Designing the OPAC User Interface to Improve Access and Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basista, Thomas; And Others

1991-01-01

Discussion of problems with retrieval of records in library online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on an ongoing research project at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) that has been trying to improve subject retrieval vocabulary control using natural and thesaural language and on the design of a good graphical user interface.…

Microcomputer Program Design Considerations for the Novice User

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-03-01

relatively recent, widespread proliferation of microcomputers into both the home and work place has resulted in a shifting of computer operation and...design decisions be made with respect to both the requirements specifications and interface considerations. Since a project’s requirement...expertise, may be quite meaningless or confusing to the end user. It is therefore proposed that interface design decisions should be made under the assumption

RANT Building Upgrade Pre-Proposal Meeting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, Melinda Ann; Meadows, Darren W.; Rodriguez, Roger R.

This presentation is designed to provide an overview of the project scope and RFP; discuss interfaces for the construction project; highlight key expectations and deliverables from the subcontractor; and address questions and provide clarification of the project scope.

Orbital operations study. Volume 2: Interfacing activities analysis. Part 2: Structural and mechanical group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattson, H. L.; Gianformaggio, A.; Anderson, N. R.

1972-01-01

The activities of the structural and mechanical activity group of the orbital operations study project are discussed. Element interfaces, alternate approaches, design concepts, operational procedures, functional requirements, design influences, and approach selection are presented. The following areas are considered: (1) mating, (2) orbital assembly, (3) separation, EOS payload deployment, and EOS payload retraction.

The Design and Evaluation of a Front-End User Interface for Energy Researchers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borgman, Christine L.; And Others

1989-01-01

Reports on the Online Access to Knowledge (OAK) Project, which developed software to support end user access to a Department of Energy database based on the skill levels and needs of energy researchers. The discussion covers issues in development, evaluation, and the study of user behavior in designing an interface tailored to a special…

Human Factors in the Design of a Computer-Assisted Instruction System. Technical Progress Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mudge, J. C.

A research project built an author-controlled computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system to study ease-of-use factors in student-system, author-system, and programer-system interfaces. Interfaces were designed and observed in use and systematically revised. Development of course material by authors, use by students, and administrative tasks were…

Software Engineering for User Interfaces. Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, Stephen W.; Norman, Donald A.

The discipline of software engineering can be extended in a natural way to deal with the issues raised by a systematic approach to the design of human-machine interfaces. The user should be treated as part of the system being designed and projects should be organized to take into account the current lack of a priori knowledge of user interface…

Reflections on Andes' Goal-Free User Interface

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VanLehn, Kurt

2016-01-01

Although the Andes project produced many results over its 18 years of activity, this commentary focuses on its contributions to understanding how a goal-free user interface impacts the overall design and performance of a step-based tutoring system. Whereas a goal-aligned user interface displays relevant goals as blank boxes or empty locations that…

Spacelab, Spacehab, and Space Station Freedom payload interface projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Dean Lance

1992-01-01

Contributions were made to several projects. Howard Nguyen was assisted in developing the Space Station RPS (Rack Power Supply). The RPS is a computer controlled power supply that helps test equipment used for experiments before the equipment is installed on Space Station Freedom. Ron Bennett of General Electric Government Services was assisted in the design and analysis of the Standard Interface Rack Controller hardware and software. An analysis was made of the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus), looking for any potential problems while transmitting data across the bus, such as the interaction of the bus controller with a data talker and its listeners. An analysis was made of GPIB bus communications in general, including any negative impact the bus may have on transmitting data back to Earth. A study was made of transmitting digital data back to Earth over a video channel. A report was written about the study and a revised version of the report will be submitted for publication. Work was started on the design of a PC/AT compatible circuit board that will combine digital data with a video signal. Another PC/AT compatible circuit board is being designed to recover the digital data from the video signal. A proposal was submitted to support the continued development of the interface boards after the author returns to Memphis State University in the fall. A study was also made of storing circuit board design software and data on the hard disk server of a LAN (Local Area Network) that connects several IBM style PCs. A report was written that makes several recommendations. A preliminary design review was started of the AIVS (Automatic Interface Verification System). The summer was over before any significant contribution could be made to this project.

Recent Developments in Cultural Heritage Image Databases: Directions for User-Centered Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephenson, Christie

1999-01-01

Examines the Museum Educational Site Licensing (MESL) Project--a cooperative project between seven cultural heritage repositories and seven universities--as well as other developments of cultural heritage image databases for academic use. Reviews recent literature on image indexing and retrieval, interface design, and tool development, urging a…

MIT's role in project Apollo. Volume 2: Optical, radar, and candidate subsystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The development of optical, radar, and candidate subsystems for Project Apollo is discussed. The design and development of the optical subsystems for both the Apollo command and lunar spacecraft are described. Design approaches, problems, and solutions are presented. The evolution of radar interfaces with the GN&C system is discussed; these interfaces involved both hardware and software in a relatively complex interrelationship. The design and development of three candidate subsystems are also described. The systems were considered for use in Apollo, but were not incorporated into the final GN&C system. The three subsystems discussed are the star tracker-horizon photometer, the map and data viewer and the lunar module optical rendezvous system.

PC-based Multiple Information System Interface (PC/MISI) detailed design and implementation plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Hall, Philip P.

1985-01-01

The design plan for the personal computer multiple information system interface (PC/MISI) project is discussed. The document is intended to be used as a blueprint for the implementation of the system. Each component is described in the detail necessary to allow programmers to implement the system. A description of the system data flow and system file structures is given.

Four principles for user interface design of computerised clinical decision support systems.

PubMed

Kanstrup, Anne Marie; Christiansen, Marion Berg; Nøhr, Christian

2011-01-01

The paper presents results from a design research project of a user interface (UI) for a Computerised Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS). The ambition has been to design Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that can minimise medication errors. Through an iterative design process a digital prototype for prescription of medicine has been developed. This paper presents results from the formative evaluation of the prototype conducted in a simulation laboratory with ten participating physicians. Data from the simulation is analysed by use of theory on how users perceive information. The conclusion is a model, which sum up four principles of interaction for design of CDSS. The four principles for design of user interfaces for CDSS are summarised as four A's: All in one, At a glance, At hand and Attention. The model emphasises integration of all four interaction principles in the design of user interfaces for CDSS, i.e. the model is an integrated model which we suggest as a guide for interaction design when working with preventing medication errors.

Mechanical Engineering Design Project report: Enabler control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cullen, Christian; Delvecchio, Dave; Scarborough, Alan; Havics, Andrew A.

1992-01-01

The Controls Group was assigned the responsibility for designing the Enabler's control system. The requirement for the design was that the control system must provide a simple user interface to control the boom articulation joints, chassis articulation joints, and the wheel drive. The system required controlling hydraulic motors on the Enabler by implementing 8-bit microprocessor boards. In addition, feedback to evaluate positions and velocities must be interfaced to provide the operator with confirmation as well as control.

NGDS User Centered Design Meeting the Needs of the Geothermal Community

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyd, Suzanne; Zheng, Sam; Patten, Kim

2013-10-15

In order to ensure the widest and greatest utility of IT and software projects designed for geothermal reservoir engineer- ing the full consideration of end users’ task and workflow needs must be evaluated. This paper describes the user-centered design (UCD) approach taken in the development of a user interface (UI) solution for the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS). This development process has been research based, highly collabora- tive, and incorporates state-of-the-art practices to ensure a quality user experience. Work is continuing on the interface, including future usability tests to further refine the interfaces as the overall system is developed.

NGDS USER CENTERED DESIGN MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE GEOTHERMAL COMMUNITY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyd, Suzanne; Zheng, Sam Xianjun; Patten, Kim

In order to ensure the widest and greatest utility of IT and software projects designed for geothermal reservoir engineering the full consideration of end users’ task and workflow needs must be evaluated. This paper describes the user-centered design (UCD) approach taken in the development of a user interface (UI) solution for the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS). This development process has been researched based, highly collaborative, and incorporates state-of-the-art practices to ensure a quality user experience. Work is continuing on the interface, including future usability tests to further refine the interfaces as the overall system is developed.

Transportability, distributability and rehosting experience with a kernel operating system interface set

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blumberg, F. C.; Reedy, A.; Yodis, E.

1986-01-01

For the past two years, PRC has been transporting and installing a software engineering environment framework, the Automated Product control Environment (APCE), at a number of PRC and government sites on a variety of different hardware. The APCE was designed using a layered architecture which is based on a standardized set of interfaces to host system services. This interface set called the APCE Interface Set (AIS), was designed to support many of the same goals as the Common Ada Programming Support Environment (APSE) Interface Set (CAIS). The APCE was developed to provide support for the full software lifecycle. Specific requirements of the APCE design included: automation of labor intensive administrative and logistical tasks: freedom for project team members to use existing tools: maximum transportability for APCE programs, interoperability of APCE database data, and distributability of both processes and data: and maximum performance on a wide variety of operating systems. A brief description is given of the APCE and AIS, a comparison of the AIS and CAIS both in terms of functionality and of philosophy and approach and a presentation of PRC's experience in rehosting AIS and transporting APCE programs and project data. Conclusions are drawn from this experience with respect to both the CAIS efforts and Space Station plans.

HELIOS Third Joint Working Group Meeting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ousley, Gilbert; Kutzer, Ants

1970-01-01

During the past six months since the Second Helios Joint Working Group Meeting held 27-30 April 1970 at Goddard Space Flight Center, the TDS Sub-Group supported the Helios Project Office and the other Sub-Groups in the timely disposition of action items and the dissemination of information pertinent to the development of interface documentation. Of particular importance during this time period was the Project's decision to incorporate a single-channel telemetry system design aboard the spacecraft. The TDS Sub-Group participated actively in the process that led to this decision. Still under active study with TDS participation is the pending Project Office decision regarding the incorporation of a ranging capability within the telecommunications design. The TDS Sub-Group assisted the Mission Analysis and Operations Sub-Group in establishment of a study effort concerning the Near-Earth Sequence of Events from launch to launch plus 8 hours. This study, which will provide valuable data for the spacecraft telecommunications design, will include participation by the Experiment, Launch Vehicle, Spacecraft, as well as the TDS and MA&O Sub-Groups. Also during the past 6-month period, the TDS, in conjunction with the Spacecraft Sub-Group, initiated activity to develop the Helios Spacecraft/TDS Compatibility Test Plans and Procedures. Activity concerning the foregoing interface discussions has been and will continue to be based upon the "TDS Estimated Capabilities Document for the Helios Missions" (613-1), and the "DSN/Flight Project Interface Design Handbook" (810-5). These will continue to be considered TDS controlling documents until specific Helios Project/TDS interface documentation is generated and signed off by the respective parties. In addition to the above, the DSN continued the Helios Trainee Program with seven GfW/DFVLR trainees in residence at JPL. Two trainees will complete their year's residency concurrent with the Third Helios Joint Working Group Meeting, while four new trainees are expected to arrive following the Third Helios Joint Working Group Meeting. These and other activities are reported in detail in the paragraphs that follow.

The scientific data acquisition system of the GAMMA-400 space project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobkov, S. G.; Serdin, O. V.; Gorbunov, M. S.; Arkhangelskiy, A. I.; Topchiev, N. P.

2016-02-01

The description of scientific data acquisition system (SDAS) designed by SRISA for the GAMMA-400 space project is presented. We consider the problem of different level electronics unification: the set of reliable fault-tolerant integrated circuits fabricated on Silicon-on-Insulator 0.25 mkm CMOS technology and the high-speed interfaces and reliable modules used in the space instruments. The characteristics of reliable fault-tolerant very large scale integration (VLSI) technology designed by SRISA for the developing of computation systems for space applications are considered. The scalable net structure of SDAS based on Serial RapidIO interface including real-time operating system BAGET is described too.

Student teaching and research laboratory focusing on brain-computer interface paradigms--A creative environment for computer science students.

PubMed

Rutkowski, Tomasz M

2015-08-01

This paper presents an applied concept of a brain-computer interface (BCI) student research laboratory (BCI-LAB) at the Life Science Center of TARA, University of Tsukuba, Japan. Several successful case studies of the student projects are reviewed together with the BCI Research Award 2014 winner case. The BCI-LAB design and project-based teaching philosophy is also explained. Future teaching and research directions summarize the review.

Plutonium Immobilization Project System Design Description for Can Loading System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kriikku, E.

2001-02-15

The purpose of this System Design Description (SDD) is to specify the system and component functions and requirements for the Can Loading System and provide a complete description of the system (design features, boundaries, and interfaces), principles of operation (including upsets and recovery), and the system maintenance approach. The Plutonium Immobilization Project (PIP) will immobilize up to 13 metric tons (MT) of U.S. surplus weapons usable plutonium materials.

Collaborative engineering and design management for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope tracker upgrade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mollison, Nicholas T.; Hayes, Richard J.; Good, John M.; Booth, John A.; Savage, Richard D.; Jackson, John R.; Rafal, Marc D.; Beno, Joseph H.

2010-07-01

The engineering and design of systems as complex as the Hobby-Eberly Telescope's* new tracker require that multiple tasks be executed in parallel and overlapping efforts. When the design of individual subsystems is distributed among multiple organizations, teams, and individuals, challenges can arise with respect to managing design productivity and coordinating successful collaborative exchanges. This paper focuses on design management issues and current practices for the tracker design portion of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Wide Field Upgrade project. The scope of the tracker upgrade requires engineering contributions and input from numerous fields including optics, instrumentation, electromechanics, software controls engineering, and site-operations. Successful system-level integration of tracker subsystems and interfaces is critical to the telescope's ultimate performance in astronomical observation. Software and process controls for design information and workflow management have been implemented to assist the collaborative transfer of tracker design data. The tracker system architecture and selection of subsystem interfaces has also proven to be a determining factor in design task formulation and team communication needs. Interface controls and requirements change controls will be discussed, and critical team interactions are recounted (a group-participation Failure Modes and Effects Analysis [FMEA] is one of special interest). This paper will be of interest to engineers, designers, and managers engaging in multi-disciplinary and parallel engineering projects that require coordination among multiple individuals, teams, and organizations.

USL NASA/RECON project presentations at the 1985 ACM Computer Science Conference: Abstracts and visuals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Chum, Frank Y.; Gallagher, Suzy; Granier, Martin; Hall, Philip P.; Moreau, Dennis R.; Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1985-01-01

This Working Paper Series entry represents the abstracts and visuals associated with presentations delivered by six USL NASA/RECON research team members at the above named conference. The presentations highlight various aspects of NASA contract activities pursued by the participants as they relate to individual research projects. The titles of the six presentations are as follows: (1) The Specification and Design of a Distributed Workstation; (2) An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval; (3) Critical Comparative Analysis of the Major Commercial IS and R Systems; (4) Design Criteria for a PC-Based Common User Interface to Remote Information Systems; (5) The Design of an Object-Oriented Graphics Interface; and (6) Knowledge-Based Information Retrieval: Techniques and Applications.

An overview of the evaluation plan for PC/MISI: PC-based Multiple Information System Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Lim, Bee Lee; Hall, Philip P.

1985-01-01

An initial evaluation plan for the personal computer multiple information system interface (PC/MISI) project is discussed. The document is intend to be used as a blueprint for the evaluation of this system. Each objective of the design project is discussed along with the evaluation parameters and methodology to be used in the evaluation of the implementation's achievement of those objectives. The potential of the system for research activities related to more general aspects of information retrieval is also discussed.

A User-Centred Approach to E-Book Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Ruth; Landoni, Monica; Gibb, Forbes

2002-01-01

Considers the Electronic Books On-Screen Interface (EBONI) Project's research into the importance of the user when designing electronic textbooks. Describes methodology and evaluations involving students, lecturers and researchers in United Kingdom higher education and includes electronic textbook design guidelines. (Author/LRW)

Engineering design of sub-micron topographies for simultaneously adherent and reflective metal-polymer interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Christopher A.

1993-01-01

The approach of the project is to base the design of multi-function, reflective topographies on the theory that topographically dependent phenomena react with surfaces and interfaces at certain scales. The first phase of the project emphasizes the development of methods for understanding the sizes of topographic features which influence reflectivity. Subsequent phases, if necessary, will address the scales of interaction for adhesion and manufacturing processes. A simulation of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation, or light, with a reflective surface is performed using specialized software. Reflectivity of the surface as a function of scale is evaluated and the results from the simulation are compared with reflectivity measurements made on multi-function, reflective surfaces.

Transitioning from conceptual design to construction performance specification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeffers, Paul; Warner, Mark; Craig, Simon; Hubbard, Robert; Marshall, Heather

2012-09-01

On successful completion of a conceptual design review by a funding agency or customer, there is a transition phase before construction contracts can be placed. The nature of this transition phase depends on the Project's approach to construction and the particular subsystem being considered. There are generically two approaches; project retention of design authority and issuance of build to print contracts, or issuance of subsystem performance specifications with controlled interfaces. This paper relates to the latter where a proof of concept (conceptual or reference design) is translated into performance based sub-system specifications for competitive tender. This translation is not a straightforward process and there are a number of different issues to consider in the process. This paper deals with primarily the Telescope mount and Enclosure subsystems. The main subjects considered in this paper are: • Typical status of design at Conceptual Design Review compared with the desired status of Specifications and Interface Control Documents at Request for Quotation. • Options for capture and tracking of system requirements flow down from science / operating requirements and sub-system requirements, and functional requirements derived from reference design. • Requirements that may come specifically from the contracting approach. • Methods for effective use of reference design work without compromising a performance based specification. • Management of project team's expectation relating to design. • Effects on cost estimates from reference design to actual. This paper is based on experience and lessons learned through this process on both the VISTA and the ATST projects.

Integration of design information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderton, G. L.

1980-01-01

The overall concepts of the integrated programs for aerospace-vehicle design (IPAD) from the user's viewpoint are discussed. Also a top-level view of what the user requires from such a system is provided, and the interactions between the system and user are described. The four major components discussed are design process; data storage, management and manipulation; user interface; and project management. Although an outgrowth of aerospace production experience, the basic concepts discussed, and especially their emphasis on integration, are considered applicable to all problem solving. Thus, these concepts may offer a broad base for exploitation by industry in general. This is the first in a set of three papers, the other two being Future Integrated Design Process, by D. D. Mayer, and Requirements for Company-Wide Management of Engineering Information, by J. W. Southall. In addition to tying the three together, how project management can be handled in a computing environment and also the user interface needs are discussed in detail.

Advanced EVA Suit Camera System Development Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mock, Kyla

2016-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) is developing a new extra-vehicular activity (EVA) suit known as the Advanced EVA Z2 Suit. All of the improvements to the EVA Suit provide the opportunity to update the technology of the video imagery. My summer internship project involved improving the video streaming capabilities of the cameras that will be used on the Z2 Suit for data acquisition. To accomplish this, I familiarized myself with the architecture of the camera that is currently being tested to be able to make improvements on the design. Because there is a lot of benefit to saving space, power, and weight on the EVA suit, my job was to use Altium Design to start designing a much smaller and simplified interface board for the camera's microprocessor and external components. This involved checking datasheets of various components and checking signal connections to ensure that this architecture could be used for both the Z2 suit and potentially other future projects. The Orion spacecraft is a specific project that may benefit from this condensed camera interface design. The camera's physical placement on the suit also needed to be determined and tested so that image resolution can be maximized. Many of the options of the camera placement may be tested along with other future suit testing. There are multiple teams that work on different parts of the suit, so the camera's placement could directly affect their research or design. For this reason, a big part of my project was initiating contact with other branches and setting up multiple meetings to learn more about the pros and cons of the potential camera placements we are analyzing. Collaboration with the multiple teams working on the Advanced EVA Z2 Suit is absolutely necessary and these comparisons will be used as further progress is made for the overall suit design. This prototype will not be finished in time for the scheduled Z2 Suit testing, so my time was also spent creating a case for the original interface board that is already being used. This design is being done by use of Creo 2. Due to time constraints, I may not be able to complete the 3-D printing portion of this design, but I was able to use my knowledge of the interface board and Altium Design to help in the task. As a side project, I assisted another intern in selecting and programming a microprocessor to control linear actuators. These linear actuators will be used to move various increments of polyethylene for controlled radiation testing. For this, we began the software portion of the project using the Arduino's coding environment to control an Arduino Due and H-Bridge components. Along with the obvious learning of computer programs such as Altium Design and Creo 2, I also acquired more skills with networking and collaborating with others, being able to multi-task because of responsibilities to work on various projects, and how to set realistic goals in the work place. Like many internship projects, this project will be continued and improved, so I also had the chance to improve my organization and communication skills as I documented all of my meetings and research. As a result of my internship at JSC, I desire to continue a career with NASA, whether that be through another internship or possibly a co-op. I am excited to return to my university and continue my education in electrical engineering because of all of my experiences at JSC.

Improved Computer-Aided Instruction by the Use of Interfaced Random-Access Audio-Visual Equipment. Report on Research Project No. P/24/1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryce, C. F. A.; Stewart, A. M.

A brief review of the characteristics of computer assisted instruction and the attributes of audiovisual media introduces this report on a project designed to improve the effectiveness of computer assisted learning through the incorporation of audiovisual materials. A discussion of the implications of research findings on the design and layout of…

PubMed on Tap: discovering design principles for online information delivery to handheld computers.

PubMed

Hauser, Susan E; Demner-Fushman, Dina; Ford, Glenn; Thoma, George R

2004-01-01

Online access to biomedical information from handheld computers will be a valuable adjunct to other popular medical applications if information delivery systems are designed with handheld computers in mind. The goal of this project is to discover design principles to facilitate practitioners' access to online medical information at the point-of-care. A prototype system was developed to serve as a testbed for this research. Using the testbed, an initial evaluation has yielded several user interface design principles. Continued research is expected to discover additional user interface design principles as well as guidelines for results organization and system performance

Mixed-Dimensionality VLSI-Type Configurable Tools for Virtual Prototyping of Biomicrofluidic Devices and Integrated Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makhijani, Vinod B.; Przekwas, Andrzej J.

2002-10-01

This report presents results of a DARPA/MTO Composite CAD Project aimed to develop a comprehensive microsystem CAD environment, CFD-ACE+ Multiphysics, for bio and microfluidic devices and complete microsystems. The project began in July 1998, and was a three-year team effort between CFD Research Corporation, California Institute of Technology (CalTech), University of California, Berkeley (UCB), and Tanner Research, with Mr. Don Verlee from Abbott Labs participating as a consultant on the project. The overall objective of this project was to develop, validate and demonstrate several applications of a user-configurable VLSI-type mixed-dimensionality software tool for design of biomicrofluidics devices and integrated systems. The developed tool would provide high fidelity 3-D multiphysics modeling capability, l-D fluidic circuits modeling, and SPICE interface for system level simulations, and mixed-dimensionality design. It would combine tools for layouts and process fabrication, geometric modeling, and automated grid generation, and interfaces to EDA tools (e.g. Cadence) and MCAD tools (e.g. ProE).

A Biotic Game Design Project for Integrated Life Science and Engineering Education

PubMed Central

Denisin, Aleksandra K.; Rensi, Stefano; Sanchez, Gabriel N.; Quake, Stephen R.; Riedel-Kruse, Ingmar H.

2015-01-01

Engaging, hands-on design experiences are key for formal and informal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Robotic and video game design challenges have been particularly effective in stimulating student interest, but equivalent experiences for the life sciences are not as developed. Here we present the concept of a "biotic game design project" to motivate student learning at the interface of life sciences and device engineering (as part of a cornerstone bioengineering devices course). We provide all course material and also present efforts in adapting the project's complexity to serve other time frames, age groups, learning focuses, and budgets. Students self-reported that they found the biotic game project fun and motivating, resulting in increased effort. Hence this type of design project could generate excitement and educational impact similar to robotics and video games. PMID:25807212

A biotic game design project for integrated life science and engineering education.

PubMed

Cira, Nate J; Chung, Alice M; Denisin, Aleksandra K; Rensi, Stefano; Sanchez, Gabriel N; Quake, Stephen R; Riedel-Kruse, Ingmar H

2015-03-01

Engaging, hands-on design experiences are key for formal and informal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Robotic and video game design challenges have been particularly effective in stimulating student interest, but equivalent experiences for the life sciences are not as developed. Here we present the concept of a "biotic game design project" to motivate student learning at the interface of life sciences and device engineering (as part of a cornerstone bioengineering devices course). We provide all course material and also present efforts in adapting the project's complexity to serve other time frames, age groups, learning focuses, and budgets. Students self-reported that they found the biotic game project fun and motivating, resulting in increased effort. Hence this type of design project could generate excitement and educational impact similar to robotics and video games.

User's Manual for the Object User Interface (OUI): An Environmental Resource Modeling Framework

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markstrom, Steven L.; Koczot, Kathryn M.

2008-01-01

The Object User Interface is a computer application that provides a framework for coupling environmental-resource models and for managing associated temporal and spatial data. The Object User Interface is designed to be easily extensible to incorporate models and data interfaces defined by the user. Additionally, the Object User Interface is highly configurable through the use of a user-modifiable, text-based control file that is written in the eXtensible Markup Language. The Object User Interface user's manual provides (1) installation instructions, (2) an overview of the graphical user interface, (3) a description of the software tools, (4) a project example, and (5) specifications for user configuration and extension.

Rule based design of conceptual models for formative evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.; Chang, Kai; Hale, Joseph P.; Bester, Terri; Rix, Thomas; Wang, Yaowen

1994-01-01

A Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Prototyping Environment with embedded evaluation capability has been investigated. This environment will be valuable in developing and refining HCI standards and evaluating program/project interface development, especially Space Station Freedom on-board displays for payload operations. This environment, which allows for rapid prototyping and evaluation of graphical interfaces, includes the following four components: (1) a HCI development tool; (2) a low fidelity simulator development tool; (3) a dynamic, interactive interface between the HCI and the simulator; and (4) an embedded evaluator that evaluates the adequacy of a HCI based on a user's performance. The embedded evaluation tool collects data while the user is interacting with the system and evaluates the adequacy of an interface based on a user's performance. This paper describes the design of conceptual models for the embedded evaluation system using a rule-based approach.

Rule based design of conceptual models for formative evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.; Chang, Kai; Hale, Joseph P.; Bester, Terri; Rix, Thomas; Wang, Yaowen

1994-01-01

A Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Prototyping Environment with embedded evaluation capability has been investigated. This environment will be valuable in developing and refining HCI standards and evaluating program/project interface development, especially Space Station Freedom on-board displays for payload operations. This environment, which allows for rapid prototyping and evaluation of graphical interfaces, includes the following four components: (1) a HCI development tool, (2) a low fidelity simulator development tool, (3) a dynamic, interactive interface between the HCI and the simulator, and (4) an embedded evaluator that evaluates the adequacy of a HCI based on a user's performance. The embedded evaluation tool collects data while the user is interacting with the system and evaluates the adequacy of an interface based on a user's performance. This paper describes the design of conceptual models for the embedded evaluation system using a rule-based approach.

Assessment of a human computer interface prototyping environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.

1993-01-01

A Human Computer Interface (HCI) prototyping environment with embedded evaluation capability has been successfully assessed which will be valuable in developing and refining HCI standards and evaluating program/project interface development, especially Space Station Freedom on-board displays for payload operations. The HCI prototyping environment is designed to include four components: (1) a HCI format development tool, (2) a test and evaluation simulator development tool, (3) a dynamic, interactive interface between the HCI prototype and simulator, and (4) an embedded evaluation capability to evaluate the adequacy of an HCI based on a user's performance.

How Well Can Existing Software Support Processes Accomplish Sustainment of a Non-Developmental Item-Based Acquisition Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-06

Research Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 15 Research Design ...user community and of accommodating advancing software applications by the vendors. Research Design My approach to this project was to conduct... design descriptions , requirements specifications, test documentation, interface requirement specifications, product specifications, and software

The ADAM project: a generic web interface for retrieval and display of ATLAS TDAQ information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harwood, A.; Lehmann Miotto, G.; Magnoni, L.; Vandelli, W.; Savu, D.

2012-06-01

This paper describes a new approach to the visualization of information about the operation of the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition system. ATLAS is one of the two general purpose detectors positioned along the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Its data acquisition system consists of several thousand computers interconnected via multiple gigabit Ethernet networks, that are constantly monitored via different tools. Operational parameters ranging from the temperature of the computers to the network utilization are stored in several databases for later analysis. Although the ability to view these data-sets individually is already in place, currently there is no way to view this data together, in a uniform format, from one location. The ADAM project has been launched in order to overcome this limitation. It defines a uniform web interface to collect data from multiple providers that have different structures. It is capable of aggregating and correlating the data according to user defined criteria. Finally, it visualizes the collected data using a flexible and interactive front-end web system. Structurally, the project comprises of 3 main levels of the data collection cycle: The Level 0 represents the information sources within ATLAS. These providers do not store information in a uniform fashion. The first step of the project was to define a common interface with which to expose stored data. The interface designed for the project originates from the Google Data Protocol API. The idea is to allow read-only access to data providers, through HTTP requests similar in format to the SQL query structure. This provides a standardized way to access this different information sources within ATLAS. The Level 1 can be considered the engine of the system. The primary task of the Level 1 is to gather data from multiple data sources via the common interface, to correlate this data together, or over a defined time series, and expose the combined data as a whole to the Level 2 web interface. The Level 2 is designed to present the data in a similar style and aesthetic, despite the different data sources. Pages can be constructed, edited and personalized by users to suit the specific data being shown. Pages can show a collection of graphs displaying data potentially coming from multiple sources. The project as a whole has a great amount of scope thanks to the uniform approach chosen for exposing data, and the flexibility of the Level 2 in presenting results. The paper will describe in detail the design and implementation of this new tool. In particular we will go through the project architecture, the implementation choices and the examples of usage of the system in place within the ATLAS TDAQ infrastructure.

The Sound-to-Speech Translations Utilizing Graphics Mediation Interface for Students with Severe Handicaps. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Carrie; And Others

This final report describes activities and outcomes of a research project on a sound-to-speech translation system utilizing a graphic mediation interface for students with severe disabilities. The STS/Graphics system is a voice recognition, computer-based system designed to allow individuals with mental retardation and/or severe physical…

MAPPER: A personal computer map projection tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Steven A.

1993-01-01

MAPPER is a set of software tools designed to let users create and manipulate map projections on a personal computer (PC). The capability exists to generate five popular map projections. These include azimuthal, cylindrical, mercator, lambert, and sinusoidal projections. Data for projections are contained in five coordinate databases at various resolutions. MAPPER is managed by a system of pull-down windows. This interface allows the user to intuitively create, view and export maps to other platforms.

Design and Development of a User Interface for the Dynamic Model of Software Project Management.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

rectory of the user’s choice for future...the last choice selected. Let us assume for the sake of this tour that the user has selected all eight choices . ESTIMATED ACTUAL PROJECT SIZE DEFINITION...manipulation of varaibles in the * •. TJin~ca model "h ... ser Inter ace for the Dynamica model was designed b in iterative process of prototyping

An Interdisciplinary Microprocessor Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilcox, Alan D.; And Others

1985-01-01

Describes an unusual project in which third-year computer science students designed and built a four-bit multiplier circuit and then combines it with software to complete a full 16-bit multiplication. The multiplier was built using TTL components, interfaced with a Z-80 microprocessor system, and programed in assembly language. (JN)

A review of ventilated storage cask (VSC) system projects and experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McConaghy, W.

1995-12-31

First, the author discusses the ventilated storage cask (VSC) design and an operations summary is given. Next VSC project status at Palisades, Point Beach, Arkansas Nuclear One, Fast Flux Test Facility and Zaporozhye is discussed. Lastly, VSC operational experience and VSC transportation interfaces are reviewed.

Oceans of Data: In what ways can learning research inform the development of electronic interfaces and tools for use by students accessing large scientific databases?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krumhansl, R. A.; Foster, J.; Peach, C. L.; Busey, A.; Baker, I.

2012-12-01

The practice of science and engineering is being revolutionized by the development of cyberinfrastructure for accessing near real-time and archived observatory data. Large cyberinfrastructure projects have the potential to transform the way science is taught in high school classrooms, making enormous quantities of scientific data available, giving students opportunities to analyze and draw conclusions from many kinds of complex data, and providing students with experiences using state-of-the-art resources and techniques for scientific investigations. However, online interfaces to scientific data are built by scientists for scientists, and their design can significantly impede broad use by novices. Knowledge relevant to the design of student interfaces to complex scientific databases is broadly dispersed among disciplines ranging from cognitive science to computer science and cartography and is not easily accessible to designers of educational interfaces. To inform efforts at bridging scientific cyberinfrastructure to the high school classroom, Education Development Center, Inc. and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography conducted an NSF-funded 2-year interdisciplinary review of literature and expert opinion pertinent to making interfaces to large scientific databases accessible to and usable by precollege learners and their teachers. Project findings are grounded in the fundamentals of Cognitive Load Theory, Visual Perception, Schemata formation and Universal Design for Learning. The Knowledge Status Report (KSR) presents cross-cutting and visualization-specific guidelines that highlight how interface design features can address/ ameliorate challenges novice high school students face as they navigate complex databases to find data, and construct and look for patterns in maps, graphs, animations and other data visualizations. The guidelines present ways to make scientific databases more broadly accessible by: 1) adjusting the cognitive load imposed by the user interface and visualizations so that it doesn't exceed the amount of information the learner can actively process; 2) drawing attention to important features and patterns; and 3) enabling customization of visualizations and tools to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Development and Implementation of the X.25 Protocol for the Universal Network Interface Device (UNID) II. Volume 1.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-12-01

development of an improved Universal Network Interface Device (UNID II). The UNID II’s architecture was based on a preliminary design project at...interface device, performing all functions required ,: the multi-ring LAN. The device depicted by RADC’s studies would connect a highly variable group of host...used the ISO Open Systems Ilterconnection (OSI) seven layer model as the basic structure for data flow and program development . In 1982 Cuomo

Evaluation of the Next-Gen Exercise Software Interface in the NEEMO Analog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanson, Andrea; Kalogera, Kent; Sandor, Aniko; Hardy, Marc; Frank, Andrew; English, Kirk; Williams, Thomas; Perera, Jeevan; Amonette, William

2017-01-01

NSBRI (National Space Biomedical Research Institute) funded research grant to develop the 'NextGen' exercise software for the NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) analog. Develop a software architecture to integrate instructional, motivational and socialization techniques into a common portal to enhance exercise countermeasures in remote environments. Increase user efficiency and satisfaction, and institute commonality across multiple exercise systems. Utilized GUI (Graphical User Interface) design principals focused on intuitive ease of use to minimize training time and realize early user efficiency. Project requirement to test the software in an analog environment. Top Level Project Aims: 1) Improve the usability of crew interface software to exercise CMS (Crew Management System) through common app-like interfaces. 2) Introduce virtual instructional motion training. 3) Use virtual environment to provide remote socialization with family and friends, improve exercise technique, adherence, motivation and ultimately performance outcomes.

A collaborative fire hazard reduction/ecosystem restoration stewardship project in a Montana mixed ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir/western larch wildland urban interface

Treesearch

Steve Slaughter; Laura Ward; Michael Hillis; Jim Chew; Rebecca McFarlan

2004-01-01

Forest Service managers and researchers designed and evaluated alternative disturbance-based fire hazard reduction/ecosystem restoration treatments in a greatly altered low-elevation ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir/western larch wildland urban interface. Collaboratively planned improvement cutting and prescribed fire treatment alternatives were evaluated in simulations of...

Visualization for Hyper-Heuristics. Front-End Graphical User Interface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kroenung, Lauren

Modern society is faced with ever more complex problems, many of which can be formulated as generate-and-test optimization problems. General-purpose optimization algorithms are not well suited for real-world scenarios where many instances of the same problem class need to be repeatedly and efficiently solved because they are not targeted to a particular scenario. Hyper-heuristics automate the design of algorithms to create a custom algorithm for a particular scenario. While such automated design has great advantages, it can often be difficult to understand exactly how a design was derived and why it should be trusted. This project aims to address thesemore » issues of usability by creating an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for hyper-heuristics to support practitioners, as well as scientific visualization of the produced automated designs. My contributions to this project are exhibited in the user-facing portion of the developed system and the detailed scientific visualizations created from back-end data.« less

Spacecraft crew procedures from paper to computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oneal, Michael; Manahan, Meera

1991-01-01

Described here is a research project that uses human factors and computer systems knowledge to explore and help guide the design and creation of an effective Human-Computer Interface (HCI) for spacecraft crew procedures. By having a computer system behind the user interface, it is possible to have increased procedure automation, related system monitoring, and personalized annotation and help facilities. The research project includes the development of computer-based procedure system HCI prototypes and a testbed for experiments that measure the effectiveness of HCI alternatives in order to make design recommendations. The testbed will include a system for procedure authoring, editing, training, and execution. Progress on developing HCI prototypes for a middeck experiment performed on Space Shuttle Mission STS-34 and for upcoming medical experiments are discussed. The status of the experimental testbed is also discussed.

Project Ukko - Design of a climate service visualisation interface for seasonal wind forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemment, Drew; Stefaner, Moritz; Makri, Stephann; Buontempo, Carlo; Christel, Isadora; Torralba-Fernandez, Veronica; Gonzalez-Reviriego, Nube; Doblas-Reyes, Francisco; de Matos, Paula; Dykes, Jason

2016-04-01

Project Ukko is a prototype climate service to visually communicate probabilistic seasonal wind forecasts for the energy sector. In Project Ukko, an interactive visualisation enhances the accessibility and readability to the latests advances in seasonal wind speed predictions developed as part of the RESILIENCE prototype of the EUPORIAS (EC FP7) project. Climate services provide made-to-measure climate information, tailored to the specific requirements of different users and industries. In the wind energy sector, understanding of wind conditions in the next few months has high economic value, for instance, for the energy traders. Current energy practices use retrospective climatology, but access to reliable seasonal predictions based in the recent advances in global climate models has potential to improve their resilience to climate variability and change. Despite their potential benefits, a barrier to the development of commercially viable services is the complexity of the probabilistic forecast information, and the challenge of communicating complex and uncertain information to decision makers in industry. Project Ukko consists of an interactive climate service interface for wind energy users to explore probabilistic wind speed predictions for the coming season. This interface enables fast visual detection and exploration of interesting features and regions likely to experience unusual changes in wind speed in the coming months.The aim is not only to support users to better understand the future variability in wind power resources, but also to bridge the gap between practitioners' traditional approach and the advanced prediction systems developed by the climate science community. Project Ukko is presented as a case study of cross-disciplinary collaboration between climate science and design, for the development of climate services that are useful, usable and effective for industry users. The presentation will reflect on the challenge of developing a climate service for industry users in the wind energy sector, the background to this challenge, our approach, and the evaluation of the visualisation interface.

NASA Docking System (NDS) Users Guide: International Space Station Program. Type 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tabakman, Alexander

2010-01-01

The NASA Docking System (NDS) Users Guide provides an overview of the basic information needed to integrate the NDS onto a Host Vehicle (HV). This Users Guide is intended to provide a vehicle developer with a fundamental understanding of the NDS technical and operations information to support their program and engineering integration planning. The Users Guide identifies the NDS Specification, Interface Definition or Requirement Documents that contain the complete technical details and requirements that a vehicle developer must use to design, develop and verify their systems will interface with NDS. This Guide is an initial reference and must not be used as a design document. In the event of conflict between this Users Guide and other applicable interface definition or requirements documents; the applicable document will take precedence. This Users Guide is organized in three main sections. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the NDS and CDA hardware and the operations concepts for the NDS. Chapter 2 provides information for Host Vehicle Program integration with the NDS Project Office. Chapter 2 describes the NDS Project organization, integration and verification processes, user responsibilities, and specification and interface requirement documents. Chapter 3 provides a summary of basic technical information for the NDS design. Chapter 3 includes NDS hardware component descriptions, physical size and weight characteristics, and summary of the capabilities and constraints for the various NDS sub-systems.

ScienceOrganizer System and Interface Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

ScienceOrganizer is a specialized knowledge management tool designed to enhance the information storage, organization, and access capabilities of distributed NASA science teams. Users access ScienceOrganizer through an intuitive Web-based interface that enables them to upload, download, and organize project information - including data, documents, images, and scientific records associated with laboratory and field experiments. Information in ScienceOrganizer is "threaded", or interlinked, to enable users to locate, track, and organize interrelated pieces of scientific data. Linkages capture important semantic relationships among information resources in the repository, and these assist users in navigating through the information related to their projects.

An Open Specification for Space Project Mission Operations Control Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooke, A.; Heuser, W. R.

1995-01-01

An 'open specification' for Space Project Mission Operations Control Architectures is under development in the Spacecraft Control Working Group of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astro- nautics. This architecture identifies 5 basic elements incorporated in the design of similar operations systems: Data, System Management, Control Interface, Decision Support Engine, & Space Messaging Service.

Zooniverse - A Platform for Data-Driven Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, A.; Lintott, C.; Bamford, S.; Fortson, L.

2011-12-01

In July 2007 a team of astrophysicists created a web-based astronomy project called Galaxy Zoo in which members of the public were asked to classify galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by their shape. Over the following year a community of more than 150,000 people classified each of the 1 million galaxies more than 50 times each. Four years later this community of 'citizen scientists' is more than 450,000 strong and is contributing their time and efforts to more than 10 Zooniverse projects each with its own science team and research case. With projects ranging from transcribing ancient greek texts (ancientlives.org) to lunar science (moonzoo.org) the challenges to the Zooniverse community have gone well beyond the relatively simple original Galaxy Zoo interface. Delivering a range of citizen science projects to a large web-based audience presents challenges on a number of fronts including interface design, data architecture/modelling and reduction techniques, web-infrastructure and software design. In this paper we will describe how the Zooniverse team (a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators ) have developed tools and techniques to solve some of these issues.

Research, design & development project Myoelectric Prosthesis of Upper Limb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galiano, L.; Montaner, E.; Flecha, A.

2007-11-01

A Research Design and Development Project was developed of a myoelectric prosthesis for a pediatric patient presenting congenital amputation of the left forearm below the elbow. A multidisciplinary work-team was formed for this goal, in order to solve the several (/various) aspects regarding this project (mechanical, ergonomics, electronics, physical). The prosthesis as an electromechanical device was divided in several blocks, trying to achieve a focused development for each stage, acording to requisites. A mechanical prototype of the prothesis was designed and built along with the circuitry needed for EMG aquisition, control logic and drivers. Having acomplished the previuos stages, the project is now dealing with the definitions of the interface between the prosthesis and the patient, with promising perspectives.

[Design of an embedded stroke rehabilitation apparatus system based on Linux computer engineering].

PubMed

Zhuang, Pengfei; Tian, XueLong; Zhu, Lin

2014-04-01

A realizaton project of electrical stimulator aimed at motor dysfunction of stroke is proposed in this paper. Based on neurophysiological biofeedback, this system, using an ARM9 S3C2440 as the core processor, integrates collection and display of surface electromyography (sEMG) signal, as well as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) into one system. By embedding Linux system, the project is able to use Qt/Embedded as a graphical interface design tool to accomplish the design of stroke rehabilitation apparatus. Experiments showed that this system worked well.

Multiplexing the Ethernet Interface Among VAX/VMS Users.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

Microcomputer Development Systems (MDS) and VAX/VPS sy’stemn were used for the implementation and testing of the project. The software is designed in such a...detailed design and .splesenta- toa of tie project. Is realLty chape: I constitutes the doee-.at os of the developed software. In soms instances, thisgs that...changes. 460i9n4t 4 provides a high level design of a virtual x $44 aletwock. alcag with some hints which may be useful So 44e W". who will work in this

A Report of Bethune-Cookman College NASA JOVE Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agba, Lawrence C.; David, Sunil K.; Rao, Narsing G.; Rahmani, Munir A.

1997-01-01

This document is the final report for the Joint Venture (JOVE) in Space Sciences, and describes the tasks, performed with the support of the contract. These tasks include work in: (1) interfacing microprocessor systems to high performance parallel interface chips, SCSI drive and memory, needed for the implementation of a Space Optical Data Recorder; (2) designing a digital interface architecture for a microprocessor controlled sensors monitoring unit for a NASA Jitter Attenuation and Dynamics Experiment (JADE) project; (3) developing an enhanced back-propagation training algorithm; (4) studying the effect of simulated spaceflight on Aortic Contractility; (5) developing a course in astronomy; and (6) improving internet access by running cables, and installing hubs in various places on the campus; and (7) researching the characteristics of Nd:YALO laser resonator.

Portable Virtual Training Units

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malone, Reagan; Johnston, Alan

2015-01-01

The Mission Operations Lab initiated a project to design, develop, deliver, test, and validate a unique training system for astronaut and ground support personnel. In an effort to keep training costs low, virtual training units (VTUs) have been designed based on images of actual hardware and manipulated by a touch screen style interface for ground support personnel training. This project helped modernized the training system and materials by integrating them with mobile devices for training when operators or crew are unavailable to physically train in the facility. This project also tested the concept of a handheld remote device to control integrated trainers using International Space Station (ISS) training simulators as a platform. The portable VTU can interface with the full-sized VTU, allowing a trainer co-located with a trainee to remotely manipulate a VTU and evaluate a trainee's response. This project helped determine if it is useful, cost effective, and beneficial for the instructor to have a portable handheld device to control the behavior of the models during training. This project has advanced NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) VTU capabilities with modern and relevant technology to support space flight training needs of today and tomorrow.

VIPER project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kershaw, John

1990-01-01

The VIPER project has so far produced a formal specification of a 32 bit RISC microprocessor, an implementation of that chip in radiation-hard SOS technology, a partial proof of correctness of the implementation which is still being extended, and a large body of supporting software. The time has now come to consider what has been achieved and what directions should be pursued in the future. The most obvious lesson from the VIPER project was the time and effort needed to use formal methods properly. Most of the problems arose in the interfaces between different formalisms, e.g., between the (informal) English description and the HOL spec, between the block-level spec in HOL and the equivalent in ELLA needed by the low-level CAD tools. These interfaces need to be made rigorous or (better) eliminated. VIPER 1A (the latest chip) is designed to operate in pairs, to give protection against breakdowns in service as well as design faults. We have come to regard redundancy and formal design methods as complementary, the one to guard against normal component failures and the other to provide insurance against the risk of the common-cause failures which bedevil reliability predictions. Any future VIPER chips will certainly need improved performance to keep up with increasingly demanding applications. We have a prototype design (not yet specified formally) which includes 32 and 64 bit multiply, instruction pre-fetch, more efficient interface timing, and a new instruction to allow a quick response to peripheral requests. Work is under way to specify this device in MIRANDA, and then to refine the spec into a block-level design by top-down transformations. When the refinement is complete, a relatively simple proof checker should be able to demonstrate its correctness. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

ARO-YIP (Materials By Design): Organic Photovoltaic Multiferroics

DTIC Science & Technology

Materials-by- design and self-assembly principles are applied to organic functional materials to control their morphology, interface, and crystalline...multifunctional properties, such as dielectric, magnetic, optoelectronic, and magnetoelectric coupling behaviors. The control of organic crystallization and...electronics. In this project, we aim at utilizing the material design and assembly strategies to rationally develop organic multiferroic-photovoltaics

UAV Swarm Operational Risk Assessment System

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

a SIPRNET connection. For practicality in development of this prototype, the interface was created using the MATLAB GUI language . By design, the use ...and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE September 2015 3...discrete-event simulation of UAV swarm attacks using ExtendSim, statistical analysis of the simulation data using Minitab, and a graphical user interface

Small Projects Rapid Integration and Test Environment (SPRITE): Application for Increasing Robustness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rakoczy, John; Heater, Daniel; Lee, Ashley

2013-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Small Projects Rapid Integration and Test Environment (SPRITE) is a Hardware-In-The-Loop (HWIL) facility that provides rapid development, integration, and testing capabilities for small projects (CubeSats, payloads, spacecraft, and launch vehicles). This facility environment focuses on efficient processes and modular design to support rapid prototyping, integration, testing and verification of small projects at an affordable cost, especially compared to larger type HWIL facilities. SPRITE (Figure 1) consists of a "core" capability or "plant" simulation platform utilizing a graphical programming environment capable of being rapidly re-configured for any potential test article's space environments, as well as a standard set of interfaces (i.e. Mil-Std 1553, Serial, Analog, Digital, etc.). SPRITE also allows this level of interface testing of components and subsystems very early in a program, thereby reducing program risk.

An integrated knowledge system for wind tunnel testing - Project Engineers' Intelligent Assistant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Ching F.; Shi, George Z.; Hoyt, W. A.; Steinle, Frank W., Jr.

1993-01-01

The Project Engineers' Intelligent Assistant (PEIA) is an integrated knowledge system developed using artificial intelligence technology, including hypertext, expert systems, and dynamic user interfaces. This system integrates documents, engineering codes, databases, and knowledge from domain experts into an enriched hypermedia environment and was designed to assist project engineers in planning and conducting wind tunnel tests. PEIA is a modular system which consists of an intelligent user-interface, seven modules and an integrated tool facility. Hypermedia technology is discussed and the seven PEIA modules are described. System maintenance and updating is very easy due to the modular structure and the integrated tool facility provides user access to commercial software shells for documentation, reporting, or database updating. PEIA is expected to provide project engineers with technical information, increase efficiency and productivity, and provide a realistic tool for personnel training.

Launch Control Network Engineer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Medeiros, Samantha

2017-01-01

The Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) is being built at the Kennedy Space Center in order to successfully launch NASA’s revolutionary vehicle that allows humans to explore further into space than ever before. During my internship, I worked with the Network, Firewall, and Hardware teams that are all contributing to the huge SCCS network project effort. I learned the SCCS network design and the several concepts that are running in the background. I also updated and designed documentation for physical networks that are part of SCCS. This includes being able to assist and build physical installations as well as configurations. I worked with the network design for vehicle telemetry interfaces to the Launch Control System (LCS); this allows the interface to interact with other systems at other NASA locations. This network design includes the Space Launch System (SLS), Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), and the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). I worked on the network design and implementation in the Customer Avionics Interface Development and Analysis (CAIDA) lab.

Collaborations in art/science: Renaissance teams.

PubMed

Cox, D J

1991-01-01

A Renaissance Team is a group of specialists who collaborate and provide synergism in the quest for knowledge and information. Artists can participate in Renaissance Teams with scientists and computer specialists for scientific visualization projects. Some projects are described in which the author functioned as programmer and color expert, as interface designer, as visual paradigm maker, as animator, and as producer. Examples are provided for each of these five projects.

Adaptive and Adaptable Automation Design: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Future Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kaber, David B.

2006-01-01

This report presents a review of literature on approaches to adaptive and adaptable task/function allocation and adaptive interface technologies for effective human management of complex systems that are likely to be issues for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, and a focus of research under the Aviation Safety Program, Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Project. Contemporary literature retrieved from an online database search is summarized and integrated. The major topics include the effects of delegation-type, adaptable automation on human performance, workload and situation awareness, the effectiveness of various automation invocation philosophies and strategies to function allocation in adaptive systems, and the role of user modeling in adaptive interface design and the performance implications of adaptive interface technology.

Hypertext-based design of a user interface for scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woerner, Irene W.; Biefeld, Eric

1993-01-01

Operations Mission Planner (OMP) is an ongoing research project at JPL that utilizes AI techniques to create an intelligent, automated planning and scheduling system. The information space reflects the complexity and diversity of tasks necessary in most real-world scheduling problems. Thus the problem of the user interface is to present as much information as possible at a given moment and allow the user to quickly navigate through the various types of displays. This paper describes a design which applies the hypertext model to solve these user interface problems. The general paradigm is to provide maps and search queries to allow the user to quickly find an interesting conflict or problem, and then allow the user to navigate through the displays in a hypertext fashion.

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1997

1997-01-01

Presents abstracts of SIG Sessions. Highlights include digital collections; information retrieval methods; public interest/fair use; classification and indexing; electronic publication; funding; globalization; information technology projects; interface design; networking in developing countries; metadata; multilingual databases; networked…

Rotational fluid flow experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

This project which began in 1986 as part of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Advanced Space Design Program focuses on the design and implementation of an electromechanical system for studying vortex behavior in a microgravity environment. Most of the existing equipment was revised and redesigned by this project team, as necessary. Emphasis was placed on documentation and integration of the electrical and mechanical subsystems. Project results include reconfiguration and thorough testing of all hardware subsystems, implementation of an infrared gas entrainment detector, new signal processing circuitry for the ultrasonic fluid circulation device, improved prototype interface circuits, and software for overall control of experiment operation.

Plastic-Based Structurally Programmable Microfluidic Biochips for Clinical Diagnostics

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

BIOCOMPATIBILITY CRITERIA OF SELECTED UV ADHESIVE LOCTITE 3211™......... 63 1 I. Executive Summary The objective of this project is to develop a smart...added into biochip design for improving the biocompatibility of entire biochip. Detailed problems include: • Design and development of structure... biocompatible biosensor array. 6 • Design and development of the sensor-to-circuit interface. Electronic Control System and Analyzer Design of the

The control of float zone interfaces by the use of selected boundary conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, L. M.; Mcintosh, J.

1983-01-01

The main goal of the float zone crystal growth project of NASA's Materials Processing in Space Program is to thoroughly understand the molten zone/freezing crystal system and all the mechanisms that govern this system. The surface boundary conditions required to give flat float zone solid melt interfaces were studied and computed. The results provide float zone furnace designers with better methods for controlling solid melt interface shapes and for computing thermal profiles and gradients. Documentation and a user's guide were provided for the computer software.

Design of Fit-for-Purpose Cement to Restore Cement-Caprock Seal Integrity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Provost, R.

2015-12-01

This project aims to study critical research needs in the area of rock-cement interfaces, with a special focus on crosscutting applications in the Wellbore Integrity Pillar of the SubTER initiative. This study will focus on design and test fit-for-purpose cement formulations. The goals of this project are as follows: 1) perform preliminary study of dispersing nanomaterial admixtures in Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) mixes, 2) characterize the cement-rock interface, and 3) identify potential high-performance cement additives that can improve sorption behavior, chemical durability, bond strength, and interfacial fracture toughness, as appropriate to specific subsurface operational needs. The work presented here focuses on a study of cement-shale interfaces to better understand failure mechanisms, with particular attention to measuring bond strength at the cement-shale interface. Both experimental testing and computational modeling were conducted to determine the mechanical behavior at the interface representing the interaction of cement and shale of a typical wellbore environment. Cohesive zone elements are used in the finite element method to computationally simulate the interface of the cement and rock materials with varying properties. Understanding the bond strength and mechanical performance of the cement-formation interface is critical to wellbore applications such as sequestration, oil and gas production and exploration and nuclear waste disposal. Improved shear bond strength is an indication of the capability of the interface to ensure zonal isolation and prevent zonal communication, two crucial goals in preserving wellbore integrity. Understanding shear bond strength development and interface mechanics will provide an idea as to how the cement-formation interface can be altered under environmental changes (temperature, pressure, chemical degradation, etc.) so that the previously described objectives can be achieved. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND #: SAND2015-6523 A

PIR-1 and PIRPL. A Project in Robotics Education. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schultz, Charles P.

This paper presents the results of a project in robotics education that included: (1) designing a mobile robot--the Personal Instructional Robot-1 (PIR-1); (2) providing a guide to the purchase and assembly of necessary parts; (3) providing a way to interface the robot with common classroom microcomputers; and (4) providing a language by which the…

The Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD) v.5: a metadata management system based on a four level (meta)genome project classification

PubMed Central

Reddy, T.B.K.; Thomas, Alex D.; Stamatis, Dimitri; Bertsch, Jon; Isbandi, Michelle; Jansson, Jakob; Mallajosyula, Jyothi; Pagani, Ioanna; Lobos, Elizabeth A.; Kyrpides, Nikos C.

