal range, any 12mm diameter plano-convex (PCX) or
plano-concave (PCV) lens with an edge thickness of less than 4.7mm
may be used as an offset lens. For imaging applications in the visible (VIS) spectrum, a C-Mount
Focus-Tunable Lens with a pre-mounted -150mm BK7 PCV lens is available. Near infrared (NIR)
coating is also available. For planning and specification purposes, prescription data is also avail-
able for the user to model the effect an offset lens will have on the overall focal range.
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Intro
BEGINS
HERE
GROWTH
Sapphire windows up
to 15in diameter
Optical wave fronts of 1/10
wave peak to valley and better
No bubbles or thickness
restrictions
Industrys best homogeneity
of refractive index
Sapphire quality begins with
GT Advanced Technologies
GT Crystal Systems, a subsidiary of GT Advanced
Technologies, is recognized worldwide as
a leading producer of high quality sapphire
material. GTs HEM sapphire is known for its high
purity levels (>99.996%), crystalline perfection
and large diameter crystals. Learn why the
worlds most demanding optical applications
begin with GT HEM sapphire. Contact us at
sapphiresales@gtat.com or call +1.978.745.0088.
POLYSILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC SAPPHIRE gtat.com
See us at
Photonics West
Booth #4621
New Products
2.8 MP GigE Vision Camera
Point Grey (Richmond, BC,
Canada) recently announced the
addition of new 2.8 megapixel
models to its Flea
3 line of GigE Vi-

sion digital cameras. Building on
Point Greys experience with Sony
CCD technology, the Flea3 FL3-GE-
28S4 monochrome and color models use
the all-new, highly sensitive Sony ICX687 EXview HAD CCD II image
sensor to deliver high resolution, high quality images in a compact and
low-cost package. The Sony ICX687 builds on the success of the popu-
lar ICX274 2MP CCD by offering more pixels and better sensitivity in
the same 1/1.8" optical format.
The FL3-GE-28S4 camera runs at 15 FPS at full 1928 1448 resolu-
tion, and even faster using smaller regions of interest. The Flea3 meas-
ures just 29 29 30 mm and weighs only 38 grams without optics. Like
all Flea3 GigE cameras, the new models offer a host of features unique
in their class, including an 8-pin opto-isolated GPIO for industrial trig-
gering and strobe output; 1MB non-volatile flash memory for user data
storage; and on-camera frame buffer for retransmitting images.
Cool Bypass Switches
STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland) has introduced its latest-
generation high-efficiency cool bypass switches for photovoltaic mod-
ules, enabling an even higher percentage of harvested energy to reach
end-users and further reducing the cost per Watt of renewable energy.
The new devices can save up to 1%
of the energy produced and nor-
mally lost through conventional
bypass diodes; in a 1MWp solar
array farm this loss could provide
the total annual electricity con-
sumption of two average Euro-
pean households.
The SPV1512 and SPV1520 cool bypass switches are rated for opera-
tion up to 12V and 20V respectively. Other voltage options (up to 120V)
will be introduced in late 2012 and early 2013 in industry-standard
D2PAK and TO-220AC packages.
The SPV1512 is available in an extremely small 5 6 0.75mm-high
VFQFPN package, which enables the bypass circuitry to be laminated
on the back of each solar panel.
Multi-Channel Laser Modules
AKELA Laser Corporation (Mon-
mouth Junction, NJ) announced the
release of its single and multi-channel
laser diode modules in wavelengths
from 635nm to 1950nm. The second in a se-
ries of releases over the next 6 months, these mod-
ules offer integrated cooling and drive electronics for plug-
and-play use. Suitable for both R&D and OEM applications, they are
designed for 100 micron, 0.22NA fibers and provide up to 2 Watts CW
per channel. Future product releases will include increasingly higher
power levels as well as modules designed for the medical market with
built-in accessories such as photodetectors, aiming beams, blast shields,
and fiber sensors. The laser modules are available in the following con-
figurations: single channel; multi-channel with independently address-
able outputs; and multiple outputs controlled by a single driver.
3D Imaging Sensor
FSI Technologies (Lombard, IL) has
added a new 3D imaging sensor to its
machine vision product line. The GS
Family of 3D imaging sensors provides
support to a whole new range of robot
control and inspection applications.
The GS 3D sensors, when used in con-
junction with the PowerEye machine vision system, can be used in appli-
cations such as bin picking, robotic manipulation, sorting products,
mold clearance checking, and space monitoring and object recognition.
In addition, the 3D technology will aid in determining spatial positions
and measurements.
C-mount Spectrometer Adapters
A new series of adapters, simplifying
integration of c-mount cMOS and CCD
cameras with McPherson (Chelmsford,
MA) high performance spectrometers, is
now available. Easy and secure c-mount
adapters are suitable for cryogenic, TE-
cooled, deep depletion, near infrared In-
GaAs, and sensitive Silicon visible range cameras. They fasten via 1-inch,
32-pitch screw thread with 17.526mm back distance to focal plane. The
new McPherson adapters have a nested design to accommodate the
threaded, rotating c-mount.
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Intro

NASA Tech Briefs January 2013

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Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/45599-733

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