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Vol. 36 No. 5
www.techbriefs.com
May 2012
Inside:
Test & Measurement
Suppliers Guide
High-Speed Edge-Detecting
Line Scan Smart Camera ........................8a
Downsampling Photodetector
Array With Windowing..........................9a
Optical Communications
Channel Combiner ................................10a
Development of Thermal Infrared
Sensor to Supplement Operational
Land Imager ..........................................10a
Product of the Month/
New Products ........................................12a
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G I V E YOU R B I G I DE A
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3D PRIN T ER
Prices applicable in the United States. Additional options, shipping, applicable taxes and/or duties not included. 2012 Stratasys, Inc.
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May 2012
Vol. 36 No. 5
www.techbriefs.com
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Visit omega.com/osxl160
Ready-Made Insulated
Thermocouples
with Stripped Leads
Compact Non-Contact
Temperature Sensor
Economical RH
Sensor/Transmitter
OS212 Series
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F E ATUR E S
14
18
Application Briefs
33
79
NASA TechNeeds
20
S O LUTIO N S
20
20
22
24
28
28
31
32
42
Electronics/Computers
42
42
44
45
72
DEPARTM ENTS
8
46
Software
46
46
47
48
48
49
50
52
54
Mechanics/Machinery
54
50
55
56
10
12
NASA Patents
41
76
Advertisers Index
78
NEW
50
UpFront
FOR
58
ENGI NEER S
70
71
New Products/Software
SPEC I AL
SU PPLEM ENT
1a 14a
Photonics Tech Briefs
58
DESI GN
Optical Communications
Channel Combiner ................................10a
Development of Thermal Infrared
Sensor to Supplement Operational
Land Imager ..........................................10a
Product of the Month/
New Products ........................................12a
www.techbriefs.com
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Find it at
mathworks.com/accelerate
datasheet
video example
trial request
MODEL
PHYSICAL
SYSTEMS
in
Simulink
with Simscape
t Electrical
t.FDIBOJDBM
t)ZESBVMJD
and more
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Contents continued
60
61
Bio-Medical
61
61
62
Physical Sciences
64
65
66
66
67
67
67
67
67
74
The content of individual tech briefs included in this publication has been provided by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither Associated Business Publications Co.,
Ltd. nor the United States Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the information contained in this document, or warrants that such use will be free from privately owned rights. The U.S. Government
does not endorse any commercial product, process, or activity identified in this publication.
OF
TH E
M ONTH
64
64
64
PR ODU C T
70
ON
TH E
C OV ER
Advanced bonding methods that incorporate epoxy
resin technology are among the most reliable and
cost-effective fastening options in demanding applications such as those found in the transportation,
optical, and electronics industries. Learn more about
epoxy resins in the tech brief from Master Bond
(Hackensack, NJ) beginning on page 58.
(Image courtesy of Master Bond)
Permissions: Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or
personal use of specific clients, is granted by Associated Business Publications, provided that
the flat fee of $3.00 per copy be paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (222 Rose
Wood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923). For those organizations that have been granted a photocopy
license by CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. The fee code for users of the
Transactional Reporting Service is: ISSN 0145-319X194 $3.00+ .00
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Multiphysics tools let you build simulations that accurately replicate the
important characteristics of your designs. The key is the ability to include
all physical effects that exist in the real world. Order a free white paper
describing the modeling of Li-ion batteries at www.comsol.com/battery
Product Suite
COMSOL Multiphysics
FLUID
CFD Module
Microuidics Module
Subsurface Flow Module
CHEMICAL
Chemical Reaction Engineering Module
Batteries & Fuel Cells Module
Electrodeposition Module
MECHANICAL
Heat Transfer Module
Structural Mechanics Module
Geomechanics Module
Acoustics Module
ELECTRICAL
AC/DC Module
RF Module
MEMS Module
Plasma Module
MULTIPURPOSE
Optimization Module
Material Library
Particle Tracing Module
INTERFACING
CAD Import Module
File Import for CATIA V5
LiveLink for SolidWorks
LiveLink for SpaceClaim
2012 COMSOL. COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. AutoCAD and Inventor are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries. LiveLink for AutoCAD and LiveLink for Inventor
are not afliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by Autodesk, Inc., and/or its afliates and/or subsidiaries. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc. Pro/ENGINEER and Creo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation
or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and in other countries. SolidWorks is a registered trademark of Dassault Systmes SolidWorks Corp. CATIA is a registered trademark of Dassault Systmes. SpaceClaim is a registered trademark of SpaceClaim Corporation.