2015-01-01

The Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD; http://www.genomesonline.org) is a comprehensive online resource to catalog and monitor genetic studies worldwide. GOLD provides up-to-date status on complete and ongoing sequencing projects along with a broad array of curated metadata. Here we report version 5 (v.5) of the database. The newly designed database schema and web user interface supports several new features including the implementation of a four level (meta)genome project classification system and a simplified intuitive web interface to access reports and launch search tools. The database currently hosts information for about 19 200 studies, 56 000 Biosamples, 56 000 sequencing projects and 39 400 analysis projects. More than just a catalog of worldwide genome projects, GOLD is a manually curated, quality-controlled metadata warehouse. The problems encountered in integrating disparate and varying quality data into GOLD are briefly highlighted. GOLD fully supports and follows the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) Minimum Information standards. PMID:25348402

Systems engineering implementation in the preliminary design phase of the Giant Magellan Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maiten, J.; Johns, M.; Trancho, G.; Sawyer, D.; Mady, P.

2012-09-01

Like many telescope projects today, the 24.5-meter Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is truly a complex system. The primary and secondary mirrors of the GMT are segmented and actuated to support two operating modes: natural seeing and adaptive optics. GMT is a general-purpose telescope supporting multiple science instruments operated in those modes. GMT is a large, diverse collaboration and development includes geographically distributed teams. The need to implement good systems engineering processes for managing the development of systems like GMT becomes imperative. The management of the requirements flow down from the science requirements to the component level requirements is an inherently difficult task in itself. The interfaces must also be negotiated so that the interactions between subsystems and assemblies are well defined and controlled. This paper will provide an overview of the systems engineering processes and tools implemented for the GMT project during the preliminary design phase. This will include requirements management, documentation and configuration control, interface development and technical risk management. Because of the complexity of the GMT system and the distributed team, using web-accessible tools for collaboration is vital. To accomplish this GMTO has selected three tools: Cognition Cockpit, Xerox Docushare, and Solidworks Enterprise Product Data Management (EPDM). Key to this is the use of Cockpit for managing and documenting the product tree, architecture, error budget, requirements, interfaces, and risks. Additionally, drawing management is accomplished using an EPDM vault. Docushare, a documentation and configuration management tool is used to manage workflow of documents and drawings for the GMT project. These tools electronically facilitate collaboration in real time, enabling the GMT team to track, trace and report on key project metrics and design parameters.

Are your engineers talking to one another when they should?

PubMed

Sosa, Manuel E; Eppinger, Steven D; Rowles, Craig M

2007-11-01

Communication may not be on managers' minds at companies that design complex, highly engineered products, but it should be. When mistakes take place, it's often because product-component teams fail to talk. The consequences can be huge: Ford and Bridgestone Firestone lost billions by not coordinating the design of the Explorer with the design of its tires. The major delays and cost overruns involved in the development of Airbus's A380 "superjumbo"--which most likely led to the CEO's exit--were a result of unforeseen design incompatibilities. To help managers mitigate such problems, the authors present a new application of the design structure matrix, a project management tool that maps the flow of information and its impact on product development. Drawing on research into how Pratt & Whitney handled the development of the PW4098 jet engine, they have developed an approach that uncovers (a) areas where communication should be occurring but is not (unattended interfaces, usually bad) and (b) areas where communication is occurring but has not been planned for (unidentified interfaces, usually good). After finding the unattended and unidentified interfaces, the next step is to figure out the causes of the critical ones. If a significant number of unattended interfaces cross organizational boundaries, executives may need to redraw organizational lines. Executives can then manage the remaining critical interfaces by extending the responsibilities of existing integration teams (those responsible for cross-system aspects, such as a jet engine's fuel economy) to include supervising the interaction, by dedicating teams to specific interfaces, or by formally charging teams already involved with the interfaces to oversee them. Finally, it's important to ensure that the teams are working with compatible design equipment; inconsistencies between CAD tools have cost Airbus dearly.

Open ISEmeter: An open hardware high-impedance interface for potentiometric detection.

PubMed

Salvador, C; Mesa, M S; Durán, E; Alvarez, J L; Carbajo, J; Mozo, J D

2016-05-01

In this work, a new open hardware interface based on Arduino to read electromotive force (emf) from potentiometric detectors is presented. The interface has been fully designed with the open code philosophy and all documentation will be accessible on web. The paper describes a comprehensive project including the electronic design, the firmware loaded on Arduino, and the Java-coded graphical user interface to load data in a computer (PC or Mac) for processing. The prototype was tested by measuring the calibration curve of a detector. As detection element, an active poly(vinyl chloride)-based membrane was used, doped with cetyltrimethylammonium dodecylsulphate (CTA(+)-DS(-)). The experimental measures of emf indicate Nernstian behaviour with the CTA(+) content of test solutions, as it was described in the literature, proving the validity of the developed prototype. A comparative analysis of performance was made by using the same chemical detector but changing the measurement instrumentation.

Viper cabin-fuselage structural design concept with engine installation and wing structural design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marchesseault, B.; Carr, D.; Mccorkle, T.; Stevens, C.; Turner, D.

1993-01-01

This report describes the process and considerations in designing the cabin, nose, drive shaft, and wing assemblies for the 'Viper' concept aircraft. Interfaces of these assemblies, as well as interfaces with the sections of the aircraft aft of the cabin, are also discussed. The results of the design process are included. The goal of this project is to provide a structural design which complies with FAR 23 requirements regarding occupant safety, emergency landing loads, and maneuvering loads. The design must also address the interfaces of the various systems in the cabin, nose, and wing, including the drive shaft, venting, vacuum, electrical, fuel, and control systems. Interfaces between the cabin assembly and the wing carrythrough and empennage assemblies were required, as well. In the design of the wing assemblies, consistency with the existing cabin design was required. The major areas considered in this report are materials and construction, loading, maintenance, environmental considerations, wing assembly fatigue, and weight. The first three areas are developed separately for the nose, cabin, drive shaft, and wing assemblies, while the last three are discussed for the entire design. For each assembly, loading calculations were performed to determine the proper sizing of major load carrying components. Table 1.0 lists the resulting margins of safety for these key components, along with the types of the loads involved, and the page number upon which they are discussed.

A Large-Scale Design Integration Approach Developed in Conjunction with the Ares Launch Vehicle Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redmon, John W.; Shirley, Michael C.; Kinard, Paul S.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a method for performing large-scale design integration, taking a classical 2D drawing envelope and interface approach and applying it to modern three dimensional computer aided design (3D CAD) systems. Today, the paradigm often used when performing design integration with 3D models involves a digital mockup of an overall vehicle, in the form of a massive, fully detailed, CAD assembly; therefore, adding unnecessary burden and overhead to design and product data management processes. While fully detailed data may yield a broad depth of design detail, pertinent integration features are often obscured under the excessive amounts of information, making them difficult to discern. In contrast, the envelope and interface method results in a reduction in both the amount and complexity of information necessary for design integration while yielding significant savings in time and effort when applied to today's complex design integration projects. This approach, combining classical and modern methods, proved advantageous during the complex design integration activities of the Ares I vehicle. Downstream processes, benefiting from this approach by reducing development and design cycle time, include: Creation of analysis models for the Aerodynamic discipline; Vehicle to ground interface development; Documentation development for the vehicle assembly.

Standardized Modular Power Interfaces for Future Space Explorations Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oeftering, Richard

2015-01-01

Earlier studies show that future human explorations missions are composed of multi-vehicle assemblies with interconnected electric power systems. Some vehicles are often intended to serve as flexible multi-purpose or multi-mission platforms. This drives the need for power architectures that can be reconfigured to support this level of flexibility. Power system developmental costs can be reduced, program wide, by utilizing a common set of modular building blocks. Further, there are mission operational and logistics cost benefits of using a common set of modular spares. These benefits are the goals of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Modular Power System (AMPS) project. A common set of modular blocks requires a substantial level of standardization in terms of the Electrical, Data System, and Mechanical interfaces. The AMPS project is developing a set of proposed interface standards that will provide useful guidance for modular hardware developers but not needlessly constrain technology options, or limit future growth in capability. In 2015 the AMPS project focused on standardizing the interfaces between the elements of spacecraft power distribution and energy storage. The development of the modular power standard starts with establishing mission assumptions and ground rules to define design application space. The standards are defined in terms of AMPS objectives including Commonality, Reliability-Availability, Flexibility-Configurability and Supportability-Reusability. The proposed standards are aimed at assembly and sub-assembly level building blocks. AMPS plans to adopt existing standards for spacecraft command and data, software, network interfaces, and electrical power interfaces where applicable. Other standards including structural encapsulation, heat transfer, and fluid transfer, are governed by launch and spacecraft environments and bound by practical limitations of weight and volume. Developing these mechanical interface standards is more difficult but an essential part of defining physical building blocks of modular power. This presentation describes the AMPS projects progress towards standardized modular power interfaces.

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance, volume 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boff, Kenneth R. (Editor); Lincoln, Janet E. (Editor)

1988-01-01

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a research and development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design of military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by system designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is Volume 3, containing sections on Human Language Processing, Operator Motion Control, Effects of Environmental Stressors, Display Interfaces, and Control Interfaces (Real/Virtual).

Project Integration Architecture (PIA) and Computational Analysis Programming Interface (CAPRI) for Accessing Geometry Data from CAD Files

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benyo, Theresa L.

2002-01-01

Integration of a supersonic inlet simulation with a computer aided design (CAD) system is demonstrated. The integration is performed using the Project Integration Architecture (PIA). PIA provides a common environment for wrapping many types of applications. Accessing geometry data from CAD files is accomplished by incorporating appropriate function calls from the Computational Analysis Programming Interface (CAPRI). CAPRI is a CAD vendor neutral programming interface that aids in acquiring geometry data directly from CAD files. The benefits of wrapping a supersonic inlet simulation into PIA using CAPRI are; direct access of geometry data, accurate capture of geometry data, automatic conversion of data units, CAD vendor neutral operation, and on-line interactive history capture. This paper describes the PIA and the CAPRI wrapper and details the supersonic inlet simulation demonstration.

Developing a Graphical User Interface for the ALSS Crop Planning Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koehlert, Erik

1997-01-01

The goal of my project was to create a graphical user interface for a prototype crop scheduler. The crop scheduler was developed by Dr. Jorge Leon and Laura Whitaker for the ALSS (Advanced Life Support System) program. The addition of a system-independent graphical user interface to the crop planning tool will make the application more accessible to a wider range of users and enhance its value as an analysis, design, and planning tool. My presentation will demonstrate the form and functionality of this interface. This graphical user interface allows users to edit system parameters stored in the file system. Data on the interaction of the crew, crops, and waste processing system with the available system resources is organized and labeled. Program output, which is stored in the file system, is also presented to the user in performance-time plots and organized charts. The menu system is designed to guide the user through analysis and decision making tasks, providing some help if necessary. The Java programming language was used to develop this interface in hopes of providing portability and remote operation.

Automating a human factors evaluation of graphical user interfaces for NASA applications: An update on CHIMES

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jiang, Jian-Ping; Murphy, Elizabeth D.; Bailin, Sidney C.; Truszkowski, Walter F.

1993-01-01

Capturing human factors knowledge about the design of graphical user interfaces (GUI's) and applying this knowledge on-line are the primary objectives of the Computer-Human Interaction Models (CHIMES) project. The current CHIMES prototype is designed to check a GUI's compliance with industry-standard guidelines, general human factors guidelines, and human factors recommendations on color usage. Following the evaluation, CHIMES presents human factors feedback and advice to the GUI designer. The paper describes the approach to modeling human factors guidelines, the system architecture, a new method developed to convert quantitative RGB primaries into qualitative color representations, and the potential for integrating CHIMES with user interface management systems (UIMS). Both the conceptual approach and its implementation are discussed. This paper updates the presentation on CHIMES at the first International Symposium on Ground Data Systems for Spacecraft Control.

Space station MSFC-DPD-235/DR no. MA-05 phase C/D program development plan. Volume 2: Phase C/D, programmatic requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The design plan requirements define the design implementation and control requirements for Phase C/D of the Modular Space Station Project and specifically address the Initial Space Station phase of the Space Station Program (modular). It is based primarily on the specific objective of translating the requirements of the Space Station Program, Project, Interface, and Support Requirements and preliminary contract end x item specifications into detail design of the operational systems which comprise the initial space station. This document is designed to guide aerospace contractors in the planning and bidding for Phase C/D.

Comparison of the Booster Interface Temperature in Stainless Steel (SS) V-Channel Versus the Aluminum (Al) Y-Channel Primer Chamber Assemblies (PCAs). Volume 2; Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garcia, Roberto; Saulsberry, Regor L.

2011-01-01

NASA's Technical Fellow for Propulsion, requested a technical assessment of the performance improvement achieved by the introduction of the stainless steel (SS) V-channel compared to the aluminum (Al) Y-channel Primer Chamber Assembly (PCA) design. The SS V-channel PCA was developed for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Project. The principle focus of the assessment was to measure the transient temperature at the booster interface with both designs. This document contains the Appendices to the Volume I main report.

Open Technology Approaches to Geospatial Interface Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crevensten, B.; Simmons, D.; Alaska Satellite Facility

2011-12-01

What problems do you not want your software developers to be solving? Choosing open technologies across the entire stack of software development-from low-level shared libraries to high-level user interaction implementations-is a way to help ensure that customized software yields innovative and valuable tools for Earth Scientists. This demonstration will review developments in web application technologies and the recurring patterns of interaction design regarding exploration and discovery of geospatial data through the Vertex: ASF's Dataportal interface, a project utilizing current open web application standards and technologies including HTML5, jQueryUI, Backbone.js and the Jasmine unit testing framework.

Comparison of the Booster Interface Temperature in Stainless Steel (SS) V-Channel versus the Aluminum (Al) Y-Channel Primer Chamber Assemblies (PCAs). Volume 1; Technical Assessment Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garcia, Roberto; Saulsberry, Regor L.

2011-01-01

NASA's Technical Fellow for Propulsion, requested a technical assessment of the performance improvement achieved by the introduction of the stainless steel (SS) V-channel compared to the aluminum (Al) Y-channel Primer Chamber Assembly (PCA) design. The SS V-channel PCA was developed for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Project. The principle focus of the assessment was to measure the transient temperature at the booster interface with both designs. This document contains the findings of the assessment.

A thermal scale modeling study for Apollo and Apollo applications, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shannon, R. L.

1972-01-01

The program is reported for developing and demonstrating the capabilities of thermal scale modeling as a thermal design and verification tool for Apollo and Apollo Applications Projects. The work performed for thermal scale modeling of STB; cabin atmosphere/spacecraft cabin wall thermal interface; closed loop heat rejection radiator; and docked module/spacecraft thermal interface are discussed along with the test facility requirements for thermal scale model testing of AAP spacecraft. It is concluded that thermal scale modeling can be used as an effective thermal design and verification tool to provide data early in a spacecraft development program.

System Modeling of a large FPGA project: the SKA Tile Processing Module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belli, C.; Comoretto, G.

Large projects like the SKA have an intrinsic complexity due to their scale. In this context, the application of a management design system becomes fundamental. For this purpose the SysML language, a UML customization for engineering applications, has been applied. As far as our work is concerned, we focused on the SKA Low Telescope - Tile Processing Module, designing diagrams at different detail levels. We designed a conceptual model of the TPM, primarily focusing on the main interfaces and the major data flows between product items. Functionalities are derived from use cases and allocated to hardware modules in order to guarantee the project's internal consistency and features. This model has been used both as internal documentation and as job specification, to commit part of the design to external entities.

Intelligent command and control systems for satellite ground operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mitchell, Christine M.

1994-01-01

The Georgia Tech portion of the Intelligent Control Center project includes several complementary activities. Two major activities entail thesis level research; the other activities are either support activities or preliminary explorations (e.g., task analyses) to support the research. The first research activity is the development of principles for the design of active interfaces to support monitoring during real-time supports. It is well known that as the operator's task becomes less active, i.e., more monitoring and less active control, there is concern that the operator will be less involved and less able to rapidly identify anomalous or failure situations. The research project to design active monitoring interfaces is an attempt to remediate this undesirable side-effect of increasingly automated control systems that still depend ultimately on operator supervision. The second research activity is the exploration of the use of case-based reasoning as a way to accumulate operator experience and make it available in computational form.

Overview of Graphical User Interface for ARRBOD (Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose Projection)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Hu, Shaowen; Nounu, Hatem N.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

2010-01-01

Solar particle events (SPEs) pose the risk of acute radiation sickness (ARS) to astronauts, because organ doses from large SPEs may reach critical levels during extra vehicular activities (EVAs) or lightly shielded spacecraft. NASA has developed an organ dose projection model of Baryon transport code (BRYNTRN) with an output data processing module of SUMDOSE, and a probabilistic model of acute radiation risk (ARR). BRYNTRN code operation requires extensive input preparation, and the risk projection models of organ doses and ARR take the output from BRYNTRN as an input to their calculations. With a graphical user interface (GUI) to handle input and output for BRYNTRN, these response models can be connected easily and correctly to BRYNTRN in a user friendly way. The GUI for the Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose (ARRBOD) projection code provides seamless integration of input and output manipulations required for operations of the ARRBOD modules: BRYNTRN, SUMDOSE, and the ARR probabilistic response model. The ARRBOD GUI is intended for mission planners, radiation shield designers, space operations in the mission operations directorate (MOD), and space biophysics researchers. Assessment of astronauts organ doses and ARS from the exposure to historically large SPEs is in support of mission design and operation planning to avoid ARS and stay within the current NASA short-term dose limits. The ARRBOD GUI will serve as a proof-of-concept for future integration of other risk projection models for human space applications. We present an overview of the ARRBOD GUI product, which is a new self-contained product, for the major components of the overall system, subsystem interconnections, and external interfaces.

Research and Development for an Operational Information Ecology: The User-System Interface Agent Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Sadanand; deLamadrid, James

1998-01-01

The User System Interface Agent (USIA) is a special type of software agent which acts as the "middle man" between a human user and an information processing environment. USIA consists of a group of cooperating agents which are responsible for assisting users in obtaining information processing services intuitively and efficiently. Some of the main features of USIA include: (1) multiple interaction modes and (2) user-specific and stereotype modeling and adaptation. This prototype system provides us with a development platform towards the realization of an operational information ecology. In the first phase of this project we focus on the design and implementation of prototype system of the User-System Interface Agent (USIA). The second face of USIA allows user interaction via a restricted query language as well as through a taxonomy of windows. In third phase the USIA system architecture was revised.

Functional description of a command and control language tutor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elke, David R.; Seamster, Thomas L.; Truszkowski, Walter

1990-01-01

The status of an ongoing project to explore the application of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) technology to NASA command and control languages is described. The primary objective of the current phase of the project is to develop a user interface for an ITS to assist NASA control center personnel in learning Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL). Although this ITS will be developed for Gamma Ray Observatory operators, it will be designed with sufficient flexibility so that its modules may serve as an ITS for other control languages such as the User Interface Language (UIL). The focus of this phase is to develop at least one other form of STOL representation to complement the operational STOL interface. Such an alternative representation would be adaptively employed during the tutoring session to facilitate the learning process. This is a key feature of this ITS which distinguishes it from a simulator that is only capable of representing the operational environment.

Integrated support structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruneau, Stephen D.; Campbell, John T.; Struven, Christopher A.

1990-01-01

This Major Qualifying Project is part of the Advanced Space Design Program at WPI. The goal is to design a support structure for a NASA GetAway Special experimental canister. The payload integration, weight, volume, and structural integrity of the canister as specified by NASA guidelines were studied. The end result is a complete set of design drawings with interface drawings and data to specify the design and leave a base on which the next group can concentrate.

VIEWCACHE: An incremental pointer-base access method for distributed databases. Part 1: The universal index system design document. Part 2: The universal index system low-level design document. Part 3: User's guide. Part 4: Reference manual. Part 5: UIMS test suite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelley, Steve; Roussopoulos, Nick; Sellis, Timos

1992-01-01

The goal of the Universal Index System (UIS), is to provide an easy-to-use and reliable interface to many different kinds of database systems. The impetus for this system was to simplify database index management for users, thus encouraging the use of indexes. As the idea grew into an actual system design, the concept of increasing database performance by facilitating the use of time-saving techniques at the user level became a theme for the project. This Final Report describes the Design, the Implementation of UIS, and its Language Interfaces. It also includes the User's Guide and the Reference Manual.

Engineering monitoring expert system's developer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Ching F.

1991-01-01

This research project is designed to apply artificial intelligence technology including expert systems, dynamic interface of neural networks, and hypertext to construct an expert system developer. The developer environment is specifically suited to building expert systems which monitor the performance of ground support equipment for propulsion systems and testing facilities. The expert system developer, through the use of a graphics interface and a rule network, will be transparent to the user during rule constructing and data scanning of the knowledge base. The project will result in a software system that allows its user to build specific monitoring type expert systems which monitor various equipments used for propulsion systems or ground testing facilities and accrues system performance information in a dynamic knowledge base.

A Randomized Trial Comparing Classical Participatory Design to VandAID, an Interactive CrowdSourcing Platform to Facilitate User-centered Design.

PubMed

Dufendach, Kevin R; Koch, Sabine; Unertl, Kim M; Lehmann, Christoph U

2017-10-26

Early involvement of stakeholders in the design of medical software is particularly important due to the need to incorporate complex knowledge and actions associated with clinical work. Standard user-centered design methods include focus groups and participatory design sessions with individual stakeholders, which generally limit user involvement to a small number of individuals due to the significant time investments from designers and end users. The goal of this project was to reduce the effort for end users to participate in co-design of a software user interface by developing an interactive web-based crowdsourcing platform. In a randomized trial, we compared a new web-based crowdsourcing platform to standard participatory design sessions. We developed an interactive, modular platform that allows responsive remote customization and design feedback on a visual user interface based on user preferences. The responsive canvas is a dynamic HTML template that responds in real time to user preference selections. Upon completion, the design team can view the user's interface creations through an administrator portal and download the structured selections through a REDCap interface. We have created a software platform that allows users to customize a user interface and see the results of that customization in real time, receiving immediate feedback on the impact of their design choices. Neonatal clinicians used the new platform to successfully design and customize a neonatal handoff tool. They received no specific instruction and yet were able to use the software easily and reported high usability. VandAID, a new web-based crowdsourcing platform, can involve multiple users in user-centered design simultaneously and provides means of obtaining design feedback remotely. The software can provide design feedback at any stage in the design process, but it will be of greatest utility for specifying user requirements and evaluating iterative designs with multiple options.

Spacecraft optical disk recorder memory buffer control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodson, Robert F.

1992-01-01

The goal of this project is to develop an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for use in the control electronics of the Spacecraft Optical Disk Recorder (SODR). Specifically, this project is to design an extendable memory buffer controller ASIC for rate matching between a system Input/Output port and the SODR's device interface. The aforementioned goal can be partitioned into the following sub-goals: (1) completion of ASIC design and simulation (on-going via ASEE fellowship); (2) ASIC Fabrication (at ASIC manufacturer); and (3) ASIC Testing (NASA/LaRC, Christopher Newport University).

A Visual Database System for Image Analysis on Parallel Computers and its Application to the EOS Amazon Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shapiro, Linda G.; Tanimoto, Steven L.; Ahrens, James P.

1996-01-01

The goal of this task was to create a design and prototype implementation of a database environment that is particular suited for handling the image, vision and scientific data associated with the NASA's EOC Amazon project. The focus was on a data model and query facilities that are designed to execute efficiently on parallel computers. A key feature of the environment is an interface which allows a scientist to specify high-level directives about how query execution should occur.

LSST summit facility construction progress report: reacting to design refinements and field conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barr, Jeffrey D.; Gressler, William; Sebag, Jacques; Seriche, Jaime; Serrano, Eduardo

2016-07-01

The civil work, site infrastructure and buildings for the summit facility of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) are among the first major elements that need to be designed, bid and constructed to support the subsequent integration of the dome, telescope, optics, camera and supporting systems. As the contracts for those other major subsystems now move forward under the management of the LSST Telescope and Site (T and S) team, there has been inevitable and beneficial evolution in their designs, which has resulted in significant modifications to the facility and infrastructure. The earliest design requirements for the LSST summit facility were first documented in 2005, its contracted full design was initiated in 2010, and construction began in January, 2015. During that entire development period, and extending now roughly halfway through construction, there continue to be necessary modifications to the facility design resulting from the refinement of interfaces to other major elements of the LSST project and now, during construction, due to unanticipated field conditions. Changes from evolving interfaces have principally involved the telescope mount, the dome and mirror handling/coating facilities which have included significant variations in mass, dimensions, heat loads and anchorage conditions. Modifications related to field conditions have included specifying and testing alternative methods of excavation and contending with the lack of competent rock substrate where it was predicted to be. While these and other necessary changes are somewhat specific to the LSST project and site, they also exemplify inherent challenges related to the typical timeline for the design and construction of astronomical observatory support facilities relative to the overall development of the project.

KAnalyze: a fast versatile pipelined K-mer toolkit

PubMed Central

Audano, Peter; Vannberg, Fredrik

2014-01-01

Motivation: Converting nucleotide sequences into short overlapping fragments of uniform length, k-mers, is a common step in many bioinformatics applications. While existing software packages count k-mers, few are optimized for speed, offer an application programming interface (API), a graphical interface or contain features that make it extensible and maintainable. We designed KAnalyze to compete with the fastest k-mer counters, to produce reliable output and to support future development efforts through well-architected, documented and testable code. Currently, KAnalyze can output k-mer counts in a sorted tab-delimited file or stream k-mers as they are read. KAnalyze can process large datasets with 2 GB of memory. This project is implemented in Java 7, and the command line interface (CLI) is designed to integrate into pipelines written in any language. Results: As a k-mer counter, KAnalyze outperforms Jellyfish, DSK and a pipeline built on Perl and Linux utilities. Through extensive unit and system testing, we have verified that KAnalyze produces the correct k-mer counts over multiple datasets and k-mer sizes. Availability and implementation: KAnalyze is available on SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/kanalyze/ Contact: fredrik.vannberg@biology.gatech.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:24642064

KAnalyze: a fast versatile pipelined k-mer toolkit.

PubMed

Audano, Peter; Vannberg, Fredrik

2014-07-15

Converting nucleotide sequences into short overlapping fragments of uniform length, k-mers, is a common step in many bioinformatics applications. While existing software packages count k-mers, few are optimized for speed, offer an application programming interface (API), a graphical interface or contain features that make it extensible and maintainable. We designed KAnalyze to compete with the fastest k-mer counters, to produce reliable output and to support future development efforts through well-architected, documented and testable code. Currently, KAnalyze can output k-mer counts in a sorted tab-delimited file or stream k-mers as they are read. KAnalyze can process large datasets with 2 GB of memory. This project is implemented in Java 7, and the command line interface (CLI) is designed to integrate into pipelines written in any language. As a k-mer counter, KAnalyze outperforms Jellyfish, DSK and a pipeline built on Perl and Linux utilities. Through extensive unit and system testing, we have verified that KAnalyze produces the correct k-mer counts over multiple datasets and k-mer sizes. KAnalyze is available on SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/kanalyze/. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

M.E.366-J embodiment design project: Portable foot restraint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaton, Randall; Meyer, Eikar; Schmidt, Davey; Enders, Kevin

1994-01-01

During space shuttle operations, astronauts require support to carry out tasks in the weightless environment. In the past, portable foot restraints (PFR) with orientations adjustable in pitch, roll, and yaw provided this support for payload bay operations. These foot restraints, however, were designed for specific tasks with a load limit of 111.2 Newtons. Since the original design, new applications for foot restraints have been identified. New designs for the foot restraints have been created to boost the operational work load to 444.8 Newtons and decrease setup times. What remains to be designed is an interface between the restraint system and the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) boots. NASA provided a proposed locking device involving a spring-loaded mechanism. This locking mechanism must withstand loads of 1334.4 Newtons in any direction and weigh less than 222.4 Newtons. This paper develops an embodiment design for the interface between the PFR and the EMU boots. This involves design of the locking mechanism and a removable cleat that allows the boot to interface with this mechanism. The design team used the Paul Beitz engineering methodology to present the systematic development, structural analysis, and production considerations of the embodiment design. This methodology provides a basis for understanding the justification behind the decisions made in the design.

Human factors in space telepresence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akin, D. L.; Howard, R. D.; Oliveria, J. S.

1983-01-01

The problems of interfacing a human with a teleoperation system, for work in space are discussed. Much of the information presented here is the result of experience gained by the M.I.T. Space Systems Laboratory during the past two years of work on the ARAMIS (Automation, Robotics, and Machine Intelligence Systems) project. Many factors impact the design of the man-machine interface for a teleoperator. The effects of each are described in turn. An annotated bibliography gives the key references that were used. No conclusions are presented as a best design, since much depends on the particular application desired, and the relevant technology is swiftly changing.

Sensory processing and world modeling for an active ranging device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hong, Tsai-Hong; Wu, Angela Y.

1991-01-01

In this project, we studied world modeling and sensory processing for laser range data. World Model data representation and operation were defined. Sensory processing algorithms for point processing and linear feature detection were designed and implemented. The interface between world modeling and sensory processing in the Servo and Primitive levels was investigated and implemented. In the primitive level, linear features detectors for edges were also implemented, analyzed and compared. The existing world model representations is surveyed. Also presented is the design and implementation of the Y-frame model, a hierarchical world model. The interfaces between the world model module and the sensory processing module are discussed as well as the linear feature detectors that were designed and implemented.

Satellite Docking Simulator with Generic Contact Dynamics Capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, O.; Crabtree, D.; Carr, R.; Gonthier, Y.; Martin, E.; Piedboeuf, J.-C.

2002-01-01

Satellite docking (and capture) systems are critical for the servicing or salvage of satellites. Satellite servicing has comparatively recently become a realistic and promising space operation/mission. Satellite servicing includes several of the following operations: rendezvous; docking (capturing); inspection; towing (transporting); refueling; refurbishing (replacement of faulty or "used-up" modules/boxes); and un-docking (releasing). Because spacecraft servicing has been, until recently non-feasible or non-economical, spacecraft servicing technology has been neglected. Accordingly, spacecraft designs have featured self- contained systems without consideration for operational servicing. Consistent with this view, most spacecrafts were designed and built without docking interfaces. If, through some mishap, a spacecraft was rendered non-operational, it was simply considered expendable. Several feasibility studies are in progress on salvaging stranded satellites (which, in fact had led to this project). The task of the designer of the docking system for a salvaging task is difficult. He/she has to work with whatever it is on orbit, and this excludes any special docking interfaces, which might have made his/her task easier. As satellite servicing becomes an accepted design requirement, many future satellites will be equipped with appropriate docking interfaces. The designer of docking systems will be faced with slightly different challenges: reliable, cost-effective, docking (and re-supply) systems. Thus, the role of designers of docking systems will increase from one of a kind, ad-hoc interfaces intended for salvaging operations, to docking systems for satellites and "caretaker" spacecraft which are meant for servicing and are produced in larger numbers. As in any space system (for which full and representative ground hardware test-beds are very expensive and often impossible to develop), simulations are mandatory for the development of systems and operations for satellite servicing. Simulations are also instrumental in concept studies during proposals and early development stages. Finally, simulations are useful during the operational phase of satellite servicing: improving the operational procedures; training ground operators; command and control, etc. Hence the need exists for a Satellite Servicing Simulator, which will support a project throughout its lifecycle. The paper addresses a project to develop a Simulink-based Satellite Docking Simulator (SDS) with generic Contact Dynamics (CD) capabilities. The simulator is intended to meet immediate practical demands for development of complex docking systems and operations at MD Robotics. The docking phase is the most critical and complex phase of the entire servicing sequence, and without docking there is no servicing. Docking mechanisms are often quite complex, especially when built to dock with a satellite manufactured without special docking interfaces. For successful docking operations, the design of a docking system must take into consideration: complexity of 3D geometric shapes defining the contact interfaces; sophistication of the docking mechanism; friction and stiction at the contacting surfaces; compliance (stiffness) and damping, in all axes; positional (translation and rotation) misalignments and relative velocities, in all axes; inertial properties of the docking satellites (including their distribution); complexity of the drive mechanisms and control sub-systems for the overall docking system; fully autonomous or tele-operated docking from the ground; etc. The docking simulator, which makes use of the proven Contact Dynamics Toolkit (CDT) developed by MD Robotics, is thus practically indispensable for the docking system designer. The use of the simulator could greatly reduce the prototyping and development time of a docking interface. A special feature of the simulator, which required an update of CDT, is variable step-size integration. This new capability permits increases in speed to accomplish all the simulation tasks.

The Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD) v.5: a metadata management system based on a four level (meta)genome project classification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reddy, Tatiparthi B. K.; Thomas, Alex D.; Stamatis, Dimitri

The Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD; http://www.genomesonline.org) is a comprehensive online resource to catalog and monitor genetic studies worldwide. GOLD provides up-to-date status on complete and ongoing sequencing projects along with a broad array of curated metadata. Within this paper, we report version 5 (v.5) of the database. The newly designed database schema and web user interface supports several new features including the implementation of a four level (meta)genome project classification system and a simplified intuitive web interface to access reports and launch search tools. The database currently hosts information for about 19 200 studies, 56 000 Biosamples, 56 000 sequencingmore » projects and 39 400 analysis projects. More than just a catalog of worldwide genome projects, GOLD is a manually curated, quality-controlled metadata warehouse. The problems encountered in integrating disparate and varying quality data into GOLD are briefly highlighted. Lastly, GOLD fully supports and follows the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) Minimum Information standards.« less

User systems guidelines for software projects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abrahamson, L.

1986-04-01

This manual presents guidelines for software standards which were developed so that software project-development teams and management involved in approving the software could have a generalized view of all phases in the software production procedure and the steps involved in completing each phase. Guidelines are presented for six phases of software development: project definition, building a user interface, designing software, writing code, testing code, and preparing software documentation. The discussions for each phase include examples illustrating the recommended guidelines. 45 refs. (DWL)

Three Object-Oriented enhancement for EPICS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osberg, E. A.; Dohan, D. A.; Richter, R.; Biggs, R.; Chillara, K.; Wade, D.; Bossom, J.

1994-12-01

In line with our group's intention of producing software using, where possible, Object-Oriented methodologies and techniques in the development of RF control systems, we have undertaken three projects to enhance the EPICS software environment. Two of the projects involve interfaces to EPICs Channel Access from Object-Oriented languages. The third is an enhancement to the EPICS State Notation Language to better support the Shlaer-Mellor Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology. This paper discusses the motivation, approaches, results and future directions of these three projects.

Engineering of Data Acquiring Mobile Software and Sustainable End-User Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Benton T.

2013-01-01

The criteria for which data acquiring software and its supporting infrastructure should be designed should take the following two points into account: the reusability and organization of stored online and remote data and content, and an assessment on whether abandoning a platform optimized design in favor for a multi-platform solution significantly reduces the performance of an end-user application. Furthermore, in-house applications that control or process instrument acquired data for end-users should be designed with a communication and control interface such that the application's modules can be reused as plug-in modular components in greater software systems. The application of the above mentioned is applied using two loosely related projects: a mobile application, and a website containing live and simulated data. For the intelligent devices mobile application AIDM, the end-user interface have a platform and data type optimized design, while the database and back-end applications store this information in an organized manner and manage access to that data to only to authorized user end application(s). Finally, the content for the website was derived from a database such that the content can be included and uniform to all applications accessing the content. With these projects being ongoing, I have concluded from my research that the applicable methods presented are feasible for both projects, and that a multi-platform design for the mobile application only marginally drop the performance of the mobile application.

Open ISEmeter: An open hardware high-impedance interface for potentiometric detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salvador, C.; Carbajo, J.; Mozo, J. D., E-mail: jdaniel.mozo@diq.uhu.es

In this work, a new open hardware interface based on Arduino to read electromotive force (emf) from potentiometric detectors is presented. The interface has been fully designed with the open code philosophy and all documentation will be accessible on web. The paper describes a comprehensive project including the electronic design, the firmware loaded on Arduino, and the Java-coded graphical user interface to load data in a computer (PC or Mac) for processing. The prototype was tested by measuring the calibration curve of a detector. As detection element, an active poly(vinyl chloride)-based membrane was used, doped with cetyltrimethylammonium dodecylsulphate (CTA{sup +}-DS{supmore » −}). The experimental measures of emf indicate Nernstian behaviour with the CTA{sup +} content of test solutions, as it was described in the literature, proving the validity of the developed prototype. A comparative analysis of performance was made by using the same chemical detector but changing the measurement instrumentation.« less

Towards a framework for geospatial tangible user interfaces in collaborative urban planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maquil, Valérie; Leopold, Ulrich; De Sousa, Luís Moreira; Schwartz, Lou; Tobias, Eric

2018-04-01

The increasing complexity of urban planning projects today requires new approaches to better integrate stakeholders with different professional backgrounds throughout a city. Traditional tools used in urban planning are designed for experts and offer little opportunity for participation and collaborative design. This paper introduces the concept of geospatial tangible user interfaces (GTUI) and reports on the design and implementation as well as the usability of such a GTUI to support stakeholder participation in collaborative urban planning. The proposed system uses physical objects to interact with large digital maps and geospatial data projected onto a tabletop. It is implemented using a PostGIS database, a web map server providing OGC web services, the computer vision framework reacTIVision, a Java-based TUIO client, and GeoTools. We describe how a GTUI has be instantiated and evaluated within the scope of two case studies related to real world collaborative urban planning scenarios. Our results confirm the feasibility of our proposed GTUI solutions to (a) instantiate different urban planning scenarios, (b) support collaboration, and (c) ensure an acceptable usability.

An Experimental Investigation of Leak Rate Performance of a Subscale Candidate Elastomer Docking Space Seal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garafolo, Nicholas G.; Daniels, Christopher C.

2011-01-01

A novel docking seal was developed for the main interface seal of NASA s Low Impact Docking System (LIDS). This interface seal was designed to maintain acceptable leak rates while being exposed to the harsh environmental conditions of outer space. In this experimental evaluation, a candidate docking seal assembly called Engineering Development Unit (EDU58) was characterized and evaluated against the Constellation Project leak rate requirement. The EDU58 candidate seal assembly was manufactured from silicone elastomer S0383-70 vacuum molded in a metal retainer ring. Four seal designs were considered with unique characteristic heights. The leak rate performance was characterized through a mass point leak rate method by monitoring gas properties within an internal control volume. The leakage performance of the seals were described herein at representative docking temperatures of -50, +23, and +50 C for all four seal designs. Leak performance was also characterized at 100, 74, and 48 percent of full closure. For all conditions considered, the candidate seal assemblies met the Constellation Project leak rate requirement.

Towards a framework for geospatial tangible user interfaces in collaborative urban planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maquil, Valérie; Leopold, Ulrich; De Sousa, Luís Moreira; Schwartz, Lou; Tobias, Eric

2018-03-01

The increasing complexity of urban planning projects today requires new approaches to better integrate stakeholders with different professional backgrounds throughout a city. Traditional tools used in urban planning are designed for experts and offer little opportunity for participation and collaborative design. This paper introduces the concept of geospatial tangible user interfaces (GTUI) and reports on the design and implementation as well as the usability of such a GTUI to support stakeholder participation in collaborative urban planning. The proposed system uses physical objects to interact with large digital maps and geospatial data projected onto a tabletop. It is implemented using a PostGIS database, a web map server providing OGC web services, the computer vision framework reacTIVision, a Java-based TUIO client, and GeoTools. We describe how a GTUI has be instantiated and evaluated within the scope of two case studies related to real world collaborative urban planning scenarios. Our results confirm the feasibility of our proposed GTUI solutions to (a) instantiate different urban planning scenarios, (b) support collaboration, and (c) ensure an acceptable usability.

Research review for information management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bishop, Peter C.

1988-01-01

The goal of RICIS research in information management is to apply currently available technology to existing problems in information management. Research projects include the following: the Space Business Research Center (SBRC), the Management Information and Decision Support Environment (MIDSE), and the investigation of visual interface technology. Several additional projects issued reports. New projects include the following: (1) the AdaNET project to develop a technology transfer network for software engineering and the Ada programming language; and (2) work on designing a communication system for the Space Station Project Office at JSC. The central aim of all projects is to use information technology to help people work more productively.

Computer interfaces for the visually impaired

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higgins, Gerry

1991-01-01

Information access via computer terminals extends to blind and low vision persons employed in many technical and nontechnical disciplines. Two aspects are detailed of providing computer technology for persons with a vision related handicap. First, research into the most effective means of integrating existing adaptive technologies into information systems was made. This was conducted to integrate off the shelf products with adaptive equipment for cohesive integrated information processing systems. Details are included that describe the type of functionality required in software to facilitate its incorporation into a speech and/or braille system. The second aspect is research into providing audible and tactile interfaces to graphics based interfaces. Parameters are included for the design and development of the Mercator Project. The project will develop a prototype system for audible access to graphics based interfaces. The system is being built within the public domain architecture of X windows to show that it is possible to provide access to text based applications within a graphical environment. This information will be valuable to suppliers to ADP equipment since new legislation requires manufacturers to provide electronic access to the visually impaired.

Design and Implementation of a Mechanical Control System for the Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowden, William

2011-01-01

The Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder (SMLS) will use technological improvements in low noise mixers to provide precise data on the Earth's atmospheric composition with high spatial resolution. This project focuses on the design and implementation of a real time control system needed for airborne engineering tests of the SMLS. The system must coordinate the actuation of optical components using four motors with encoder readback, while collecting synchronized telemetric data from a GPS receiver and 3-axis gyrometric system. A graphical user interface for testing the control system was also designed using Python. Although the system could have been implemented with a FPGA-based setup, we chose to use a low cost processor development kit manufactured by XMOS. The XMOS architecture allows parallel execution of multiple tasks on separate threads-making it ideal for this application and is easily programmed using XC (a subset of C). The necessary communication interfaces were implemented in software, including Ethernet, with significant cost and time reduction compared to an FPGA-based approach. For these reasons, the XMOS technology is an attractive, cost effective, alternative to FPGA-based technologies for this design and similar rapid prototyping projects.

Making Your Tools Useful to a Broader Audience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyness, M. D.; Broten, M. J.

2006-12-01

With the increasing growth of Web Services and SOAP the ability to connect and reuse computational and also visualization tools from all over the world via Web Interfaces that can be easily displayed in any current browser has provided the means to construct an ideal online research environment. The age-old question of usability is a major determining factor whether a particular tool would find great success in its community. An interface that can be understood purely by a user's intuition is desirable and more closely obtainable than ever before. Through the use of increasingly sophisticated web-oriented technologies including JavaScript, AJAX, and the DOM, web interfaces are able to harness the advantages of the Internet along with the functional capabilities of native applications such as menus, partial page changes, background processing, and visual effects to name a few. Also, with computers becoming a normal part of the educational process companies, such as Google and Microsoft, give us a synthetic intuition as a foundation for new designs. Understanding the way earth science researchers know how to use computers will allow the VLab portal (http://vlab.msi.umn.edu) and other projects to create interfaces that will get used. To provide detailed communication with the users of VLab's computational tools, projects like the Porky Portlet (http://www.gorerle.com/vlab-wiki/index.php?title=Porky_Portlet) spawned to empower users with a fully- detailed, interactive visual representation of progressing workflows. With the well-thought design of such tools and interfaces, researchers around the world will become accustomed to new highly engaging, visual web- based research environments.

Development of mining guidance and control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

New fundamental interface sensor concepts were identified and investigated including tabulation of the physical and performance characteristics of two new interface detector concepts: - natural background radiation and magnetic spin resonance. Studies of guidance and control techniques for the longwall miner identified three basic systems for use in automated/remote controlled longwall mining. The following projects were initiated: system study which will more completely define the longwall guidance and control system design concepts; integration of the various control functions (vertical, yaw, and roll); and hardware technical requirements.

Graphical User Interface for an Observing Control System for the UK Infrared Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, M.; Bridger, A.; Wright, G. S.; Adamson, A. J.; Currie, M. J.; Economou, F.

A Graphical user interface for the observing control system of UK Infrared Telescope has been developed as a part of the ORAC (Observatory Reduction and Acquisition Control) Project. We analyzed and designed the system using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) with the CASE tool Rational Rose 98. The system has been implemented in a modular way with Java packages using Swing and RMI. This system is component-based with pluggability. Object orientation concepts and UML notations have been applied throughout the development.

Software Transition Project Retrospectives and the Application of SEL Effort Estimation Model and Boehm's COCOMO to Complex Software Transition Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNeill, Justin

1995-01-01

The Multimission Image Processing Subsystem (MIPS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has managed transitions of application software sets from one operating system and hardware platform to multiple operating systems and hardware platforms. As a part of these transitions, cost estimates were generated from the personal experience of in-house developers and managers to calculate the total effort required for such projects. Productivity measures have been collected for two such transitions, one very large and the other relatively small in terms of source lines of code. These estimates used a cost estimation model similar to the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) Effort Estimation Model. Experience in transitioning software within JPL MIPS have uncovered a high incidence of interface complexity. Interfaces, both internal and external to individual software applications, have contributed to software transition project complexity, and thus to scheduling difficulties and larger than anticipated design work on software to be ported.

Collaborative Mission Design at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gough, Kerry M.; Allen, B. Danette; Amundsen, Ruth M.

2005-01-01

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has developed and tested two facilities dedicated to increasing efficiency in key mission design processes, including payload design, mission planning, and implementation plan development, among others. The Integrated Design Center (IDC) is a state-of-the-art concurrent design facility which allows scientists and spaceflight engineers to produce project designs and mission plans in a real-time collaborative environment, using industry-standard physics-based development tools and the latest communication technology. The Mission Simulation Lab (MiSL), a virtual reality (VR) facility focused on payload and project design, permits engineers to quickly translate their design and modeling output into enhanced three-dimensional models and then examine them in a realistic full-scale virtual environment. The authors were responsible for envisioning both facilities and turning those visions into fully operational mission design resources at LaRC with multiple advanced capabilities and applications. In addition, the authors have created a synergistic interface between these two facilities. This combined functionality is the Interactive Design and Simulation Center (IDSC), a meta-facility which offers project teams a powerful array of highly advanced tools, permitting them to rapidly produce project designs while maintaining the integrity of the input from every discipline expert on the project. The concept-to-flight mission support provided by IDSC has shown improved inter- and intra-team communication and a reduction in the resources required for proposal development, requirements definition, and design effort.

Proceedings of the Flat-Plate Solar Array Project Research Forum on the Design of Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Arrays for Central Stations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

The Flat Plate Solar Array Project, focuses on advancing technologies relevant to the design and construction of megawatt level central station systems. Photovoltaic modules and arrays for flat plate central station or other large scale electric power production facilities require the establishment of a technical base that resolves design issues and results in practical and cost effective configurations. Design, qualification and maintenance issues related to central station arrays derived from the engineering and operating experiences of early applications and parallel laboratory reserch activities are investigated. Technical issues are examined from the viewpoint of the utility engineer, architect/engineer and laboratory researcher. Topics on optimum source circuit designs, module insulation design for high system voltages, array safety, structural interface design, measurements, and array operation and maintenance are discussed.

Automated simulation as part of a design workstation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cantwell, Elizabeth; Shenk, T.; Robinson, P.; Upadhye, R.

1990-01-01

A development project for a design workstation for advanced life-support systems (called the DAWN Project, for Design Assistant Workstation), incorporating qualitative simulation, required the implementation of a useful qualitative simulation capability and the integration of qualitative and quantitative simulation such that simulation capabilities are maximized without duplication. The reason is that to produce design solutions to a system goal, the behavior of the system in both a steady and perturbed state must be represented. The Qualitative Simulation Tool (QST), on an expert-system-like model building and simulation interface toll called ScratchPad (SP), and on the integration of QST and SP with more conventional, commercially available simulation packages now being applied in the evaluation of life-support system processes and components are discussed.

Improving Neural Recording Technology at the Nanoscale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, John Eric

Neural recording electrodes are widely used to study normal brain function (e.g., learning, memory, and sensation) and abnormal brain function (e.g., epilepsy, addiction, and depression) and to interface with the nervous system for neuroprosthetics. With a deep understanding of the electrode interface at the nanoscale and the use of novel nanofabrication processes, neural recording electrodes can be designed that surpass previous limits and enable new applications. In this thesis, I will discuss three projects. In the first project, we created an ultralow-impedance electrode coating by controlling the nanoscale texture of electrode surfaces. In the second project, we developed a novel nanowire electrode for long-term intracellular recordings. In the third project, we created a means of wirelessly communicating with ultra-miniature, implantable neural recording devices. The techniques developed for these projects offer significant improvements in the quality of neural recordings. They can also open the door to new types of experiments and medical devices, which can lead to a better understanding of the brain and can enable novel and improved tools for clinical applications.

Aircraft wing structural detail design (wing, aileron, flaps, and subsystems)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Downs, Robert; Zable, Mike; Hughes, James; Heiser, Terry; Adrian, Kenneth

1993-01-01

The goal of this project was to design, in detail, the wing, flaps, and ailerons for a primary flight trainer. Integrated in this design are provisions for the fuel system, the electrical system, and the fuselage/cabin carry-through interface structure. This conceptual design displays the general arrangement of all major components in the wing structure, taking into consideration the requirements set forth by the appropriate sections of Federal Aviation Regulation Part 23 (FAR23) as well as those established in the statement of work.

Individuals and Their Employability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McQuade, Eamonn; Maguire, Theresa

2005-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to describe a research project that is addressing the employability of individuals in the higher-cost Irish economy. Design/methodology/approach: The Programme for University-Industry Interface (PUII) uses a community-of-practice methodology combined with academic research. Findings: A number of emerging enterprise models…

Evaluation of long-term pavement performance and noise characteristics of open-graded friction courses : project 2.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-06-01

This report describes the second of three experimental installations of open-graded friction course (OGFC) quieter pavements designed to reduce the noise generated at the tire/pavement interface. Experimental sections of OGFC were built using a...

Phase C/D program development plan. Volume 1: Program plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The Phase C/D definition of the Modular Space Station has been developed. The modular approach selected during the option period was evaluated, requirements were defined, and program definition and preliminary design were accomplished. The Space Station Project is covered in depth, the research applications module is limited to a project-level definition, and the shuttle operations are included for interface requirements identification, scheduling, and costing. Discussed in detail are: (1) baseline program and project descriptions; (2) phase project planning; (3) modular space station program schedule; (4) program management plan; (5) operations; (6) facilities; (7) logistics; and (8) manpower.

Human factor engineering based design and modernization of control rooms with new I and C systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Larraz, J.; Rejas, L.; Ortega, F.

2012-07-01

Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems of the latest nuclear power plants are based on the use of digital technology, distributed control systems and the integration of information in data networks (Distributed Control and Instrumentation Systems). This has a repercussion on Control Rooms (CRs), where the operations and monitoring interfaces correspond to these systems. These technologies are also used in modernizing I and C systems in currently operative nuclear power plants. The new interfaces provide additional capabilities for operation and supervision, as well as a high degree of flexibility, versatility and reliability. An example of this is the implementationmore » of solutions such as compact stations, high level supervision screens, overview displays, computerized procedures, new operational support systems or intelligent alarms processing systems in the modernized Man-Machine Interface (MMI). These changes in the MMI are accompanied by newly added Software (SW) controls and new solutions in automation. Tecnatom has been leading various projects in this area for several years, both in Asian countries and in the United States, using in all cases international standards from which Tecnatom own methodologies have been developed and optimized. The experience acquired in applying this methodology to the design of new control rooms is to a large extent applicable also to the modernization of current control rooms. An adequate design of the interface between the operator and the systems will facilitate safe operation, contribute to the prompt identification of problems and help in the distribution of tasks and communications between the different members of the operating shift. Based on Tecnatom experience in the field, this article presents the methodological approach used as well as the most relevant aspects of this kind of project. (authors)« less

Final definition and preliminary design study for the initial atmospheric cloud physics laboratory, a Spacelab mission payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The following areas related to the final definition and preliminary design study of the initial atmospheric cloud physics laboratory (ACPL) were covered: (1) proposal organization, personnel, schedule, and project management, (2) proposed configurations, (3) study objectives, (4) ACPL experiment program listing and description, (5) mission/flight flexibility and modularity/commonality, (6) study plan, and (7) description of following tasks: requirement analysis and definition task flow, systems analysis and trade studies, subsystem analysis and trade studies, specifications and interface control documents, preliminary design task flow, work breakdown structure, programmatic analysis and planning, and project costs. Finally, an overview of the scientific requirements was presented.

MicroShell Minimalist Shell for Xilinx Microprocessors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Werne, Thomas A.

2011-01-01

MicroShell is a lightweight shell environment for engineers and software developers working with embedded microprocessors in Xilinx FPGAs. (MicroShell has also been successfully ported to run on ARM Cortex-M1 microprocessors in Actel ProASIC3 FPGAs, but without project-integration support.) Micro Shell decreases the time spent performing initial tests of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) designs, simplifies running customizable one-time-only experiments, and provides a familiar-feeling command-line interface. The program comes with a collection of useful functions and enables the designer to add an unlimited number of custom commands, which are callable from the command-line. The commands are parameterizable (using the C-based command-line parameter idiom), so the designer can use one function to exercise hardware with different values. Also, since many hardware peripherals instantiated in FPGAs have reasonably simple register-mapped I/O interfaces, the engineer can edit and view hardware parameter settings at any time without stopping the processor. MicroShell comes with a set of support scripts that interface seamlessly with Xilinx's EDK tool. Adding an instance of MicroShell to a project is as simple as marking a check box in a library configuration dialog box and specifying a software project directory. The support scripts then examine the hardware design, build design-specific functions, conditionally include processor-specific functions, and complete the compilation process. For code-size constrained designs, most of the stock functionality can be excluded from the compiled library. When all of the configurable options are removed from the binary, MicroShell has an unoptimized memory footprint of about 4.8 kB and a size-optimized footprint of about 2.3 kB. Since MicroShell allows unfettered access to all processor-accessible memory locations, it is possible to perform live patching on a running system. This can be useful, for instance, if a bug is discovered in a routine but the system cannot be rebooted: Shell allows a skilled operator to directly edit the binary executable in memory. With some forethought, MicroShell code can be located in a different memory location from custom code, permitting the custom functionality to be overwritten at any time without stopping the controlling shell.

Systems Maturity Assessment of the Lithium Ion Battery for Extravehicular Mobility Unit Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Samuel P.

2011-01-01

The Long Life (Lithium Ion) Battery (LLB/LIB) is designed to replace the current Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Silver/Zinc (Ag/Zn) Increased Capacity Battery (ICB), which is used to provide power to the Primary Life Support Subsystem (PLSS) during Extravehicular Activities (EVAs). The LLB (a battery based on commercial lithium ion cell technology) is designed to have the same electrical and mechanical interfaces as the current ICB. The EMU LIB Charger is designed to charge, discharge, and condition the LLB either in a charger-strapped configuration or in an EMU-mounted configuration. This paper will retroactively apply the principles of Systems Maturity Assessment to the LLB project through use of the Integration Readiness Level and Earned Readiness Management. The viability of this methodology will be considered for application to new and existing technology development projects.

A user interface framework for the Square Kilometre Array: concepts and responsibilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marassi, Alessandro; Brajnik, Giorgio; Nicol, Mark; Alberti, Valentina; Le Roux, Gerhard

2016-07-01

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is responsible for developing the SKA Observatory, the world's largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre of collecting area and including a general headquarters as well as two radio telescopes: SKA1-Mid in South Africa and SKA1-Low in Australia. The SKA project consists of a number of subsystems (elements) among which the Telescope Manager (TM) is the one involved in controlling and monitoring the SKA telescopes. The TM element has three primary responsibilities: management of astronomical observations, management of telescope hardware and software subsystems, management of data to support system operations and all stakeholders (operators, maintainers, engineers and science users) in achieving operational, maintenance and engineering goals. Operators, maintainers, engineers and science users will interact with TM via appropriate user interfaces (UI). The TM UI framework envisaged is a complete set of general technical solutions (components, technologies and design information) for implementing a generic computing system (UI platform). Such a system will enable UI components to be instantiated to allow for human interaction via screens, keyboards, mouse and to implement the necessary logic for acquiring or deriving the information needed for interaction. It will provide libraries and specific Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to implement operator and engineer interactive interfaces. This paper will provide a status update of the TM UI framework, UI platform and UI components design effort, including the technology choices, and discuss key challenges in the TM UI architecture, as well as our approaches to addressing them.

