Welcome To Your Digital Edition of and Motion Control Technology

Welcome to your Digital Edition of
NASA Tech Briefs, Photonics Tech Briefs,

and Motion Control Technology
Included in This April 2010 Edition:
NASA Tech Briefs Photonics Tech Briefs Motion Control Technology
April 2010 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 34 No. 4 Photonics Solutions for the Design Engineer
April 2010
April 2010
Meeting the Challenges of

Communications Design
Active and Passive Hybrid Sensor
2009 Product of the Year Winners

See page 10
Photonics Tech Briefs
Motion Control Technology ™
Reducing Electromagnetic Interference in Motion Systems ..............................IIa

Rugged-Duty Actuator Enhances State-of-the-Art Pool/Spa Lift ......................8a
Low-Friction, Low-Profile, High-Moment Two-Axis Joint ..................................9a
The use of aspherical lenses can improve the perform-
ance of an optical system by correcting aberrations that Miniature Multi-Axis Mechanism for Hand Controllers ..................................10a
perturb light’s wavefront from its ideal spherical shape. Magnetostrictive Brake ......................................................................................10a
For more information, see the feature on page 48.
New Products ......................................................................................................12a
m
(Image courtesy of Edmund Optics, Inc.)
e.co
azin On the Cover: A specially designed linear actuator provides the lifting action for tion
mag a battery-powered chair that raises or lowers people into or out of a pool. m/mo
.ptb efs.co
www
See the story on page 8a. (Photo courtesy of Warner Linear)
echbri
www.t
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April 2010 www.techbriefs.com Vol. 34 No. 4
Meeting the Challenges of


See page 10
Motion Control Technology ™
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April 2010 • Vol. 34 No. 4
F EATURE S
16
14 Meeting the Demand for Complex
16 Application Briefs 65
71 NASA TechNeeds
72 Eye on Innovation
SO LUTIO N S
18 Technology Focus: Sensors

18 Active and Passive Hybrid Sensor
18 Quick-Response Thermal Actuator for Use as a Heat Switch
20 AlGaN Ultraviolet Detectors for Dual-Band UV Detection
21 Method for Detecting Perlite Compaction in Large
Cryogenic Tanks
22 Directional Spherical Cherenkov Detector
24 Using Thin-Film Thermometers as Heaters in Thermal
71
Control Applications
24 System for Hydrogen Sensing DEPARTM ENTS
25 Electronics/Computers 10 UpFront
25 K-Band Traveling-Wave Tube Amplifier
26 Sideband-Separating, Millimeter-Wave Heterodyne Receiver 12 Who’s Who at NASA
26 Simplified Load-Following Control for a Fuel Cell System
28 Loosely Coupled GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System for 37 Technologies of the Month
Range Safety
28 Modified Phasemeter for a Heterodyne Laser 69 Advertisers Index
Interferometer
70 NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program
30 Manufacturing & Prototyping
NEW FOR DESI GN ENGI NEER S
30 Coaxial Propellant Injectors With Faceplate Annulus Control
32 Adaptable Diffraction Gratings With Wavefront
Transformation 64 Product Focus: Software
34 Software 65 New Products

34 Natural-Language Parser for PBEM
34 Policy Process Editor for P3BM Software SPEC I AL SU PPLEM ENT
34 A Quality System Database
36 Trajectory Optimization: OTIS4 April 2010
36 Computer Software Configuration Item-Specific Flight

Software Image Transfer Script Generator 1a – 14a
38 Materials
Motion Control Technology™
38 Optimizing a Laser Process for Making Carbon Nanotubes Reducing Electromagnetic Interference in Motion Systems ..............................IIa
Follows page 36 in selected editions only.
Miniature Multi-Axis Mechanism for Hand Controllers ..................................10a
Magnetostrictive Brake ......................................................................................10a
39 Thermogravimetric Analysis of Single-Wall Carbon New Products ......................................................................................................12a

On the Cover: A specially designed linear actuator provides the lifting action for
a battery-powered chair that raises or lowers people into or out of a pool.
See the story on page 8a. (Photo courtesy of Warner Linear)
chbrief
s.com/m
otion
www.te
Nanotubes
(Solutions continued on page 6)
4 www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010
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Contents continued
40 Mechanics/Machinery PR ODU C T OF TH E M ONTH
40 Robotic Arm Comprising Two Bending Segments
Phoenix Contact (Middletown,
42 Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for High-Speed Turbomachinery PA) offers the TRIO-UPS
uninterruptible power supply
43 Information Sciences for use with industrial PCs.
43 Efficient Bit-to-Symbol Likelihood Mappings

44 Landmark Detection in Orbital Images Using Salience
Histograms 10
46 Capacity Maximizing Constellations
ON TH E C OV ER
Photonics Solutions for the Design Engineer
April 2010
47 Photonics Tech Briefs
48 Using Aspheres To Increase Optical
Gridgen computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
System Performance software from Pointwise (Fort Worth, TX), features
54 Monitoring Carbon Composite Structures a turbomachinery interface that reads geometry
With Optical Fiber Sensors files directly and grids them automatically. It
exports the model in the native format of many
57 Focusing Light Beams to Improve CFD solvers, including ANSYS CFX (shown here)
ance of an optical system by correcting aberrations that
Atomic-Vapor Optical Buffers and ANSYS Fluent. In this image, streamlines
illustrate the flow through an axial turbine. Find
perturb light’s wavefront from its ideal spherical shape.
m
ine.co
www.
ptbm
agaz
58 Digitally Enhanced Heterodyne out more about the latest version of Gridgen in
Interferometry our Product Focus on Software on page 64.
60 New Products (Image courtesy of Pointwise)
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National Aeronautics and Space Permissions: Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or
Administration. Neither Associated Business Publications Co., Ltd. nor the United States personal use of specific clients, is granted by Associated Business Publications, provided that
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States Government assumes any the flat fee of $3.00 per copy be paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (222 Rose
liability resulting from the use of the information contained in this document, or warrants that Wood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923). For those organizations that have been granted a photocopy
such use will be free from privately owned rights. The U.S. Government does not endorse any license by CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. The fee code for users of the
commercial product, process, or activity identified in this publication. Transactional Reporting Service is: ISSN 0145-319X194 $3.00+ .00
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product design, and a new user for powering all types of equip-
interface that combines an intuitive 3D design environment ment and electronics. We’ll also
for creating parts and assemblies. AutoCAD Mechanical have a sneak peek at the new prod-
includes intelligent drafting features for automating common ucts on display at Sensors Expo,
design tasks, and AutoCAD Electrical includes a new one-line June 7-9, in Rosemont, IL.
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Who’s Who at NASA
Mark Polansky, Astronaut,

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
M ark Polansky
enjoyed a suc-
cessful 14-year career
to my first two, but we had five space-
walks, intricate robotics that were inter-
woven with the spacewalks every single
as an Air Force fight- day of the mission, and we had three
er pilot before join- arms going, so it was a sprint from start
ing NASA as an aero- to finish.
space engineer and
research pilot in NTB: As a mission commander, what
1992. As an astro- were your duties while the shuttle was
naut, he has flown three space shuttle docked at the ISS?
missions to the International Space
Station (ISS). Polansky: The main thing was to keep
track of what was on the plate for that
NASA Tech Briefs: You’ve flown on day — spacewalks, robotics, and every-
three space shuttle missions, one as the thing else — and just be there to offer
pilot and two as commander. What are any help that I could and make sure that
the responsibilities of these two posi- things were going smoothly. For the
tions? robotics, I had the job of being the back-
up person for the shuttle robotic arm,
Mark Polansky: The commander is and I also did some of the robotics for
basically in charge and responsible for the Japanese robotic arm. But primarily,
everything, so even though I might del- I just tried to keep a really big picture
egate things to other people, ultimately and then get out of the way of all the
it’s my responsibility for how the mis- folks on my crew who were trying to do
sion gets executed. So from an opera- their jobs.
tional perspective, you need to know
everything that’s going on around you. NTB: What advice would you offer to
As far as the shuttle, we divvy up the young people who want to be astronauts?
responsibilities for the systems. The
commander historically takes charge of Polansky: I would say don’t get fixated
all of the computers on board, the data on being an astronaut. That’s easy for
processing system, and the environmen- me to say, having been one, but what I
tal systems. try to tell folks when I go out to visit
The rest of the systems are controlled schools is to, number one, make sure
by the pilot. The auxiliary power unit you realize that you have to put in a lot
that controls our hydraulics systems, the of hard work. You’ve got to get those
electrical power systems, the orbital degrees and then you need to find
maneuvering system, propellants, and things that you really enjoy doing. You
the reaction control system are given to cannot say, “What do I have to do to look
the pilot. good on a resume to become an astro-
naut?” The cookbook approach does
NTB: Which of your three missions to not work. So I tell kids, if you enjoy
the ISS was the most challenging? scuba diving and skydiving, go for it, but
don’t do it just because you think it’s
Polansky: Without a doubt, it was the going to make you look better. You tend
last one. It was much more complex to do well at the things you really have a
than my first two. When I flew my very passion for. Once you do that, then you
first one, that was pretty challenging. need patience and perseverance. I
Then on the second one, we were basi- applied four times and interviewed
cally doing a lot of work from the three times before I got the call.
ground, re-doing the electrical system A full transcript and downloadable pod-
and having to deal with a solar array that cast of this interview are available online at
didn’t retract as it was supposed to. www.techbriefs.com/podcast. For more infor-
The last mission, STS-127, actually mation, contact Mark Polansky at
went pretty much by the book compared mark.l.polansky@nasa.gov.
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-764 www.techbriefs.com NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010
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Meeting the Demand for Complex
ommunications engineers today With Model-Based Design, engineers implementation details. For example, if
C must design to accommodate chang-
ing missions, shorter product lifecycles,
develop an executable model, often
referred to as an executable specifica-
the target for the algorithm is a field-
programmable gate array (FPGA), then
and increasing computer power. As a tion, which is independent of the imple- fixed-point details must be added to the
result, they create hybrid systems that mentation. Within this model, design model, and system performance must be
include RF, high-speed signal process- and system engineers can develop, test, assessed to confirm that objectives are
ing, lower-speed signal processing, and and partition the design prior to imple- still met. Also at this stage, the effect of
controls logic and control systems. mentation and integration. This introducing non-ideal component per-
In the initial stages of the design approach enables them to find errors formance to the system model can be
process, it is often unclear whether to early in the process, when errors are eas- assessed. For example, RF amplifier
use analog or digital components, and ier and less expensive to fix. behavior can be added to the model
what portion of a design should be Often the initial algorithm is devel- using measured S-parameter data.
implemented in software or hardware. oped in floating point using textual-based Typically, RF amplifier behavior is mod-
System designers and implementers languages such as MATLAB or C/C++. eled and analyzed in the frequency
make their best guess on how to parti- Example tasks could include designing domain, while the communications
tion the design, which might result in filter cascades for digital up/down con- algorithm is developed in the complex-
sub-optimal designs and system per- version or developing carrier tracking time domain. By combining these mod-
formance. Typically, it is only near the loops. The algorithm engineer focuses on els into a common executable modeling
end of the design process that the system verifying that the signal processing algo- environment, system-level behavior and
designers and implementers can know rithm meets the design objectives, such as performance metrics such as bit-error
whether their initial guess meets system fitting the system response within a speci- rate (BER) can be determined.
performance requirements. If it doesn’t, fied frequency mask or tracking expected When the algorithm elaboration is
significant rework needs to be done, Doppler profiles. complete and the system-level perform-
which leads to cost and time overruns on After testing the algorithm, the model ance is verified in the model, testing can
the project. To address these challenges can be further elaborated with the be done on the host with different
earlier in the design process, communi- implementation details, and the system implementation languages to uncover
cations engineers have adopted Model- performance can be verified against the errors introduced in the implementa-
Based Design. design objectives with the additional tion. For example, if part of the algo-
rithm is partitioned for low-speed signal
processing on a DSP, the implementa-
tion of the algorithm will be C/C++. In
this case, engineers can use automatic
code generation to rapidly create a pro-
totype implementation that can be test-
ed in the modeling environment with
the same test vectors used to verify the
model performance. Similarly, if the tar-
get is a high-speed implementation on
an ASIC or FPGA, then automatic code
generation can be used to create an
HDL implementation that can be tested
within Simulink and an EDA simulator,
such as ModelSim from Mentor
Graphics, Incisive from Cadence, or
Discovery from Synopsis.
When host testing is complete, the
final version of the generated code can
be used for production. If highly opti-
mized or specialized code is required for
deployment, this last implementation
step can be done by hand. Whether
automatically generated or hand-coded,
the final implementation can be tested
Figure 1. Top-level view of a GPS system, including transmitter with timing error, channel model with
Doppler frequency shift, and receiver with timing and Doppler recovery loops. The model contains on the target hardware (microprocessor,
numerous levels of hierarchy. DSP, or FPGA).
➮
➭
WORLD LEADER
IN NON-CONTACT
MEASUREMENT
EDDY-CURRENT
Figure 2. Receiver portion of the model partitioned with the high-speed fixed-point portion in yellow
and the lower-speed, single precision floating-point portion in green. RF from actual GPS satellites is SENSORS
captured with a spectrum analyzer. This is now the data source for verifying the model with real-world
data.
Measuring ranges from 0.4 to 80mm
More than 300 sensor models
Implementing Model-Based model is working with floating-point arith- Nanometer resolution
Design metic, the next step is to elaborate the
Given this background, let’s look at an model with fixed-point attributes that will Intelligent controller
example of how Model-Based Design be required for the FPGA partition. Robust sensors for applications
could be used to develop a GPS receiver. Implementation on the FPGA can be in extreme conditons
The GPS system has been fully opera- automated at this point using the fixed- Miniature sensors
tional with 24 satellites in its constellation point model of the FPGA partition with
since 1994, and its use is ubiquitous. The tools such as Simulink HDL Coder or
example involves using code-division Xilinx System Generator. Then, using
multiple access (CDMA) for time-delay HDL simulators, it’s possible to verify
measurement to yield range. All satellites that the implementation is functionally
share the same carrier frequency of equivalent to the design model.
1.57542 GHz for civilian access, which has Similarly, using the model of the DSP
not changed in the past 30 years.
The design process starts with the cre-
partition, the C code can be automatical-
ly generated by tools such as Real-Time
CAPACITIVE
ation of a system-level model of a GPS Workshop Embedded Coder for deploy- SENSORS
receiver from the written specification ment. Before integrating the C onto the Measuring ranges 0.05 to 10mm
for a GPS physical layer. The model, DSP, it can be pulled back into the simu-
shown in Figure 1, contains the transmit- lation environment and checked against Extreme resolution 0.0000375μm
ter, channel, receiver, and measurement the model to confirm functional equiva- Material-independent
visualization subsystems, and has numer- lence, as was done with the HDL code. Instant sensor replacement without
ous levels of hierarchy. The transmitter The last step is to deploy the HDL to the recalibration
model introduces timing errors to test FPGA and the C to the DSP, and confirm
the receiver timing recovery control that there are no errors introduced on Excellent stability
loop, while the channel model adds the target hardware. Customized probes
Doppler shift to test the receiver carrier Using Model-Based Design, engineer-
tracking loop. Once the simulation of ing teams developing advanced commu-
the design meets the required perform- nications systems can collaborate in a
ance goals, the system-level model common environment that enables
becomes an executable specification. them to capture the algorithm design as
Next, the algorithm model can be parti- well as system-level effects of non-ideal-
tioned into a portion that will reside in the ized hardware. As a result, the teams can
FPGA and a portion that will reside in the optimize their designs through design
floating-point DSP. For example, incom- exploration, identify design errors prior
ing I/Q data arriving at a rate of 8 million to implementation, and use modern
samples per section (MSPS) and passing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tools
through a root-raised cosine FIR filter is to automate much of the work.
best suited for the FPGA. On the other This article was written by Jon Friedman, www.me-sensor.com
hand, once the signal has been de-spread, Aerospace and Defense Marketing Manager for MICRO-EPSILON
the data rate is 1000 Hz, and can easily be The MathWorks, Natick, MA. For more informa- Raleigh, NC 27617 / USA
handled by a DSP. After the receiver tion, visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-121. Phone +1/919 787 9707
info@micro-epsilon.us
NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010 www.techbriefs.com
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Application Briefs
D eformable Mirrors Key to

Advancement of Space Imaging
Research
MEMS-based deformable mirrors
Boston Micromachines Corp.
Cambridge, MA
617-868-4178
www.bostonmicromachines.com
Boston Micromachines has been selected by NASA’s Small

Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to integrate its
MEMS-based deformable mirrors (DMs) into two Phase 1
space imaging research projects. For the first project, the com-
pany will collaborate with Boston University to develop a com-
pact, ultra-low-power, high-voltage multiplexed driver suitable
for integration with DMs in space-based wavefront control
applications. This project will yield a driver that produces a
minimum hundred-fold reduction in power consumption and
a ten-fold reduction in size, but still maintains high precision overcome current scalability issues associated with fabricated,
and decreases cost interconnection complexity. polysilicon surface-micromachined MEMS (microelectro-
The second project aims to innovate an enhanced fabrica- mechanical system) DMs. By expanding the size of DMs, space
tion development process for high-actuator-count DMs that imaging instruments will be able to shape more light using less
are required for wavefront control in space-based, high-con- hardware and fewer stages.
trast imaging instruments. The manufacturing process will For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-116
S imulation Software Helps

Phoenix Mission Interpret
Data From Mars
ANSYS® fluid dynamics software
ANSYS
Canonsburg, PA
724-746-3304
www.ansys.com
ANSYS fluid dynamics software has helped

researchers at the University of Alberta interpret
weather data received from NASA’s Phoenix Mars
lander. Using this software, researchers created a vir-
tual environment of the planet’s atmospheric condi-
tions, and discovered that under certain wind condi-
tions, heat emitted from the lander could cause a
temperature sensor to show higher-than-atmospher-
ic values. The researchers also learned that other
conditions such as obstacles upstream from velocity
and pressure sensors could alter readings of wind
magnitude and direction. Using these findings, the team spe- Throughout the length of the mission, the team used ANSYS
cially calibrated the meteorological instruments through a software to run simulations in parallel on a cluster to achieve,
large parametric study before the launch. After Phoenix at times, super-linear speed-up. Quick turnaround time
touched down on Mars, the team carefully evaluated raw mis- allowed them to complete simulations within the timeframe
sion data by paying particular attention to the types of wind required for decision making.
conditions that had produced tainted data in the simulations. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-117
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Technology Focus: Sensors

The sensor acquires active and passive measurements to map ocean winds.
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
A hybrid ocean wind sensor (HOWS) changes, the relative phase distribution cuit also contains a Dicke switch and noise
can map ocean vector wind in low to can change, which potentially degrades diode circuit to implement Dicke-Hach
hurricane-level winds, and non-precipi- the antenna pattern due to phase errors mode receiver. The bandwidth of the
tating and precipitating conditions. It and biases. Direct measurement of the antenna and receiver paths is large
can acquire active and passive measure- LO phase and transmit phase alleviates enough that the passive signal is filtered
ments through a single aperture at two this problem. from the active signal so that both may be
wavelengths, two polarizations, and mul- The system will operate at C and Ku- measured simultaneously.
tiple incidence angles. Its low profile, bands with beams at 30° and 40° inci- HOWS is useful for monitoring sur-
compact geometry, and low power con- dence. The retrieval processor will use the face winds during severe ocean storms.
sumption permits installation on aircraft active and passive measurements to map Search and rescue missions can benefit
platforms, including high-altitude the ocean vector wind with a pixel resolu- from both the imaging capabilities of
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). tion of approximately 2×2 km. With a this system as well as the retrieved prod-
The primary innovation enabling both more than 100-MHz bandwidth, it can ucts. Although this system is focused on
active and passive measurements through operate in a high-resolution mode to pro- ocean vector winds, its ability to collect
a single system, while allowing for beam vide very high-resolution imagery. dual-wavelength, dual-polarized active
scanning, is the separation of transmit The system design operates in two sep- and passive measurements and image
and receive beam synthesis process. With arate modes: transmission and reception. over a range of incidence angles in a
this approach, the antenna comprises sev- During transmission, the phase and conically scanning or fixed pointing
eral linear arrays, each with its own trans- amplitude distribution of the array are mode has broad use for remote sensing
ceiver. The key components to this system controlled through the transceivers. Every and surveillance purposes. Potential
are the transceiver, antenna, and multi- n-th transmission cycle, the internal cali- uses other than wind applications
channel digital receiver subsystems. The bration circuits are used to measure the include mapping land, snow, and ice fea-
antenna design was described in “Low- relative phase and amplitude differences tures. Its capabilities also can aid in tar-
Profile, Dual-Wavelength, Dual-Polarized introduced by the circuits themselves so get or scene classification, as well as
Antenna” (GSC-15706), NASA Tech Briefs, that these offsets can be accounted for in high-resolution imaging from airborne
Vol. 34, No. 1 (January 2010), p. 26. forming the transmitted beam pattern. or ground surveillance applications.
A novel capability of this design is that During reception, the receivers amplify This work was done by James R. Carswell
each transceiver has an internal calibra- and down-convert the receive backscatter of Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc. for
tion loop that is interconnected with and observed scene emission. The digi- Goddard Space Flight Center. For more infor-
adjacent transceivers. This allows the rel- tized signals are sent to the digital receiv- mation, download the Technical Support
ative phase of the waveform generators er subsystem, which applies phase and Package (free white paper) at www.
and LO (local oscillator) signals to be amplitude weightings to form the desired techbriefs.com/tsp under the Physical
directly measured. With environmental receive antenna pattern. The receiver cir- Sciences category. GSC-15707-1
Quick-Response Thermal Actuator for Use as a Heat Switch

