Telerobotics: problems and research needs

With major emphasis on simulation, a university laboratory telerobotics facility permits problems to be approached by groups of graduate students. Helmet-mounded displays provide realism; the slaving of the display to the human operator's viewpoint gives a sense of `telepresence' that may be useful for prolonged tasks. Using top-down 3-D model control of distant images allows distant images to be reduced to a few parameters to update the model used for display to the human operator in a preview model to circumvent, in part, the communication delay. Also, the model can be used as a format for supervisory control and permit short-term local autonomous operations. Image processing algorithms can be made simpler and faster without trying to construct sensible images from the bottom. Control studies of telerobots lead to preferential manual control modes and, in this university environment, to basic paradigms for human motion and thence, perhaps, to redesign of robotic control, trajectory path planning, and rehabilitation prosthetics. Speculation as to future industrial drives for this telerobotic field suggests efficient roles for government agencies such as NASA     

Discrete-time state estimation of analog double integrators

The problem of minimum variance discrete-time state estimation of a continuous-time double integrator via noisy continuous-time measurements is considered. The error covariance matrices of this estimation are calculated and analyzed. The relations between these covariance matrices and the error covariance matrix of the optimal continuous-time filter are obtained, and a way for determining the required sampling period is proposed. A commonly used approximated model is investigated; it is shown to be inappropriate unless a specific improvement is introduced in the model     

The Cassini Visual And Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (Vims) Investigation

The Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) investigation is a multidisciplinary study of the Saturnian system. Visual and near-infrared imaging spectroscopy and high-speed spectrophotometry are the observational techniques. The scope of the investigation includes the rings, the surfaces of the icy satellites and Titan, and the atmospheres of Saturn and Titan. In this paper, we will elucidate the major scientific and measurement goals of the investigation, the major characteristics of the Cassini VIMS instrument, the instrument calibration, and operation, and the results of the recent Cassini flybys of Venus and the Earth–Moon system.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

The Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer

The Cassini-Huygens Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) is intended to provide direct observations of dust grains with masses between 10⁻¹⁹ and 10⁻⁹ kg in interplanetary space and in the jovian and saturnian systems, to investigate their physical, chemical and dynamical properties as functions of the distances to the Sun, to Jupiter and to Saturn and its satellites and rings, to study their interaction with the saturnian rings, satellites and magnetosphere. Chemical composition of interplanetary meteoroids will be compared with asteroidal and cometary dust, as well as with Saturn dust, ejecta from rings and satellites. Ring and satellites phenomena which might be effects of meteoroid impacts will be compared with the interplanetary dust environment. Electrical charges of particulate matter in the magnetosphere and its consequences will be studied, e.g. the effects of the ambient plasma and the magnetic field on the trajectories of dust particles as well as fragmentation of particles due to electrostatic disruption.The investigation will be performed with an instrument that measures the mass, composition, electric charge, speed, and flight direction of individual dust particles. It is a highly reliable and versatile instrument with a mass sensitivity 10⁶ times higher than that of the Pioneer 10 and 11 dust detectors which measured dust in the saturnian system. The Cosmic Dust Analyzer has significant inheritance from former space instrumentation developed for the VEGA, Giotto, Galileo, and Ulysses missions. It will reliably measure impacts from as low as 1 impact per month up to 10⁴ impacts per second. The instrument weighs 17 kg and consumes 12 W, the integrated time-of-flight mass spectrometer has a mass resolution of up to 50. The nominal data transmission rate is 524 bits/s and varies between 50 and 4192 bps.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Cassini Imaging Science: Instrument Characteristics And Anticipated Scientific Investigations At Saturn

The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) is the highest-resolution two-dimensional imaging device on the Cassini Orbiter and has been designed for investigations of the bodies and phenomena found within the Saturnian planetary system. It consists of two framing cameras: a narrow angle, reflecting telescope with a 2-m focal length and a square field of view (FOV) 0.35^∘ across, and a wide-angle refractor with a 0.2-m focal length and a FOV 3.5^∘ across. At the heart of each camera is a charged coupled device (CCD) detector consisting of a 1024 square array of pixels, each 12 μ on a side. The data system allows many options for data collection, including choices for on-chip summing, rapid imaging and data compression. Each camera is outfitted with a large number of spectral filters which, taken together, span the electromagnetic spectrum from 200 to 1100 nm. These were chosen to address a multitude of Saturn-system scientific objectives: sounding the three-dimensional cloud structure and meteorology of the Saturn and Titan atmospheres, capturing lightning on both bodies, imaging the surfaces of Saturn’s many icy satellites, determining the structure of its enormous ring system, searching for previously undiscovered Saturnian moons (within and exterior to the rings), peering through the hazy Titan atmosphere to its yet-unexplored surface, and in general searching for temporal variability throughout the system on a variety of time scales. The ISS is also the optical navigation instrument for the Cassini mission. We describe here the capabilities and characteristics of the Cassini ISS, determined from both ground calibration data and in-flight data taken during cruise, and the Saturn-system investigations that will be conducted with it. At the time of writing, Cassini is approaching Saturn and the images returned to Earth thus far are both breathtaking and promising.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Design of the TRIO system-on-chip for aerospace