Two-dimensional analytical model of double-gate tunnel FETs with interface trapped charges including effects of channel mobile charge carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Huifang; Dai, Yuehua

2017-02-01

A two-dimensional analytical model of double-gate (DG) tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs) with interface trapped charges is proposed in this paper. The influence of the channel mobile charges on the potential profile is also taken into account in order to improve the accuracy of the models. On the basis of potential profile, the electric field is derived and the expression for the drain current is obtained by integrating the BTBT generation rate. The model can be used to study the impact of interface trapped charges on the surface potential, the shortest tunneling length, the drain current and the threshold voltage for varying interface trapped charge densities, length of damaged region as well as the structural parameters of the DG TFET and can also be utilized to design the charge trapped memory devices based on TFET. The biggest advantage of this model is that it is more accurate, and in its expression there are no fitting parameters with small calculating amount. Very good agreements for both the potential, drain current and threshold voltage are observed between the model calculations and the simulated results. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61376106), the University Natural Science Research Key Project of Anhui Province (No. KJ2016A169), and the Introduced Talents Project of Anhui Science and Technology University.

Integration of an open interface PC scene generator using COTS DVI converter hardware

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordland, Todd; Lyles, Patrick; Schultz, Bret

2006-05-01

Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) personal computer (PC) hardware is increasingly capable of computing high dynamic range (HDR) scenes for military sensor testing at high frame rates. New electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) scene projectors feature electrical interfaces that can accept the DVI output of these PC systems. However, military Hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) facilities such as those at the US Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) utilize a sizeable inventory of existing projection systems that were designed to use the Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) digital video port (DVP, also known as DVP2 or DD02) interface. To mate the new DVI-based scene generation systems to these legacy projection systems, CG2 Inc., a Quantum3D Company (CG2), has developed a DVI-to-DVP converter called Delta DVP. This device takes progressive scan DVI input, converts it to digital parallel data, and combines and routes color components to derive a 16-bit wide luminance channel replicated on a DVP output interface. The HWIL Functional Area of AMRDEC has developed a suite of modular software to perform deterministic real-time, wave band-specific rendering of sensor scenes, leveraging the features of commodity graphics hardware and open source software. Together, these technologies enable sensor simulation and test facilities to integrate scene generation and projection components with diverse pedigrees.

Advanced Ground Systems Maintenance Prognostics Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perotti, Jose M.

2015-01-01

The project implements prognostics capabilities to predict when a component system or subsystem will no longer meet desired functional or performance criteria, called the end of life. The capability also provides an assessment of the remaining useful life of a hardware component. The project enables the delivery of system health advisories to ground system operators. This project will use modeling techniques and algorithms to assess components' health andpredict remaining life for such components. The prognostics capability being developed will beused:during the design phase and during pre/post operations to conduct planning and analysis ofsystem design, maintenance & logistics plans, and system/mission operations plansduring real-time operations to monitor changes to components' health and assess their impacton operations.This capability will be interfaced to Ground Operations' command and control system as a part ofthe AGSM project to help assure system availability and mission success. The initial modelingeffort for this capability will be developed for Liquid Oxygen ground loading applications.

Rapid Prototyping of Hydrologic Model Interfaces with IPython

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farthing, M. W.; Winters, K. D.; Ahmadia, A. J.; Hesser, T.; Howington, S. E.; Johnson, B. D.; Tate, J.; Kees, C. E.

2014-12-01

A significant gulf still exists between the state of practice and state of the art in hydrologic modeling. Part of this gulf is due to the lack of adequate pre- and post-processing tools for newly developed computational models. The development of user interfaces has traditionally lagged several years behind the development of a particular computational model or suite of models. As a result, models with mature interfaces often lack key advancements in model formulation, solution methods, and/or software design and technology. Part of the problem has been a focus on developing monolithic tools to provide comprehensive interfaces for the entire suite of model capabilities. Such efforts require expertise in software libraries and frameworks for creating user interfaces (e.g., Tcl/Tk, Qt, and MFC). These tools are complex and require significant investment in project resources (time and/or money) to use. Moreover, providing the required features for the entire range of possible applications and analyses creates a cumbersome interface. For a particular site or application, the modeling requirements may be simplified or at least narrowed, which can greatly reduce the number and complexity of options that need to be accessible to the user. However, monolithic tools usually are not adept at dynamically exposing specific workflows. Our approach is to deliver highly tailored interfaces to users. These interfaces may be site and/or process specific. As a result, we end up with many, customized interfaces rather than a single, general-use tool. For this approach to be successful, it must be efficient to create these tailored interfaces. We need technology for creating quality user interfaces that is accessible and has a low barrier for integration into model development efforts. Here, we present efforts to leverage IPython notebooks as tools for rapid prototyping of site and application-specific user interfaces. We provide specific examples from applications in near-shore environments as well as levee analysis. We discuss our design decisions and methodology for developing customized interfaces, strategies for delivery of the interfaces to users in various computing environments, as well as implications for the design/implementation of simulation models.

Evolution of integrated panel structural design and interfaces for PV power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnett, J. C.; Anderson, A. J.; Robertson, R. E.

1983-01-01

The evolution of integrated photovoltaic (PV) panel design at ARCO Solar is discussed. Historically, framed PV modules of about 1 x 4-ft size were individually mounted in the field on fixed support structures and interconnected electrically with cables to build higher-power arrays. When ARCO Solar saw the opportunity in 1982 to marry its PV modules with state-of-the-art heliostat trackers developed by ARCO Power Systems, it became obvious that mounting individual modules was impractical. For this project, the framed modules were factory-assembled into panels and interconnected with cables before being mounted on the trackers. Since then, ARCO Solar made considerable progress and gained substantial experience in the design and fabrication of large PV panels. Constraints and criteria considered in these design activities included static and dynamic loads; assembly and transportation equipment and logistics, structural and electrical interfaces, and safety and grounding concerns.

Flight Hardware Packaging Design for Stringent EMC Radiated Emission Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lortz, Charlene L.; Huang, Chi-Chien N.; Ravich, Joshua A.; Steiner, Carl N.

2013-01-01

This packaging design approach can help heritage hardware meet a flight project's stringent EMC radiated emissions requirement. The approach requires only minor modifications to a hardware's chassis and mainly concentrates on its connector interfaces. The solution is to raise the surface area where the connector is mounted by a few millimeters using a pedestal, and then wrapping with conductive tape from the cable backshell down to the surface-mounted connector. This design approach has been applied to JPL flight project subsystems. The EMC radiated emissions requirements for flight projects can vary from benign to mission critical. If the project's EMC requirements are stringent, the best approach to meet EMC requirements would be to design an EMC control program for the project early on and implement EMC design techniques starting with the circuit board layout. This is the ideal scenario for hardware that is built from scratch. Implementation of EMC radiated emissions mitigation techniques can mature as the design progresses, with minimal impact to the design cycle. The real challenge exists for hardware that is planned to be flown following a built-to-print approach, in which heritage hardware from a past project with a different set of requirements is expected to perform satisfactorily for a new project. With acceptance of heritage, the design would already be established (circuit board layout and components have already been pre-determined), and hence any radiated emissions mitigation techniques would only be applicable at the packaging level. The key is to take a heritage design with its known radiated emissions spectrum and repackage, or modify its chassis design so that it would have a better chance of meeting the new project s radiated emissions requirements.

OVERGRID: A Unified Overset Grid Generation Graphical Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, William M.; Akien, Edwin W. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

This paper presents a unified graphical interface and gridding strategy for performing overset grid generation. The interface called OVERGRID has been specifically designed to follow an efficient overset gridding strategy, and contains general grid manipulation capabilities as well as modules that are specifically suited for overset grids. General grid utilities include functions for grid redistribution, smoothing, concatenation, extraction, extrapolation, projection, and many others. Modules specially tailored for overset grids include a seam curve extractor, hyperbolic and algebraic surface grid generators, a hyperbolic volume grid generator, and a Cartesian box grid generator, Grid visualization is achieved using OpenGL while widgets are constructed with Tcl/Tk. The software is portable between various platforms from UNIX workstations to personal computers.

Recent developments in the CCP-EM software suite.

PubMed

Burnley, Tom; Palmer, Colin M; Winn, Martyn

2017-06-01

As part of its remit to provide computational support to the cryo-EM community, the Collaborative Computational Project for Electron cryo-Microscopy (CCP-EM) has produced a software framework which enables easy access to a range of programs and utilities. The resulting software suite incorporates contributions from different collaborators by encapsulating them in Python task wrappers, which are then made accessible via a user-friendly graphical user interface as well as a command-line interface suitable for scripting. The framework includes tools for project and data management. An overview of the design of the framework is given, together with a survey of the functionality at different levels. The current CCP-EM suite has particular strength in the building and refinement of atomic models into cryo-EM reconstructions, which is described in detail.

Recent developments in the CCP-EM software suite

PubMed Central

Burnley, Tom

2017-01-01

As part of its remit to provide computational support to the cryo-EM community, the Collaborative Computational Project for Electron cryo-Microscopy (CCP-EM) has produced a software framework which enables easy access to a range of programs and utilities. The resulting software suite incorporates contributions from different collaborators by encapsulating them in Python task wrappers, which are then made accessible via a user-friendly graphical user interface as well as a command-line interface suitable for scripting. The framework includes tools for project and data management. An overview of the design of the framework is given, together with a survey of the functionality at different levels. The current CCP-EM suite has particular strength in the building and refinement of atomic models into cryo-EM reconstructions, which is described in detail. PMID:28580908

Project HealthDesign: enhancing action through information.

PubMed

Brennan, Patricia Flatley; Casper, Gail; Downs, Stephen; Aulahk, Veenu

2009-01-01

Project HealthDesign is a country-wide initiative in the United States designed to stimulate innovation in personal health records (PHRs). Nine grantee teams engaged in an 18-month long design and prototyping process. Two teams addressed the needs of children and adolescents; three created novel approaches to help adults prevent or manage metabolic syndrome; three groups employed interface innovations to assist patients with chronic care management and one team devised a novel calendaring system to assist patients undergoing complex medical/surgical treatments to integrate care processes into their daily lives. These projects not only included development and testing of novel personal health records applications, but also served as the starting point to specify and implement a common technical core platform. The project advanced PHR development in two key ways: intensive user-centered design and a development architecture that separates applications of PHRs from the infrastructure that supports them. The initiative also allowed systematic investigation of significant ethical, legal and social issues, including how privacy considerations are changed when information technology innovations are used in the home and the rebalancing of the authority structure of health care decision making when patient-centered approaches guide the design of PHRs.

Oak Ridge Spallation Neutron Source (ORSNS) target station design integration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McManamy, T.; Booth, R.; Cleaves, J.

1996-06-01

The conceptual design for a 1- to 3-MW short pulse spallation source with a liquid mercury target has been started recently. The design tools and methods being developed to define requirements, integrate the work, and provide early cost guidance will be presented with a summary of the current target station design status. The initial design point was selected with performance and cost estimate projections by a systems code. This code was developed recently using cost estimates from the Brookhaven Pulsed Spallation Neutron Source study and experience from the Advanced Neutron Source Project`s conceptual design. It will be updated and improvedmore » as the design develops. Performance was characterized by a simplified figure of merit based on a ratio of neutron production to costs. A work breakdown structure was developed, with simplified systems diagrams used to define interfaces and system responsibilities. A risk assessment method was used to identify potential problems, to identify required research and development (R&D), and to aid contingency development. Preliminary 3-D models of the target station are being used to develop remote maintenance concepts and to estimate costs.« less

Agent-Based Intelligent Interface for Wheelchair Movement Control

PubMed Central

Barriuso, Alberto L.; De Paz, Juan F.

2018-01-01

People who suffer from any kind of motor difficulty face serious complications to autonomously move in their daily lives. However, a growing number research projects which propose different powered wheelchairs control systems are arising. Despite of the interest of the research community in the area, there is no platform that allows an easy integration of various control methods that make use of heterogeneous sensors and computationally demanding algorithms. In this work, an architecture based on virtual organizations of agents is proposed that makes use of a flexible and scalable communication protocol that allows the deployment of embedded agents in computationally limited devices. In order to validate the proper functioning of the proposed system, it has been integrated into a conventional wheelchair and a set of alternative control interfaces have been developed and deployed, including a portable electroencephalography system, a voice interface or as specifically designed smartphone application. A set of tests were conducted to test both the platform adequacy and the accuracy and ease of use of the proposed control systems yielding positive results that can be useful in further wheelchair interfaces design and implementation. PMID:29751603

Existing Fortran interfaces to Trilinos in preparation for exascale ForTrilinos development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Evans, Katherine J.; Young, Mitchell T.; Collins, Benjamin S.

This report summarizes the current state of Fortran interfaces to the Trilinos library within several key applications of the Exascale Computing Program (ECP), with the aim of informing developers about strategies to develop ForTrilinos, an exascale-ready, Fortran interface software package within Trilinos. The two software projects assessed within are the DOE Office of Science's Accelerated Climate Model for Energy (ACME) atmosphere component, CAM, and the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's core-simulator portion of VERA, a nuclear reactor simulation code. Trilinos is an object-oriented, C++ based software project, and spans a collection of algorithms and other enabling technologies such as uncertaintymore » quantification and mesh generation. To date, Trilinos has enabled these codes to achieve large-scale simulation results, however the simulation needs of CAM and VERA-CS will approach exascale over the next five years. A Fortran interface to Trilinos that enables efficient use of programming models and more advanced algorithms is necessary. Where appropriate, the needs of the CAM and VERA-CS software to achieve their simulation goals are called out specifically. With this report, a design document and execution plan for ForTrilinos development can proceed.« less

Integrated vehicle-based safety systems (IVBSS) : human factors and driver-vehicle interface (DVI) summary report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-02-01

The IVBSS program is a four-year, two-phase project to design and evaluate an integrated crash warning system for forward collision, lateral drift, lane-change merge, and curve speed warnings for both light vehicles and heavy trucks. This report, cov...

OTF CCSDS Mission Operations Prototype Parameter Service. Phase I: Exit Presentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, Walter F.; Lucord, Steven A.; Stevens, John E.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the prototype of phase 1 of the parameter service design of the CCSDS mission operations. The project goals are to: (1) Demonstrate the use of Mission Operations standards to implement the Parameter Service (2) Demonstrate interoperability between Houston MCC and a CCSDS Mission Operations compliant mission operations center (3) Utilize Mission Operations Common Architecture. THe parameter service design, interfaces, and structures are described.

Developing a Natural User Interface and Facial Recognition System With OpenCV and the Microsoft Kinect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gutensohn, Michael

2018-01-01

The task for this project was to design, develop, test, and deploy a facial recognition system for the Kennedy Space Center Augmented/Virtual Reality Lab. This system will serve as a means of user authentication as part of the NUI of the lab. The overarching goal is to create a seamless user interface that will allow the user to initiate and interact with AR and VR experiences without ever needing to use a mouse or keyboard at any step in the process.

Human factors issues in telerobotic systems for Space Station Freedom servicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malone, Thomas B.; Permenter, Kathryn E.

1990-01-01

Requirements for Space Station Freedom servicing are described and the state-of-the-art for telerobotic system on-orbit servicing of spacecraft is defined. The projected requirements for the Space Station Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) are identified. Finally, the human factors issues in telerobotic servicing are discussed. The human factors issues are basically three: the definition of the role of the human versus automation in system control; the identification of operator-device interface design requirements; and the requirements for development of an operator-machine interface simulation capability.

Practical experience with graphical user interfaces and object-oriented design in the clinical laboratory.

PubMed

Wells, I G; Cartwright, R Y; Farnan, L P

1993-12-15

The computing strategy in our laboratories evolved from research in Artificial Intelligence, and is based on powerful software tools running on high performance desktop computers with a graphical user interface. This allows most tasks to be regarded as design problems rather than implementation projects, and both rapid prototyping and an object-oriented approach to be employed during the in-house development and enhancement of the laboratory information systems. The practical application of this strategy is discussed, with particular reference to the system designer, the laboratory user and the laboratory customer. Routine operation covers five departments, and the systems are stable, flexible and well accepted by the users. Client-server computing, currently undergoing final trials, is seen as the key to further development, and this approach to Pathology computing has considerable potential for the future.

DSS 13 Microprocessor Antenna Controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gosline, R. M.

1984-01-01

A microprocessor based antenna controller system developed as part of the unattended station project for DSS 13 is described. Both the hardware and software top level designs are presented and the major problems encounted are discussed. Developments useful to related projects include a JPL standard 15 line interface using a single board computer, a general purpose parser, a fast floating point to ASCII conversion technique, and experience gained in using off board floating point processors with the 8080 CPU.

The second generation intelligent user interface for the crustal dynamics data information system. [for nasa space missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, Nicholas, Jr.; Wattawa, Scott L.

1988-01-01

For the past decade, operations and research projects that support a major portion of NASA's overall mission have experienced a dramatic increase in the volume of generated data and resultant information that is unparalleled in the history of the agency. The effect of such an increase is that most of the science and engineering disciplines are undergoing an information glut, which has occurred, not only because of the amount, but also because of the type of data being collected. This information glut is growing exponentially and is expected to grow for the foreseeable future. Consequently, it is becoming physically and intellectually impossible to identify, access, modify, and analyze the most suitable information. Thus, the dilemma arises that the amount and complexity of information has exceeded and will continue to exceed, using present information systems, the ability of all the scientists and engineers to understand and take advantage of this information. As a result of this information problem, NASA has initiated the Intelligent Data Management (IDM) project to design and develop Advanced Information Management (IDM) project to design and develop Advanced Information Management Systems (AIMS). The first effort of the Project was the prototyping of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI) to an operational scientific database using expert systems, natural language processing, and graphics technologies. An overview of the IUI formulation and development for the second phase is presented.

A microprogrammed data acquisition system for renography.

PubMed

Imperiale, C

1983-01-01

The purpose of this project was to design an efficient, low cost, and portable system for renography suitable for clinical use. The principles involved in the renographic test, and the procedures and calculations which act on the design of our system, are given. The system consists of an Apple II Plus computer equipped with 48K memory, two disk drives with diskettes of 143K each, a thermal printer with graphic capability, the Microsoft Z80 card, and an interface which is specifically designed for renographic data acquisition.

A geometric projection method for designing three-dimensional open lattices with inverse homogenization

DOE PAGES

Watts, Seth; Tortorelli, Daniel A.

2017-04-13

Topology optimization is a methodology for assigning material or void to each point in a design domain in a way that extremizes some objective function, such as the compliance of a structure under given loads, subject to various imposed constraints, such as an upper bound on the mass of the structure. Geometry projection is a means to parameterize the topology optimization problem, by describing the design in a way that is independent of the mesh used for analysis of the design's performance; it results in many fewer design parameters, necessarily resolves the ill-posed nature of the topology optimization problem, andmore » provides sharp descriptions of the material interfaces. We extend previous geometric projection work to 3 dimensions and design unit cells for lattice materials using inverse homogenization. We perform a sensitivity analysis of the geometric projection and show it has smooth derivatives, making it suitable for use with gradient-based optimization algorithms. The technique is demonstrated by designing unit cells comprised of a single constituent material plus void space to obtain light, stiff materials with cubic and isotropic material symmetry. Here, we also design a single-constituent isotropic material with negative Poisson's ratio and a light, stiff material comprised of 2 constituent solids plus void space.« less

A geometric projection method for designing three-dimensional open lattices with inverse homogenization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Watts, Seth; Tortorelli, Daniel A.

Topology optimization is a methodology for assigning material or void to each point in a design domain in a way that extremizes some objective function, such as the compliance of a structure under given loads, subject to various imposed constraints, such as an upper bound on the mass of the structure. Geometry projection is a means to parameterize the topology optimization problem, by describing the design in a way that is independent of the mesh used for analysis of the design's performance; it results in many fewer design parameters, necessarily resolves the ill-posed nature of the topology optimization problem, andmore » provides sharp descriptions of the material interfaces. We extend previous geometric projection work to 3 dimensions and design unit cells for lattice materials using inverse homogenization. We perform a sensitivity analysis of the geometric projection and show it has smooth derivatives, making it suitable for use with gradient-based optimization algorithms. The technique is demonstrated by designing unit cells comprised of a single constituent material plus void space to obtain light, stiff materials with cubic and isotropic material symmetry. Here, we also design a single-constituent isotropic material with negative Poisson's ratio and a light, stiff material comprised of 2 constituent solids plus void space.« less

Molecular Cloning Designer Simulator (MCDS): All-in-one molecular cloning and genetic engineering design, simulation and management software for complex synthetic biology and metabolic engineering projects.

PubMed

Shi, Zhenyu; Vickers, Claudia E

2016-12-01

Molecular Cloning Designer Simulator (MCDS) is a powerful new all-in-one cloning and genetic engineering design, simulation and management software platform developed for complex synthetic biology and metabolic engineering projects. In addition to standard functions, it has a number of features that are either unique, or are not found in combination in any one software package: (1) it has a novel interactive flow-chart user interface for complex multi-step processes, allowing an integrated overview of the whole project; (2) it can perform a user-defined workflow of cloning steps in a single execution of the software; (3) it can handle multiple types of genetic recombineering, a technique that is rapidly replacing classical cloning for many applications; (4) it includes experimental information to conveniently guide wet lab work; and (5) it can store results and comments to allow the tracking and management of the whole project in one platform. MCDS is freely available from https://mcds.codeplex.com.

The development of a program analysis environment for Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, David B.; Carlisle, Homer W.; Chang, Kai-Hsiung; Cross, James H.; Deason, William H.; Haga, Kevin D.; Huggins, John R.; Keleher, William R. A.; Starke, Benjamin B.; Weyrich, Orville R.

1989-01-01

A unit level, Ada software module testing system, called Query Utility Environment for Software Testing of Ada (QUEST/Ada), is described. The project calls for the design and development of a prototype system. QUEST/Ada design began with a definition of the overall system structure and a description of component dependencies. The project team was divided into three groups to resolve the preliminary designs of the parser/scanner: the test data generator, and the test coverage analyzer. The Phase 1 report is a working document from which the system documentation will evolve. It provides history, a guide to report sections, a literature review, the definition of the system structure and high level interfaces, descriptions of the prototype scope, the three major components, and the plan for the remainder of the project. The appendices include specifications, statistics, two papers derived from the current research, a preliminary users' manual, and the proposal and work plan for Phase 2.

CCP4i2: the new graphical user interface to the CCP4 program suite.

PubMed

Potterton, Liz; Agirre, Jon; Ballard, Charles; Cowtan, Kevin; Dodson, Eleanor; Evans, Phil R; Jenkins, Huw T; Keegan, Ronan; Krissinel, Eugene; Stevenson, Kyle; Lebedev, Andrey; McNicholas, Stuart J; Nicholls, Robert A; Noble, Martin; Pannu, Navraj S; Roth, Christian; Sheldrick, George; Skubak, Pavol; Turkenburg, Johan; Uski, Ville; von Delft, Frank; Waterman, David; Wilson, Keith; Winn, Martyn; Wojdyr, Marcin

2018-02-01

The CCP4 (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4) software suite for macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography groups brings together many programs and libraries that, by means of well established conventions, interoperate effectively without adhering to strict design guidelines. Because of this inherent flexibility, users are often presented with diverse, even divergent, choices for solving every type of problem. Recently, CCP4 introduced CCP4i2, a modern graphical interface designed to help structural biologists to navigate the process of structure determination, with an emphasis on pipelining and the streamlined presentation of results. In addition, CCP4i2 provides a framework for writing structure-solution scripts that can be built up incrementally to create increasingly automatic procedures.

Infant feeding: the interfaces between interaction design and cognitive ergonomics in user-centered design.

PubMed

Lima, Flavia; Araújo, Lilian Kely

2012-01-01

This text presents a discussion on the process of developing interactive products focused on infant behavior, which result was an interactive game for encouraging infant feeding. For that, it describes the use of cognitive psychology concepts added to interaction design methodology. Through this project, this article sustains how the cooperative use of these concepts provides adherent solutions to users' needs, whichever they are. Besides that, it verifies the closeness of those methodologies to boundary areas of knowledge, such as design focused on user and ergonomics.

Guidelines for developing distributed virtual environment applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stytz, Martin R.; Banks, Sheila B.

1998-08-01

We have conducted a variety of projects that served to investigate the limits of virtual environments and distributed virtual environment (DVE) technology for the military and medical professions. The projects include an application that allows the user to interactively explore a high-fidelity, dynamic scale model of the Solar System and a high-fidelity, photorealistic, rapidly reconfigurable aircraft simulator. Additional projects are a project for observing, analyzing, and understanding the activity in a military distributed virtual environment, a project to develop a distributed threat simulator for training Air Force pilots, a virtual spaceplane to determine user interface requirements for a planned military spaceplane system, and an automated wingman for use in supplementing or replacing human-controlled systems in a DVE. The last two projects are a virtual environment user interface framework; and a project for training hospital emergency department personnel. In the process of designing and assembling the DVE applications in support of these projects, we have developed rules of thumb and insights into assembling DVE applications and the environment itself. In this paper, we open with a brief review of the applications that were the source for our insights and then present the lessons learned as a result of these projects. The lessons we have learned fall primarily into five areas. These areas are requirements development, software architecture, human-computer interaction, graphical database modeling, and construction of computer-generated forces.

AstrodyToolsWeb an e-Science project in Astrodynamics and Celestial Mechanics fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, R.; San-Juan, J. F.

2013-05-01

Astrodynamics Web Tools, AstrodyToolsWeb (http://tastrody.unirioja.es), is an ongoing collaborative Web Tools computing infrastructure project which has been specially designed to support scientific computation. AstrodyToolsWeb provides project collaborators with all the technical and human facilities in order to wrap, manage, and use specialized noncommercial software tools in Astrodynamics and Celestial Mechanics fields, with the aim of optimizing the use of resources, both human and material. However, this project is open to collaboration from the whole scientific community in order to create a library of useful tools and their corresponding theoretical backgrounds. AstrodyToolsWeb offers a user-friendly web interface in order to choose applications, introduce data, and select appropriate constraints in an intuitive and easy way for the user. After that, the application is executed in real time, whenever possible; then the critical information about program behavior (errors and logs) and output, including the postprocessing and interpretation of its results (graphical representation of data, statistical analysis or whatever manipulation therein), are shown via the same web interface or can be downloaded to the user's computer.

Tiger LDRD final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steich, D J; Brugger, S T; Kallman, J S

2000-02-01

This final report describes our efforts on the Three-Dimensional Massively Parallel CEM Technologies LDRD project (97-ERD-009). Significant need exists for more advanced time domain computational electromagnetics modeling. Bookkeeping details and modifying inflexible software constitute a vast majority of the effort required to address such needs. The required effort escalates rapidly as problem complexity increases. For example, hybrid meshes requiring hybrid numerics on massively parallel platforms (MPPs). This project attempts to alleviate the above limitations by investigating flexible abstractions for these numerical algorithms on MPPs using object-oriented methods, providing a programming environment insulating physics from bookkeeping. The three major design iterationsmore » during the project, known as TIGER-I to TIGER-III, are discussed. Each version of TIGER is briefly discussed along with lessons learned during the development and implementation. An Application Programming Interface (API) of the object-oriented interface for Tiger-III is included in three appendices. The three appendices contain the Utilities, Entity-Attribute, and Mesh libraries developed during the project. The API libraries represent a snapshot of our latest attempt at insulated the physics from the bookkeeping.« less

Computational Design of DNA-Binding Proteins.

PubMed

Thyme, Summer; Song, Yifan

2016-01-01

Predicting the outcome of engineered and naturally occurring sequence perturbations to protein-DNA interfaces requires accurate computational modeling technologies. It has been well established that computational design to accommodate small numbers of DNA target site substitutions is possible. This chapter details the basic method of design used in the Rosetta macromolecular modeling program that has been successfully used to modulate the specificity of DNA-binding proteins. More recently, combining computational design and directed evolution has become a common approach for increasing the success rate of protein engineering projects. The power of such high-throughput screening depends on computational methods producing multiple potential solutions. Therefore, this chapter describes several protocols for increasing the diversity of designed output. Lastly, we describe an approach for building comparative models of protein-DNA complexes in order to utilize information from homologous sequences. These models can be used to explore how nature modulates specificity of protein-DNA interfaces and potentially can even be used as starting templates for further engineering.

Teleoperation of Robonaut Using Finger Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Champoux, Rachel G.; Luo, Victor

2012-01-01

With the advent of new finger tracking systems, the idea of a more expressive and intuitive user interface is being explored and implemented. One practical application for this new kind of interface is that of teleoperating a robot. For humanoid robots, a finger tracking interface is required due to the level of complexity in a human-like hand, where a joystick isn't accurate. Moreover, for some tasks, using one's own hands allows the user to communicate their intentions more effectively than other input. The purpose of this project was to develop a natural user interface for someone to teleoperate a robot that is elsewhere. Specifically, this was designed to control Robonaut on the international space station to do tasks too dangerous and/or too trivial for human astronauts. This interface was developed by integrating and modifying 3Gear's software, which includes a library of gestures and the ability to track hands. The end result is an interface in which the user can manipulate objects in real time in the user interface. then, the information is relayed to a simulator, the stand in for Robonaut, at a slight delay.

Optimum-AIV: A planning and scheduling system for spacecraft AIV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arentoft, M. M.; Fuchs, Jens J.; Parrod, Y.; Gasquet, Andre; Stader, J.; Stokes, I.; Vadon, H.

1991-01-01

A project undertaken for the European Space Agency (ESA) is presented. The project is developing a knowledge based software system for planning and scheduling of activities for spacecraft assembly, integration, and verification (AIV). The system extends into the monitoring of plan execution and the plan repair phase. The objectives are to develop an operational kernel of a planning, scheduling, and plan repair tool, called OPTIMUM-AIV, and to provide facilities which will allow individual projects to customize the kernel to suit its specific needs. The kernel shall consist of a set of software functionalities for assistance in initial specification of the AIV plan, in verification and generation of valid plans and schedules for the AIV activities, and in interactive monitoring and execution problem recovery for the detailed AIV plans. Embedded in OPTIMUM-AIV are external interfaces which allow integration with alternative scheduling systems and project databases. The current status of the OPTIMUM-AIV project, as of Jan. 1991, is that a further analysis of the AIV domain has taken place through interviews with satellite AIV experts, a software requirement document (SRD) for the full operational tool was approved, and an architectural design document (ADD) for the kernel excluding external interfaces is ready for review.

Enhancing the resiliency of small hydropower projects: environmental function, modularity, and stakeholder elicitation as design priorities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Witt, Adam M; Smith, Brennan T

Small hydropower plants supply reliable renewable energy to the grid, though few new plants have been developed in the Unites States over the past few decades due to complex environmental challenges and poor project economics. This paper describes the current landscape of small hydropower development, and introduces a new approach to facility design that co-optimizes the extraction of hydroelectric power from a stream with other important environmental functions such as fish, sediment, and recreational passage. The approach considers hydropower facilities as an integrated system of standardized interlocking modules, designed to sustain stream functions, generate power, and interface with the streambed.more » It is hypothesized that this modular eco-design approach, when guided by input from the broader small hydropower stakeholder community, can lead to cost savings across the facility, reduced licensing and approval timelines, and ultimately, to enhanced resiliency through improved environmental performance over the lifetime of the project.« less

Application of expert systems in project management decision aiding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, Regina; Shaffer, Steven; Stokes, James; Goldstein, David

1987-01-01

The feasibility of developing an expert systems-based project management decision aid to enhance the performance of NASA project managers was assessed. The research effort included extensive literature reviews in the areas of project management, project management decision aiding, expert systems technology, and human-computer interface engineering. Literature reviews were augmented by focused interviews with NASA managers. Time estimation for project scheduling was identified as the target activity for decision augmentation, and a design was developed for an Integrated NASA System for Intelligent Time Estimation (INSITE). The proposed INSITE design was judged feasible with a low level of risk. A partial proof-of-concept experiment was performed and was successful. Specific conclusions drawn from the research and analyses are included. The INSITE concept is potentially applicable in any management sphere, commercial or government, where time estimation is required for project scheduling. As project scheduling is a nearly universal management activity, the range of possibilities is considerable. The INSITE concept also holds potential for enhancing other management tasks, especially in areas such as cost estimation, where estimation-by-analogy is already a proven method.

EOS: A project to investigate the design and construction of real-time distributed Embedded Operating Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, R. H.; Essick, Ray B.; Johnston, Gary; Kenny, Kevin; Russo, Vince

1987-01-01

Project EOS is studying the problems of building adaptable real-time embedded operating systems for the scientific missions of NASA. Choices (A Class Hierarchical Open Interface for Custom Embedded Systems) is an operating system designed and built by Project EOS to address the following specific issues: the software architecture for adaptable embedded parallel operating systems, the achievement of high-performance and real-time operation, the simplification of interprocess communications, the isolation of operating system mechanisms from one another, and the separation of mechanisms from policy decisions. Choices is written in C++ and runs on a ten processor Encore Multimax. The system is intended for use in constructing specialized computer applications and research on advanced operating system features including fault tolerance and parallelism.

Ceramic Technology Project semiannual progress report, October 1992--March 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, D.R.

1993-09-01

This project was developed to meet the ceramic technology requirements of the OTS`s automotive technology programs. Although progress has been made in developing reliable structural ceramics, further work is needed to reduce cost. The work described in this report is organized according to the following work breakdown structure project elements: Materials and processing (monolithics [Si nitride, carbide], ceramic composites, thermal and wear coatings, joining, cost effective ceramic machining), materials design methodology (contact interfaces, new concepts), data base and life prediction (structural qualification, time-dependent behavior, environmental effects, fracture mechanics, nondestructive evaluation development), and technology transfer.

After 40 Years Why Hasn’t the Computer Replaced the Wind Tunnel?

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

transform the aerodynamic design process. Many of his CFD projections have been exceeded over the last 30 years. (He was forecasting breakthroughs only...frequently found late in the development cycle for a flight system usually occur at the interface of major subsystems (e.g., aerodynamically induced...the causative relations between aerodynamic shapes and vehicle performance. The tools also allow relatively rapid evaluation of changes to the design

Septic safe interactions with smart glasses in health care.

PubMed

Czuszynski, K; Ruminski, J; Kocejko, T; Wtorek, J

2015-08-01

In this paper, septic safe methods of interaction with smart glasses, due to the health care environment applications consideration, are presented. The main focus is on capabilities of an optical, proximity-based gesture sensor and eye-tracker input systems. The design of both interfaces is being adapted to the open smart glasses platform that is being developed under the eGlasses project. Preliminary results obtained from the proximity sensor show that the recognition of different static and dynamic hand gestures is promising. The experiments performed for the eye-tracker module shown the possibility of interaction with simple Graphical User Interface provided by the near-to-eye display. Research leads to the conclusion of attractiveness of collaborative interfaces for interaction with smart glasses.

myPhyloDB: a local web server for the storage and analysis of metagenomics data

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

myPhyloDB is a user-friendly personal database with a browser-interface designed to facilitate the storage, processing, analysis, and distribution of metagenomics data. MyPhyloDB archives raw sequencing files, and allows for easy selection of project(s)/sample(s) of any combination from all availab...

Balancing Curricular and Pedagogical Needs in Computational Construction Kits: Lessons from the DeltaTick Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkerson-Jerde, Michelle; Wagh, Aditi; Wilensky, Uri

2015-01-01

To successfully integrate simulation and computational methods into K-12 STEM education, learning environments should be designed to help educators maintain balance between (a) addressing curricular content and practices and (b) attending to student knowledge and interests. We describe DeltaTick, a graphical simulation construction interface for…

General Aviation Data Framework

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blount, Elaine M.; Chung, Victoria I.

2006-01-01

The Flight Research Services Directorate at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) provides development and operations services associated with three general aviation (GA) aircraft used for research experiments. The GA aircraft includes a Cessna 206X Stationair, a Lancair Colombia 300X, and a Cirrus SR22X. Since 2004, the GA Data Framework software was designed and implemented to gather data from a varying set of hardware and software sources as well as enable transfer of the data to other computers or devices. The key requirements for the GA Data Framework software include platform independence, the ability to reuse the framework for different projects without changing the framework code, graphics display capabilities, and the ability to vary the interfaces and their performance. Data received from the various devices is stored in shared memory. This paper concentrates on the object oriented software design patterns within the General Aviation Data Framework, and how they enable the construction of project specific software without changing the base classes. The issues of platform independence and multi-threading which enable interfaces to run at different frame rates are also discussed in this paper.

A low noise interface circuit design of micro-machined gyroscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Qiang; Di, Xipeng; Yin, Liang; Liu, Xiaowei

2017-07-01

The analyses of MEMS gyroscope interface circuit on thermal noise, 1/f noise and phase noise are made in this paper. A closed-loop differential driving circuit and a low-noise differential detecting circuit based on the high frequency modulation are designed to limit the noise. The interface chip is implemented in a standard 0.5 μm CMOS process. The test results show that the resolution of sensitive capacity can reach to 6.47 × 10-20 F at the bandwidth of 60 Hz. The measuring range is ± 200°/s and the nonlinearity is 310 ppm. The output noise density is 5.8^\\circ/({{h}}\\cdot \\sqrt{{Hz}}). The angular random walk (allen-variance) is 0.092^\\circ/\\sqrt{{{h}}} and the bias instability is 2.63°/h. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61204121), the National Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (No. 2013AA041107), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. HIT.NSRIF.2013040).

A pen-based system to support pre-operative data collection within an anaesthesia department.

PubMed Central

Sanz, M. F.; Gómez, E. J.; Trueba, I.; Cano, P.; Arredondo, M. T.; del Pozo, F.

1993-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a pen-based computer system for remote preoperative data collection. The system is envisaged to be used by anaesthesia staff at different hospital scenarios where pre-operative data are generated. Pen-based technology offers important advantages in terms of portability and human-computer interaction, as direct manipulation interfaces by direct pointing, and "notebook user interfaces metaphors". Being the human factors analysis and user interface design a vital stage to achieve the appropriate user acceptability, a methodology that integrates the "usability" evaluation from the earlier development stages was used. Additionally, the selection of a pen-based computer system as a portable device to be used by health care personnel allows to evaluate the appropriateness of this new technology for remote data collection within the hospital environment. The work presented is currently being realised under the Research Project "TANIT: Telematics in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care", within the "A.I.M.--Telematics in Health CARE" European Research Program. PMID:8130488

A Preliminary Data Model for Orbital Flight Dynamics in Shuttle Mission Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

ONeill, John; Shalin, Valerie L.

2000-01-01

The Orbital Flight Dynamics group in Shuttle Mission Control is investigating new user interfaces in a project called RIOTS [RIOTS 2000]. Traditionally, the individual functions of hardware and software guide the design of displays, which results in an aggregated, if not integrated interface. The human work system has then been designed and trained to navigate, operate and integrate the processors and displays. The aim of RIOTS is to reduce the cognitive demands of the flight controllers by redesigning the user interface to support the work of the flight controller. This document supports the RIOTS project by defining a preliminary data model for Orbital Flight Dynamics. Section 2 defines an information-centric perspective. An information-centric approach aims to reduce the cognitive workload of the flight controllers by reducing the need for manual integration of information across processors and displays. Section 3 describes the Orbital Flight Dynamics domain. Section 4 defines the preliminary data model for Orbital Flight Dynamics. Section 5 examines the implications of mapping the data model to Orbital Flight Dynamics current information systems. Two recurring patterns are identified in the Orbital Flight Dynamics work the iteration/rework cycle and the decision-making/information integration/mirroring role relationship. Section 6 identifies new requirements on Orbital Flight Dynamics work and makes recommendations based on changing the information environment, changing the implementation of the data model, and changing the two recurring patterns.

TRU waste lead organization -- WIPP Project Office Interface Management semi-annual report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guerrero, J.V.; Gorton, J.M.

1985-05-01

The Charter establishing the Interface Control Board and the administrative organization to manage the interface of the TRU Waste Lead Organization and the WIPP Project Office also requires preparation of a summary report describing significant interface activities.'' This report includes a discussion of Interface Working Group (IWG) recommendations and resolutions considered and implemented'' over the reporting period October 1984 to March 1985.

Design of a Lunar Quick-Attach Mechanism to Hummer Vehicle Mounting Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grismore, David A.

2010-01-01

This report presents my work experiences while I was an intern with NASA (National Aeronautic and Space Administration) in the Spring of2010 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida as a member of the NASA USRP (Undergraduate Student Research Program) program. I worked in the Surface Systems (NE-S) group during the internship. Within NE-S, two ASRC (Arctic Slope Regional Corporation) contract engineers, A.J. Nick and Jason Schuler, had developed a "Quick-Attach" mechanism for the Chariot Rover, the next generation lunar rover. My project was to design, analyze, and possibly fabricate a mounting interface between their "Quick-Attach" and a Hummer vehicle. This interface was needed because it would increase their capabilities to test the Quick Attach and its various attachments, as they do not have access to a Chariot Rover at KSC. I utilized both Pro Engineer, a 3D CAD software package, and a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) known as a FAROarm to collect data and create my design. I relied on hand calculations and the Mechanica analysis tool within Pro Engineer to perform stress analysis on the design. After finishing the design, I began working on creating professional level CAD drawings and issuing them into the KSC design database known as DDMS before the end of the internship.

Microspacecraft and Earth observation: Electrical field (ELF) measurement project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olsen, Tanya; Elkington, Scot; Parker, Scott; Smith, Grover; Shumway, Andrew; Christensen, Craig; Parsa, Mehrdad; Larsen, Layne; Martinez, Ranae; Powell, George

1990-01-01

The Utah State University space system design project for 1989 to 1990 focuses on the design of a global electrical field sensing system to be deployed in a constellation of microspacecraft. The design includes the selection of the sensor and the design of the spacecraft, the sensor support subsystems, the launch vehicle interface structure, on board data storage and communications subsystems, and associated ground receiving stations. Optimization of satellite orbits and spacecraft attitude are critical to the overall mapping of the electrical field and, thus, are also included in the project. The spacecraft design incorporates a deployable sensor array (5 m booms) into a spinning oblate platform. Data is taken every 0.1 seconds by the electrical field sensors and stored on-board. An omni-directional antenna communicates with a ground station twice per day to down link the stored data. Wrap-around solar cells cover the exterior of the spacecraft to generate power. Nine Pegasus launches may be used to deploy fifty such satellites to orbits with inclinations greater than 45 deg. Piggyback deployment from other launch vehicles such as the DELTA 2 is also examined.

A Case for Data and Service Fusions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, T.; Boening, C.; Quach, N. T.; Gill, K.; Zlotnicki, V.; Moore, B.; Tsontos, V. M.

2015-12-01

In this distributed, data-intensive era, developing any solution that requires multi-disciplinary data and service requires careful review of interfaces with data and service providers. Information is stored in many different locations and data services are distributed across the Internet. In design and development of mash-up heterogeneous data systems, the challenge is not entirely technological; it is our ability to document the external interface specifications and to create a coherent environment for our users. While is impressive to present a complex web of data, the true measure of our success is in the quality of the data we are serving, the throughput of our creation, and user experience. The presentation presents two current funded NASA projects that require integration of heterogeneous data and service that reside in different locations. The NASA Sea Level Change Portal is designed a "one-stop" source for current sea level change information. Behind this portal is an architecture that integrates data and services from various sources, which includes PI-generated products, satellite products from the DAACs, and metadata from ESDIS Common Metadata Repository (CMR) and other sources, and services reside in the data centers, universities, and ESDIS. The recently funded Distributed Oceanographic Matchup Service (DOMS) project is a project under the NASA Advance Information Technology (AIST) program. DOMS will integrate with satellite products managed by NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) and three different in-situ projects that are located in difference parts of the U.S. These projects are good examples of delivering content-rich solutions through mash-up of heterogeneous data and systems.

FermiLib v0.1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MCCLEAN, JARROD; HANER, THOMAS; STEIGER, DAMIAN

FermiLib is an open source software package designed to facilitate the development and testing of algorithms for simulations of fermionic systems on quantum computers. Fermionic simulations represent an important application of early quantum devices with a lot of potential high value targets, such as quantum chemistry for the development of new catalysts. This software strives to provide a link between the required domain expertise in specific fermionic applications and quantum computing to enable more users to directly interface with, and develop for, these applications. It is an extensible Python library designed to interface with the high performance quantum simulator, ProjectQ,more » as well as application specific software such as PSI4 from the domain of quantum chemistry. Such software is key to enabling effective user facilities in quantum computation research.« less

CCP4i2: the new graphical user interface to the CCP4 program suite

PubMed Central

Potterton, Liz; Ballard, Charles; Dodson, Eleanor; Evans, Phil R.; Keegan, Ronan; Krissinel, Eugene; Stevenson, Kyle; Lebedev, Andrey; McNicholas, Stuart J.; Noble, Martin; Pannu, Navraj S.; Roth, Christian; Sheldrick, George; Skubak, Pavol; Uski, Ville

2018-01-01

The CCP4 (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4) software suite for macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography groups brings together many programs and libraries that, by means of well established conventions, interoperate effectively without adhering to strict design guidelines. Because of this inherent flexibility, users are often presented with diverse, even divergent, choices for solving every type of problem. Recently, CCP4 introduced CCP4i2, a modern graphical interface designed to help structural biologists to navigate the process of structure determination, with an emphasis on pipelining and the streamlined presentation of results. In addition, CCP4i2 provides a framework for writing structure-solution scripts that can be built up incrementally to create increasingly automatic procedures. PMID:29533233

Open environments to support systems engineering tool integration: A study using the Portable Common Tool Environment (PCTE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckhardt, Dave E., Jr.; Jipping, Michael J.; Wild, Chris J.; Zeil, Steven J.; Roberts, Cathy C.

1993-01-01

A study of computer engineering tool integration using the Portable Common Tool Environment (PCTE) Public Interface Standard is presented. Over a 10-week time frame, three existing software products were encapsulated to work in the Emeraude environment, an implementation of the PCTE version 1.5 standard. The software products used were a computer-aided software engineering (CASE) design tool, a software reuse tool, and a computer architecture design and analysis tool. The tool set was then demonstrated to work in a coordinated design process in the Emeraude environment. The project and the features of PCTE used are described, experience with the use of Emeraude environment over the project time frame is summarized, and several related areas for future research are summarized.

Static Frequency Converter System Installed and Tested

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Donald P.; Sadhukhan, Debashis

2003-01-01

A new Static Frequency Converter (SFC) system has been installed and tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center s Central Air Equipment Building to provide consistent, reduced motor start times and improved reliability for the building s 14 large exhausters and compressors. The operational start times have been consistent around 2 min, 20 s per machine. This is at least a 3-min improvement (per machine) over the old variable-frequency motor generator sets. The SFC was designed and built by Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and installed by Encompass Design Group (EDG) as part of a Construction of Facilities project managed by Glenn (Robert Scheidegger, project manager). The authors designed the Central Process Distributed Control Systems interface and control between the programmable logic controller, solid-state exciter, and switchgear, which was constructed by Gilcrest Electric.

User interfaces in space science instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCalden, Alec John

This thesis examines user interaction with instrumentation in the specific context of space science. It gathers together existing practice in machine interfaces with a look at potential future usage and recommends a new approach to space science projects with the intention of maximising their science return. It first takes a historical perspective on user interfaces and ways of defining and measuring the science return of a space instrument. Choices of research methodology are considered. Implementation details such as the concepts of usability, mental models, affordance and presentation of information are described, and examples of existing interfaces in space science are given. A set of parameters for use in analysing and synthesizing a user interface is derived by using a set of case studies of diverse failures and from previous work. A general space science user analysis is made by looking at typical practice, and an interview plus persona technique is used to group users with interface designs. An examination is made of designs in the field of astronomical instrumentation interfaces, showing the evolution of current concepts and including ideas capable of sustaining progress in the future. The parameters developed earlier are then tested against several established interfaces in the space science context to give a degree of confidence in their use. The concept of a simulator that is used to guide the development of an instrument over the whole lifecycle is described, and the idea is proposed that better instrumentation would result from more efficient use of the resources available. The previous ideas in this thesis are then brought together to describe a proposed new approach to a typical development programme, with an emphasis on user interaction. The conclusion shows that there is significant room for improvement in the science return from space instrumentation by attention to the user interface.

Dissipative Prototyping Methods: A Manifesto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beesley, P.

Taking a designer's unique perspective using examples of practice in experimental installation and digital protoyping, this manifesto acts as provocation for change and unlocking new potential by encouraging changes of perspective about the material realm. Diffusive form-language is proposed as a paradigm for architectural design. This method of design is applied through 3D printing and related digital fabrication methods, offering new qualities that can be implemented in design of realms including present earth and future interplanetary environments. A paradigm shift is encouraged by questioning conventional notions of geometry that minimize interfaces and by proposing the alternatives of maximized interfaces formed by effusive kinds of formal composition. A series of projects from the Canadian research studio of the Hylozoic Architecture group are described, providing examples of component design methods employing diffusive forms within combinations of tension-integrity structural systems integrated with hybrid metabolisms employing synthetic biology. Cultural implications are also discussed, drawing from architectural theory and natural philosophy. The conclusion of this paper suggests that the practice of diffusive prototyping can offer formative strategies contributing to design of future living systems.

Scanning Rocket Impact Area with an UAV: First Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, C. C. C.; Costa, D. A. L. M.; Junior, V. L. S.; Silva, B. R. F.; Leite, D. L.; Junor, C. E. B. S.; Liberator, B. A.; Nogueira, M. B.; Senna, M. D.; Santiago, G. S.; Dantas, J. B. D.; Alsina, P. J.; Albuquerque, G. L. A.

2015-09-01

This paper presents the first subsystems developed for an UAV used in safety procedures of sounding rockets campaigns. The aim of this UAV is to scan the rocket impact area in order to search for unexpected boats. To achieve this mission, designers developed an image recognition algorithm, two human-machine interfaces and two communication links, one to control the drone and the other for receiving telemetry data. In this paper, developers take all major engineering decisions in order to overcome the project constraints. A secondary goal of the project is to encourage young people to take part in Brazilian space program. For this reason, most of designers are undergraduate students under supervision of experts.

The XChemExplorer graphical workflow tool for routine or large-scale protein-ligand structure determination.

PubMed

Krojer, Tobias; Talon, Romain; Pearce, Nicholas; Collins, Patrick; Douangamath, Alice; Brandao-Neto, Jose; Dias, Alexandre; Marsden, Brian; von Delft, Frank

2017-03-01

XChemExplorer (XCE) is a data-management and workflow tool to support large-scale simultaneous analysis of protein-ligand complexes during structure-based ligand discovery (SBLD). The user interfaces of established crystallographic software packages such as CCP4 [Winn et al. (2011), Acta Cryst. D67, 235-242] or PHENIX [Adams et al. (2010), Acta Cryst. D66, 213-221] have entrenched the paradigm that a `project' is concerned with solving one structure. This does not hold for SBLD, where many almost identical structures need to be solved and analysed quickly in one batch of work. Functionality to track progress and annotate structures is essential. XCE provides an intuitive graphical user interface which guides the user from data processing, initial map calculation, ligand identification and refinement up until data dissemination. It provides multiple entry points depending on the need of each project, enables batch processing of multiple data sets and records metadata, progress and annotations in an SQLite database. XCE is freely available and works on any Linux and Mac OS X system, and the only dependency is to have the latest version of CCP4 installed. The design and usage of this tool are described here, and its usefulness is demonstrated in the context of fragment-screening campaigns at the Diamond Light Source. It is routinely used to analyse projects comprising 1000 data sets or more, and therefore scales well to even very large ligand-design projects.

A comparative evaluation plan for the Maintenance, Inventory, and Logistics Planning (MILP) System Human-Computer Interface (HCI)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Overmyer, Scott P.

1993-01-01

The primary goal of this project was to develop a tailored and effective approach to the design and evaluation of the human-computer interface (HCI) to the Maintenance, Inventory and Logistics Planning (MILP) System in support of the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD). An additional task that was undertaken was to assist in the review of Ground Displays for Space Station Freedom (SSF) by attending the Ground Displays Interface Group (GDIG), and commenting on the preliminary design for these displays. Based upon data gathered over the 10 week period, this project has hypothesized that the proper HCI concept for navigating through maintenance databases for large space vehicles is one based upon a spatial, direct manipulation approach. This dialogue style can be then coupled with a traditional text-based DBMS, after the user has determined the general nature and location of the information needed. This conclusion is in contrast with the currently planned HCI for MILP which uses a traditional form-fill-in dialogue style for all data access and retrieval. In order to resolve this difference in HCI and dialogue styles, it is recommended that comparative evaluation be performed which combines the use of both subjective and objective metrics to determine the optimal (performance-wise) and preferred approach for end users. The proposed plan has been outlined in the previous paragraphs and is available in its entirety in the Technical Report associated with this project. Further, it is suggested that several of the more useful features of the Maintenance Operations Management System (MOMS), especially those developed by the end-users, be incorporated into MILP to save development time and money.

Rotational fluid flow experiment: WPI/MITRE advanced space design GASCAN 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daly, Walter F.; Harr, Lee; Paduano, Rocco; Yee, Tony; Eubbani, Eddy; Delprado, Jaime; Khanna, Ajay

1991-01-01

The design and implementation is examined of an electro-mechanical system for studying vortex behavior in a microgravity environment. Most of the existing equipment was revised and redesigned as necessary. Emphasis was placed on the documentation and integration of the mechanical and electrical subsystems. Project results include the reconfiguration and thorough testing of all the hardware subsystems, the implementation of an infrared gas entrainment detector, new signal processing circuitry for the ultrasonic fluid circulation device, improved prototype interface circuits, and software for overall control of experiment design operation.

Aircraft empennage structural detail design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meholic, Greg; Brown, Rhonda; Hall, Melissa; Harvey, Robert; Singer, Michael; Tella, Gustavo

1993-01-01

This project involved the detailed design of the aft fuselage and empennage structure, vertical stabilizer, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, and elevator for the Triton primary flight trainer. The main design goals under consideration were to illustrate the integration of the control systems devices used in the tail surfaces and their necessary structural supports as well as the elevator trim, navigational lighting system, electrical systems, tail-located ground tie, and fuselage/cabin interface structure. Accommodations for maintenance, lubrication, adjustment, and repairability were devised. Weight, fabrication, and (sub)assembly goals were addressed. All designs were in accordance with the FAR Part 23 stipulations for a normal category aircraft.

Key issues in application of composites to transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, M.

1978-01-01

The application of composite materials to transport aircraft was identified and reviewed including the major contributing disciplines of design, manufacturing, and processing. Factors considered include: crashworthiness considerations (structural integrity, postcrash fires, and structural fusing), electrical/avionics subsystems integration, lightning, and P-static protection design; manufacturing development, evaluation, selection, and refining of tooling and curing procedures; and major joint design considerations. Development of the DC-10 rudder, DC-10 vertical stabilizer, and the DC-9 wing study project was reviewed. The Federal Aviation Administration interface and the effect on component design of compliance with Federal Aviation Regulation 25 Composite Guidelines are discussed.

The Apollo Lightcraft Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

The overall goal for this NASA/USRA-sponsored 'Apollo Lightcraft Project' is to develop a revolutionary launch vehicle technology that can reduce payload transport costs by a factor of 1000 below the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The RPI design team proposes to utilize advanced, highly energetic, beamed-energy sources (laser, microwave) and innovative combined-cycle (airbreathing/rocket) engines to accomplish this goal. This second year focused on systems integration and analysis of the 'Apollo Lightcraft'. This beam-powered, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle is envisioned as the globe-trotting family shuttlecraft of the 21st century. Detailed investigations of the Apollo Lightcraft Project during the second year of study helped evolve the propulsion system design, while focusing on the following areas: (1) man/machine interface; (2) flight control systems; (3) power beaming system architecture; (4) reentry aerodynamics; (5) shroud structural dynamics; and (6) optimal trajectory analysis.

3D Displays And User Interface Design For A Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning CAD Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosher, Charles E.; Sherouse, George W.; Chaney, Edward L.; Rosenman, Julian G.

