WorldWideScience

Sample records for polder helicopter-mounted measurements

  1. BOREAS RSS-20 POLDER C-130 Measurements of Surface BRDF

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leroy, Marc; Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickerson, Jaime (Editor); Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    This Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Remote Sensing Science (RSS)-20 data set contains measurements of surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) made by the polarization and Directionality of Earth reflectances (POLDER) instrument over several surface types (pine, spruce, fen) of the BOREAS southern study area (SSA) during the 1994 intensive field campaigns (IFCs). Single-point BRDF values were acquired either from the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) C-130 aircraft or from a NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) helicopter. A related data set collected from the helicopter platform is available as is POLDER imagery acquired from the C-130. The data are stored in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884) or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

  2. BOREAS RSS-20 POLDER Helicopter-Mounted Measurements of Surface BRDF

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leroy, Marc; Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nickerson, Jaime (Editor); Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    The BOREAS HYD-9 team collected data on precipitation and strearnflow over portions of the NSA and SSA. This data set contains Cartesian maps of rain accumulation for I -hour and daily periods during the summer of 1994 over the SSA only (not the full view of the radar). A parallel set of 1-hour maps for the whole radar view has been prepared and is available upon request from the HYD-09 personnel. An incidental benefit of the areal selection was the elimination of some of the less accurate data,because for various reasons the radar rain estimates degrade considerably outside a range of about 100 km. The data are available in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884) or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

  3. Laser Cooling and Trapping of Neutral Strontium for Spectroscopic Measurements of Casimir-Polder Potentials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Eryn C.

    Casimir and Casimir-Polder effects are forces between electrically neutral bodies and particles in vacuum, arising entirely from quantum fluctuations. The modification to the vacuum electromagnetic-field modes imposed by the presence of any particle or surface can result in these mechanical forces, which are often the dominant interaction at small separations. These effects play an increasingly critical role in the operation of micro- and nano-mechanical systems as well as miniaturized atomic traps for precision sensors and quantum-information devices. Despite their fundamental importance, calculations present theoretical and numeric challenges, and precise atom-surface potential measurements are lacking in many geometric and distance regimes. The spectroscopic measurement of Casimir-Polder-induced energy level shifts in optical-lattice trapped atoms offers a new experimental method to probe atom-surface interactions. Strontium, the current front-runner among optical frequency metrology systems, has demonstrated characteristics ideal for such precision measurements. An alkaline earth atom possessing ultra-narrow intercombination transitions, strontium can be loaded into an optical lattice at the "magic" wavelength where the probe transition is unperturbed by the trap light. Translation of the lattice will permit controlled transport of tightly-confined atomic samples to well-calibrated atom-surface separations, while optical transition shifts serve as a direct probe of the Casimir-Polder potential. We have constructed a strontium magneto-optical trap (MOT) for future Casimir-Polder experiments. This thesis will describe the strontium apparatus, initial trap performance, and some details of the proposed measurement procedure.

  4. Comparison of POLDER Cloud Phase Retrievals to Active Remote Sensors Measurements at the ARM SGP Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riedi, J.; Goloub, P.; Marchand, Roger T.

    2001-01-01

    In our present study, cloud boundaries derived from a combination of active remote sensors at the ARM SGP site are compared to POLDER cloud top phase index which is derived from polarimetric measurements using an innovative method. This approach shows the viability of the POLDER phase retrieval algorithm, and also leads to interesting results. In particular, the analysis demonstrates the sensitivity of polarization measurements to ice crystal shape and indicates that occurrence of polycrystalline ice clouds has to be taken into account in order to improve the POLDER phase retrieval algorithm accuracy. Secondly, the results show that a temperature threshold of 240 K could serve for cloud top particle phase classification. Considering the limitations of the analysis, the temperature threshold could be biased high, but not by more than about 5 degrees

  5. Development of adaptive helicopter seat systems for aircrew vibration mitigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yong; Wickramasinghe, Viresh; Zimcik, David G.

