A safety kernel for traffic light control

The success of kernels for enforcing security in software systems has led to proposals to use kernels for enforcing safety. This paper presents a feasibility demonstration of one particular proposal for a safety kernel via the application of traffic light control. The paper begins with the safety properties for traffic light control and specifies a kernel that maintains the safety properties. An implementation sketch of the kernel in Ada is given and use of the kernel is discussed. The contribution of the paper is a demonstration that a kernel is a feasible and desirable technique for software in a realistic, safety-critical application. The paper also illustrates how formal methods aid the software engineer in constructing and reasoning about such software     

Optimum blade loading for a powered rotor in descent

The optimum loading for rotors has previously been found for hover, climb and wind turbine conditions;but, up to now, no one has determined the optimum rotor loading in descent. This could be an important design consideration for rotary-wing parachutes and low-speed des-cents. In this paper, the optimal loading for a powered rotor in descent is found from momentum theory based on a variational principle. This loading is compared with the optimal loading for a rotor in hover or climb and with the Betz rotor loading (which is optimum for a lightly-loaded rotor). Wake contraction for each of the various loadings is also presented.     

Intelligent control of a planning system for astronaut training

This work intends to design, analyze and solve, from the systems control perspective, a complex, dynamic, and multiconstrained planning system for generating training plans for crew members of the NASA-led International Space Station. Various intelligent planning systems have been developed within the framework of artificial intelligence. These planning systems generally lack a rigorous mathematical formalism to allow a reliable and flexible methodology for their design, modeling, and performance analysis in a dynamical, time-critical, and multiconstrained environment. Formulating the planning problem in the domain of discrete-event systems under a unified framework such that it can be modeled, designed, and analyzed as a control system will provide a self-contained theory for such planning systems. This will also provide a means to certify various planning systems for operations in the dynamical and complex environments in space. The work presented here completes the design, development, and analysis of an intricate, large-scale, and representative mathematical formulation for intelligent control of a real planning system for Space Station crew training. This planning system has been tested and used at NASA-Johnson Space Center     

Achieving higher levels of electronic integration throughsystem-on-chip

All aerospace vehicles have the common constraint of limited space for the electronic systems. The challenge has always been how to pack effective electronic systems into the space available. Higher levels of electronic integration can give a competitive advantage; for example, by providing extra channels in a communications satellite thereby increasing revenue to the operator. Today's deep sub-micron manufacturing processes for integrated electronics offer an opportunity for a step change for electronic functionality that can be packaged in a given space. This technology makes possible, for the first time, a true system-on-chip approach to electronic systems, which is already being exploited by the commercial sector in products such as the mobile telephone     

多卫星系统资源建模与能力计算方法研究

针对复杂多卫星系统的建模与能力计算问题，借鉴超分子化学中的自组装机制，给出了多卫星系统资源的自主组装规则，建立了互补型及增强型2类聚合体模型，进而分别给出了2类聚合体能力计算方法，可以实现系统资源的自主聚合。最后，在给定多卫星系统资源条件下，完成了2类聚合体的能力计算，为多卫星系统建模与能力计算提供了一种新的研究思路。     

Near term approach to data relay for satellites under test

The increasing need for a continuous communications link with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spacecraft during test missions in low Earth orbit (LEG) has resulted in greater interest in geosynchronous data relay services. This may be a more economical alternative to building additional remote tracking stations for the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), and avoids tying up operational assets for a test mission. A low-cost near-term approach for such a space-based data relay system would utilize two existing Defense Satellite Communication System III spacecraft, two existing ground terminals, and a small, standardized terminal using autonomous antenna pointing for the space vehicle under test. Such a system design is presented     

Analytic example of a Schweppe likelihood-ratio detector

A low-dimensional test problem with a known solution is used to verify various computer implementations of F.C. Schweppe's likelihood detector (1965). In this case a closed-form solution is provided for a Schweppe likelihood detector in terms of an intermediate Kalman filter, as utilized in its implementation, for detecting the presence of a two-state signal model in Gaussian white noise. The associated error probabilities are also evaluated following a procedure that utilizes optimized Chernoff-like bounds for a tight approximation. A methodology is demonstrated for appropriately setting the decision threshold for this example as a tradeoff against allowable observation time. By using this or similar examples, certain qualitative and quantitative aspects of the software implementation can be checked for conformance to anticipated behavior as an intermediate benchmark, prior to modular replacement of the various high-order matrices appropriate to the particular application     

复杂组合曲线的设计与拟合——重节点B样条法

本文在非均匀B样条的基础上,采用重节点方法设计和拟合复杂组合曲线。对于各种不同的重节点情况,解决了反求特征多边形顶点时线性方程组的降秩问题,并建立了统一表达式。由于考虑到使用中可能遇到的各种情况,程序通用性强,使用方便,能快速地拟合、设计、修改复杂组合曲线,为计算机辅助几何设计与绘图中应用B样条提供了一种具有较大灵活性的方法。     

