A search for chiral signatures on Mars

It is thought that the chiral molecules of living material can induce circular polarization in light at levels much higher than expected from abiotic processes. We therefore obtained high quality imaging circular polarimetry of the martian surface during the favorable opposition of 2003 to seek evidence of anomalous optical activity. We used two narrow-band filters covering 43% of the martian surface, 15% of it in-depth. With polarization noise levels <0.1% (4.3 upper limits 0.2-0.3%) and spatial resolution 210 km, we did not find any regions of circular polarization. When data were averaged over the observed face of the planet, we did see a small non-zero circular polarization 0.02%, which may be due to effects associated with the opposition configuration though it is at the limit of the instrumental capability. Our observations covered only a small fraction of parameter space, so although we obtained a null result, we cannot exclude the presence of optical activity at other wavelengths, in other locations, or at higher spatial resolution.     

Optimal Cooperative Sensing using a Team of UAVs

The authors investigates the joint optimal estimation of both the position and velocity of a ground moving target (GMT) using pulse Doppler radars on-board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The problem of cooperative estimation using a UAV team and the optimization of the team's configuration to achieve optimal GMT position and velocity estimates are addressed. Based on the Cramer-Rao bound, the minimum achievable error variance of the GMT position and velocity estimates is derived. The expression of the minimum achievable estimation error variance for unbiased estimation provided by the Cramer-Rao bound is minimized yielding the optimal configuration of the UAV team. Our solution is complete in that it addresses various GMT tracking scenarios and an arbitrary number of UAVs. Optimal sensor geometries for typical applications are illustrated     

A wave model for dwarf novae

The rapid coherent oscillation during a dwarf nova outburst is attributed to an accretion-driven wave going around the white dwarf component of the binary system. The increase and decrease in the period of this oscillation is due to the change in the velocity of the wave as it is first being driven and then damped. Qualitatively, a large number of observations can be explained with such a model. The beginnings of a mathematical representation of this model are developed.     

Integral Electronic Charge Controls for High Performance Secondary Batteries

Requirements and constraints of unattended secondary batteryapplications are outlined and translated into battery charge control designcriteria. Attention is given to battery performance and reliabilityrequirements and power system interfaces. Charge control requirementsents are defined. Implementation analyses and selection of integralcell-level electronic charge controls are detailed. Feasibility of thecharge control concepts are demonstrated and merits of integralelectronic cell-level battery controls are summarized.     

Cooperative task scheduling for networked uninhabited air vehicles

In the work presented here, we study a cooperative control problem for a network of uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs) where it is assumed that after deployment a set of tasks is given to a group of UAVs and the UAVs must cooperate to decide which UAV should process each task. The cooperation must occur during real-time operation due to a need to repeatedly process each task, in spite of imperfect communications (e.g., messages with random but bounded delays), and the possibility that tasks "pop-up." We show how to view this as a cooperative scheduling problem, and how to derive bounds on mission-level performance metrics. Simulations are used to compare the approach with a noncooperative strategy and to provide design guidelines for the cooperative scheduler.