1988-06-01

The long term goal of the project described in this paper is to improve local tumor control through the use of computer-aided treatment design methods that can result in selection of better treatment plans compared with conventional planning methods. To this end, a CAD tool for the design of radiation treatment beams is described. Crucial to the effectiveness of this tool are high quality 3D display techniques. We have found that 2D and 3D display methods dramatically improve the comprehension of the complex spatial relationships between patient anatomy, radiation beams, and dose distributions. In order to take full advantage of these displays, an intuitive and highly interactive user interface was created. If the system is to be used by physicians unfamiliar with computer systems, it is essential that a user interface is incorporated that allows the user to navigate through each step of the design process in a manner similar to what they are used to. Compared with conventional systems, we believe our display and CAD tools will allow the radiotherapist to achieve more accurate beam targetting leading to a better radiation dose configuration to the tumor volume. This would result in a reduction of the dose to normal tissue.

User Centered System Design: Papers for the CHI '83 Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Univ., San Diego. Center for Human Information Processing.

Four papers from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Project on Human-Computer Interfaces are presented in this report. "Evaluation and Analysis of User's Activity Organization," by Liam Bannon, Allen Cypher, Steven Greenspan, and Melissa Monty, analyzes the activities performed by users of computer systems, develops a…

Shuttle payload interface verification equipment study. Volume 3: Specification data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

A complete description is given of the IVE physical and performance design requirements as evolved in this study. The data are presented in a format to facilitate the development of an item specification. Data were used to support the development of the project plan data (schedules, cost, etc.) contained in Volume 4 of this report.

MAGMA: analysis of two-channel microarrays made easy.

PubMed

Rehrauer, Hubert; Zoller, Stefan; Schlapbach, Ralph

2007-07-01

The web application MAGMA provides a simple and intuitive interface to identify differentially expressed genes from two-channel microarray data. While the underlying algorithms are not superior to those of similar web applications, MAGMA is particularly user friendly and can be used without prior training. The user interface guides the novice user through the most typical microarray analysis workflow consisting of data upload, annotation, normalization and statistical analysis. It automatically generates R-scripts that document MAGMA's entire data processing steps, thereby allowing the user to regenerate all results in his local R installation. The implementation of MAGMA follows the model-view-controller design pattern that strictly separates the R-based statistical data processing, the web-representation and the application logic. This modular design makes the application flexible and easily extendible by experts in one of the fields: statistical microarray analysis, web design or software development. State-of-the-art Java Server Faces technology was used to generate the web interface and to perform user input processing. MAGMA's object-oriented modular framework makes it easily extendible and applicable to other fields and demonstrates that modern Java technology is also suitable for rather small and concise academic projects. MAGMA is freely available at www.magma-fgcz.uzh.ch.

Particle Engulfment and Pushing By Solidifying Interfaces - Recent Theoretical and Experimental Developments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stefanescu, D. M.; Catalina, A. V.; Juretzko, Frank R.; Sen, Subhayu; Curreri, P. A.

2003-01-01

The objective of the work on Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces (PEP) include: 1) to obtain fundamental understanding of the physics of particle pushing and engulfment, 2) to develop mathematical models to describe the phenomenon, and 3) to perform critical experiments in the microgravity environment of space to provide benchmark data for model validation. Successful completion of this project will yield vital information relevant to a diverse area of terrestrial applications. With PEP being a long term research effort, this report will focus on advances in the theoretical treatment of the solid/liquid interface interaction with an approaching particle, experimental validation of some aspects of the developed models, and the experimental design aspects of future experiments to be performed on board the International Space Station.

Metallized compliant 3D microstructures for dry contact thermal conductance enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Jin; Wang, Jicheng; Zhong, Yang; Pan, Liang; Weibel, Justin A.

2018-05-01

Microstructured three-dimensional (3D) materials can be engineered to enable new capabilities for various engineering applications; however, microfabrication of large 3D structures is typically expensive due to the conventional top-down fabrication scheme. Herein we demonstrated the use of projection micro-stereolithography and electrodeposition as cost-effective and high-throughput methods to fabricate compliant 3D microstructures as a thermal interface material (TIM). This novel TIM structure consists of an array of metallized micro-springs designed to enhance the dry contact thermal conductance between nonflat surfaces under low interface pressures (10s-100s kPa). Mechanical compliance and thermal resistance measurements confirm that this dry contact TIM can achieve conformal contact between mating surfaces with a nonflatness of approximately 5 µm under low interface pressures.

Characterizing the Material Properties of Polymer-Based Microelectrode Arrays for Retinal Prosthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Christina Soyeun

2003-06-01

The Retinal Prosthesis project is a three year project conducted in part at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and funded by the Department of Energy to create an epiretinal microelectrode array for stimulating retinal cells. The implant must be flexible to conform to the retina, robust to sustain handling during fabrication and implantation, and biocompatible to withstand physiological conditions within the eye. Using poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS), LLNL aims to use microfabrication techniques to increase the number of electrodes and integrate electronics. After the initial designs were fabricated and tested in acute implantation, it became obvious that there was a needmore » to characterize and understand the mechanical and electrical properties of these new structures. This knowledge would be imperative in gaining credibility for polymer microfabrication and optimizing the designs. Thin composite microfabricated devices are challenging to characterize because they are difficult to handle, and exhibit non-linear, viscoelastic, and anisotropic properties. The objective of this research is to device experiments and protocols, develop an analytical model to represent the composite behavior, design and fabricate test structures, and conduct experimental testing to determine the mechanical and electrical properties of PDMS-metal composites. Previous uniaxial stretch tests show an average of 7% strain before failure on resistive heaters of similar dimensions deposited on PDMS. Lack of background information and questionable human accuracy demands a more sophisticated and thorough testing method. An Instron tensile testing machine was set up to interface with a digital multiplexor and computer interface to simultaneously record and graph position, load, and resistance across devices. With a compliant load cell for testing polymers and electrical interconnect grips designed and fabricated to interface the sample to the electronics, real-time resistance measurements were taken. Wafers of test structures were fabricated with variables such as lead width, pad to lead interface shape, PDMS thickness, metal (Ti and Au) thickness, and lead shape. Results showed that the serpentine shaped leads were 70% more effective, and that thicker adhesion layers of Ti were too brittle for testing. The other variables did not produce significant results.« less

BioMart: a data federation framework for large collaborative projects.

PubMed

Zhang, Junjun; Haider, Syed; Baran, Joachim; Cros, Anthony; Guberman, Jonathan M; Hsu, Jack; Liang, Yong; Yao, Long; Kasprzyk, Arek

2011-01-01

BioMart is a freely available, open source, federated database system that provides a unified access to disparate, geographically distributed data sources. It is designed to be data agnostic and platform independent, such that existing databases can easily be incorporated into the BioMart framework. BioMart allows databases hosted on different servers to be presented seamlessly to users, facilitating collaborative projects between different research groups. BioMart contains several levels of query optimization to efficiently manage large data sets and offers a diverse selection of graphical user interfaces and application programming interfaces to ensure that queries can be performed in whatever manner is most convenient for the user. The software has now been adopted by a large number of different biological databases spanning a wide range of data types and providing a rich source of annotation available to bioinformaticians and biologists alike.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foslien, Wendy K.; Curtner, Keith L.

Because of growing energy demands and shortages, residential home owners are turning to energy conservation measures and smart home energy management devices to help them reduce energy costs and live more sustainably. In this context, the Honeywell team researched, developed, and tested the Context Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) as a trusted advisor for home energy management. The project focused on connecting multiple devices in a home through a uniform user interface. The design of the user interface was an important feature of the project because it provided a single place for the homeowner to control all devices andmore » was also where they received coaching. CASHEM then used data collected from homes to identify the contexts that affect operation of home appliances. CASHEM's goal was to reduce energy consumption while keeping the user's key needs satisfied. Thus, CASHEM was intended to find the opportunities to minimize energy consumption in a way that fit the user's lifestyle.« less

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirlik, Alex

1992-01-01

Detailed summaries of two NASA-funded research projects are provided. The first project was an ecological task analysis of the Star Cruiser model. Star Cruiser is a psychological model designed to test a subject's level of cognitive activity. Ecological task analysis is used as a framework to predict the types of cognitive activity required to achieve productive behavior and to suggest how interfaces can be manipulated to alleviate certain types of cognitive demands. The second project is presented in the form of a thesis for the Masters Degree. The thesis discusses the modeling of decision-making through the use of neural network and genetic-algorithm machine learning technologies.

GOATS Image Projection Component

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haber, Benjamin M.; Green, Joseph J.

2011-01-01

When doing mission analysis and design of an imaging system in orbit around the Earth, answering the fundamental question of imaging performance requires an understanding of the image products that will be produced by the imaging system. GOATS software represents a series of MATLAB functions to provide for geometric image projections. Unique features of the software include function modularity, a standard MATLAB interface, easy-to-understand first-principles-based analysis, and the ability to perform geometric image projections of framing type imaging systems. The software modules are created for maximum analysis utility, and can all be used independently for many varied analysis tasks, or used in conjunction with other orbit analysis tools.

Modular space station Phase B extension preliminary performance specification. Volume 2: Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The four systems of the modular space station project are described, and the interfaces between this project and the shuttle project, the tracking and data relay satellite project, and an arbitrarily defined experiment project are defined. The experiment project was synthesized from internal experiments, detached research and application modules, and attached research and application modules to derive a set of interface requirements which will support multiple combinations of these elements expected during the modular space station mission. The modular space station project element defines a 6-man orbital program capable of growth to a 12-man orbital program capability. The modular space station project element specification defines the modular space station system, the premission operations support system, the mission operations support system, and the cargo module system and their interfaces.

A Web-Based System for Monitoring and Controlling Multidisciplinary Design Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salas, Andrea O.; Rogers, James L.

1997-01-01

In today's competitive environment, both industry and government agencies are under enormous pressure to reduce the time and cost of multidisciplinary design projects. A number of frameworks have been introduced to assist in this process by facilitating the integration of and communication among diverse disciplinary codes. An examination of current frameworks reveals weaknesses in various areas such as sequencing, displaying, monitoring, and controlling the design process. The objective of this research is to explore how Web technology, in conjunction with an existing framework, can improve these areas of weakness. This paper describes a system that executes a sequence of programs, monitors and controls the design process through a Web-based interface, and visualizes intermediate and final results through the use of Java(Tm) applets. A small sample problem, which includes nine processes with two analysis programs that are coupled to an optimizer, is used to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach.

Ambulance Design Survey 2011: A Summary Report

PubMed Central

Lee, Y Tina; Kibira, Deogratias; Feeney, Allison Barnard; Marshall, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Current ambulance designs are ergonomically inefficient and often times unsafe for practical treatment response to medical emergencies. Thus, the patient compartment of a moving ambulance is a hazardous working environment. As a consequence, emergency medical services (EMS) workers suffer fatalities and injuries that far exceed those of the average work place in the United States. To reduce injury and mortality rates in ambulances, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has teamed with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and BMT Designers & Planners in a joint project to produce science-based ambulance patient compartment design standards. This project will develop new crash-safety design standards and improved user-design interface guidance for patient compartments that are safer for EMS personnel and patients, and facilitate improved patient care. The project team has been working with practitioners, EMS workers’ organizations, and manufacturers to solicit needs and requirements to address related issues. This paper presents an analysis of practitioners’ concerns, needs, and requirements for improved designs elicited through the web-based survey of ambulance design, held by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This paper also introduces the survey, analyzes the survey results, and discusses recommendations for future ambulance patient compartments design. PMID:26401439

Preparing the “New” Biologist of the Future: Student Research at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology

PubMed Central

Bishop, Pamela; Lenhart, Suzanne

2010-01-01

We describe a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates and Research Experience for Veterinary students summer program at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program focused on interdisciplinary research at the interface of biology and mathematics. Participants were selected to work on projects with a biology mentor and a mathematics mentor in an environment that promoted collaboration outside of the students' respective disciplines. There were four research projects with teams of four participants and two faculty mentors. The participants consisted of a mixture of 10 undergraduates in biology- and mathematics-related disciplines, four veterinary students, and two high-school teachers. The activities included lectures on both the biological and mathematical backgrounds of the projects, tutorials for software, and sessions on ethics, graduate school, and possible career paths for individuals interested in biology and mathematics. The program was designed to give students the ability to actively participate in the scientific research process by working on a project, writing up their results in a final report, and presenting their work orally. We report on the results of our evaluation surveys of the participants. PMID:20810963

Key Decision Record Creation and Approval Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hebert, Barrt; Messer, Elizabeth A.; Albasini, Colby; Le, Thang; ORourke, William, Sr.; Stiglets, Tim; Strain, Ted

2012-01-01

Retaining good key decision records is critical to ensuring the success of a project or operation. Having adequately documented decisions with supporting documents and rationale can greatly reduce the amount of rework or reinvention over a project's, vehicle's, or facility's lifecycle. Stennis Space Center developed and uses a software tool that automates the Key Decision Record (KDR) process for its engineering and test projects. It provides the ability for a user to log key decisions that are made during the course of a project. By customizing Parametric Technology Corporation's (PTC) Windchill product, the team was able to log all information about a decision, and electronically route that information for approval. Customizing the Windchill product allowed the team to directly connect these decisions to the engineering data that it might affect and notify data owners of the decision. The user interface was created in JSP and Javascript, within the OOTB (Out of the Box) Windchill product, allowing users to create KDRs. Not only does this interface allow users to create and track KDRs, but it also plugs directly into the OOTB ability to associate these decision records with other relevant engineering data such as drawings, designs, models, requirements, or specifications

Preparing the "new" biologist of the future: student research at the interface of mathematics and biology.

PubMed

Duncan, Sarah I; Bishop, Pamela; Lenhart, Suzanne

2010-01-01

We describe a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates and Research Experience for Veterinary students summer program at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program focused on interdisciplinary research at the interface of biology and mathematics. Participants were selected to work on projects with a biology mentor and a mathematics mentor in an environment that promoted collaboration outside of the students' respective disciplines. There were four research projects with teams of four participants and two faculty mentors. The participants consisted of a mixture of 10 undergraduates in biology- and mathematics-related disciplines, four veterinary students, and two high-school teachers. The activities included lectures on both the biological and mathematical backgrounds of the projects, tutorials for software, and sessions on ethics, graduate school, and possible career paths for individuals interested in biology and mathematics. The program was designed to give students the ability to actively participate in the scientific research process by working on a project, writing up their results in a final report, and presenting their work orally. We report on the results of our evaluation surveys of the participants.

Solar demonstration project in a fast-food restaurant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClenahan, D.

1980-11-01

The results of a two-phase program in which the first phase included the successful use of heat reclamation equipment and energy conservation techniques at a typical fast-food restaurant are described. The project's second phase involved the engineering, designing, installation and interfacing of a solar collector system at the facility. The report will help to serve as a guide for other restaurants around the state, and possibly the nation, which wish to install energy saving systems, or adopt energy-saving techniques, geared to their special needs and equipment.

EOS image data processing system definition study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gilbert, J.; Honikman, T.; Mcmahon, E.; Miller, E.; Pietrzak, L.; Yorsz, W.

1973-01-01

The Image Processing System (IPS) requirements and configuration are defined for NASA-sponsored advanced technology Earth Observatory System (EOS). The scope included investigation and definition of IPS operational, functional, and product requirements considering overall system constraints and interfaces (sensor, etc.) The scope also included investigation of the technical feasibility and definition of a point design reflecting system requirements. The design phase required a survey of present and projected technology related to general and special-purpose processors, high-density digital tape recorders, and image recorders.

The Fraunhofer MAVO FASPAS for smart system design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melz, Tobias; Matthias, Michael; Drossel, Welf-Guntram; Sporn, Dieter; Schoenecker, Andreas; Poigne, Axel

2005-05-01

The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is the largest organization for applied research in Europe, having a staff of some 12,700, predominantly qualified scientists and engineers, with an annual research budget of over one billion euros. One of its current internal Market-oriented strategic preliminary research (MaVo) projects is FASPAS (Function Consolidated Adaptive Structures Combining Piezo and Software Technologies for Autonomous Systems) which aims to promote adaptive structure technology for commercial exploitation within the current main research fields of the participating FhIs, namely automotive and machine tools engineering. Under the project management of the Fraunhofer-Institute Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF the six Fraunhofer Institutes LBF, IWU, IKTS, ISC, AiS and IIS bring together their competences ranging from material sciences to system reliability, in order to clarify unanswered questions. The predominant goal is to develop and validate methods and tools to establish a closed, modular development chain for the design and realization of such active structures which shall be useful in its width and depth, i.e. for specific R&D achievements such as the actuator development (depth) as well as the complete system design and realization (width). FASPAS focuses on the development of systems and on the following scientific topics: 1) on design and manufacturing technology for piezo components as integrable actuator/sensor semi-finished modules, 2) on development and transducer module integration of miniaturized electronics for charge generating sensor systems, 3) on the development of methods to analyze system reliability of active structures, 4) on the development of autonomous software structures for flexible, low cost electronics hardware for bulk production and 5) on the construction and validation of the complete, cost-effective development chain of function consolidated structures through application oriented demonstration structures. The research work will be oriented towards active vibration control for existing components on the basis of highly integrated, both, more or less established and highly innovative piezoelectric actuator and sensor systems in compact, cost-effective and robust design combined with advanced controllers. Within the presentation the project work will be shown using the example of one demonstration structure which is a robust interface, here for being integrated within an automotive spring strut system. The interface is designed as a modular, scalable subsystem. Being such, it can be used for similar scenarios in different technology areas e.g. for active mounting of vibration-inducing aggregates. The interface design allows for controlling uniaxial vibrations (z-direction) as well as tilting (normal to the uniaxial effect) and wobbling (rotating around the z-axis).

Intellectual Production Supervision Perform based on RFID Smart Electricity Meter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiangqun; Huang, Rui; Shen, Liman; chen, Hao; Xiong, Dezhi; Xiao, Xiangqi; Liu, Mouhai; Xu, Renheng

2018-03-01

This topic develops the RFID intelligent electricity meter production supervision project management system. The system is designed for energy meter production supervision in the management of the project schedule, quality and cost information management requirements in RFID intelligent power, and provide quantitative information more comprehensive, timely and accurate for supervision engineer and project manager management decisions, and to provide technical information for the product manufacturing stage file. From the angle of scheme analysis, design, implementation and test, the system development of production supervision project management system for RFID smart meter project is discussed. Focus on the development of the system, combined with the main business application and management mode at this stage, focuses on the energy meter to monitor progress information, quality information and cost based information on RFID intelligent power management function. The paper introduces the design scheme of the system, the overall client / server architecture, client oriented graphical user interface universal, complete the supervision of project management and interactive transaction information display, the server system of realizing the main program. The system is programmed with C# language and.NET operating environment, and the client and server platforms use Windows operating system, and the database server software uses Oracle. The overall platform supports mainstream information and standards and has good scalability.

FutureGen 2.0 Oxy-combustion Large Scale Test – Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kenison, LaVesta; Flanigan, Thomas; Hagerty, Gregg

The primary objectives of the FutureGen 2.0 CO 2 Oxy-Combustion Large Scale Test Project were to site, permit, design, construct, and commission, an oxy-combustion boiler, gas quality control system, air separation unit, and CO 2 compression and purification unit, together with the necessary supporting and interconnection utilities. The project was to demonstrate at commercial scale (168MWe gross) the capability to cleanly produce electricity through coal combustion at a retrofitted, existing coal-fired power plant; thereby, resulting in near-zeroemissions of all commonly regulated air emissions, as well as 90% CO 2 capture in steady-state operations. The project was to be fully integratedmore » in terms of project management, capacity, capabilities, technical scope, cost, and schedule with the companion FutureGen 2.0 CO 2 Pipeline and Storage Project, a separate but complementary project whose objective was to safely transport, permanently store and monitor the CO 2 captured by the Oxy-combustion Power Plant Project. The FutureGen 2.0 Oxy-Combustion Large Scale Test Project successfully achieved all technical objectives inclusive of front-end-engineering and design, and advanced design required to accurately estimate and contract for the construction, commissioning, and start-up of a commercial-scale "ready to build" power plant using oxy-combustion technology, including full integration with the companion CO 2 Pipeline and Storage project. Ultimately the project did not proceed to construction due to insufficient time to complete necessary EPC contract negotiations and commercial financing prior to expiration of federal co-funding, which triggered a DOE decision to closeout its participation in the project. Through the work that was completed, valuable technical, commercial, and programmatic lessons were learned. This project has significantly advanced the development of near-zero emission technology and will be helpful to plotting the course of, and successfully executing future large demonstration projects. This Final Scientific and Technical Report describes the technology and engineering basis of the project, inclusive of process systems, performance, effluents and emissions, and controls. Further, the project cost estimate, schedule, and permitting requirements are presented, along with a project risk and opportunity assessment. Lessons-learned related to these elements are summarized in this report. Companion reports Oxy-combustion further document the accomplishments and learnings of the project, including: A.01 Project Management Report which describes what was done to coordinate the various participants, and to track their performance with regard to schedule and budget B.02 Lessons Learned - Technology Integration, Value Improvements, and Program Management, which describes the innovations and conclusions that we arrived upon during the development of the project, and makes recommendations for improvement of future projects of a similar nature . B.03 Project Economics, which details the capital and operation costs and their basis, and also illustrates the cost of power produced by the plant with certain sensitivities. B.04 Power Plant, Pipeline, and Injection Site Interfaces, which details the interfaces between the two FutureGen projects B.05 Contractual Mechanisms for Design, Construction, and Operation, which describes the major EPC, and Operations Contracts required to execute the project.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heitzenroeder, P.; Dudek, Lawrence E.; Brooks, Arthur W.

The National Compact Stellarator Experiment, NCSX, is being constructed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in partnership with the Oak Ridge national Laboratory. The goal of NCSX is to provide the understanding necessary to develop an attractive, disruption free, steady state compact stellaratorbased reactor design. This paper describes the recently revised designs of the critical interfaces between the modular coils, the construction solutions developed to meet assembly tolerances, and the recently revised trim coil system that provides the required compensation to correct for the “as built” conditions and to allow flexibility in the disposition of as-built conditions. In May,more » 2008, the sponsor decided to terminate the NCSX project due to growth in the project’s cost and schedule estimates. However significant technical challenges in design and construction were overcome, greatly reducing the risk in the remaining work to complete the project.« less

Software design and code generation for the engineering graphical user interface of the ASTRI SST-2M prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanci, Claudio; Tosti, Gino; Antolini, Elisa; Gambini, Giorgio F.; Bruno, Pietro; Canestrari, Rodolfo; Conforti, Vito; Lombardi, Saverio; Russo, Federico; Sangiorgi, Pierluca; Scuderi, Salvatore

2016-08-01

ASTRI is an on-going project developed in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). An end- to-end prototype of a dual-mirror small-size telescope (SST-2M) has been installed at the INAF observing station on Mt. Etna, Italy. The next step is the development of the ASTRI mini-array composed of nine ASTRI SST-2M telescopes proposed to be installed at the CTA southern site. The ASTRI mini-array is a collaborative and international effort carried on by Italy, Brazil and South-Africa and led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, INAF. To control the ASTRI telescopes, a specific ASTRI Mini-Array Software System (MASS) was designed using a scalable and distributed architecture to monitor all the hardware devices for the telescopes. Using code generation we built automatically from the ASTRI Interface Control Documents a set of communication libraries and extensive Graphical User Interfaces that provide full access to the capabilities offered by the telescope hardware subsystems for testing and maintenance. Leveraging these generated libraries and components we then implemented a human designed, integrated, Engineering GUI for MASS to perform the verification of the whole prototype and test shared services such as the alarms, configurations, control systems, and scientific on-line outcomes. In our experience the use of code generation dramatically reduced the amount of effort in development, integration and testing of the more basic software components and resulted in a fast software release life cycle. This approach could be valuable for the whole CTA project, characterized by a large diversity of hardware components.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hale, Richard Edward; Cetiner, Sacit M.; Fugate, David L.

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Dynamic System Modeling Tool project is in the third year of development. The project is designed to support collaborative modeling and study of various advanced SMR (non-light water cooled) concepts, including the use of multiple coupled reactors at a single site. The objective of the project is to provide a common simulation environment and baseline modeling resources to facilitate rapid development of dynamic advanced reactor SMR models, ensure consistency among research products within the Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) technical area, and leverage cross-cutting capabilities while minimizing duplication of effort. The combined simulation environmentmore » and suite of models are identified as the Modular Dynamic SIMulation (MoDSIM) tool. The critical elements of this effort include (1) defining a standardized, common simulation environment that can be applied throughout the program, (2) developing a library of baseline component modules that can be assembled into full plant models using existing geometry and thermal-hydraulic data, (3) defining modeling conventions for interconnecting component models, and (4) establishing user interfaces and support tools to facilitate simulation development (i.e., configuration and parameterization), execution, and results display and capture.« less

SSBRP User Operations Facility (UOF) Overview and Development Strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Picinich, Lou; Stone, Thom; Sun, Charles; Windrem, May; Givens, John J. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

This paper will present the Space Station Biological Research Project (SSBRP) User Operations Facility (UOF) architecture and development strategy. A major element of the UOF at NASA Ames Research Center, the Communication and Data System (CDS) will be the primary focus of the discussions. CDS operational, telescience, security, and development objectives will be discussed along with CDS implementation strategy. The implementation strategy discussions will include: Object Oriented Analysis & Design, System & Software Prototyping, and Technology Utilization. A CDS design overview that includes: CDS Context Diagram, CDS Architecture, Object Models, Use Cases, and User Interfaces will also be presented. CDS development brings together "cutting edge" technologies and techniques such as: object oriented development, network security, multimedia networking, web-based data distribution, JAVA, and graphical user interfaces. Use of these "cutting edge" technologies and techniques translates directly to lower development and operations costs.

Update on ORNL TRANSFORM Tool: Simulating Multi-Module Advanced Reactor with End-to-End I&C

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hale, Richard Edward; Fugate, David L.; Cetiner, Sacit M.

2015-05-01

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Dynamic System Modeling Tool project is in the fourth year of development. The project is designed to support collaborative modeling and study of various advanced SMR (non-light water cooled reactor) concepts, including the use of multiple coupled reactors at a single site. The focus of this report is the development of a steam generator and drum system model that includes the complex dynamics of typical steam drum systems, the development of instrumentation and controls for the steam generator with drum system model, and the development of multi-reactor module models that reflect the full power reactormore » innovative small module design concept. The objective of the project is to provide a common simulation environment and baseline modeling resources to facilitate rapid development of dynamic advanced reactor models; ensure consistency among research products within the Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface technical area; and leverage cross-cutting capabilities while minimizing duplication of effort. The combined simulation environment and suite of models are identified as the TRANSFORM tool. The critical elements of this effort include (1) defining a standardized, common simulation environment that can be applied throughout the Advanced Reactors Technology program; (2) developing a library of baseline component modules that can be assembled into full plant models using available geometry, design, and thermal-hydraulic data; (3) defining modeling conventions for interconnecting component models; and (4) establishing user interfaces and support tools to facilitate simulation development (i.e., configuration and parameterization), execution, and results display and capture.« less

Ford Plug-In Project: Bringing PHEVs to Market Demonstration and Validation Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D'Annunzio, Julie; Slezak, Lee; Conley, John Jason

2014-03-26

This project is in support of our national goal to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. By supporting efforts that contribute toward the successful mass production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, our nation’s transportation-related fuel consumption can be offset with energy from the grid. Over four and a half years ago, when this project was originally initiated, plug-in electric vehicles were not readily available in the mass marketplace. Through the creation of a 21 unit plug-in hybrid vehicle fleet, this program was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology and to help build cross-industry familiarity with the technology andmore » interface of this technology with the grid. Ford Escape PHEV Demonstration Fleet 3 March 26, 2014 Since then, however, plug-in vehicles have become increasingly more commonplace in the market. Ford, itself, now offers an all-electric vehicle and two plug-in hybrid vehicles in North America and has announced a third plug-in vehicle offering for Europe. Lessons learned from this project have helped in these production vehicle launches and are mentioned throughout this report. While the technology of plugging in a vehicle to charge a high voltage battery with energy from the grid is now in production, the ability for vehicle-to-grid or bi-directional energy flow was farther away than originally expected. Several technical, regulatory and potential safety issues prevented progressing the vehicle-to-grid energy flow (V2G) demonstration and, after a review with the DOE, V2G was removed from this demonstration project. Also proving challenging were communications between a plug-in vehicle and the grid or smart meter. While this project successfully demonstrated the vehicle to smart meter interface, cross-industry and regulatory work is still needed to define the vehicle-to-grid communication interface.« less

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Consortium Agreement

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

This is the third progress report of the M.I.T. Home Automation and Healthcare Consortium-Phase Two. It covers majority of the new findings, concepts...research projects of home automation and healthcare, ranging from human modeling, patient monitoring, and diagnosis to new sensors and actuators, physical...aids, human-machine interface and home automation infrastructure. This report contains several patentable concepts, algorithms, and designs.

SHRIF, a General-Purpose System for Heuristic Retrieval of Information and Facts, Applied to Medical Knowledge Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findler, Nicholas V.; And Others

1992-01-01

Describes SHRIF, a System for Heuristic Retrieval of Information and Facts, and the medical knowledge base that was used in its development. Highlights include design decisions; the user-machine interface, including the language processor; and the organization of the knowledge base in an artificial intelligence (AI) project like this one. (57…

Controlling CAMAC instrumentation through the USB port

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribas, R. V.

2012-02-01

A programmable device to interface CAMAC instrumentation to the USB port of computers, without the need of heavy, noisy and expensive CAMAC crates is described in this article. Up to four single-width modules can be used. Also, all software necessary for a multi-parametric data acquisition system was developed. A standard crate-controller based on the same project is being designed.

Alloy Design Workbench-Surface Modeling Package Developed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abel, Phillip B.; Noebe, Ronald D.; Bozzolo, Guillermo H.; Good, Brian S.; Daugherty, Elaine S.

2003-01-01

NASA Glenn Research Center's Computational Materials Group has integrated a graphical user interface with in-house-developed surface modeling capabilities, with the goal of using computationally efficient atomistic simulations to aid the development of advanced aerospace materials, through the modeling of alloy surfaces, surface alloys, and segregation. The software is also ideal for modeling nanomaterials, since surface and interfacial effects can dominate material behavior and properties at this level. Through the combination of an accurate atomistic surface modeling methodology and an efficient computational engine, it is now possible to directly model these types of surface phenomenon and metallic nanostructures without a supercomputer. Fulfilling a High Operating Temperature Propulsion Components (HOTPC) project level-I milestone, a graphical user interface was created for a suite of quantum approximate atomistic materials modeling Fortran programs developed at Glenn. The resulting "Alloy Design Workbench-Surface Modeling Package" (ADW-SMP) is the combination of proven quantum approximate Bozzolo-Ferrante-Smith (BFS) algorithms (refs. 1 and 2) with a productivity-enhancing graphical front end. Written in the portable, platform independent Java programming language, the graphical user interface calls on extensively tested Fortran programs running in the background for the detailed computational tasks. Designed to run on desktop computers, the package has been deployed on PC, Mac, and SGI computer systems. The graphical user interface integrates two modes of computational materials exploration. One mode uses Monte Carlo simulations to determine lowest energy equilibrium configurations. The second approach is an interactive "what if" comparison of atomic configuration energies, designed to provide real-time insight into the underlying drivers of alloying processes.

Visualizing Sea Level Rise with Augmented Reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kintisch, E. S.

2013-12-01

Looking Glass is an application on the iPhone that visualizes in 3-D future scenarios of sea level rise, overlaid on live camera imagery in situ. Using a technology known as augmented reality, the app allows a layperson user to explore various scenarios of sea level rise using a visual interface. Then the user can see, in an immersive, dynamic way, how those scenarios would affect a real place. The first part of the experience activates users' cognitive, quantitative thinking process, teaching them how global sea level rise, tides and storm surge contribute to flooding; the second allows an emotional response to a striking visual depiction of possible future catastrophe. This project represents a partnership between a science journalist, MIT, and the Rhode Island School of Design, and the talk will touch on lessons this projects provides on structuring and executing such multidisciplinary efforts on future design projects.

The crustal dynamics intelligent user interface anthology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, Nicholas M., Jr.; Campbell, William J.; Roelofs, Larry H.; Wattawa, Scott L.

1987-01-01

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has initiated an Intelligent Data Management (IDM) research effort which has, as one of its components, the development of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI). The intent of the IUI is to develop a friendly and intelligent user interface service based on expert systems and natural language processing technologies. The purpose of such a service is to support the large number of potential scientific and engineering users that have need of space and land-related research and technical data, but have little or no experience in query languages or understanding of the information content or architecture of the databases of interest. This document presents the design concepts, development approach and evaluation of the performance of a prototype IUI system for the Crustal Dynamics Project Database, which was developed using a microcomputer-based expert system tool (M. 1), the natural language query processor THEMIS, and the graphics software system GSS. The IUI design is based on a multiple view representation of a database from both the user and database perspective, with intelligent processes to translate between the views.

Adaptive Modeling, Engineering Analysis and Design of Advanced Aerospace Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mukhopadhyay, Vivek; Hsu, Su-Yuen; Mason, Brian H.; Hicks, Mike D.; Jones, William T.; Sleight, David W.; Chun, Julio; Spangler, Jan L.; Kamhawi, Hilmi; Dahl, Jorgen L.

2006-01-01

This paper describes initial progress towards the development and enhancement of a set of software tools for rapid adaptive modeling, and conceptual design of advanced aerospace vehicle concepts. With demanding structural and aerodynamic performance requirements, these high fidelity geometry based modeling tools are essential for rapid and accurate engineering analysis at the early concept development stage. This adaptive modeling tool was used for generating vehicle parametric geometry, outer mold line and detailed internal structural layout of wing, fuselage, skin, spars, ribs, control surfaces, frames, bulkheads, floors, etc., that facilitated rapid finite element analysis, sizing study and weight optimization. The high quality outer mold line enabled rapid aerodynamic analysis in order to provide reliable design data at critical flight conditions. Example application for structural design of a conventional aircraft and a high altitude long endurance vehicle configuration are presented. This work was performed under the Conceptual Design Shop sub-project within the Efficient Aerodynamic Shape and Integration project, under the former Vehicle Systems Program. The project objective was to design and assess unconventional atmospheric vehicle concepts efficiently and confidently. The implementation may also dramatically facilitate physics-based systems analysis for the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Mission. In addition to providing technology for design and development of unconventional aircraft, the techniques for generation of accurate geometry and internal sub-structure and the automated interface with the high fidelity analysis codes could also be applied towards the design of vehicles for the NASA Exploration and Space Science Mission projects.

Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose Projection Graphical User Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cucinotta, Francis A.; Hu, Shaowen; Nounu, Hateni N.; Kim, Myung-Hee

2011-01-01

The integration of human space applications risk projection models of organ dose and acute radiation risk has been a key problem. NASA has developed an organ dose projection model using the BRYNTRN with SUM DOSE computer codes, and a probabilistic model of Acute Radiation Risk (ARR). The codes BRYNTRN and SUM DOSE are a Baryon transport code and an output data processing code, respectively. The risk projection models of organ doses and ARR take the output from BRYNTRN as an input to their calculations. With a graphical user interface (GUI) to handle input and output for BRYNTRN, the response models can be connected easily and correctly to BRYNTRN. A GUI for the ARR and BRYNTRN Organ Dose (ARRBOD) projection code provides seamless integration of input and output manipulations, which are required for operations of the ARRBOD modules. The ARRBOD GUI is intended for mission planners, radiation shield designers, space operations in the mission operations directorate (MOD), and space biophysics researchers. BRYNTRN code operation requires extensive input preparation. Only a graphical user interface (GUI) can handle input and output for BRYNTRN to the response models easily and correctly. The purpose of the GUI development for ARRBOD is to provide seamless integration of input and output manipulations for the operations of projection modules (BRYNTRN, SLMDOSE, and the ARR probabilistic response model) in assessing the acute risk and the organ doses of significant Solar Particle Events (SPEs). The assessment of astronauts radiation risk from SPE is in support of mission design and operational planning to manage radiation risks in future space missions. The ARRBOD GUI can identify the proper shielding solutions using the gender-specific organ dose assessments in order to avoid ARR symptoms, and to stay within the current NASA short-term dose limits. The quantified evaluation of ARR severities based on any given shielding configuration and a specified EVA or other mission scenario can be made to guide alternative solutions for attaining determined objectives set by mission planners. The ARRBOD GUI estimates the whole-body effective dose, organ doses, and acute radiation sickness symptoms for astronauts, by which operational strategies and capabilities can be made for the protection of astronauts from SPEs in the planning of future lunar surface scenarios, exploration of near-Earth objects, and missions to Mars.

Telemedicine. Final report/project accomplishments summary CRADA number 95-KCP-1014

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

VanDeusen, A.L.

1997-04-01

This project was initiated to fill existing voids in the telemedicine equipment market. Currently, when a medical facility adds telemedicine capability to their video conference system, they must purchase expensive and bulky encoders and decoders in order to send information over the available data channel. Even with this expensive equipment, only one data type (stethoscope or ECG) can be sent at a time. In addition, since existing encoders and decoders are not designed specifically for telemedicine, special cables must be built to connect with this equipment. This project resulted in the design and construction of an encoder/decoder system that resolvedmore » these issues. The unit (referred to as the Telecoder) is designed specifically for the telemedicine market. The Telecoder is compact, handles two types of data (stethoscope and ECG) simultaneously, integrates with existing medical equipment, and is less expensive. In addition to the Telecoder module, a prototype was built that adds all the necessary logic and interfaces necessary to integrate the basic encoder design into additional Cardionics products. Although a complete integration into other Cardionics products was not in the scope of this CRADA, all the basic design work has been done to allow Cardionics to complete the work.« less

Mercury Toolset for Spatiotemporal Metadata

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Bruce E.; Palanisamy, Giri; Devarakonda, Ranjeet; Rhyne, B. Timothy; Lindsley, Chris; Green, James

2010-01-01

Mercury (http://mercury.ornl.gov) is a set of tools for federated harvesting, searching, and retrieving metadata, particularly spatiotemporal metadata. Version 3.0 of the Mercury toolset provides orders of magnitude improvements in search speed, support for additional metadata formats, integration with Google Maps for spatial queries, facetted type search, support for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) delivery of search results, and enhanced customization to meet the needs of the multiple projects that use Mercury. It provides a single portal to very quickly search for data and information contained in disparate data management systems, each of which may use different metadata formats. Mercury harvests metadata and key data from contributing project servers distributed around the world and builds a centralized index. The search interfaces then allow the users to perform a variety of fielded, spatial, and temporal searches across these metadata sources. This centralized repository of metadata with distributed data sources provides extremely fast search results to the user, while allowing data providers to advertise the availability of their data and maintain complete control and ownership of that data. Mercury periodically (typically daily) harvests metadata sources through a collection of interfaces and re-indexes these metadata to provide extremely rapid search capabilities, even over collections with tens of millions of metadata records. A number of both graphical and application interfaces have been constructed within Mercury, to enable both human users and other computer programs to perform queries. Mercury was also designed to support multiple different projects, so that the particular fields that can be queried and used with search filters are easy to configure for each different project.

Mercury Toolset for Spatiotemporal Metadata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devarakonda, Ranjeet; Palanisamy, Giri; Green, James; Wilson, Bruce; Rhyne, B. Timothy; Lindsley, Chris

2010-06-01

Mercury (http://mercury.ornl.gov) is a set of tools for federated harvesting, searching, and retrieving metadata, particularly spatiotemporal metadata. Version 3.0 of the Mercury toolset provides orders of magnitude improvements in search speed, support for additional metadata formats, integration with Google Maps for spatial queries, facetted type search, support for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) delivery of search results, and enhanced customization to meet the needs of the multiple projects that use Mercury. It provides a single portal to very quickly search for data and information contained in disparate data management systems, each of which may use different metadata formats. Mercury harvests metadata and key data from contributing project servers distributed around the world and builds a centralized index. The search interfaces then allow the users to perform a variety of fielded, spatial, and temporal searches across these metadata sources. This centralized repository of metadata with distributed data sources provides extremely fast search results to the user, while allowing data providers to advertise the availability of their data and maintain complete control and ownership of that data. Mercury periodically (typically daily)harvests metadata sources through a collection of interfaces and re-indexes these metadata to provide extremely rapid search capabilities, even over collections with tens of millions of metadata records. A number of both graphical and application interfaces have been constructed within Mercury, to enable both human users and other computer programs to perform queries. Mercury was also designed to support multiple different projects, so that the particular fields that can be queried and used with search filters are easy to configure for each different project.

Flat conductor cable commercialization project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogarth, P.; Wadsworth, E.

1977-01-01

An undercarpet flat conductor cable and a baseboard flat conductor cable system were studied for commercialization. The undercarpet system is designed for use in office and commercial buildings. It employs a flat power cable, protected by a grounded metal shield, that terminates in receptacles mounted on the floor. It is designed to interface with a flat conductor cable telephone system. The baseboard system consists of a flat power cable mounted in a plastic raceway; both the raceway and the receptacles are mounted on the surface of the baseboard. It is designed primarily for use in residential buildings, particularly for renovation and concrete and masonry construction.

Mapping and navigational control for a “smart” wheelchair.

PubMed

Schultz, Dana L; Shea, Kathleen M; Barrett, Steven F

2012-01-01

A “smart” wheelchair is in development to provide mobility to those unable to control a traditional wheelchair. A “smart” wheelchair is an autonomous machine with the ability to navigate a mapped environment while avoiding obstacles. The flexibility and complex design of “smart” wheelchairs have made those currently available expensive. Ongoing research at the University of Wyoming has been aimed at designing a cheaper, alternative control system that could be interfaced with a typical powered wheelchair. The goal of this project is to determine methods for mapping and navigational control for the wheelchair. The control system acquires data from eighteen sensors and uses the data to navigate around a pre-programmed map which is stored on a micro SD card. The control system also provides a user interface in the form of a touchscreen LCD. The designed system will be an easy-to-use and cost effective alternative to current “smart” wheelchair technology.

Computer Aided Grid Interface: An Interactive CFD Pre-Processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soni, Bharat K.

1997-01-01

NASA maintains an applications oriented computational fluid dynamics (CFD) efforts complementary to and in support of the aerodynamic-propulsion design and test activities. This is especially true at NASA/MSFC where the goal is to advance and optimize present and future liquid-fueled rocket engines. Numerical grid generation plays a significant role in the fluid flow simulations utilizing CFD. An overall goal of the current project was to develop a geometry-grid generation tool that will help engineers, scientists and CFD practitioners to analyze design problems involving complex geometries in a timely fashion. This goal is accomplished by developing the CAGI: Computer Aided Grid Interface system. The CAGI system is developed by integrating CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) geometric system output and/or Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) files (including all the NASA-IGES entities), geometry manipulations and generations associated with grid constructions, and robust grid generation methodologies. This report describes the development process of the CAGI system.

Computer Aided Grid Interface: An Interactive CFD Pre-Processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soni, Bharat K.

1996-01-01

NASA maintains an applications oriented computational fluid dynamics (CFD) efforts complementary to and in support of the aerodynamic-propulsion design and test activities. This is especially true at NASA/MSFC where the goal is to advance and optimize present and future liquid-fueled rocket engines. Numerical grid generation plays a significant role in the fluid flow simulations utilizing CFD. An overall goal of the current project was to develop a geometry-grid generation tool that will help engineers, scientists and CFD practitioners to analyze design problems involving complex geometries in a timely fashion. This goal is accomplished by developing the Computer Aided Grid Interface system (CAGI). The CAGI system is developed by integrating CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) geometric system output and / or Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) files (including all the NASA-IGES entities), geometry manipulations and generations associated with grid constructions, and robust grid generation methodologies. This report describes the development process of the CAGI system.

User engineering: A new look at system engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclaughlin, Larry L.

1987-01-01

User Engineering is a new System Engineering perspective responsible for defining and maintaining the user view of the system. Its elements are a process to guide the project and customer, a multidisciplinary team including hard and soft sciences, rapid prototyping tools to build user interfaces quickly and modify them frequently at low cost, and a prototyping center for involving users and designers in an iterative way. The main consideration is reducing the risk that the end user will not or cannot effectively use the system. The process begins with user analysis to produce cognitive and work style models, and task analysis to produce user work functions and scenarios. These become major drivers of the human computer interface design which is presented and reviewed as an interactive prototype by users. Feedback is rapid and productive, and user effectiveness can be measured and observed before the system is built and fielded. Requirements are derived via the prototype and baselined early to serve as an input to the architecture and software design.

A Full Body Steerable Wind Display for a Locomotion Interface.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Sandip D; Fisher, Charles J; Lefler, Price; Desai, Aditya; Chakravarthy, Shanthanu; Pardyjak, Eric R; Minor, Mark A; Hollerbach, John M

2015-10-01

This paper presents the Treadport Active Wind Tunnel (TPAWT)-a full-body immersive virtual environment for the Treadport locomotion interface designed for generating wind on a user from any frontal direction at speeds up to 20 kph. The goal is to simulate the experience of realistic wind while walking in an outdoor virtual environment. A recirculating-type wind tunnel was created around the pre-existing Treadport installation by adding a large fan, ducting, and enclosure walls. Two sheets of air in a non-intrusive design flow along the side screens of the back-projection CAVE-like visual display, where they impinge and mix at the front screen to redirect towards the user in a full-body cross-section. By varying the flow conditions of the air sheets, the direction and speed of wind at the user are controlled. Design challenges to fit the wind tunnel in the pre-existing facility, and to manage turbulence to achieve stable and steerable flow, were overcome. The controller performance for wind speed and direction is demonstrated experimentally.

Automated, Parametric Geometry Modeling and Grid Generation for Turbomachinery Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrand, Vincent J.; Uchitel, Vadim G.; Whitmire, John B.

2000-01-01

The objective of this Phase I project is to develop a highly automated software system for rapid geometry modeling and grid generation for turbomachinery applications. The proposed system features a graphical user interface for interactive control, a direct interface to commercial CAD/PDM systems, support for IGES geometry output, and a scripting capability for obtaining a high level of automation and end-user customization of the tool. The developed system is fully parametric and highly automated, and, therefore, significantly reduces the turnaround time for 3D geometry modeling, grid generation and model setup. This facilitates design environments in which a large number of cases need to be generated, such as for parametric analysis and design optimization of turbomachinery equipment. In Phase I we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the approach. The system has been tested on a wide variety of turbomachinery geometries, including several impellers and a multi stage rotor-stator combination. In Phase II, we plan to integrate the developed system with turbomachinery design software and with commercial CAD/PDM software.

A pseudo-haptic knot diagram interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hui; Weng, Jianguang; Hanson, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

To make progress in understanding knot theory, we will need to interact with the projected representations of mathematical knots which are of course continuous in 3D but significantly interrupted in the projective images. One way to achieve such a goal would be to design an interactive system that allows us to sketch 2D knot diagrams by taking advantage of a collision-sensing controller and explore their underlying smooth structures through a continuous motion. Recent advances of interaction techniques have been made that allow progress to be made in this direction. Pseudo-haptics that simulates haptic effects using pure visual feedback can be used to develop such an interactive system. This paper outlines one such pseudo-haptic knot diagram interface. Our interface derives from the familiar pencil-and-paper process of drawing 2D knot diagrams and provides haptic-like sensations to facilitate the creation and exploration of knot diagrams. A centerpiece of the interaction model simulates a "physically" reactive mouse cursor, which is exploited to resolve the apparent conflict between the continuous structure of the actual smooth knot and the visual discontinuities in the knot diagram representation. Another value in exploiting pseudo-haptics is that an acceleration (or deceleration) of the mouse cursor (or surface locator) can be used to indicate the slope of the curve (or surface) of whom the projective image is being explored. By exploiting these additional visual cues, we proceed to a full-featured extension to a pseudo-haptic 4D visualization system that simulates the continuous navigation on 4D objects and allows us to sense the bumps and holes in the fourth dimension. Preliminary tests of the software show that main features of the interface overcome some expected perceptual limitations in our interaction with 2D knot diagrams of 3D knots and 3D projective images of 4D mathematical objects.

Integrated Circuit Design of 3 Electrode Sensing System Using Two-Stage Operational Amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rani, S.; Abdullah, W. F. H.; Zain, Z. M.; N, Aqmar N. Z.

2018-03-01

This paper presents the design of a two-stage operational amplifier(op amp) for 3-electrode sensing system readout circuits. The designs have been simulated using 0.13μm CMOS technology from Silterra (Malaysia) with Mentor graphics tools. The purpose of this projects is mainly to design a miniature interfacing circuit to detect the redox reaction in the form of current using standard analog modules. The potentiostat consists of several op amps combined together in order to analyse the signal coming from the 3-electrode sensing system. This op amp design will be used in potentiostat circuit device and to analyse the functionality for each module of the system.

Beam director design report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Younger, F.C.

1986-08-01

A design and fabrication effort for a beam director is documented. The conceptual design provides for the beam to pass first through a bending and focusing system (or ''achromat''), through a second achromat, through an air-to-vacuum interface (the ''beam window''), and finally through the vernier steering system. Following an initial concept study for a beam director, a prototype permanent magnet 30/sup 0/ beam-bending achromat and prototype vernier steering magnet were designed and built. In volume II, copies are included of the funding instruments, requests for quotations, purchase orders, a complete set of as-built drawings, magnetic measurement reports, the concept designmore » report, and the final report on the design and fabrication project. (LEW)« less

KSC History Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Patrick K.

2002-01-01

The 2002 NASA/ASEE KSC History Project focused on a series of seven history initiatives designed to acquire, preserve, and interpret the history of Kennedy Space Center. These seven projects included the co-authoring of Voices From the Cape, historical work with NASA historian Roger Launius, the completion of a series of oral histories with key KSC personnel, a monograph on Public Affairs, the development of a Historical Concept Map (CMap) for history knowledge preservation, advice on KSC history database and web interface capabilities, the development of a KSC oral history program and guidelines of training and collection, and the development of collaborative relationships between Kennedy Space Center, the University of West Florida, and the University of Central Florida.

A Re-Engineered Software Interface and Workflow for the Open-Source SimVascular Cardiovascular Modeling Package.

PubMed

Lan, Hongzhi; Updegrove, Adam; Wilson, Nathan M; Maher, Gabriel D; Shadden, Shawn C; Marsden, Alison L

2018-02-01

Patient-specific simulation plays an important role in cardiovascular disease research, diagnosis, surgical planning and medical device design, as well as education in cardiovascular biomechanics. simvascular is an open-source software package encompassing an entire cardiovascular modeling and simulation pipeline from image segmentation, three-dimensional (3D) solid modeling, and mesh generation, to patient-specific simulation and analysis. SimVascular is widely used for cardiovascular basic science and clinical research as well as education, following increased adoption by users and development of a GATEWAY web portal to facilitate educational access. Initial efforts of the project focused on replacing commercial packages with open-source alternatives and adding increased functionality for multiscale modeling, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), and solid modeling operations. In this paper, we introduce a major SimVascular (SV) release that includes a new graphical user interface (GUI) designed to improve user experience. Additional improvements include enhanced data/project management, interactive tools to facilitate user interaction, new boundary condition (BC) functionality, plug-in mechanism to increase modularity, a new 3D segmentation tool, and new computer-aided design (CAD)-based solid modeling capabilities. Here, we focus on major changes to the software platform and outline features added in this new release. We also briefly describe our recent experiences using SimVascular in the classroom for bioengineering education.

Improving Conceptual Design for Launch Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olds, John R.

1998-01-01

This report summarizes activities performed during the second year of a three year cooperative agreement between NASA - Langley Research Center and Georgia Tech. Year 1 of the project resulted in the creation of a new Cost and Business Assessment Model (CABAM) for estimating the economic performance of advanced reusable launch vehicles including non-recurring costs, recurring costs, and revenue. The current year (second year) activities were focused on the evaluation of automated, collaborative design frameworks (computation architectures or computational frameworks) for automating the design process in advanced space vehicle design. Consistent with NASA's new thrust area in developing and understanding Intelligent Synthesis Environments (ISE), the goals of this year's research efforts were to develop and apply computer integration techniques and near-term computational frameworks for conducting advanced space vehicle design. NASA - Langley (VAB) has taken a lead role in developing a web-based computing architectures within which the designer can interact with disciplinary analysis tools through a flexible web interface. The advantages of this approach are, 1) flexible access to the designer interface through a simple web browser (e.g. Netscape Navigator), 2) ability to include existing 'legacy' codes, and 3) ability to include distributed analysis tools running on remote computers. To date, VAB's internal emphasis has been on developing this test system for the planetary entry mission under the joint Integrated Design System (IDS) program with NASA - Ames and JPL. Georgia Tech's complementary goals this year were to: 1) Examine an alternate 'custom' computational architecture for the three-discipline IDS planetary entry problem to assess the advantages and disadvantages relative to the web-based approach.and 2) Develop and examine a web-based interface and framework for a typical launch vehicle design problem.

Mockup design of personal health diary app for patients with chronic kidney disease.

PubMed

Lin, Hsiu-Wen; Wang, Yu-Jen; Jing, Ling-Fang; Chang, Polun

2014-01-01

Health self-management is important in the care of patients with chronic kidney disease. It is possible to improve the efficiency of patient self-management through the use of mobile technology and related software. This study is divided into three stages: 1. analysis of need: through observation, interview and content analysis of the chronic kidney disease health management manual; 2. design of system prototype: establish interface and system function; 3. prototype evaluation: evaluate whether the prototype designed by this study meets user needs. The system prototype includes: daily record, laboratory examination results, trend graphs, information search, sharing, communications and settings. Prototyping is done with Pencil Project for interface design and linking. The prototype is then exported in PDF format for mock-up simulation. Evaluation results: overall score was 4.01±0.60 leaning towards "agree", the highest score was ease of use (4.25±0.6), followed by easy to learn (4.15±0.68), acceptance (4.01±0.61), reliability (3.87±0.6) and functionality (3.83±0.49). The results show positive attitude towards the system.

The peer-professional interface in a community-based, breast feeding peer-support project.

PubMed

Curtis, Penny; Woodhill, Rose; Stapleton, Helen

2007-06-01

to explore key elements of the peer-professional interface within one breast feeding peer-support project. a descriptive, qualitative study design. Data were generated through focus-group discussions with volunteer peer supporters and health professionals. the Breastfriends scheme was a community-based, peer-support project located in Doncaster, a town in the North of England. all of the volunteer peer supporters who were involved in the scheme at the time of data collection (n=7). In addition, a convenience sample of health professionals (community midwives and health visitors [n=9]) was also generated. thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Two key themes that have relevance to understanding the peer-professional interface were derived: benefits of working together, and constraints on enabling working relationships. benefits associated with participating in the breast feeding peer-support scheme were highlighted by volunteers and health professionals. Volunteers experienced enhanced social support and increased self-esteem and personal development. Health professionals benefited from being able to 'spread the load' of breast feeding support. Some health professionals were also able to learn from volunteers' specialist experiential and cultural knowledge. Health professionals were concerned about volunteers transgressing (poorly defined) boundaries. Both volunteers and health professionals described gate-keeping activities and surveillance behaviours practised by health professionals in an effort to control aspects of volunteers' access to, and work with, breast feeding women. as a cohort of peer supporters develops, members may derive benefits from their participation that extend beyond those predicted and planned for in the project. They may also exert a proactive influence upon the evolution of the peer-support project and upon the relationships between volunteers and health professionals. However, midwives and health professionals may also seek to exert influence over the work of peer supporters, preferring the volunteers to work for, rather than with, them as health professionals. It is at the peer-professional interface that any disjuncture between the project ideal and the reality of the group may be most evident and most problematic. in order to reduce tension at the peer-professional interface, and optimise relationships between volunteers and health professionals, an ongoing process of development involving volunteers and health professionals is essential. Such a process would need to proactively identify and diffuse professionals' concerns while addressing both volunteers' vulnerabilities and their potential for semi-autonomous development within and beyond the context of the peer-support scheme.