Several design and testing aspects of the TRIO smart sensor data acquisition chip, developed by JHU/APL for NASA spacecraft applications are presented. TRIO includes a 10 bit self-corrected analog-to-digital converter (ADC), 16/32 analog inputs, a front end multiplexer with selectable aquisition time, a current source, memory, serial and parallel bus, and control logic. So far TRIO is used in many missions including Contour, Messenger, Stereo, Pluto, and the generic JPL X2000 spacecraft bus.     

Polar format algorithm for bistatic SAR

Matched filtering (MF) of phase history data is a mathematically ideal but computationally expensive approach to bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation. Fast backprojection algorithms (BPAs) for image formation have recently been shown to give improved O(N/sup 2/ log/sub 2/N) performance. An O(N/sup 2/ log/sub 2/N) bistatic polar format algorithm (PFA) based on a bistatic far-field assumption is derived. This algorithm is a generalization of the popular PFA for monostatic SAR image formation and is highly amenable to implementation with existing monostatic image formation processors. Limits on the size of an imaged scene, analogous to those in monostatic systems, are derived for the bistatic PFA.     

Stochastic game approach to air operations

A command and control (C/sup 2/) problem for military air operations is addressed. Specifically, we consider C/sup 2/ problems for air vehicles against ground-based targets and defensive systems. The problem is viewed as a stochastic game. We restrict our attention to the C/sup 2/ level where the problem may consist of a few unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) or aircraft (or possibly teams of vehicles), less than say, a half-dozen enemy surface-to-air missile air defense units (SAMs), a few enemy assets (viewed as targets from our standpoint), and some enemy decoys (assumed to mimic SAM radar signatures). At this low level, some targets are mapped out and possible SAM sites that are unavoidably part of the situation are known. One may then employ a discrete stochastic game problem formulation to determine which of these SAMs should optimally be engaged (if any), and by what series of air vehicle operations. We provide analysis, numerical implementation, and simulation for full state-feedback and measurement feedback control within this C/sup 2/ context. Sensitivity to parameter uncertainty is discussed. Some insight into the structure of optimal and near-optimal strategies for C/sup 2/ is obtained. The analysis is extended to the case of observations which may be affected by adversarial inputs. A heuristic based on risk-sensitive control is applied, and it is found that this produces improved results over more standard approaches.     

2001 Mars Odyssey Mission Summary

The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, now in orbit at Mars, will observe the Martian surface at infrared and visible wavelengths to determine surface mineralogy and morphology, acquire global gamma ray and neutron observations for a full Martian year, and study the Mars radiation environment from orbit. The science objectives of this mission are to: (1) globally map the elemental composition of the surface, (2) determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface, (3) acquire high spatial and spectral resolution images of the surface mineralogy, (4) provide information on the morphology of the surface, and (5) characterize the Martian near-space radiation environment as related to radiation-induced risk to human explorers. To accomplish these objectives, the 2001 Mars Odyssey science payload includes a Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), a multi-spectral Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), and a radiation detector, the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS and MARIE are mounted on the spacecraft with THEMIS pointed at nadir. GRS is a suite of three instruments: a Gamma Subsystem (GSS), a Neutron Spectrometer (NS) and a High-Energy Neutron Detector (HEND). The HEND and NS instruments are mounted on the spacecraft body while the GSS is on a 6-m boom. Some science data were collected during the cruise and aerobraking phases of the mission before the prime mission started. THEMIS acquired infrared and visible images of the Earth-Moon system and of the southern hemisphere of Mars. MARIE monitored the radiation environment during cruise. The GRS collected calibration data during cruise and aerobraking. Early GRS observations in Mars orbit indicated a hydrogen-rich layer in the upper meter of the subsurface in the Southern Hemisphere. Also, atmospheric densities, scale heights, temperatures, and pressures were observed by spacecraft accelerometers during aerobraking as the spacecraft skimmed the upper portions of the Martian atmosphere. This provided the first in-situ evidence of winter polar warming in the Mars upper atmosphere. The prime mission for 2001 Mars Odyssey began in February 2002 and will continue until August 2004. During this prime mission, the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft will also provide radio relays for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European landers in early 2004. Science data from 2001 Mars Odyssey instruments will be provided to the science community via NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS). The first PDS release of Odyssey data was in October 2002; subsequent releases occur every 3 months.     

Correction to: Determining the Relative Cratering Ages of Regions of Psyche’s Surface

Space Science Reviews - Analysis of Homestake, Gallex and GNO measurements reveals evidence of variability of presumed solar-neutrino-flux measurements. Analysis of Super-Kamiokande neutrino...