Thermal actuators have many applications in aerospace, automotive, and energy storage.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
This work improves the performance A heat switch/thermal actuator and the stroke of the piston/plunger is
of a heat switch, or a thermal actuator, works by using the expansion of a very small.
by delivering heat to the actuator in a paraffin wax as it melts as a means of A device of this kind could replace the
more efficient manner. The method moving a piston/plug/plunger to need for heat switches that require power
uses a heat pipe as the plunger or perform a function. Typically, this to operate on a spacecraft in a safe-mode
plug instead of just using a solid function is to close a small gap and condition. This device would require no
piece of metal. The heat pipe could increase heat transfer across a bound- power to operate except for the waste
be one tailored for fast transient ther- ary, but it also could be used to move a heat of the device it is protecting. It may
mal response. latch. These devices are usually slow, also be used as an energy-harvesting
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Sensors
device by using waste heat to move a pis- device will then push off the radiator, dis- • Fast actuation due to quick heat transfer.
ton back and forth much faster than engaging it from the spacecraft bus. The • Large stroke and stroke velocity.
could be accomplished otherwise. device could be mounted as a pull device • Mass savings as there is no need for thick
The device uses waste heat that flows as well, pulling the radiator closer to the metallic sections for conducting heat.
through the plunger pedestal into the thermal bus to increase the thermal con- The actuation stroke could be designed
heat pipe and out towards the paraffin ductance between bus and radiator. to be large and quick enough to be used
wax to cause actuation of the plunger due Thermal actuators of this kind are as an energy-harvesting device, converting
to phase change of the wax from solid to somewhat common, except that this waste heat into mechanical energy.
liquid. For use as a heat switch on a space- device uses a heat pipe as a plunger, This work was done by Juan Cepeda-Rizo of
craft, multiple devices may be permanent- so this is an improvement. Most other Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
ly attached to a radiator via the plunger, devices require heat transfer through the For more information, download the
and the body attached to a rigid structure. wax chamber body, not through the Technical Support Package (free white paper)
During a safe mode orbital maneuver if plunger itself. This device will have three at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
the radiator should face the Sun, the distinct advantages over other versions: Mechanics/Machinery category. NPO-46679
®
AlGaN Ultraviolet
Detectors for Dual-
Band UV Detection
This technology can be used
in multicolor imaging for
flame temperature sensing
and counter-camouflage/
biosensing applications.
Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Maryland
This innovation comprises technology
Flying with precision that has the ability to measure at least

two ultraviolet (UV) bands using one
detector without relying on any external
optical filters. This allows users to build
The aerospace industry's most reliable sensing a miniature UVA and UVB monitor, as
source for more than 60 years. well as to develop compact, multicolor
imaging technologies for flame temper-
> NEW! Extensive replacement sensor program, with 15% competitor ature sensing, air-quality control, and
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sensing applications.
> Precision amplitude, frequency and phase response The structure is designed for back illu-
> Excellent stability over extreme in-flight speeds and temperatures mination and contains six AlGaN layers
> Precise data matching from multiple sensors with different doping, Al percentage,
and two contacts — A and B. The cut-off
wavelength of AlGaN can be tuned from
200 nm to 365 nm by changing the Al
percentage. There are three band-edges
in this structure that correspond to
Flight and flutter (7290E) Pressure (8515C) Vibration (2221F) AlxGa1–xN, AlyGa1–yN, and AlzGa1–zN —
> 2 to 150 g full scale ranges > 15 and 50 psia ranges > Hermetically sealed x, y, and z should be designed to be
> Digital temperature compensation > 200 mV full scale output > 360° cable orientation x>y >z for back illumination.
> Low-cost, premium performance > Ultra-thin (0.76 mm) > High temperature When photons are injected from the
absolute reference operation (+260°C)
backside, they will be absorbed at dif-
ferent layers depending on the wave-
length of the photons. Electrically, the
device is a back-to-back pin structure
along the vertical direction. When B is
1-949-493-8181 biased positively, and A is connected to
www.endevco.com www.meggitt.com the ground, the bottom pin is forward-
ly biased and acts as a current variable
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resistor with resistance becoming Al yGa 1–yN and the photons with and wz are tunable between 250 nm
negligible when the bias on B is wx<wp<wy can be converted into to 300 nm. The percentage of Al in
high enough. While the bottom pin photo-current. When wp<wx, all pho- the p+ layer in the center can be any
is forward biased, the top pin tons will be absorbed in the bottom number between y and z. As a result,
junction is reverse biased and acts as n+AlxGa1–xN layer. Most of the photo- the two detection bands do not have to
a detector. Because the depletion electrons will be recombined locally be continuous.
mainly happens in the n-AlzGa 1–zN without generating photocurrent. This work was done by Laddawan Miko,
layer, only the photons absorbed in n- By charging the polarity of the bias, David Franz, and Carl M. Stahle of
AlzGa1–zN will be converted into pho- the detector can selectively detect two Goddard Space Flight Center and Feng
ton-current. When the bias is applied different wavebands: wy<wp<wz, when Yan and Bing Guan of MEI Technologies,
in an opposite manner, in which B is positive bias is applied on A, and Inc. For more information, download
biased negatively and A is connected to wx<wp<wy when negative bias is the Technical Support Package (free
the ground, the bottom pin is biased in applied on A. The detector is blind to white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/
reverse and acts as an active detector. wp<wx (no photocurrent) and wp>wz tsp under the Physical Sciences category.
The depletion region is mainly in n- (no absorption). Practically, wx, wy, GSC-15163-1
Method for Detecting Perlite Compaction in Large

Cryogenic Tanks
This technique could be applied by companies using rail cars and trucks to deliver liquid cryogens.
John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Perlite is the most typical insulating ambient temperature. Perlite minimizes the outer shell. This can cause deforma-
powder used to separate the inner and radiative energy transfer between the two tion of the outer shell, leading to dam-
outer shells of cryogenic tanks. The inner tanks. Being a powder, perlite will settle aged internal fittings.
tank holds the low-temperature commod- over time, leading to the danger of trans- The method proposed is to place
ity, while the outer shell is exposed to the ferring any loads from the inner shell to strain or displacement sensors on sever-
How stable is your The B-WIT 100

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NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-714 21
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Sensors
Perlite Compacted
Simulate 0.35
Compacted Versus Fluffy Perlite Shell Deformation Areas
Better.
0.3
Displacement in mm
0.25
0.2
0.15
Validate 0.1
0.05
Easier. -0.05
100 1100 2100 3100
Time (seconds)
4100
Strain/Displacement Measurements for the detection of perlite compaction. The curves show the
differential motion of the outer tank as the inner tank thermally expanded with fluffy perlite (lower
curve) and compacted perlite (upper curve).
al locations of the outer shell. Loads inner tank was allowed to warm and
induced on the shell by the expanding expand, it deformed the outer tank into
inner shell and perlite would be moni- an elliptical shape, and the displace-
tored, providing an indication of the ment sensors detected different motions
location and degree of compaction. for the fluffy and compacted perlite. In
Testing involved a small, metal any location where the perlite was still
Dewar tank composed of an inner and fluffy and not compacted, there was no
outer shell. The annular region was deformation. In areas where the perlite
filled with perlite. Displacement sen- was packed more solidly, the sensors
sors were connected at two locations detected a slight deflection. By running
on the outside of the outer shell. With these checks between cycles, it becomes
the perlite not compacted, the inner a simple matter to identify areas of per-
tank was thermally cycled and the dif- lite compaction, and replace it before it
ference in the two displacements was can cause damage to the outer shell.
measured as the inner tank warmed This work was done by Robert
and pressed on the perlite. Youngquist of Kennedy Space Center. For
NI Multisim 11.0 for Circuit Design The perlite was then compacted by more information, download the Technical
hand in two areas while the inner tank Support Package (free white paper) at
Q
Enhanced Visualization was cold in order to mechanically couple www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Phys-
Q
Expanded Component Database the inner and outer shells. When the ical Sciences category. KSC-13214
Q
Customizable Simulation
Analyses
Q
Complete Prototype Design with
NI Ultiboard Layout
Directional Spherical Cherenkov Detector
Incident particles could be sorted by direction, speed, and
electric charge.
>> Evaluate Multisim 11.0 at John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
ni.com/multisim A proposed radiation-detecting The apparatus (see figure) would
800 263 5552 apparatus would provide information include a spherical Cherenkov detector
on the kinetic energies, directions, and surrounded by stacks of pairs of detec-
electric charges of highly energetic tors. Each such pair and stack would be
incident subatomic particles. The used in identifying incident particles
apparatus was originally intended for and would respond to particles incident
use in measuring properties of cosmic within a solid-angle range that, in con-
rays in outer space, but could also be junction with the number of such stacks,
adapted to terrestrial uses — for exam- would define the angular resolution of
©2009 National Instruments. All rights reserved. National Instruments, NI, ple, radiation dosimetry aboard high- the apparatus. The number of stacks
and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and
company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective altitude aircraft and in proton radia- and the number of pairs of detectors in
companies. 1Prices subject to change. 0691
tion therapy for treatment of tumors. each stack may be unlimited.
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Integrating Sphere Directional Stacks
Coated With
Ultraviolet-
3DM-GX3™-25 Miniature Attitude
Reflective Heading Reference System
Material
Except Enclosure With versions weighing only Features and Benefits:
at Ports (18-cm 11.5 grams, 3DM-GX3-25™ s &ULLYTEMPERATURECOMPENSATED
Diameter)

Ultraviolet earity
Photodiodes
at Ports EUNDER
rsamp ple
oversampled
FILTERED
D
Hypothetical Track
egrals
of Incident Particle
SERIAL
ces
(Z
A Spherical Cherenkov Detector would be combined with directional/

triggering detector stacks. power
ption in
n
ass
The detectors in each stack would typically have areas >1 cm2
and could be made, variously, from compensated silicon or from
such wide-bandgap semiconductors as semi-insulating silicon car-
bide. Sheets of tungsten, lead, nickel, iron, and/or alloys thereof, Wireless Sensing Systems
serving as energy-moderating materials, could be inserted
between detectors to enable discrimination of particles by ener- High-speed data acquisition Features and Benefits:
gy. A scintillation counter could be used as a particle trigger with, for condition based s )%%%$333NODES
monitoring of machines, s ,ICENSE FREEWORLDWIDE
or in place of, the detector stack.
health monitoringg of s 3TREAMINGRATESUPTO+(Z
The spherical Cherenkov detector would include a sphere of $ T L I T T (
t t di d t i l
ultraviolet-transparent material (e.g., sapphire, quartz, or an
acrylic polymer) having an ultraviolet index of refraction greater
than 1. The sphere would be coated with an ultraviolet-reflecting
material except at small ports. SiC photodiodes or optical fibers
leading to photodiodes would be mounted facing into the sphere
at the ports to enable detection of Cherenkov ultraviolet light
emitted within the sphere.
The detectors in the stacks would serve as triggers for collec-
tion of light by the photodiodes of the spherical Cherenkov
counter. The direction and length of the path of a triggering par-
ticle would be determined from the identities (and thus the posi-
tions) of the affected detectors and stacks. For incident ions hav-
ing sufficiently high kinetic energies, the strengths of the signals
from the SiC photodiodes or optical fibers would be proportion- DVRT® Microminiature
al to the square of the electric charges of the ions multiplied by Gauging Sensors
the path lengths. Hence, a velocity distribution for high-energy
ions incident from multiple directions could be determined.
For less-energetic incident particles, further sorting could be #
accomplished through correlation of the Cherenkov signal from (Z
the sphere with differences among signals from stacked detectors
that have different thicknesses and that may be interspersed with
energy-moderating materials. Sensitivity of detection could be
increased through substitution of low-noise SiC detectors for
ordinary SiC detectors.
This work was done by John D. Wrbanek, Gustave C. Fralick, and
Susan Y. Wrbanek of Glenn Research Center. For more information,
download the Technical Support Package (free white paper) at
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Physical Sciences category.
Inquiries concerning rights for the commercial use of this invention
D
should be addressed to NASA Glenn Research Center, Innovative
Partnerships Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail Stop 4–8, 21000 Brookpark Call 800.449.3878 or visit us online at
Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-18362-1. www.microstrain.com
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Sensors
Using Thin-Film
Thermometers as Heaters in
Thermal Control Applications
A cryogenic sensor maintains calibration at ≈4.2 K to better
than 2 mK (<0.5 percent resistance repeatability) after being
For 40 years, AAC has provided fast heated to ≈40 K with ≈0.5 W power. The sensor withstands 4 W
response to requests for compact, power dissipation when immersed in liquid nitrogen with veri-
mission-critical current, voltage, fied resistance reproducibility of, at worst, 1 percent. The sen-
power, and frequency transducers. sor maintains calibration to 0.1 percent after being heated with
Let us deliver the same timely, highly reliable 1-W power at ≈77 K for a period of 48 hours.
performance in designing and manufacturing AS 9100 When operated with a readout scheme that is capable of mit-
standard or custom transducers for you, ISO 9001:2000
igating the self-heating calibration errors, this and similar sen-
for a variety of applications: sors can be used for precision (mK stability) temperature con-
• Space, Aircraft, Land Vehicles, Shipboard trol without the need of separate heaters and associated
• Rail Transit wiring/cabling.
• Industrial Controls This work was done by Hyung J. Cho, Konstantin Penanen, Kalyani
• Military and G. Sukhatme, and Warren A. Holmes of Caltech, and Scott Courts of
Commercial C Grade Lake Shore Cryotronics for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more
information, download the Technical Support Package (free white
paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Physical Sciences catego-
American Aerospace Controls ry. NPO-46882
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System for Hydrogen Sensing

John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
A low-power, wireless gas-sensing system is designed to safe-
guard the apparatus to which it is attached, as well as associat-
ed personnel. It also ensures the efficiency and operational
integrity of the hydrogen-powered apparatus. This sensing sys-
tem can be operated with lower power consumption (less than
30 nanowatts), but still has a fast response. The detecting sig-
nal can be wirelessly transmitted to remote locations, or can be
posted on the Web. This system can also be operated by har-
vesting energy.
The electrical signal response of the sensor to the hydro-
gen gas can be amplified by a differential detection inter-
face (DDI) connected to the low-power gas sensor. A micro-
controller is connected and programmed to process the
electrical signal, which is then wirelessly transmitted. The
system also includes a central monitoring station with a
wireless receiver configured to receive the sensor data signal
from the wireless transmitter of the sensor device. The sys-
tem further includes a power source with at least one vibra-
tional energy harvester, solar energy harvester, and a bat-
tery.
This work was done by Jenshan Lin, David P. Norton, Stephen J.
Pearton, and Fan Ren of the University of Florida for Glenn Research
Center. For more information, download the Technical Support
Package (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
Physical Sciences category.
Partnerships Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail Stop 4–8, 21000
Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-18484-1.
➮
➭
Electronics/Computers
K-Band Traveling-Wave Tube Amplifier

This amplifier can be used for high-data-rate transmission from communications satellites.
John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
A new space-qualified, high-power,
high-efficiency, K-band traveling-wave
tube amplifier (TWTA), shown in the
figure, will provide high-rate, high-
capacity, direct-to-Earth communica-
tions for science data and video gath-
ered by the Lunar Reconnaissance Or-
biter (LRO) during its mission. The
TWTA is designed for 20 years of oper-
ational life, well in excess of the
expected 7 years of mission life. It is a
vacuum electronics device that is used
to amplify microwave communications
signals. TWTs are needed for high-fre-
quency and high-power applications,
such as communications from the
Moon, because they have significantly
higher power capability and efficiency A K-Band 40-W TWTA is shown here for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission.
than solid-state devices. Amplification
in a TWT is by a factor of about
100,000. The RF power and data rate
values for the LRO TWTA, when com-
pared with other space based K-band
Leading Embedded
transmitters, are an order of magni-
tude higher and represent a new state
of the art.
Development Tools...
Several technological advances were
responsible for the successful demon-
stration of the K-band TWTA. A
numerical model enabled manufactur-
ing a wideband TWT with high power
output and efficiency leading to a first-
pass design success. A dual-anode iso-
lated-focus electrode electron gun
enabled excellent focusing, which kept
the power loss due to beam intercep-
tion minimal over a wide range of volt-
age and current values. A WR-34 wave-
guide was used for the input/output For Microcontroller: For ARM Application Processors:
couplers and larger, thicker RF quartz ®
6RIWZDUHGHYHORSPHQWWRROVIRU$50 (FOLSVHEDVHGGHYHORSPHQWWRROVIRU/LQX[
windows, allowing operation not only &RUWH[0&RUWH[5DQG&0&8V DQG$QGURLG
at LRO frequencies but also at future 5726DQGPLGGOHZDUHOLEUDULHV 6XSSRUWIRUDOO$50DSSOLFDWLRQSURFHVVRUV
near-Earth mission frequencies. 86%-7$*DGDSWHUDQGHYDOXDWLRQERDUGV +LJKSHUIRUPDQFHGHEXJDQGWUDFHDGDSWHU
Furthermore, it is more robust against
mechanical shock and vibrations, and
lowers the total attenuation of the sig-
nal in the waveguide run between the April 26-29, 2010. Visit us at #1308
TWT output and the antenna. An .
external filter was developed to sup-
press the unwanted conducted emis- www.keil.com 1-800-348-8051
sions from the EPC (electronic power
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conditioner) to the spacecraft bus by Glenn Research Center, and Paul C. Spitsen of
Rad Tolerant greater than 20 dB.

The TWTA has successfully completed
L-3 Communications Electron Technologies,
Inc. For more information, download the
a vigorous spaceflight qualification effort, Technical Support Package (free white
HiRel DC-DC including random vibration testing and
cycling between temperature extremes
paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
Electronics/Computers category.
Converters that the hardware is expected to experi-

ence during mission operation. Other
Inquiries concerning rights for the commer-
cial use of this invention should be addressed
possible applications include high-data- to NASA Glenn Research Center, Innovative
rate transmission from geosynchronous Partnerships Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail
communications satellites to Earth. Stop 4–8, 21000 Brookpark Road,
This work was done by Dale A. Force, Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-
Rainee N. Simons, and Todd T. Peterson of 18443-1.
Sideband-Separating, Millimeter-Wave
Heterodyne Receiver
Researchers have demonstrated a sub- mixers will enable accurate measure-
millimeter-wave spectrometer that com- ments of chemicals at low concentra-
bines extremely broad bandwidth with tions with very short integration times. A
extremely high sensitivity and spectral novel scanning telescope, also under
resolution to enable future spacecraft to development at the Jet Propulsion
measure the composition of the Earth’s Laboratory, will take advantage of these
troposphere in three dimensions many short integration times to measure
times per day at spatial resolutions as three-dimensional maps of the concen-
high as a few kilometers. Microwave limb tration of a large number of key chemi-
sounding is a proven remote-sensing cal species in the troposphere over near-
technique that measures thermal emis- ly the entire planet five to nine times per
sion spectra from molecular gases along day. These frequent measurements will
limb views of the Earth’s atmosphere enable researchers to both monitor air
against a cold space background. quality and to understand how pollution
The new receiver will down-convert is transported by the atmosphere.
thermal emission spectra in the 180–300 This work was done by John S. Ward, Bruce
GHz band using superconductor-insula- Bumble, Karen A. Lee, Jonathan H.
tor-superconductor (SIS) heterodyne Kawamura, Goutam Chattopadhyay, Paul
mixers. A technique called sideband sep- Stek, and Frank Rice of Caltech for NASA’s Jet
aration is used to provide 24 GHz of Propulsion Laboratory. For more information,
instantaneous bandwidth from a single download the Technical Support Package
receiver, enabling many chemical (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
species to be measured simultaneously under the Electronics/Computers category.
by a single receiver with accurate calibra- NPO-46205
tion. The high sensitivity provided by SIS
Simplified Load-Following Control for a

For more information call
1.800.981.8699 or visit Fuel Cell System
http://hirel.irf.com
A load-dependent voltage would be used to control a parasitic
device.
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
A simplified load-following control tant parts of a fuel cell system but are
scheme has been proposed for a fuel cell sometimes characterized as parasitic
THE POWER MANAGEMENT LEADER power system. The scheme could be because they consume some of the
used to control devices that are impor- power generated by the fuel cells.
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➭
fuel cell stack and a lower-power sec- This, in turn, would cause an increase
(+) (+)
ondary fuel cell stack denoted the par- in the power supplied to the coolant
asitic-load stack. The two fuel cell pump. In a design process, that would
stacks would be electrically connected entail careful selection of the stack
Parasitic- Primary
Load Stack at their positive ends. The coolant cell areas, the numbers of cells in the
Stack
pump would be connected between the two stacks, the electrical resistance of
Load
V2 V1 negative ends of the two stacks. the coolant pump, and other design
An increase in the power demand parameters; it should be possible to
of the load would cause a decrease in make the power supplied to the
the voltage of the primary stack, coolant pump, as a function of the
(–) (–)
thereby causing an increase in V 2 – V 1, load level, closely approximate the
the difference between the voltages of amount required for dissipation of
the parasitic-load and primary stacks. waste heat at that level.
Coolant
Pump
The Voltage Applied to the Coolant Pump (V2 –

V1) would increase as V1 decreased with increas-
ing current through the load.
The parasitic devices can include

the following: a pump for circulating
coolant to remove waste heat, pumps
Drag. Drop. DAQ.
for circulating reactant gases and
humidifying inlet gases, an electric Configure custom applications in minutes.
heater for keeping the fuel cell stack
above a minimum operating tempera-
ture when the production of waste
heat is insufficient for this purpose,
and a centrifugal water separator.
Operating these parasitic devices
steadily at their full power levels
would waste power, reducing the over-
all efficiency of the fuel cell power sys-
tem. In general, the power demands
for optimal operation of the parasitic
devices vary with the load (e.g., the
optimum coolant-circulation power
increases with the load). The power
'$6</DE SO F T WA R E
levels of the parasitic devices in fuel
cell power systems can be regulated at

optimal levels by electronic feedback
control systems that include sensors • Easy to use, no programming
(e.g., current, voltage, temperature,
or motor-speed sensors) and power- • Powerful display, analysis, and control options
conditioning subsystems. However,
such control systems can sometimes • Compatible with DAQ hardware from
be so complex as to detract from the Measurement Computing and other suppliers
overall reliability of the affected fuel
cell power systems. • NEW version 11 now available!
In the proposed scheme, a single
approximate control signal, generated • From $499
by relatively simple means, would be
used for controlling one or more para- Download the evaluation version at:
sitic devices. The scheme is based on w w w.mccdaq.com/das ylab2
the fact that the terminal voltage of a
fuel cell stack decreases with increasing
current (in other words, voltage
decreases with increasing load) even
more strongly than does the voltage of
a typical battery having a nominally
equivalent current and voltage rating.
The figure depicts a simple fuel cell sys- THE VALUE LEADER IN DATA ACQUISITION
tem in which the scheme would be PFFGDTFRP (800) 234-4232
applied to control of a coolant pump. ©2010 Measurement Computing Corporation, 10 Commerce Way, Norton, MA 02766 • info@mccdaq.com
The system would include a primary
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This work was done by Arturo Vasquez of under the Electronics/Computers category. for its commercial development should be
Johnson Space Center. For more information, This invention is owned by NASA, and a addressed to the Patent Counsel, Johnson
download the Technical Support Package patent application has been filed. Inquiries Space Center, (281) 483-0837. Refer to MSC-
(free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp concerning nonexclusive or exclusive license 24169-1.
Loosely Coupled GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System for

Range Safety
The Autonomous Flight Safety System System (GPS), the GPS signal can be and provides information on the quality
(AFSS) aims to replace the human ele- used to check error growth of the INS of the data it outputs to aid the AFSS sys-
ment of range safety operations, as well as and, due to the small, short-term errors tem in determining what level of trust to
reduce reliance on expensive, down- of the INS, the system is more accurate give the data.
range assets for launches of expendable than the sensor alone. The fused system The filter is designed in such a way
launch vehicles (ELVs). The system con- helps to solve the common cause fail- that there is always position and velocity
sists of multiple navigation sensors and ures, and also provides the benefit of output. Loss of GPS will not cause the
flight computers that provide a highly graceful degradation of system perform- INS to go unstable, or to cease informa-
reliable platform. It is designed to ensure ance should a failure occur. tion output. Also, covariance estimates
that single-event failures in a flight com- This innovation has algorithms devel- and the error states are available to the
puter or sensor will not bring down the oped specifically with range safety appli- user for further use in determining data
whole system. The flight computer uses a cations in mind. The INS and Kalman quality.
rules-based structure derived from range filter algorithms, including the lin- This work was done by Scott Heatwole and
safety requirements to make decisions earized error model, for integrating the Raymond J. Lanzi for Goddard Space Flight
whether or not to destroy the rocket. two systems were developed and simulat- Center. For further information, contact the
By combining the inertial navigation ed to determine their performance. The Goddard Innovative Partnerships Office at
system (INS) with Global Positioning system calculates the errors in the IMU (301) 286-5810. GSC-15549-1
Accuracy Is Nothing Without Repeatability Modified