Life Support Systems for Lunar Landers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Molly

2008-01-01

Engineers designing life support systems for NASA s next Lunar Landers face unique challenges. As with any vehicle that enables human spaceflight, the needs of the crew drive most of the lander requirements. The lander is also a key element of the architecture NASA will implement in the Constellation program. Many requirements, constraints, or optimization goals will be driven by interfaces with other projects, like the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the Lunar Surface Systems, and the Extravehicular Activity project. Other challenges in the life support system will be driven by the unique location of the vehicle in the environments encountered throughout the mission. This paper examines several topics that may be major design drivers for the lunar lander life support system. There are several functional requirements for the lander that may be different from previous vehicles or programs and recent experience. Some of the requirements or design drivers will change depending on the overall Lander configuration. While the configuration for a lander design is not fixed, designers can examine how these issues would impact their design and be prepared for the quick design iterations required to optimize a spacecraft.

75 FR 16731 - Young Dodge SEIS; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-02

... (SEIS) for the Young Dodge project. The Young Dodge project includes urban interface fuels treatments... management changes, including road decommissioning. The project is located in the Young Dodge planning... Wildland-Urban Interface, to decrease the likelihood that fires would become stand-replacing wildfires; (2...

The cascade high productivity language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, David; Chamberlain, Branford L.; Zima, Hans P.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the design of Chapel, the Cascade High Productivity Language, which is being developed in the DARPA-funded HPCS project Cascade led by Cray Inc. Chapel pushes the state-of-the-art in languages for HEC system programming by focusing on productivity, in particular by combining the goal of highest possible object code performance with that of programmability offered by a high-level user interface.

Quality Control (QC) System Development for the Pell Grant Program: A Conceptual Framework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Advanced Technology, Inc., Reston, VA.

The objectives of the Pell Grant quality control (QC) system and the general definition of QC are considered. Attention is also directed to: the objectives of the Stage II Pell Grant QC system design and testing project, the approach used to develop the QC system, and the interface of the QC system and the Pell Grant delivery system. The…

Parallel tools GUI framework-DOE SBIR phase I final technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Galarowicz, James

2013-12-05

Many parallel performance, profiling, and debugging tools require a graphical way of displaying the very large datasets typically gathered from high performance computing (HPC) applications. Most tool projects create their graphical user interfaces (GUI) from scratch, many times spending their project resources on simply redeveloping commonly used infrastructure. Our goal was to create a multiplatform GUI framework, based on Nokia/Digia’s popular Qt libraries, which will specifically address the needs of these parallel tools. The Parallel Tools GUI Framework (PTGF) uses a plugin architecture facilitating rapid GUI development and reduced development costs for new and existing tool projects by allowing themore » reuse of many common GUI elements, called “widgets.” Widgets created include, 2D data visualizations, a source code viewer with syntax highlighting, and integrated help and welcome screens. Application programming interface (API) design was focused on minimizing the time to getting a functional tool working. Having a standard, unified, and userfriendly interface which operates on multiple platforms will benefit HPC application developers by reducing training time and allowing users to move between tools rapidly during a single session. However, Argo Navis Technologies LLC will not be submitting a DOE SBIR Phase II proposal and commercialization plan for the PTGF project. Our preliminary estimates for gross income over the next several years was based upon initial customer interest and income generated by similar projects. Unfortunately, as we further assessed the market during Phase I, we grew to realize that there was not enough demand to warrant such a large investment. While we do find that the project is worth our continued investment of time and money, we do not think it worthy of the DOE's investment at this time. We are grateful that the DOE has afforded us the opportunity to make this assessment, and come to this conclusion.« less

Integrated geometry and grid generation system for complex configurations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akdag, Vedat; Wulf, Armin

1992-01-01

A grid generation system was developed that enables grid generation for complex configurations. The system called ICEM/CFD is described and its role in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications is presented. The capabilities of the system include full computer aided design (CAD), grid generation on the actual CAD geometry definition using robust surface projection algorithms, interfacing easily with known CAD packages through common file formats for geometry transfer, grid quality evaluation of the volume grid, coupling boundary condition set-up for block faces with grid topology generation, multi-block grid generation with or without point continuity and block to block interface requirement, and generating grid files directly compatible with known flow solvers. The interactive and integrated approach to the problem of computational grid generation not only substantially reduces manpower time but also increases the flexibility of later grid modifications and enhancements which is required in an environment where CFD is integrated into a product design cycle.

Human factors in technology replacement: a case study in interface design for a public transport monitoring system.

PubMed

Harper, J G; Fuller, R; Sweeney, D; Waldmann, T

1998-04-01

This paper describes ergonomic issues raised during a project to provide a replacement real-time bus route control system to a large public transport company. Task and system analyses highlighted several deficiencies in the original system architecture, the human-machine interfaces and the general approach to system management. The eventual live prototype replaced the existing original system for a trial evaluation period of several weeks. During this period a number of studies was conducted with the system users in order to measure any improvements the new system, with its ergonomic features, produced over the old. Importantly, the results confirmed that (a) general responsiveness and service quality were improved, and (b) users were more comfortable with the new design. We conclude with a number of caveats which we believe will be useful to any group addressing technology impact in a large organisation.

Technology transfer of operator-in-the-loop simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yae, K. H.; Lin, H. C.; Lin, T. C.; Frisch, H. P.

1994-01-01

The technology developed for operator-in-the-loop simulation in space teleoperation has been applied to Caterpillar's backhoe, wheel loader, and off-highway truck. On an SGI workstation, the simulation integrates computer modeling of kinematics and dynamics, real-time computational and visualization, and an interface with the operator through the operator's console. The console is interfaced with the workstation through an IBM-PC in which the operator's commands were digitized and sent through an RS-232 serial port. The simulation gave visual feedback adequate for the operator in the loop, with the camera's field of vision projected on a large screen in multiple view windows. The view control can emulate either stationary or moving cameras. This simulator created an innovative engineering design environment by integrating computer software and hardware with the human operator's interactions. The backhoe simulation has been adopted by Caterpillar in building a virtual reality tool for backhoe design.

National meeting to review IPAD status and goals. [Integrated Programs for Aerospace-vehicle Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fulton, R. E.

1980-01-01

A joint NASA/industry project called Integrated Programs for Aerospace-vehicle Design (IPAD) is described, which has the goal of raising aerospace-industry productivity through the application of computers to integrate company-wide management of engineering data. Basically a general-purpose interactive computing system developed to support engineering design processes, the IPAD design is composed of three major software components: the executive, data management, and geometry and graphics software. Results of IPAD activities include a comprehensive description of a future representative aerospace vehicle design process and its interface to manufacturing, and requirements and preliminary design of a future IPAD software system to integrate engineering activities of an aerospace company having several products under simultaneous development.

Beam director design report: Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Younger, F.C.

1986-08-01

A design and fabrication effort for a beam director is documented. The conceptual design provides for the beam to pass first through a bending and focusing system (or ''achromat''), through a second achromat, through an air-to-vacuum interface (the ''beam window''), and finally through the vernier steering system. Following an initial concept study for a beam director, a prototype permanent magnet 30/sup 0/ beam-bending achromat and a prototype vernier steering magnet were designed and built. In volume I, the design requirements are stated, the design is summarized and illustrated, and detailed analysis and computations are provided. Also, a summary of materialsmore » used, a description of the manufacturing process, and a summary of project funding are provided. (LEW)« less

Integrating ethics in design through the value-sensitive design approach.

PubMed

Cummings, Mary L

2006-10-01

The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) has declared that to achieve accredited status, 'engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.' Many engineering professors struggle to integrate this required ethics instruction in technical classes and projects because of the lack of a formalized ethics-in-design approach. However, one methodology developed in human-computer interaction research, the Value-Sensitive Design approach, can serve as an engineering education tool which bridges the gap between design and ethics for many engineering disciplines. The three major components of Value-Sensitive Design, conceptual, technical, and empirical, exemplified through a case study which focuses on the development of a command and control supervisory interface for a military cruise missile.

Automated Array Assembly, Phase 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carbajal, B. G.

1979-01-01

The Automated Array Assembly Task, Phase 2 of the Low Cost Silicon Solar Array Project is a process development task. The contract provides for the fabrication of modules from large area tandem junction cells (TJC). During this quarter, effort was focused on the design of a large area, approximately 36 sq cm, TJC and process verification runs. The large area TJC design was optimized for minimum I squared R power losses. In the TJM activity, the cell-module interfaces were defined, module substrates were formed and heat treated and clad metal interconnect strips were fabricated.

Fort Hood Solar Total Energy Project. Volume II. Preliminary design. Part 1. System criteria and design description. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None,

1979-01-01

This volume documents the preliminary design developed for the Solar Total Energy System to be installed at Fort Hood, Texas. Current system, subsystem, and component designs are described and additional studies which support selection among significant design alternatives are presented. Overall system requirements which form the system design basis are presented. These include program objectives; performance and output load requirements; industrial, statutory, and regulatory standards; and site interface requirements. Material in this section will continue to be issued separately in the Systems Requirements Document and maintained current through revision throughout future phases of the project. Overall system design and detailedmore » subsystem design descriptions are provided. Consideration of operation and maintenance is reflected in discussion of each subsystem design as well as in an integrated overall discussion. Included are the solar collector subsystem; the thermal storage subsystem, the power conversion sybsystem (including electrical generation and distribution); the heating/cooling and domestic hot water subsystems; overall instrumentation and control; and the STES building and physical plant. The design of several subsystems has progressed beyond the preliminary stage; descriptions for such subsystems are therefore provided in more detail than others to provide complete documentation of the work performed. In some cases, preliminary design parameters require specific verificaton in the definitive design phase and are identified in the text. Subsystem descriptions will continue to be issued and revised separately to maintain accuracy during future phases of the project. (WHK)« less

17 Ways to Say Yes: Toward Nuanced Tone of Voice in AAC and Speech Technology

PubMed Central

Pullin, Graham; Hennig, Shannon

2015-01-01

Abstract People with complex communication needs who use speech-generating devices have very little expressive control over their tone of voice. Despite its importance in human interaction, the issue of tone of voice remains all but absent from AAC research and development however. In this paper, we describe three interdisciplinary projects, past, present and future: The critical design collection Six Speaking Chairs has provoked deeper discussion and inspired a social model of tone of voice; the speculative concept Speech Hedge illustrates challenges and opportunities in designing more expressive user interfaces; the pilot project Tonetable could enable participatory research and seed a research network around tone of voice. We speculate that more radical interactions might expand frontiers of AAC and disrupt speech technology as a whole. PMID:25965913

Cryogenic propellant thermal control system design considerations, analyses, and concepts applied to a Mars human exploration mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plachta, David W.; Tucker, Stephen; Hoffman, David J.

1993-01-01

This paper analyzes, defines, and sizes cryogenic storage thermal control systems that meet the requirements of future NASA Mars human exploration missions. The design issues of this system include the projection of the existing Multilayer Insulation data base for cryogenic storage to much thicker (10 cm or more) insulation systems, the unknown heat leak from mechanical interfaces, and the thermal and structural performance effects of the large tank sizes required for a Mars mission. Acknowledging these unknown effects, heat loss projections are made based on extrapolation of the existing data base. The results indicate that hydrogen, methane, and oxygen are feasible propellants, and that the best suited thermal control sytems are 'thick' MLI, thermodynamic vent sytems, cryocoolers, and vacuum jackets.

The Advanced Linked Extended Reconnaissance & Targeting Technology Demonstration project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, Mark

2008-04-01

The Advanced Linked Extended Reconnaissance & Targeting (ALERT) Technology Demonstration (TD) project is addressing many operational needs of the future Canadian Army's Surveillance and Reconnaissance forces. Using the surveillance system of the Coyote reconnaissance vehicle as an experimental platform, the ALERT TD project aims to significantly enhance situational awareness by fusing multi-sensor and tactical data, developing automated processes, and integrating beyond line-of-sight sensing. The project is exploiting important advances made in computer processing capability, displays technology, digital communications, and sensor technology since the design of the original surveillance system. As the major research area within the project, concepts are discussed for displaying and fusing multi-sensor and tactical data within an Enhanced Operator Control Station (EOCS). The sensor data can originate from the Coyote's own visible-band and IR cameras, laser rangefinder, and ground-surveillance radar, as well as from beyond line-of-sight systems such as mini-UAVs and unattended ground sensors. Video-rate image processing has been developed to assist the operator to detect poorly visible targets. As a second major area of research, automatic target cueing capabilities have been added to the system. These include scene change detection, automatic target detection and aided target recognition algorithms processing both IR and visible-band images to draw the operator's attention to possible targets. The merits of incorporating scene change detection algorithms are also discussed. In the area of multi-sensor data fusion, up to Joint Defence Labs level 2 has been demonstrated. The human factors engineering aspects of the user interface in this complex environment are presented, drawing upon multiple user group sessions with military surveillance system operators. The paper concludes with Lessons Learned from the project. The ALERT system has been used in a number of C4ISR field trials, most recently at Exercise Empire Challenge in China Lake CA, and at Trial Quest in Norway. Those exercises provided further opportunities to investigate operator interactions. The paper concludes with recommendations for future work in operator interface design.

Optimization of the Ion Source-Mass Spectrometry Parameters in Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Pharmaceuticals Analysis by a Design of Experiments Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paíga, Paula; Silva, Luís M. S.; Delerue-Matos, Cristina

2016-10-01

The flow rates of drying and nebulizing gas, heat block and desolvation line temperatures and interface voltage are potential electrospray ionization parameters as they may enhance sensitivity of the mass spectrometer. The conditions that give higher sensitivity of 13 pharmaceuticals were explored. First, Plackett-Burman design was implemented to screen significant factors, and it was concluded that interface voltage and nebulizing gas flow were the only factors that influence the intensity signal for all pharmaceuticals. This fractionated factorial design was projected to set a full 22 factorial design with center points. The lack-of-fit test proved to be significant. Then, a central composite face-centered design was conducted. Finally, a stepwise multiple linear regression and subsequently an optimization problem solving were carried out. Two main drug clusters were found concerning the signal intensities of all runs of the augmented factorial design. p-Aminophenol, salicylic acid, and nimesulide constitute one cluster as a result of showing much higher sensitivity than the remaining drugs. The other cluster is more homogeneous with some sub-clusters comprising one pharmaceutical and its respective metabolite. It was observed that instrumental signal increased when both significant factors increased with maximum signal occurring when both codified factors are set at level +1. It was also found that, for most of the pharmaceuticals, interface voltage influences the intensity of the instrument more than the nebulizing gas flowrate. The only exceptions refer to nimesulide where the relative importance of the factors is reversed and still salicylic acid where both factors equally influence the instrumental signal.

High density, multi-range analog output Versa Module Europa board for control system applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Kundan, E-mail: kundan@iuac.res.in; Das, Ajit Lal

2014-01-15

A new VMEDAC64, 12-bit 64 channel digital-to-analog converter, a Versa Module Europa (VME) module, features 64 analog voltage outputs with user selectable multiple ranges, has been developed for control system applications at Inter University Accelerator Centre. The FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is the module's core, i.e., it implements the DAC control logic and complexity of VMEbus slave interface logic. The VMEbus slave interface and DAC control logic are completely designed and implemented on a single FPGA chip to achieve high density of 64 channels in a single width VME module and will reduce the module count in the controlmore » system applications, and hence will reduce the power consumption and cost of overall system. One of our early design goals was to develop the VME interface such that it can be easily integrated with the peripheral devices and satisfy the timing specifications of VME standard. The modular design of this module reduces the amount of time required to develop other custom modules for control system. The VME slave interface is written as a single component inside FPGA which will be used as a basic building block for any VMEbus interface project. The module offers multiple output voltage ranges depending upon the requirement. The output voltage range can be reduced or expanded by writing range selection bits in the control register. The module has programmable refresh rate and by default hold capacitors in the sample and hold circuit for each channel are charged periodically every 7.040 ms (i.e., update frequency 284 Hz). Each channel has software controlled output switch which disconnects analog output from the field. The modularity in the firmware design on FPGA makes the debugging very easy. On-board DC/DC converters are incorporated for isolated power supply for the analog section of the board.« less

RefPrimeCouch—a reference gene primer CouchApp

PubMed Central

Silbermann, Jascha; Wernicke, Catrin; Pospisil, Heike; Frohme, Marcus

2013-01-01

To support a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction standardization project, a new reference gene database application was required. The new database application was built with the explicit goal of simplifying not only the development process but also making the user interface more responsive and intuitive. To this end, CouchDB was used as the backend with a lightweight dynamic user interface implemented client-side as a one-page web application. Data entry and curation processes were streamlined using an OpenRefine-based workflow. The new RefPrimeCouch database application provides its data online under an Open Database License. Database URL: http://hpclife.th-wildau.de:5984/rpc/_design/rpc/view.html PMID:24368831

RefPrimeCouch--a reference gene primer CouchApp.

PubMed

Silbermann, Jascha; Wernicke, Catrin; Pospisil, Heike; Frohme, Marcus

2013-01-01

To support a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction standardization project, a new reference gene database application was required. The new database application was built with the explicit goal of simplifying not only the development process but also making the user interface more responsive and intuitive. To this end, CouchDB was used as the backend with a lightweight dynamic user interface implemented client-side as a one-page web application. Data entry and curation processes were streamlined using an OpenRefine-based workflow. The new RefPrimeCouch database application provides its data online under an Open Database License. Database URL: http://hpclife.th-wildau.de:5984/rpc/_design/rpc/view.html.

Orion Crew Injury Prediction: Landing Conditions and Vehicle Interface Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Danelson, Kerry; Gernhardt, Michael

2009-01-01

This presentation reviews the work being done to research the possibility of injuries from landing the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle in either water or land contingencies This was done using the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) finite element model. The purpose of the simulations was to compare variations of a Vehicle Interface Element (VIE) and to evaluate the potential for injury. The presentation is accompanied by several animations from the model runs, showing the projected motion, with and without the various suggested types of VIEs. There are charts showing the injury metrics with the various types of VIEs. The ultimate use of this analysis was to assist in a selection of possible VIE designs

Recent advancements in system design for miniaturized MEMS-based laser projectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scholles, M.; Frommhagen, K.; Gerwig, Ch.; Knobbe, J.; Lakner, H.; Schlebusch, D.; Schwarzenberg, M.; Vogel, U.

2008-02-01

Laser projection systems that use the flying spot principle and which are based on a single MEMS micro scanning mirrors are a very promising way to build ultra-compact projectors that may fit into mobile devices. First demonstrators that show the feasibility of this approach and the applicability of the micro scanning mirror developed by Fraunhofer IPMS for these systems have already been presented. However, a number of items still have to be resolved until miniaturized laser projectors are ready for the market. This contribution describes progress on several different items, each of them of major importance for laser projection systems. First of all, the overall performance of the system has been increased from VGA resolution to SVGA (800×600 pixels) with easy connection to a PC via DVI interface or by using the projector as embedded system with direct camera interface. Secondly, the degree of integration of the electronics has been enhanced by design of an application specific analog front end IC for the micro scanning mirror. It has been fabricated in a special high voltage technology and does not only allow to generate driving signals for the scanning mirror with amplitudes of up to 200V but also integrates position detection of the mirror by several methods. Thirdly, first results concerning Speckle reduction have been achieved, which is necessary for generation of images with high quality. Other aspects include laser modulation and solutions regarding projection on tilted screens which is possible because of the unlimited depth of focus.

The XChemExplorer graphical workflow tool for routine or large-scale protein–ligand structure determination

PubMed Central

Krojer, Tobias; Talon, Romain; Pearce, Nicholas; Douangamath, Alice; Brandao-Neto, Jose; Dias, Alexandre; Marsden, Brian

2017-01-01

XChemExplorer (XCE) is a data-management and workflow tool to support large-scale simultaneous analysis of protein–ligand complexes during structure-based ligand discovery (SBLD). The user interfaces of established crystallo­graphic software packages such as CCP4 [Winn et al. (2011 ▸), Acta Cryst. D67, 235–242] or PHENIX [Adams et al. (2010 ▸), Acta Cryst. D66, 213–221] have entrenched the paradigm that a ‘project’ is concerned with solving one structure. This does not hold for SBLD, where many almost identical structures need to be solved and analysed quickly in one batch of work. Functionality to track progress and annotate structures is essential. XCE provides an intuitive graphical user interface which guides the user from data processing, initial map calculation, ligand identification and refinement up until data dissemination. It provides multiple entry points depending on the need of each project, enables batch processing of multiple data sets and records metadata, progress and annotations in an SQLite database. XCE is freely available and works on any Linux and Mac OS X system, and the only dependency is to have the latest version of CCP4 installed. The design and usage of this tool are described here, and its usefulness is demonstrated in the context of fragment-screening campaigns at the Diamond Light Source. It is routinely used to analyse projects comprising 1000 data sets or more, and therefore scales well to even very large ligand-design projects. PMID:28291762

FluorMODgui V3.0: A graphic user interface for the spectral simulation of leaf and canopy chlorophyll fluorescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarco-Tejada, P. J.; Miller, J. R.; Pedrós, R.; Verhoef, W.; Berger, M.

2006-06-01

The FluorMODgui Graphic User Interface (GUI) software package developed within the frame of the FluorMOD project Development of a Vegetation Fluorescence Canopy Model is presented in this manuscript. The FluorMOD project was launched in 2002 by the European Space Agency (ESA) to advance the science of vegetation fluorescence simulation through the development and integration of leaf and canopy fluorescence models based on physical methods. The design of airborne or space missions dedicated to the measurement of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence using remote-sensing instruments require physical methods for quantitative feasibility analysis and sensor specification studies. The FluorMODgui model developed as part of this project is designed to simulate the effects of chlorophyll fluorescence at leaf and canopy levels using atmospheric inputs, running the leaf model, FluorMODleaf, and the canopy model, FluorSAIL, independently, through a coupling scheme, and by a multiple iteration protocol to simulate changes in the viewing geometry and atmospheric characteristics. Inputs for the FluorMODleaf model are the number of leaf layers, chlorophyll a+ b content, water equivalent thickness, dry matter content, fluorescence quantum efficiency, temperature, species type, and stoichiometry. Inputs for the FluorSAIL canopy model are a MODTRAN-4 6-parameter spectra or measured direct horizontal irradiance and diffuse irradiance spectra, a soil reflectance spectrum, leaf reflectance & transmittance spectra and a excitation-fluorescence response matrix in upward and downward directions (all from FluorMODleaf), 2 PAR-dependent coefficients for the fluorescence response to light level, relative azimuth angle and viewing zenith angle, canopy leaf area index, leaf inclination distribution function, and a hot spot parameter. Outputs available in the 400-1000 nm spectral range from the graphical user interface, FluorMODgui, are the leaf spectral reflectance and transmittance, and the canopy reflectance, with and without fluorescence effects. In addition, solar and sky irradiance on the ground, radiance with and without fluorescence on the ground, and top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiances for bare soil and surroundings same as target are also produced. The models and documentation regarding the FluorMOD project can be downloaded at http://www.ias.csic.es/fluormod.

Project EGRESS: The design of an assured crew return vehicle for the space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Keeping preliminary studies by NASA in mind, an Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) was developed. The system allows the escape of one or more crew members from Space Station Freedom in case of emergency. The design of the vehicle addresses propulsion, orbital operations, reentry, landing and recovery, power and communication, and life support. In light of recent modifications in Space Station design, Project EGRESS (Earthbound Guaranteed ReEntry from Space Station) pays particular attention to its impact on Space Station operations, interfaces and docking facilities, and maintenance needs. A water landing, medium lift vehicle was found to best satisfy project goals of simplicity and cost efficiency without sacrificing the safety and reliability requirements. With a single vehicle, one injured crew member could be returned to Earth with minimal pilot involvement. Since the craft is capable of returning up to five crew members, two such permanently docked vehicles would allow full evacuation of the Space Station. The craft could be constructed entirely with available 1990 technology and launched aboard a shuttle orbiter.

Extended performance solar electric propulsion thrust system study. Volume 3: Tradeoff studies of alternate thrust system configurations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hawthorne, E. I.

1977-01-01

Several thrust system design concepts were evaluated and compared using the specifications of the most advanced 30 cm engineering model thruster as the technology base. Emphasis was placed on relatively high power missions. The extensions in thruster performance required for the Halley's comet mission were defined and alternative thrust system concepts were designed in sufficient detail for comparing mass, efficiency, reliability, structure, and thermal characteristics. Confirmation testing and analysis of thruster and power-processing components were performed. A baseline design was selected from the alternatives considered, and the design analysis and documentation were refined. A program development plan was formulated that outlines the work structure considered necessary for developing, qualifying, and fabricating the flight hardware for the baseline thrust system within the time frame of a project to rendezvous with Halley's comet. An assessment was made of the costs and risks associated with a baseline thrust system as provided to the mission project under this plan. Critical procurements and interfaces were identified and defined.

Design considerations of CareWindows, a Windows 3.0-based graphical front end to a Medical Information Management System using a pass-through-requester architecture.

PubMed Central

Ward, R. E.; Purves, T.; Feldman, M.; Schiffman, R. M.; Barry, S.; Christner, M.; Kipa, G.; McCarthy, B. D.; Stiphout, R.

1991-01-01

The Care Windows development project demonstrated the feasibility of an approach designed to add the benefits of an event-driven, graphically-oriented user interface to an existing Medical Information Management System (MIMS) without overstepping economic and logistic constraints. The design solution selected for the Care Windows project incorporates three important design features: (1) the effective de-coupling of severs from requesters, permitting the use of an extensive pre-existing library of MIMS servers, (2) the off-loading of program control functions of the requesters to the workstation processor, reducing the load per transaction on central resources and permitting the use of object-oriented development environments available for microcomputers, (3) the selection of a low end, GUI-capable workstation consisting of a PC-compatible personal computer running Microsoft Windows 3.0, and (4) the development of a highly layered, modular workstation application, permitting the development of interchangeable modules to insure portability and adaptability. PMID:1807665

Extended performance solar electric propulsion thrust system study. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poeschel, R. L.; Hawthorne, E. I.

1977-01-01

Several thrust system design concepts were evaluated and compared using the specifications of the most advanced 30 cm engineering model thruster as the technology base. The extensions in thruster performance required for the Halley's comet mission were defined and alternative thrust system concepts were designed. Confirmation testing and analysis of thruster and power-processing components were performed, and the feasibility of satisfying extended performance requirements was verified. A baseline design was selected from the alternatives considered, and the design analysis and documentation were refined. A program development plan was formulated that outlines the work structure considered necessary for developing, qualifying, and fabricating the flight hardware for the baseline thrust system within the time frame of a project to rendezvous with Halley's comet. An assessment was made of the costs and risks associated with a baseline thrust system as provided to the mission project under this plan. Critical procurements and interfaces were identified and defined. Results are presented.

Development of the Global Earthquake Model’s neotectonic fault database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christophersen, Annemarie; Litchfield, Nicola; Berryman, Kelvin; Thomas, Richard; Basili, Roberto; Wallace, Laura; Ries, William; Hayes, Gavin P.; Haller, Kathleen M.; Yoshioka, Toshikazu; Koehler, Richard D.; Clark, Dan; Wolfson-Schwehr, Monica; Boettcher, Margaret S.; Villamor, Pilar; Horspool, Nick; Ornthammarath, Teraphan; Zuñiga, Ramon; Langridge, Robert M.; Stirling, Mark W.; Goded, Tatiana; Costa, Carlos; Yeats, Robert

2015-01-01

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) aims to develop uniform, openly available, standards, datasets and tools for worldwide seismic risk assessment through global collaboration, transparent communication and adapting state-of-the-art science. GEM Faulted Earth (GFE) is one of GEM’s global hazard module projects. This paper describes GFE’s development of a modern neotectonic fault database and a unique graphical interface for the compilation of new fault data. A key design principle is that of an electronic field notebook for capturing observations a geologist would make about a fault. The database is designed to accommodate abundant as well as sparse fault observations. It features two layers, one for capturing neotectonic faults and fold observations, and the other to calculate potential earthquake fault sources from the observations. In order to test the flexibility of the database structure and to start a global compilation, five preexisting databases have been uploaded to the first layer and two to the second. In addition, the GFE project has characterised the world’s approximately 55,000 km of subduction interfaces in a globally consistent manner as a basis for generating earthquake event sets for inclusion in earthquake hazard and risk modelling. Following the subduction interface fault schema and including the trace attributes of the GFE database schema, the 2500-km-long frontal thrust fault system of the Himalaya has also been characterised. We propose the database structure to be used widely, so that neotectonic fault data can make a more complete and beneficial contribution to seismic hazard and risk characterisation globally.

Distributed visualization framework architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishchenko, Oleg; Raman, Sundaresan; Crawfis, Roger

2010-01-01

An architecture for distributed and collaborative visualization is presented. The design goals of the system are to create a lightweight, easy to use and extensible framework for reasearch in scientific visualization. The system provides both single user and collaborative distributed environment. System architecture employs a client-server model. Visualization projects can be synchronously accessed and modified from different client machines. We present a set of visualization use cases that illustrate the flexibility of our system. The framework provides a rich set of reusable components for creating new applications. These components make heavy use of leading design patterns. All components are based on the functionality of a small set of interfaces. This allows new components to be integrated seamlessly with little to no effort. All user input and higher-level control functionality interface with proxy objects supporting a concrete implementation of these interfaces. These light-weight objects can be easily streamed across the web and even integrated with smart clients running on a user's cell phone. The back-end is supported by concrete implementations wherever needed (for instance for rendering). A middle-tier manages any communication and synchronization with the proxy objects. In addition to the data components, we have developed several first-class GUI components for visualization. These include a layer compositor editor, a programmable shader editor, a material editor and various drawable editors. These GUI components interact strictly with the interfaces. Access to the various entities in the system is provided by an AssetManager. The asset manager keeps track of all of the registered proxies and responds to queries on the overall system. This allows all user components to be populated automatically. Hence if a new component is added that supports the IMaterial interface, any instances of this can be used in the various GUI components that work with this interface. One of the main features is an interactive shader designer. This allows rapid prototyping of new visualization renderings that are shader-based and greatly accelerates the development and debug cycle.

A modern Python interface for the Generic Mapping Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uieda, L.; Wessel, P.

2017-12-01

Figures generated by The Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) are present in countless publications across the Earth sciences. The command-line interface of GMT lends the tool its flexibility but also creates a barrier to entry for begginers. Meanwhile, adoption of the Python programming language has grown across the scientific community. This growth is largely due to the simplicity and low barrier to entry of the language and its ecosystem of tools. Thus, it is not surprising that there have been at least three attempts to create Python interfaces for GMT: gmtpy (github.com/emolch/gmtpy), pygmt (github.com/ian-r-rose/pygmt), and PyGMT (github.com/glimmer-cism/PyGMT). None of these projects are currently active and, with the exception of pygmt, they do not use the GMT Application Programming Interface (API) introduced in GMT 5. The two main Python libraries for plotting data on maps are the matplotlib Basemap toolkit (matplotlib.org/basemap) and Cartopy (scitools.org.uk/cartopy), both of which rely on matplotlib (matplotlib.org) as the backend for generating the figures. Basemap is known to have limitations and is being discontinued. Cartopy is an improvement over Basemap but is still bound by the speed and memory constraints of matplotlib. We present a new Python interface for GMT (GMT/Python) that makes use of the GMT API and of new features being developed for the upcoming GMT 6 release. The GMT/Python library is designed according to the norms and styles of the Python community. The library integrates with the scientific Python ecosystem by using the "virtual files" from the GMT API to implement input and output of Python data types (numpy "ndarray" for tabular data and xarray "Dataset" for grids). Other features include an object-oriented interface for creating figures, the ability to display figures in the Jupyter notebook, and descriptive aliases for GMT arguments (e.g., "region" instead of "R" and "projection" instead of "J"). GMT/Python can also serve as a backend for developing new high-level interfaces, which can help make GMT more accessible to beginners and more intuitive for Python users. GMT/Python is an open-source project hosted on Github (github.com/GenericMappingTools/gmt-python) and is in early stages of development. A first release will accompany the release of GMT 6, which is expected for early 2018.

Spoof surface plasmons resonance effect and tunable electric response of improved metamaterial in the terahertz regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yue; Zhang, Li-Ying; Mei, Jin-Shuo; Zhang, Wen-Chao; Tong, Yi-Jing

2015-12-01

We propose an improved design and numerical study of an optimized tunable plasmonics artificial material resonator in the terahertz regime. We demonstrate that tunability can be realized with a transmission intensity as much as ˜61% in the lower frequency resonance, which is implemented through the effect of photoconductive switching under photoexcitation. In the higher frequency resonance, we show that spoof surface plasmons along the interface of metal/dielectric provide new types of electromagnetic resonances. Our approach opens up possibilities for the interface of metamaterial and plasmonics to be applied to optically tunable THz switching. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61201075), the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, China (Grant No. F2015039), the Young Scholar Project of Heilongjiang Provincial Education Bureau, China (Grant No. 1254G021), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2012M511507), and the Science Funds for the Young Innovative Talents of Harbin University of Science and Technology, China (Grant No. 201302).

The Unification of Space Qualified Integrated Circuits by Example of International Space Project GAMMA-400

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobkov, S. G.; Serdin, O. V.; Arkhangelskiy, A. I.; Arkhangelskaja, I. V.; Suchkov, S. I.; Topchiev, N. P.

The problem of electronic component unification at the different levels (circuits, interfaces, hardware and software) used in space industry is considered. The task of computer systems for space purposes developing is discussed by example of scientific data acquisition system for space project GAMMA-400. The basic characteristics of high reliable and fault tolerant chips developed by SRISA RAS for space applicable computational systems are given. To reduce power consumption and enhance data reliability, embedded system interconnect made hierarchical: upper level is Serial RapidIO 1x or 4x with rate transfer 1.25 Gbaud; next level - SpaceWire with rate transfer up to 400 Mbaud and lower level - MIL-STD-1553B and RS232/RS485. The Ethernet 10/100 is technology interface and provided connection with the previously released modules too. Systems interconnection allows creating different redundancy systems. Designers can develop heterogeneous systems that employ the peer-to-peer networking performance of Serial RapidIO using multiprocessor clusters interconnected by SpaceWire.

Clinician-Oriented Access to Data - C.O.A.D.: A Natural Language Interface to a VA DHCP Database

PubMed Central

Levy, Christine; Rogers, Elizabeth

1995-01-01

Hospitals collect enormous amounts of data related to the on-going care of patients. Unfortunately, a clinicians access to the data is limited by complexities of the database structure and/or programming skills required to access the database. The COAD project attempts to bridge the gap between the clinical user's need for specific information from the database, and the wealth of data residing in the hospital information system. The project design includes a natural language interface to data contained in a VA DHCP database. We have developed a prototype which links natural language software to certain DHCP data elements, including, patient demographics, prescriptions, diagnoses, laboratory data, and provider information. English queries can by typed onto the system, and answers to the questions are returned. Future work includes refinement of natural language/DHCP connections to enable more sophisticated queries, and optimization of the system to reduce response time to user questions.

Portable Computer Technology (PCT) Research and Development Program Phase 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Castillo, Michael; McGuire, Kenyon; Sorgi, Alan

1995-01-01

The subject of this project report, focused on: (1) Design and development of two Advanced Portable Workstation 2 (APW 2) units. These units incorporate advanced technology features such as a low power Pentium processor, a high resolution color display, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) video handling capabilities, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) interface, and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and ethernet interfaces. (2) Use these units to integrate and demonstrate advanced wireless network and portable video capabilities. (3) Qualification of the APW 2 systems for use in specific experiments aboard the Mir Space Station. A major objective of the PCT Phase 2 program was to help guide future choices in computing platforms and techniques for meeting National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission objectives. The focus being on the development of optimal configurations of computing hardware, software applications, and network technologies for use on NASA missions.

Application driven interface generation for EASIE. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kao, Ya-Chen

1992-01-01

The Environment for Application Software Integration and Execution (EASIE) provides a user interface and a set of utility programs which support the rapid integration and execution of analysis programs about a central relational database. EASIE provides users with two basic modes of execution. One of them is a menu-driven execution mode, called Application-Driven Execution (ADE), which provides sufficient guidance to review data, select a menu action item, and execute an application program. The other mode of execution, called Complete Control Execution (CCE), provides an extended executive interface which allows in-depth control of the design process. Currently, the EASIE system is based on alphanumeric techniques only. It is the purpose of this project to extend the flexibility of the EASIE system in the ADE mode by implementing it in a window system. Secondly, a set of utilities will be developed to assist the experienced engineer in the generation of an ADE application.

Deep Space Network (DSN), Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) computer-human interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellman, Alvin; Carlton, Magdi

1993-01-01

The Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) of the DSN is responsible for scheduling the resources of DSN, and monitoring all multi-mission spacecraft tracking activities in real-time. Operations performs this job with computer systems at JPL connected to over 100 computers at Goldstone, Australia and Spain. The old computer system became obsolete, and the first version of the new system was installed in 1991. Significant improvements for the computer-human interfaces became the dominant theme for the replacement project. Major issues required innovating problem solving. Among these issues were: How to present several thousand data elements on displays without overloading the operator? What is the best graphical representation of DSN end-to-end data flow? How to operate the system without memorizing mnemonics of hundreds of operator directives? Which computing environment will meet the competing performance requirements? This paper presents the technical challenges, engineering solutions, and results of the NOCC computer-human interface design.

MEDRIS: The Problem Oriented Electronic Medical Record in Medical Education

PubMed Central

Rifat, Sami F.; Robert, Shanthi; Trace, David; Prakash, Sanjeev; Naeymi-Rad, Frank; Barnett, David; Pannicia, Gregory; Hammergren, David; Carmony, Lowell; Evens, Martha

1990-01-01

MEDRIS (The Medical Record Interface System) is an object oriented HyperCard interface designed to help physicians enter patient information as comfortably and naturally as possible. It can function as a stand alone system producing its own reports or serve as an interface to a medical expert system (e.g., MEDAS). MEDRIS plays an important role in the clinical education of medical students at the Chicago Medical School. MEDRIS portrays an intuitive, graphically oriented system that will provide a learning environment for the problem oriented medical record (POMR) that forms the basis of the structure of the history and physical exam. The enthusiasm shown by the medical students for this project has garnered support for including MEDRIS in the curriculum of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course this semester. MEDRIS, developed using HyperCard, can be used as a tool not only for teaching POMR and physical diagnosis, but also computer literacy.

Man-machine interface for the control of a lunar transport machine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashley, Richard; Bacon, Loring; Carlton, Scott Tim; May, Mark; Moore, Jimmy; Peek, Dennis

1987-01-01

A proposed first generation human interface control panel is described which will be used to control SKITTER, a three-legged lunar walking machine. Under development at Georgia Tech, SKITTER will be a multi-purpose, un-manned vehicle capable of preparing a site for the proposed lunar base in advance of the arrival of men. This walking machine will be able to accept modular special purpose tools, such as a crane, a core sampling drill, and a digging device, among others. The project was concerned with the design of a human interface which could be used, from earth, to control the movements of SKITTER on the lunar surface. Preliminary inquiries were also made into necessary modifications required to adapt the panel to both a shirt-sleeve lunar environment and to a mobile unit which could be used by a man in a space suit at a lunar work site.

Milestone Deliverable: FY18-Q1: Deploy production sliding mesh capability with linear solver benchmarking.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Domino, Stefan P.

2017-12-01

This milestone was focused on deploying and verifying a “sliding-mesh interface,” and establishing baseline timings for blade-resolved simulations of a sub-MW-scale turbine. In the ExaWind project, we are developing both sliding-mesh and overset-mesh approaches for handling the rotating blades in an operating wind turbine. In the sliding-mesh approach, the turbine rotor and its immediate surrounding fluid are captured in a “disk” that is embedded in the larger fluid domain. The embedded fluid is simulated in a coordinate system that rotates with the rotor. It is important that the coupling algorithm (and its implementation) between the rotating and inertial discrete modelsmore » maintains the accuracy of the numerical methods on either side of the interface, i.e., the interface is “design order.”« less

Use of natural user interfaces in water simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donchyts, G.; Baart, F.; van Dam, A.; Jagers, B.

2013-12-01

Conventional graphical user interfaces, used to edit input and present results of earth science models, have seen little innovation for the past two decades. In most cases model data is presented and edited using 2D projections even when working with 3D data. The emergence of 3D motion sensing technologies, such as Microsoft Kinect and LEAP Motion, opens new possibilities for user interaction by adding more degrees of freedom compared to a classical way using mouse and keyboard. Here we investigate how interaction with hydrodynamic numerical models can be improved using these new technologies. Our research hypothesis (H1) states that properly designed 3D graphical user interface paired with the 3D motion sensor can significantly reduce the time required to setup and use numerical models. In this work we have used a LEAP motion controller combined with a shallow water flow model engine D-Flow Flexible Mesh. Interacting with numerical model using hands

Modeling Complex Cross-Systems Software Interfaces Using SysML

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandutianu, Sanda; Morillo, Ron; Simpson, Kim; Liepack, Otfrid; Bonanne, Kevin

2013-01-01

The complex flight and ground systems for NASA human space exploration are designed, built, operated and managed as separate programs and projects. However, each system relies on one or more of the other systems in order to accomplish specific mission objectives, creating a complex, tightly coupled architecture. Thus, there is a fundamental need to understand how each system interacts with the other. To determine if a model-based system engineering approach could be utilized to assist with understanding the complex system interactions, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) sponsored a task to develop an approach for performing cross-system behavior modeling. This paper presents the results of applying Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles using the System Modeling Language (SysML) to define cross-system behaviors and how they map to crosssystem software interfaces documented in system-level Interface Control Documents (ICDs).

Update of GRASP/Ada reverse engineering tools for Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cross, James H., II

1993-01-01

The GRASP/Ada project (Graphical Representations of Algorithms, Structures, and Processes for Ada) successfully created and prototyped a new algorithmic level graphical representation for Ada software, the Control Structure Diagram (CSD). The primary impetus for creation of the CSD was to improve the comprehension efficiency of Ada software and, as a result, improve reliability and reduce costs. The emphasis was on the automatic generation of the CSD from Ada PDL or source code to support reverse engineering and maintenance. The CSD has the potential to replace traditional pretty printed Ada source code. In Phase 1 of the GRASP/Ada project, the CSD graphical constructs were created and applied manually to several small Ada programs. A prototype CSD generator (Version 1) was designed and implemented using FLEX and BISON running under VMS on a VAX 11-780. In Phase 2, the prototype was improved and ported to the Sun 4 platform under UNIX. A user interface was designed and partially implemented using the HP widget toolkit and the X Windows System. In Phase 3, the user interface was extensively reworked using the Athena widget toolkit and X Windows. The prototype was applied successfully to numerous Ada programs ranging in size from several hundred to several thousand lines of source code. Following Phase 3,e two update phases were completed. Update'92 focused on the initial analysis of evaluation data collected from software engineering students at Auburn University and the addition of significant enhancements to the user interface. Update'93 (the current update) focused on the statistical analysis of the data collected in the previous update and preparation of Version 3.4 of the prototype for limited distribution to facilitate further evaluation. The current prototype provides the capability for the user to generate CSD's from Ada PDL or source code in a reverse engineering as well as forward engineering mode with a level of flexibility suitable for practical application. An overview of the GRASP/Ada project with an emphasis on the current update is provided.

Abstracting application deployment on Cloud infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiftimiei, D. C.; Fattibene, E.; Gargana, R.; Panella, M.; Salomoni, D.

2017-10-01

Deploying a complex application on a Cloud-based infrastructure can be a challenging task. In this contribution we present an approach for Cloud-based deployment of applications and its present or future implementation in the framework of several projects, such as “!CHAOS: a cloud of controls” [1], a project funded by MIUR (Italian Ministry of Research and Education) to create a Cloud-based deployment of a control system and data acquisition framework, “INDIGO-DataCloud” [2], an EC H2020 project targeting among other things high-level deployment of applications on hybrid Clouds, and “Open City Platform”[3], an Italian project aiming to provide open Cloud solutions for Italian Public Administrations. We considered to use an orchestration service to hide the complex deployment of the application components, and to build an abstraction layer on top of the orchestration one. Through Heat [4] orchestration service, we prototyped a dynamic, on-demand, scalable platform of software components, based on OpenStack infrastructures. On top of the orchestration service we developed a prototype of a web interface exploiting the Heat APIs. The user can start an instance of the application without having knowledge about the underlying Cloud infrastructure and services. Moreover, the platform instance can be customized by choosing parameters related to the application such as the size of a File System or the number of instances of a NoSQL DB cluster. As soon as the desired platform is running, the web interface offers the possibility to scale some infrastructure components. In this contribution we describe the solution design and implementation, based on the application requirements, the details of the development of both the Heat templates and of the web interface, together with possible exploitation strategies of this work in Cloud data centers.

Pseudohaptic interaction with knot diagrams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, Jianguang; Zhang, Hui

2012-07-01

To make progress in understanding knot theory, we need to interact with the projected representations of mathematical knots, which are continuous in three dimensions (3-D) but significantly interrupted in the projective images. One way to achieve such a goal is to design an interactive system that allows us to sketch two-dimensional (2-D) knot diagrams by taking advantage of a collision-sensing controller and explore their underlying smooth structures through a continuous motion. Recent advances of interaction techniques have been made that allow progress in this direction. Pseudohaptics that simulate haptic effects using pure visual feedback can be used to develop such an interactive system. We outline one such pseudohaptic knot diagram interface. Our interface derives from the familiar pencil-and-paper process of drawing 2-D knot diagrams and provides haptic-like sensations to facilitate the creation and exploration of knot diagrams. A centerpiece of the interaction model simulates a physically reactive mouse cursor, which is exploited to resolve the apparent conflict between the continuous structure of the actual smooth knot and the visual discontinuities in the knot diagram representation. Another value in exploiting pseudohaptics is that an acceleration (or deceleration) of the mouse cursor (or surface locator) can be used to indicate the slope of the curve (or surface) of which the projective image is being explored. By exploiting these additional visual cues, we proceed to a full-featured extension to a pseudohaptic four-dimensional (4-D) visualization system that simulates the continuous navigation on 4-D objects and allows us to sense the bumps and holes in the fourth dimension. Preliminary tests of the software show that main features of the interface overcome some expected perceptual limitations in our interaction with 2-D knot diagrams of 3-D knots and 3-D projective images of 4-D mathematical objects.

Use of software engineering techniques in the design of the ALEPH data acquisition system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charity, T.; McClatchey, R.; Harvey, J.

1987-08-01

The SASD methodology is being used to provide a rigorous design framework for various components of the ALEPH data acquisition system. The Entity-Relationship data model is used to describe the layout and configuration of the control and acquisition systems and detector components. State Transition Diagrams are used to specify control applications such as run control and resource management and Data Flow Diagrams assist in decomposing software tasks and defining interfaces between processes. These techniques encourage rigorous software design leading to enhanced functionality and reliability. Improved documentation and communication ensures continuity over the system life-cycle and simplifies project management.

Heat recovery and seed recovery development project: preliminary design report (PDR)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arkett, A. H.; Alexander, K. C.; Bolek, A. D.

1981-06-01

The preliminary design and performance characteristics are described of the 20 MWt heat recovery and seed recovery (HRSR) system to be fabricated, installed, and evaluated to provide a technological basis for the design of commercial size HRSR systems for coal-fired open-cycle MHD power plants. The system description and heat and material balances, equipment description and functional requirements, controls, interfacing systems, and operation and maintenance are detailed. Appendices include: (1) recommended environmental requirements for compliance with federal and state of Tennessee regulations, (2) channel and diffuser simulator, (3) equipment arrangement drawings, and (4) channel and diffuser simulator barrel drawings. (WHK)

Final mission design for IRAS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclaughlin, W. I.

1984-01-01

The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was operated on orbit from 26 January to 22 November 1983 (GMT). Its primary purpose, successfully accomplished, was to conduct an all-sky survey in the infrared from 8 to 120 microns. The mission design for this project featured orbit selection; numerous exercises in the geometry of the sphere; computer simulation of mission, sky, and telescope; and an active interface with the IRAS Science Team. In addition to mission design, the subject of mission planning after launch is addressed. The paper makes extensive use of reference to other works on the topic and seeks to derive some general conclusions on the subject based upon the IRAS experience.

Vestibular Function Research (VFR) experiment. Phase B: Design definition study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The Vestibular Functions Research (VFR) Experiment was established to investigate the neurosensory and related physiological processes believed to be associated with the space flight nausea syndrome and to develop logical means for its prediction, prevention and treatment. The VFR Project consists of ground and spaceflight experimentation using frogs as specimens. The phase B Preliminary Design Study provided for the preliminary design of the experiment hardware, preparation of performance and hardware specification and a Phase C/D development plan, establishment of STS (Space Transportation System) interfaces and mission operations, and the study of a variety of hardware, experiment and mission options. The study consist of three major tasks: (1) mission mode trade-off; (2) conceptual design; and (3) preliminary design.

Design and Implementation of an Intelligent Interface for Myoelectric Controlled Prosthesis

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-25

de Investigación y Desarrollo en Instrumentación y Control” 2EMBS student member Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas - Facultad de ...discrimination of the myoelectrical signal by which the control over the impeded movement shall be performed. The Universidad Nacional de Colombia...Number Author(s) Project Number Task Number Work Unit Number Performing Organization Name(s) and Address(es) GIDIC - Grupo de Investigacion y

NASA Hazard Analysis Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deckert, George

2010-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews The NASA Hazard Analysis process. The contents include: 1) Significant Incidents and Close Calls in Human Spaceflight; 2) Subsystem Safety Engineering Through the Project Life Cycle; 3) The Risk Informed Design Process; 4) Types of NASA Hazard Analysis; 5) Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA); 6) Hazard Analysis Process; 7) Identify Hazardous Conditions; 8) Consider All Interfaces; 9) Work a Preliminary Hazard List; 10) NASA Generic Hazards List; and 11) Final Thoughts

Developing a Website Directory for Young People: A Case Study Using Graduate Students in Library and Information Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irwin, Enid; Haycock, Ken

2008-01-01

KidsClick! is a web-based instructional resource designed for K-12. In 2006 it was transferred to the San Jose State School of Library and Information Science, and was subsequently refocused for grades 4-9, ages 10-14, post-reading, and pre-adult reading level phases. This article describes three parts of the redesign project--content, interface,…

Sonification of Climate Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogt, Katharina; Visda, Goudarzi

2013-04-01

Sonification is the acoustic analogue of data visualization and takes advantage of human perceptual and cognitive capabilities. The amount of data being processed today is steadily increasing, and both scientists and society need new ways to understand scientific data and their implications. Sonification is especially suited to the preliminary exploration of complex, dynamic, and multidimensional data sets, as can be found in climate science. In the research project SysSon (https://sysson.kug.ac.at/), we apply a systematic approach to design sonifications to climate data. In collaboration with the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (http://www.wegcenter.at/) we assessed the metaphors climate scientists use and their typical workflows, and chose data sets where sonification has high potential revealing new phenomena. This background will be used to develop an audio interface which is directly linked to the visualization interfaces for data analysis the scientists use today. The protoype will be evaluated according to its functionality, intuitivity for climate scientists, and aesthetic criteria. In the current stage of the project, conceptual links between climate science and sound have been elaborated and first sonification designs have been developed. The research is mainly carried out at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics (http://iem.kug.ac.at/), which has extensive experience in interactive sonification with multidimensional data sets.

Project SUN (Students Understanding Nature)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curley, T.; Yanow, G.

1995-01-01

Project SUN is part of NASA's 'Mission to Planet Earth' education outreach effort. It is based on development of low cost, scientifi- cally accurate instrumentation and computer interfacing, coupled with Apple II computers as dedicated data loggers. The project is com- prised of: instruments, interfacing, software, curriculum, a detailed operating manual, and a system of training at the school sites.

Project INTERFACE: Identification of Effective Implementation Strategies for Integrating Microcomputer Instruction into Ongoing Educational Services for the Handicapped. Final Report, 1984-86.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Estelle; And Others

The monograph describes Project INTERFACE, a 2-year collaborative effort among the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of Nassau County (New York), Long Island University, and three local school districts. The project identified the "most effective" implementation strategies for integrating microcomputer instruction into…

[Development of an ophthalmological clinical information system for inpatient eye clinics].

PubMed

Kortüm, K U; Müller, M; Babenko, A; Kampik, A; Kreutzer, T C

2015-12-01

In times of increased digitalization in healthcare, departments of ophthalmology are faced with the challenge of introducing electronic clinical health records (EHR); however, specialized software for ophthalmology is not available with most major EHR sytems. The aim of this project was to create specific ophthalmological user interfaces for large inpatient eye care providers within a hospitalwide EHR. Additionally the integration of ophthalmic imaging systems, scheduling and surgical documentation should be achieved. The existing EHR i.s.h.med (Siemens, Germany) was modified using advanced business application programming (ABAP) language to create specific ophthalmological user interfaces for reproduction and moreover optimization of the clinical workflow. A user interface for documentation of ambulatory patients with eight tabs was designed. From June 2013 to October 2014 a total of 61,551 patient contact details were documented. For surgical documentation a separate user interface was set up. Digital clinical orders for documentation of registration and scheduling of operations user interfaces were also set up. A direct integration of ophthalmic imaging modalities could be established. An ophthalmologist-orientated EHR for outpatient and surgical documentation for inpatient clinics was created and successfully implemented. By incorporation of imaging procedures the foundation of future smart/big data analyses was created.

Dynamic mesh adaptation for front evolution using discontinuous Galerkin based weighted condition number relaxation

DOE PAGES

Greene, Patrick T.; Schofield, Samuel P.; Nourgaliev, Robert

2017-01-27

A new mesh smoothing method designed to cluster cells near a dynamically evolving interface is presented. The method is based on weighted condition number mesh relaxation with the weight function computed from a level set representation of the interface. The weight function is expressed as a Taylor series based discontinuous Galerkin projection, which makes the computation of the derivatives of the weight function needed during the condition number optimization process a trivial matter. For cases when a level set is not available, a fast method for generating a low-order level set from discrete cell-centered fields, such as a volume fractionmore » or index function, is provided. Results show that the low-order level set works equally well as the actual level set for mesh smoothing. Meshes generated for a number of interface geometries are presented, including cases with multiple level sets. Lastly, dynamic cases with moving interfaces show the new method is capable of maintaining a desired resolution near the interface with an acceptable number of relaxation iterations per time step, which demonstrates the method's potential to be used as a mesh relaxer for arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) methods.« less

Human Motion Tracking and Glove-Based User Interfaces for Virtual Environments in ANVIL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dumas, Joseph D., II

2002-01-01

The Army/NASA Virtual Innovations Laboratory (ANVIL) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) provides an environment where engineers and other personnel can investigate novel applications of computer simulation and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. Among the many hardware and software resources in ANVIL are several high-performance Silicon Graphics computer systems and a number of commercial software packages, such as Division MockUp by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and Jack by Unigraphics Solutions, Inc. These hardware and software platforms are used in conjunction with various VR peripheral I/O (input / output) devices, CAD (computer aided design) models, etc. to support the objectives of the MSFC Engineering Systems Department/Systems Engineering Support Group (ED42) by studying engineering designs, chiefly from the standpoint of human factors and ergonomics. One of the more time-consuming tasks facing ANVIL personnel involves the testing and evaluation of peripheral I/O devices and the integration of new devices with existing hardware and software platforms. Another important challenge is the development of innovative user interfaces to allow efficient, intuitive interaction between simulation users and the virtual environments they are investigating. As part of his Summer Faculty Fellowship, the author was tasked with verifying the operation of some recently acquired peripheral interface devices and developing new, easy-to-use interfaces that could be used with existing VR hardware and software to better support ANVIL projects.

A Function-Behavior-State Approach to Designing Human Machine Interface for Nuclear Power Plant Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Y.; Zhang, W. J.

