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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Ultra-Low-Power Radios for Ad-Hoc Sensing Networks

Anew method has been developed for the design of a miniature, low-power, low-cost radio node capable of self-organization and communication within an ad-hoc network. The integrated radio transceiver, combined with a backend processor in a single networkable node, offers unique network scalability...

Briefs
Data Acquisition

MEMS Resettable Circuit Breaker and Switch for DC-DC Voltage Converters

Resettable circuit breaker cantilevers use silicon dioxide (SiO2) for temper ature compensation. The compressive stress in the SiO2 causes the cantilever to bow upwards 400...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Finite-Element Simulations of Field and Current Distributions in Multifilament Superconducting Films

The separation of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes in filaments is a viable approach to reduce AC losses in HTS high-power...

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Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Nozzles for Focusing Aerosol Particles

Several nozzles have been designed to aerodynamically focus aerosol particles into a small-diameter jet, so that individual particles can be illuminated by a laser beam and their light scattering and/or laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra can be measured. An additional nozzle can aerodynamically puff...

Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Parallel Hybrid Vehicles Using Fuzzy Logic Control

A fuzzy logic controller for hybrid vehicles with parallel configuration was proposed. Using the state-of-charge (SOC) of the energy storage, the driver command, and the motor/generator speed, a set of rules was developed. The fuzzy logic controller can determine the split between the electric...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Development of an Electrochemical Biosensor for Organophosphate Chemicals

Detection of organophosphate (OP) compounds has attracted much attention in terms of safeguarding human health, owing to their frequent use as pesticides in agriculture and their potential use as chemical warfare agents. Among a variety of biological methods based on the...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Novel Active Transient Cooling Systems

Energy-efficient cooling technology is extremely important in today’s society, considering the need for energy conservation and the urgent need to mitigate global warming. Near-room-temperature magnetic...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Diode Laser Sensor for Scramjet Inlets

The supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) engine is one of the more promising high-speed flight propulsion technologies. One of the reasons for this is the simplicity of the engine design, having no...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

MALDI-MSI Imaging of Latent Fingerprints

For years, forensic scientists have been seeking new methods to improve existing techniques for the visualization of latent fingerprints. The structured combination of optical methods (diffused reflection, luminescence, UV absorption and reflection), physical methods (powdering, vacuum metal deposition,...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Battery Electrolyte Level Detector Apparatus

An apparatus has been developed for checking the electrolyte level in a battery, providing a safer and more efficient means to do so. The result is a non-intrusive apparatus and method of checking the electrolyte level that reduces the need to open the caps on the battery by checking the level externally.

Briefs
Photonics/Optics

AlInGaN Bandgap and Doping Engineering for Visible Laser Diodes

There is a great need to develop chip-scale visible lasers for many applications, including laser sight, environmental monitoring, and compact pumping sources for ultra-short laser pulse generation, high-luminous full-color displays, new-generation solid-state lighting, etc. The...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Forehead-Mounted Sensor Measures Oxygen Saturation for Hypoxia Early Detection and Warning

Symptoms of hypoxia – a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching body tissues - have been documented among rotary-wing pilots and aircrew flying at...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Manifold-Based Image Understanding

The rapid growth of sensing and imaging technology, combined with the need for near-real-time action based on the sensed data, has rendered automatic processing, understanding, and decision-making vital to our...

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Briefs
Information Technology

Flexible Computing Architecture for Real-Time Skin Detection

In both the Air Force and search and rescue (SAR) communities, there is a need to detect and characterize persons. Existing methods use red-green-blue (RGB) imagery, but produce high false alarm rates. New technology in multispectral skin detection is better than the existing RGB methods,...

Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Magnetic Random Access Memory Integrated Passive Components

An embedded magnetic memory technology was developed to be integrated into a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) circuit fabrication process to provide radiation-hard logic...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Differential Amplifier Circuits Based on Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNTFETs)

Since their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively studied for their great potential in a variety of applications. Several desirable properties that CNTs possess include a high thermal conductivity, high electrical mobility, high electrical...

Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Photorefractive Polymers for Updatable 3D Displays

Photorefractive (PR) polymer composites developed for 3D display applications contain a copolymer as the hole-transporting host matrix. The copolymer approach is followed to reduce the phase...

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Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Membrane Pump for Synthetic Muscle Actuation

A synthetic muscle has been developed that uses inflatable balloons to produce a tensile force from a positive pressurization. Mechanical supply and ducting is used to provide the required pressurization. However, the mechanical supply and ducting that is currently used is limited in several respects. To...

Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Nonlinear, High-Fidelity, Aeroelastic Analysis for Novel Configurations

Efforts to develop morphing air vehicles with multiple mission capabilities have recently been undertaken by several research teams, including NASA’s Aircraft Morphing program and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Morphing Aircraft Structures program....

Briefs
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Shape Memory Polymer Process Development

This work introduces a simple technique of separately fabricating electrospun short fibers. This technique employs a paper mesh, which is placed between the needle tip and counter electrode of the...

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Briefs
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Surface-Plasmon-Enhanced Organic Thin-Film Solar Cells

Fabrication of two-dimensional metal nanoparticle arrays was achieved both by thermal annealing and nanosphere lithography techniques, which are both very fast and economic. The surface plasmon resonance of the fabricated nanostructure was analyzed experimentally by optical absorption...

Briefs
Information Technology

Ballistic Filter for GPS and Accelerometer Measurements

Ballistic filtering describes the dynamic equations that can be used to form Extended Kalman Filters (EKF) for the estimation of a projectile’s trajectory. The steps associated with initialization and implementing an EKF are demonstrated through a specific task. The performance of an EKF...

Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Procedure to Determine and Correct for Transmission Line Resistances for Direct-Current, On-Wafer Measurements

Resistances of tenths of ohms to several ohms in transmission lines have been measured in laboratory systems from the power supply to...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Channel Field Effect Transistors

Narrow bandgap semiconductors offer high carrier mobilities and low contact resistances, while wide bandgap semiconductors offer high breakdown voltages. A series of heterojunction transistors has been investigated and proved to be effective for improving both speed and power output. These devices include double...

Briefs
Materials

Outdoor Synthetic Aperture Acoustic Ground Target Measurements

A novel outdoor synthetic aperture acoustic (SAA) system consists of a microphone and loudspeaker traveling along a 6.3-meter rail system. This is an extension of a prior indoor...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Portable, Rapid-Test Fuel Tank Leak Detection System

In 1988, the EPA issued Underground Storage Tank (UST) regulations for fuel storage in order to implement monthly monitoring and annual tightness testing. Monthly monitoring requires that the...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Self-Aware Computing

This project performed an initial exploration of a new concept for computer system design called Self-Aware Computing. A self-aware computer leverages a variety of hardware and software techniques to automatically adapt and...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Computational Photonics in Laser Communications Through Clouds

This work explored the concept of creating a partially coherent laser beam consisting of an array of spatially overlapping or separated Gaussian beams with possible individual...

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Briefs
Materials

Fire Resistance of Geopolymer Concretes

Geopolymer concrete has been proposed as an alternative to Portland cement concrete in applications requiring high degrees of fire resistance, because the intrinsic chemistry of the geopolymer binder does...

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