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UP
FRONT
Linda Bell
Editorial Director
SAE International, the global association of engineers in the aerospace, automotive, and
commercial vehicle industries, has acquired Tech Briefs Media Group (TBMG), publishers of
NASA Tech Briefs. As an independent subsidiary of SAE International, TBMG will continue
to provide readers with exclusive information on new NASA technologies that you look forward to each month in NASA Tech Briefs, its sister publications, and supplements. For more
information on SAE, visit www.sae.org.
www.techbriefs.com
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34972A
34970A
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800-433-5700
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ASA is helping
to lead an international effort to
upgrade the systems
that supply crucial
location information and Earth science measurements.
Stephen Merkowitz
is a scientist and Project Manager for the
upgraded ground station that will help
serve satellites of the future.
NASA Tech Briefs: What is geodesy, and
what is NASAs international geodesy initiative?
Stephen Merkowitz: Geodesy is the
science of where things are, where
theyre going, and where theyve been.
It is used to study the Earths shape, rotation, and gravity. NASA currently offers
a network of space geodetic ground stations that do Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI), satellite laser
ranging (SLR), and GNSS (global navigation satellite system) or GPS tracking.
The new space geodesy project will
develop and implement the next-generation systems. The current systems are
20 to 30 years old.
One of the primary drivers for
upgrading the system is sea-level measurement, where you would like to be
able to make those measurements at the
millimeter level and have them be stable
over the years, so you can do repeated
measurements.
NTB: What is VLBI?
www.techbriefs.com
Intro
er as one big telescope. You also get baseline information between the telescopes
when youre doing the same observation,
which allows you to determine the orientation of the Earth in space.
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COMPLETE ENGINEERING
SOLUTIONS
Start here.
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Over the past three decades, NASA has granted more than 1000 patent licenses in virtually every area
of technology. The agency has a portfolio of thousands of patents and pending applications available
now for license by businesses and individuals, including these recently patented inventions:
Robotic-Movement Payload
Lifter and Manipulator
U.S. Patent No. 7,878,348
Self-Validating Thermocouple
U.S. Patent No. 7,841,771
For more information on the inventions described here, contact the appropriate
NASA Field Centers Innovative Partnerships (IP) Office.
See page 78 for a list of office contacts.
www.techbriefs.com
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Battery Options
for Uninterruptible
Power Supplies
A 12V, 95-Amp/hour VRLA high-temperature battery from CSB Battery Co.
14
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Compact Limit
Switches
Our new compact limit switches are made
for small spaces! This series features 35mm
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hole spacing. Over 45 models give you just
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The AEM2G series limit switches start at just
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*All prices are U.S. published prices. AutomationDirect prices are from the April 2012 Price List. Allen-Bradley prices taken
from www.rockwellautomation.com/en/e-tools 2/20/12. Specifications may vary by dealer and configuration.
Prices subject to change without notice.
www.automationdirect.com/limit-switch
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Go online or call to get complete information,
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Battery Options
The manufacturers stated service life
for flooded batteries is dependent on the
battery grade and quality. The stated service life is dependent on the water level
being maintained, as well as the battery
being properly charged, and installed in a
location having a continuous 20 to 30 C
(68 to 86 F) environment. Flooded batteries are available with advertised service
life ratings from three to over 20 years.