2005-02-01

This paper presents an approach to human-machine interface design for control room operators of nuclear power plants. The first step in designing an interface for a particular application is to determine information content that needs to be displayed. The design methodology for this step is called the interface design framework (called framework ). Several frameworks have been proposed for applications at varying levels, including process plants. However, none is based on the design and manufacture of a plant system for which the interface is designed. This paper presents an interface design framework which originates from design theory and methodology for general technical systems. Specifically, the framework is based on a set of core concepts of a function-behavior-state model originally proposed by the artificial intelligence research community and widely applied in the design research community. Benefits of this new framework include the provision of a model-based fault diagnosis facility, and the seamless integration of the design (manufacture, maintenance) of plants and the design of human-machine interfaces. The missing linkage between design and operation of a plant was one of the causes of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor incident. A simulated plant system is presented to explain how to apply this framework in designing an interface. The resulting human-machine interface is discussed; specifically, several fault diagnosis examples are elaborated to demonstrate how this interface could support operators' fault diagnosis in an unanticipated situation.

Definition of optical systems payloads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Downey, J. A., III

1981-01-01

The various phases in the formulation of a major NASA project include the inception of the project, planning of the concept, and the project definition. A baseline configuration is established during the planning stage, which serves as a basis for engineering trade studies. Basic technological problems should be recognized early, and a technological verification plan prepared before development of a project begins. A progressive series of iterations is required during the definition phase, illustrating the complex interdependence of existing subsystems. A systems error budget should be established to assess the overall systems performance, identify key performance drivers, and guide performance trades and iterations around these drivers, thus decreasing final systems requirements. Unnecessary interfaces should be avoided, and reasonable design and cost margins maintained. Certain aspects of the definition of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility are used as an example.

Ceramic technology for advanced heat engines project. Semiannual progress report, April-September 1985

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1986-05-01

An assessment of needs was completed, and a five-year project plan was developed with input from private industry. Objective is to develop the industrial technology base required for reliable ceramics for application in advanced automotive heat engines. Focus is on structural ceramics for advanced gas turbine and diesel engines, ceramic bearings and attachments, and ceramic coatings for thermal barrier and wear applications in these engines. The work described in this report is organized according to the following WBS project elements: management and coordination; materials and processing (monolithics, ceramic composites, thermal and wear coatings, joining); materials design methodology (contact interfaces, newmore » concepts); data base and life prediction (time-dependent behavior, environmental effects, fracture mechanics, NDE development); and technology transfer. This report includes contributions from all currently active project participants.« less

STRS SpaceWire FPGA Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lux, James P.; Taylor, Gregory H.; Lang, Minh; Stern, Ryan A.

2011-01-01

An FPGA module leverages the previous work from Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) relating to NASA s Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) project. The STRS SpaceWire FPGA Module is written in the Verilog Register Transfer Level (RTL) language, and it encapsulates an unmodified GSFC core (which is written in VHDL). The module has the necessary inputs/outputs (I/Os) and parameters to integrate seamlessly with the SPARC I/O FPGA Interface module (also developed for the STRS operating environment, OE). Software running on the SPARC processor can access the configuration and status registers within the SpaceWire module. This allows software to control and monitor the SpaceWire functions, but it is also used to give software direct access to what is transmitted and received through the link. SpaceWire data characters can be sent/received through the software interface, as well as through the dedicated interface on the GSFC core. Similarly, SpaceWire time codes can be sent/received through the software interface or through a dedicated interface on the core. This innovation is designed for plug-and-play integration in the STRS OE. The SpaceWire module simplifies the interfaces to the GSFC core, and synchronizes all I/O to a single clock. An interrupt output (with optional masking) identifies time-sensitive events within the module. Test modes were added to allow internal loopback of the SpaceWire link and internal loopback of the client-side data interface.

Open multi-agent control architecture to support virtual-reality-based man-machine interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freund, Eckhard; Rossmann, Juergen; Brasch, Marcel

2001-10-01

Projective Virtual Reality is a new and promising approach to intuitively operable man machine interfaces for the commanding and supervision of complex automation systems. The user interface part of Projective Virtual Reality heavily builds on latest Virtual Reality techniques, a task deduction component and automatic action planning capabilities. In order to realize man machine interfaces for complex applications, not only the Virtual Reality part has to be considered but also the capabilities of the underlying robot and automation controller are of great importance. This paper presents a control architecture that has proved to be an ideal basis for the realization of complex robotic and automation systems that are controlled by Virtual Reality based man machine interfaces. The architecture does not just provide a well suited framework for the real-time control of a multi robot system but also supports Virtual Reality metaphors and augmentations which facilitate the user's job to command and supervise a complex system. The developed control architecture has already been used for a number of applications. Its capability to integrate sensor information from sensors of different levels of abstraction in real-time helps to make the realized automation system very responsive to real world changes. In this paper, the architecture will be described comprehensively, its main building blocks will be discussed and one realization that is built based on an open source real-time operating system will be presented. The software design and the features of the architecture which make it generally applicable to the distributed control of automation agents in real world applications will be explained. Furthermore its application to the commanding and control of experiments in the Columbus space laboratory, the European contribution to the International Space Station (ISS), is only one example which will be described.

Sharp Interface Tracking in Rotating Microflows of Solvent Extraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Glimm, James; Almeida, Valmor de; Jiao, Xiangmin

2013-01-08

The objective of this project is to develop a specialized sharp interface tracking simulation capability for predicting interaction of micron-sized drops and bubbles in rotating flows relevant to optimized design of contactor devices used in solvent extraction processes of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The primary outcomes of this project include the capability to resolve drops and bubbles micro-hydrodynamics in solvent extraction contactors, determining from first principles continuum fluid mechanics how micro-drops and bubbles interact with each other and the surrounding shearing fluid for realistic flows. In the near term, this effort will play a central role in providing parameters andmore » insight into the flow dynamics of models that average over coarser scales, say at the millimeter unit length. In the longer term, it will prove to be the platform to conduct full-device, detailed simulations as parallel computing power reaches the exaflop level. The team will develop an accurate simulation tool for flows containing interacting droplets and bubbles with sharp interfaces under conditions that mimic those found in realistic contactor operations. The main objective is to create an off-line simulation capability to model drop and bubble interactions in a domain representative of the averaged length scale. The technical approach is to combine robust interface tracking software, subgrid modeling, validation quality experiments, powerful computational hardware, and a team with simulation modeling, physical modeling and technology integration experience. Simulations will then fully resolve the microflow of drops and bubbles at the microsecond time scale. This approach is computationally intensive but very accurate in treating important coupled physical phenomena in the vicinity of interfaces. The method makes it possible to resolve spatial scales smaller than the typical distance between bubbles and to model some non-equilibrium thermodynamic features such as finite critical tension in cavitating liquids« less

Safety system augmentation at Russian nuclear power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scerbo, J.A.; Satpute, S.N.; Donkin, J.Y.

1996-12-31

This paper describes the design and procurement of a Class IE DC power supply system to upgrade plant safety at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Kola NPP is located above the Arctic circle at Polyarnie Zorie, Murmansk, Russia. Kola NPP consists of four units. Units 1 and 2 have VVER-440/230 type reactors: Units 3 and 4 have VVER-440/213 type reactors. The VVER-440 reactor design is similar to the pressurized water reactor design used in the US. This project provided redundant, Class 1E DC station batteries and DC switchboards for Kola NPP, Units 1 and 2. The new DC powermore » supply system was designed and procured in compliance with current nuclear design practices and requirements. Technical issues that needed to be addressed included reconciling the requirements in both US and Russian codes and satisfying the requirements of the Russian nuclear regulatory authority. Close interface with ATOMENERGOPROEKT (AEP), the Russian design organization, KOLA NPP plant personnel, and GOSATOMNADZOR (GAN), the Russian version of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was necessary to develop a design that would assure compliance with current Russian design requirements. Hence, this project was expected to serve as an example for plant upgrades at other similar VVER-440 nuclear plants. In addition to technical issues, the project needed to address language barriers and the logistics of shipping equipment to a remote section of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). This project was executed by Burns and Roe under the sponsorship of the US DOE as part of the International Safety Program (INSP). The INSP is a comprehensive effort, in cooperation with partners in other countries, to improve nuclear safety worldwide. A major element within the INSP is the improvement of the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear reactors.« less

Design and Implementation of an Interface Editor for the Amadeus Multi- Relational Database Front-end System

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-25

application of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and Human-Computer Interface (HCI) design principles. Knowledge gained from each topic has been incorporated...through the ap- plication of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and Human-Computer Interface (HCI) design principles. Knowledge gained from each topic has...programming and Human-Computer Interface (HCI) design. Knowledge gained from each is applied to the design of a Form-based interface for database data

Development of Graphical User Interface for ARRBOD (Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose Projection)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Myung-Hee; Hu, Shaowen; Nounu, Hatem N.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

2010-01-01

The space radiation environment, particularly solar particle events (SPEs), poses the risk of acute radiation sickness (ARS) to humans; and organ doses from SPE exposure may reach critical levels during extra vehicular activities (EVAs) or within lightly shielded spacecraft. NASA has developed an organ dose projection model using the BRYNTRN with SUMDOSE computer codes, and a probabilistic model of Acute Radiation Risk (ARR). The codes BRYNTRN and SUMDOSE, written in FORTRAN, are a Baryon transport code and an output data processing code, respectively. The ARR code is written in C. The risk projection models of organ doses and ARR take the output from BRYNTRN as an input to their calculations. BRYNTRN code operation requires extensive input preparation. With a graphical user interface (GUI) to handle input and output for BRYNTRN, the response models can be connected easily and correctly to BRYNTRN in friendly way. A GUI for the Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose (ARRBOD) projection code provides seamless integration of input and output manipulations, which are required for operations of the ARRBOD modules: BRYNTRN, SUMDOSE, and the ARR probabilistic response model. The ARRBOD GUI is intended for mission planners, radiation shield designers, space operations in the mission operations directorate (MOD), and space biophysics researchers. The ARRBOD GUI will serve as a proof-of-concept example for future integration of other human space applications risk projection models. The current version of the ARRBOD GUI is a new self-contained product and will have follow-on versions, as options are added: 1) human geometries of MAX/FAX in addition to CAM/CAF; 2) shielding distributions for spacecraft, Mars surface and atmosphere; 3) various space environmental and biophysical models; and 4) other response models to be connected to the BRYNTRN. The major components of the overall system, the subsystem interconnections, and external interfaces are described in this report; and the ARRBOD GUI product is explained step by step in order to serve as a tutorial.

ProXL (Protein Cross-Linking Database): A Platform for Analysis, Visualization, and Sharing of Protein Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry Data

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

ProXL is a Web application and accompanying database designed for sharing, visualizing, and analyzing bottom-up protein cross-linking mass spectrometry data with an emphasis on structural analysis and quality control. ProXL is designed to be independent of any particular software pipeline. The import process is simplified by the use of the ProXL XML data format, which shields developers of data importers from the relative complexity of the relational database schema. The database and Web interfaces function equally well for any software pipeline and allow data from disparate pipelines to be merged and contrasted. ProXL includes robust public and private data sharing capabilities, including a project-based interface designed to ensure security and facilitate collaboration among multiple researchers. ProXL provides multiple interactive and highly dynamic data visualizations that facilitate structural-based analysis of the observed cross-links as well as quality control. ProXL is open-source, well-documented, and freely available at https://github.com/yeastrc/proxl-web-app. PMID:27302480

Participatory interaction design in user requirements specification in healthcare.

PubMed

Martikainen, Susanna; Ikävalko, Pauliina; Korpela, Mikko

2010-01-01

Healthcare information systems are accused of poor usability even in the popular media in Finland. Doctors especially have been very critical and actively expressed their opinions in public. User involvement and user-centered design methods are seen as the key solution to usability problems. In this paper we describe a research case where participatory methods were experimented within healthcare information systems development in medicinal care in a hospital. The study was part of a larger research project on Activity-driven Information Systems Development in healthcare. The study started by finding out about and modeling the present state of medicinal care in the hospital. After that it was important to define and model the goal state. The goal state, facilitated by the would-be software package, was modeled with the help of user interface drawings as one way of prototyping. Traditional usability methods were extended during the study. According to the health professionals' feedback, the use of participatory and user-centered interaction design methods, particularly user interface drawings enabled them to describe their requirements and create common understanding with the system developers.

ProXL (Protein Cross-Linking Database): A Platform for Analysis, Visualization, and Sharing of Protein Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry Data.

PubMed

Riffle, Michael; Jaschob, Daniel; Zelter, Alex; Davis, Trisha N

2016-08-05

ProXL is a Web application and accompanying database designed for sharing, visualizing, and analyzing bottom-up protein cross-linking mass spectrometry data with an emphasis on structural analysis and quality control. ProXL is designed to be independent of any particular software pipeline. The import process is simplified by the use of the ProXL XML data format, which shields developers of data importers from the relative complexity of the relational database schema. The database and Web interfaces function equally well for any software pipeline and allow data from disparate pipelines to be merged and contrasted. ProXL includes robust public and private data sharing capabilities, including a project-based interface designed to ensure security and facilitate collaboration among multiple researchers. ProXL provides multiple interactive and highly dynamic data visualizations that facilitate structural-based analysis of the observed cross-links as well as quality control. ProXL is open-source, well-documented, and freely available at https://github.com/yeastrc/proxl-web-app .

Development of a Software Tool to Automate ADCO Flight Controller Console Planning Tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Mark G.

2011-01-01

This independent study project covers the development of the International Space Station (ISS) Attitude Determination and Control Officer (ADCO) Planning Exchange APEX Tool. The primary goal of the tool is to streamline existing manual and time-intensive planning tools into a more automated, user-friendly application that interfaces with existing products and allows the ADCO to produce accurate products and timelines more effectively. This paper will survey the current ISS attitude planning process and its associated requirements, goals, documentation and software tools and how a software tool could simplify and automate many of the planning actions which occur at the ADCO console. The project will be covered from inception through the initial prototype delivery in November 2011 and will include development of design requirements and software as well as design verification and testing.

System Integration of FastSPECT III, a Dedicated SPECT Rodent-Brain Imager Based on BazookaSPECT Detector Technology

PubMed Central

Miller, Brian W.; Furenlid, Lars R.; Moore, Stephen K.; Barber, H. Bradford; Nagarkar, Vivek V.; Barrett, Harrison H.

2010-01-01

FastSPECT III is a stationary, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imager designed specifically for imaging and studying neurological pathologies in rodent brain, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons’s disease. Twenty independent BazookaSPECT [1] gamma-ray detectors acquire projections of a spherical field of view with pinholes selected for desired resolution and sensitivity. Each BazookaSPECT detector comprises a columnar CsI(Tl) scintillator, image-intensifier, optical lens, and fast-frame-rate CCD camera. Data stream back to processing computers via firewire interfaces, and heavy use of graphics processing units (GPUs) ensures that each frame of data is processed in real time to extract the images of individual gamma-ray events. Details of the system design, imaging aperture fabrication methods, and preliminary projection images are presented. PMID:21218137

Designing, Modeling, Constructing, and Testing a Flat Panel Speaker and Sound Diffuser for a Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dillon, Christina

2013-01-01

The goal of this project was to design, model, build, and test a flat panel speaker and frame for a spherical dome structure being made into a simulator. The simulator will be a test bed for evaluating an immersive environment for human interfaces. This project focused on the loud speakers and a sound diffuser for the dome. The rest of the team worked on an Ambisonics 3D sound system, video projection system, and multi-direction treadmill to create the most realistic scene possible. The main programs utilized in this project, were Pro-E and COMSOL. Pro-E was used for creating detailed figures for the fabrication of a frame that held a flat panel loud speaker. The loud speaker was made from a thin sheet of Plexiglas and 4 acoustic exciters. COMSOL, a multiphysics finite analysis simulator, was used to model and evaluate all stages of the loud speaker, frame, and sound diffuser. Acoustical testing measurements were utilized to create polar plots from the working prototype which were then compared to the COMSOL simulations to select the optimal design for the dome. The final goal of the project was to install the flat panel loud speaker design in addition to a sound diffuser on to the wall of the dome. After running tests in COMSOL on various speaker configurations, including a warped Plexiglas version, the optimal speaker design included a flat piece of Plexiglas with a rounded frame to match the curvature of the dome. Eight of these loud speakers will be mounted into an inch and a half of high performance acoustic insulation, or Thinsulate, that will cover the inside of the dome. The following technical paper discusses these projects and explains the engineering processes used, knowledge gained, and the projected future goals of this project

Dynamic Mesh Adaptation for Front Evolution Using Discontinuous Galerkin Based Weighted Condition Number Mesh Relaxation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greene, Patrick T.; Schofield, Samuel P.; Nourgaliev, Robert

2016-06-21

A new mesh smoothing method designed to cluster mesh cells near a dynamically evolving interface is presented. The method is based on weighted condition number mesh relaxation with the weight function being computed from a level set representation of the interface. The weight function is expressed as a Taylor series based discontinuous Galerkin projection, which makes the computation of the derivatives of the weight function needed during the condition number optimization process a trivial matter. For cases when a level set is not available, a fast method for generating a low-order level set from discrete cell-centered elds, such as amore » volume fraction or index function, is provided. Results show that the low-order level set works equally well for the weight function as the actual level set. Meshes generated for a number of interface geometries are presented, including cases with multiple level sets. Dynamic cases for moving interfaces are presented to demonstrate the method's potential usefulness to arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) methods.« less

The development of a prototype intelligent user interface subsystem for NASA's scientific database systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, William J.; Roelofs, Larry H.; Short, Nicholas M., Jr.

1987-01-01

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has initiated an Intelligent Data Management (IDM) research effort which has as one of its components the development of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI).The intent of the latter is to develop a friendly and intelligent user interface service that is based on expert systems and natural language processing technologies. The purpose is to support the large number of potential scientific and engineering users presently having need of space and land related research and technical data but who have little or no experience in query languages or understanding of the information content or architecture of the databases involved. This technical memorandum presents prototype Intelligent User Interface Subsystem (IUIS) using the Crustal Dynamics Project Database as a test bed for the implementation of the CRUDDES (Crustal Dynamics Expert System). The knowledge base has more than 200 rules and represents a single application view and the architectural view. Operational performance using CRUDDES has allowed nondatabase users to obtain useful information from the database previously accessible only to an expert database user or the database designer.

A comparison of successful and failed protein interface designs highlights the challenges of designing buried hydrogen bonds

PubMed Central

Stranges, P Benjamin; Kuhlman, Brian

2013-01-01

The accurate design of new protein–protein interactions is a longstanding goal of computational protein design. However, most computationally designed interfaces fail to form experimentally. This investigation compares five previously described successful de novo interface designs with 158 failures. Both sets of proteins were designed with the molecular modeling program Rosetta. Designs were considered a success if a high-resolution crystal structure of the complex closely matched the design model and the equilibrium dissociation constant for binding was less than 10 μM. The successes and failures represent a wide variety of interface types and design goals including heterodimers, homodimers, peptide-protein interactions, one-sided designs (i.e., where only one of the proteins was mutated) and two-sided designs. The most striking feature of the successful designs is that they have fewer polar atoms at their interfaces than many of the failed designs. Designs that attempted to create extensive sets of interface-spanning hydrogen bonds resulted in no detectable binding. In contrast, polar atoms make up more than 40% of the interface area of many natural dimers, and native interfaces often contain extensive hydrogen bonding networks. These results suggest that Rosetta may not be accurately balancing hydrogen bonding and electrostatic energies against desolvation penalties and that design processes may not include sufficient sampling to identify side chains in preordered conformations that can fully satisfy the hydrogen bonding potential of the interface. PMID:23139141

A comparison of successful and failed protein interface designs highlights the challenges of designing buried hydrogen bonds.

PubMed

Stranges, P Benjamin; Kuhlman, Brian

2013-01-01

The accurate design of new protein-protein interactions is a longstanding goal of computational protein design. However, most computationally designed interfaces fail to form experimentally. This investigation compares five previously described successful de novo interface designs with 158 failures. Both sets of proteins were designed with the molecular modeling program Rosetta. Designs were considered a success if a high-resolution crystal structure of the complex closely matched the design model and the equilibrium dissociation constant for binding was less than 10 μM. The successes and failures represent a wide variety of interface types and design goals including heterodimers, homodimers, peptide-protein interactions, one-sided designs (i.e., where only one of the proteins was mutated) and two-sided designs. The most striking feature of the successful designs is that they have fewer polar atoms at their interfaces than many of the failed designs. Designs that attempted to create extensive sets of interface-spanning hydrogen bonds resulted in no detectable binding. In contrast, polar atoms make up more than 40% of the interface area of many natural dimers, and native interfaces often contain extensive hydrogen bonding networks. These results suggest that Rosetta may not be accurately balancing hydrogen bonding and electrostatic energies against desolvation penalties and that design processes may not include sufficient sampling to identify side chains in preordered conformations that can fully satisfy the hydrogen bonding potential of the interface. Copyright © 2012 The Protein Society.

Study About Ceiling Design for Main Control Room of NPP with HFE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Pengfei; Ni, Ying; Chen, Weihua; Chen, Bo; Zhang, Jianbo; Liang, Huihui

Recently since human factor engineering (HFE) has been used in control room design of nuclear power plant (NPP), the human-machine interface (HMI) has been gradual to develop harmoniously, especially the use of the digital technology. Comparing with the analog technology which was used to human-machine interface in the past, human-machine interaction has been more enhanced. HFE and the main control room (MCR) design engineering of NPP is a combination of multidisciplinary cross, mainly related to electrical and instrument control, reactor, machinery, systems engineering and management disciplines. However, MCR is not only equipped with HMI provided by the equipments, but also more important for the operator to provide a work environment, such as the main control room ceiling. The ceiling design of main control room related to HFE which influences the performance of staff should also be considered in the design of the environment and aesthetic factors, especially the introduction of professional design experience and evaluation method. Based on Ling Ao phase II and Hong Yanhe project implementation experience, the study analyzes lighting effect, space partition, vision load about the ceiling of main control room of NPP. Combining with the requirements of standards, the advantages and disadvantages of the main control room ceiling design has been discussed, and considering the requirements of lightweight, noise reduction, fire prevention, moisture protection, the ceiling design solution of the main control room also has been discussed.

Optimization of the Ion Source-Mass Spectrometry Parameters in Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Pharmaceuticals Analysis by a Design of Experiments Approach.

PubMed

Paíga, Paula; Silva, Luís M S; Delerue-Matos, Cristina

2016-10-01

The flow rates of drying and nebulizing gas, heat block and desolvation line temperatures and interface voltage are potential electrospray ionization parameters as they may enhance sensitivity of the mass spectrometer. The conditions that give higher sensitivity of 13 pharmaceuticals were explored. First, Plackett-Burman design was implemented to screen significant factors, and it was concluded that interface voltage and nebulizing gas flow were the only factors that influence the intensity signal for all pharmaceuticals. This fractionated factorial design was projected to set a full 2(2) factorial design with center points. The lack-of-fit test proved to be significant. Then, a central composite face-centered design was conducted. Finally, a stepwise multiple linear regression and subsequently an optimization problem solving were carried out. Two main drug clusters were found concerning the signal intensities of all runs of the augmented factorial design. p-Aminophenol, salicylic acid, and nimesulide constitute one cluster as a result of showing much higher sensitivity than the remaining drugs. The other cluster is more homogeneous with some sub-clusters comprising one pharmaceutical and its respective metabolite. It was observed that instrumental signal increased when both significant factors increased with maximum signal occurring when both codified factors are set at level +1. It was also found that, for most of the pharmaceuticals, interface voltage influences the intensity of the instrument more than the nebulizing gas flowrate. The only exceptions refer to nimesulide where the relative importance of the factors is reversed and still salicylic acid where both factors equally influence the instrumental signal. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

The Effect of Prosthetic Socket Interface Design on Socket Comfort, Residual Limb Health, and Function for the Transfemoral Amputee

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

significantly lower trim lines, without ischial containment compared with a traditional interface. However, these alternative designs could compromise...overall function compared to the standard of care interface design . Therefore the focus of this clinical trial is to determine if the DS and Sub-I...alternative interface designs will improve socket comfort, residual limb health and function compared to the standard of care IRC interface design . 15

Health Care Robotics: A Progress Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fiorini, Paolo; Ali, Khaled; Seraji, Homayoun

1997-01-01

This paper describes the approach followed in the design of a service robot for health care applications. Under the auspices of the NASA Technology Transfer program, a partnership was established between JPL and RWI, a manufacturer of mobile robots, to design and evaluate a mobile robot for health care assistance to the elderly and the handicapped. The main emphasis of the first phase of the project is on the development on a multi-modal operator interface and its evaluation by health care professionals and users. This paper describes the architecture of the system, the evaluation method used, and some preliminary results of the user evaluation.

Buried waste integrated demonstration human engineered control station. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-09-01

This document describes the Human Engineered Control Station (HECS) project activities including the conceptual designs. The purpose of the HECS is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of remote retrieval by providing an integrated remote control station. The HECS integrates human capabilities, limitations, and expectations into the design to reduce the potential for human error, provides an easy system to learn and operate, provides an increased productivity, and reduces the ultimate investment in training. The overall HECS consists of the technology interface stations, supporting engineering aids, platform (trailer), communications network (broadband system), and collision avoidance system.

NASA-STD-(I)-6016, Standard Materials and Processes Requirements for Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pedley, Michael; Griffin, Dennis

2006-01-01

This document is directed toward Materials and Processes (M&P) used in the design, fabrication, and testing of flight components for all NASA manned, unmanned, robotic, launch vehicle, lander, in-space and surface systems, and spacecraft program/project hardware elements. All flight hardware is covered by the M&P requirements of this document, including vendor designed, off-the-shelf, and vendor furnished items. Materials and processes used in interfacing ground support equipment (GSE); test equipment; hardware processing equipment; hardware packaging; and hardware shipment shall be controlled to prevent damage to or contamination of flight hardware.

Lightning Protection Guidelines for Aerospace Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodloe, C. C.

1999-01-01

This technical memorandum provides lightning protection engineering guidelines and technical procedures used by the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Electromagnetics and Aerospace Environments Branch for aerospace vehicles. The overviews illustrate the technical support available to project managers, chief engineers, and design engineers to ensure that aerospace vehicles managed by MSFC are adequately protected from direct and indirect effects of lightning. Generic descriptions of the lightning environment and vehicle protection technical processes are presented. More specific aerospace vehicle requirements for lightning protection design, performance, and interface characteristics are available upon request to the MSFC Electromagnetics and Aerospace Environments Branch, mail code EL23.

Research on collaborative innovation mechanism of green construction supply chain based on united agency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Min; He, Weiyi

2018-06-01

Under the guidance of principal-agent theory and modular theory, the collaborative innovation of green technology-based companies, design contractors and project builders based on united agency will provide direction for the development of green construction supply chain in the future. After analyzing the existing independent agencies, this paper proposes the industry-university-research bilateral collaborative innovation network architecture and modularization with the innovative function of engineering design in the context of non-standard transformation interfaces, analyzes the innovation responsibility center, and gives some countermeasures and suggestions to promote the performance of bilateral cooperative innovation network.

Rapid Assessment of Agility for Conceptual Design Synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biezad, Daniel J.

1996-01-01

This project consists of designing and implementing a real-time graphical interface for a workstation-based flight simulator. It is capable of creating a three-dimensional out-the-window scene of the aircraft's flying environment, with extensive information about the aircraft's state displayed in the form of a heads-up-display (HUD) overlay. The code, written in the C programming language, makes calls to Silicon Graphics' Graphics Library (GL) to draw the graphics primitives. Included in this report is a detailed description of the capabilities of the code, including graphical examples, as well as a printout of the code itself

An intelligent multi-media human-computer dialogue system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neal, J. G.; Bettinger, K. E.; Byoun, J. S.; Dobes, Z.; Thielman, C. Y.

1988-01-01

Sophisticated computer systems are being developed to assist in the human decision-making process for very complex tasks performed under stressful conditions. The human-computer interface is a critical factor in these systems. The human-computer interface should be simple and natural to use, require a minimal learning period, assist the user in accomplishing his task(s) with a minimum of distraction, present output in a form that best conveys information to the user, and reduce cognitive load for the user. In pursuit of this ideal, the Intelligent Multi-Media Interfaces project is devoted to the development of interface technology that integrates speech, natural language text, graphics, and pointing gestures for human-computer dialogues. The objective of the project is to develop interface technology that uses the media/modalities intelligently in a flexible, context-sensitive, and highly integrated manner modelled after the manner in which humans converse in simultaneous coordinated multiple modalities. As part of the project, a knowledge-based interface system, called CUBRICON (CUBRC Intelligent CONversationalist) is being developed as a research prototype. The application domain being used to drive the research is that of military tactical air control.

Design Document for the Technology Demonstration of the Joint Network Defence and Management System (JNDMS) Project

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-06

Event Interface Custom ASCII JSS Client Y (Spectrum) 3.2 8 IT Infrastructure Performance Data/Vulnerability Assessment eHealth , Spectrum NSM...monitoring of infrastructure servers.) The Concord product line. Concord products ( eHealth and Spectrum) can provide both real-time and historical...Network and Systems Management (NSM) • Unicenter Asset Management • Spectrum • eHealth • Centennial Discovery Table 12 summarizes the the role of

Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Decision-Analytic Aids

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

Ze! &rt s t.>.. address the issues -it each of the three interfaces DECISION-MAKIN!; ORGANIZATIN -- - -- - - -- ----------: USER DEAISID ’ in. I ENVI...user’s unique personal characteristics, and has no personal credibility in a leadership role. In order to maintain motivation and atten- tion, the...for selecting R&D projects was formally adopted but not used because the technique conflicted with the highly per- sonal leadership style of the

A Graphics Editor for Structured Analysis with a Data Dictionary.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

4-3 Human/Computer Interface Considerations 4-3 Screen Layout .... ............. 4-4 Menu System ..... .............. 4-6 Voice Feedback...central computer system . This project is a direct follow on to the 1986 thesis by James W. Urscheler. lie created an initial version of a tool (nicknamed...graphics information. Background r SADT. SADT is the name of SofTech’s methodology for doing requirement analysis and system design. It was first published

Update of GRASP/Ada reverse engineering tools for Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cross, James H., II

1992-01-01

The GRASP/Ada project (Graphical Representations of Algorithms, Structures, and Processes for Ada) has successfully created and prototyped a new algorithmic level graphical representation of Ada software, the Control Structure Diagram (CSD). The primary impetus for creation of the CSD was to improve the comprehension efficiency of Ada software and, as a result, improve reliability and reduce costs. The emphasis was on the automatic generation of the CSD from Ada PDL or source code to support reverse engineering and maintenance. The CSD has the potential to replace traditional prettyprinted Ada source code. In Phase 1 of the GRASP/Ada project, the CSD graphical constructs were created and applied manually to several small Ada programs. A prototype (Version 1) was designed and implemented using FLEX and BISON running under VMS on a VAS 11-780. In Phase 2, the prototype was improved and ported to the Sun 4 platform under UNIX. A user interface was designed and partially implemented using the HP widget toolkit and the X Windows System. In Phase 3, the user interface was extensively reworked using the Athena widget toolkit and X Windows. The prototype was applied successfully to numerous Ada programs ranging in size from several hundred to several thousand lines of source code. Following Phase 3, the prototype was evaluated by software engineering students at Auburn University and then updated with significant enhancements to the user interface including editing capabilities. Version 3.2 of the prototype was prepared for limited distribution to facilitate further evaluation. The current prototype provides the capability for the user to generate CSD's from Ada PDL or source code in a reverse engineering as well as forward engineering mode with a level of flexibility suitable for practical application.

Conceptualization and application of an approach for designing healthcare software interfaces.

PubMed

Kumar, Ajit; Maskara, Reena; Maskara, Sanjeev; Chiang, I-Jen

2014-06-01

The aim of this study is to conceptualize a novel approach, which facilitates us to design prototype interfaces for healthcare software. Concepts and techniques from various disciplines were used to conceptualize an interface design approach named MORTARS (Map Original Rhetorical To Adapted Rhetorical Situation). The concepts and techniques included in this approach are (1) rhetorical situation - a concept of philosophy provided by Bitzer (1968); (2) move analysis - an applied linguistic technique provided by Swales (1990) and Bhatia (1993); (3) interface design guidelines - a cognitive and computer science concept provided by Johnson (2010); (4) usability evaluation instrument - an interface evaluation questionnaire provided by Lund (2001); (5) user modeling via stereotyping - a cognitive and computer science concept provided by Rich (1979). A prototype interface for outpatient clinic software was designed to introduce the underlying concepts of MORTARS. The prototype interface was evaluated by thirty-two medical informaticians. The medical informaticians found the designed prototype interface to be useful (73.3%), easy to use (71.9%), easy to learn (93.1%), and satisfactory (53.2%). MORTARS approach was found to be effective in designing the prototype user interface for the outpatient clinic software. This approach might be further used to design interfaces for various software pertaining to healthcare and other domains. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MyOcean Information System : achievements and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loubrieu, T.; Dorandeu, J.; Claverie, V.; Cordier, K.; Barzic, Y.; Lauret, O.; Jolibois, T.; Blower, J.

2012-04-01

MyOcean system (http://www.myocean.eu) objective is to provide a Core Service for the Ocean. This means MyOcean is setting up an operational service for forecasts, analysis and expertise on ocean currents, temperature, salinity, sea level, primary ecosystems and ice coverage. The production of observation and forecasting data is distributed through 12 production centres. The interface with the external users (including web portal) and the coordination of the overall service is managed by a component called service desk. Besides, a transverse component called MIS (myOcean Information System) aims at connecting the production centres and service desk together, manage the shared information for the overall system and implement a standard Inspire interface for the external world. 2012 is a key year for the system. The MyOcean, 3-year project, which has set up the first versions of the system is ending. The MyOcean II, 2-year project, which will upgrade and consolidate the system is starting. Both projects are granted by the European commission within the GMES Program (7th Framework Program). At the end of the MyOcean project, the system has been designed and the 2 first versions have been implemented. The system now offers an integrated service composed with 237 ocean products. The ocean products are homogeneously described in a catalogue. They can be visualized and downloaded by the user (identified with a unique login) through a seamless web interface. The discovery and viewing interfaces are INSPIRE compliant. The data production, subsystems availability and audience are continuously monitored. The presentation will detail the implemented information system architecture and the chosen software solutions. Regarding the information system, MyOcean II is mainly aiming at consolidating the existing functions and promoting the operations cost-effectiveness. In addition, a specific effort will be done so that the less common data features of the system (ocean in-situ observations, remote-sensing along track observations) reach the same level of interoperability for view and download function as the gridded features. The presentation will detail the envisioned plans.

User interface development and metadata considerations for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) archive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singley, P. T.; Bell, J. D.; Daugherty, P. F.; Hubbs, C. A.; Tuggle, J. G.

1993-01-01

This paper will discuss user interface development and the structure and use of metadata for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Archive. The ARM Archive, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the data repository for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) ARM Project. After a short description of the ARM Project and the ARM Archive's role, we will consider the philosophy and goals, constraints, and prototype implementation of the user interface for the archive. We will also describe the metadata that are stored at the archive and support the user interface.

Data storage technology: Hardware and software, Appendix B

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sable, J. D.

1972-01-01

This project involves the development of more economical ways of integrating and interfacing new storage devices and data processing programs into a computer system. It involves developing interface standards and a software/hardware architecture which will make it possible to develop machine independent devices and programs. These will interface with the machine dependent operating systems of particular computers. The development project will not be to develop the software which would ordinarily be the responsibility of the manufacturer to supply, but to develop the standards with which that software is expected to confirm in providing an interface with the user or storage system.

Automated simulation as part of a design workstation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cantwell, E.; Shenk, T.; Robinson, P.; Upadhye, R.

1990-01-01

A development project for a design workstation for advanced life-support systems incorporating qualitative simulation, required the implementation of a useful qualitative simulation capability and the integration of qualitative and quantitative simulations, such that simulation capabilities are maximized without duplication. The reason is that to produce design solutions to a system goal, the behavior of the system in both a steady and perturbed state must be represented. The paper reports on the Qualitative Simulation Tool (QST), on an expert-system-like model building and simulation interface toll called ScratchPad (SP), and on the integration of QST and SP with more conventional, commercially available simulation packages now being applied in the evaluation of life-support system processes and components.

A Model-Based Approach to Developing Your Mission Operations System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Robert R.; Schimmels, Kathryn A.; Lock, Patricia D; Valerio, Charlene P.

2014-01-01

Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) is an increasingly popular methodology for designing complex engineering systems. As the use of MBSE has grown, it has begun to be applied to systems that are less hardware-based and more people- and process-based. We describe our approach to incorporating MBSE as a way to streamline development, and how to build a model consisting of core resources, such as requirements and interfaces, that can be adapted and used by new and upcoming projects. By comparing traditional Mission Operations System (MOS) system engineering with an MOS designed via a model, we will demonstrate the benefits to be obtained by incorporating MBSE in system engineering design processes.

Starting research in interaction design with visuals for low-functioning children in the autistic spectrum: a protocol.

PubMed

Parés, Narcís; Carreras, Anna; Durany, Jaume; Ferrer, Jaume; Freixa, Pere; Gómez, David; Kruglanski, Orit; Parés, Roc; Ribas, J Ignasi; Soler, Miquel; Sanjurjo, Alex

2006-04-01

On starting to think about interaction design for low-functioning persons in the autistic spectrum (PAS), especially children, one finds a number of questions that are difficult to answer: Can we typify the PAS user? Can we engage the user in interactive communication without generating frustrating or obsessive situations? What sort of visual stimuli can we provide? Will they prefer representational or abstract visual stimuli? Will they understand three-dimensional (3D) graphic representation? What sort of interfaces will they accept? Can we set ambitious goals such as education or therapy? Unfortunately, most of these questions have no answer yet. Hence, we decided to set an apparently simple goal: to design a "fun application," with no intention to reach the level of education or therapy. The goal was to be attained by giving the users a sense of agency--by providing first a sense of control in the interaction dialogue. Our approach to visual stimuli design has been based on the use of geometric, abstract, two-dimensional (2D), real-time computer graphics in a full-body, non-invasive, interactive space. The results obtained within the European-funded project MultiSensory Environment Design for an Interface between Autistic and Typical Expressiveness (MEDIATE) have been extremely encouraging.

Designing the user interface: strategies for effective human-computer interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shneiderman, B.

1998-03-01

In revising this popular book, Ben Shneiderman again provides a complete, current and authoritative introduction to user-interface design. The user interface is the part of every computer system that determines how people control and operate that system. When the interface is well designed, it is comprehensible, predictable, and controllable; users feel competent, satisfied, and responsible for their actions. Shneiderman discusses the principles and practices needed to design such effective interaction. Based on 20 years experience, Shneiderman offers readers practical techniques and guidelines for interface design. He also takes great care to discuss underlying issues and to support conclusions with empirical results. Interface designers, software engineers, and product managers will all find this book an invaluable resource for creating systems that facilitate rapid learning and performance, yield low error rates, and generate high user satisfaction. Coverage includes the human factors of interactive software (with a new discussion of diverse user communities), tested methods to develop and assess interfaces, interaction styles such as direct manipulation for graphical user interfaces, and design considerations such as effective messages, consistent screen design, and appropriate color.

Information Management Platform for Data Analytics and Aggregation (IMPALA) System Design Document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carnell, Andrew; Akinyelu, Akinyele

2016-01-01

The System Design document tracks the design activities that are performed to guide the integration, installation, verification, and acceptance testing of the IMPALA Platform. The inputs to the design document are derived from the activities recorded in Tasks 1 through 6 of the Statement of Work (SOW), with the proposed technical solution being the completion of Phase 1-A. With the documentation of the architecture of the IMPALA Platform and the installation steps taken, the SDD will be a living document, capturing the details about capability enhancements and system improvements to the IMPALA Platform to provide users in development of accurate and precise analytical models. The IMPALA Platform infrastructure team, data architecture team, system integration team, security management team, project manager, NASA data scientists and users are the intended audience of this document. The IMPALA Platform is an assembly of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products installed on an Apache-Hadoop platform. User interface details for the COTS products will be sourced from the COTS tools vendor documentation. The SDD is a focused explanation of the inputs, design steps, and projected outcomes of every design activity for the IMPALA Platform through installation and validation.

Bluetooth as a Playful Public Art Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stukoff, Maria N.

This chapter investigates how the application of emergent communication technologies assisted in the design of playful art experience in a public place. Every Passing Moment (EPM), was a mobile public artwork that tracked and recorded any discoverable Bluetooth device to automatically seed a flower in a virtual garden projected onto an urban screen. The EPM was the first public art work to run blu_box, a custom-designed Bluetooth system for mobile telephony. The aim of blu_box was to build a system that supported playful interactions between the public and an urban screen, openly accessible to anyone with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. This participatory engagement was observed in EPM on three levels, namely; unconscious, conscious, and dynamic play. Furthermore, this chapter highlights how sound and face-to-face communication proved imperative in the play dynamics of EPM. In conclusion, this chapter proposes ways in which the use of emergent communication technologies in public places, especially when interfaced with urban screening platforms, can construct playful city spaces for the public at large.

Slow Control System for the NIFFTE Collaboration TPC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ringle, Erik; Niffte Collaboration Collaboration

2011-10-01

As world energy concerns continue to dominate public policy in the 21st century, the need for cleaner and more efficient nuclear power is necessary. In order to effectively design and implement plans for generation IV nuclear reactors, more accurate fission cross-section measurements are necessary. The Neutron Induced Fission Fragment Tracking Experiment (NIFFTE) collaboration, in an effort to meet this need, has constructed a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) which aims to reduce the uncertainty of the fission cross-section to less than 1%. Using the Maximum Integration Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) framework, slow control measurements are integrated into a single interface to facilitate off-site monitoring. The Hart Scientific 1560 Black Stack will be used with two 2564 Thermistor Scanner Modules to monitor internal temperature of the TPC. A Prologix GPIB to Ethernet controller will be used to interface the hardware with MIDAS. This presentation will detail the design and implementation of the slow control system for the TPC. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Division of Energy Research.

An adaptable product for material processing and life science missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wassick, Gregory; Dobbs, Michael

1995-01-01

The Experiment Control System II (ECS-II) is designed to make available to the microgravity research community the same tools and mode of automated experimentation that their ground-based counterparts have enjoyed for the last two decades. The design goal was accomplished by combining commercial automation tools familiar to the experimenter community with system control components that interface with the on-orbit platform in a distributed architecture. The architecture insulates the tools necessary for managing a payload. By using commercial software and hardware components whenever possible, development costs were greatly reduced when compared to traditional space development projects. Using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components also improved the usability documentation, and reducing the need for training of the system by providing familiar user interfaces, providing a wealth of readily available documentation, and reducing the need for training on system-specific details. The modularity of the distributed architecture makes it very amenable for modification to different on-orbit experiments requiring robotics-based automation.

An implantable integrated low-power amplifier-microelectrode array for Brain-Machine Interfaces.

PubMed

Patrick, Erin; Sankar, Viswanath; Rowe, William; Sanchez, Justin C; Nishida, Toshikazu

2010-01-01

One of the important challenges in designing Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMI) is to build implantable systems that have the ability to reliably process the activity of large ensembles of cortical neurons. In this paper, we report the design, fabrication, and testing of a polyimide-based microelectrode array integrated with a low-power amplifier as part of the Florida Wireless Integrated Recording Electrode (FWIRE) project at the University of Florida developing a fully implantable neural recording system for BMI applications. The electrode array was fabricated using planar micromachining MEMS processes and hybrid packaged with the amplifier die using a flip-chip bonding technique. The system was tested both on bench and in-vivo. Acute and chronic neural recordings were obtained from a rodent for a period of 42 days. The electrode-amplifier performance was analyzed over the chronic recording period with the observation of a noise floor of 4.5 microVrms, and an average signal-to-noise ratio of 3.8.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope OCS and TCS models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, German; Delgado, Francisco

2010-07-01

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a project envisioned as a system of systems with demanding science, technical, and operational requirements, that must perform as a fully integrated unit. The design and implementation of such a system poses big engineering challenges when performing requirements analysis, detailed interface definitions, operational modes and control strategy studies. The OMG System Modeling Language (SysML) has been selected as the framework for the systems engineering analysis and documentation for the LSST. Models for the overall system architecture and different observatory subsystems have been built describing requirements, structure, interfaces and behavior. In this paper we show the models for the Observatory Control System (OCS) and the Telescope Control System (TCS), and how this methodology has helped in the clarification of the design and requirements. In one common language, the relationships of the OCS, TCS, Camera and Data management subsystems are captured with models of the structure, behavior, requirements and the traceability between them.

Astronomical Infrastructure for Data Access (AIDA): service activities for higher education and outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iafrate, G.; Ramella, M.; Boch, T.; Bonnarel, F.; Chèreau, F.; Fernique, P.; Osuna, P.

2009-04-01

We present preliminary simple interfaces developed to enable students, teachers, amateur astronomers and general public to access and use the wealth of astronomical data available in ground-based and space archives through the European Virtual Observatory (EuroVO). The development of these outreach interfaces are the aim of a workpackage of EuroVO-AIDA (Astronomical Infrastructure for Data Access), a project supported by EU in the framework of the FP7 Infrastructure Scientific Research Repositories initiative (project RI2121104). The aim of AIDA is to create an operating infrastructure enabling and stimulating new scientific usage of astronomy digital repositories. Euro VO AIDA is a collaboration between six European countries (PI Francoise Genova, CDS). The professional tools we adapt to the requirements of outreach activities are Aladin (CDS), Stellarium/VirGO (ESO) and VOSpec (ESA VO). Some initial requirements have been set a priori in order to produce a first version of the simplified interfaces, but the plan is to test the initial simplified versions with a sample of target users in order to take their feed-back into account for the development of the final outreach interface. The core of the test program consists of use cases we designed and complemented with proper multilingual documentation covering both the astrophysical context and the use of the software. In the special case of students in the age group 14-18 and their teachers, we take our use cases to schools. We work out the tests in classrooms supporting students working on PCs connected to the internet. At the current stage of the project, we are collecting the users feedback. Relevant links: Euro-VO AIDA Overview http://www.euro-vo.org/pub/aida/overview.html Euro-VO AIDA WP5 http://cds.u-strasbg.fr/twikiAIDA/bin/view/EuroVOAIDA/WP5WorkProgramme

Milliwatt Generator Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latimer, T. W.; Rinehart, G. H.

1992-05-01

This report covers progress on the Milliwatt Generator Project from April 1986 through March 1988. Activities included fuel processing and characterization, production of heat sources, fabrication of pressure-burst test units, compatibility studies, impact testing, and examination of surveillance units. The major task of the Los Alamos Milliwatt Generator Project is to fabricate MC2893A heat sources (4.0 W) for MC2730A radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG's) and MC3599 heat sources (4.5 W) for MC3500 RTG's. The MWG Project interfaces with the following contractors: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque (designer); E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (Inc.), Savannah River Plant (fuel); Monsanto Research Corporation, Mound Facility (metal hardware); and General Electric Company, Neutron Devices Department (RTG's). In addition to MWG fabrication activities, Los Alamos is involved in (1) fabrication of pressure-burst test units, (2) compatibility testing and evaluation, (3) examination of surveillance units, and (4) impact testing and subsequent examination of compatibility and surveillance units.

SWMM5 Application Programming Interface and PySWMM: A Python Interfacing Wrapper

EPA Science Inventory

In support of the OpenWaterAnalytics open source initiative, the PySWMM project encompasses the development of a Python interfacing wrapper to SWMM5 with parallel ongoing development of the USEPA Stormwater Management Model (SWMM5) application programming interface (API). ...

Hierarchy of on-orbit servicing interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moe, Rud V.

1989-01-01

A series of equipment interfaces is involved in on-orbit servicing operations. The end-to-end hierarchy of servicing interfaces is presented. The interface concepts presented include structure and handling, and formats for transfer of resources (power, data, fluids, etc.). Consequences on cost, performance, and service ability of the use of standard designs or unique designs with interface adapters are discussed. Implications of the interface designs compatibility with remote servicing using telerobotic servicers are discussed.

AgRISTARS: Yield model development/soil moisture. Interface control document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The interactions and support functions required between the crop Yield Model Development (YMD) Project and Soil Moisture (SM) Project are defined. The requirements for YMD support of SM and vice-versa are outlined. Specific tasks in support of these interfaces are defined for development of support functions.

The second generation intelligent user interface for the crustal dynamics data information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, Nicholas, Jr.; Wattawa, Scott L.

1988-01-01

For the past decade, operations and research projects that support a major portion of NASA's overall mission have experienced a dramatic increase in the volume of generated data and resultant information that is unparalleled in the history of the agency. The effect of such an increase is that most of the science and engineering disciplines are undergoing an information glut, which has occurred, not only because of the amount, but also because of the type of data being collected. This information glut is growing exponentially and is expected to grow for the foreseeable future. Consequently, it is becoming physically and intellectually impossible to identify, access, modify, and analyze the most suitable information. Thus, the dilemma arises that the amount and complexity of information has exceeded and will continue to exceed, using present information systems, the ability of all the scientists and engineers to understand and take advantage of this information. As a result of this information problem, NASA has initiated the Intelligent Data Management (IDM) project to design and develop Advanced Information Management Systems (AIMS). The first effort of the Project was the prototyping of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI) to an operational scientific database using expert systems, natural language processing, and graphics technologies. An overview of the IUI formulation and development for the second phase is presented.

Design, implementation and practice of JBEI-ICE: an open source biological part registry platform and tools.

PubMed

Ham, Timothy S; Dmytriv, Zinovii; Plahar, Hector; Chen, Joanna; Hillson, Nathan J; Keasling, Jay D

2012-10-01

The Joint BioEnergy Institute Inventory of Composable Elements (JBEI-ICEs) is an open source registry platform for managing information about biological parts. It is capable of recording information about 'legacy' parts, such as plasmids, microbial host strains and Arabidopsis seeds, as well as DNA parts in various assembly standards. ICE is built on the idea of a web of registries and thus provides strong support for distributed interconnected use. The information deposited in an ICE installation instance is accessible both via a web browser and through the web application programming interfaces, which allows automated access to parts via third-party programs. JBEI-ICE includes several useful web browser-based graphical applications for sequence annotation, manipulation and analysis that are also open source. As with open source software, users are encouraged to install, use and customize JBEI-ICE and its components for their particular purposes. As a web application programming interface, ICE provides well-developed parts storage functionality for other synthetic biology software projects. A public instance is available at public-registry.jbei.org, where users can try out features, upload parts or simply use it for their projects. The ICE software suite is available via Google Code, a hosting site for community-driven open source projects.

Development of a New System for Transport Simulation and Analysis at General Atomics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

St. John, H. E.; Peng, Q.; Freeman, J.; Crotinger, J.

1997-11-01

General Atomics has begun a long term program to improve all aspects of experimental data analysis related to DIII--D. The object is to make local and visiting physicists as productive as possible, with only a small investment in training, by developing intuitive, sophisticated interfaces to existing and newly created computer programs. Here we describe our initial work and results of a pilot project in this program. The pilot project is a collaboratory effort between LLNL and GA which will ultimately result in the merger of Corsica and ONETWO (and selected modules from other codes) into a new advanced transport code system. The initial goal is to produce a graphical user interface to the transport code ONETWO which will couple to a programmable (steerable) front end designed for the transport system. This will be an object oriented scheme written primarily in python. The programmable application will integrate existing C, C^++, and Fortran methods in a single computational paradigm. Its most important feature is the use of plug in physics modules which will allow a high degree of customization.

Portable electrocardiograph through android application.

PubMed

De Oliveira, Igor H; Cene, V H; Balbinot, A

2015-01-01

An electrocardiograph was designed and implemented, being capable of obtaining electrical signals from the heart, and sending this data via Bluetooth to a tablet, in which the signals are graphically shown. The user interface is developed as an Android application. Because of the technological progress and the increasing use of full portable systems, such as tablets and cell phones, it is important to understand the functioning and development of an application, which provides a basis for conducting studies using this technology as an interface. The project development includes concepts of electronics and its application to achieve a portable and functional final project, besides using a specific programmable integrated circuit for electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram and electromyogram, the ADS1294. Using a simulator of cardiac signals, 36 different waveforms were recorded, including normal sinus rhythm, arrhythmias and artifacts. Simulations include variations of heart rate from 30 to 190 beats per minute (BPM), with variations in peak amplitude of 1 mV to 2 mV. Tests were performed with a subject at rest and in motion, observing the signals obtained and the damage to their interpretation due to the introduction of muscle movement artifacts in motion situations.

Incorporating modern neuroscience findings to improve brain-computer interfaces: tracking auditory attention.

PubMed

Wronkiewicz, Mark; Larson, Eric; Lee, Adrian Kc

2016-10-01

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology allows users to generate actions based solely on their brain signals. However, current non-invasive BCIs generally classify brain activity recorded from surface electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes, which can hinder the application of findings from modern neuroscience research. In this study, we use source imaging-a neuroimaging technique that projects EEG signals onto the surface of the brain-in a BCI classification framework. This allowed us to incorporate prior research from functional neuroimaging to target activity from a cortical region involved in auditory attention. Classifiers trained to detect attention switches performed better with source imaging projections than with EEG sensor signals. Within source imaging, including subject-specific anatomical MRI information (instead of using a generic head model) further improved classification performance. This source-based strategy also reduced accuracy variability across three dimensionality reduction techniques-a major design choice in most BCIs. Our work shows that source imaging provides clear quantitative and qualitative advantages to BCIs and highlights the value of incorporating modern neuroscience knowledge and methods into BCI systems.

Integration of a neuroimaging processing pipeline into a pan-canadian computing grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavoie-Courchesne, S.; Rioux, P.; Chouinard-Decorte, F.; Sherif, T.; Rousseau, M.-E.; Das, S.; Adalat, R.; Doyon, J.; Craddock, C.; Margulies, D.; Chu, C.; Lyttelton, O.; Evans, A. C.; Bellec, P.

2012-02-01

The ethos of the neuroimaging field is quickly moving towards the open sharing of resources, including both imaging databases and processing tools. As a neuroimaging database represents a large volume of datasets and as neuroimaging processing pipelines are composed of heterogeneous, computationally intensive tools, such open sharing raises specific computational challenges. This motivates the design of novel dedicated computing infrastructures. This paper describes an interface between PSOM, a code-oriented pipeline development framework, and CBRAIN, a web-oriented platform for grid computing. This interface was used to integrate a PSOM-compliant pipeline for preprocessing of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging into CBRAIN. We further tested the capacity of our infrastructure to handle a real large-scale project. A neuroimaging database including close to 1000 subjects was preprocessed using our interface and publicly released to help the participants of the ADHD-200 international competition. This successful experiment demonstrated that our integrated grid-computing platform is a powerful solution for high-throughput pipeline analysis in the field of neuroimaging.

MEART: The Semi-Living Artist

PubMed Central

Bakkum, Douglas J.; Gamblen, Philip M.; Ben-Ary, Guy; Chao, Zenas C.; Potter, Steve M.