Specify The Position Sensors Phasemeter for a
With True Precision
Heterodyne Laser
Interferometer
An FPGA-based design could
be exported to other
heterodyne laser
T/TR family of absolute position
interferometers.
sensors feature repeatability to
2μm. They are ideal for
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, California
machine automation
and control Modifications have been made in the
applications design of instruments of the type
Novotechnik’s T/TR family shares described in “Digital Averaging Phase-
where precise repeatability and long life
these key specs: meter for Heterodyne Inter ferometry”
are requirements. These sensors offer (NPO-30866), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28,
• Repeatability to ±0.002 mm
a proven solution for applications with • Stroke lengths from 10 to 150 mm No. 9 (September 2004), page 6a. To
alignment errors. T/TR position sensors • Long life of >100 million movements recapitulate: A phasemeter of this type
are available with a return spring too for measures the difference between the
• Linearity to ±0.075%
phases of the unknown and reference
use in auto-retraction systems. • Plug or cable connection
heterodyne signals in a heterodyne laser
For complete information, visit www.novotechnik.com/ttr interferometer. This phasemeter per-
forms well enough to enable interfero-
Novotechnik U.S., Inc. metric measurements of displacements
155 Northboro Road • Southborough, MA 01772
with accuracy of the order of 100 pm.
Telephone: 508-485-2244 Fax: 508-485-2430
This is a single, integral system capable
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of performing three major functions eral component interface (PCI) block, heterodyne frequency. These addi-
that, heretofore, have been performed making the phasemeter design ex- tions also eliminate the necessity of
by separate systems: (1) measurement of portable to a variety of computer archi- incorporating, into the phasemeter
the fractional-cycle phase difference, (2) tectures. The PCI interface can trans- software, a different reference-clock-
counting of multiple cycles of phase fer an entire block of phasemeter reg- cycle parameter for every different
change, and (3) averaging of phase isters at a rate of 10 kHz. heterodyne frequency that might be
measurements over multiple cycles for • A few hardware components were used.
improved resolution. This phasemeter added to enable measurement of the This work was done by Frank M. Loya of
also offers the advantage of making heterodyne-signal period, to count Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
repeated measurements at a high rate: reference clock cycles during an aver- For more information, download the
the phase is measured on every hetero- aging cycle, and to utilize the result- Technical Support Package (free white
dyne cycle. Thus, for example, in meas- ing data in such a way as to make the paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
uring the relative phase of two signals phasemeter immune to drift of the Electronics/Computers category. NPO-45484
having a heterodyne frequency of 10
kHz, the phasemeter would accumulate
10,000 measurements per second. At
this high measurement rate, an accurate
average phase determination can be
made more quickly than is possible at a
real boards
lower rate.
At the time of writing the cited prior
article, the phasemeter design lacked
real easy
immunity to drift of the heterodyne fre-
quency, was bandwidth-limited by com- real fast
puter bus architectures then in use, and
was resolution-limited by the nature of
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
then available. The modifications have
overcome these limitations and have
afforded additional improvements in
accuracy, speed, and modularity.
The modifications are summarized as
follows:
• Taking advantage of improvements
made in FPGAs since the original
design effort, major phasemeter func-
tions are implemented in a commer-
cial, off-the-shelf FPGA card. It is nec-
essary to add supplementary interface
electronic circuitry to support legacy
peripheral equipment, but even so, it
is significantly easier to implement the
phasemeter in the modified design
than in the original high-speed-digital-
board design.
• In the previous design, a reference
clock signal having a frequency of
128 MHz was generated outside the
FPGA and delivered to the FPGA
board via a coaxial cable. Since many
commercial FPGAs contain built-in
phase-locked-loop frequency multi-
pliers, it has become feasible to uti-
lize these multipliers to internally
generate a reference clock signal in
response to a precise externally gen- ProtoLaser S. It’s the real deal.
erated reference signal having a fre- Design your circuit, load virtually any type of substrate, send your file, and you’ll have
quency between 10 and 20 MHz. In real working circuit boards in minutes. So real in fact, you’ll achieve consistent, high
addition, the internally generated resolution geometries that chemical etching can’t even touch. From prototypes to
reference clock signal has a higher medium-run production, the ProtoLaser S will liberate you from the board house.
frequency — 200 MHz — and, hence,
affords higher resolution. www.lpkfusa.com/pls • 1-800-345-LPKF
• Modularity is enhanced by incorpora-
tion of a microprocessor-type periph-
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Manufacturing & Prototyping
Coaxial Propellant Injectors With Faceplate Annulus Control

These injectors are simpler and less expensive, relative to prior coaxial injectors.
Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
An improved design concept for coax- pellant and features for main-
ial propellant injectors for a rocket taining the lateral alignment Inner Propellant-Supply Cavity
engine (or perhaps for a non-rocket of the central propellant post
combustion chamber) offers advantages relative to this annular flow
of greater robustness, less complexity, are integral parts of the face- Interpropellant
Plate
fewer parts, lower cost, and less bulk, rel- plate, machined from the
ative to prior injectors of equivalent faceplate, as described below.
functionality. This design concept is par- First, a through hole that
ticularly well suited to small, tight-toler- defines the minor diameter of
ance injectors, for which prior designs the annulus and that holds
are not suitable because the practical the central propellant post in Outer Central
Propellant-Supply Propellant
implementation of those designs entails lateral alignment relative to Cavity Post
very high costs and difficulty in adhering the annulus is drilled into the
to the tolerances. faceplate. Next, the outer
The concept applies to a system for diameter of the annulus is
simultaneous injection of two propellant formed as a precise counter-
fluids — one (typically, an oxidizer) bore to the through hole.
Passageway
stored in an inner propellant-supply cav- By means of electrical-dis-
ity and the other (typically, a fuel) stored charge machining or anoth-
in an outer propellant-supply cavity. The er method suited to the spe- Faceplate
two propellant supply cavities are sepa- cific design, slanted passage-
rated by an interpropellant plate, and ways are formed to allow Outer
the outer propellant-supply cavity is sep- flow from the outer propel- Propellant Annulus
arated from the combustion chamber by lant cavity to the annulus. Combustion Chamber
a faceplate. The number and dimensions
The figure presents a simplified cross- of these passages depend on
The Outer Propellant Annulus, passageways for the outer propel-
sectional view of a coaxial injector accord- the specific design and are lant, and associated features for maintaining the coaxial alignment
ing to this concept. The injector includes a chosen to ensure uniform of the central propellant tube are machined into the faceplate.
central propellant post, which is a tube that annular exit flow.
extends from the inner propellant-supply The central propellant post can be propellants prior to injection. The other
cavity, through the faceplate, ending at a fabricated from drawn, centerless- end of the central propellant post can
location flush with the combustion-cham- ground tubing. One end of the central float freely in the through hole, or, for
ber surface of the faceplate. An annulus for propellant post is bonded to the inter- additional support, it can be bonded to
forming an annular flow outer propellant propellant plate, completing a seal that the faceplate at either or both end(s) of
surrounding the central flow of inner pro- maintains separation between the two the through hole.
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In the combustion chamber, the jet of Title to this invention has been waived under
inner propellant flowing from the outer the provisions of the National Aeronautics and
end of the central propellant post mixes Space Act {42 U.S.C. 2457(f)} to The Boeing
with the annular flow of outer propel- Company. Inquiries concerning licenses for its
lant, and the resulting mixture burns. commercial development should be addressed to:
The physical and chemical properties of Patent Administration
the propellants and the injection geom- The Boeing Company
etry are major determinants of the effi- 15460 Laguna Canyon Road
ciency of the combustion process. MC 1650-7006
This work was done by Mark D. Horn of Irvine, CA 92618
The Boeing Co., Shinjiro Miyata, and Refer to MFS-32306-1, volume and num-
Shahram Farhangi formerly of The Boeing ber of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
Co. for Marshall Space Flight Center. page number.
Adaptable Diffraction Gratings With

Wavefront Transformation
Better resolution and aberration control are possible with a
dynamic refractive grating.
ACCELERATE YOUR
BIGGEST IDEAS
Diffraction gratings are optical com- stretched over a circular, oval, or other-
FROM PROTOTYPE ponents with regular patterns of wise shaped opening, much like a mem-
TO PRODUCTION grooves, which angularly disperse brane on a drumhead. The opening is
WITH REDEYE. incoming light by wavelength. connected with a chamber with the
Traditional diffraction gratings have inside pressure that may be controlled
static planar, concave, or convex sur- by the user. The exact curvature of the
faces. However, if they could be made substrate depends on the elasticity of
so that they can change the surface cur- the membrane, the difference between
REAL SIZE. vature at will, then they would be able air or gas pressures on two sides of the
REAL MATERIALS. to focus on particular segments, self-cal- substrate, and the shape of the open-
ibrate, or perform fine adjustments. ing. Very complex and challenging sur-
REAL TIME &
This innovation creates a diffraction face profiles may be obtained with rela-
COST SAVINGS. grating on a deformable surface. This tively simple and inexpensive shaping
There’s practically no surface could be bent at will, resulting of the opening. For example, oval
limit to what you can in a dynamic wavefront transformation. opening produces generally toroidal
This allows for self-calibration, compen- grating surface.
build with RedEye. sation for aberrations, enhancing Pressure is applied to one side of
Produce large parts and image resolution in a particular area, or the substrate in order to change its
subassemblies with real performing multiple scans using differ- curvature. As the curvature changes,
production-grade thermo- ent wavelengths. A dynamic grating so does the wavefront transformation
plastics. Just upload your gives scientists a new ability to explore of the diffracted (or reflected) light.
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To create these gratings, surface be used to optimize imaging or spec-
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formed on a flat substrate. Flat sub- imaging of reflected light. The ability
Start with a free quote at: strate is technologically the most con- to do so in a single unit is a major
RedEyeOnDemand.com/ntb2 venient option for any type of gratings advance in the state of the art. Even
ruling and is especially essential for lith- without the dynamic aspect, this
ographically scribed gratings. method provides a unique way of cre-
Lithographic scribing is the newly ating complex grating surface profiles
developed method first commercially for advanced optical designs using
introduced by LightSmyth, which pro- simple mechanical means.
duces gratings with the highest per- This work was done by Dmitri Iazikov, Thomas
formance and arbitrary groove W. Mossberg, and Christoph M. Greiner of
shape/spacing for advanced aberration Goddard Space Flight Center. For more informa-
control. Next, an imprint of the grating tion, download the Technical Support Package
is made on a deformable substrate, (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
such as thin polymer film. The imprint- under the Manufacturing & Prototyping cate-
ed deformable substrate is then gory. GSC-15679-1
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Software
In accordance with Public Law 96-517, This program was written by Mark James,
Natural-Language Parser for the contractor has elected to retain title to this Hsin-Ping Chang, Edward T. Chow, and
PBEM invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its Gerald A. Crichton of Caltech for NASA’s Jet
A computer program called “Hunter” commercial use should be addressed to: Propulsion Laboratory. For more information,
accepts, as input, a colloquial-English Innovative Technology Assets Management download the Technical Support Package
description of a set of policy-based-man- JPL (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
agement rules, and parses that description Mail Stop 202-233 under the Software category.
into a form useable by policy-based enter- 4800 Oak Grove Drive In accordance with Public Law 96-517,
prise management (PBEM) software. Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 the contractor has elected to retain title to this
PBEM is a rules-based approach suit- E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its
able for automating some management Refer to NPO-45791, volume and number commercial use should be addressed to:
tasks. PBEM simplifies the management of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the Innovative Technology Assets Management
of a given enterprise through establish- page number. JPL
ment of policies addressing situations that Mail Stop 202-233
are likely to occur. PBEM provides a way 4800 Oak Grove Drive
of managing configurations of network Policy Process Editor for Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
elements, applications, and processes via a P3BM Software E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov
set of high-level rules or business policies A computer program enables genera- Refer to NPO-45821, volume and number
rather than managing individual ele- tion, in the form of graphical representa- of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
ments. Thus, PBEM enables abstraction of tions of process flows with embedded natu- page number.
the capabilities of the individual elements ral-language policy statements, input to a
and switching of control to higher levels. suite of policy-, process-, and performance-
Development of a system that under- based management (P3BM) software devel- A Quality System Database
stands colloquial English is an extremely oped at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A quality system database (QSD), and
difficult problem. Because most people Like the program described in the immedi- software to administer the database, were
do not write perfect English, such a sys- ately preceding article, this program (1) developed to support recording of admin-
tem must be very robust in order to serves as an interface between users and the istrative nonconformance activities that
understand what has been written. Hunter software, which translates the input involve requirements for documentation
Hunter is such a system. Recognizing that into machine-readable form; and (2) of corrective and/or preventive actions,
all possible dialects and variants thereof enables users to initialize and monitor the which can include ISO 9000 internal qual-
cannot be anticipated in advance, Hunter policy-implementation process. ity audits and customer complaints. [“ISO
was developed to have a unique capability This program provides an intuitive 9000” denotes a series of standards, pub-
to extract the intended meaning instead graphical interface for incorporating lished by the International Organization
of focusing on parsing the exact ways in natural-language policy statements into for Standardization (ISO), for implemen-
which individual words are used. business-process flow diagrams. Thus, tation of quality systems to be used in con-
This program was written by Mark James the program enables users who dictate tractual situations.] The software provides
of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion policies to intuitively embed their for recording and storage of data, enables
Laboratory. For more information, down- intended process flows as they state the tracking, and provides status information.
load the Technical Support Package (free policies, reducing the likelihood of The current version of this QSD soft-
white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp errors and reducing the time between ware was written in the Microsoft Access
under the Software category. declaration and execution of policy. software system and is server-based.
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Software
Because of an increase in the number of installation process is nearly identical on

users and the need for data security and various platforms, including Microsoft
reduction in response time, conversion to Windows, Apple OS X, and Linux oper-
a Web-based version supported by Oracle ating systems. Cross-platform scripts also
software was investigated. As a result, a help make the execution of OTIS and
prototype Web-based version was devel- post-processing of data easier.
oped and found to satisfy the aforemen- OTIS4 is supplied free by NASA and is
WIFI tioned needs. Efforts are being made to
determine the modifications necessary to
subject to ITAR (International Traffic in
Arms Regulations) restrictions. Users must
serve the expanded user base. In addi- have a Fortran compiler, and a Python
Optical Sensing tion, the Johnson Space Center ISO interpreter is highly recommended.
auditing group has expressed an interest This work was done by John P. Riehl, Waldy
Development Kit in adopting this software. K. Sjauw, and Robert D. Falck of Glenn
This program was written by William H. Research Center and Stephen W. Paris of Boeing
Snell, Anne M. Turner, Luther Gifford, and Phantom Works. For more information, down-
William Stites of United Space Alliance for load the Technical Support Package (free
U Provides a complete, Johnson Space Center. For more information, white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under
high-quality design download the Technical Support Package the Software category.
environment for engineers to (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp Inquiries concerning rights for the commer-
help simplify the design under the Software category. MSC-23447-1 cial use of this invention should be addressed
process and reduce to NASA Glenn Research Center, Innovative
time-to-market Partnerships Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail
Trajectory Optimization: Stop 4–8, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland,
U Uses Ocean Thin Films OTIS 4 Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-18319-1.
hardware and software to The latest release of the Optimal
create your application specific Trajectories by Implicit Simulation
instrument that wirelessly (OTIS4) allows users to simulate and opti- Computer Software
communicates data to mize aerospace vehicle trajectories. With Configuration Item-Specific
handheld devices such OTIS4, one can seamlessly generate opti- Flight Software Image
as the iPhone/iPod mal trajectories and parametric vehicle Transfer Script Generator
touch, Mac computer or designs simultaneously. New features also A K-shell UNIX script enables the
a network allow OTIS4 to solve non-aerospace con- International Space Station (ISS) Flight
tinuous time optimal control problems. Control Team (FCT) operators in NASA’s
U Robust package can be used in The inputs and outputs of OTIS4 have Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston
many different applications been updated extensively from previous to transfer an entire or partial computer
where space and power are a versions. Inputs now make use of object- software configuration item (CSCI) from a
factor oriented constructs, including one called a flight software compact disk (CD) to the
metastring. Metastrings use a greatly onboard Portable Computer System (PCS).
improved calculator and common nomen- The tool is designed to read the content
Kit Includes clature to reduce the user’s workload. They stored on a flight software CD and generate
Body Assembly allow for more flexibility in specifying vehi- individual CSCI transfer scripts that are
ASS’Y PCB With Optics cle physical models, boundary conditions, capable of transferring the flight software
Wireless Module and path constraints. The OTIS4 calcula- content in a given subdirectory on the CD
Wireless Antenna tor supports common mathematical func- to the scratch directory on the PCS. The
Battery tions, Boolean operations, and conditional flight control team can then transfer the
IR Filter Glass statements. This allows users to define their flight software from the PCS scratch direc-
Lanyard own variables for use as outputs, con- tory to the Electronically Erasable Program-
USB 2 Cable straints, or objective functions. mable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) of
USB Power Adapter The user-defined outputs can directly an ISS Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM)
interface with other programs, such as via the Indirect File Transfer capability.
spreadsheets, plotting packages, and The individual CSCI scripts and the
visualization programs. CSCI Specific Flight Software Image
Internally, OTIS4 has more explicit and Transfer Script Generator (CFITSG),
implicit integration procedures, including when executed a second time, will
high-order collocation methods, the pseu- remove all components from their origi-
do-spectral method, and several variations nal execution. The tool will identify
of multiple shooting. Users may switch eas- errors in the transfer process and create
ily between the various methods. Several logs of the transferred software for the
COME S E E US AT B OOTH unique numerical techniques, such as purposes of configuration management.
537 automated variable scaling and implicit This work was done by Kenny Bolen and
At SPIE Defense Security Symposium integration grid refinement, support the Ronald Greenlaw of The Boeing Company for
www.oce ant hinfil ms. co m integration methods. Johnson Space Center. For further information,
727.545.074 1 OTIS4 is also significantly more user contact the JSC Innovation Partnerships Office
friendly than previous versions. The at (281) 483-3809. MSC-23631-1
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Polymer/Carbon or Other Materials with Accurate Measurement Techniques for

Conductivity Approaching Copper and Deep-Bone Density and Structure
Aluminum A company seeks a clinically useful technology with enough
sensitivity to assess the microstructure of “spongy” bone that
A company seeks a weight-saving alternative to sheets and
is found in the marrow cavities of whole bones. However, this
wires of copper and aluminum that can operate at specific
technology must be for skeletal sites surrounded by layers of
frequencies. The goal is to replace conductive casings, con-
soft tissues, such as the spine and the hip. Soft tissue inter-
ductors, wires, grounding plates, and similar electronics struc-
feres with conventional imaging and using a more accessible
tures with other materials that have similar conductive prop-
area — for example, the wrist or the ankle of limbs — as a
erties, but that are much lighter than copper and aluminum.
proxy for the less accessible skeletal regions, will not be accu-
Such materials might be carbon or polymer.
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Email: nasatech@yet2.com
Email: nasatech@yet2.com
Phone: 781-972-0600
Phone: 781-972-0600
NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010 www.techbriefs.com 37
➮
➭
Materials
Optimizing a Laser Process for Making Carbon Nanotubes

Trends in process parameters for optimization and scale-up have been identified.
A systematic experimental study has cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) at pressure, flow speed, inner diameter of
been performed to determine the effects a pressure of 500 torr (≈66.7 kPa) in a the flow tube, and flow-tube material.
of each of the operating conditions in a flow tube that is maintained in an oven The same graphite target was used in
double-pulse laser ablation process that at a temperature of 1,473 K. The afore- all the runs. The nanotube-containing
is used to produce single-wall carbon mentioned process conditions are material produced in each run was col-
nanotubes (SWCNTs). The comprehen- important for optimizing the produc- lected and characterized by a variety of
sive data compiled in this study have tion of SWCNTs and scaling up produc- analytical techniques.
been analyzed to recommend conditions tion. Reports of previous research (most- The results of the characterizations
for optimizing the process and scaling up ly at Rice University) toward optimiza- indicated trends in the effects of process
the process for mass production. tion of process conditions mention parameters that could be used to opti-
The double-pulse laser ablation process effects of oven temperature and briefly mize the process and increase the effi-
for making SWCNTs was developed by mention effects of flow conditions, but ciency of the production process.
Rice University researchers. Of all cur- no systematic, comprehensive study of Among the conclusions (see table)
rently known nanotube-synthesizing the effects of process conditions was reached in this study is that SWCNT
processes (arc and chemical vapor depo- done prior to the study described here. material of better quality can be pro-
sition), this process yields the greatest This was a parametric study, in which duced by use of lower pressure and
proportion of SWCNTs in the product several production runs were carried faster flow, relative to the normal version
material. In the normal version of this out, changing one operating condition of the process. This conclusion could be
process, one uses a green (wavelength for each run. The study involved varia- useful in scaling up the process. This
532 nm) laser pulse followed by an tion of a total of nine parameters: the limited study could be extended by
infrared (wavelength 1,064 nm) laser sequence of the laser pulses, pulse-sep- changing more than one parameter at a
pulse within a few nanoseconds to ablate aration time, laser pulse energy densi- time in an effort to identify some of the
a metal-containing graphite target locat- ty, buffer gas (helium or nitrogen intricate mutual effects of different
ed in a flow of argon at 100 standard instead of argon), oven temperature, process parameters.
Parameter Normal Condition Conclusions
Temperature 1,473 K (1,200 °C) Lower temperature gives narrower, weaker tubes.
Laser Energy Density 1.5 J/cm2 Higher energy density produces C60 and narrower tubes
that may contain less metal.
Pulse Sequence Green Before Infrared Green should be first. Green repeated (no infrared) is better.
Pulse Separation 50 nanoseconds Slightly longer delay may be helpful.
Buffer Gas Argon Don't use helium. Nitrogen is probably acceptable.
Pressure 66.7 kPa (500 torr) Lower pressure is preferable.
Flow Rate 100 sccm Higher flow rate is better.
Diameter of Inner Tube 2.5 cm Narrower is bad.
Inner Tube Material Quartz Alumina is better.
Some Conclusions concerning nine process parameters were reached in a parametric study.
➮
➭
This work was done by Sivaram Arepalli, tion, download the Technical Support Package
Pavel Nikolaev, and William Holmes of GB Tech
Inc. for Johnson Space Center. For more informa-
(free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
under the Materials category. MSC-23508-1
Consider your
possibilities...
Thermogravimetric Analysis of Single-
Wall Carbon Nanotubes
An improved protocol yields greater consistency.
An improved protocol for thermo- runs on the same apparatus. These
gravimetric analysis (TGA) of samples of inconsistencies can be attributed to the
single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) use of a wide variety of sample-prepara-
material has been developed to increase tion practices, instruments, protocols,
the degree of consistency among results heating rates, and carrier gases and to
so that meaningful comparisons can be inhomogeneities within nanotube
made among different samples. This batches. In the improved TGA protocol,
improved TGA protocol is suitable for knowledge gained in a study of the
incorporation into the protocol for char- effects of TGA experimental parameters
acterization of carbon nanotube materi- on TGA results is applied to reduce the
al as described in the preceding article. inconsistencies substantially. In all of
TGA has been used extensively to the experiments in the study, air was
characterize carbon nanotube materials used as the gas mixture and the flow
during the past decade. In most cases, rate was 100 standard cubic centimeters
TGA of carbon nanotube materials is per minute.
performed in gas mixtures that contain
oxygen at various concentrations. The
The improved protocol is summarized
as follows:
...Pursue them
data acquired in TGA following this
approach provide information on ash
1. Use a heating rate of 5 °C/min up to
the maximum temperature. The exact
confidently with
content and on oxidation temperature
(which is usually described as the tem-
value of maximum temperature can
be varied; 800 °C accommodates most
Eagle Stainless!
For decades Eagle Stainless has been
perature of the maximum rate of loss of samples. the supplier of choice for precision-
weight). In many cases, rates of loss of 2. The mass of the sample should be fabricated components of stainless
weight have several maxima at tempera- between 2 and 4 mg. steel, high-nickel alloy, and titanium.
tures ranging from 300 to 800 °C. These 3. Three separate TGA runs should be With a reputation for quality and its
commitment to customer satisfaction,
peaks have been attributed to various performed on each sample. Eagle Stainless has achieved AS 9000
components in the nanotube material, 4. In addition to the TGA weight meas- and ISO 9001: 2000 status and is
including amorphous carbon, nano- urement, an independent weight among the fastest growing companies
tubes, and graphitic particles. measurement should be performed in the industry.
Metal particles are always present in on a microbalance, after TGA, to Today Eagle is filling industry’s needs
nanotube materials because the metals increase the precision of determina- for stainless and titanium in three
are used as catalysts in the production of tion of the ash content. ways: (1) product shipped from exten-
sive inventory, (2) precision, cut-to-
the nanotubes. The position of each oxi- 5. Results from the three runs should be length stock, and (3) custom fabri-
dation peak is strongly affected by the processed to obtain the mean values cated components. Whatever your
amounts and microstructures of the of oxidation temperature(s) and ash needs, come to Eagle for service and
metal particles because these particles content. quality that meets your highest expec-
tations!
also catalyze oxidation of all carbon 6. Results from the three runs should
forms present in the nanotube material. also be processed to obtain standard
The ash content is used to determine deviations of the oxidation tempera-
the amount of metal catalyst in the mate- ture(s) and ash content. These stan-
rial. It is usually assumed that upon com- dard deviations are representative of
pletion of TGA, all carbon has been inhomogeneity in the sample.
removed in the forms of CO and CO2 This work was done by Sivaram Arepalli, Eagle Stainless Tube & Fabrication, Inc.
and that all remaining material consists Pavel Nikolaev, and Olga Gorelik of GB Tech 10 Discovery Way • Franklin, MA 02038
of metal oxides. Inc. for Johnson Space Center. For more • Phone (800) 528-8650
• www.eagletube.com
It has been observed that different information, download the Technical
TGA results can be obtained from the Support Package (free white paper) at Ask for your free copy
same nanotube material on different www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Materials of our catalog and
TGA apparatuses and even in different category. MSC-23507-1. designer’s guide.
NASA Tech Briefs, April 2010 www.techbriefs.com Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-727
➮
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Mechanics/Machinery
Robotic Arm Comprising Two Bending