    2008-03-01

    Helicopter aircrews are exposed to high levels of whole body vibration during flight. This paper presents the results of an investigation of adaptive seat mount approaches to reduce helicopter aircrew whole body vibration levels. A flight test was conducted on a four-blade helicopter and showed that the currently used passive seat systems were not able to provide satisfactory protection to the helicopter aircrew in both front-back and vertical directions. Long-term exposure to the measured whole body vibration environment may cause occupational health issues such as spine and neck strain injuries for aircrew. In order to address this issue, a novel adaptive seat mount concept was developed to mitigate the vibration levels transmitted to the aircrew body. For proof-of-concept demonstration, a miniature modal shaker was properly aligned between the cabin floor and the seat frame to provide adaptive actuation authority. Adaptive control laws were developed to reduce the vibration transmitted to the aircrew body, especially the helmet location in order to minimize neck and spine injuries. Closed-loop control test have been conducted on a full-scale helicopter seat with a mannequin configuration and a large mechanical shaker was used to provide representative helicopter vibration profiles to the seat frame. Significant vibration reductions to the vertical and front-back vibration modes have been achieved simultaneously, which verified the technical readiness of the adaptive mount approach for full-scale flight test on the vehicle.

  6. Characterization of aerosol pollution events in France using ground-based and POLDER-2 satellite data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Kacenelenbogen

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We analyze the relationship between daily fine particle mass concentration (PM2.5 and columnar aerosol optical thickness derived from the Polarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectances (POLDER satellite sensor. The study is focused over France during the POLDER-2 lifetime between April and October 2003. We have first compared the POLDER derived aerosol optical thickness (AOT with integrated volume size distribution derived from ground-based Sun Photometer observations. The good correlation (R=0.72 with sub-micron volume fraction indicates that POLDER derived AOT is sensitive to the fine aerosol mass concentration. Considering 1974 match-up data points over 28 fine particle monitoring sites, the POLDER-2 derived AOT is fairly well correlated with collocated PM2.5 measurements, with a correlation coefficient of 0.55. The correlation coefficient reaches a maximum of 0.80 for particular sites. We have analyzed the probability to find an appropriate air quality category (AQC as defined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA from POLDER-2 AOT measurements. The probability can be up to 88.8% (±3.7% for the "Good" AQC and 89.1% (±3.6% for the "Moderate" AQC.

  7. Casimir-Polder shifts on quantum levitation states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crépin, P.-P.; Dufour, G.; Guérout, R.; Lambrecht, A.; Reynaud, S.

    2017-03-01

    An ultracold atom above a horizontal mirror experiences quantum reflection from the attractive Casimir-Polder interaction, which holds it against gravity and leads to quantum levitation states. We analyze this system by using a Liouville transformation of the Schrödinger equation and a Langer coordinate adapted to problems with a classical turning point. Reflection on the Casimir-Polder attractive well is replaced by reflection on a repulsive wall, and the problem is then viewed as an ultracold atom trapped inside a cavity with gravity and Casimir-Polder potentials acting, respectively, as top and bottom mirrors. We calculate numerically Casimir-Polder shifts of the energies of the cavity resonances and propose an approximate treatment which is precise enough to discuss spectroscopy experiments aimed at tests of the weak-equivalence principle on antihydrogen. We also discuss the lifetimes by calculating complex energies associated with cavity resonances.

  8. Aerosol variability over the Mediterranean basin from 2005-2012 POLDER-3/PARASOL and AERONET/PHOTONS measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiapello, Isabelle; Ducos, Fabrice; Dulac, François; Léon, Jean-François; Mallet, Marc; Tanré, Didier; Goloub, Philippe