2007-01-01

Here, we and others describe an unusual neurorobotic project, a merging of art and science called MEART, the semi-living artist. We built a pneumatically actuated robotic arm to create drawings, as controlled by a living network of neurons from rat cortex grown on a multi-electrode array (MEA). Such embodied cultured networks formed a real-time closed-loop system which could now behave and receive electrical stimulation as feedback on its behavior. We used MEART and simulated embodiments, or animats, to study the network mechanisms that produce adaptive, goal-directed behavior. This approach to neural interfacing will help instruct the design of other hybrid neural-robotic systems we call hybrots. The interfacing technologies and algorithms developed have potential applications in responsive deep brain stimulation systems and for motor prosthetics using sensory components. In a broader context, MEART educates the public about neuroscience, neural interfaces, and robotics. It has paved the way for critical discussions on the future of bio-art and of biotechnology. PMID:18958276

RAMI Analysis for Designing and Optimizing Tokamak Cooling Water System (TCWS) for the ITER's Fusion Reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferrada, Juan J; Reiersen, Wayne T

U.S.-ITER is responsible for the design, engineering, and procurement of the Tokamak Cooling Water System (TCWS). TCWS is designed to provide cooling and baking for client systems that include the first wall/blanket, vacuum vessel, divertor, and neutral beam injector. Additional operations that support these primary functions include chemical control of water provided to client systems, draining and drying for maintenance, and leak detection/localization. TCWS interfaces with 27 systems including the secondary cooling system, which rejects this heat to the environment. TCWS transfers heat generated in the Tokamak during nominal pulsed operation - 850 MW at up to 150 C andmore » 4.2 MPa water pressure. Impurities are diffused from in-vessel components and the vacuum vessel by water baking at 200-240 C at up to 4.4 MPa. TCWS is complex because it serves vital functions for four primary clients whose performance is critical to ITER's success and interfaces with more than 20 additional ITER systems. Conceptual design of this one-of-a-kind cooling system has been completed; however, several issues remain that must be resolved before moving to the next stage of the design process. The 2004 baseline design indicated cooling loops that have no fault tolerance for component failures. During plasma operation, each cooling loop relies on a single pump, a single pressurizer, and one heat exchanger. Consequently, failure of any of these would render TCWS inoperable, resulting in plasma shutdown. The application of reliability, availability, maintainability, and inspectability (RAMI) tools during the different stages of TCWS design is crucial for optimization purposes and for maintaining compliance with project requirements. RAMI analysis will indicate appropriate equipment redundancy that provides graceful degradation in the event of an equipment failure. This analysis helps demonstrate that using proven, commercially available equipment is better than using custom-designed equipment with no field experience and lowers specific costs while providing higher reliability. This paper presents a brief description of the TCWS conceptual design and the application of RAMI tools to optimize the design at different stages during the project.« less

Lessons learned in managing crowdsourced data in the Alaskan Arctic.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mastracci, Diana

2017-04-01

There is perhaps no place in which the consequences of global climate change can be felt more acutely than the Arctic. However, due to lack of measurements at the high latitudes, validation processes are often problematic. Citizen science projects, co-designed together with Native communities at the interface of traditional knowledge and scientific research, could play a major role in climate change adaptation strategies by advancing knowledge of the Arctic system, strengthening inter-generational bonds and facilitating improved knowledge transfer. This presentation will present lessons learned from a pilot project in the Alaskan Arctic, in which innovative approaches were used to design climate change adaptation strategies to support young subsistence hunters in taking in-situ measurements whilst out on the sea-ice. Both the socio-cultural and hardware/software challenges presented in this presentation, could provide useful guidance for future programs that aim to integrate citizens' with scientific data in Arctic communities.

Development and usability testing of a web-based cancer symptom and quality-of-life support intervention.

PubMed

Wolpin, S E; Halpenny, B; Whitman, G; McReynolds, J; Stewart, M; Lober, W B; Berry, D L

2015-03-01

The feasibility and acceptability of computerized screening and patient-reported outcome measures have been demonstrated in the literature. However, patient-centered management of health information entails two challenges: gathering and presenting data using "patient-tailored" methods and supporting "patient-control" of health information. The design and development of many symptom and quality-of-life information systems have not included opportunities for systematically collecting and analyzing user input. As part of a larger clinical trial, the Electronic Self-Report Assessment for Cancer-II project, participatory design approaches were used to build and test new features and interfaces for patient/caregiver users. The research questions centered on patient/caregiver preferences with regard to the following: (a) content, (b) user interface needs, (c) patient-oriented summary, and (d) patient-controlled sharing of information with family, caregivers, and clinicians. Mixed methods were used with an emphasis on qualitative approaches; focus groups and individual usability tests were the primary research methods. Focus group data were content analyzed, while individual usability sessions were assessed with both qualitative and quantitative methods. We identified 12 key patient/caregiver preferences through focus groups with 6 participants. We implemented seven of these preferences during the iterative design process. We deferred development for some of the preferences due to resource constraints. During individual usability testing (n = 8), we were able to identify 65 usability issues ranging from minor user confusion to critical errors that blocked task completion. The participatory development model that we used led to features and design revisions that were patient centered. We are currently evaluating new approaches for the application interface and for future research pathways. We encourage other researchers to adopt user-centered design approaches when building patient-centered technologies. © The Author(s) 2014.

Satellite battery testing status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haag, R.; Hall, S.

1986-09-01

Because of the large numbers of satellite cells currently being tested and anticipated at the Naval Weapons Support Center (NAVWPNSUPPCEN) Crane, Indiana, satellite cell testing is being integrated into the Battery Test Automation Project (BTAP). The BTAP, designed to meet the growing needs for battery testing at the NAVWPNSUPPCEN Crane, will consist of several Automated Test Stations (ATSs) which monitor batteries under test. Each ATS will interface with an Automation Network Controller (ANC) which will collect test data for reduction.

Satellite battery testing status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haag, R.; Hall, S.

1986-01-01

Because of the large numbers of satellite cells currently being tested and anticipated at the Naval Weapons Support Center (NAVWPNSUPPCEN) Crane, Indiana, satellite cell testing is being integrated into the Battery Test Automation Project (BTAP). The BTAP, designed to meet the growing needs for battery testing at the NAVWPNSUPPCEN Crane, will consist of several Automated Test Stations (ATSs) which monitor batteries under test. Each ATS will interface with an Automation Network Controller (ANC) which will collect test data for reduction.

Software For Clear-Air Doppler-Radar Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnston, Bruce W.

1990-01-01

System of software developed to present plan-position-indicator scans of clear-air Doppler radar station on color graphical cathode-ray-tube display. Designed to incorporate latest accepted standards for equipment, computer programs, and meteorological data bases. Includes use of Ada programming language, of "Graphical-Kernel-System-like" graphics interface, and of Common Doppler Radar Exchange Format. Features include portability and maintainability. Use of Ada software packages produced number of software modules reused on other related projects.

IBM PC/IX operating system evaluation plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Granier, Martin; Hall, Philip P.; Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1984-01-01

An evaluation plan for the IBM PC/IX Operating System designed for IBM PC/XT computers is discussed. The evaluation plan covers the areas of performance measurement and evaluation, software facilities available, man-machine interface considerations, networking, and the suitability of PC/IX as a development environment within the University of Southwestern Louisiana NASA PC Research and Development project. In order to compare and evaluate the PC/IX system, comparisons with other available UNIX-based systems are also included.

Loss mechanisms in high-efficiency solar cells: Study of material properties and high-efficiency solar-cell performance on material composition: Project tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sah, C. T.

1985-01-01

Loss mechanisms in high-efficiency solar cells were discussed. Fundamental limitations and practical solutions were stressed. Present cell efficiency is limited by many recombination sites: emitter, base, contacts, and oxide/silicon interface. Use of polysilicon passivation was suggested. After reduction of these losses, a 25% efficient cell could be built. A floating emitter cell design was shown that had the potential of low recombination losses.

Beam transport program for FEL project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugimoto, Masayoshi; Takao, Masaru

1992-07-01

A beam transport program is developed to design the beam transport line of the free electron laser system at JAERI and to assist the beam diagnosis. The program traces a beam matrix through the elements in the beam transport line and the accelerators. The graphical user interface is employed to access the parameters and to represent the results. The basic computational method is based on the LANL-TRACE program and it is rewritten for personal computers in Pascal.

Simulating Humans as Integral Parts of Spacecraft Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruins, Anthony C.; Rice, Robert; Nguyen, Lac; Nguyen, Heidi; Saito, Tim; Russell, Elaine

2006-01-01

The Collaborative-Virtual Environment Simulation Tool (C-VEST) software was developed for use in a NASA project entitled "3-D Interactive Digital Virtual Human." The project is oriented toward the use of a comprehensive suite of advanced software tools in computational simulations for the purposes of human-centered design of spacecraft missions and of the spacecraft, space suits, and other equipment to be used on the missions. The C-VEST software affords an unprecedented suite of capabilities for three-dimensional virtual-environment simulations with plug-in interfaces for physiological data, haptic interfaces, plug-and-play software, realtime control, and/or playback control. Mathematical models of the mechanics of the human body and of the aforementioned equipment are implemented in software and integrated to simulate forces exerted on and by astronauts as they work. The computational results can then support the iterative processes of design, building, and testing in applied systems engineering and integration. The results of the simulations provide guidance for devising measures to counteract effects of microgravity on the human body and for the rapid development of virtual (that is, simulated) prototypes of advanced space suits, cockpits, and robots to enhance the productivity, comfort, and safety of astronauts. The unique ability to implement human-in-the-loop immersion also makes the C-VEST software potentially valuable for use in commercial and academic settings beyond the original space-mission setting.

Surging Seas Risk Finder: A Simple Search-Based Web Tool for Local Sea Level Rise Projections, Coastal Flood Risk Forecasts, and Inundation Exposure Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauss, B.; Dodson, D.; Kulp, S. A.; Rizza, D. H.

2016-12-01

Surging Seas Risk Finder (riskfinder.org) is an online tool for accessing extensive local projections and analysis of sea level rise; coastal floods; and land, populations, contamination sources, and infrastructure and other assets that may be exposed to inundation. Risk Finder was first published in 2013 for Florida, New York and New Jersey, expanding to all states in the contiguous U.S. by 2016, when a major new version of the tool was released with a completely new interface. The revised tool was informed by hundreds of survey responses from and conversations with planners, local officials and other coastal stakeholders, plus consideration of modern best practices for responsive web design and user interfaces, and social science-based principles for science communication. Overarching design principles include simplicity and ease of navigation, leading to a landing page with Google-like sparsity and focus on search, and to an architecture based on search, so that each coastal zip code, city, county, state or other place type has its own webpage gathering all relevant analysis in modular, scrollable units. Millions of users have visited the Surging Seas suite of tools to date, and downloaded thousands of files, for stated purposes ranging from planning to business to education to personal decisions; and from institutions ranging from local to federal government agencies, to businesses, to NGOs, and to academia.

An operator interface design for a telerobotic inspection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Won S.; Tso, Kam S.; Hayati, Samad

1993-01-01

The operator interface has recently emerged as an important element for efficient and safe interactions between human operators and telerobotics. Advances in graphical user interface and graphics technologies enable us to produce very efficient operator interface designs. This paper describes an efficient graphical operator interface design newly developed for remote surface inspection at NASA-JPL. The interface, designed so that remote surface inspection can be performed by a single operator with an integrated robot control and image inspection capability, supports three inspection strategies of teleoperated human visual inspection, human visual inspection with automated scanning, and machine-vision-based automated inspection.

First principles modeling of the metal-electrolyte interface: A novel approach to the study of the electrochemical interface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fernandez-Serra, Maria Victoria

2016-09-12

The research objective of this proposal is the computational modeling of the metal-electrolyte interface purely from first principles. The accurate calculation of the electrostatic potential at electrically biased metal-electrolyte interfaces is a current challenge for periodic “ab-initio” simulations. It is also an essential requisite for predicting the correspondence between the macroscopic voltage and the microscopic interfacial charge distribution in electrochemical fuel cells. This interfacial charge distribution is the result of the chemical bonding between solute and metal atoms, and therefore cannot be accurately calculated with the use of semi-empirical classical force fields. The project aims to study in detail themore » structure and dynamics of aqueous electrolytes at metallic interfaces taking into account the effect of the electrode potential. Another side of the project is to produce an accurate method to simulate the water/metal interface. While both experimental and theoretical surface scientists have made a lot of progress on the understanding and characterization of both atomistic structures and reactions at the solid/vacuum interface, the theoretical description of electrochemical interfaces is still lacking behind. A reason for this is that a complete and accurate first principles description of both the liquid and the metal interfaces is still computationally too expensive and complex, since their characteristics are governed by the explicit atomic and electronic structure built at the interface as a response to environmental conditions. This project will characterize in detail how different theoretical levels of modeling describer the metal/water interface. In particular the role of van der Waals interactions will be carefully analyzed and prescriptions to perform accurate simulations will be produced.« less

GRIZZLY/FAVOR Interface Project Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dickson, Terry L; Williams, Paul T; Yin, Shengjun

As part of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, the objective of the GRIZZLY/FAVOR Interface project is to create the capability to apply GRIZZLY 3-D finite element (thermal and stress) analysis results as input to FAVOR probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analyses. The one benefit of FAVOR to Grizzly is the PROBABILISTIC capability. This document describes the implementation of the GRIZZLY/FAVOR Interface, the preliminary verification and tests results and a user guide that provides detailed step-by-step instructions to run the program.

Crash Warning Interface Metrics: Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-08-01

The Crash Warning Interface Metrics (CWIM) project addressed issues of the driver-vehicle interface (DVI) for Advanced Crash Warning Systems (ACWS). The focus was on identifying the effects of certain warning system features (e.g., warning modality) ...

Space station common module thermal management: Design and construction of a test bed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barile, R. G.

1986-01-01

In this project, a thermal test bed was designed, simulated, and planned for construction. The thermal system features interior and exterior thermal loads and interfacing with the central-radiator thermal bus. Components of the test bed include body mounted radiator loop with interface heat exchangers (600 Btu/hr); an internal loop with cabin air-conditioning and cold plates (3400 Btu/hr); interface heat exchangers to the central bus (13,000 Btu/hr); and provisions for new technology including advanced radiators, thermal storage, and refrigeration. The apparatus will be mounted in a chamber, heated with lamps, and tested in a vacuum chamber with LN2-cooled walls. Simulation of the test bed was accomplished using a DEC PRO 350 computer and the software package TK! olver. Key input variables were absorbed solar radiation and cold plate loads. The results indicate temperatures on the two loops will be nominal when the radiation and cold plate loads are in the range of 25% to 75% of peak loads. If all loads fall to zero, except the cabin air system which was fixed, the radiator fluid will drop below -100 F and may cause excessive pressure drop. If all loads reach 100%, the cabin air temperature could rise to 96 F.

Evolvix BEST Names for semantic reproducibility across code2brain interfaces

PubMed Central

Scheuer, Katherine S.; Keel, Seth A.; Vyas, Vaibhav; Liblit, Ben; Hanlon, Bret; Ferris, Michael C.; Yin, John; Dutra, Inês; Pietsch, Anthony; Javid, Christine G.; Moog, Cecilia L.; Meyer, Jocelyn; Dresel, Jerdon; McLoone, Brian; Loberger, Sonya; Movaghar, Arezoo; Gilchrist‐Scott, Morgaine; Sabri, Yazeed; Sescleifer, Dave; Pereda‐Zorrilla, Ivan; Zietlow, Andrew; Smith, Rodrigo; Pietenpol, Samantha; Goldfinger, Jacob; Atzen, Sarah L.; Freiberg, Erika; Waters, Noah P.; Nusbaum, Claire; Nolan, Erik; Hotz, Alyssa; Kliman, Richard M.; Mentewab, Ayalew; Fregien, Nathan; Loewe, Martha

2016-01-01

Names in programming are vital for understanding the meaning of code and big data. We define code2brain (C2B) interfaces as maps in compilers and brains between meaning and naming syntax, which help to understand executable code. While working toward an Evolvix syntax for general‐purpose programming that makes accurate modeling easy for biologists, we observed how names affect C2B quality. To protect learning and coding investments, C2B interfaces require long‐term backward compatibility and semantic reproducibility (accurate reproduction of computational meaning from coder‐brains to reader‐brains by code alone). Semantic reproducibility is often assumed until confusing synonyms degrade modeling in biology to deciphering exercises. We highlight empirical naming priorities from diverse individuals and roles of names in different modes of computing to show how naming easily becomes impossibly difficult. We present the Evolvix BEST (Brief, Explicit, Summarizing, Technical) Names concept for reducing naming priority conflicts, test it on a real challenge by naming subfolders for the Project Organization Stabilizing Tool system, and provide naming questionnaires designed to facilitate C2B debugging by improving names used as keywords in a stabilizing programming language. Our experiences inspired us to develop Evolvix using a flipped programming language design approach with some unexpected features and BEST Names at its core. PMID:27918836

Visual design for the user interface, Part 1: Design fundamentals.

PubMed

Lynch, P J

1994-01-01

Digital audiovisual media and computer-based documents will be the dominant forms of professional communication in both clinical medicine and the biomedical sciences. The design of highly interactive multimedia systems will shortly become a major activity for biocommunications professionals. The problems of human-computer interface design are intimately linked with graphic design for multimedia presentations and on-line document systems. This article outlines the history of graphic interface design and the theories that have influenced the development of today's major graphic user interfaces.

Customizing graphical user interface technology for spacecraft control centers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beach, Edward; Giancola, Peter; Gibson, Steven; Mahmot, Ronald

1993-01-01

The Transportable Payload Operations Control Center (TPOCC) project is applying the latest in graphical user interface technology to the spacecraft control center environment. This project of the Mission Operations Division's (MOD) Control Center Systems Branch (CCSB) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed an architecture for control centers which makes use of a distributed processing approach and the latest in Unix workstation technology. The TPOCC project is committed to following industry standards and using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components wherever possible to reduce development costs and to improve operational support. TPOCC's most successful use of commercial software products and standards has been in the development of its graphical user interface. This paper describes TPOCC's successful use and customization of four separate layers of commercial software products to create a flexible and powerful user interface that is uniquely suited to spacecraft monitoring and control.

Supporting the Future Air Traffic Control Projection Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davison, Hayley J.; Hansman, R. John, Jr.

2002-01-01

In air traffic control, projecting what the air traffic situation will be over the next 30 seconds to 30 minutes is a key process in identifying conflicts that may arise so that evasive action can be taken upon discovery of these conflicts. A series of field visits in the Boston and New York terminal radar approach control (TRACON) facilities and in the oceanic air traffic control facilities in New York and Reykjavik, Iceland were conducted to investigate the projection process in two different ATC domains. The results from the site visits suggest that two types of projection are currently used in ATC tasks, depending on the type of separation minima and/or traffic restriction and information display used by the controller. As technologies improve and procedures change, care should be taken by designers to support projection through displays, automation, and procedures. It is critical to prevent time/space mismatches between interfaces and restrictions. Existing structure in traffic dynamics could be utilized to provide controllers with useful behavioral models on which to build projections. Subtle structure that the controllers are unable to internalize could be incorporated into an ATC projection aid.

Development of an emittance meter and off-line measurements for the SPES project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montano, Jacobo; Vasquez, Jesus; Andrighetto, Aberto; Poggi, Marco; Bassato, Giorgio; Boscagli, Lucia; Prete, Gianfranco; Conforto, Nicola

2012-02-01

In the framework of the Selective Production of Exotic Species (SPES) project, an emittance meter has been designed and constructed to determine the ion sources operational characteristics. This instrument allows scanning the beam in two orthogonal planes establishing the distribution of the beam spatial density as well as the particles directions. The controls of the scanning sequence and the data collection during the measurements are performed by an appropriated electronic unit. The collected data is then analyzed and the twiss parameters are determined including the emittance for both planes under scrutiny. Finally a user friendly interface is developed that allows a general user to perform the mentioned tasks.

Envision: An interactive system for the management and visualization of large geophysical data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Searight, K. R.; Wojtowicz, D. P.; Walsh, J. E.; Pathi, S.; Bowman, K. P.; Wilhelmson, R. B.

1995-01-01

Envision is a software project at the University of Illinois and Texas A&M, funded by NASA's Applied Information Systems Research Project. It provides researchers in the geophysical sciences convenient ways to manage, browse, and visualize large observed or model data sets. Envision integrates data management, analysis, and visualization of geophysical data in an interactive environment. It employs commonly used standards in data formats, operating systems, networking, and graphics. It also attempts, wherever possible, to integrate with existing scientific visualization and analysis software. Envision has an easy-to-use graphical interface, distributed process components, and an extensible design. It is a public domain package, freely available to the scientific community.

EST databases and web tools for EST projects.

PubMed

Shen, Yao-Qing; O'Brien, Emmet; Koski, Liisa; Lang, B Franz; Burger, Gertraud

2009-01-01

This chapter outlines key considerations for constructing and implementing an EST database. Instead of showing the technological details step by step, emphasis is put on the design of an EST database suited to the specific needs of EST projects and how to choose the most suitable tools. Using TBestDB as an example, we illustrate the essential factors to be considered for database construction and the steps for data population and annotation. This process employs technologies such as PostgreSQL, Perl, and PHP to build the database and interface, and tools such as AutoFACT for data processing and annotation. We discuss these in comparison to other available technologies and tools, and explain the reasons for our choices.

ICT Integration in Nigeria and the Quest for Indigenous Contents: Prospects of the i-CLAP Model Design Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azi, J. I.; Nkom, A. A.; Schweppe, M.

2012-10-01

Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is transforming the 21st century learning environment, from its traditional face-to-face, structured curriculum, fixed location and teacher-centered nature, into a more flexible and self-directed process. For instance, variously designed and developed instructional multimedia contents and interfaces in forms of (i) productivity, (ii) educational or (iii) gaming software, enable active learning access as mobile or classroom technologies, interactive tutorials, online discussions, internet conferencing and online databases. However, while this article considers these recent developments such as Intellimedia, NEPAD e-School, OLPC and Intel Classmate projects and so on as trendy and groundbreaking. It observes with discontent that the design of their contents and interfaces seem to be targeted at cross-cultural audiences, with very little or no consideration for minorities like Africa. The authors opine therefore that if the challenge of ICT integration towards bridging the digital divides in Africa must be taken very serious, the task transcends merely supplying networked computer hardware to local schools. Digital contents are required that reflect the beauty and riches of Africaís culture and heritage like music, fashion, architecture, arts and crafts. Against which backdrop, the Interactive Child Learning Aid Project (i-CLAP) model was initiated as a potential indigenous resource, for enhancing pre-primary education in Nigeria adapting the ADDIE model structure. The researchers observe that while 'customizationí of ICT applications targeted at local audience is commendable, integrating relevant indigenous contents has the potential to enhance efficacy and consequently raise the motivational level of local learners.

Integrated nuclear data utilisation system for innovative reactors.

PubMed

Yamano, N; Hasegawa, A; Kato, K; Igashira, M

2005-01-01

A five-year research and development project on an integrated nuclear data utilisation system was initiated in 2002, for developing innovative nuclear energy systems such as accelerator-driven systems. The integrated nuclear data utilisation system will be constructed as a modular code system, which consists of two sub-systems: the nuclear data search and plotting sub-system, and the nuclear data processing and utilisation sub-system. The system will be operated with a graphical user interface in order to enable easy utilisation through the Internet by both nuclear design engineers and nuclear data evaluators. This paper presents an overview of the integrated nuclear data utilisation system, describes the development of a prototype system to examine the operability of the user interface and discusses specifications of the two sub-systems.

Comparative analysis of structural concrete Quality Assurance practices on nine nuclear and three fossil fuel power plant construction projects. Final summary report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willenbrock, J.H.; Thomas, H.R. Jr.; Burati, J.J. Jr.

1978-12-01

A summary of two reports, COO/4120-1 and COO/4120-2, is given. A comparative analysis was made of the Quality Assurance practices related to the structural concrete phase on nine nuclear and three fossil fuel power plant projects which are (or have been) under construction in the United States in the past ten years. For the nuclear projects the analysis identified the response of each Quality Assurance program to the applicable criteria of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B as well as to the pertinent regulatory requirements and industry standards. For the fossil projects the analysis identified the response of each Qualitymore » Assurance program to criteria similar to those which were applicable in the nuclear situation. The major emphasis was placed on the construction aspects of the structural concrete phase of each project. The engineering and design aspects were examined whenever they interfaced with the construction aspects.« less

Model Diagnostics for the Department of Energy's Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, B.

2015-12-01

In 2014, eight Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, four academic institutions, one company, and the National Centre for Atmospheric Research combined forces in a project called Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) with the goal to speed Earth system model development for climate and energy. Over the planned 10-year span, the project will conduct simulations and modeling on DOE's most powerful high-performance computing systems at Oak Ridge, Argonne, and Lawrence Berkeley Leadership Compute Facilities. A key component of the ACME project is the development of an interactive test bed for the advanced Earth system model. Its execution infrastructure will accelerate model development and testing cycles. The ACME Workflow Group is leading the efforts to automate labor-intensive tasks, provide intelligent support for complex tasks and reduce duplication of effort through collaboration support. As part of this new workflow environment, we have created a diagnostic, metric, and intercomparison Python framework, called UVCMetrics, to aid in the testing-to-production execution of the ACME model. The framework exploits similarities among different diagnostics to compactly support diagnosis of new models. It presently focuses on atmosphere and land but is designed to support ocean and sea ice model components as well. This framework is built on top of the existing open-source software framework known as the Ultrascale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT). Because of its flexible framework design, scientists and modelers now can generate thousands of possible diagnostic outputs. These diagnostics can compare model runs, compare model vs. observation, or simply verify a model is physically realistic. Additional diagnostics are easily integrated into the framework, and our users have already added several. Diagnostics can be generated, viewed, and manipulated from the UV-CDAT graphical user interface, Python command line scripts and programs, and web browsers. The framework is designed to be scalable to large datasets, yet easy to use and familiar to scientists using previous tools. Integration in the ACME overall user interface facilitates data publication, further analysis, and quick feedback to model developers and scientists making component or coupled model runs.

Designing the Instructional Interface.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lohr, L. L.

2000-01-01

Designing the instructional interface is a challenging endeavor requiring knowledge and skills in instructional and visual design, psychology, human-factors, ergonomic research, computer science, and editorial design. This paper describes the instructional interface, the challenges of its development, and an instructional systems approach to its…

Project EGRESS: Earthbound Guaranteed Reentry from Space Station. the Design of an Assured Crew Recovery Vehicle for the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Unlike previously designed space-based working environments, the shuttle orbiter servicing the space station will not remain docked the entire time the station is occupied. While an Apollo capsule was permanently available on Skylab, plans for Space Station Freedom call for a shuttle orbiter to be docked at the space station for no more than two weeks four times each year. Consideration of crew safety inspired the design of an Assured Crew Recovery Vehicle (ACRV). A conceptual design of an ACRV was developed. The system allows the escape of one or more crew members from Space Station Freedom in case of emergency. The design of the vehicle addresses propulsion, orbital operations, reentry, landing and recovery, power and communication, and life support. In light of recent modifications in space station design, Project EGRESS (Earthbound Guaranteed ReEntry from Space Station) pays particular attention to its impact on space station operations, interfaces and docking facilities, and maintenance needs. A water-landing medium-lift vehicle was found to best satisfy project goals of simplicity and cost efficiency without sacrificing safety and reliability requirements. One or more seriously injured crew members could be returned to an earth-based health facility with minimal pilot involvement. Since the craft is capable of returning up to five crew members, two such permanently docked vehicles would allow a full evacuation of the space station. The craft could be constructed entirely with available 1990 technology, and launched aboard a shuttle orbiter.

A Prototype Graphical User Interface for Co-op: A Group Decision Support System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-01

achieve their potential to communicate. Information-oriented, systematic graphic design is the use of typography , symbols, color, and other static and...apphcuittin by reducig Uber ellurt anid enhuncizig Iliteracti. ’Iliis thesis designs and de% elupht Itrututylle Graphical User Interface iGUl i fui Cu f...ORGANIZATION.... .. .. ............ II. INTERFACE DESIGN PRINCIPLES. .............. 7 A. GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES.............7 1. Design Principles

Solar Electric Propulsion System Integration Technology (SEPSIT). Volume 1: Technical summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, J. A.

1972-01-01

The use of solar electric propulsion as a means of exploring space beyond the reach of ballistic missions was investigated. The method used was to study the application of this new propulsion technology to a future flight project. A 1980 Encke rendezvous mission was chosen because a design successful for Encke could be used for less difficult, but scientifically rewarding, missions. Design points for the mission and for the thrust subsystem were specified. The baseline-vehicle design was defined. A preliminary functional description document for the thrust subsystem was originated. Analyses were performed in support of the design point selection for the SEP-module thrust subsystem to specify parameters, to clarify and optimize the interface requirements, and to assure feasibility of some of the more critical technological aspects of SEP application.

A software architecture for automating operations processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Kevin J.

1994-01-01

The Operations Engineering Lab (OEL) at JPL has developed a software architecture based on an integrated toolkit approach for simplifying and automating mission operations tasks. The toolkit approach is based on building adaptable, reusable graphical tools that are integrated through a combination of libraries, scripts, and system-level user interface shells. The graphical interface shells are designed to integrate and visually guide a user through the complex steps in an operations process. They provide a user with an integrated system-level picture of an overall process, defining the required inputs and possible output through interactive on-screen graphics. The OEL has developed the software for building these process-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) shells. The OEL Shell development system (OEL Shell) is an extension of JPL's Widget Creation Library (WCL). The OEL Shell system can be used to easily build user interfaces for running complex processes, applications with extensive command-line interfaces, and tool-integration tasks. The interface shells display a logical process flow using arrows and box graphics. They also allow a user to select which output products are desired and which input sources are needed, eliminating the need to know which program and its associated command-line parameters must be executed in each case. The shells have also proved valuable for use as operations training tools because of the OEL Shell hypertext help environment. The OEL toolkit approach is guided by several principles, including the use of ASCII text file interfaces with a multimission format, Perl scripts for mission-specific adaptation code, and programs that include a simple command-line interface for batch mode processing. Projects can adapt the interface shells by simple changes to the resources configuration file. This approach has allowed the development of sophisticated, automated software systems that are easy, cheap, and fast to build. This paper will discuss our toolkit approach and the OEL Shell interface builder in the context of a real operations process example. The paper will discuss the design and implementation of a Ulysses toolkit for generating the mission sequence of events. The Sequence of Events Generation (SEG) system provides an adaptable multimission toolkit for producing a time-ordered listing and timeline display of spacecraft commands, state changes, and required ground activities.

Surface EMG system for use in long-term vigorous activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Luca, G.; Bergman, P.; de Luca, C.

The purpose of the project was to develop an advanced surface electromyographic (EMG) system that is portable, un-tethered, and able to detect high-fidelity EMG signals from multiple channels. The innovation was specifically designed to extend NASA's capability to perform neurological status monitoring for long-term, vigorous activities. These features are a necessary requirement of ground-based and in-flight studies planned for the International Space Station and human expeditions to Mars. The project consisted of developing 1) a portable EMG digital data logger using a handheld PC for acquiring the signal and storing the data from as many as 8 channels, and 2) an EMG electrode/skin interface to improve signal fidelity and skin adhesion in the presence of sweat and mechanical disturbances encountered during vigorous activities. The system, referred to as a MyoMonitor, was configured with a communication port for downloading the data from the data logger to the PC computer workstation. Software specifications were developed and implemented for programming of acquisition protocols, power management, and transferring data to the PC for processing and graphical display. The prototype MyoMonitor was implemented using a handheld PC that features a color LCD screen, enhanced keyboard, extended Lithium Ion battery and recharger, and 128 Mbytes of F ash Memory. The system was designed to be belt-worn,l thereby allowing its use under vigorous activities. The Monitor utilizes up to 8 differential surface EMG sensors. The prototype allowed greater than 2 hours of continuous 8-channel EMG data to be collected, or 17.2 hours of continuous single channel EMG data. Standardized tests in human subjects were conducted to develop the mechanical and electrical properties of the prototype electrode/interface system. Tests conducted during treadmill running and repetitive lifting demonstrated that the prototype interface significantly reduced the detrimental effects of sweat accumulation on signal fidelity. The average number of artifacts contaminating the EMG signals during treadmill running was reduced approximat ely three-fold by the prototype electrode/interface, when compared to methods currently available. Peel adhesion of the interface to the skin was significantly improved for treadmill running. Similarly, the artifacts from controlled impacts on the electrode housing were significantly reduced for both treadmill running and for the repetitive lifting task.

The use of analytical models in human-computer interface design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gugerty, Leo

1991-01-01

Some of the many analytical models in human-computer interface design that are currently being developed are described. The usefulness of analytical models for human-computer interface design is evaluated. Can the use of analytical models be recommended to interface designers? The answer, based on the empirical research summarized here, is: not at this time. There are too many unanswered questions concerning the validity of models and their ability to meet the practical needs of design organizations.

Implementing a Quantitative Analysis Design Tool for Future Generation Interfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

with Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) has resulted in the need of a platform to evaluate interface design. The Vigilant Spirit Control Station ( VSCS ...Spirit interface. A modified version of the HCI Index was successfully applied to perform a quantitative analysis of the baseline VSCS interface and...time of the original VSCS interface. These results revealed the effectiveness of the tool and demonstrated in the design of future generation

Improved Management of the Technical Interfaces Between the Hanford Tank Farm Operator and the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant - 13383

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duncan, Garth M.; Saunders, Scott A.

2013-07-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) is constructing the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford site in Washington to treat and immobilize approximately 114 million gallons of high level radioactive waste (after all retrievals are accomplished). In order for the WTP to be designed and operated successfully, close coordination between the WTP engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, Bechtel National, Inc. and the tank farms operating contractor (TOC), Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC, is necessary. To develop optimal solutions for DOE and for the treatment of the waste, it is important to deal with the fact that two differentmore » prime contractors, with somewhat differing contracts, are tasked with retrieving and delivering the waste and for treating and immobilizing that waste. The WTP and the TOC have over the years cooperated to manage the technical interface. To manage what is becoming a much more complicated interface as the WTP design progresses and new technical issues have been identified, an organizational change was made by WTP and TOC in November of 2011. This organizational change created a co-located integrated project team (IPT) to deal with mutual and interface issues. The Technical Organization within the One System IPT includes employees from both TOC and WTP. This team has worked on a variety of technical issues of mutual interest and concern. Technical issues currently being addressed include: - The waste acceptance criteria; - Waste feed delivery and the associated data quality objectives (DQO); - Evaluation of the effects of performing a riser cut on a single shell tank on WTP operations; - The disposition of secondary waste from both TOC and WTP; - The close coordination of the TOC double shell tank mixing and sampling program and the Large Scale Integrated Test (LSIT) program for pulse jet mixers at WTP along with the associated responses to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 2010-2; - Development of a set of alternatives to the current baseline that involve aspects of direct feed, feed conditioning, and design changes. The One System Technical Organization has served WTP, TOC, and DOE well in managing and resolving issues at the interface. This paper describes the organizational structure used to improve the interface and several examples of technical interface issues that have been successfully addressed by the new organization. (authors)« less

The NASA Lewis large wind turbine program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, R. L.; Baldwin, D. H.

1981-01-01

The program is directed toward development of the technology for safe, reliable, environmentally acceptable large wind turbines that have the potential to generate a significant amount of electricity at costs competitive with conventional electric generation systems. In addition, these large wind turbines must be fully compatible with electric utility operations and interface requirements. Advances are made by gaining a better understanding of the system design drivers, improvements in the analytical design tools, verification of design methods with operating field data, and the incorporation of new technology and innovative designs. An overview of the program activities is presented and includes results from the first and second generation field machines (Mod-OA, -1, and -2), the design phase of the third generation wind turbine (Mod-5) and the advanced technology projects. Also included is the status of the Department of Interior WTS-4 machine.

Surface based factory for the production of life support and technology support products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The presence of a manned space colony on Mars may be expected to involve three phases in the utilization of planetary resources: (1) survival phase in which air, water, and food are produced, (2) self sufficiency phase in which chemicals, fuels, pharmaceuticals, polymers, and metals are produced, and (3) export to earth of materials and technology 1 phase in which the unique advantage of the extraterrestrial environment is fully exploited. The Advanced Design Project is administered as an interdisciplinary effort involving students and faculty throughout the College of Engineering. Senior students from Chemical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering are participating as a team. Multi discipline interfacing and coordination are stressed throughout the project. An interdisciplinary senior design course was developed and offered in the Spring of 1987. The first task of the survival phase is that of providing a supply of water and air adequate to support a ten person colony. The project has been divided into three subgroups: (1) design of a manufacturing and storage facility for air, (2) search and drill for water or water-bearing materials, and (3) retrieve, purify, and store potable water. The conceptual design phase has been completed and the project is being documented. The second task of the survival phase is that of providing a replenish able food supply. This task has two requirements: producing a supply of protein and providing an environment for growing plants for food. For the first requirement, we considered the design of a bioreactor system capable of growing beef cells for protein production. For the second, a design must be developed for a manufacturing system to produce materials needed to build a greenhouse farm.

Cognitive Task Analysis, Interface Design, and Technical Troubleshooting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinberg, Linda S.; Gitomer, Drew H.

A model of the interface design process is proposed that makes use of two interdependent levels of cognitive analysis: the study of the criterion task through an analysis of expert/novice differences and the evaluation of the working user interface design through the application of a practical interface analysis methodology (GOMS model). This dual…

Cross-Cultural Interface Design and the Classroom-Learning Environment in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Chia-Lin; Su, Yelin

2012-01-01

This study examined whether using localized interface designs would make a difference in users' learning results and their perceptions of the interface design in a classroom learning environment. This study also sought to learn more about users' attitudes toward the localized interface features. To assess the impact of using localized interfaces…

Applied Space Systems Engineering. Chapter 17; Manage Technical Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kent, Peter

2008-01-01

Effective space systems engineering (SSE) is conducted in a fully electronic manner. Competitive hardware, software, and system designs are created in a totally digital environment that enables rapid product design and manufacturing cycles, as well as a multitude of techniques such as modeling, simulation, and lean manufacturing that significantly reduce the lifecycle cost of systems. Because the SSE lifecycle depends on the digital environment, managing the enormous volumes of technical data needed to describe, build, deploy, and operate systems is a critical factor in the success of a project. This chapter presents the key aspects of Technical Data Management (TDM) within the SSE process. It is written from the perspective of the System Engineer tasked with establishing the TDM process and infrastructure for a major project. Additional perspectives are reflected from the point of view of the engineers on the project who work within the digital engineering environment established by the TDM toolset and infrastructure, and from the point of view of the contactors who interface via the TDM infrastructure. Table 17.1 lists the TDM process as it relates to SSE.

SYRMEP Tomo Project: a graphical user interface for customizing CT reconstruction workflows.

PubMed

Brun, Francesco; Massimi, Lorenzo; Fratini, Michela; Dreossi, Diego; Billé, Fulvio; Accardo, Agostino; Pugliese, Roberto; Cedola, Alessia

2017-01-01

When considering the acquisition of experimental synchrotron radiation (SR) X-ray CT data, the reconstruction workflow cannot be limited to the essential computational steps of flat fielding and filtered back projection (FBP). More refined image processing is often required, usually to compensate artifacts and enhance the quality of the reconstructed images. In principle, it would be desirable to optimize the reconstruction workflow at the facility during the experiment (beamtime). However, several practical factors affect the image reconstruction part of the experiment and users are likely to conclude the beamtime with sub-optimal reconstructed images. Through an example of application, this article presents SYRMEP Tomo Project (STP), an open-source software tool conceived to let users design custom CT reconstruction workflows. STP has been designed for post-beamtime (off-line use) and for a new reconstruction of past archived data at user's home institution where simple computing resources are available. Releases of the software can be downloaded at the Elettra Scientific Computing group GitHub repository https://github.com/ElettraSciComp/STP-Gui.

Lessons learned: the switch from VMS to UNIX operations for the STScI's Science and Mission Scheduling Branch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adler, David S.; Workman, William M., III; Chance, Don

2004-09-01

The Science and Mission Scheduling Branch (SMSB) of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) historically operated exclusively under VMS. Due to diminished support for VMS-based platforms at STScI, SMSB recently transitioned to Unix operations. No additional resources were available to the group; the project was SMSB's to design, develop, and implement. Early decisions included the choice of Python as the primary scripting language; adoption of Object-Oriented Design in the development of base utilities; and the development of a Python utility to interact directly with the Sybase database. The project was completed in January 2004 with the implementation of a GUI to generate the Command Loads that are uplinked to HST. The current tool suite consists of 31 utilities and 271 tools comprising over 60,000 lines of code. In this paper, we summarize the decision-making process used to determine the primary scripting language, database interface, and code management library. We also describe the finished product and summarize lessons learned along the way to completing the project.

Synchrotron topography project. Progress report, January 20, 1982-October 20, 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bilello, J.C.; Chen, H.; Hmelo, A.B.

1982-01-01

The collaborators have participated in the Synchrotron Topography Project (STP) which has designed and developed instrumentation for an x-ray topography station at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The two principle instruments constructed consist of a White Beam Camera (WBC) and a Multiple Crystal Camera (MCC) with high planar collimation and wide area image coverage. It is possible to perform in-situ studies in a versatile environmental chamber equipped with a miniature mechanical testing stage for both the WBC and MCC systems. Real-time video imaging plus a rapid feed cassette holder for high resolution photographic platesmore » are available for recording topographs. Provisions are made for other types of photon detection as well as spectroscopy. The facilities for the entire station have been designed for remote operation using a LSI-11/23 plus suitable interfacing. These instruments will be described briefly and the current status of the program will be reviewed. The Appendix of this report presents titles, authors and abstracts of other technical work associated with this project during the current period.« less

Data Access and Web Services at the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matykiewicz, J.; Anderson, G.; Henderson, D.; Hodgkinson, K.; Hoyt, B.; Lee, E.; Persson, E.; Torrez, D.; Smith, J.; Wright, J.; Jackson, M.

2007-12-01

The EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) at UNAVCO, Inc., part of the NSF-funded EarthScope project, is designed to study the three-dimensional strain field resulting from deformation across the active boundary zone between the Pacific and North American plates in the western United States. To meet these goals, PBO will install 880 continuous GPS stations, 103 borehole strainmeter stations, and five laser strainmeters, as well as manage data for 209 previously existing continuous GPS stations and one previously existing laser strainmeter. UNAVCO provides access to data products from these stations, as well as general information about the PBO project, via the PBO web site (http://pboweb.unavco.org). GPS and strainmeter data products can be found using a variety of access methods, incuding map searches, text searches, and station specific data retrieval. In addition, the PBO construction status is available via multiple mapping interfaces, including custom web based map widgets and Google Earth. Additional construction details can be accessed from PBO operational pages and station specific home pages. The current state of health for the PBO network is available with the statistical snap-shot, full map interfaces, tabular web based reports, and automatic data mining and alerts. UNAVCO is currently working to enhance the community access to this information by developing a web service framework for the discovery of data products, interfacing with operational engineers, and exposing data services to third party participants. In addition, UNAVCO, through the PBO project, provides advanced data management and monitoring systems for use by the community in operating geodetic networks in the United States and beyond. We will demonstrate these systems during the AGU meeting, and we welcome inquiries from the community at any time.

The Plate Boundary Observatory: Community Focused Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matykiewicz, J.; Anderson, G.; Lee, E.; Hoyt, B.; Hodgkinson, K.; Persson, E.; Wright, J.; Torrez, D.; Jackson, M.

2006-12-01

The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), part of the NSF-funded EarthScope project, is designed to study the three-dimensional strain field resulting from deformation across the active boundary zone between the Pacific and North American plates in the western United States. To meet these goals, PBO will install 852 continuous GPS stations, 103 borehole strainmeter stations, 28 tiltmeters, and five laser strainmeters, as well as manage data for 209 previously existing continuous GPS stations. UNAVCO provides access to data products from these stations, as well as general information about the PBO project, via the PBO web site (http://pboweb.unavco.org). GPS and strainmeter data products can be found using a variety of channels, including map searches, text searches, and station specific data retrieval. In addition, the PBO construction status is available via multiple mapping interfaces, including custom web based map widgets and Google Earth. Additional construction details can be accessed from PBO operational pages and station specific home pages. The current state of health for the PBO network is available with the statistical snap-shot, full map interfaces, tabular web based reports, and automatic data mining and alerts. UNAVCO is currently working to enhance the community access to this information by developing a web service framework for the discovery of data products, interfacing with operational engineers, and exposing data services to third party participants. In addition, UNAVCO, through the PBO project, provides advanced data management and monitoring systems for use by the community in operating geodetic networks in the United States and beyond. We will demonstrate these systems during the AGU meeting, and we welcome inquiries from the community at any time.

The sequence measurement system of the IR camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Ai-hui; Han, Hong-xia; Zhang, Hai-bo

2011-08-01

Currently, the IR cameras are broadly used in the optic-electronic tracking, optic-electronic measuring, fire control and optic-electronic countermeasure field, but the output sequence of the most presently applied IR cameras in the project is complex and the giving sequence documents from the leave factory are not detailed. Aiming at the requirement that the continuous image transmission and image procession system need the detailed sequence of the IR cameras, the sequence measurement system of the IR camera is designed, and the detailed sequence measurement way of the applied IR camera is carried out. The FPGA programming combined with the SignalTap online observation way has been applied in the sequence measurement system, and the precise sequence of the IR camera's output signal has been achieved, the detailed document of the IR camera has been supplied to the continuous image transmission system, image processing system and etc. The sequence measurement system of the IR camera includes CameraLink input interface part, LVDS input interface part, FPGA part, CameraLink output interface part and etc, thereinto the FPGA part is the key composed part in the sequence measurement system. Both the video signal of the CmaeraLink style and the video signal of LVDS style can be accepted by the sequence measurement system, and because the image processing card and image memory card always use the CameraLink interface as its input interface style, the output signal style of the sequence measurement system has been designed into CameraLink interface. The sequence measurement system does the IR camera's sequence measurement work and meanwhile does the interface transmission work to some cameras. Inside the FPGA of the sequence measurement system, the sequence measurement program, the pixel clock modification, the SignalTap file configuration and the SignalTap online observation has been integrated to realize the precise measurement to the IR camera. Te sequence measurement program written by the verilog language combining the SignalTap tool on line observation can count the line numbers in one frame, pixel numbers in one line and meanwhile account the line offset and row offset of the image. Aiming at the complex sequence of the IR camera's output signal, the sequence measurement system of the IR camera accurately measures the sequence of the project applied camera, supplies the detailed sequence document to the continuous system such as image processing system and image transmission system and gives out the concrete parameters of the fval, lval, pixclk, line offset and row offset. The experiment shows that the sequence measurement system of the IR camera can get the precise sequence measurement result and works stably, laying foundation for the continuous system.

Towards the application of interaction design to digital TV content development.

PubMed

Fialho, Francisco A P; Santos, Paloma Maria; Braga, Marcus de Melo; Thaler, Anelise

2012-01-01

Television can be considered one of the main means of mass entertainment. It occupies an important place in people's lives, influencing behavior and creating and/or enforcing consumer's habits and needs. With the advent of Digital Television, a series of new features tend to further impact upon society in many different ways. The main agent of this change is interactivity, which is the leverage that will transform the traditional viewer's role. Interactivity turns the viewer into a user, a partner who receives the content, but also produces, participates and collaborates during the viewing process. This paper aims to discuss the importance of applying interaction design in the development of projects related to digital television. The main factors that may contribute to improve the interaction design in applications for digital TV were identified drawing on a descriptive and qualitative method of investigation. The results showed that the interface design for this new media should not only be aesthetically appealing, but should also focus on usability (i.e. user's wishes and needs). Additionally, the creation of these interfaces requires the investigation of some characteristics and limitations of device interaction, considering the choice of colors, saturation levels and brightness, avoiding graphic symbols and prioritizing the navigation through the numerical buttons of the remote control.

The environment power system analysis tool development program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jongeward, Gary A.; Kuharski, Robert A.; Kennedy, Eric M.; Stevens, N. John; Putnam, Rand M.; Roche, James C.; Wilcox, Katherine G.

1990-01-01

The Environment Power System Analysis Tool (EPSAT) is being developed to provide space power system design engineers with an analysis tool for determining system performance of power systems in both naturally occurring and self-induced environments. The program is producing an easy to use computer aided engineering (CAE) tool general enough to provide a vehicle for technology transfer from space scientists and engineers to power system design engineers. The results of the project after two years of a three year development program are given. The EPSAT approach separates the CAE tool into three distinct functional units: a modern user interface to present information, a data dictionary interpreter to coordinate analysis; and a data base for storing system designs and results of analysis.

Concept Verification Test - Evaluation of Spacelab/Payload operation concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcbrayer, R. O.; Watters, H. H.

1977-01-01

The Concept Verification Test (CVT) procedure is used to study Spacelab operational concepts by conducting mission simulations in a General Purpose Laboratory (GPL) which represents a possible design of Spacelab. In conjunction with the laboratory a Mission Development Simulator, a Data Management System Simulator, a Spacelab Simulator, and Shuttle Interface Simulator have been designed. (The Spacelab Simulator is more functionally and physically representative of the Spacelab than the GPL.) Four simulations of Spacelab mission experimentation were performed, two involving several scientific disciplines, one involving life sciences, and the last involving material sciences. The purpose of the CVT project is to support the pre-design and development of payload carriers and payloads, and to coordinate hardware, software, and operational concepts of different developers and users.

Vehicle design considerations for active control application to subsonic transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hofmann, L. G.; Clement, W. F.

1974-01-01

The state of the art in active control technology is summarized. How current design criteria and airworthiness regulations might restrict application of this emerging technology to subsonic CTOL transports of the 1980's are discussed. Facets of active control technology considered are: (1) augmentation of relaxed inherent stability; (2) center-of-gravity control; (3) ride quality control; (4) load control; (5) flutter control; (6) envelope limiting, and (7) pilot interface with the control system. A summary and appraisal of the current state of the art, design criteria, and recommended practices, as well as a projection of the risk in applying each of these facets of active control technology is given. A summary of pertinent literature and technical expansions is included.

New computing systems, future computing environment, and their implications on structural analysis and design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noor, Ahmed K.; Housner, Jerrold M.

1993-01-01

Recent advances in computer technology that are likely to impact structural analysis and design of flight vehicles are reviewed. A brief summary is given of the advances in microelectronics, networking technologies, and in the user-interface hardware and software. The major features of new and projected computing systems, including high performance computers, parallel processing machines, and small systems, are described. Advances in programming environments, numerical algorithms, and computational strategies for new computing systems are reviewed. The impact of the advances in computer technology on structural analysis and the design of flight vehicles is described. A scenario for future computing paradigms is presented, and the near-term needs in the computational structures area are outlined.

Launch Vehicle Selection and the Implementation of the Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherman, Sarah; Waydo, Peter; Eremenko, Alexander

2016-01-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) is a NASA-developed Earth science satellite currently mapping the soil moisture content and freeze/thaw state of Earth's land mass from a 685km, near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. It was launched on January 31, 2015 from Vandenberg AFB upon a Delta II 7320 launch vehicle. Due to external considerations, SMAP's launch vehicle selection remained an open item until Project Critical Design Review (CDR). Thus, certain key aspects of the spacecraft design had to accommodate a diverse range of candidate launch vehicle environments, performance envelopes, interfaces and operational scenarios. Engineering challenges stemmed from two distinct scenarios: decisions that had to be made prior to launch vehicle selection to accommodate all possible outcomes, and post-selection changes constrained by schedule and the existing spacecraft configuration. The effects of the timing of launch vehicle selection reached virtually every aspect of the Observatory's design and development. Physical environments, mass allocations, material selections, propulsion system performance, dynamic response, launch phase and mission planning, overall size and configuration, and of course all interfaces to the launch vehicle were heavily dependent on this outcome. This paper will discuss the resolution of these technical challenges.

Railroad track inspection interface demonstration : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-01-01

This project developed a track data user interface utilizing the Google Glass optical display device. The interface allows the user : to recall data stored remotely and view the data on the Google Glass. The technical effort required developing a com...

Thermal Interface Comparisons Under Flight Like Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriquez-Ruiz, Juan

2008-01-01

Thermal interface materials are used in bolted interfaces to promote good thermal conduction between the two. The mounting surface can include panels, heat pipes, electronics boxes, etc.. . On Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) project the results are directly applicable: a) Several high power avionics boxes b) Several interfaces from RWA to radiator through heat pipe network

AXAF user interfaces for heterogeneous analysis environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandel, Eric; Roll, John; Ackerman, Mark S.

1992-01-01

The AXAF Science Center (ASC) will develop software to support all facets of data center activities and user research for the AXAF X-ray Observatory, scheduled for launch in 1999. The goal is to provide astronomers with the ability to utilize heterogeneous data analysis packages, that is, to allow astronomers to pick the best packages for doing their scientific analysis. For example, ASC software will be based on IRAF, but non-IRAF programs will be incorporated into the data system where appropriate. Additionally, it is desired to allow AXAF users to mix ASC software with their own local software. The need to support heterogeneous analysis environments is not special to the AXAF project, and therefore finding mechanisms for coordinating heterogeneous programs is an important problem for astronomical software today. The approach to solving this problem has been to develop two interfaces that allow the scientific user to run heterogeneous programs together. The first is an IRAF-compatible parameter interface that provides non-IRAF programs with IRAF's parameter handling capabilities. Included in the interface is an application programming interface to manipulate parameters from within programs, and also a set of host programs to manipulate parameters at the command line or from within scripts. The parameter interface has been implemented to support parameter storage formats other than IRAF parameter files, allowing one, for example, to access parameters that are stored in data bases. An X Windows graphical user interface called 'agcl' has been developed, layered on top of the IRAF-compatible parameter interface, that provides a standard graphical mechanism for interacting with IRAF and non-IRAF programs. Users can edit parameters and run programs for both non-IRAF programs and IRAF tasks. The agcl interface allows one to communicate with any command line environment in a transparent manner and without any changes to the original environment. For example, the authors routinely layer the GUI on top of IRAF, ksh, SMongo, and IDL. The agcl, based on the facilities of a system called Answer Garden, also has sophisticated support for examining documentation and help files, asking questions of experts, and developing a knowledge base of frequently required information. Thus, the GUI becomes a total environment for running programs, accessing information, examining documents, and finding human assistance. Because the agcl can communicate with any command-line environment, most projects can make use of it easily. New applications are continually being found for these interfaces. It is the authors' intention to evolve the GUI and its underlying parameter interface in response to these needs - from users as well as developers - throughout the astronomy community. This presentation describes the capabilities and technology of the above user interface mechanisms and tools. It also discusses the design philosophies guiding the work, as well as hopes for the future.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chao, B.P.

This report presents a historical perspective of the difficulties associated with user interface design and a review of interface design techniques. Included in the report is an application using rapid-interface-prototyping to the development of CAMP's user interface. 24 refs., 2 tabs.

Project Orion, Environmental Control and Life Support System Integrated Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, James F.; Lewis, John F.

2008-01-01

Orion is the next vehicle for human space travel. Humans will be sustained in space by the Orion subystem, environmental control and life support (ECLS). The ECLS concept at the subsystem level is outlined by function and technology. In the past two years, the interface definition with other subsystems has increased through different integrated studies. The paper presents the key requirements and discusses three recent studies (e.g., unpressurized cargo) along with the respective impacts on the ECLS design moving forward.

Accessibility of Mobile Devices for Visually Impaired Users: An Evaluation of the Screen-Reader VoiceOver.

PubMed

Smaradottir, Berglind; Håland, Jarle; Martinez, Santiago

2017-01-01

A mobile device's touchscreen allows users to use a choreography of hand gestures to interact with the user interface. A screen reader on a mobile device is designed to support the interaction of visually disabled users while using gestures. This paper presents an evaluation of VoiceOver, a screen reader in Apple Inc. products. The evaluation was a part of the research project "Visually impaired users touching the screen - a user evaluation of assistive technology".

Consolidated Cab Display (CCD) System, Project Planning Document (PPD),

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-02-01

1980 1981 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011112 1 2 31 12. Software Documentation a. Overall Computer Program Description ( OCPD ) b...Approve OCPD c. Computer Program Functional Specifications (CPFS) d. Data Base Table Design Specification (DBTDS) e. Software Interface Control Document...Parts List Master Pattern and Plan View Reproducible Drawings Instruction Book Training Aids/Materials b. Software: OCPD CPFS SI CD PDS DBTDS SDD

Space Processing Applications Rocket project SPAR III

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, F.

1978-01-01

This document presented the engineering report and science payload III test report and summarized the experiment objectives, design/operational concepts, and final results of each of five scientific experiments conducted during the third Space Processing Applications Rocket (SPAR) flight flown by NASA in December 1976. The five individual SPAR experiments, covering a wide and varied range of scientific materials processing objectives, were entitled: Liquid Mixing, Interaction of Bubbles with Solidification Interfaces, Epitaxial Growth of Single Crystal Film, Containerless Processing of Beryllium, and Contact and Coalescence of Viscous Bodies.