Segments
Thinness and multiple bending contribute to dexterity for
114 D operation in hitherto inaccessible places.
NEW head Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
Pump
The figure shows several aspects of an cm thick and 1 m long. The arm consists
experimental robotic manipulator that of two collinear segments, each of which
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the longitudinal axis of the arm. The housing has an outside diameter of 23 cm and a length of 13 cm
support@wmpg.us along its cylindrical axis.
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taneously in different planes. The arm bending. For extension and retraction, arm. This tube extension can be
can be retracted to a minimum length the arm is wound on a motor-driven attached to a stationary fixture if rota-
or extended by any desired amount up reel inside the housing. A spiral tion about the longitudinal axis is not
to its full length. The arm can also be groove on the circumference of the desired. Alternatively, this tube exten-
made to rotate about its own longitudi- reel guides the arm during extension sion can be attached to the output
nal axis. or retraction and confines the arm to a shaft of a stationary motor drive that
Some prior experimental robotic single layer during multiple revolu- can be used to effect rotation of the
manipulators include single-segment tions, so that a complex reeling mech- housing about the longitudinal axis of
bendable arms. Those arms are thicker anism is not necessary to prevent bind- the tube, thereby effecting rotation of
and shorter than the present one. The ing. The arm extends from the reel out the arm about its longitudinal axis.
present robotic manipulator serves as a of the housing along a salient tube The system for controlling the pose
prototype of future manipulators that, that is tangential to the reel. The of the arms is a standard position-con-
by virtue of the slenderness and multi- salient tube also extends tangentially trol system based on a proportional +
ple-bending capability of their arms, are in the direction opposite that of the integral control loop, except as fol-
expected to have sufficient dexterity for
operation within spaces that would oth-
erwise be inaccessible. Such manipula-
tors could be especially well suited as
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arm inside the spring helix from the
attachment links to motor-driven pul- Schedule a demo, or download a white
leys inside the housing. Two pairs of paper at www.Master3DGage.com or
tendons, mounted in orthogonal
call (866) 340-5551.
planes that intersect along the longitu-
dinal axis, are used to effect bending
of each segment. The tendons for
actuating the distal bending segment
are in planes offset by an angle of 45°
from those of the proximal bending
segment: This configuration makes it
possible to accommodate all eight ten-
dons at the same diameter along the
arm.
The threaded links have central bores
through which power and video wires
can be strung (1) from a charge-cou-
pled-device camera mounted on the tip
of the arms (2) back along the interior
of the arm into the housing and then
(3) from within the housing to an exter-
nal video monitor. Each link also con-
tains guide holes for the tendons at
equal angular intervals around the lon-
gitudinal axis.
The housing contains electronic
control circuitry and the motors, pul- Register for Modern Machine Shop’s April 22
leys, and other actuator mechanisms
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Mechanics/Machinery
lows: the loop includes a washout filter (which is a special

high-pass filter that, among other things, passes transient
inputs while suppressing steady-state inputs) to take advan-
2Y`[V_-SVYPUH[LK
:Ù[OL[PJ3\IYPJHU[ 9LSLHZL(NLU[
tage of the inherent hysteretic friction of the tendon drive.
9LSLHZL(NLU[
+Y`3\IYPJHU[ The washout filter makes it possible to maintain a desired
m m position by means of a small motor command aided by the
s m s
s inherent friction.
This work was done by Joshua S. Mehling, Myron A. Diftler, and
Robert O. Ambrose of Johnson Space Center; Mars W. Chu of Metrica,
Inc.; and Michael C. Valvo of Jacobs Sverdrup. For more information,
Fluorinated Oils, Greases, download the Technical Support Package (free white paper) at
www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Mechanics/Machinery category.
PTFE Release Agents and MSC-24128-1
Dry Film Lubricants
Miller-Stephenson offers a complete line of inert high
performance fluorinated lubricants that include Krytox®
Oils and Greases, as well as a family of PTFE Release
Agents/Dry Lubricants. They provide superior lubricity, while
being thermally stable, non-flammable, non-migrating, and
Foil Gas Thrust Bearings for
contain no silicone. Krytox® offers extreme pressure, anti-
corrosion and anti-wear properties, with oxygen compatibility High-Speed Turbomachinery
and low outgassing. Our PTFE creates a superior release for
plastics, elastomers and resins with multiple releases John H. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
between applications. For technical information and sample,
call 203-743-4447. A methodology has been developed for the design and
m construction of simple foil thrust bearings intended for
s parametric performance testing and low marginal costs,
supporting continued development of oil-free turboma-
chinery. A bearing backing plate is first machined and sur-
California - Illinois - Connecticut - Canada face-ground to produce flat and parallel faces. Partial-arc
e-mail: support@miller-stephenson.com slots needed to retain the foil components are then
www.miller-stephenson.com machined into the plate by wire electrical discharge
machining. Slot thicknesses achievable by a single wire pass
are appropriate to accommodate the practical range of foil
thicknesses, leaving a small clearance in this hinged joint to
permit limited motion. The backing plate is constructed
from a nickel-based superalloy (Inconel 718) to allow heat
treatment of the entire assembled bearing, as well as to per-
mit high-temperature operation. However, other dimen-
sionally stable materials, such as precipitation-hardened
stainless steel, can also be used for this component depend-
ing on application.
The top and bump foil blanks are cut from stacks of
annealed Inconel X-750 foil by the same EDM process. The
bump foil has several azimuthal slits separating it into five indi-
vidual bump strips. This configuration allows for variable
bump spacing, which helps to accommodate the effects of the
varying surface velocity, thermal crowning, centrifugal dishing,
and misalignment. Rectangular tabs on the foil blanks fit into
the backing plate slots.
For this application, a rather traditional set of convention-
ally machined dies is selected, and bump foil blanks are
pressed into the dies for forming. This arrangement pro-
duces a set of bump foil dies for foil thrust bearings that pro-
vide for relatively inexpensive fabrication of various bump
configurations, and employing methods and features from
the public domain.
This work was done by Brian Edmonds and Christopher DellaCorte of
Glenn Research Center and Brian Dykas of Case Western Reserve
University. For more information, download the Technical Support
Package (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the
Mechanics/Machinery category.
Partnerships Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail Stop 4–8, 21000
Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-18397-1.
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A new algorithm that increases decoder speed applications.
contributes to the development of high-speed Operate under extreme
optical communications links. conditions - vibration,
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California 160°C, shock, high
pressure, vacuum, and
This innovation is an efficient algorithm designed to per- dust or oil films.
form bit-to-symbol and symbol-to-bit likelihood mappings that
represent a significant portion of the complexity of an error- Linear units accurate to
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Symmetry in the values was noted and allowed for the reduc-
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This method computes bit-to-symbol likelihood mappings
for a soft-in/soft-out decoder that operates over M-ary symbols,
but receives and transmits bit-log likelihoods. There are two
bit-to-symbol mappings. The first requires M – 2 operations
and log2 M – 1 clock cycles. The second requires O(M log2 M)
operations and log2log2 M clock cycles. The symbol-to-bit map-
ping requires log2 M clock cycles and 3M – log2 M – 4 opera-
tions. In a pipelined architecture, the reduced operation
counts also translate into reduced memory requirement.
This technology can apply to communications channels that
use high-order constellations and decode over symbols from
that constellation. This would potentially include a large num-
ber of communications channels, such as cable modems, disk SEALS, ACTUATORS, GRIPPERS
drives, etc., as well as being a direct improvement to the Optical
Communications End-to-End Testbed, which is currently in use
& PNEUMATIC SPECIALTIES
to demonstrate, test, and develop deep-space optical communi-
cations technology. FABRIC-REINFORCED
This work was done by Bruce E. Moision of Caltech and Michael A. FOR STRENGTH &
Nakashima of Skillstorm, Incorporated for NASA’s Jet Propulsion STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
Laboratory.
In accordance with Public Law 96-517, the contractor has elected to “Technical expertise, enthusiasm, creative problem
retain title to this invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its commer- solving, unmatched experience and follow-through…
cial use should be addressed to: that’s Seal Master for sure!”
Innovative Technology Assets Management DESIGN ASSISTANCE OFFERED – WWW.SEALMASTER.COM
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SEAL MASTER CORPORATION
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Refer to NPO-44987, volume and number of this NASA Tech
© 2009 Seal Master Corporation
Briefs issue, and the page number.
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Information Sciences
Landmark Detection in Orbital Images

Using Salience Histograms
This technique enables automated identification of objects and
regions in airborne or orbital images.
NASA’s planetary missions have col-
lected, and continue to collect, massive
volumes of orbital imagery. The volume
is such that it is difficult to manually
review all of the data and determine its
significance. As a result, images are
indexed and searchable by location and
date but generally not by their content. A
new automated method analyzes images
and identifies “landmarks,” or visually
salient features such as gullies, craters,
dust devil tracks, and the like. This tech-
nique uses a statistical measure of
salience derived from information theo-
ry, so it is not associated with any specific
landmark type. It identifies regions that
are unusual or that stand out from their
surroundings, so the resulting landmarks
are context-sensitive areas that can be
used to recognize the same area when it
is encountered again.
A machine learning classifier is used to
identify the type of each discovered land-
mark. This classifier can also indicate
when a previously unknown type of land-
mark is encountered, enabling the dis-
covery of new and unusual physical phe-
nomena. Using a specified window size,
an intensity histogram is computed for
each such window within the larger
Landmarks Are Automatically Identified in
image (sliding the window across the THEMIS image V19619013 of Terra Sabaea
image). Next, a salience map is comput- (Mars). Craters are marked in red, streaks in
ed that specifies, for each pixel, the blue, and unrecognized landmarks in cyan.
salience of the window centered at that
pixel. The salience map is thresholded to Automated landmark detection in
identify landmark contours (polygons) images permits the creation of a summa-
using the upper quartile of salience val- ry catalog of all such features in an image
ues. Descriptive attributes are extracted database, such as the Planetary Data
for each landmark polygon: size, perime- System (PDS). It could enable entirely
ter, mean intensity, standard deviation of new searches for PDS images, based on
intensity, and shape features derived the desired content (landmark types). In
from an ellipse fit. Each landmark is clas- the near future, landmark identification
sified as one of a set of known types, or methods using Gabor filters (texture) or
marked as “unknown” using a classifier covariance descriptors will also be inves-
previously trained on hundreds of manu- tigated for this application.
ally annotated landmarks. Each image is This work was done by Kiri L. Wagstaff
annotated with its contents (list of land- and Julian Panetta of Caltech; Norbert
marks with their locations, types, and Schorghofer of the University of Hawaii; and
attributes). Ronald Greeley, Mary Pendleton Hoffer, and
This method enables fast, automated Melissa Bunte of Arizona State University for
identification of landmarks to augment NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more
or replace manual analysis; fast, auto- information, download the Technical
mated classification of landmarks to pro- Support Package (free white paper) at
vide semantic annotations; and content- www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Infor-
based searches over image archives. mation Sciences category. NPO-46674
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Upcoming...
Webinars
Capture the Concept — A First Look at COMSOL
Multiphysics version 4.0
Live Presentation - Thursday, April 22nd, 2010, 2pm Eastern
It starts with an idea. Perhaps the first concept is a rough sketch in a notebook. Bringing your idea to life, however, requires that
you know how your designs will hold up to real-world conditions. COMSOL Multiphysics gives you tools that deliver the power to cap-
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• Cluster computing for Microsoft® HPC Server 2008
Please visit www.techbriefs.com/webinar18
Semiconductor Capacitance-Voltage (C-V)

Testing Fundamentals
Live Presentation - Tuesday, April 27th, 2010, 2pm Eastern
This seminar is designed to introduce the topic of C-V measurements as they relate to semiconductor device and materials charac-
terization. C-V testing is commonly used to determine semiconductor parameters such as doping profiles, density of interface
states, threshold voltages, oxide charge, and carrier lifetime.
Webinar tutorials include: Presenters:

• What is C-V testing? Lee Stauffer
• What types of devices can C-V testing be used Senior Staff Technologist
to characterize?
• Who can use C-V?
• C-V measurement challenges.
Please visit www.techbriefs.com/webinar19
➮
➭
Information Sciences
Capacity Maximizing Constellations

Locations and bit labels of constellation points are optimized jointly.
Some non-traditional signal constel-
lations have been proposed for trans-
mission of data over the Additive White
PAM PAM PAM
Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel using PAM
8 16
2 4
such channel-capacity-approaching 2
codes as low-density parity-check PAM
(LDPC) or turbo codes. (As used here, 32
“constellation” signifies, with respect to
SNR Gap to Gaussian Capacity, dB

a signal-modulation scheme, discrete
amplitude and/or phase points corre-
sponding to symbols to be transmitted.)
Theoretically, in comparison with tradi-
tional constellations, these constella-
tions enable the communication sys-
tems in which they are used to more PAM
1 PAM
closely approach Shannon limits on PAM 16 32
channel capacities. Computational sim- 8
ulations have shown performance gains
of more than 1 dB over traditional con-
stellations. These gains could be trans-
lated to bandwidth-efficient communi-
PAM
cations, variously, over longer distances, 2 PAM
using less power, or using smaller 4
antennas. Traditional Constellations
The opportunity to effect improve- Optimized Constellations
ments through use of the proposed con-
0
stellations arises as follows: The intro- 0 1 2 3 4 5
duction of turbo and LDPC codes dur-
Capacity in Bits Per Symbol
ing the 1990s made it possible to formu-
late coding schemes that afford near-
Gaps Between Parallel Decoding Capacity and Gaussian Capacity [quantified as equivalent signal-to-
Shannon-capacity performance for bina- noise-ratio (SNR) gaps] were computed for optimized and traditional PAM 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-point
ry and quaternary phase-shift-keying constellations.
modulation schemes. However, in these
and other channel-capacity-approaching Shannon or the Gaussian capacity modulation system employing state-of-
coding schemes, when traditional signal increases with bandwidth efficiency (in the-art LDPC codes. In computational
constellations are used, the gap between effect, as more bits are packed into each simulations, these constellations were
the achievable performance and the transmitted symbol). While the channel- shown to afford performance gains over
capacity-approaching codes are highly traditional constellations as predicted by
LED ASSEMBLIES optimized, the traditional signal constel-
lations are not optimized.
the gap between the parallel decoding
capacity of the constellations and the
• Custom board The amplitude and/or phase inter- Gaussian capacity (see figure).
mount and panel vals between points in a constellation This work was done by Maged Barsoum
mount according to the proposal are unequal. and Christopher Jones of Caltech for NASA’s
• RoHS compliant Unlike in traditional constellations, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
components both the locations of the points and the In accordance with Public Law 96-517,
• Rugged IP66 bit labels of the points are optimized the contractor has elected to retain title to this
panel mount jointly. In the optimization process, they invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its
LEDs are chosen to maximize either the joint commercial use should be addressed to:
• Call for free LED capacity or the parallel decoding capac- Innovative Technology Assets Management
sampler kit ity at a target user data rate. Through JPL
numerical capacity computations, it has Mail Stop 202-233
been shown that except in special cases, 4800 Oak Grove Drive
no constellations are universally optimal Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
for all code rates and that the optimiza- E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov
WILBRECHT LEDCO, INC.
tion of a constellation must target a spe- Refer to NPO-44810, volume and number
1-888-323-8751 cific code rate. of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the page
info@wilbrechtledco.com The proposed constellations have number.
www.wilbrechtledco.com been used in a bit-interleaved coded
➮
➭
Photonics Solutions for the Design Engineer
April 2010

ance of an optical system by correcting aberrations that
perturb light’s wavefront from its ideal spherical shape.

ine.com
bmagaz
ww.pt
w
➮
➭
Using Aspheres To Increase
Optical System Performance
n a perfect imaging system, light
I exists as a spherical wave that con-
verges to form a point image. However,
in practice wavefront aberrations act to
perturb the wavefront from its ideal
spherical shape, which can degrade
image quality. The appropriate use of
ashperical lenses in an optical system
can improve performance with a mini-
mum addition of optical elements.
High performance optical imaging
systems require good “image quality”, a
loose term that refers to the ability to
resolve fine image detail. Optical engi-
neers quantify this ability by using met-
rics such as MTF (modulation transfer
function), Strehl ratio, spot size or wave-
front error. The highest possible image
quality occurs when the light exiting the
optical system has a perfectly spherical
wavefront. Deviations from that spheri-
cal wavefront are called “aberrations” Figure 1. A sphere and an asphere are defined by their sag equations.
and virtually all practical optical systems
have them.
Advanced optical systems with large
fields of view and “fast” apertures are
especially prone to having significant
optical aberrations. (Fast means a low
F/# or F-stop, which is the ratio of focal
length to collecting diameter.) Before
the advent of aspheric manufacturing,
optical engineers used many spherical
surfaces to balance aberrations, and the
literature is filled with many such multi-
element design forms that utilize all
spherical elements, such as the Cooke
Triplet, Double Gauss, etc. Computer
controlled manufacturing coupled with
computerized metrology, however, has
now enabled the fabrication of aspheric
surfaces that allow aberrations to be bal-
anced with fewer optical surfaces.
A fundamental definition of an
asphere is a surface that does not have a
spherical shape. A sphere is simply
defined by its radius of curvature, R.
Familiar aspheric forms come from
conic sections such as the ellipse,
parabola, or hyperbola, and are charac-
terized by the conic constant (k) or
eccentricity (ε) of the conic. It is con-
venient to express the shape of an
aspheric surface in terms of its “sag”
(deviation from a plane at its vertex) Figure 2. Wavefront error comparison for a multi element spherical system to a multi order aspheric
and its aperture radius, ρ (Figure 1). By polynomial. The aspheric element has one spherical side.
48 www.ptbmagazine.com Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010
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Using Aspheres
requirements have tight packaging
Asphere Placement in Double Gauss Assembly or cost specifications, however, which
do not allow for an intermediate
focus. In these cases an asphere is
placed as close as possible to the
image plane.
Dueling Aspheres
Without the ideal locations avail-
able for aspheres, the lens designer
has to be careful not to design in
Figure 3: Asphere buried in system but Figure 4: Conventional wisdom: asphere close to “dueling aspheres” that can inadver-
symmetric about the aperture stop1 aperture stop and another close to image plane2 tently drive up system cost. The cost
of an asphere roughly corresponds to
its fabrication difficulty, and practi-
tioners of asphere manufacturing use
aspheric departure as a metric for
how difficult an asphere is to make.
This departure is the maximum dif-
ference from a best fit sphere and is
specified in microns or waves.
Figure 5: Aspheres surrounding aperture stop. Dueling aspheres increase each
Figure 6: Dual aspheres on a single asphere in the
Note the increase in airspace between aperture
aft optics4 other’s aspheric departure require-
stop and aft optics3
ments.
1Japanese Patent 63-070,2216 2Japanese Patent 08-220,439 3Patent 5572365 6Patent 4726666
As an example, let’s imagine that
the entrance pupil (image of the aper-
Figures 3-6. Alternative approaches to asphere placement in Double Gauss lens assembly. ture stop in object space) is on the
front surface of the optical system and
including even ordered polynomials aberration, which is a variation in focus the exit pupil (image of the stop in image
(C2, C4,.... CN) to the surface shape, location with aperture height. This is a space) is at the aft optical surface. These
optical engineers have garnered consid- rotationally symmetric aberration and is two surfaces are conjugate to one anoth-
erable power to eliminate aberrations constant across the field of view. The er. This is a fancy way of saying that plac-
from the optical system. aperture stop is the ideal location for ing a scratch on the front surface will
asphere placement since that location image onto the back surface. If aspheres
Asphere vs Multiple affects all fields of view simultaneously. are placed on both of these surfaces they
Spheres A second asphere placed at an inter- may duel one another. For instance, one
The power of aspheres can be demon- mediate image will correct field aberra- could end up with a design where the
strated by comparing their ability to cor- tions, such as coma and astigmatism. front surface has an asphere with +53
rect aberrations with spherical elements, These are non-rotationally symmetric waves of departure, while the back could
as shown in Figure 2. The comparison aberrations. Intuitively, having an have -50 waves. The all spherical equiva-
contrasts an aspheric singlet with varying asphere at an intermediate image allows lent could simply have -3 waves of spheri-
polynomial degree to a set of spherical the field to be directly mapped to the cal aberration and it could be corrected
lenses in an F/1.25 system with a 4° full optical surface. by placing one asphere of +3 waves on
field of view using Schott N-BK7 and These ideal placements are not either the front or the back surface.
monochromatic light. The axial or cen- always practical in a real optical system.
tral beam’s wavefront error is shown For instance, many commercial optical Lessons Learned
plotted versus number of elements and systems allow control of the aperture A literature and patent search on cam-
the aspheric polynomial. A rule of setting by using an iris, which is a mov- era objectives that utilized aspheres
thumb derived from the Rayleigh ing part requiring space for mechanical shows mostly telephoto systems designed
Criterion states that a diffraction limited actuation. In these cases it’s not feasible in Japan during the 80’s and 90’s. Most
spot can be achieved for wavefront error to place an asphere directly on the of these camera lenses are derivatives of
that is smaller than a quarter of the aperture stop. Instead, it must be the Double Gauss lens, which doesn’t
wavelength of light. As shown in the fig- placed as close to the aperture stop as have an intermediate image and usually
ure, it takes five spherical elements to possible. contains an iris. It is interesting to note
achieve quarter wave performance while Similarly, it is not advisable to place that the various locations of aspheres in
it can be done with a single element with an optical surface at an intermediate these designs did not conform to the
a 10th order aspheric element. image, because dust on that surface or “theoretical optimum locations”. Several
There are standard locations for plac- surface imperfections will be imaged to classes of asphere location emerged and
ing aspheres in an optical system. the detector plane. So in practice an they are re-plotted as they would appear
Theoretically only two aspheres are asphere is placed close to an intermedi- on an ideal Double Gauss lens in Figure
required for good imagery for fast, wide ate image to correct field aberrations. 3 through Figure 6.
field of view systems1. This is easily done if the optical system is Figure 5 is an interesting case since
Placing one asphere near an aperture a re-imager, meaning there is a focus the form breaks the Double Gauss sym-
stop or a pupil will correct spherical inside the optical system. Some system metry about the aperture stop. The
➮
➭
Visit our website to request your copy:
http://optosigma.com/Contact/litrequest.asp
Improving the quality of light
➮
➭
Using Aspheres
increase in airspace between the iris and the
aft optics allows the second asphere to reduce
the field aberrations due to the beam wander
over the aperture with changing field, while
the asphere near the stop minimizes spherical
aberration.
Figure 6 is appealing because of a cost sav-
ings due to the aspheres being located on a
single element. If the element is glass molded
this approach can yield tremendous cost
reductions compared to two aspheres.
One could argue many of these cases set up
dueling aspheres. Perhaps instead of “dueling”
aspheres these are “split” aspheres, where the
aspheric departure is distributed between two
surfaces.
Empirical Case Study