    2013-04-01

    POLDER-3 (Polarization and Directionnality of the Earth's Reflectances) has been launched on board the PARASOL microsatellite in December 2004. Although the PARASOL orbit has been lowered twice (in September 2009 and in November 2011) compared to the other platforms of the A-Train constellation, POLDER observations continue, providing now more than seven years of innovative retrievals of aerosol properties from space. In this study we focus on analyzing POLDER-3 capabilities to derive both aerosol loads (Total Aerosol Optical Thickness) and size properties (fine and coarse spherical/non-spherical Aerosol Optical Thickness, Angström coefficients) over oceanic surfaces. This analysis, as part of the ChArMEx (the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment) program, focus on the Mediterranean basin, a region under the influence of a complex mixture of aerosols from different sources. Especially we aim to investigate the respective contributions of (i) pollution aerosols (emitted by industry and urban environments of some European regions or megacities surrounding the basin), (ii) carbonaceous particles (from biomass burning events), (iii) mineral dust exported from arid and semi-arid regions of North Africa. In a first step, our study consists in an analysis of aerosol variability retrieved from AERONET/PHOTONS photometer records from selected sites located in Western part of the Mediterranean basin (i.e., Soust-East of France, Spain, Corsica/Sardinia), as well as central part (i.e., Italia and Lampedusa), and Eastern part (i.e.,Greece and Turkey). These measurements provide a unique characterization of both aerosol load (aerosol optical depth) and properties (size distribution and absorption though single scattering albedo) and their temporal variability over each part of the Mediterranean basin. The second step focus on a regional validation of the PARASOL monthly aerosol products by comparison with these equivalent and selected ground-based AERONET

  9. Hydrology and phosphorus transport simulation in a lowland polder by a coupled modeling system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Renhua; Huang, Jiacong; Li, Lingling; Gao, Junfeng

    2017-08-01

    Modeling the rain-runoff processes and phosphorus transport processes in lowland polders is critical in finding reasonable measures to alleviate the eutrophication problem of downstream rivers and lakes. This study develops a lowland Polder Hydrology and Phosphorus modeling System (PHPS) by coupling the WALRUS-paddy model and an improved phosphorus module of a Phosphorus Dynamic model for lowland Polder systems (PDP). It considers some important hydrological characteristics, such as groundwater-unsaturated zone coupling, groundwater-surface water feedback, human-controlled irrigation and discharge, and detailed physical and biochemical cycles of phosphorus in surface water. The application of the model in the Jianwei polder shows that the simulated phosphorus matches well with the measured values. The high precision of this model combined with its low input data requirement and efficient computation make it practical and easy to the water resources management of Chinese polders. Parameter sensitivity analysis demonstrates that K uptake , c Q2 , c W1 , and c Q1 exert a significant effect on the modeled results, whereas K resuspensionMax , K settling , and K mineralization have little effect on the modeled total phosphorus. Among the three types of uncertainties (i.e., parameter, initial condition, and forcing uncertainties), forcing uncertainty produces the strongest effect on the simulated phosphorus. Based on the analysis result of annual phosphorus balance when considering the high import from irrigation and fertilization, lowland polder is capable of retaining phosphorus and reducing phosphorus export to surrounding aquatic ecosystems because of their special hydrological regulation regime. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Helicopter magnetic and electromagnetic surveys at Mounts Adams, Baker and Rainier, Washington: implications for debris flow hazards and volcano hydrology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finn, Carol A.; Deszcz-Pan, Maria

    2011-01-01

    High‐resolution helicopter magnetic and electromagnetic (HEM) data flown over the rugged, ice‐covered Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier volcanoes (Washington), reveal the distribution of alteration, water and ice thickness essential to evaluating volcanic landslide hazards. These data, combined with geological mapping and rock property measurements, indicate the presence of appreciable thicknesses (>500 m) of water‐saturated hydrothermally altered rock west of the modern summit of Mount Rainier in the Sunset Amphitheater region and in the central core of Mount Adams north of the summit. Alteration at Mount Baker is restricted to thinner (<300 m) zones beneath Sherman Crater and the Dorr Fumarole Fields. The EM data identified water‐saturated rocks from the surface to the detection limit (100–200 m) in discreet zones at Mt. Rainier and Mt Adams and over the entire summit region at Mt. Baker. The best estimates for ice thickness are obtained over relatively low resistivity (<800 ohm‐m) ground for the main ice cap on Mt. Adams and over most of the summit of Mt. Baker. The modeled distribution of alteration, pore fluids and partial ice volumes on the volcanoes helps identify likely sources for future alteration‐related debris flows, including the Sunset Amphitheater region at Mt. Rainier, steep cliffs at the western edge of the central altered zone at Mount Adams and eastern flanks of Mt. Baker.

  11. Repulsive Casimir-Polder forces from cosmic strings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saharian, A.A.; Kotanjyan, A.S.