A Debugger for Computational Grid Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hood, Robert; Jost, Gabriele

2000-01-01

The p2d2 project at NAS has built a debugger for applications running on heterogeneous computational grids. It employs a client-server architecture to simplify the implementation. Its user interface has been designed to provide process control and state examination functions on a computation containing a large number of processes. It can find processes participating in distributed computations even when those processes were not created under debugger control. These process identification techniques work both on conventional distributed executions as well as those on a computational grid.

UI Review Results and NARAC Response

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fisher, J.; Eme, B.; Kim, S.

2017-03-08

This report describes the results of an inter-program design review completed February 16th, 2017, during the second year of a FY16-FY18 NA-84 Technology Integration (TI) project to modernize the core software system used in DOE/NNSA's National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC, narac.llnl.gov). This review focused on the graphical user interfaces (GUI) frameworks. Reviewers (described in Appendix 2) were selected from multiple areas of the LLNL Computation directorate, based on their expertise in GUI and Web technologies.

Challenges of Malaysian Developers in Creating Good Interfaces for Interactive Courseware

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamaruddin, Norfadilah

2010-01-01

There are many reasons why interface design for interactive courseware fails to support quality of learning experiences. The causes such as the level of interactivity, the availability of the interfaces to interact with the end users and a lack of deep knowledge about the role of interface design by the designers in the development process are…

Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Requirements Document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

C.A. Kouts

2006-05-10

The CRD addresses the requirements of Department of Energy (DOE) Order 413.3-Change 1, ''Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets'', by providing the Secretarial Acquisition Executive (Level 0) scope baseline and the Program-level (Level 1) technical baseline. The Secretarial Acquisition Executive approves the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's (OCRWM) critical decisions and changes against the Level 0 baseline; and in turn, the OCRWM Director approves all changes against the Level 1 baseline. This baseline establishes the top-level technical scope of the CRMWS and its three system elements, as described in section 1.3.2. The organizations responsible formore » design, development, and operation of system elements described in this document must therefore prepare subordinate project-level documents that are consistent with the CRD. Changes to requirements will be managed in accordance with established change and configuration control procedures. The CRD establishes requirements for the design, development, and operation of the CRWMS. It specifically addresses the top-level governing laws and regulations (e.g., ''Nuclear Waste Policy Act'' (NWPA), 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 63, 10 CFR Part 71, etc.) along with specific policy, performance requirements, interface requirements, and system architecture. The CRD shall be used as a vehicle to incorporate specific changes in technical scope or performance requirements that may have significant program implications. Such may include changes to the program mission, changes to operational capability, and high visibility stakeholder issues. The CRD uses a systems approach to: (1) identify key functions that the CRWMS must perform, (2) allocate top-level requirements derived from statutory, regulatory, and programmatic sources, and (3) define the basic elements of the system architecture and operational concept. Project-level documents address CRD requirements by further defining system element functions, decomposing requirements into significantly greater detail, and developing designs of system components, facilities, and equipment. The CRD addresses the identification and control of functional, physical, and operational boundaries between and within CRWMS elements. The CRD establishes requirements regarding key interfaces between the CRWMS and elements external to the CRWMS. Project elements define interfaces between CRWMS program elements. The Program has developed a change management process consistent with DOE Order 413.3-Change 1. Changes to the Secretarial Acquisition Executive and Program-level baselines must be approved by a Program Baseline Change Control Board. Specific thresholds have been established for identifying technical, cost, and schedule changes that require approval. The CRWMS continually evaluates system design and operational concepts to optimize performance and/or cost. The Program has developed systems analysis tools to assess potential enhancements to the physical system and to determine the impacts from cost saving initiatives, scientific and technological improvements, and engineering developments. The results of systems analyses, if appropriate, are factored into revisions to the CRD as revised Programmatic Requirements.« less

Towards a Methodology for the Design of Multimedia Public Access Interfaces.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowley, Jennifer

1998-01-01

Discussion of information systems methodologies that can contribute to interface design for public access systems covers: the systems life cycle; advantages of adopting information systems methodologies; soft systems methodologies; task-oriented approaches to user interface design; holistic design, the Star model, and prototyping; the…

Computer-Based Tools for Evaluating Graphical User Interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Loretta A.

1997-01-01

The user interface is the component of a software system that connects two very complex system: humans and computers. Each of these two systems impose certain requirements on the final product. The user is the judge of the usability and utility of the system; the computer software and hardware are the tools with which the interface is constructed. Mistakes are sometimes made in designing and developing user interfaces because the designers and developers have limited knowledge about human performance (e.g., problem solving, decision making, planning, and reasoning). Even those trained in user interface design make mistakes because they are unable to address all of the known requirements and constraints on design. Evaluation of the user inter-face is therefore a critical phase of the user interface development process. Evaluation should not be considered the final phase of design; but it should be part of an iterative design cycle with the output of evaluation being feed back into design. The goal of this research was to develop a set of computer-based tools for objectively evaluating graphical user interfaces. The research was organized into three phases. The first phase resulted in the development of an embedded evaluation tool which evaluates the usability of a graphical user interface based on a user's performance. An expert system to assist in the design and evaluation of user interfaces based upon rules and guidelines was developed during the second phase. During the final phase of the research an automatic layout tool to be used in the initial design of graphical inter- faces was developed. The research was coordinated with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Mission Operations Laboratory's efforts in developing onboard payload display specifications for the Space Station.

ALMA Correlator Real-Time Data Processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisano, J.; Amestica, R.; Perez, J.

2005-10-01

The design of a real-time Linux application utilizing Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI) to process real-time data from the radio astronomy correlator for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is described. The correlator is a custom-built digital signal processor which computes the cross-correlation function of two digitized signal streams. ALMA will have 64 antennas with 2080 signal streams each with a sample rate of 4 giga-samples per second. The correlator's aggregate data output will be 1 gigabyte per second. The software is defined by hard deadlines with high input and processing data rates, while requiring interfaces to non real-time external computers. The designed computer system - the Correlator Data Processor or CDP, consists of a cluster of 17 SMP computers, 16 of which are compute nodes plus a master controller node all running real-time Linux kernels. Each compute node uses an RTAI kernel module to interface to a 32-bit parallel interface which accepts raw data at 64 megabytes per second in 1 megabyte chunks every 16 milliseconds. These data are transferred to tasks running on multiple CPUs in hard real-time using RTAI's LXRT facility to perform quantization corrections, data windowing, FFTs, and phase corrections for a processing rate of approximately 1 GFLOPS. Highly accurate timing signals are distributed to all seventeen computer nodes in order to synchronize them to other time-dependent devices in the observatory array. RTAI kernel tasks interface to the timing signals providing sub-millisecond timing resolution. The CDP interfaces, via the master node, to other computer systems on an external intra-net for command and control, data storage, and further data (image) processing. The master node accesses these external systems utilizing ALMA Common Software (ACS), a CORBA-based client-server software infrastructure providing logging, monitoring, data delivery, and intra-computer function invocation. The software is being developed in tandem with the correlator hardware which presents software engineering challenges as the hardware evolves. The current status of this project and future goals are also presented.

Microfluidic PMMA interfaces for rectangular glass capillaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evander, Mikael; Tenje, Maria

2014-02-01

We present the design and fabrication of a polymeric capillary fluidic interface fabricated by micro-milling. The design enables the use of glass capillaries with any kind of cross-section in complex microfluidic setups. We demonstrate two different designs of the interface; a double-inlet interface for hydrodynamic focusing and a capillary interface with integrated pneumatic valves. Both capillary interfaces are presented together with examples of practical applications. This communication shows the design optimization and presents details of the fabrication process. The capillary interface opens up for the use of complex microfluidic systems in single-use glass capillaries. They also enable simple fabrication of glass/polymer hybrid devices that can be beneficial in many research fields where a pure polymer chip negatively affects the device's performance, e.g. acoustofluidics.

Early Career. Harnessing nanotechnology for fusion plasma-material interface research in an in-situ particle-surface interaction facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allain, Jean Paul

2014-08-08

This project consisted of fundamental and applied research of advanced in-situ particle-beam interactions with surfaces/interfaces to discover novel materials able to tolerate intense conditions at the plasma-material interface (PMI) in future fusion burning plasma devices. The project established a novel facility that is capable of not only characterizing new fusion nanomaterials but, more importantly probing and manipulating materials at the nanoscale while performing subsequent single-effect in-situ testing of their performance under simulated environments in fusion PMI.

Implicit mesh discontinuous Galerkin methods and interfacial gauge methods for high-order accurate interface dynamics, with applications to surface tension dynamics, rigid body fluid-structure interaction, and free surface flow: Part I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saye, Robert

2017-09-01

In this two-part paper, a high-order accurate implicit mesh discontinuous Galerkin (dG) framework is developed for fluid interface dynamics, facilitating precise computation of interfacial fluid flow in evolving geometries. The framework uses implicitly defined meshes-wherein a reference quadtree or octree grid is combined with an implicit representation of evolving interfaces and moving domain boundaries-and allows physically prescribed interfacial jump conditions to be imposed or captured with high-order accuracy. Part one discusses the design of the framework, including: (i) high-order quadrature for implicitly defined elements and faces; (ii) high-order accurate discretisation of scalar and vector-valued elliptic partial differential equations with interfacial jumps in ellipticity coefficient, leading to optimal-order accuracy in the maximum norm and discrete linear systems that are symmetric positive (semi)definite; (iii) the design of incompressible fluid flow projection operators, which except for the influence of small penalty parameters, are discretely idempotent; and (iv) the design of geometric multigrid methods for elliptic interface problems on implicitly defined meshes and their use as preconditioners for the conjugate gradient method. Also discussed is a variety of aspects relating to moving interfaces, including: (v) dG discretisations of the level set method on implicitly defined meshes; (vi) transferring state between evolving implicit meshes; (vii) preserving mesh topology to accurately compute temporal derivatives; (viii) high-order accurate reinitialisation of level set functions; and (ix) the integration of adaptive mesh refinement. In part two, several applications of the implicit mesh dG framework in two and three dimensions are presented, including examples of single phase flow in nontrivial geometry, surface tension-driven two phase flow with phase-dependent fluid density and viscosity, rigid body fluid-structure interaction, and free surface flow. A class of techniques known as interfacial gauge methods is adopted to solve the corresponding incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, which, compared to archetypical projection methods, have a weaker coupling between fluid velocity, pressure, and interface position, and allow high-order accurate numerical methods to be developed more easily. Convergence analyses conducted throughout the work demonstrate high-order accuracy in the maximum norm for all of the applications considered; for example, fourth-order spatial accuracy in fluid velocity, pressure, and interface location is demonstrated for surface tension-driven two phase flow in 2D and 3D. Specific application examples include: vortex shedding in nontrivial geometry, capillary wave dynamics revealing fine-scale flow features, falling rigid bodies tumbling in unsteady flow, and free surface flow over a submersed obstacle, as well as high Reynolds number soap bubble oscillation dynamics and vortex shedding induced by a type of Plateau-Rayleigh instability in water ripple free surface flow. These last two examples compare numerical results with experimental data and serve as an additional means of validation; they also reveal physical phenomena not visible in the experiments, highlight how small-scale interfacial features develop and affect macroscopic dynamics, and demonstrate the wide range of spatial scales often at play in interfacial fluid flow.

Implicit mesh discontinuous Galerkin methods and interfacial gauge methods for high-order accurate interface dynamics, with applications to surface tension dynamics, rigid body fluid-structure interaction, and free surface flow: Part II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saye, Robert

2017-09-01

In this two-part paper, a high-order accurate implicit mesh discontinuous Galerkin (dG) framework is developed for fluid interface dynamics, facilitating precise computation of interfacial fluid flow in evolving geometries. The framework uses implicitly defined meshes-wherein a reference quadtree or octree grid is combined with an implicit representation of evolving interfaces and moving domain boundaries-and allows physically prescribed interfacial jump conditions to be imposed or captured with high-order accuracy. Part one discusses the design of the framework, including: (i) high-order quadrature for implicitly defined elements and faces; (ii) high-order accurate discretisation of scalar and vector-valued elliptic partial differential equations with interfacial jumps in ellipticity coefficient, leading to optimal-order accuracy in the maximum norm and discrete linear systems that are symmetric positive (semi)definite; (iii) the design of incompressible fluid flow projection operators, which except for the influence of small penalty parameters, are discretely idempotent; and (iv) the design of geometric multigrid methods for elliptic interface problems on implicitly defined meshes and their use as preconditioners for the conjugate gradient method. Also discussed is a variety of aspects relating to moving interfaces, including: (v) dG discretisations of the level set method on implicitly defined meshes; (vi) transferring state between evolving implicit meshes; (vii) preserving mesh topology to accurately compute temporal derivatives; (viii) high-order accurate reinitialisation of level set functions; and (ix) the integration of adaptive mesh refinement. In part two, several applications of the implicit mesh dG framework in two and three dimensions are presented, including examples of single phase flow in nontrivial geometry, surface tension-driven two phase flow with phase-dependent fluid density and viscosity, rigid body fluid-structure interaction, and free surface flow. A class of techniques known as interfacial gauge methods is adopted to solve the corresponding incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, which, compared to archetypical projection methods, have a weaker coupling between fluid velocity, pressure, and interface position, and allow high-order accurate numerical methods to be developed more easily. Convergence analyses conducted throughout the work demonstrate high-order accuracy in the maximum norm for all of the applications considered; for example, fourth-order spatial accuracy in fluid velocity, pressure, and interface location is demonstrated for surface tension-driven two phase flow in 2D and 3D. Specific application examples include: vortex shedding in nontrivial geometry, capillary wave dynamics revealing fine-scale flow features, falling rigid bodies tumbling in unsteady flow, and free surface flow over a submersed obstacle, as well as high Reynolds number soap bubble oscillation dynamics and vortex shedding induced by a type of Plateau-Rayleigh instability in water ripple free surface flow. These last two examples compare numerical results with experimental data and serve as an additional means of validation; they also reveal physical phenomena not visible in the experiments, highlight how small-scale interfacial features develop and affect macroscopic dynamics, and demonstrate the wide range of spatial scales often at play in interfacial fluid flow.

Speech-generating devices: effectiveness of interface design-a comparative study of autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Chen, Chien-Hsu; Wang, Chuan-Po; Lee, I-Jui; Su, Chris Chun-Chin

2016-01-01

We analyzed the efficacy of the interface design of speech generating devices on three non-verbal adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in hopes of improving their on-campus communication and cognitive disability. The intervention program was created based on their social and communication needs in school. Two operating interfaces were designed and compared: the Hierarchical Relating Menu and the Pie Abbreviation-Expansion Menu. The experiment used the ABCACB multiple-treatment reversal design. The test items included: (1) accuracy of operating identification; (2) interface operation in response to questions; (3) degree of independent completion. Each of these three items improved with both intervention interfaces. The children were able to operate the interfaces skillfully and respond to questions accurately, which evidenced the effectiveness of the interfaces. We conclude that both interfaces are efficacious enough to help nonverbal children with ASD at different levels.

Project W-211 initial tank retrieval systems year 2000 compliance assessment project plan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BUSSELL, J.H.

1999-08-24

This assessment describes the potential Year 2000 (Y2K) problems and describes the methods for achieving Y2K Compliance for Project W-211, Initial Tank Retrieval Systems (ITRS). The purpose of this assessment is to give an overview of the project. This document will not be updated and any dates contained in this document are estimates and may change. The scope of project W-211 is to provide systems for retrieval of radioactive wastes from ten double-shell tanks (DST). systems will be installed in tanks 102-AP, 104-AP, 105-AN, 104-AN, 102-AZ, 101-AW, 103-AN, 107-AN, 102-AY, and 102-SY. The current tank selection and sequence supports phasemore » I feed delivery to privatized processing plants. A detailed description of system dates, functions, interfaces, potential Y2K problems, and date resolutions can not be described since the project is in the definitive design phase. This assessment will describe the methods, protocols, and practices to assure that equipment and systems do not have Y2K problems.« less

Launching an EarthCube Interoperability Workbench for Constructing Workflows and Employing Service Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fulker, D. W.; Pearlman, F.; Pearlman, J.; Arctur, D. K.; Signell, R. P.

2016-12-01

A major challenge for geoscientists—and a key motivation for the National Science Foundation's EarchCube initiative—is to integrate data across disciplines, as is necessary for complex Earth-system studies such as climate change. The attendant technical and social complexities have led EarthCube participants to devise a system-of-systems architectural concept. Its centerpiece is a (virtual) interoperability workbench, around which a learning community can coalesce, supported in their evolving quests to join data from diverse sources, to synthesize new forms of data depicting Earth phenomena, and to overcome immense obstacles that arise, for example, from mismatched nomenclatures, projections, mesh geometries and spatial-temporal scales. The full architectural concept will require significant time and resources to implement, but this presentation describes a (minimal) starter kit. With a keep-it-simple mantra this workbench starter kit can fulfill the following four objectives: 1) demonstrate the feasibility of an interoperability workbench by mid-2017; 2) showcase scientifically useful examples of cross-domain interoperability, drawn, e.g., from funded EarthCube projects; 3) highlight selected aspects of EarthCube's architectural concept, such as a system of systems (SoS) linked via service interfaces; 4) demonstrate how workflows can be designed and used in a manner that enables sharing, promotes collaboration and fosters learning. The outcome, despite its simplicity, will embody service interfaces sufficient to construct—from extant components—data-integration and data-synthesis workflows involving multiple geoscience domains. Tentatively, the starter kit will build on the Jupyter Notebook web application, augmented with libraries for interfacing current services (at data centers involved in EarthCube's Council of Data Facilities, e.g.) and services developed specifically for EarthCube and spanning most geoscience domains.

DOE-OTM Tribology Program semiannual progress report, October 1992--March 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The OTM Tribology Program supports applied research and exploratory development which private enterprise will not or cannot pursue, in specifically identified industrial problem areas pertaining to energy conservation in the transportation sector. Under the current Annual Operating Plan (AOP) the tribology project is structured to conform with the ongoing and planned research activities in three program elements: (1) advanced lubrication--experimental investigations of lubrication phenomena and the development of improved or novel lubricants and lubricant-delivery systems for current and advanced engine systems; (2) engineered tribological interfaces--research and development on various coating processes to modify the microstructure and chemical composition of near-surfacemore » regions in order to improve their friction and wear properties for use in advanced engine designs; (3) advanced tribomaterials and components--tribomaterials evaluation of the friction and wear behavior of newly emerging materials, particularly those promising low friction and wealth at elevated temperatures in advanced engine designs: and tribocomponents evaluation which focuses on development of models, analysis/design tools to enable US transportation industry to employ a tribology-by-design approach and dissemination of program developments to the US transportation industry. Project Management encompasses the administrative and managerial duties of planning, including assessments of application areas with significant tribological energy losses and opportunities for tribological advances in the transportation sector; program implementation, including the review of proposals, organization and conduct of RFP and/or ROA solicitations, selection of R and D projects; and the issues of contracts grants and purchase orders; monitoring of project activities: reporting, information exchange and technology transfer. The current organization of the tribology project, the lead responsibilities for each program element and the present contractors are shown in Table 1. Brief summaries of progress made in this are included.« less

Restoring hydrological and biogeochemical ecosystem services in streams: how can science inform practice?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lautz, L.; Gordon, R.; Daniluk, T.; Zimmer, M. A.; Endreny, T. A.; McGrath, K.

2014-12-01

Society is increasingly recognizing the value of stream ecosystem functions, as evidenced by the enormous economic investment being made in stream restoration across the United States. Stream restoration projects have a variety of goals, including improvement in water quality and in-stream habitat. Popular approaches to restoration (such as Natural Channel Design, or NCD) aim to move degraded streams along a trajectory toward a dynamic ecological endpoint that represents natural conditions. Project designs primarily focus on channel form and function, but stream-groundwater exchanges of water and solutes are not typically a design consideration, although a primary component of fully functioning stream ecosystems. Here, we synthesize results from field investigations of the impact of NCD stream restoration on stream-groundwater exchanges by (1) comparing restored sites to reference reaches, which serve as the basis for the restoration design, (2) characterizing multiple restored sites to determine universal characteristics of streams restored by NCD, and (3) monitoring a stream pre- and post- restoration. NCD restoration creates hot spots of rapid hyporheic exchange upstream of channel spanning structures, with water fluxes across the bed interface up to an order of magnitude higher than at pre-restoration or reference reaches. Elevated flux rates result in short hyporheic residence times, which are not sufficiently long to generate net changes in nutrient concentrations. Hot spots of biogeochemical transformations are instead located around secondary bedforms, such as pool-riffle sequences, where gross water exchange rates are more moderate. Reference reaches show greater evidence of groundwater discharge to the hyporheic zone relative to restored reaches, although observations before and after restoration suggest NCD can modify the spatial extent of groundwater discharge zones. Gross water exchange across the streambed interface along restored reaches is a small percentage of stream discharge, suggesting the primary impact of restoration on stream-groundwater exchange is promoting biochemical heterogeneity in the subsurface, rather than longitudinal net changes in stream solute concentrations. Results inform future design to achieve restoration goals.

Virtual optical interfaces for the transportation industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hejmadi, Vic; Kress, Bernard

2010-04-01

We present a novel implementation of virtual optical interfaces for the transportation industry (automotive and avionics). This new implementation includes two functionalities in a single device; projection of a virtual interface and sensing of the position of the fingers on top of the virtual interface. Both functionalities are produced by diffraction of laser light. The device we are developing include both functionalities in a compact package which has no optical elements to align since all of them are pre-aligned on a single glass wafer through optical lithography. The package contains a CMOS sensor which diffractive objective lens is optimized for the projected interface color as well as for the IR finger position sensor based on structured illumination. Two versions are proposed: a version which senses the 2d position of the hand and a version which senses the hand position in 3d.

Layout Design of Human-Machine Interaction Interface of Cabin Based on Cognitive Ergonomics and GA-ACA.

PubMed

Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai

2016-01-01

In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Layout Design of Human-Machine Interaction Interface of Cabin Based on Cognitive Ergonomics and GA-ACA

PubMed Central

Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai

2016-01-01

In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:26884745

The Philosophy of User Interfaces in HELIO and the Importance of CASSIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnin, X.; Aboudarham, J.; Renié, C.; Csillaghy, A.; Messerotti, M.; Bentley, R. D.

2012-09-01

HELIO is a European project funded under FP7 (Project No. 238969). One of its goals as a Heliospheric Virtual Observatory is to provide an easy access to many datasets scattered all over the world, in the fields of Solar physics, Heliophysics, and Planetary magnetospheres. The efficiency of such a tool is very much related to the quality of the user interface. HELIO infrastructure is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), regrouping a network of standalone components, which allows four main types of interfaces: - HELIO Front End (HFE) is a browser-based user interface, which offers a centralized access to the HELIO main functionalities. Especially, it provides the possibility to reach data directly, or to refine selection by determination of observing characteristics, such as which instrument was observing at that time, which instrument was at this location, etc. - Many services/components provide their own standalone graphical user interface. While one can directly access individually each of these interfaces, they can also be connected together. - Most services also provide direct access for any tools through a public interface. A small java library, called Java API, simplifies this access by providing client stubs for services and shields the user from security, discovery and failover issues. - Workflows capabilities are available in HELIO, allowing complex combination of queries over several services. We want the user to be able to navigate easily, at his needs, through the various interfaces, and possibly use a specific one in order to make much-dedicated queries. We will also emphasize the importance of the CASSIS project (Coordination Action for the integration of Solar System Infrastructure and Science) in encouraging the interoperability necessary to undertake scientific studies that span disciplinary boundaries. If related projects follow the guidelines being developed by CASSIS then using external resources with HELIO will be greatly simplified.

Acquisition de donnees a haute resolution et faible latence dediee aux capteurs avioniques de position

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koubaa, Zied

The communication network and the detection mechanisms are two critical systems in a plane. Their performance has a direct impact on aircrafts. This is of particular interest for avionics designers, who have increasingly invested more and more in the development of these elements. As a part of a project in this domain, we introduce the design and the development of a smart interface for position sensors dedicated to flights (Smart Sensor Interface - SSI). This interface will serve to connect sensors of different technologies (electromagnetic, optical and MEMS) to the new communication network, AFDX. The role of this interface is to generate an appropriate excitation signal for certain types of sensors (R/LVDT), and to treat, demodulate, and digitize their output signals. The proposed interface is thus composed of a Signal Acquisition Path (SAP) and an Excitation Signal Generation (ESG). By adopting the Integrated Modular Avionics architecture (IMA), we can minimize the size of the classic interface, reduce its energy consumption and improve its reliability and its performance. The focus of our design is particularly on the Data Acquisition Path (DAP). An Architecture characterized by a high resolution (14 bits) and a low latency (1.2 ms) of this module is introduced and developed in this prestigious work. This architecture was developed after a wellconducted study of existing solutions found in literature work and a detailed analysis of the problems arise in the design and implementation of this system (DAP). The conversion of the sensor signal into a digital signal is the most important step in acquiring data, as it sets the resolution of the acquired information and generates the majority of its latency. This module can also affect the reliability and stability of the system. Among different models and architectures, the Delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is preferred for this application (for better resolution). This converter is formed by an analog circuit (modulator) followed by digital filters. The complexity of the implementation, the processing delay and the output resolution are all susceptible to change depending on the architecture of these filters. Thus, the main problem while designing such a system arises in the opposing evolution of the resolution and latency parameters; the improvement or evolution of one, results in the destruction of the other. Therefore, our work aims to provide one or more method to optimize the latency caused by the CAN while maintaining the same resolution of the desired data (14 bits). This optimization takes into account the objective of integrating the DAP in modules of small size and low power consumption. This proposed solution was implemented in order to validate the design of the conception of the interface. We are also interested to achieve the proposed solution and validate our design. The obtained results will be evaluated after following the manufacturing strategy. The data acquisition unit is made up of two electronic components. The first component is an integrated circuit, which uses CMOS 0.13mum IBM technology and contains the analog part of CAN (SigmaDelta modulator). The second component is a Virtex-6 FPGA, which allows one to acquire the necessary digital processing required for the acquisition and conversion of the sensor signal. In the final version of the interface, our analog portion will be integrated with the analog portion of GSE in the same chip. The integrated digital logic in the (FPGA) role will thus provide digital data to the ESG module in order to generate the excitation signal.

Interface Stability Influences Torso Muscle Recruitment and Spinal Load During Pushing Tasks

PubMed Central

LEE, P. J.; GRANATA, K. P.

2006-01-01

Handle or interface design can influence torso muscle recruitment and spinal load during pushing tasks. The objective of the study was to provide insight into the role of interface stability with regard to torso muscle recruitment and biomechanical loads on the spine. Fourteen subjects generated voluntary isometric trunk flexion force against a rigid interface and similar flexion exertions against an unstable interface, which simulated handle design in a cart pushing task. Normalized electromyographic (EMG) activity in the rectus abdominus, external oblique and internal oblique muscles increased with exertion effort. When using the unstable interface, EMG activity in the internal and external oblique muscle groups was greater than when using the rigid interface. Results agreed with trends from a biomechanical model implemented to predict the muscle activation necessary to generate isometric pushing forces and maintain spinal stability when using the two different interface designs. The co-contraction contributed to increased spinal load when using the unstable interface. It was concluded that handle or interface design and stability may influence spinal load and associated risk of musculoskeletal injury during manual materials tasks that involve pushing exertions. PMID:16540437

A methodology for the design and evaluation of user interfaces for interactive information systems. Ph.D. Thesis Final Report, 1 Jul. 1985 - 31 Dec. 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Farooq, Mohammad U.

1986-01-01

The definition of proposed research addressing the development and validation of a methodology for the design and evaluation of user interfaces for interactive information systems is given. The major objectives of this research are: the development of a comprehensive, objective, and generalizable methodology for the design and evaluation of user interfaces for information systems; the development of equations and/or analytical models to characterize user behavior and the performance of a designed interface; the design of a prototype system for the development and administration of user interfaces; and the design and use of controlled experiments to support the research and test/validate the proposed methodology. The proposed design methodology views the user interface as a virtual machine composed of three layers: an interactive layer, a dialogue manager layer, and an application interface layer. A command language model of user system interactions is presented because of its inherent simplicity and structured approach based on interaction events. All interaction events have a common structure based on common generic elements necessary for a successful dialogue. It is shown that, using this model, various types of interfaces could be designed and implemented to accommodate various categories of users. The implementation methodology is discussed in terms of how to store and organize the information.

Innovative Phase Change Thermal Energy Storage Solution for Baseload Power Phase 1 Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qiu, Songgang

2013-05-15

The primary purpose of this project is to develop and validate an innovative, scalable phase change salt thermal energy storage (TES) system that can interface with Infinia’s family of free-piston Stirling engines (FPSE). This TES technology is also appropriate for Rankine and Brayton power converters. Solar TES systems based on latent heat of fusion rather than molten salt temperature differences, have many advantages that include up to an order of magnitude higher energy storage density, much higher temperature operation, and elimination of pumped loops for most of Infinia’s design options. DOE has funded four different concepts for solar phase changemore » TES, including one other Infinia awarded project using heat pipes to transfer heat to and from the salt. The unique innovation in this project is an integrated TES/pool boiler heat transfer system that is the simplest approach identified to date and arguably has the best potential for minimizing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). The Phase 1 objectives are to design, build and test a 1-hour TES proof-of-concept lab demonstrator integrated with an Infinia 3 kW Stirling engine, and to conduct a preliminary design of a 12-hour TES on-sun prototype.« less

Design considerations to improve cognitive ergonomic issues of unmanned vehicle interfaces utilizing video game controllers.

PubMed

Oppold, P; Rupp, M; Mouloua, M; Hancock, P A; Martin, J

2012-01-01

Unmanned (UAVs, UCAVs, and UGVs) systems still have major human factors and ergonomic challenges related to the effective design of their control interface systems, crucial to their efficient operation, maintenance, and safety. Unmanned system interfaces with a human centered approach promote intuitive interfaces that are easier to learn, and reduce human errors and other cognitive ergonomic issues with interface design. Automation has shifted workload from physical to cognitive, thus control interfaces for unmanned systems need to reduce mental workload on the operators and facilitate the interaction between vehicle and operator. Two-handed video game controllers provide wide usability within the overall population, prior exposure for new operators, and a variety of interface complexity levels to match the complexity level of the task and reduce cognitive load. This paper categorizes and provides taxonomy for 121 haptic interfaces from the entertainment industry that can be utilized as control interfaces for unmanned systems. Five categories of controllers were based on the complexity of the buttons, control pads, joysticks, and switches on the controller. This allows the selection of the level of complexity needed for a specific task without creating an entirely new design or utilizing an overly complex design.

X-ray/EUV optics for astronomy, microscopy, polarimetry, and projection lithography; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 9-13, 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Richard B. (Editor); Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr. (Editor)

1991-01-01

Topics discussed in this issue include the fabrication of multilayer X-ray/EUV coatings; the design, characterization, and test of multilayer X-ray/EUV coatings; multilayer X-ray/EUV monochromators and imaging microscopes; X-ray/EUV telescopes; the test and calibration performance of X-ray/EUV instruments; XUV/soft X-ray projection lithography; X-ray/EUV space observatories and missions; X-ray/EUV telescopes for solar research; X-ray/EUV polarimetry; X-ray/EUV spectrographs; and X-ray/EUV filters and gratings. Papers are presented on the deposition-controlled uniformity of multilayer mirrors, interfaces in Mo/Si multilayers, the design and analysis of an aspherical multilayer imaging X-ray microscope, recent developments in the production of thin X-ray reflecting foils, and the ultraprecise scanning technology. Consideration is also given to an active sun telescope array, the fabrication and performance at 1.33 nm of a 0.24-micron-period multilayer grating, a cylindrical proportional counter for X-ray polarimetry, and the design and analysis of the reflection grating arrays for the X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission.

Computer-Aided Engineering Of Cabling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billitti, Joseph W.

1989-01-01

Program generates data sheets, drawings, and other information on electrical connections. DFACS program, centered around single data base, has built-in menus providing easy input of, and access to, data for all personnel involved in system, subsystem, and cabling. Enables parallel design of circuit-data sheets and drawings of harnesses. Also recombines raw information to generate automatically various project documents and drawings, including index of circuit-data sheets, list of electrical-interface circuits, lists of assemblies and equipment, cabling trees, and drawings of cabling electrical interfaces and harnesses. Purpose of program to provide engineering community with centralized data base for putting in, and gaining access to, functional definition of system as specified in terms of details of pin connections of end circuits of subsystems and instruments and data on harnessing. Primary objective to provide instantaneous single point of interchange of information, thus avoiding

A bio-synthetic interface for discovery of viral entry mechanisms.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gutzler, Mike; Maar, Dianna; Negrete, Oscar

2010-09-01

Understanding and defending against pathogenic viruses is an important public health and biodefense challenge. The focus of our LDRD project has been to uncover the mechanisms enveloped viruses use to identify and invade host cells. We have constructed interfaces between viral particles and synthetic lipid bilayers. This approach provides a minimal setting for investigating the initial events of host-virus interaction - (i) recognition of, and (ii) entry into the host via membrane fusion. This understanding could enable rational design of therapeutics that block viral entry as well as future construction of synthetic, non-proliferating sensors that detect live virus in themore » environment. We have observed fusion between synthetic lipid vesicles and Vesicular Stomatitis virus particles, and we have observed interactions between Nipah virus-like particles and supported lipid bilayers and giant unilamellar vesicles.« less

Capability Description for NASA's F/A-18 TN 853 as a Testbed for the Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanson, Curt

2009-01-01

The NASA F/A-18 tail number (TN) 853 full-scale Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) testbed has been designed with a full array of capabilities in support of the Aviation Safety Program. Highlights of the system's capabilities include: 1) a quad-redundant research flight control system for safely interfacing controls experiments to the aircraft's control surfaces; 2) a dual-redundant airborne research test system for hosting multi-disciplinary state-of-the-art adaptive control experiments; 3) a robust reversionary configuration for recovery from unusual attitudes and configurations; 4) significant research instrumentation, particularly in the area of static loads; 5) extensive facilities for experiment simulation, data logging, real-time monitoring and post-flight analysis capabilities; and 6) significant growth capability in terms of interfaces and processing power.

A Universal Portable Appliance for Stellarator W7-X Power Supply Controlling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wei-hua; Wolfgang, Foerster; Guenter, Mueller

2001-06-01

In the project Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the popular fieldbus Profibus has been determined as a uniform connection between the central control system and all the subordinate systems. A universal embedded control system has been developed for W7-X power supply controlling. Siemens 80C167CR microcontroller is used as the central control unit of the system. With a user-defined printed circuit board (PCB) several control buses, i.e., Profibus, CAN, IEEE 488, RS485 and RS 232 have been connected to the microcontroller. The corresponding hardware interfaces for the control buses have been designed. A graphic liquid crystal display(LCD) and a user-defined keyboard are used as user interface. The control software will be developed with a C-like language, i.e., C166 for the controller.

New developments in the McStas neutron instrument simulation package

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willendrup, P. K.; Knudsen, E. B.; Klinkby, E.; Nielsen, T.; Farhi, E.; Filges, U.; Lefmann, K.

2014-07-01

The McStas neutron ray-tracing software package is a versatile tool for building accurate simulators of neutron scattering instruments at reactors, short- and long-pulsed spallation sources such as the European Spallation Source. McStas is extensively used for design and optimization of instruments, virtual experiments, data analysis and user training. McStas was founded as a scientific, open-source collaborative code in 1997. This contribution presents the project at its current state and gives an overview of the main new developments in McStas 2.0 (December 2012) and McStas 2.1 (expected fall 2013), including many new components, component parameter uniformisation, partial loss of backward compatibility, updated source brilliance descriptions, developments toward new tools and user interfaces, web interfaces and a new method for estimating beam losses and background from neutron optics.

Concurrent Collections (CnC): A new approach to parallel programming

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Knobe, Kathleen

2010-05-07

A common approach in designing parallel languages is to provide some high level handles to manipulate the use of the parallel platform. This exposes some aspects of the target platform, for example, shared vs. distributed memory. It may expose some but not all types of parallelism, for example, data parallelism but not task parallelism. This approach must find a balance between the desire to provide a simple view for the domain expert and provide sufficient power for tuning. This is hard for any given architecture and harder if the language is to apply to a range of architectures. Either simplicitymore » or power is lost. Instead of viewing the language design problem as one of providing the programmer with high level handles, we view the problem as one of designing an interface. On one side of this interface is the programmer (domain expert) who knows the application but needs no knowledge of any aspects of the platform. On the other side of the interface is the performance expert (programmer or program) who demands maximal flexibility for optimizing the mapping to a wide range of target platforms (parallel / serial, shared / distributed, homogeneous / heterogeneous, etc.) but needs no knowledge of the domain. Concurrent Collections (CnC) is based on this separation of concerns. The talk will present CnC and its benefits. About the speaker. Kathleen Knobe has focused throughout her career on parallelism especially compiler technology, runtime system design and language design. She worked at Compass (aka Massachusetts Computer Associates) from 1980 to 1991 designing compilers for a wide range of parallel platforms for Thinking Machines, MasPar, Alliant, Numerix, and several government projects. In 1991 she decided to finish her education. After graduating from MIT in 1997, she joined Digital Equipment’s Cambridge Research Lab (CRL). She stayed through the DEC/Compaq/HP mergers and when CRL was acquired and absorbed by Intel. She currently works in the Software and Services Group / Technology Pathfinding and Innovation.« less

Concurrent Collections (CnC): A new approach to parallel programming

ScienceCinema

Knobe, Kathleen

2018-04-16

A common approach in designing parallel languages is to provide some high level handles to manipulate the use of the parallel platform. This exposes some aspects of the target platform, for example, shared vs. distributed memory. It may expose some but not all types of parallelism, for example, data parallelism but not task parallelism. This approach must find a balance between the desire to provide a simple view for the domain expert and provide sufficient power for tuning. This is hard for any given architecture and harder if the language is to apply to a range of architectures. Either simplicity or power is lost. Instead of viewing the language design problem as one of providing the programmer with high level handles, we view the problem as one of designing an interface. On one side of this interface is the programmer (domain expert) who knows the application but needs no knowledge of any aspects of the platform. On the other side of the interface is the performance expert (programmer or program) who demands maximal flexibility for optimizing the mapping to a wide range of target platforms (parallel / serial, shared / distributed, homogeneous / heterogeneous, etc.) but needs no knowledge of the domain. Concurrent Collections (CnC) is based on this separation of concerns. The talk will present CnC and its benefits. About the speaker. Kathleen Knobe has focused throughout her career on parallelism especially compiler technology, runtime system design and language design. She worked at Compass (aka Massachusetts Computer Associates) from 1980 to 1991 designing compilers for a wide range of parallel platforms for Thinking Machines, MasPar, Alliant, Numerix, and several government projects. In 1991 she decided to finish her education. After graduating from MIT in 1997, she joined Digital Equipment’s Cambridge Research Lab (CRL). She stayed through the DEC/Compaq/HP mergers and when CRL was acquired and absorbed by Intel. She currently works in the Software and Services Group / Technology Pathfinding and Innovation.

First Prototype of a Web Map Interface for ESA's Planetary Science Archive (PSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manaud, N.; Gonzalez, J.

2014-04-01

We present a first prototype of a Web Map Interface that will serve as a proof of concept and design for ESA's future fully web-based Planetary Science Archive (PSA) User Interface. The PSA is ESA's planetary science archiving authority and central repository for all scientific and engineering data returned by ESA's Solar System missions [1]. All data are compliant with NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) Standards and are accessible through several interfaces [2]: in addition to serving all public data via FTP and the Planetary Data Access Protocol (PDAP), a Java-based User Interface provides advanced search, preview, download, notification and delivery-basket functionality. It allows the user to query and visualise instrument observations footprints using a map-based interface (currently only available for Mars Express HRSC and OMEGA instruments). During the last decade, the planetary mapping science community has increasingly been adopting Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and standards, originally developed for and used in Earth science. There is an ongoing effort to produce and share cartographic products through Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Services, or as standalone data sets, so that they can be readily used in existing GIS applications [3,4,5]. Previous studies conducted at ESAC [6,7] have helped identify the needs of Planetary GIS users, and define key areas of improvement for the future Web PSA User Interface. Its web map interface shall will provide access to the full geospatial content of the PSA, including (1) observation geometry footprints of all remote sensing instruments, and (2) all georeferenced cartographic products, such as HRSC map-projected data or OMEGA global maps from Mars Express. It shall aim to provide a rich user experience for search and visualisation of this content using modern and interactive web mapping technology. A comprehensive set of built-in context maps from external sources, such as MOLA topography, TES infrared maps or planetary surface nomenclature, provided in both simple cylindrical and polar stereographic projections, shall enhance this user experience. In addition, users should be able to import and export data in commonly used open- GIS formats. It is also intended to serve all PSA geospatial data through OGC-compliant Web Services so that they can be captured, visualised and analysed directly from GIS software, along with data from other sources. The following figure illustrates how the PSA web map interface and services shall fit in a typical Planetary GIS user working environment.

Structural Design and Analysis of the Upper Pressure Shell Section of a Composite Crew Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sleight, David W.; Paddock, David; Jeans, Jim W.; Hudeck, John D.

2008-01-01

This paper presents the results of the structural design and analysis of the upper pressure shell section of a carbon composite demonstration structure for the Composite Crew Module (CCM) Project. The project is managed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center with participants from eight NASA Centers, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and multiple aerospace contractors including ATK/Swales, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Collier Research Corporation, Genesis Engineering, and Janicki Industries. The paper discusses details of the upper pressure shell section design of the CCM and presents the structural analysis results using the HyperSizer structural sizing software and the MSC Nastran finite element analysis software. The HyperSizer results showed that the controlling load case driving most of the sizing in the upper pressure shell section was the internal pressure load case. The regions around the cutouts were controlled by internal pressure and the main parachute load cases. The global finite element analysis results showed that the majority of the elements of the CCM had a positive margin of safety with the exception of a few hot spots around the cutouts. These hot spots are currently being investigated with a more detailed analysis. Local finite element models of the Low Impact Docking System (LIDS) interface ring and the forward bay gussets with greater mesh fidelity were created for local sizing and analysis. The sizing of the LIDS interface ring was driven by the drogue parachute loads, Trans-Lunar Insertion (TLI) loads, and internal pressure. The drogue parachute loads controlled the sizing of the gusset cap on the drogue gusset and TLI loads controlled the sizing of the other five gusset caps. The main parachute loads controlled the sizing of the lower ends of the gusset caps on the main parachute fittings. The results showed that the gusset web/pressure shell and gusset web/gusset cap interfaces bonded using Pi-preform joints had local hot spots in the Pi-preform termination regions. These regions require a detailed three-dimensional analysis, which is currently being performed, to accurately address the load distribution near the Pi-preform termination in the upper and lower gusset caps.

A simple method for determining stress intensity factors for a crack in bi-material interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morioka, Yuta

Because of violently oscillating nature of stress and displacement fields near the crack tip, it is difficult to obtain stress intensity factors for a crack between two dis-similar media. For a crack in a homogeneous medium, it is a common practice to find stress intensity factors through strain energy release rates. However, individual strain energy release rates do not exist for bi-material interface crack. Hence it is necessary to find alternative methods to evaluate stress intensity factors. Several methods have been proposed in the past. However they involve mathematical complexity and sometimes require additional finite element analysis. The purpose of this research is to develop a simple method to find stress intensity factors in bi-material interface cracks. A finite element based projection method is proposed in the research. It is shown that the projection method yields very accurate stress intensity factors for a crack in isotropic and anisotropic bi-material interfaces. The projection method is also compared to displacement ratio method and energy method proposed by other authors. Through comparison it is found that projection method is much simpler to apply with its accuracy comparable to that of displacement ratio method.

Development and implementation of a GEOGLAM Crop Monitor web interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliva, P.; Sanchez, A.; Humber, M. L.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Justice, C. J.; McGaughey, K.; Barker, B.

2016-12-01

Beginning in September 2013, the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor activity has provided earth observation (EO) data to a network of partners and collected crop assessments on a subnational basis through a web interface known as the Crop Assessment Tool. Based on the collection of monthly crop assessments, a monthly crop condition bulletin is published in the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Market Monitor report. This workflow has been successfully applied to food security applications through the Early Warning Crop Monitor activity. However, a lack of timely and accurate information on crop conditions and prospects at the national scale is a critical issue in the majority of southern and eastern African countries and some South American countries. Such information is necessary for informed and prompt decision making in the face of emergencies, food insecurity and planning requirements for agricultural markets. This project addresses these needs through the development of relevant, user-friendly remote sensing monitor systems, collaborative internet technology, and collaboration with national and regional agricultural monitoring networks. By building on current projects and relationships established through the various GEOGLAM Crop Monitor activities, this project aims to ultimately provide EO-informed crop condition maps and charts designed for economics and policy oriented audiences, thereby providing quick and easy to understand products on crop conditions as the season progresses. Integrating these data and assessments vertically throughout the system provides a basis for regional sharing and collaboration in food security applications.

A community of educators: professional development for graduate students within the Berkeley Compass Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwab, Josiah; Roth, Nathaniel; Berkeley Compass Project

2015-01-01

The Berkeley Compass Project is a self-formed group of graduate and undergraduate students in the physical sciences at UC Berkeley. Our goals are to improve undergraduate physics education, provide opportunities for professional development, and increase retention of students from populations typically underrepresented in the physical sciences. Graduate students, together with upper-level undergraduates, design and run all Compass programs. We strive to create a community of educators that incorporates best practices from the science education literature. Along the way, we develop experience in curriculum development, fundraising, grant writing, interfacing with university administration, and other aspects of running an effective organization. Our experience in Compass leaves us better poised to be successful researchers, teachers, and mentors.

Solidification under zero gravity: A Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) experiment for an early space shuttle mission. [project planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, J. A.

1976-01-01

Project planning for two series of simple experiments on the effect of zero gravity on the melting and freezing of metals and nonmetals is described. The experiments will be performed in the Long Duration Exposure Facility, and their purpose will be to study: (1) the general morphology of metals and nonmetals during solidification, (2) the location of ullage space (liquid-vapor interfaces), and (3) the magnitude of surface tension driven convection during solidification of metals and nonmetals. The preliminary design of the experiments is presented. Details of the investigative approach, experimental procedure, experimental hardware, data reduction and analysis, and anticipated results are given. In addition a work plan and cost analysis are provided.

FAILSAFE Health Management for Embedded Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horvath, Gregory A.; Wagner, David A.; Wen, Hui Ying; Barry, Matthew

2010-01-01

The FAILSAFE project is developing concepts and prototype implementations for software health management in mission- critical, real-time embedded systems. The project unites features of the industry-standard ARINC 653 Avionics Application Software Standard Interface and JPL s Mission Data System (MDS) technology (see figure). The ARINC 653 standard establishes requirements for the services provided by partitioned, real-time operating systems. The MDS technology provides a state analysis method, canonical architecture, and software framework that facilitates the design and implementation of software-intensive complex systems. The MDS technology has been used to provide the health management function for an ARINC 653 application implementation. In particular, the focus is on showing how this combination enables reasoning about, and recovering from, application software problems.

Cyber-Attack Methods, Why They Work on Us, and What to Do

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrne, DJ

2015-01-01

Basic cyber-attack methods are well documented, and even automated with user-friendly GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces). Entire suites of attack tools are legal, conveniently packaged, and freely downloadable to anyone; more polished versions are sold with vendor support. Our team ran some of these against a selected set of projects within our organization to understand what the attacks do so that we can design and validate defenses against them. Some existing defenses were effective against the attacks, some less so. On average, every machine had twelve easily identifiable vulnerabilities, two of them "critical". Roughly 5% of passwords in use were easily crack-able. We identified a clear set of recommendations for each project, and some common patterns that emerged among them all.

Implementing PEHR: Design and Integration of a Consent Creator Service.

PubMed

Weiss, Nicolas; Aguduri, Lakshmi S; Yüksekogul, Nilay; Schreiweis, Björn; Brandner, Antje; Bronsch, Tobias; Pensold, Peter; Stein, Katharina E; Bergh, Björn; Heinze, Oliver

2016-01-01

Giving the patient full control over his medical data electronically remains one of the most discussed topics in healthcare today. The INFOPAT project in the Rhine-Neckar region focuses on a personal cross-enterprise electronic health record (PEHR) in which the patient plays a major role. Thus, he should be provided with the possibility of granting access to his medical data which could be realized using a consent creator service. This paper presents a user interface concept for such a service as well as aspects for the technical implementation. In addition, a pattern for integrating the service into an existing IHE based infrastructure is shown. These concepts could be further adapted for improving patient empowerment in health care projects.

General MACOS Interface for Modeling and Analysis for Controlled Optical Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sigrist, Norbert; Basinger, Scott A.; Redding, David C.

2012-01-01

The General MACOS Interface (GMI) for Modeling and Analysis for Controlled Optical Systems (MACOS) enables the use of MATLAB as a front-end for JPL s critical optical modeling package, MACOS. MACOS is JPL s in-house optical modeling software, which has proven to be a superb tool for advanced systems engineering of optical systems. GMI, coupled with MACOS, allows for seamless interfacing with modeling tools from other disciplines to make possible integration of dynamics, structures, and thermal models with the addition of control systems for deformable optics and other actuated optics. This software package is designed as a tool for analysts to quickly and easily use MACOS without needing to be an expert at programming MACOS. The strength of MACOS is its ability to interface with various modeling/development platforms, allowing evaluation of system performance with thermal, mechanical, and optical modeling parameter variations. GMI provides an improved means for accessing selected key MACOS functionalities. The main objective of GMI is to marry the vast mathematical and graphical capabilities of MATLAB with the powerful optical analysis engine of MACOS, thereby providing a useful tool to anyone who can program in MATLAB. GMI also improves modeling efficiency by eliminating the need to write an interface function for each task/project, reducing error sources, speeding up user/modeling tasks, and making MACOS well suited for fast prototyping.

Adaptive Interfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-11-01

to design and implement an adaptive intelligent interface for a command-and-control-style domain. The primary functionality of the resulting...technical tasks, as follows: 1. Analysis of Current Interface Technologies 2. Dejineation of User Roles 3. Development of User Models 4. Design of Interface...Management Association (FEMA). In the initial version of the prototype, two distin-t user models were designed . One type of user modeled by the system is

Design specifications for NALDA (Naval Aviation Logistics Data Analysis) CAI (computer aided instruction): Phase 2, Interim report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Twitty, A.F.; Handler, B.H.; Duncan, L.D.

Data Systems Engineering Organization (DSEO) personnel are developing a prototype computer aided instruction (CAI) system for the Naval Aviation Logistics Data Analysis (NALDA) system. The objective of this project is to provide a prototype for implementing CAI as an enhancement to existing NALDA training. The CAI prototype project is being performed in phases. The task undertaken in Phase I was to analyze the problem and the alternative solutions and to develop a set of recommendations on how best to proceed. In Phase II a structured design and specification document was completed that will provide the basis for development and implementationmore » of the desired CAI system. Phase III will consist of designing, developing, and testing a user interface which will extend the features of the Phase II prototype. The design of the CAI prototype has followed a rigorous structured analysis based on Yourdon/DeMarco methodology and Information Engineering tools. This document includes data flow diagrams, a data dictionary, process specifications, an entity-relationship diagram, a curriculum description, special function key definitions, and a set of standards developed for the NALDA CAI Prototype.« less

Mercury: An Example of Effective Software Reuse for Metadata Management, Data Discovery and Access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devarakonda, Ranjeet; Palanisamy, Giri; Green, James; Wilson, Bruce E.

2008-12-01

Mercury is a federated metadata harvesting, data discovery and access tool based on both open source packages and custom developed software. Though originally developed for NASA, the Mercury development consortium now includes funding from NASA, USGS, and DOE. Mercury supports the reuse of metadata by enabling searching across a range of metadata specification and standards including XML, Z39.50, FGDC, Dublin-Core, Darwin-Core, EML, and ISO-19115. Mercury provides a single portal to information contained in distributed data management systems. It collects metadata and key data from contributing project servers distributed around the world and builds a centralized index. The Mercury search interfaces then allow the users to perform simple, fielded, spatial and temporal searches across these metadata sources. One of the major goals of the recent redesign of Mercury was to improve the software reusability across the 12 projects which currently fund the continuing development of Mercury. These projects span a range of land, atmosphere, and ocean ecological communities and have a number of common needs for metadata searches, but they also have a number of needs specific to one or a few projects. To balance these common and project-specific needs, Mercury's architecture has three major reusable components; a harvester engine, an indexing system and a user interface component. The harvester engine is responsible for harvesting metadata records from various distributed servers around the USA and around the world. The harvester software was packaged in such a way that all the Mercury projects will use the same harvester scripts but each project will be driven by a set of project specific configuration files. The harvested files are structured metadata records that are indexed against the search library API consistently, so that it can render various search capabilities such as simple, fielded, spatial and temporal. This backend component is supported by a very flexible, easy to use Graphical User Interface which is driven by cascading style sheets, which make it even simpler for reusable design implementation. The new Mercury system is based on a Service Oriented Architecture and effectively reuses components for various services such as Thesaurus Service, Gazetteer Web Service and UDDI Directory Services. The software also provides various search services including: RSS, Geo-RSS, OpenSearch, Web Services and Portlets, integrated shopping cart to order datasets from various data centers (ORNL DAAC, NSIDC) and integrated visualization tools. Other features include: Filtering and dynamic sorting of search results, book- markable search results, save, retrieve, and modify search criteria.

The development of a program analysis environment for Ada: Reverse engineering tools for Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cross, James H., II

1991-01-01

The Graphical Representations of Algorithms, Structures, and Processes for Ada (GRASP/Ada) has successfully created and prototyped a new algorithm level graphical representation for Ada software, the Control Structure Diagram (CSD). The primary impetus for creation of the CSD was to improve the comprehension efficiency of Ada software and thus improve reliability and reduce costs. The emphasis was on the automatic generation of the CSD from Ada source code to support reverse engineering and maintenance. The CSD has the potential to replace traditional prettyprinted Ada source code. In Phase 1 of the GRASP/Ada project, the CSD graphical constructs were created and applied manually to several small Ada programs. A prototype (Version 1) was designed and implemented using FLEX and BISON running under the Virtual Memory System (VMS) on a VAX 11-780. In Phase 2, the prototype was improved and ported to the Sun 4 platform under UNIX. A user interface was designed and partially implemented. The prototype was applied successfully to numerous Ada programs ranging in size from several hundred to several thousand lines of source code. In Phase 3 of the project, the prototype was prepared for limited distribution (GRASP/Ada Version 3.0) to facilitate evaluation. The user interface was extensively reworked. The current prototype provides the capability for the user to generate CSD from Ada source code in a reverse engineering mode with a level of flexibility suitable for practical application.

SMART on FHIR: a standards-based, interoperable apps platform for electronic health records

PubMed Central

Kreda, David A; Mandl, Kenneth D; Kohane, Isaac S; Ramoni, Rachel B

2016-01-01

Objective In early 2010, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital began an interoperability project with the distinctive goal of developing a platform to enable medical applications to be written once and run unmodified across different healthcare IT systems. The project was called Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technologies (SMART). Methods We adopted contemporary web standards for application programming interface transport, authorization, and user interface, and standard medical terminologies for coded data. In our initial design, we created our own openly licensed clinical data models to enforce consistency and simplicity. During the second half of 2013, we updated SMART to take advantage of the clinical data models and the application-programming interface described in a new, openly licensed Health Level Seven draft standard called Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR). Signaling our adoption of the emerging FHIR standard, we called the new platform SMART on FHIR. Results We introduced the SMART on FHIR platform with a demonstration that included several commercial healthcare IT vendors and app developers showcasing prototypes at the Health Information Management Systems Society conference in February 2014. This established the feasibility of SMART on FHIR, while highlighting the need for commonly accepted pragmatic constraints on the base FHIR specification. Conclusion In this paper, we describe the creation of SMART on FHIR, relate the experience of the vendors and developers who built SMART on FHIR prototypes, and discuss some challenges in going from early industry prototyping to industry-wide production use. PMID:26911829