In the 1960’s Sloan and Hopkins studied
the addition of aspheres to the Double
Gauss2. They assumed that an aspheric plate
could be placed at the aperture stop. We have
repeated this exercise but expanded the
number of cases to include cases found in the patent litera- The above table captures the results of this study. There are
ture mentioned above. We followed the original paper’s con- eleven optical surfaces (including a plate at the iris) in the
vention, reporting optical performance in terms of MTF at 15 Double Gauss and these are represented by columns. Each row
line pairs/mm. (Higher contrast is better since it means a in the table represents a different configuration in terms of
sharp resolution). This was conducted by using an automated placement of the asphere. The numbers under the surfaces
lens design program that iterated to maximize the optical show the aspheric departure in microns.
performance. These solutions were not solved in a closed The last three columns capture the optical performance
form fashion. or relative error function (RMS Wavefront Error — the
lower the better) and MTF at the center and edge of the
field of view.
Conclusion
The results show that aspheres can offer a great increase in
optical performance. Some of these solutions, however, defy
theoretical wisdom of asphere placement. The most promising
solution for aspherizing a Double Gauss, for instance, utilizes a
double asphere on the last element. In this solution one
aspheric surface has an inflection point (convex at the center,
concave at the edge). An inflection asphere is more difficult to
manufacture but it offers an excellent performance increase.
The asphere with the inflection has the axial beam covering
only the convex portion while the off-axis beams wander to the
edge of the asphere. The inflection point attempts to correct
astigmatism at the edge of the asphere, while controlling field
curvature and spherical aberration at the center.
When designing an optical system with aspheres, then, it is
important that the lens designer keep an open mind about the
placement of the aspheric surfaces. They should also carefully
monitor for dueling aspheres to reduce stress on aspheric fab-
rication. If used correctly, however, aspheres can reduce size
and weight of an optical system by minimizing the number of
elements required to achieve good image quality.
This article was written by Scott Sparrold, Senior Optical Engineer,
Edmund Optics, Inc. (Barrington, NJ). For more information, contact
Mr. Sparrold at ssparrold@edmundoptics.com, or visit http://info.
hotims.com/28052-200.
References
1 “Aberrations of the Symmetrical Optical System” W.T. Welford,
Academic Press pg 134
2 “Design of Double Gauss Systems Using Aspherics”, T.R. Sloan and
R.E. Hopkins, Applied Optics 1911, Vol 6. No. 11, November 1967
52 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-740 Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010
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1 @ 3 3 @ 5 0 / < 2 0 @ 7 5 6 B E 6 7 B 3 6 7 5 6 0 @ 7 5 6 B < 3 A A : 3 2 a 4 = @ D 7 2 3 = 2 7 A > : /G / < 2 A 7 5 < /5 3

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Our thumb is Applications
on the pulse of
INFRARED Monitoring Carbon Composite
OPTICS. Structures With Optical Fiber Sensors
F iber reinforced polymer composites
are revolutionizing the design of
large, high-performance structures in
the aerospace, marine and power gener-
ation industries due to their advantages
in areas such as corrosion resistance,
specific strength and tailorability. The
use of carbon fiber reinforced compos-
ites, the most common and lightest of
the “non-exotic” composite materials, is
now very widespread. The maiden flight
of The Boeing Company’s new 787
Dreamliner, the first commercial aircraft
to use composites for most of its con- Figure 1. Carbon fiber composite barrel used on
struction in December of 2009, is a stark Boeing 787.
example of just how far carbon fiber
composite materials have come in the integrated directly into the composite
last 50 years: from hockey sticks, tennis material, forming the ideal material/sen-
Visit us at rackets and R&D labs, to carrying us sor combination for SHM. Because car-
from here to there at 500+ mph. bon fiber composite failure modes can
CLEO As modern design moves more be both latent and extensive, integration
Booth 1909 towards the use of lighter and stronger of the sensor into the matrix of the mate-
materials like carbon composites, it must rial offers the key to health assessment,
also move towards smarter materials. maintenance, and management of the
IR Lenses & Aspheres The relative inexperience with compos- integrity of structural composites.
IR Windows ite materials compared to their metallic
counterparts often necessitates either Advantages and
overdesign of components or more fre- Considerations
quent inspections and monitoring. Fiber sensors have shown promise in
Composite materials present a host of integrated health monitoring for many
IR Achromats failure modes (cracks, disjoints, delami- years now. For in-situ monitoring of mate-
nations, etc.) that can be nearly cata- rials and structures, fiber sensors offer
IR Prisms & Beamsplitters
strophic and very difficult to detect — a many advantages over more conventional
very bad combination. Photonics offers sensors such as electrical strain gages.
an elegant solution to this problem in Among these advantages are intrinsically
the form of embedded fiber optic sen- light weight, very small size (standard opti-
sors for structural health monitoring cal fiber is about the same size as human
(SHM). hair), immunity to electromagnetic inter-
Fiber sensors integrated into compos- ference and corrosion resistance.
ites form a very natural technology mar- There are many considerations to suc-
riage. First, both are ideal in the light- cessfully integrating fiber sensors into
NEED A VOLUME OPTICS QUOTE? weight category. Second, and perhaps composite materials, and this is itself an
Contact our Sales Department today more important, optical fiber can be active area of research. Issues include
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JAPAN: 81-3-5800-4751 | www.edmundoptics.jp Incident Spectrum Reflected Spectrum Transmitted Spectrum Reflected Spectrum Transmitted Spectrum
Figure 2. Principle behind fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors.
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-742 www.ptbmagazine.com Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010
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Applications
the manufacturing process to integrate Rayleigh Scatter Sensing
the sensors without compromising the A new technique called Rayleigh scat-
composite matrix, sensor ingress/ ter sensing addresses this issue by allow-
egress, and sensor survivability mainte- ing the entire length of integrated fiber
nance. Here we focus on an emerging to act as a sensor. Rayleigh scatter sens-
fiber sensing technology that addresses ing uses a technique called optical fre-
one of the main issues with SHM for quency domain reflectometry (OFDR) to
composites: ensuring the fiber sensors, measure the distributed amplitude and
once embedded, reliably detect struc- phase of the Rayleigh scatter signature
tural issues within the composite matrix produced by standard optical fiber. This
well before they become catastrophic signature is very weak, reflecting less
failure points. than one part per billion in optical probe
There are different technical ap- power, but it is present in all optical fiber Figure 4. Rayleigh sensing fiber with zig-zag uni-
proaches to distributed stress and strain and forms an ideal sensing mechanism. form distribution in a composite laminate
sensing using fiber optics. Optical time Similar to interrogating FBGs, the
domain reflectometry (OTDR) is based Rayleigh backscatter of a fiber creates a ing of composite materials, they also
on transmitting a pulse of laser light unique pattern that is measured by the present very specific challenges. From a
through the fiber and tracking the time instrument. Instead of a clear peak or set material perspective, the use of fiber
at which the reflected signals are detect- of peaks, however, the reflected ampli- sensors often introduces another new
ed, thereby distinguishing the spatial tude, phase and spectrum of the scatter material with which engineers, scientists
location of the sensors. Although this are random patterns from inherent varia- and technicians often have limited expe-
technique works very well over great dis- tions in standard telecommunication rience. Installation of optical fiber such
tances (kilometers), spatial resolution fiber. Just as with an FBG, applied temper- that the sensors are both robust and
tends to be coarse. With this technique, ature or strain shifts the reflected spec- accurate requires training and know-
achieving spatial resolution better than trum of the scatter in the fiber at the loca- how. While optical fiber itself, when
1m is very challenging. tion it is applied. Nominally, the shift in handled and installed properly, is quite
Distributed sensing techniques that reflected spectrum in an FBG is found by robust, ingress and egress points present
employ fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) have measuring the shift in its spectral peak. a particular challenge when integrating
become a popular choice for integration Finding the frequency shift of the scatter optical fiber with composite structures.
with composites as they afford much spectrum is slightly more complicated as Improper treatment of these locations
higher resolution than time domain the spectrum is random. This is accom- can lead to short sensor life. Finally,
techniques and this translates into much plished by performing a cross-correlation fiber sensors — in particular the new
more robust fault detection within the of the scatter spectrum from a measure- Rayleigh method highlighted here —
material. The basic idea is that multiple ment data set with that from a reference produce large quantities of data. This
FBGs can be located along the length of data set taken with the fiber under test in causes not only a data management issue
an optical fiber, each acting as a discrete some nominal temperature or strain state. but presents a broader challenge of what
strain sensing point or location within Both very large and very small strains types of decisions should be made based
the composite once the fiber is integrat- can be detected with high precision by on what can potentially be “too much”
ed into the material. The sensor is then comparing the phase changes along the data. Ultimately, of course, more of the
interrogated with a spectrum of input length of the fiber. Figure 3 shows strain right kind of data is only a good thing.
light and the reflected FBG spectrum is data collected from a fiber zig-zag pat- From a structural health monitoring
measured and translated into strain. tern integrated into a composite lami- perspective, optical fiber offers a unique
The problem with this approach is that nate (Figure 4). Strain data show delam- opportunity in the deployment of
one is never guaranteed that a failure in ination in the center of the composite smarter, lighter and stronger composite
the material will occur close enough to article. structures. Rayleigh sensing stands out
an FBG location to allow for strain trans- While there are many benefits that among promising techniques due to
fer and, thus, fault detection. fiber sensors bring to structural monitor- extremely high resolution, large dynam-
ic range, and lack of sensor placement
issues. Furthermore, standard telecom
grade optical fiber can be used, eliminat-
ing the need for expensive and difficult-
to-manufacture specialty fibers.
This article was written by Brian Soller,
Ph.D, Strategic Business Development;
Daniel Peairs, Senior Research Engineer; Alex
Sang, Project Research Engineer; Luna
Innovations (Roanoke, VA); and Antonio
Fernandez, Department of Aeronautics,
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Madrid,
Spain). For more information, contact Dr.
Figure 3. Strain map due to a delamination in 2D (left) and 3D (right) with integrated Rayleigh sen- Soller at sollerb@lunainnovations.com, or
sors. The x and y scales are in millimeters. visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-201.
➮
➭
Focusing Light Beams To Improve Atomic-Vapor Optical Buffers

Atomic-vapor optical buffers could be made to perform more nearly optimally.
Specially designed focusing of light intensity in optical beams, arising from sented by the present proposal, is to
beams has been proposed as a means of absorption of the beams as they propa- focus the light (see figure) in such a way
improving the performances of optical gate in atomic-vapor cells. Such that the net effect of the focusing and
buffers based on cells containing hot nonuniformity makes it impossible to absorption is that its intensity does not
atomic vapors (e.g., rubidium vapor). optimize the physical conditions vary with position in the cell.
There is also a companion proposal to throughout a cell, thereby making it Theoretically, such compensation
improve performance by use of incoher- impossible to optimize the perform- should lead to fractional group delays
ent optical pumping under suitable con- ance of the cell as an optical buffer. In longer than those of similar cells in
ditions. practical terms simplified for the sake which collimated light is used. It has
Atomic-vapor optical buffers (of of brevity, “to optimize” as used here also been determined theoretically that
which there are both cold- and hot- means to design the cell so as to maxi- focusing by a thin spherical-surface lens
vapor types) are photonic devices based mize the group delay of an optical describable by the geometric-optics
on a “slow light” phenomenon that pulse while keeping the absorption approximation would not suffice; It
involves quantum effects that occur in and distortion of the pulse reasonably would likely be necessary to use a thick
vapors of rubidium and other elements small. lens of more complex design based at
under suitable conditions. Atomic-vapor The basic limit of the group delay in least partly on wave optics.
optical buffers have been extensively dis- the presence of Raman amplification of Regarding the proposal to use inco-
cussed in the literature as means of opti- a probe light beam in a hot-atomic- herent optical pumping: For reasons
cal storage and optical processing of vapor cell is set by the absorption of a too complex to describe here, residual
information. drive light beam with consequent grad- absorption of light is one of the main
Regarding the proposal to use focus- ual decrease of the width of an electro- impediments to achievement of desir-
ing: The utility of atomic-vapor optical magnetically induced transparency ably long group delays in hot atomic
buffers as optical storage and process- (EIT) resonance along the propagation vapors. The present proposal is direct-
ing devices has been severely limited by direction. One possible approach to ed toward suppressing residual absorp-
nonuniform spatial distributions of compensation of the absorption, repre- tion of light. The idea of improving the

Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-744 57
➮
➭
CVI MELLES GRIOT. Photonics Tech Briefs
YOUR SINGLE-SOURCE
SOLUTION FOR Focusing Lens
Severe Environments
Drive and Probe Cell Containing
Light Beams Rb Vapor
Photodiode
Light Would Be Focused into and through a hot vapor of rubidium or other suitable atoms. The focus-
ing lens would be designed to produce a beam profile in which focusing would compensate for
absorption to yield constant intensity.
performance of slow-light optical hand. Suppression of absorption

buffers by use of incoherent pumping improves the delay-line performance
overlaps somewhat with the basic idea of an atomic-vapor cell, while the
of Raman-based slow-light systems. destruction of atomic coherence
However, prior studies of those systems degrades its performance. These con-
did not quantitatively answer the ques- siderations were taken into account in
Does your customer expect tion of whether the performance of an a theoretical study performed in sup-
your thermal imaging systems atomic vapor or other medium that port of the proposal to use incoherent
to survive this? exhibits EIT with Raman gain is superi- optical pumping. The study yielded
or to that of a medium that exhibits EIT equations showing that incoherent
You need Carbon XT without Raman gain. pumping increases group delay within
Ŗ *ardECTDQP#4EQCVKPIUHQT It is known from prior research that certain ranges of design and opera-
external surfaces incoherent optical pumping results in tional parameters.
(1) suppression of absorption or even This work was done by Dmitry Strekalov,
Ŗ 'HſEKGPVŌOKETQPCPVKTGƀGEVKXG amplification of a probe light beam on Andrey Matsko, and Anatoliy Savchenkov
performance the one hand, and in (2) destruction of of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Ŗ #XCKNCDNGYKVJRTGEKUKQP)G the atomic coherence and broadening Laboratory. For more information, contact
window substrates of the EIT resonance on the other iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov. NPO-45118
100 10
96 8
Transmission (%)
Reflection (%)
92
88
6
4
Digitally Enhanced Heterodyne
84 2 Interferometry
80 0 This design mitigates cyclic error and improves measurement
7 8 9 10 11 12
Wavelength (μm) sensitivity.
ADHESION ABRASION
MIL-C-48497 windscreen wiper
TS1888 TS1888 (O.S.) Spurious interference limits the per- only the signal of interest and reject
HUMIDITY SALT FOG
formance of many interferometric spurious interference. The properties
7 days for 24 hours measurements. Digitally enhanced of the PRN code determine the degree
MIL-C-48497 MIL-STD-810C
TS1888 interferometry (DEI) improves meas- of isolation.
urement sensitivity by augmenting con- Heterodyne interferometers are
For more information:
www.infrared-optics.com/Capabilities.htm
ventional heterodyne interferometry used for metrology to measure the dis-
with pseudo-random noise (PRN) code tance to a remote mirror, usually with
phase modulation. DEI effectively several intermediate surfaces for steer-
changes the measurement problem ing and beam-shaping. These sur-
from one of hardware (optics, electron- faces, while necessary, can degrade
ics), which may deteriorate over time, the measurement. A digitally en -
to one of software (modulation, digital hanced heterodyne interferometer
signal processing), which does not. DEI makes the same measurement, with
isolates interferometric signals based the primary difference being the addi-
on their delay. Interferometric signals tion of an electro-optic modulator
Lenses | Mirrors | Filters | Mounts
are effectively time-tagged by phase- that adds zero or ≠ phase shift onto
Integrated Assemblies | Waveplates | Lasers modulating the laser source with a PRN the measurement beam before it goes
code. DEI improves measurement sen- out to the measurement surface. The
cvimellesgriot.com | Americas +1 505 296 9541
Europe +31 316 333 041 | Asia +81 3 3407 3614 sitivity by exploiting the autocorrela- electronics system has an additional
tion properties of the PRN to isolate front end that demodulates the PRN
➮
➭
PRN
M1 M2 M3
Laser EOM
AOM
Heterodyne
frequency ƒh
Delay 1
Phasemeter
1
Delay 2 PRN
-1
Delay 3
Digital Signal Processing
A Digitally Enhanced Heterodyne measurement system includes an electro-optic modulator (EOM)

and an additional front end on the phasemeter that demodulates the PRN code before the phase is
measured for the metrology.
code before the phase measurement determined by the optical wavelength,

(see figure). not the code, and is several orders of
The PRN code used is a maximal- magnitude more sensitive.
length sequence. This sequence has the Another benefit of delay-based signal
property that, when correlated with isolation is the ability to measure multi-
itself, is one and, when correlated with ple optical components with a single
a delayed version of itself, the correla- metrology system. This multiplexing
tion can be as low as 1/N, where N is capability significantly simplifies meas-
the length of the code sequence (chip urements of multiple components, such
length). The pseudo-random code as displacement monitoring of a train of
appears as white noise on the photode- optics or segments of a multi-mirror tel-
tector. The heterodyne signal appears escope. This design’s immunity to scat-
only after the signal is demodulated tered light and electronic interference
with the proper delay by the electron- will allow measurements to approach
ics. Cyclic errors can be suppressed up the fundamental limits of shot noise and
to 1/N by adjusting the delay of the electronic noise, allowing for laboratory-
PRN code in the front end of the class performance in real-world environ-
phasemeter to measure the desired sig- ments.
nal and reject spurious interference. By This work was done by Daniel Shaddock,
adjusting the delay properly, signals Brent Ware, Oliver Lay, and Serge
from the spurious reflections can also Dubovitsky of Caltech for NASA’s Jet
be analyzed. Propulsion Laboratory.
PRN code modulation is conceptually In accordance with Public Law 96-517,
similar to code division multiplexing, the contractor has elected to retain title to this
which is used in communications for invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its
spread spectrum signals. The technolo- commercial use should be addressed to:
gy for this is widespread and mature. Innovative Technology Assets Management
PRN codes are commonly used in JPL
metrology, e.g. lidar systems, by ampli- Mail Stop 202-233
tude modulating a laser with a PRN 4800 Oak Grove Drive
code and performing range measure- Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
ments based on the code. The sensitivi- E-mail: iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov
ty of these measurements is determined Refer to NPO-45188, volume and number
by the characteristic wavelength of the of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
PRN code. In contrast, digitally en- page number.
hanced interferometry sensitivity is
Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010 www.ptbmagazine.com Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-746
➮
➭
New Products
New Products
Optical Vector Analyzer
Product of the Month
Luna Technologies (Roanoke, VA) has in-
Ultra Compact Diode Laser troduced the Optical Vector Analyzer plat-
The new iBeam smart ultra-compact diode laser series form, (OVA 5000), a tool for loss, dispersion,
from TOPTICA Photonics (Victor, NY) features digital and and polarization measurements of modern
analog modulation; autopulse; a graphical user interface optical networking equipment. It delivers sin-
(GUI); high power levels (120 mW at 405 nm, 50 mW at gle-measurement, all-parameter analysis of
445 nm, 60 mW at 488 nm, 100 mW at 640 nm, 150 mW at fiber optic components and assemblies up to
642 nm and150 mW at 660 nm); compact size (100 mm × 150 meters in length. A full C and L band
40 mm × 40 mm); single-mode fiber coupling; FINE (Feed- characterization of all linear optical parame-
back Induced Noise Eraser), which makes the iBeam smart completely insensitive to optical
feedback; and a new SKILL function, which acts as a purely electronic “speckle killer” by de-
creasing the longitudinal coherence lengths of emitted light to a minimum.
Selective Wavelength Photodiodes

Opto Diode Corporation (Newbury Park, CA) has introduced ters can be completed in less than three sec-
the ODD-660W selective wavelength photodiodes. The device op- onds. The OVA uses swept-wavelength inter-
erates from 550-720nm, with peak response at 660nm, and fea- ferometry to measure all device characteristics
tures a spectral bandwidth of 80nm. A hermetically sealed photo- in a single scan of a tunable laser. It character-
diode offers low dark current without the need for optical filters. izes all linear optical parameters including: In-
Applications include fluorescence detection, color sensors, daylight sensors, light barriers, and sertion Loss (IL), Polarization Dependent
medical diagnostics. Systems and operating parameters are from -30 °C to 85 °C, with a lead sol- Loss (PDL), Group Delay (GD), Chromatic
dering temperature of up to 260 °C. Dispersion (CD), Polarization Mode Disper-
For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-206 sion (PMD), and Second Order PMD.
For Free Info Visit
http://info.hotims.com/28052-207
Microscope Focus
Controller
Prior Scientific (Rockland, MA) has intro-
duced a new focus-only control system for
modern microscopes. The ES10ZE Focus
Controller is suitable for applications involv-
ing extended focus or Z-stacking. The con-
troller includes a clear display that shows the
current position at all times while separate
controls are provided for rapid movement up
or down along with the facility to change the
speed of the focus movement. A manual focus
knob is also provided for manual fine focusing
and ease of operation.
The ES10ZE is compatible with most imag-

ing platforms and can be used on different mi-
croscopes including inverted, upright com-
pound microscopes, and stereomicroscopes.
It also supports encoders to ensure precision
and accuracy.
For Free Info Visit
60 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-747 Photonics Tech Briefs, April 2010
➮
➭
Camera Control Units
Toshiba Imaging Systems Divi-
sion (Irvine, CA) has added two
new camera control units
(CCUs) designed to operate with
the remote head, high-definition
IK-HD1. The IK-HD1 model has
an added DVI-I output on the
rear panel, allowing customers to use HD control panels that accept
DVI and/or HDMI signals, rather than more costly HD-SDI panels. The
IK-HD1E CCU is designed to output HD-SDI and Y/Pb/Pr video signals
in both 50 and 60 Hz.
SWIR InGaAs Digital Video

Linescan Camera
Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ) has intro-
duced the SU-LDH shortwave infrared (SWIR)
InGaAs digital video linescan camera featuring
line rates for 1024 pixels from 1 to over 46,000
lines per second with integrate-while-read snap-
shot acquisition. With a shortwave infrared
wavelength response over 0.8 to 1.7 microns,
this is suitable for electroluminescence and photoluminescence inspec-
tion of silicon and multi-junction cells. The SU-LDH features a 25-mi-
cron pixel pitch and a sharp 25-micron aperture mask that combine to
provide a high SWIR imaging resolution. The 14-bit Camera Link com-
patible output and control is designed to integrate into machine vision
systems for photovoltaic manufacturing at all stages of the process.
Optical Replication Process Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-748