    2011-01-01

    We investigate the Casimir-Polder force acting on a polarizable microparticle in the geometry of a straight cosmic string. In order to develop this analysis we evaluate the electromagnetic field Green tensor on the imaginary frequency axis. The expression for the Casimir-Polder force is derived in the general case of anisotropic polarizability. In dependence on the eigenvalues for the polarizability tensor and of the orientation of its principal axes, the Casimir-Polder force can be either repulsive or attractive. Moreover, there are situations where the force changes the sign with separation. We show that for an isotropic polarizability tensor the force is always repulsive. At large separations between the microparticle and the string, the force varies inversely with the fifth power of the distance. In the non-retarded regime, corresponding to separations smaller than the relevant transition wavelengths, the force decays with the inverse fourth power of the distance. In the case of anisotropic polarizability, the dependence of the Casimir-Polder potential on the orientation of the polarizability tensor principal axes also leads to a moment of force acting on the particle. (orig.)

  12. STRATEGI KEBIJAKAN PENGELOLAAN POLDER TAWANG SEBAGAI PENGENDALI BANJIR DENGAN PENDEKATAN ANALYSIS HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deky Aji Suseno

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The research aimed to seek factors causing ineffectiveness of Polder Tawang; the loss due to rob, the need, and the priority scale program in optimizing the polder. Its locus was Semarang city, especially areas located nearby the polder affected by rob such as Johar, Jurnatan, and Tawan station. Data was gathered by conducting interview, observation, and documentation. To analyze the data, description and Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP were employed. The result revealed that there were barriers in the management of Tawang Polder. The internal barriers were the broken water pump, leaking pump, unwaterproof polder, and polder which has less capacity over the water, and area which has less capacity to obsorb the water. The external factors were conflict areas, unwell managed infrastructure and rubbish, and inappropiate drainage system. These conditions led to some losses. They were the two working hours loss, and 11-15% downfall of turnover. Hence, there is a need to manage Tawang Polder either internally or externally. The internal ones are draining pump, waterproof pond, and absorption area determination. The external ones are independent polder management enabling the focus of the work, the involvement of consultant, monitoring , and better participation to optimize the polder. The priority programs resulted from AHP analysis were found to be government policy, infrastructure aspect, social and technical management aspect. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui faktor-faktor penyebab belum efektifnya Polder Tawang meliputi bentuk dan nilai kerugian yang diderita akibat rob,kebutuhan yang diperlukan, skala prioritas optimalisasi. Lokasi penelitian ini adalah Kota Semarang, khusus di daerah – daerah sekitar Polder Tawang yang terkena rob seperti kawasan Johar, Jurnatan, dan Stasiun Tawang. Pengumpulan data dengan wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Analisis data yang digunakan adalah deskriptif dan Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP. Hasil

  13. Kajian Kinerja Sistem Polder sebagai Model Pengembangan Drainase Kota Semarang Bagian Bawah dengan Balanced Scorecard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hari Nugroho

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available One of the technological flood control and rob in the big cities is the polder system that include drainage systems , retention ponds, levees that surround the area, as well as the pump and / floodgates, as the area of integrated water management system. Likewise, as the coastal city of Semarang in Indonesia has built some of the polder which has been in operation or under construction. To assess the success of the polder management, necessary for a study to determine the performance of the system in controlling the flood in Semarang. Assessment of performance of the system as a whole polder in this study used the concept of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC. The results of this study demonstrate the performance of the polder in Semarang is an ideal: Polder Tanah Mas (73.81 / 100, then Polder Banger (67.21 / 100, Polder Kali Semarang (58.70/100 and the Polder Tawang (58.65/100. The performance of the Polder system above can not be separated from the existence of an independent governing body and had been prepared much earlier. So the presence of the governing body needs to be prepared in the polder system development. To improve performance, the polder-existing polder in Semarang needs to be improved its performance by improving the performance indicators is still less based on this research primarily on indicators: financial, management agencies and learning and development.