16
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Air-Bearing Solutions
for Test and Inspection
ABRS
rotary
airbearing
stage
ABL1000XY
miniature, linear
air-bearing stage
ABL2000XY
linear
air-bearing
stage
Multi-axis
air-bearing
with granite
bridge and
a machine
base
Our innovative Z
positioner provides 100
travel at 2 arc-second
accuracy and 2 mm
vertical travel at 1 m
accuracy.
Aerotech manufactures
large format air-bearings
to customer specifications,
with travel lengths that can
exceed one meter.
Aerotech Worldwide
United States France Germany United Kingdom China Japan Taiwan
www.aerotech.com
NASA Tech Briefs, May 2012
AH0510B_TM
17
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Application
P ressure Controllers Used
in Sounding Rocket
Payload Attitude Control
Systems
PC Series absolute pressure controllers
Alicat Scientific
Tucson, AZ
520-290-6060
www.alicatscientific.com
Pressure controllers from Alicat Scientific
have been selected for use in NASA sounding
rockets to control payload attitude. The payload sections of some NASA sounding rockets are required to
achieve pointing accuracies of finer than 1 arc second (1/3600
of a degree). Conventional attitude control systems (using solenoid valves) introduce too much shock and vibration, and are
imprecise. NASA contractor Northrop Grumman chose the
Alicat absolute pressure controllers for use with the rockets delicate optical instruments.
The pressure controllers are used to directly feed the payloads attitude control jets. The four pressure controllers are
fed from a common gaseous argon manifold at approximately
Briefs
160 psig, with a stock multidrop RS-232 sending set-point commands to the controllers. As
soon as the rocket passes 100 km in altitude, all
controllers are brought up to 5 PSIA with both
pitch and yaw moments balanced. The spacecrafts attitude is then modified by modulating
the pressure commands sent to the controllers.
The controllers enable commanded pressure changes in increments as small as 0.00234
psi or as large as 150 psi, with extreme speed.
NASAs testing demonstrated that the controllers accurately track a 5-Hz sign wave, correlating to a response time faster than 32 milliseconds. As there are no backup systems for
attitude control, the controllers are considered
to be mission-critical pieces of equipment.
To meet NASAs requirements, the controllers were modified slightly with a different capacitor and connector hardware. To enhance durability and reduce mass, the main electronics board was potted in plastic and the bodies were fabricated from aluminum, rather than the typical stainless steel.
The controllers passed NASA testing for shock, vibration, thermal cycling, and exposure to vacuum, and have completed several successful missions. Northrop Grumman has ordered 28
controllers over a five-year period for this application.
For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/40433-115
www.techbriefs.com
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GREAT GUI - Design your own screens, easy setup and triggering
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19
www.techbriefs.com
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The Tamarisk
320 Thermal Camera
Actual Size
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www.techbriefs.com
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With NX CAE, engineers can modify geometry intuitively, update simulation models automatically, and evaluate design
changes rapidly.
siemens.com/plm/nxcae
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/40433-777
2012 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered
trademarks of Siemens AG. All other logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
NX CAE
for faster
simulation
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Detail A
Detail B
A Schematic of the Apparatus Used in the Rocket Throat Cooling Experiment. The three instruments
measure throat temperature, gas temperature, and gas pressure (top to bottom). At left, the gas-sensing probe is nearly flush with the inner surface of the throat, corresponding with a low inefficient fin
non-dimensional number. At right, the D (probe diameter) and L (distance past the enclosure wall)
were changed to correspond to a non-dimensional number of 4.60.
26
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*As rated by Hearst Electronics Group: The Engineer & Supplier Interface Study, 2009.
Avnet, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved. AVNET is a registered trademark of Avnet, Inc.
www.twitter.com/avnetdesignwire
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On-Wafer Measurement of a
Multi-Stage MMIC Amplifier
With 10 dB of Gain at 475 GHz
28
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