OPCO (Fitchburg, MA) offers a replication
process that reproduces complex optics. The
process transfers the profile of a precision optical
surface from a master, creating an exact dupli-
cate on a variety of substrates. The replicated op-
tics are less expensive and in many cases lighter
than the master. This process can be used to pro-
duce a range of both ruled and holographic dif-
fraction gratings, reflective and transmission
holographic optical elements, and dual wavelength gratings, as well as
plano and conic sections. Substrate materials include glass, silicon car-
bide, ceramic, and metals such as beryllium, aluminum, titanium, stain-
less steel, and others. Diffraction gratings are produced in sizes up to
110mm × 110mm with groove densities from 40 g/mm to 3,600 g/mm,
with available wavelengths from the deep UV to the far IR.
Miniature Spectrometers
The XR-Series of miniature spec-
trometers from Ocean Optics
(Dunedin, FL) covers all wave-
lengths from ~200 - 1050 nm and are
available for USB2000+, JAZ-
EL2000, and USB4000. The XR-2
grafting option provides broad UV-
NIR coverage with 500 lines/mm
density without increasing the system footprint. They deliver an optical
resolution of ~2.0 nm (FWHM) and are suitable for setups where both
UV-VIS and VIS-NIR measurements are needed. They are also suitable
for measurement of samples with response across the entire wavelength
range, including solar irradiance, atomic emission line measurement,
and some plasma applications.
➮
➭
New Products
INFRARED CONFERENCE
Optical Spectrometer
Mcpherson (Chelmsford, MA) has developed a 248/130 grazing
incidence wavelength dispersive optical spectrometer that analyzes
spectral light in the ~1 to 300 nm wavelength region (4 to ~1200
eV). It is useful for the vacuum ultraviolet as well as the extreme and
June 14–18, 2010
soft X-ray wavelength region. Using direct detection CCDs, gated
UC Santa Barbara
image intensifiers, or fast channel electron multipliers for detec-
tion, the instruments are vacuum leak checked and calibrated with
Plan to attend, or tell a respect to wavelength. Vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy accessories, including various detector
colleague about, the 43rd systems and wavelength calibration sources, are available from <1 nm to the visible range.
annual short course on For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-214
Modern Infrared Detectors and

System Applications at the Non-Contact Laser Shutters
University of California, Santa FlexSorb™ laser shutters from nmLaser Products (San Jose,
Barbara. Industry experts CA) feature a high damage threshold, small size, and quiet oper-
share recent advances in IR ation. The moving part is a low-mass, flexible, ferromagnetic can-
tilever membrane that is moved in and out of the beam by non-
detection, including the latest
contact electromagnetic techniques. The shutters are immersion
commercial applications. cleaning compatible and can be used for clean room type appli-
For more information or to cations. They are designed for 24V type circuits with a timed im-
pulse to open and a lower voltage for long-term hold. Aperture
enroll, call (805) 893-4200
sizes range from 3mm to 14mm. They feature switching speeds
or visit www.extension.ucsb. from under 10 msec to 50 msec, and exhibit low backscatter from DUV through FIR wavelengths.
edu/courses/infrared/ For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-215
Glass-Glass Photovoltaic Modules

Silicon Energy (Arlington, WA) and DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions
(Wilmington, DE) have introduced glass-glass polycrystalline silicon (cSi)
photovoltaic (PV) power-generating modules made with DuPont™
PV5300 series ionomer-based encapsulant for added module strength and
durability. Two 60-mil layers of the encapsulant surround silicon wafers to
add high-transmittance tempered glass and increased flexural strength
over traditional modules. The encapsulant is also resistant to moisture intrusion.
RGB Laser Driver

Maxim Integrated Products (Sunnyvale, CA) has introduced
the MAX3600, a 3-channel RGB laser driver that enables inte-
gration of high-resolution pico projectors into small-form-fac-
tor applications. Fabricated using Maxim’s BiCMOS process,
the device achieves switching times of <2ns to support high-res-
olution images of up to 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) and WXGA
(1400 × 768 pixels). It also eliminates the need for three dis-
crete laser drivers. It is equipped with three 10-bit RGB DACs that read video data from the host
device’s 10-bit RGB bus. The DACs generate billions of colors and contrast ratios of 5000:1 and
higher, while consuming 75% less real estate and 30% less power than discrete designs, making
it suitable for battery-operated devices. Packaged in a 5mm × 5mm, 40-pin TQFN, the MAX3600
operates over temperatures ranging from 0 °C to +70 °C.
Boreoscope Camera
The FSC2 boreoscope camera from Schoelly Imaging (Worcester, MA)
features an integrated LED light at the camera head, eliminating the
need for light cables. The small CCU features auto white balance,
variable brightness control, AGC, and a custom window feature that
fits the boreoscope image to the camera chip. Outputs include com-
posite video, S-Video, and a USB 2.0 digital port for capturing im-
ages to a PC. A variety of boreoscope probes ranging in diameter
from 0.35mm to 2.7mm can be attached via a bayonet quick mount.
➮
➭
Scalable Shutters
Vincent Associates (Rochester, NY) has introduced three DSS Shut-
ter Series products: the DSS10 (10mm aperture), the DSS20 (20mm
The Exact Lens
aperture), and the DSS 25 (25mm aperture). The DSS
series does not require an external protruding actu-
you need, the
ator and contains no other interfering compo-
nents. All drive and damping related compo-
Expert Support
nents related to the mechanical motion of
the shutter are contained or inte-
you want
grated within. It can be scaled for al-
ternate aperture sizes. From Prototype to Production
Universe Kogaku Designs Lens
Solar On/Off Grid Power Platform Assemblies for Every Application
Sunpods (San Jose, CA) has Medical Imaging Lenses UV Quartz Lenses
unveiled the SP-500 SunPods Microscope Objectives CCD & CMOS Lenses
Solar Agriculture & Remote
Photographic Lenses CCTV Lenses
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designed to provide solar Lens Mounting Accessories Diode Laser Lenses
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agricultural processing, wells, Image and Barcode Lenses Your Custom Lens
irrigation, and water distribution systems. The systems are engineered
for grid connected or off-grid agriculture power-on-demand solutions Custom Lens Manufacturer
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pivot irrigation systems, water irrigation, water distribution, water pro-
Thousands of Lens Sizes in Stock
cessing, and well-water pumping. At off-the-grid remote locations, the Most Lenses Ship Same Day
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wastewater, and water purification plants. They require 100V-480V, In USA: 516- 624-2444
50Hz/60Hz AC or 12/24/48VDC, scalable from 2.4-kW units to Email: info@ukaoptics.com
megawatt size.
© 2010 Universe Kogaku (America) Inc.
Optoelectronic Analyzer
CORDOUAN Technologies (Pessac,
France) has developed the MIROMA©
analyzer, a solution for laser metrology
that performs high-resolution wavefront
characterization, real-time analysis of
laser beam profile, instantaneous M2
measurement, and near-field far-field
propagation predictions with high reso-
lution. It is achromatic, vibrations insensitive, and calibration-free.
Rod-Type Lasers
EOLITE Systems (Pessac, France) has in-
troduced the OCTOPUS laser for thin-film
scribing and the BOREAS IR150 for high-pow-
ered cutting and drilling. OCTOPUS offers
up to 16 fiber-delivery channels. Each beam
provides light at 515nm or at 1030nm with
pulse duration as low as 10ns, peak power up
to 4 kW and repetition rates up to 300 kHz.
Each fiber channel (up to 5m long) offers up
to 4W at 515nm with excellent beam quality,
or up to 30W in a uniform multimode output
configuration. The BOREAS IR150 offers over
150W at 1030nm, pulses shorter than 20ns, peak power over 200 kW,
high repetition rates up to 500 kHz, and a beam quality with M2 of 1.3.
It produces sub-10ns pulses at repetition rates up to 400 kHz. The laser
heads are conductively cooled and temperature-stabilized by a closed-
loop water-cooled plate that keeps the laser in a hermetically sealed en-
vironment and extends its lifetime.
➮
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DYNAMIC
OPTICALLY CLEAR
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Product Focus: Software
ADHESIVE /SEALANT
HAS HIGH FLEXIBILITY
3D Design
Designed to Your IronCAD, Atlanta, GA, offers IRONCAD
Specifications Next Generation Version 2009 3D design
software with a structure part design that
allows users to choose between structured
EP37-3FLF or innovative design modes at an individual
■ High optical clarity and part level within a single assembly, allowing for cre-
flexibility ■ Ambient or fast elevated ation of parametrically controlled and logically designed parts. It
temperature cures ■ One-to-one mix ratio by also offers a 2D mechanical design tool integrated within the soft-
weight or volume ■ Outstanding gap filling
properties ■ High physical strength ■ Superior ware. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-100
electrical insulation ■ Adheres to similar and
dissimilar substrates ■ Excellent resistance to Tire Design Library
shock and vibration ■ Wide service temperature Maplesoft™, Waterloo,
range ■ Convenient packaging ON, Canada, has intro-
duced an add-on compo-
nent library for the
Maplesim™ physical mod-
eling and simulation prod-
154 Hobart St., Hackensack, NJ 07601 uct. The Tire Component Library provides industry-standard tire
TEL: 201-343-8983 ■ FAX: 201-343-2132 force model components that can be integrated into existing vehi-
www.masterbond.com ■ main@masterbond.com cle dynamics models. Kinematic quantities such as slip angle, lon-
gitudinal slip, and inclination angle are automatically derived.
Acoustics Simulation
LMS International, Leuven, Belgium,
has released Virtual.Lab Acoustics simu-
lation software that uses PML (Perfectly
Matched Layer) to reduce the number of
required elements to solve noise radia-
tion problems. It also features conserva-
tive mapping for more accurate predictions. For Free Info Visit
Analysis and Simulation

ANSYS, Southpointe, PA, offers
ANSYS® 12.1 analysis and simulation soft-
ware that automates the product develop-
ment process. It integrates three applica-
tions within the ANSYS Workbench
framework: Icepak™ for electronics, POLYFLOW® for polymer
and glass forming, and AQWA™ for hydrodynamic analyses.
CFD Meshing
Pointwise, Fort Worth, TX, has
released an updated version of
Gridgen meshing software for
computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) with new tools for size
reductions in hybrid meshes. The T-Rex™ technique extrudes lay-
ers of high-aspect-ratio tetrahedra for boundary layer resolution,
gradually transitioning to isotropic tests away from the body.
➮
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Portable Recorder
The microprocessor-based, portable,
universal circular chart Superecorder™
from OMEGA Engineering, Stamford,
CT, is available in temperature and rela-
tive humidity, dual thermocouple, dual
process, and pH and (RTD) temperature
models. The front panel features a pro-
gramming keypad and backlit display. The RS-232 PC interface allows
the user to download recorded data. For Free Info Visit http://info.
hotims.com/28052-105
3D Scanner
Exact Metrology, Cincinnati, OH, has
introduced the Artec MH 3D scanner
that requires no mounts or markers, and
captures 3D images at speeds of up to 15
surfaces per second. The scanner is
equipped with wide field-of-view 3D and
megapixel 2D sensors to capture both
shape and surface texture of objects in a
snapshot or video mode. For Free Info
Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-106
Machined Aluminum Parts

Proto Labs, Maple Plain, MN, offers CNC-machined aluminum parts
in one to three business days through its First Cut CNC Machining
Service. Parts are machined from Aluminum 6061-T651 and can be as
large as 10 × 7 × 3.75". Customers upload a 3D CAD model to the com-
pany’s Web site, and receive an online FirstQuote® within 24 hours. Six-Axis
Parts are typically ready for shipping in one to three business days from Force/Torque
the time the order is placed. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.
com/28052-107
Sensors
PCB Connectors
Positronic Industries, Springfield, MO,
offers the QB series of four types of
Combo D variants included in the
MicroTCA specifications. The single or
stacked dual-port package, right-angle
PCB-mount connectors include standard
mounting brackets, power contacts with
resistance values as low as 0.00035 ohms, current ratings as high as 80
amperes, and a range of contact plating options. Cable connectors are
available with short hoods with internal cable clamps suitable for use
in tight spaces. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-108 Standard Features: Six Axes of Force/Torque Sensing
(Fx Fy Fz Tx Ty Tz) • High Overload Protection • Interfaces
Power Converters for Ethernet, PCI, USB, EtherNet/IP, CAN, and more • Sizes
Schaefer, Ashland, MA, has introduced the from 17 mm - 250 mm diameter • Custom sensors available
C4500HV series of high-output-voltage power con- Applications: Product Testing • Biomedical Research •
verters that accept voltages of up to 3000 VDC. Finger Force Research • Rehabilitation Research • Robotics
Standard DC input options range from 10 VDC to
800 VDC. AC input models offer either 1-phase or 3-
phase options as well as battery-charging models.
Single output voltages encompass a range from 9
VDC to 400 VDC. Operating temperature is -20 °C Over 20 Years of Robotic End-Effector Innovation
to 75 °C. For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-109

www.ati-ia.com/ns
➮
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High-Conductivity Rods and Wire
Anomet Products, Shrewsbury, MA, offers
copper-cored titanium and nickel-clad high-
conductivity rod, wire, and bus bar for high-
current applications in hostile environments.
The titanium clad copper core handles up to
1000 Amp/in2 current with corrosion resist-
ance, and a nickel-clad copper core can with-
stand temperatures up to 1400 °F. For Free
Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-110
Wind Turbine Diagnostics Simulator

The Wind Turbine Diagnostics Simulator
(WTDS) from SpectraQuest, Richmond,
VA, simulates wind turbine drivetrain faults
and learn signatures in a controlled envi-
ronment. The system is designed to mini-
mize gearbox, bearing, and blade mecha-
nism failures, and includes sensors, data
acquisition hardware, and proprietary software for diagnosing faults.
Temperature and Humidity Logger

The TR-77Ui data logger from
TandD Corp., Saratoga Springs, NY,
features a range from 0 to 99 percent
relative humidity and a temperature
range from -30 to 80 °C. It provides a
response of 20s humidity time con-
stant. The probe has a 1-m cable with
the option to expand up to 10 m. Data capacity is a total of 16,000 read-
ings in one-time or endless recording mode. Data can be downloaded
to a computer via a USB port. For Free Info Visit http://info.
hotims.com/28052-112
LCR Meter
Protek Test and Measurement,
Englewood, NJ, offers the Z8900
LCR (inductance, capacitance,
and resistance) meter that offers
six measurement modes including
C+R, C+D, L+R, L+Q, R+Q, or
Z+Θ, at test frequencies of 100 Hz, 120 Hz, 1 kHz, or 10 kHz. It features
drive voltages of 0.1 V, 0.3 V, or 1.0 V, and measurement rates up to 12
per second. A built-in comparator for sorting components according
to value and tolerance is also included. It requires 220V or 120V, 50/60
Hz AC power, and operates at temperatures from 0 to 40 °C. For Free
Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-113
Contact Springs
Servometer®/PMG, Cedar Grove, NJ,
offers the Interconnectric® line of paired,
self-aligning, miniature bellows contact
springs designed for flexible interconnec-
tions. Outside diameters range from 0.037"
to 0.125" and can be used individually or as
pairs. The springs are manufactured in
electrodeposited nickel alloy and gold-plat-
ed to ASTM B-488-01. Contacts can be cus-
tom-designed with bellows diameters as small as 0.020". For Free Info
Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-114
➮
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THE ELECTRONIC SUR- SAVE TIME, POTTING AND
PLUS STORE LIVES ON MONEY & DATA ENCAPSULATION
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building blocks of your electronic ered HotMux provides a remote widest variety of potting and
projects. Whether you are in sensing capability and eliminates the sensor-wire encapsulation compounds specifically designed to
Research and Development, ratnest at the computer. Visual Basic Windows® MS- provide customized solutions to your requirements.
Design, Engineering, Small Run Manufacturing or based software provides applications data transfer. They consist of epoxies, silicones, polyurethanes, and
just garage experimentation, we have the parts you Multi com-port capability for additional channel UV cures. Both one- and two-component systems are
need. Stop by our web site to see our extensive inven- monitoring. Can also handle other linear sensors. available in convenient packaging. Contact us for
tory. Orders are usually shipped within 48 hours DCC Corp., Pennsauken, NJ 08110; Tel: 856-662- technical expertise and prompt one-to-one assis-
from stock. Visit us at www.allelectronics.com. 7272; Fax: 856-662-7862; www.dccCorporation.com tance. www.masterbond.com/produse.html
All Electronics Corp. DCC Corp. Master Bond

Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-772 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-776 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-781
NEW 2.94μm TACTILE SURFACE MULTIPHYSICS

DPSS LASER PRESSURE INTRODUCTION CDS
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Place your order at: www.comsol.com/ntb-introCD
Sheaumann Laser Sensor Products Inc. COMSOL, Inc.
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For our new Design Guide and to see new products, Ph: 847-465-1818 25mm active areas. PHOTONIS USA, 660 Main
go to: www.mill-max.com/NASA567 Street, Sturbridge Business Park, Sturbridge, MA
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Mill-Max EPIX, Inc. www.photonis.com
PHOTONIS USA
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characteristics in complex urban, indoor, rural and pulsed lasers, super luminescence diodes, tors, precise 2-axis azimuth/elevation gimbals, vacu-
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from military defense to commercial communica- strates absolute accuracy at 6000MHz from 370 – ear and rotary stages and gantries. It presents our
tions, including wireless links, antenna coverage 1100nm. http://highfinesse.com/lsa.php complete line of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
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TOPTICA Photonics engineered solutions. www.aerotech.com/litreq.cfm
Remcom Aerotech

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THE ULTIMATE ELECTRIC HEATERS, HIGH-QUALITY
MECHANICAL CONTROLS & SENSORS HARDWARE FOR
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torque, stress, fatigue, or space problems you may Systems and related Accessory
Items. New products include Gemini® Twin Bore micropositioning and mi-
have. Precision ground to give superb strength, a croscopy. Products include: well plate robots, closed-
high capacity for torque, and long life. Self-aligning, Quartz Tube Heaters, VS Glow Infrared Heaters and
PPR-1800 Video Graphic Data Recorders. Select loop XYZ stages for ultra-precise positioning, stages
self-centering feature eliminates alignment with integrated piezos for high-speed ultra-precise Z
problems, with minimal backlash and reduced from stock items or have Tempco custom design and
manufacture for your application. Many products are stacks, high-speed filter wheels, as well as turnkey sys-
vibration. Suitable for fixed and sliding connec- tems built to user specifications. We utilize long life
tions; available on oval, 3-sided and 4-sided, custom recognized and/or certified by UL, CSA and CE.
Tempco Electric Heater Corporation, Wood Dale, IL; components for demanding OEM applications.
produced to your specifications. Call 1-877-546- www.ASIimaging.com
6378 or visit www.generalpolygon.com; e-mail: Tel: 800-323-6859; Fax: 630-350-0232; e-mail:
joepitassintb@generalpolygon.com info@tempco.com; www.tempco.com.
General Polygon Tempco Electric Heater Corporation Applied Scientific Instrumentation

PRECISION MEGA DC/DC TAYLOR DEVICES INC. OFFERS A

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sapphire orifices.
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thru .081" • Highly repeatable 100% electrically tested, ROHS compliant and Line Catalog with information on a wide array of
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guides. Please visit our award winning website for remote on/off. Visit our searchable part list on large bore shock absorbers, isolators, dampers, crane
more information. Bird Precision, Waltham, MA; our website. Contact: Guy Francfort; Tel: 732-249- buffers, liquid springs and their exclusive self-adjusting
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sales@birdprecision.com; www.birdprecision.com. www.megaelectronics.com. Fax: 716-695-6015; Web site: www.taylordevices.com.
Bird Precision MEGA Electronics Inc. Taylor Devices Inc.
STUD MOUNTING USED SPIRAL RETAINING

FOR THQ SERIES LABORATORY RINGS & WAVE
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CAPACITORS PhotoMachining, Inc. is a Smalley’s complete product
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THQ Hybrid® Capacitors are now available welded turer and custom systems easy-to-navigate catalog. The
directly to the leaded end of the case. These studs, builder. We specialize in new catalog includes over
suitable for insertion into a pre-drilled circuit board, laser micromachining 7,000 standard wave springs,
provide rigid support and stability for Hybrid® capac- using lasers from the far IR through the UV. In addi- spiral retaining rings, and snap
itor assembly. Studs are 0.312 -56 CDA 752. Stud tion, we sell used, refurbished, and “like new” labora- rings. Smalley’s new catalog offers simplified part selec-
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Evans Capacitor
ZERO BACKLASH FOR R&D: PM COUPLER