  14. Helicopter blades running elevation measurement using omnidirectional vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chengtao CAI

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Omnidirectional dynamic space parameters of high-speed rotating helicopter blades are precise 3D vector description of the blades. In particular, the elevation difference is directly related to the aerodynamic performance and maneuverability of the helicopter. The state of the art detection techniques based on optics and common vision have several drawbacks, such as high demands on devices but poor extensibility, limited measurement range and fixed measurement position. In this paper, a novel approach of helicopter blades running elevation measurement is proposed based on omnidirectional vision. With the advantages of panoramic visual imaging integration, 360° field of view and rotation in-variance, high-resolution images of all rotating blades positions are obtained at one time. By studying the non-linear calibration and calculation model of omnidirectional vision system, aiming at solving the problem of inaccurate visual space mapping model, the omnidirectional and full-scale measurement of the elevation difference are finalized. Experiments are carried out on our multifunctional simulation blades test system and the practical blades test tower, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and show that the proposed method can considerably reduce the complexity of measurement. Keywords: Full-scale measurement, Helicopter blades elevation, Non-linear calibration, Omnidirectional vision, Unified sphere model

  15. The Hachirogata Polder : Site Visit Report February/March 2017

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nijhuis, S.

    2017-01-01

    This is a report on the visit of the Hachirogata polder of the author from 28 February 2017 to 2 March 2017. The land reclamation is located in the prefecture of Akita in Japan. The visit consisted of a field trip to the polder accompanied by Prof. Yasunori Kitao (Kyoto Women’s University) with

  16. Quantitative flood risk assessment for Polders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manen, Sipke E. van; Brinkhuis, Martine

    2005-01-01

    In the Netherlands, the design of dikes and other water retaining structures is based on an acceptable probability (frequency) of overtopping. In 1993 a new safety concept was introduced based on total flood risk. Risk was defined as the product of probability and consequences. In recent years advanced tools have become available to calculate the actual flood risk of a polder. This paper describes the application of these tools to an existing lowland river area. The complete chain of calculations necessary to estimate the risk of flooding of a polder (or dike ring) is presented. The difficulties in applying the present day tools and the largest uncertainties in the calculations are shown

  17. Quantitative flood risk assessment for Polders

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Manen, Sipke E. van [Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Bouwdienst Rijkswaterstaat, Griffioenlaan 2, Utrecht 3526 (Netherlands)]. E-mail: s.e.vmanen@bwd.rws.minvenw.nl; Brinkhuis, Martine [Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Delft (Netherlands)

    2005-12-01

    In the Netherlands, the design of dikes and other water retaining structures is based on an acceptable probability (frequency) of overtopping. In 1993 a new safety concept was introduced based on total flood risk. Risk was defined as the product of probability and consequences. In recent years advanced tools have become available to calculate the actual flood risk of a polder. This paper describes the application of these tools to an existing lowland river area. The complete chain of calculations necessary to estimate the risk of flooding of a polder (or dike ring) is presented. The difficulties in applying the present day tools and the largest uncertainties in the calculations are shown.

  18. Repulsive Casimir-Polder potential by a negative reflecting surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Qi-Zhang

    2015-07-01

    We present a scheme to generate an all-range long repulsive Casimir-Polder potential between a perfect negative reflecting surface and a ground-state atom. The repulsive potential is stable and does not decay with time. The Casimir-Polder potential is proportional to z-2 at short atom-surface distances and to z-4 at long atom-surface distances. Because of these advantages, this potential can help in building quantum reflectors, quantum levitating devices, and waveguides for matter waves.

  19. How can we reduce phosphorus export from lowland polders? Implications from a sensitivity analysis of a coupled model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jiacong; Gao, Junfeng; Yan, Renhua

    2016-08-15

    Phosphorus (P) export from lowland polders has caused severe water pollution. Numerical models are an important resource that help water managers control P export. This study coupled three models, i.e., Phosphorus Dynamic model for Polders (PDP), Integrated Catchments model of Phosphorus dynamics (INCA-P) and Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), to describe the P dynamics in polders. Based on the coupled models and a dataset collected from Polder Jian in China, sensitivity analysis were carried out to analyze the cause-effect relationships between environmental factors and P export from Polder Jian. The sensitivity analysis results showed that P export from Polder Jian were strongly affected by air temperature, precipitation and fertilization. Proper fertilization management should be a strategic priority for reducing P export from Polder Jian. This study demonstrated the success of model coupling, and its application in investigating potential strategies to support pollution control in polder systems. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  20. Mounting Thin Samples For Electrical Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matus, L. G.; Summers, R. L.

