A system for obstacle detection during rotorcraft low altitudeflight

An airborne vehicle such as a rotorcraft must avoid obstacles like antennas, towers, poles, fences, tree branches, and wires strung across the flight path. Automatic detection of the obstacles and generation of appropriate guidance and control actions for the vehicle to avoid these obstacles would facilitate autonomous navigation. The requirements of an obstacle detection system for rotorcraft in low-altitude Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE) flight based on various rotorcraft motion constraints is analyzed here in detail. It is argued that an automated obstacle detection system for the rotorcraft scenario should include both passive and active sensors to be effective. Consequently, it introduces a maximally passive system which involves the use of passive sensors (TV, FLIR) as well as the selective use of an active (laser) sensor. The passive component is concerned with estimating range using optical flow-based motion analysis and binocular stereo. The optical flow-based motion analysis that is combined with on-board inertial navigation system (INS) to compute ranges to visible scene points is described. Experimental results obtained using land vehicle data illustrate the particular approach to motion analysis     

Molecular spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres

Summary Clearly spectroscopy has already provided considerable insight into the nature of the planetary atmospheres. Several molecular constituents have been positively identified and upper limits have been placed on the abundances of others which are of particular significance in devising planetary models. But, equally clearly, the inadequacy of the spectral data, due to low spectral and/or spatial resolution, renders deductions of abundances, temperatures and pressures very uncertain. With the sole exception of the Martian CO₂ abundance, knowledge of the concentrations of planetary atmospheric constituents is unsatisfactory, and all numbers given must be regarded as only crude estimates. This latter comment applies equally well to the derived temperatures and pressures.What is urgently needed is the development of a reasonably complete theory of line formation in planetary atmospheres. This, coupled with more detailed spectroscopic work, should produce numerical values of atmospheric parameters which can be used with assurance.This work was performed with the aid of NASA Grant NsG-101-61 with funds administered by the University of California.     

基于变刚度特性的轴流压气机叶型重构方法研究

为能准确预估轴流压气机叶片在工作状态下的形状,基于流固耦合迭代策略,考虑离心力和气动力对叶片变形的作用,发展了一种适用于轴流压气机的叶型重构方法。在构型转化过程中,计入了叶片受力载荷随叶型变化的非线性效应以及叶片的变刚度特性。采用叶片变形后状态的受力载荷与刚度矩阵计算叶片节点位移,反复迭代修正热态叶片形状,最终获得满足精度要求的热态叶型数据。利用所提出的方法,对Stage 37的转子叶片进行了叶型重构,经20步迭代计算可获得最大残差小于10-4mm量级的热态叶型,通过与试验数据的对比分析,验证了重构算法的可靠性和工程实用性。     

Analysis of structural elements made of composite materials with defects

The paper presents an improved technique and the results of strength analysis for the aircraft structural elements with a structural defect like an arbitrary shape delamination.     

Elemental Abundances of the Bulk Solar Wind: Analyses from Genesis and ACE

Analysis of the Genesis samples is underway. Preliminary elemental abundances based on Genesis sample analyses are in good agreement with in situ-measured elemental abundances made by ACE/SWICS during the Genesis collection period. Comparison of these abundances with those of earlier solar cycles indicates that the solar wind composition is relatively stable between cycles for a given type of flow. ACE/SWICS measurements for the Genesis collection period also show a continuum in compositional variation as a function of velocity for the quasi-stationary flow that defies the simple binning of samples into their sources of coronal hole (CH) and interstream (IS).