UNIVERSAL PULSED LIGHT ARRAYS
JOINTS SINTERING Splice-free cascaded cou-
SYSTEM plers can be made as 1 × N
GTC Falcon MINI-
arrays with any output
JOINTS feature Zero The new functionally ratios and at wavelengths
Backlash for instrumen- conductive, nanoparti- from 0.488 to 2.04um. Polarization isolation is better
tation and control sys- cle inks and coatings developed for flexible, low-cost than -24dB per coupler, with loss typically less than
tems where the accurate substrates like paper, PET, and polyethylene bring 0.1dB per coupler. The download “Cascade”
transmission of information is essential. MINI- new curing challenges. To protect sensitive sub- http://www.evanescentoptics.com/polindex.php models
JOINTS are stainless steel throughout with sealed-in strates, these inks need to be sintered or annealed at the output characteristics. www.evanescentoptics.com
lubrication. Made in 3 types: Single, Double, and temperatures typically below 160 °C. The RC-847’s
Telescoping. Inch and Metric sizes. Immediate ship- high peak energy pulses (millisecond duration) heat
ment from stock. High Vacuum, special sizes readily the inks but not the flexible substrates. Click here:
available. GTC Falcon, Inc.; Tel: 888-309-0646; www.xenoncorp.com/emb/PE_Sintering.pdf
Fax: 508-746-6494; e-mail: gtcfalcon-ntb@att.com; Evanescent Optics
www.gtcfalcon.com
Xenon Corp.
GTC Falcon
➮
➭
Advertisers Index
For free product literature, enter advertisers’ reader service numbers at www.techbriefs.com/rs, or visit the
Web site listed beneath their ad in this issue.
Advertisers listed in bold-face type have banner ads on the NASA Tech Briefs web site — www.techbriefs.com
Reader Service Reader Service
Company Number Page Company Number Page
Aerotech Inc. ......................................................771 ............................67 Naked Optics Corp. ............................................749 ............................61
Agilent Technologies ......................................710 ..........................13 National Aperture ..............................................824 ..........................12a
All Electronics Corporation ..............................772 ............................67 National Instruments ......................................701, 715......COV II, 22
AllMotion ............................................................732 ............................44 Novotechnik........................................................720 ............................28
American Aerospace Controls ..........................761 ............................24 Ocean Thin Films ..............................................730 ............................36
Applied Scientific Instrumentation ..................773 ............................68 Omega Engineering ................................................................................1
ATI Industrial Automation ................................757 ............................65 Omicron USA ....................................................714 ............................21
AutomationDirect ..............................................811 ............................1a Opto Diode Corporation ..................................738 ............................49
Belt Technologies, Inc. ......................................815 ............................6a OptoSigma Corp.................................................739 ............................51
Bird Precision ....................................................774 ............................68 Parametric Technology Corp...........................707, 708 ............8-9, 11
CD-adapco ......................................................................................34 PhotoMachining Inc...........................................784 ............................68
Celesco Transducer Products ............................712 ............................19 Photon Engineering ..........................................743 ............................55
Computer Optics Inc. ........................................740 ............................52 Photonis USA......................................................785 ............................67
COMSOL, Inc.........................................................706, 707, 775 ....7, 8-9, 67 Pointwise Inc. ......................................................763 ............................35
Cree, Inc. ............................................................741 ............................53 Proto Labs, Inc. ..................................................724 ............................31
CVI Melles Griot ................................................745 ............................58 R+W America, L.P. ..............................................818 ..........................10a
DCC Corporation ..............................................776 ............................67 RedEye RPM ......................................................725 ......................30, 32
Dewetron Inc...................................................711 ..........................17 Remcom ..............................................................786 ............................67
Digi-Key Corporation ......................................703 ............................3 Santest Co., Ltd...................................................755 ............................64
Dimension ......................................................726 ....................30, 33 Sarnoff Corporation ..........................................728 ..................COV III
Dynamics Research Corp. ..................................819 ..........................11a Seal Master Corporation ....................................736 ............................43
Dynetic Systems ..................................................820 ..........................13a Seastrom Mfg. ....................................................758 ............................42
Eagle Stainless Tube........................................727 ..........................39 Semrock, Inc. ......................................................744 ............................57
Edmund Optics ..............................................742 ..........................54 Sensirion AG ......................................................762 ............................66
Electro Optical Industries ..................................747 ............................60 Sensor Products LLC..........................................787 ............................67
Electron Co., Ltd. ..............................................751 ............................62 Sheaumann Laser ..............................................788 ............................67
EPIX, Inc. ............................................................777 ............................67 Smalley Steel Ring Company ............................789 ............................68
Evanescent Optics Inc. ......................................794 ............................68 SolidWorks Corporation ....................................729....................COV IV
Evans ..............................................................778 ..........................68 Spectrogon US Inc. ............................................748 ............................61
Farrand Controls ............................................734 ..........................43 Stanford Research Systems Inc. ........................702 ..............................2
Forest City Gear ..................................................705 ..............................6 Tadiran Batteries ................................................704 ..............................5
FORTUS 3D Production Systems ....................................................30 Taylor Devices Inc...............................................780 ............................68
G-S Plastic Optics ................................................746 ............................59 Tempco Electric Heater Corp. ..........................792 ............................68
General Polygon Systems ..................................779 ............................68 TigerStop, LLC. ..................................................821 ..........................14a
GTC Falcon Inc...................................................791 ............................68 Toptica Photonics ..............................................793 ............................67
Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions ......................814 ..........................5a UCSB Extension ................................................750 ............................62
Helical Products Co., Inc. ..................................817 ............................9a Ultra Motion ......................................................823 ..........................12a
International Rectifier ....................................718 ..........................26 Universe Kogaku America, Inc. ........................752 ............................63
Kaman Precision Products ................................764 ............................12 Verisurf Software, Inc. ........................................765 ............................41
Keil, Tools by ARM ............................................760 ............................25 Voltage Multipliers, Inc. ....................................753 ............................63
Lake Shore Cryotronics Inc. ..............................756 ............................65 Watson-Marlow Pumps Group ..........................722 ............................40
Lin Engineering..................................................816 ............................7a Wilbrecht LEDCO Inc. ......................................737 ............................46
LPKF Laser and Electronics AG ........................721 ............................29 Xenon Corporation............................................790 ............................68
MacKichan Software ..........................................759 ............................66 yet2.com ................................................................................................37
Mad City Labs, Inc. ............................................822 ..........................14a
Ridealong enclosed in versions 3 and 4
Master Bond Inc. ............................................754, 781 ............64, 67
Maxon Precision Motors, Inc.............................813 ............................4a NASA Tech Briefs, ISSN 0145-319X, USPS 750-070, copyright © 2010 in U.S. is published
Measurement Computing Corp. ......................719 ............................27 monthly by Tech Briefs Media Group, 1466 Broadway, Ste. 910, New York, NY 10036. The
MEGA Electronics, Inc. ......................................782 ............................68 copyright information does not include the (U.S. rights to) individual tech briefs that
are supplied by NASA. Editorial, sales, production, and circulation offices at 1466
Meggitt Sensing Systems – Endevco® ................713 ............................20 Broadway, Ste. 910, New York, NY 10036. Subscription for non-qualified subscribers in
Micro-Epsilon Messtechnik GmbH....................709 ............................15 the U.S. and Puerto Rico, $75.00 for 1 year; $135 for 2 years. Single copies $5.00.
Foreign subscriptions one-year U.S. Funds $195.00. Remit by check, draft, postal,
MicroStrain, Inc. ................................................716 ............................23 express orders or VISA, MasterCard, and American Express. Other remittances at
Mill-Max Mfg. Corp. ..........................................783 ............................67 sender’s risk. Address all communications for subscriptions or circulation to NASA Tech
Briefs, 1466 Broadway, Ste. 910, New York, NY 10036. Periodicals postage paid at New
Miller-Stephenson Chemical Co. ......................733 ............................42 York, NY and additional mailing offices.
Minalex Corporation..........................................735 ............................24 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NASA Tech Briefs, P.O. Box 3525, Northbrook,
MTS Sensors........................................................812 ............................3a Il 60065.
➮
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NASA Innovative w w w . t e c h b r i e f s . c o m
Partnerships Program
Published by .........................................Tech Briefs Media Group
Publisher.....................................................Joseph T. Pramberger
NASA’s R&D efforts produce a robust supply of promising technologies with applications in many indus- Editorial Director ........................................................Linda L. Bell
tries. A key mechanism in identifying commercial applications for this technology is NASA’s national Editor, PTB and Embedded Technology...............Bruce A. Bennett
network of laboratories and business support entities. The network includes ten NASA field centers, the Technical/Managing Editor.........................................Ted Selinsky
National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC), and a full tie-in with the Federal Laboratory Consortium Technical Writers.........................................................Shirl Phelps
(FLC) for Technology Transfer. To explore technology transfer, development, and collaboration opportu- .........................................................................Nick Lukianoff
nities with NASA, visit www.ipp.nasa.gov. Editor, Green Design & Manufacturing ....................Kendra Smith
Associate Editor .........................................................Emily Chang
NASA’s Technology Sources Production Manager ................................................John Iwanciw
If you need further information about new technologies presented in NASA Tech Briefs, Production Manager.............................................Adam Santiago
request the Technical Support Package (TSP) indicated at the end of the brief. If a TSP is not Art Director ...............................................................Lois Erlacher
available, the Innovative Partnerships Office at the NASA field center that sponsored the Designer ...........................................................Bernadette Torres
research can provide you with additional information and, if applicable, refer you to the Marketing Director.............................................Debora Rothwell
innovator(s). These centers are the source of all NASA-developed technology. Circulation Manager .............................................Marie Claussell
Circulation/Audience Development Coordinator ....Brandie Denlinger
Ames Research Center Kennedy Space Center
Selected technological strengths: Information Selected technological strengths: Fluids and
NASA Tech Briefs are provided by the National Aeronautics
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Director, Innovative Partnerships Program ...........Doug Comstock
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Publications Director ...............................................Janelle Turner
(650) 604-1754 David R. Makufka
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Gregory Poteat (757) 864-2857 Systems Administrator ............................................Albert Sunseri
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Stennis Space Center
Goddard Space Flight Center Selected technological strengths: Propulsion NJ, PA, DE ..................................................................John Murray
Selected technological strengths: Earth and Systems; Test/Monitoring; Remote Sensing; ...........................................................................at (973) 545-2132
Planetary Science Missions; LIDAR; Cryogenic Nonintrusive Instrumentation. NY ........................................................................Stan Greenfield
Systems; Tracking; Telemetry; Remote Sensing; ...........................................................................at (203) 938-2418
Ramona Travis
Command. VA, MD, DC, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN,
(228) 688-3832
Nona Cheeks MS, LA, AR, OK, TX, WV ...........................................Ray Tompkins
ramona.e.travis@ssc.nasa.gov
(301) 286-5810 ...........................................................................at (281) 313-1004
nona.k.cheeks@nasa.gov Western NY, OH, MI, IN..........................................Ryan Beckman
National Technology Transfer Center ...........................................................................at (973) 409-4687
Darwin Molnar
Jet Propulsion Laboratory MN, ND, SD, WI, IL, KY, MO, KS,
Selected technological strengths: Near/Deep- Wheeling, WV IA, NE, Central Canada .................................................Bob Casey
Space Mission Engineering; Microspacecraft; (800) 678-6882 ...........................................................................at (847) 223-5225
Space Communications; Information Systems; Northwest, N. Calif., Western Canada.......................Craig Pitcher
Remote Sensing; Robotics. at (408) 778-0300
Andrew Gray NASA HEADQUARTERS Bill Hague
(818) 354-4906 ...........................................................................at (310) 457-6783
gray@jpl.nasa.gov Innovative Partnerships Program Office CO, UT, MT, WY, ID, NM ............................................Cynthia Louis
Doug Comstock, Director ...........................................................................at (970) 223-3911
Johnson Space Center (202) 358-2221 S. Calif., AZ, NV ...............................................................Tom Boris
Selected technological strengths: Artificial doug.comstock@nasa.gov ...........................................................................at (949) 715-7779
Intelligence and Human Computer Interface; New Business Managers ........................................Patrick Harvey
Life Sciences; Human Space Flight Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & ...........................................................................at (973) 409-4686
Operations; Avionics; Sensors; Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Angelo Danza
Communications. Programs ...........................................................................at (973) 874-0271
Michele Brekke Carl Ray, Program Executive Tim Powers
(281) 483-4614 (202) 358-4652 ...........................................................................at (973) 409-4762
michele.brekke@nasa.gov carl.g.ray@nasa.gov Reprints....................................................................Edward Kane
.................................................................at (866) 879-9144, x131
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NASA TechNeeds www.techbriefs.com/nasatechneeds
NASA Tech Briefs (NTB) has been a very successful method by which NASA conveys technologies available for commercial use to
the NTB audience. NTB readers represent a broad spectrum of technology experts in many disciplines and industries across the coun-
try, and just as you may benefit from NASA technology, NASA may also benefit from your technology.
To help tap into the technologies you may be aware of that can address NASA’s technology needs, NTB features NASA TechNeeds,
a series of articles that highlights the technology needs of the Agency. (A detailed overview of NASA’s tech needs areas is available
at: www.techbriefs.com/nasatechneeds.) The objective is to provide awareness of NASA’s future needs and requirements, which
could facilitate potential future partnerships.
Each article describes specific selected technologies of importance. In every case, a NASA point of contact will be provided so that
those interested have the means to explore the potential for partnerships with NASA.
NASA wants to make NTB a means by which we can achieve mutually beneficial two-way technology transfer, building on the
track record of success that NTB has achieved in transferring NASA technology for commercial development and public benefit.
Active Wing Shape Control Technology for Aircraft

By Nhan Nguyen, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
N ASA has long been recog-

nized as a leader in aero-
nautics research and develop-
the wing deflection. The sensor
bandwidth should be sufficiently
fast to enable sensors to be used
ment that has greatly con- for providing data to an active
tributed to aircraft technology wing shape control system.
for safe and efficient air travel. Actuation technology. This
A new focus is emerging in technology examines novel
“green” aviation technologies modes and types of actuation for
that could potentially revolu- actively controlling wing shape
tionize aviation systems. One in flight. In order to provide
potential green aviation tech- enough control forces and
nology interest is in active moments, new actuators need to
wing shape control that holds be developed along with feasibil-
the promise for improved ity studies of effective place-
aerodynamic efficiency. The ments of new control effectors
structural flexibility of aircraft on a wing structure. The actua-
wings can afford a number of tor bandwidth should be suffi-
advantages that are not yet ciently fast to enable an active
fully realized. One such advantage is the els of fidelity is being developed to wing shape control system to perform its
ability to aeroelastically shape a wing understand complex modes of interac- function with a negligible phase delay.
structure in flight by actively controlling tion among aerodynamics, aircraft Integrated flight-structural control
the wash-out twist distribution and wing dynamics, and structural flexibility. technology. Novel, integrated app -
deflection, so as to effect local angles of Advanced flight control as an enabling roaches for controlling flexible aircraft
attack in a favorable manner that can technology to handle these complex structures need to be developed for
lead to lower drag and higher lift. modes of interaction is being developed. active wing shape control technology.
Another advantage is the ability to lever- NASA welcomes knowledge capabilities
age aeroelastic wing shape tailoring for What Are NASA’s Needs? of incorporating structural control into
improving aircraft stability and control. NASA is actively seeking partners to an existing flight control system.
Development in green aviation tech- conduct crosscutting technology devel- Structural safety always takes priority;
nologies will lead to improved aerody- opment from conceptualization to tech- therefore, active wing shape control
namic efficiency, lower emissions, less nology demonstration of active wing approaches need to be able to effective-
fuel burn, reduced noise, and a mini- shape control. Areas of technology ly manage performance objectives with-
mized carbon footprint. needs are: in a confine of structural safety im-
Sensor technology. This technology posed by airframe load limits and struc-
What is NASA Doing? explores new concepts of sensor devel- tural mode interactions with a flight
NASA is conducting system-level opment for accurately measuring wing control system.
research to enable transition of founda- in-flight deflection due to combined
tional technologies into aviation systems bending and torsion moments resulting More Information
or subsystems. At the foundational level, from aerodynamic forces and moments. For more information, contact Julia Rivera-
relative to active wing shape control, New sensors should be able to measure Mendez at 650-604-5761, or visit nasa@
computational modeling at various lev- both static and dynamic components of techbriefs.com.
➮
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Eye On Innovation
This regular column features guest editorials by industry leaders in all areas of technology on the importance of
innovation. Our guest columnists provide their insight into how innovation plays a pivotal role in everything from basic
product design to the future of engineering education.
Reducing Risk With Model-Driven

Development
The growing importance of embed- time and cost, but makes these easier to
By Serge Leef ded software, electromechanical sub- predict, reducing risk.
General Manager, systems (mechatronics), the frame- As contractors well know, how early or
System Level works in which they communicate (net- late significant problems are identified
Engineering Division, works), and the advanced wiring sys- has a huge bearing on program success
Mentor Graphics tems that connect them (harnesses), or failure. With advances in modeling
Corporation, adds complexity to the task of integrat- languages and automation, model-driv-
Wilsonville, OR ing system components. Traceability en development can now be extended
back to requirements becomes more across design domains. With today’s
difficult when system components and model-driven technologies, system inte-
S tories abound of cost overruns,

schedule delays, low reliability, and
product failures related to development
subsystems incorporate a variety of
technical disciplines. Consequently,
critical issues frequently do not
gration no longer needs to wait until the
physical systems are ready. Virtual sys-
tem integration can take place at the
of large-scale systems and platforms. become apparent until well into the time of system requirements definition,
Despite focused efforts to reduce devel- development lifecycle. during preliminary design or during
opment risk through disciplined and rig- A model-driven development process detailed design, allowing critical prob-
orous development programs, a number incorporates tools and capabilities that lems to be uncovered well before final
of factors in today’s development ecosys- facilitate uncovering critical problems system integration.
tem make it increasingly challenging to early in the development cycle, well Model-driven development method-
achieve consistent quality and cost-effec- before system integration begins. ologies have been pioneered and proven
tiveness throughout the development Model-driven development provides a over the decades, and continue to evolve
lifecycle. structure for managing complexity to address industry challenges. In-
As systems become more complex, while, at each design stage, making it tegrating model-driven development
contractors are moving into the role of possible to directly link design function- methodologies into the platform devel-
systems integrators while subcontracting ality back to the program’s original opment lifecycle has the potential to sig-
out subsystems to a global network of requirements and functional specifica- nificantly reduce risks to schedule, cost,
suppliers. Communicating design results tions. A virtual prototyping infrastruc- and quality for contractors, their primes,
between organizations employing vastly ture, in which models from different and ultimately, their end customers.
different design and data management domains can be integrated at each stage
environments adds significant potential of the design lifecycle, allows system More Information
for misunderstandings, errors, and omis- integration issues to be identified and For more information on Mentor Graphics’
sions. Protection of intellectual property addressed earlier in the process. This model-driven development, visit http://info.
(IP) also becomes an issue. not only helps reduce overall program hotims.com/28052-122.
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Reducing Electromagnetic Interference in Motion Systems ..............................IIa

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Reducing Electromagnetic
Interference in Motion Systems
E MI (Electromagnetic Interference)
comes in different forms, frequen-
cies, and levels. Electronic equipment
filter. Various companies like Schaffner,
ONEAC, and ABB manufacture these.
Magnetically coupled noise is a phe-
maintain that the area that a conductor
encircles is proportional to the induc-
tance. If there is an opportunity for a sig-
has different categories for both emis- nomenon that has sufficient power to nal to couple into a circuit that is closer
sions and susceptibility. Under normal turn data lines (optocouplers) on. The in proximity (less inductance through
circumstances, elimination is not possi- process requires an emitter and receiver, less area), you may induce a voltage onto
ble so reduction to acceptable levels is so you must shield both the source and that circuit.
what can be reasonably achieved. reception devices. You should also atten- Capacitive induced noise is noise that
Coupling factors, rise time, does not have power, but can
emissions, and susceptibility are wreak havoc with high-speed
phrases that must be under- data lines, analog, or high-
stood with confidence. impedance inputs. Typically, this
Understanding the coupling is one of the easier noise cou-
methods of EMI is necessary in Braided pling mechanisms to resolve.
order to reduce emissions and Shield Issues begin when a capacitive
susceptibility. Some of the tech- induced signal gets into an
niques for shielding are effec- amplifier, where it can have the
tive for both, but there are power to radiate very high fre-
issues that must be handled dif- quencies that the system is not
ferently. On the susceptibility prepared for. The identification
side, to make a system more of this is that it is usually high fre-
immune, the reception path of Braided quency (100 MHz or higher)
the EMI or noise needs under- and has a net zero DC voltage
standing.
Shield value when observing the signal
Most of the power devices through an oscilloscope.
today are switch mode. PWM Radiated or RFI noise re-
(Pulse Width Modulation) tech- quires a transmission source
niques are used in more and and reception antenna that is
more devices at lower power at least λ/20 long (wave-
levels to achieve greater effi- Figure 1. Braided shields offer the most protection against stray mag- length/20). You must also be
ciency. Concerns of radiated netically induced noise in the 30–100 MHz band. 1⁄ 2λ away from the source min-
and received noise are falling imum. It is the least likely

into lower and lower categories. uate the source whenever possible. source of trouble in most systems. At
Techniques once thought only neces- Attenuation can be achieved by induc- 100 MHz, λ/20 is 1.54 meters since λ
sary for high-power electronics are now tance or PWM conditioning (slowing the is 30 meters.
migrating into low-level power supplies rise-time) in most applications. This can With an understanding of the cou-
and regulators. Linear devices, for all occur on two planes of reference, com- pling factors, you can assess what your
their inherent good traits of EMI, are mon mode or differential mode. problem is, make a qualified judgment
just too inefficient. Magnetic inducted noise follows the as to its cause, and decide what the
path of least inductance. This noise will mechanism of coupling is. Armed with
Coupling Factors be limited by reducing the inductance of this knowledge, you can use proven
Conducted noise is usually through the intended path to less than the induc- methods to reduce the cause and affect,
the AC line and requires an RLC-type tance of the unintended path. You must whether it is to meet an EMC (Electro-
IIa www.techbriefs.com/motion Motion Control Technology, April 2010
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Reducing EMI in Motion Systems
rent-carrying conductor. Only in failure
would there be current. It is a reference.
Phases, neutral, and shields can all be
current-carrying at times, but the
ground should be at reference.
Grounding and Shielding

Techniques
A ground is not a current-carrying
conductor in normal operation. A shield
is always connected to ground, and is
also not normally a current-carrying
conductor. A shield may have stray cur-
rents that are given a path to ground.
Here is where some definitions and
discrepancies sometimes exist. Anyone
who has used single-ended analog cir-
cuitry will know of certain rules pertain-
ing to the grounds and shields that are
somewhat in conflict with operation in
today’s environments. These rules indi-
cate that the best grounding practice is
to ground at “one end” at the “source,”
and this practice definitely worked for
Figure 2. Common mode of PWM measured with a current probe. analog signals prone to 50- or 60-Hz
noise induced by the power. This prac-
tice is not likely to be effective with
EMC currently.
The approach currently is to use dif-
ferential mode products that are
grounded at both ends. The grounds
should be braided shields for use near
power electronics and their subsequent
magnetically induced noise. The cover-
age of this cable should be at least 85%
or greater and have a 360-degree clamp
to earth ground. Any cable required for
bringing earth ground to a chassis or
mounting surface should be a braided
style like a 0000 AWG that is as short as
possible, with a direct path to the
incoming earth ground reference.
Having any sort of loop in this will
defeat the purpose.
Why Braided Shields and Cables?

Braided shields offer the most pro-
tection against stray magnetically
induced noise in the 30–100 MHz
band, and with 85% or greater cover-
age, it will reduce RFI interference sig-
Figure 3. A 13.6-ampere peak signal in common mode. nificantly below 500 MHz. The braided
wire for grounds is done because the
Magnetic Compliance) standard, or if With all noise immunity measures, surface area of a braid is significantly
you simply want to reduce spurious fail- things start with a good grounding and greater than solid wire or stranded
ures of an electronic circuit. Servo shielding scheme. The first rule in wire. Given the skin effect of high-fre-
amplifiers, power supplies, and electron- grounding is safety first. No safety quency interference, the greater sur-
ics with clock frequencies all must work ground can be compromised in the face area is imperative. It is effective for
uninterrupted from outside interfer- interest of noise immunity. There are both immunity and emissions. When a
ence, as well as not interfere with them- times when it appears to contradict a noise of less than 100 MHz is within the
selves. Sensitive analog circuitry must be good grounding scheme to have multi- shield, it will have a large inductive
immune from the interference of out- ple earth grounds in a system, but if the path in order to couple onto an unin-
side radiated signals and still be able to safety code requires it, learn to work tended circuit that could cause harm.
perform their function. with it. The ground should be a non-cur- Should frequencies of much higher
2a www.techbriefs.com/motion Motion Control Technology, April 2010
➮
➭

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➭
than 100 MHz have to be guarded against, then greater than
85% coverage will be necessary.
What About Foil Shields?

Foil shields are typically used for high-frequency capacitive
coupled noise. Clock frequencies leaking out of an enclosure
many times fall into this category. A foil shield is not an effec-
tive shield for magnetic noise. The reason for this is that the
power of a magnetically induced spike will quickly saturate the
relatively thin foil and couple onto the cable. Foil provides
100% coverage and thus is a very good shield against high fre-
quency. In some cases, both foil and braided shields are used.
Many RG-59 cables have this. This is the cable used to bring
your television signal from your cable company or satellite
once it is converted. There is a reason they are used in RF sig-
nals on your television. Interference will cause signal integrity
loss or crosstalk of other signals. Usually the signals from cable
or satellite are converted to VHF (Very High Frequency Band)
and that may contain local TV stations that can interfere if the
shielding were less than adequate. The upper band of the VHF
spectrum is 300 MHz, so the wavelength or lambda is 1 meter.
Any exposed area of 1/20th of a meter, or 5 cm, can have this
induced upon the signal. Less than 2" of exposed cable is an
invitation for this.
Why Do You Need Twisted Pairs?

Twisted pairs offer the least amount of area between conduc-
tors of a given circuit and hence, the inductive area. Since a
major contributor to induced noise is the inductance, reduc-
ing the area between the conductors will encourage high-fre-
quency stray magnetic currents to stay within the circuit. So a
good reason to twist the pairs is to reduce the emissions by
reducing the inductance of the intended path. The reason for
twisting the pairs also has an immunity value. Since the twisted
pair cannot encircle something within its signal and return,
inducing a noise on a twisted pair, even without a shield, would
require a significant signal and high frequency.
Power Supplies and Servo Amplifiers

Switch-mode power supplies and servo amplifiers are prone
to noise emission and immunity to noise. Due to the higher
power, there are two major areas of concern related to cou-
pling: direct coupling and inductive coupling. There are two
modes of concern as well; common mode noise and differen-
tial mode noise are handled differently.
Direct-coupled noise can have a non-zero voltage average
(DC offset); inductive coupled noise cannot. The most com-
mon way to eliminate direct-coupled noise is through filter-
ing. Emissions and immunity are concerns. There are times
that a servo drive can be its own noise source and receiver
when it comes to direct-coupled noise. There have been cases
where direct-coupled noise has come from the drive itself,
reflected to the line, and sent back due to a stiff coupling of
the line.
Common Mode Inductive Noise

This noise occurs with the complex model of a motor or load
of a servo amplifier or power supply. The inductance and
capacitance not being equal in a three-phase motor can create
stray currents that are common to all three phases and the
ground. When this occurs, the current spikes can go unnoticed
by standard measurement techniques. Figure 3 shows a plot
from an oscilloscope and current probe across three leads of
the motor. The spikes are occurring at the edge of each com-
4a Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-813 Motion Control Technology, April 2010
➮
➭
➮
➭
mutation of a 16-KHz PWM frequency. a common mode choke is near zero, so is an unacceptable signal for this appli-
Because of the way this propagates, you your performance is not affected in the cation. It is a common mode signal
can have paths that you didn’t account intended direction of the current. measured in an application where an
for or possibly cannot eliminate entirely. 18-ampere drive had common mode
A method that is often successful is to What Does Common Mode issues. This was intermittently affecting
create a higher inductive path in com- Noise Look Like? digital signals in the system. The equip-
mon with all three leads. If the currents When clamped across the three ment was already completely designed
were subjected to an inductance in com- phases of a drive with a current probe, and a total layout change was not possi-
mon with all three leads, then you would you can have significantly ringing sig- ble. The noise was measured at 13.6
have the noise attenuated. Ferrite nals. In cases where equipment is com- amperes peak. Improvements were
“doughnuts” are commonly used for this pletely laid out, you may be required to made, and the following improvement
or a common mode choke. You can have accept the limitations that you cannot gave a large margin of immunity for
clamp-style or wind the cables through a be perfect, but improve within an the digital errors that were seen previ-
ferrite ring. The net series inductance of acceptable level. The signal in Figure 3 ously. Using a combination of proper
shielding and a common mode choke,
the signal ringing was eliminated.
Good layout, good grounding, and
proper shielding are more easily
employed with upfront design.
What Does EMI Look Like?