卡箍刚度的有限元计算与实验测定

准确确定卡箍刚度对管路系统的振动特性分析具有重要意义。本文针对航空发动机管路系统中不同卡箍的结构特点,建立了计算卡箍刚度的有限元模型。对单管接地卡箍及双管悬地卡箍的刚度系数进行了有限元计算,还对一典型双管悬地卡箍刚度进行了实验测定。通过卡箍刚度计算结果与实验结果的对比表明,本文建立的卡箍刚度计算方法可用于管路系统振动特性分析工程实际之中。      

复杂串、并联系统的可靠性分配方法

根据串联系统中分系统相对复杂度越低,对其可靠性要求也就越高;并联系统中分系统相对重要程度越高、相对复杂程度越低,对其可靠性要求也就越高的原则,在传统的考虑重要度与复杂度可靠性分配方法基础上,提出了一种更易于设计实验及现场记录获取数据的适用于复杂串、并联系统的可靠性分配方法。基于此方法开发的软件已经应用于工程实际工作,并获得了良好的效果。     

Subsonic impulsively starting flow at a high angle of attack with shock wave and vortex interaction

Impulsively starting flow, by a sudden attainment of a large angle of attack, has been well studied for incompressible and supersonic flows, but less studied for subsonic flow. Recently, a preliminary numerical study for subsonic starting flow at a high angle of attack displays an advance of stall around a Mach number of 0.5, when compared to other Mach numbers. To see what happens in this special case, we conduct here in this paper a further study for this case, to display and analyze the full flow structures. We find that for a Mach number around 0.5, a local supersonic flow region repeatedly splits and merges, and a pair of left-going and right-going unsteady shock waves are embedded inside the leading edge vortex once it is sufficiently grown up and detached from the leading edge. The flow evolution during the formation of shock waves is displayed in detail. The reason for the formation of these shock waves is explained here using the Laval nozzle flow theory. The existence of this shock pair inside the vortex, for a Mach number only close to 0.5, may help the growing of the trailing edge vortex responsible for the advance of stall observed previously.     

Nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of airfoils: bifurcation and chaos

Different types of structural and aerodynamic nonlinearities commonly encountered in aeronautical engineering are discussed. The equations of motion of a two-dimensional airfoil oscillating in pitch and plunge are derived for a structural nonlinearity using subsonic aerodynamics theory. Three classical nonlinearities, namely, cubic, freeplay and hysteresis are investigated in some detail. The governing equations are reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations suitable for numerical simulations and analytical investigation of the system stability. The onset of Hopf-bifurcation, and amplitudes and frequencies of limit cycle oscillations are investigated, with examples given for a cubic hardening spring. For various geometries of the freeplay, bifurcations and chaos are discussed via the phase plane, Poincaré maps, and Lyapunov spectrum. The route to chaos is investigated from bifurcation diagrams, and for the freeplay nonlinearity it is shown that frequency doubling is the most commonly observed route. Examples of aerodynamic nonlinearities arising from transonic flow and dynamic stall are discussed, and special attention is paid to numerical simulation results for dynamic stall using a time-synthesized method for the unsteady aerodynamics. The assumption of uniform flow is usually not met in practice since perturbations in velocities are encountered in flight. Longitudinal atmospheric turbulence is introduced to show its effect on both the flutter boundary and the onset of Hopf-bifurcation for a cubic restoring force.     

基于正交试验设计的空心叶片结构优化设计

提出了描述空心风扇叶片几何特征的结构设计参数,并由此建立了空心叶片有限元分析模型,同时为适应优化设计的迭代过程,发展了一种能够自动更新空心叶片结构高质量有限元网格的方法.在对简化的设计变量进行合理假设和离散的基础上,将基于强度约束和质量最小化为目标的优化设计问题转化为寻求无约束多目标优化问题,并通过多轮数值正交试验设计...     

Battery configurations for multi-megawatt pulse power

The capability of lead-acid batteries for supplying very high power for a short time is explored. The application of such a battery for accelerating a hypersonic plane is used to illustrate the requirements. A technique for analyzing batteries and controlling voltage for pulse loads is described. Evaluation of lead-acid batteries in production and voltage regulation by switching batteries in and out are covered. Alternatives to batteries, including superconducting magnetic energy storage, are discussed     

Proposal to TPS delivery in 4 months?