A lot of important information is avail-
able by looking at the EMI signals. With
some knowledge of coupling and noise,
it can be determined that the noise is
common mode or differential mode.
Observation of the signal can also iden-
6WDLQOHVV tify its coupling mechanism. Is this a
radiated noise, inductively coupled,
6WHHO direct-coupled, or is it capacitive noise?
AC-coupled noise differs from noise that
%HOWV is direct-coupled. The induced signal is
symmetric about zero. In other words, it
is AC-coupled. It has a characteristic
high-frequency component, but has sig-
nificant power. This is the real issue with
magnetically coupled noise; it can turn
on or even destroy devices. Capacitively
coupled noise would have nowhere near
those power levels, and usually can cou-
ple a significantly higher-frequency com-
9(56$7,/( ponent. Generally, when speaking of less
$FFXUDF\WR´ than 10 MHz, one is more likely in the
&RPSOHWH
&RQYH\RU ([WUHPH7HPSHUDWXUHV magnetically coupled arena.
6\VWHPV &OHDQ5RRP&RPSDWLEOH To eliminate direct-coupled noise
with a residual DC offset, the signal
&RDWHG 3UHFLVLRQ,QGH[LQJ
6WHHO must be de-coupled from the signal.
%HOWV Should you try to use inductance to
237,21$/ resolve this, it’s possible to make the sig-
$XWRPDWHG
$VVHPEO\
)($785(6 nal into a more problematic issue.
7HÀRQ&RDWHG Identifying the mode and coupling fac-
9%HOW7UDFNHG tors is the first strategic move at resolu-
3HUIRUDWHG$WWDFKPHQWV tion. The tools used to measure this are
6PRRWK6XUIDFH usually oscilloscopes, spectrum analyz-
ers, and current probes. It is important
to identify the noise because the solu-
tions for each type of noise are unique
and specific. Capacitive coupling will
not be resolved with inductive solutions,
ZZZPHWDOEHOWVFRP and vice versa.
This article was written by Lee Stephens,
%RZOHV5RDG$JDZDP0$ Systems Engineer, at Kollmorgen, Radford,
7HOHSKRQH
VA. For more information, visit http://
)D[
7HÀRQLVDUHJLVWHUHGWUDGHPDUNRI'X3RQW,625HJLVWHUHG
info.hotims.com/28052-331.
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Applications
Rugged-Duty Actuator Enhances State-of-the-Art
Pool/Spa Lift
he benefits of aquatic physical • Diecast aluminum housings and
T therapy and rehabilitation for
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bearing activities due to arthritis or • Hardened gears and ball bearings
injury, or those who are overweight, for rugged-duty usage.
have long been known. There is also a
significant population of wheelchair- The Results
bound and disabled persons who use The unit offers 2.5 times the corro-
pools and spas for recreation or ther- sion resistance of previous units - a
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Various manufacturers offer pool Spectrum’s Manager of Engineering,
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MT, recently elevated the state-of-the- pride ourselves on quality and cus-
art in battery powered lifts by fitting tomer service.”
its Traveler II XRC500 unit with a The Traveler II swim lifts are
500-pound-capacity linear actuator ADA/ABA compliant for use in hos-
that was specially designed for the pitals and rehab facilities, universi-
application by Warner Linear of Spectrum Products’ Traveler II XRC500 pool lift helps indi- ties with sports medicine programs,
Belvidere, IL. The electric linear viduals get in and out of a pool or spa safely. commercial therapeutic spas and
actuator provides the lifting action of pools, municipal pools, hotels,
the chair that is raised or lowered into or vides more than 95 lifts between charges, health clubs, or even for home use,
out of the water. rather than the 40-lift capacity of the according to Spectrum. Several states
After two years of joint design and units previously utilized. have passed regulations requiring assist-
development, Warner Linear and The actuator itself, originally ed-access lifts for pools and spas in com-
Spectrum Products introduced the new, designed for demanding applications in mercial establishments.
robust control system in mid-2008, mak- harsh environments such as off-highway For more information, visit
ing it the strongest remote-controlled, vehicles, replaced competitive units that http://info.hotims.com/
battery powered lift on the market. The were originally designed for lighter duty 28052-330.
proprietary system is now standard on all applications such as hospital beds and
of Spectrum’s battery powered assisted- adjustable desks.
access lifts. “The actuators we used to use were
made with a thin, lightweight aluminum
How it Works sleeve and the slightest dent would ren-
For the Spectrum lifts, Warner modi- der them useless,” said Spectrum
fied its rugged-duty K2x actuator by President Gerald McConnell. “They
redesigning its gear ratio to 30:1, which were our single biggest customer
is able to achieve greater lift load capac- service issue. The new actuators are
ity combined with slower speeds that much more robust.”
give the user better control over the Several upgrades in the actuators
motion of the occupied chair. now used on the Spectrum pool A cut-
Warner also designed a new wireless lifts include: away CAD
model of the
remote control unit including transmit- • Double the wall thickness of both modified rugged-
ters, receiver, 24-volt battery pack that cover tubes and extension tubes. duty K2x actuator.
plugs into the receiver, plus a battery • O-ring seals rather than gaskets for
charger. The compact battery pack pro- longer service life.
8a www.techbriefs.com/motion Motion Control Technology, April 2010
➮
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Motion Control Technology
Low-Friction, Low-Profile, High-Moment Two-Axis Joint

This device can be utilized in robotics, automobile steering, transmission
systems, and aircraft control surface linkages.
The two-axis joint is a mechanical systems. It is especially effective where capture mechanism. Other applications
device that provides two-degrees-of-free- precise, smooth, continuous motion is might include industrial robotic or
dom motion between connected compo- required. For example, the joint can be assembly line apparatuses, positioning
nents. A compact, moment-resistant, two- used at the end of a linear actuator that is systems, or in the motion-based simulator
axis joint is used to connect an electro- required to extend and rotate simultane- industry that employs complex, multi-axis
mechanical actuator to its driven struc- ously. The current design application is manipulators for various types of
tural members. Due to the requirements for use in a spacecraft docking-system motions.
of the overall mechanism, the joint has a
low profile to fit within the allowable
space, low friction, and high moment- ENTER THE INCREDIBLE
reacting capability. The mechanical
arrangement of this joint can withstand WORLD OF MACHINED SPRINGS
high moments when loads are applied.
These features allow the joint to be used Light years ahead of traditional
in tight spaces where a high load capabil-
Introducing: springs:
ity is required, as well as in applications
where penetrating the mounting surface ◆ End attachments
is not an option or where surface mount- The ◆ More precise performance
ing is required.
◆ A broad range of spring rates and
The joint consists of one base, one clevis,
one cap, two needle bearings, and a circu-
spring functionality
lar shim. The base of the joint is the hous-
ing (the base and the cap together), and is
for the ◆ Safety operation
◆ Repeatability–predictability
connected to the grounding structure via
fasteners and a bolt pattern. Captive within 21st ◆ Integration with entire assembly
the housing, between the base and the cap, ◆ Cost reduction
are the rotating clevis and the needle bear- century ◆ Accommodates spring modes:
ings. The clevis is attached to the mechani-
cal system (linear actuator) via a pin. This compression-extension, torsion,
pin, and the rotational movement of the lateral bending, lateral translation
Free engineering
clevis with respect to the housing, provides ◆ Torsional springs produce pure
two rotational degrees of freedom. consultation
moments. Multiple starts resolve
The larger diameter flange of the clevis
is sandwiched between a pair of needle (cancel) moments
bearings, one on each side of the flange. ◆ Easier assembly
During the assembly of the two-axis joint,
the circular shims are used to adjust the
amount of preload that is applied to the The key is integrating
needle bearings. The above arrangement several parts into one
enables the joint to handle high moments piece.
with minimal friction.
To achieve the high-moment capability
within a low-profile joint, the use of “depth
of engagement” (like that of a convention-
al rotating shaft) to react moment is
replaced with planar engagement parallel
to the mounting surface. The needle bear-
ings with the clevis flange provide the sur-
face area to react the clevis loads/moments
into the joint housing while providing min-
imal friction during rotation. The diameter Before After
of the flange and the bearings can be
increased to react higher loads and still
maintain a compact surface mounting AS9100B
PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC.
ISO 9001:2000
capability.
This type of joint can be used in a wide PO Box 1069 • 901 W. McCoy Lane • Santa Maria, CA 93456
Examples not Toll Free 877-353-9873 • FAX 805-928-2369 • www.Heli-Cal.com
variety of mechanisms and mechanical shown to scale
Motion Control Technology, April 2010 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-817 9a
➮
➭
Motion Control Technology
This work was done by James L. Lewis of (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp cerning nonexclusive or exclusive license for its
Johnson Space Center and Thang Le and Monty under the Mechanics/Machinery category. commercial development should be addressed to
B. Carroll of Lockheed Martin. For more informa- This invention is owned by NASA, and a the Patent Counsel, Johnson Space Center, (281)
tion, download the Technical Support Package patent application has been filed. Inquiries con- 483-1003. Refer to MSC-23881-1.
Miniature Multi-Axis Mechanism for Hand Controllers

A hand controller provides up to three grip of the hand. This is achieved using a hand, and miniature flexure assemblies
axes of motion, and all required feel char- miniature gimbal mechanism that allows co-located with the gimbal mechanism
acteristics (stiffness and breakout torques) for independent motion about one, two, that provide substantial stiffness and
located inside a hollow handle within the or three axes within the grip volume of the breakout torques in each axis of motion.
Also, miniature sensors can be integrated
into the gimbal mechanism, also located
within the grip volume of the hand, to pro-
vide direct angular position measurement
for each axis of motion.
Previous designs either had the pivot
axes located outside the grip envelope,
or used mechanical linkages to couple
the axes of motion to remotely located
spring mechanisms and sensors. This
proposed design is not susceptible to
vibration, shock, or g-loading in any axis,
is of the smallest possible size and
weight, and is highly reliable.
This work was done by Pablo Bandera and
Paul Buchele of Honeywell, Inc. for Johnson
Space Center. For further information, contact
the JSC Innovation Partnerships Office at
(281) 483-3809.
Title to this invention has been waived
under the provisions of the National
Aeronautics and Space Act {42 U.S.C.
2457(f)} to Honeywell, Inc. Inquiries con-
cerning licenses for its commercial develop-
ment should be addressed to:
Honeywell, Inc.
P.O. Box 52199
Phoenix, AZ 85072
Refer to MSC-24457-1, volume and num-
ber of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the
page number.
Magnetostrictive
Brake
Power demand would be
reduced by 75 percent.
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center,
Houston, Texas
A magnetostrictive brake has been
designed as a more energy-efficient
alternative to a magnetic fail-safe brake
in a robot. (In the specific application,
“fail-safe” signifies that the brake is nor-
mally engaged; that is, power must be
➮
➭
supplied to allow free rotation.) The Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) Permanent Stepped Spring Gap Created by
magnetic fail-safe brake must be sup- Ring Magnet Disk Disk Magnetostriction
plied with about 8 W of electric power to Ring
initiate and maintain disengagement. In Hub
contrast, the magnetostrictive brake, Permanent Hub

Magnet
which would have about the same
dimensions and the same torque rating
as those of the magnetic fail-safe brake,
would demand only about 2 W of power
for disengagement.
The brake (see figure) would include a
Base
stationary base plate and a hub mounted Poly(tetrafluoroethylene)
Ring Plate
Magnetostrictive Wedges Multiplied Magnetostrictive
on the base plate. Two solenoid assemblies Cylinder Displacement Force
EXPLODED VIEW OMITTING STEPPED DISK AND Resulting From
would be mounted in diametrically ROTATING SUBASSEMBLY Magnetostriction
opposed recesses in the hub. The cores of

In the Magnetostrictive Brake, a large braking force would be generated by the permanent magnet.
the solenoids would be made of the mag- When power was supplied to electromagnet coils (not shown) surrounding the magnetostrictive cylin-
netostrictive alloy Terfenol-D or equiva- ders in the solenoid assemblies, the resulting magnetostrictive strain would be converted to a force
lent. The rotating part of the brake would and displacement that would oppose the braking force.
be a ring-and-spring-disk subassembly. By
means of leaf springs not shown in the fig- Supplying electric power to the sole- The ring would then be free to turn
ure, this subassembly would be coupled noids would cause the magnetostric- because it would no longer be
with the shaft that the brake is meant to tive cylinders to push radially inward squeezed axially between the stepped
restrain. against a set of wedges that would be disk and the hub.
With no power supplied to the sole- in axial contact with the stepped disk. This work was done by Myron A. Diftler and
noids, a permanent magnet would pull The wedges would convert the radial Aaron Hulse of Lockheed Martin Corp. for
axially on a stepped disk and on a shelf magnetostrictive strain to a multiplied Johnson Space Center. For more information,
in the hub, causing the ring to be axial displacement of the stepped download the Technical Support Package
squeezed axially between the stepped disk. This axial displacement would be (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp
disk and the hub. The friction associated just large enough to lift the stepped under the Mechanics/Machinery category.
with this axial squeeze would effect the disk, against the permanent magnetic MSC-23629-1
braking action. force, out of contact with the ring.
PRECISION MANUFACTURING
DIVISION OF DYNAMICS RESEARCH CORPORATION
Excellence in Miniaturization
s Over 47 years have made DRC-Metrigraphics
a preferred supplier of standard and custom
optical encoder components
s Chrome on glass and other materials
provide acute edge definition, extreme
accuracy and high transmissivity
s Electroformed metals both single and
multi-level for more durable applications
s Electrical testing and accuracy
measurement available
STANDARD & CUSTOM OPTICAL COMPONENTS

DRC-METRIGRAPHICS • 50 CONCORD STREET • WILMINGTON, MA 01887-2193
T: 978.658.6100 x 3022 • F: 978.657.7765 • METSALES@DRC.COM
WWW.DRC.COM/METRIGRAPHICS
Motion Control Technology, April 2010 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-819 11a
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NEW
Products
DC Motors
AMETEK Technical &
Industrial Products (Harleysville,
PA) offers the Pittman® Series
8540 30-mm brush-commutated
DC motors that integrate bond-
ed neodymium magnets and 7-
slot straight armature to mini-
mize cogging. The motors fea-
ture a diamond-turned commu-
tator and copper-graphite brush-
es for high current capacity. The motors are 1.181" in diameter and
are available in three standard lengths of 2.080, 2.552, and 3.025".
They achieve continuous torque to 9.3 oz-in and continuous power to
43W, depending on model. They also feature peak torque up to 78.7
oz-in and speeds to 6440 rpm at continuous torque for standard
motors at rated voltages.
A PC board brush card with integral surface-mount components
incorporates electrical noise suppression, and an integral connector
header enables custom leadwire configurations. The modular design
accommodates gearboxes, encoders, and brakes using adapter plates
and shaft extension modifications.
Rotary Encoders
Heidenhain Corp. (Schaumburg, IL) offers the 1000 Series rotary
encoders with IP 64 protection and absolute position-value formation
in a 35-mm-diameter housing
size. The encoders are designed
MINIATURE MICROPOSITIONING as single-encoder measurement
feedback systems in safety ori-
LINEAR AND ROTARY STAGES ented applications. They pro-
vide two independently formed
position values via serial EnDat
interface. The EnDat 2.2 ver-
sion with serial data transfer
offers a single-turn resolution of
23 bits, and a multi-turn resolu-
tion of 12 bits. Supply voltage
range is 3.6 to 14V.
MEMS Inclinometer
National Aperture, Inc. is a world leader in the production of precision ASM Sensors (Elmhurst, IL) has
stages for Motion Control. Products include linear and rotary stages introduced the PTAM20 Series
(manual and motorized) and several different Controllers depending POSITILT® MEMS inclinometer
upon your system requirements. Our larger rotary stage (MM-4M- available in single- and dual-axis
R) shown above, will carry a load of 4.5kg and has an accuracy of versions. It is available in a com-
±2 arc-minutes and repeatability of ±30 arc-seconds. This unit has pact, flat housing and features a
optical limits and is available with several different Gear Heads measurement range for the single-
options. Also available is a smaller version (MM-3M-R) which is axis version of ±15° to ±180° in
capable of carrying a top load of 2kg. With a few exceptions, most increments of 15°. For the dual-axis
NAI Stages are available for use in vacuum. New products are version, measurement range is
constantly being developed, please visit our web site. available from ±15° to ±60° in
National Aperture, Inc., 16 Northwestern Drive, Salem, increments of 15°. The device
NH 03079, P: 800-360-4598, F: 603-893-7857 measures 1⁄4" high and less than 2"
in diameter, and features an enclosure rated IP60. Analog output types
Web Site: www.nationalaperture.com
of 0.5-4.5V, 0.5-10V, and 4-20 mA are available.
Contact.sales@nationalaperture.com For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/28052-306
➮
➭
DC Gearmotor
Midwest Motion Products (Watertown, MN) has
released the Model MMP-D22-376H-24V GP52-195
BR-005 DC gearmotor with integral brake.
Accepting any 24V DC source, including battery
power, the encoder-compatible gearmotor/brake
measures 2.25" in diameter and 9" in length. It has
a keyed output shaft of 12 mm diameter by 25 mm
long. Mounting is accomplished with four face-
mount M5 threaded holes, equally spaced on a 40-
mm-diameter B.C. Output of the reversible gear-
motor is rated for 215 in/lbs of continuous torque
at 10 RPM, and 443 in/lbs peak.
The motor weighs 4 pounds and requires 1.7 Amps at 24 Volts DC to generate its full load
torque. Motor windings for 12, 36, 48, 60, and 90V are available. The motor features an integral
brake capable of 5 in/lbs of holding torque. Also, a rear shaft and mounting holes are provided
for the addition of an optical encoder, available with resolutions of 32, 100, 250, 500, 1000, and
1024 ppr. The motor is rated at an IP 54 protection level for operation in harsh environments.
Servomotor Brakes
Nexen (Vadnais Heights, MN) has introduced
the Eclipse line of servomotor brakes designed to
mount to servomotors up to 20 horsepower. The
spring-engaged brakes are equipped with a split-
hub, zero-backlash clamp collar for attachment
to the servomotor shaft. The flange-mounted
brakes can be used with standard servomotors
for integrated brake motor modular functionali-
ty. They come in a variety of input and output
flange/shaft combinations.
The brakes are designed for intermittent
dynamic stopping, and holding and E-stop appli-
cations. Features include high torque from 2 to 125 Nm to sufficiently stall the servomotor, zero
backlash, low inertia, and NEMA 23, 34, and 42 frame sizes. Seven size models are available with
split-hub/shaft-collar shaft mounting, and square flanges range in size from 57 to 265 mm (2.25
to 10.4").
Linear Stages
Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) has introduced the
PRO Series of side-sealed, hard-cover, ball-
screw-driven linear stages available
in 68 standard models with travels
from 50 to 1500 mm. A variety of
travels, widths, speeds, and load capa-
bilities is available. The hard-cover design
provides protection from debris, and the side seals
keep dirt and particulates out of the stage and protect the bearing sur-
faces from contamination. The tabletop can be outfitted with an optional brush assembly to
remove particles collected on the hard cover.
Models are available with either a 5 mm/rev, 20 mm/rev, or 25 mm/rev ball screw with a
matched brushless rotary servomotor to provide maximum travel speeds up to 1400 mm/s.
Features include ±6 μm accuracy, ±1 μm bidirectional repeatability, and 0.5 μm resolution,
depending on the model, ball screw, and encoder. The stages can be combined into custom
multi-axis solutions (XY, XZ, YZ, and XYZ), and are outfitted with English or metric bolt-hole
pattern tabletops.
Motion Control Technology, April 2010 www.techbriefs.com/motion Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-820
➮
➭
Fast, Accurate and Affordable NEW
Out of the Box Products

Motion Control
Linear Positioning
for Your… Mechanically Commutated Drive
Benders 20,000+
Maxon Motor (Fall River, MA) offers the RE 50
mechanically commutated drive that features an iron-
Drills users less rotor for detent-free running, and a combination
Punches and counting! of a two-pole neodymium permanent magnet with
Shears Thanks! winding technology for high torque and acceleration.
Saws The drive measures 50 × 108 mm and is available with
four different windings. It reaches a nominal torque of
up to 0.38 Nm, a nominal speed of 2800 to 5700 rpm,
and efficiency of more than 90%. Low nominal voltage
of 24.70 VDC makes the drive suitable for battery oper-
ated applications such as electric vehicles, transport
equipment, mobile systems, and robots.
Push, Pull, Position Precisely Servo Amplifier

Manage Yield & Work Flow Sanyo Denki America (Torrance, CA) offers the SANMOTION R
Integrates with high-speed EtherCAT interface AC servo amplifier that provides 100
Your Software Mbps communication. Multi-function software includes a motion simu-
® lation function that runs the same codes as the actual amplifier, allow-
TigerStop fast and accurate… every time
ing it to go directly from simulation to live usage without reprogram-
ming. The amplifier does not require an interface board or additional
hardware, and is connected with Ethernet cables to the Ethernet port
Contact Larry at 360.448.6157 or your of a PC. EtherCAT communication provides the ability to place both
Authorized TigerStop Dealer or visit us input and output data in the same data frame area to decrease commu-
on the web at www.tigerstop.com/tb1 nication cycle time. The device includes two inputs and two outputs;
output capacities of 15A, 30A, and 50A; and input voltage of AC200V. It
is compatible with AC servomotors of up to 1.5kw. Protocol is CANOpen over
EtherCAT.
Magnetic Encoder
Avago Technologies (San Jose, CA) has introduced
the AEAT-601B compact, integrated, incremental mag-
netic encoder for speed detection, knob control, and
rotary encoder applications. Housed in a protective
plastic housing, it provides a resolution of 256 cycles
per revolution and angular detection in a complete
rotation of 360 degrees. The encoder has three-channel
output enabling an index channel for each full rota-
tion. It provides a closed-loop feedback system and is
suited for use in systems such as motor and valve con-
trol systems, pan and tilt systems for security cameras,
and thread winding machines. Features include contactless sensing technology, operating tem-
perature range from -40 to 125 °C, three-channel output, single 5V supply, and direct connec-
tivity through cable output.
Rotary Stage
The M660 high-speed, direct-driven piezomotor rotary
stage from PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P. (Auburn, MA) is
designed using PILine® piezomotor drive technology. The
stage reaches top speeds of 720 degrees/sec and resolution
to 40 μrad. A self-locking ceramic drive holds the position
steady at rest, and a directly coupled precision optical
encoder provides phase lag-free, backlash-free feedback to
the servo controller. A USB interface, software, and driver
package enable integration into existing applications.
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/28052-822 www.techbriefs.com/motion Motion Control Technology, April 2010
➮
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