Decreasing the often lengthy Test Program Set (TPS) development time is a high priority for both DoD and commercial industry. A protracted test development time for a commercial product can make or break its success. It can impact time-to-market goals for a product, which in turn, can result in a loss of market share. Though the DoD world has different objectives, they, too, are concerned with long test development times which can increase costs and jeopardize a weapon system's mission readiness. The case study for this paper is a test system developed by BAE Systems in less than four months to meet a commercial customer's stringent schedule requirements. The factors that contributed to the success of this project are examined, as is their relevance to the DoD world. The desire is to apply relevant lessons learned from the commercial industry to DoD programs, yielding a decrease in TPS development time     

Design and application of quadratic correlation filters for target detection

We introduce a method for designing and implementing quadratic correlation filters (QCFs) for shift-invariant target detection in imagery. The QCFs are a quadratic classifier that operates directly on the image data without feature extraction or segmentation. In this sense, the QCFs retain the main advantages of conventional linear correlation filters while offering significant improvements in other respects. Not only is more processing required to detect peaks in the outputs of multiple linear filters, but choosing a winner among them is an error prone task. On the other hand, all channels in a QCF work together to optimize the same performance metric and produce a combined output that leads to considerable simplification of the postprocessing scheme. In addition, QCFs also yield better performance than their linear counterparts for comparable throughput requirements. Two different methods for designing basis functions that optimize the QCF performance criterion are presented. An efficient architecture for implementing QCFs is discussed along with a case study of the proposed approach for detecting targets in LADAR imagery.     

Scaling procedures of cabin noise generated by turbulent boundary layer excitation

This paper presents a new method for measuring the cabin noise of a structure in a wind tunnel. A method for scaling the cabin sound was derived to obtain the cabin noise of a structure, and the derivation of the scaling procedure was based on a theoretical hypothesis regarding the cabin noise prediction for a scaled model in a wind tunnel. A frequency offset was generated because of the error introduced by model manufacture and installation, and a proposed modal test method was used to eliminate the frequency offset. Both a full-scale structure and scaled structure were measured in the wind tunnel tests. The cabin noise of the full-scale model was compared with the results obtained using the scaling procedure based on the scaled model. The comparisons of the measurement results indicate that the scaling procedures developed in this paper are effective for vibro-acoustic predictions in wind tunnels. Moreover, background noise tended to affect the results of the cabin sound for the wind tunnel test, and thus background noise should be prevented through specific design efforts.     

液压泵摩擦副可靠性设计基本方法研究

阐述了液压泵摩擦副可靠性分析及设计的基本步骤和原则。作为实例,文中给出了滑靴耐磨可靠性设计所采用的（pv）应力模型新方法。     

The Proper Computation of the Matrix Pseudoinverse and its Impact in MVRO Filtering

There have been two new algorithms of fairly recent origin offered for the calculation of the matrix pseudoinverse. Unfortunately, nonpathological counterexamples can be constructed, as offered herein, that demonstrate the questionable nature of these two algorithms; however, a resolution is offered here to help prevent possible uncritical propagation of the questionable algorithms. As a rigorous alternative, a well-established technique (endorsed by numerical analysts) is reviewed for calculating the correct matrix pseudoinverse using a computer. Additionally, this technique possesses existent independently verified/validated and assessible software code for a convenient implementation. However, historical loose ends in calculating the associated condition number are singled out here as cause for concern and as a topic for future resolution and refinement. Finally, as the primary motivation for considering these issues, an application example is offered from estimation theory in the implementation and analysis of a minimum variance reduced-order (MVRO) filter having proper performance that critically hinges on the correct computation of the matrix pseudoinverse. While examples of applying MVRO to navigation applications were provided almost a decade ago, a clear indication of the somewhat restrictive conditions of applicability were wanting and so are elucidated here since there appears to be a resurgence of interest in this analytic technique. Another contribution is in providing a tally of the drawbacks to be incurred in using MVRO as well as its previously publicized benefits.     

Detection Performance of a Mean-Level Threshold

The problem of detecting signals in nonstationary clutter is met by presenting a mean-level or adaptive threshold which adjusts to the changing background level. Such a threshold performs better than a fixed threshold that must be set for the highest amplitude clutter. However, the mean-level threshold does not perform as well for stationary noise as a fixed threshold set at the proper value. One measure of effectiveness of an adaptive threshold is its performance in stationary noise (compared to the optimum fixed threshold) for a specified speed of response. For the mean-level threshold, a simple mathematical solution is found for the detection probability when the noise is stationary and the signal scintillates rapidly. The performance is evaluated for a wide range of mean-level-threshold time constants and for several false-alarm probabilities. The results are presented graphically. As an example, the mean-level threshold suffers 3 dB in detectability (equivalent signal-to-noise ratio) in the presence of stationary noise as compared to the optimum fixed threshold for 50-percent probability of detection, false-alarm probability of 10-8, and an adjustment time of 15 times the signal duration.