    1988-01-01

    New method for mounting thin sample for electrical measurements involves use of vacuum chuck to hold a ceramic mounting plate, which holds sample. Contacts on mounting plate establish electrical connection to sample. Used to make electrical measurements over temperature range from 77 to 1,000 K and does not introduce distortions into magnetic field during Hall measurements.

  1. Water inSight : An exploration into landscape architectonic transformations of polder water

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bobbink, I.; Loen, S.

    2013-01-01

    Water inSight provides insight into the ‘water machine’ that forms the basis of the Dutch polder landscape. Authors Inge Bobbink and Suzanne Loen approach the polder landscape from a landscape-architectonic point of view, using technical and spatial analysis drawings, images, plans and experiments

  2. De bodemgesteldheid van enkele Zuidbevelandse polders en hun geschiktheid voor de fruitteelt

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bakker, de G.

    1950-01-01

    The geomorphology and soil conditions of some polders were studied, mainly consisting of sandy creek-ridge soils and marshy clay soils on peat (Old Land). Also a few New Land polders (Young sea clay) were surveyed.

    Important soil characteristics were granular composition at different depths and

  3. A Correction Method for UAV Helicopter Airborne Temperature and Humidity Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Longqing Fan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a correction method for UAV helicopter airborne temperature and humidity including an error correction scheme and a bias-calibration scheme. As rotor downwash flow brings measurement error on helicopter airborne sensors inevitably, the error correction scheme constructs a model between the rotor induced velocity and temperature and humidity by building the heat balance equation for platinum resistor temperature sensor and the pressure correction term for humidity sensor. The induced velocity of a spatial point below the rotor disc plane can be calculated by the sum of the induced velocities excited by center line vortex, rotor disk vortex, and skew cylinder vortex based on the generalized vortex theory. In order to minimize the systematic biases, the bias-calibration scheme adopts a multiple linear regression to achieve a systematically consistent result with the tethered balloon profiles. Two temperature and humidity sensors were mounted on “Z-5” UAV helicopter in the field experiment. Overall, the result of applying the calibration method shows that the temperature and relative humidity obtained by UAV helicopter closely align with tethered balloon profiles in providing measurements of the temperature profiles and humidity profiles within marine atmospheric boundary layers.

  4. Casimir-Polder interaction in second quantization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schiefele, Juergen

    2011-03-21

    The Casimir-Polder interaction between a single neutral atom and a nearby surface, arising from the (quantum and thermal) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, is a cornerstone of cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED), and theoretically well established. Recently, Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of ultracold atoms have been used to test the predictions of cQED. The purpose of the present thesis is to upgrade single-atom cQED with the many-body theory needed to describe trapped atomic BECs. Tools and methods are developed in a second-quantized picture that treats atom and photon fields on the same footing. We formulate a diagrammatic expansion using correlation functions for both the electromagnetic field and the atomic system. The formalism is applied to investigate, for BECs trapped near surfaces, dispersion interactions of the van der Waals-Casimir-Polder type, and the Bosonic stimulation in spontaneous decay of excited atomic states. We also discuss a phononic Casimir effect, which arises from the quantum fluctuations in an interacting BEC. (orig.)

  5. Casimir-Polder interaction in second quantization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schiefele, Juergen

    2011-01-01

    The Casimir-Polder interaction between a single neutral atom and a nearby surface, arising from the (quantum and thermal) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, is a cornerstone of cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED), and theoretically well established. Recently, Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of ultracold atoms have been used to test the predictions of cQED. The purpose of the present thesis is to upgrade single-atom cQED with the many-body theory needed to describe trapped atomic BECs. Tools and methods are developed in a second-quantized picture that treats atom and photon fields on the same footing. We formulate a diagrammatic expansion using correlation functions for both the electromagnetic field and the atomic system. The formalism is applied to investigate, for BECs trapped near surfaces, dispersion interactions of the van der Waals-Casimir-Polder type, and the Bosonic stimulation in spontaneous decay of excited atomic states. We also discuss a phononic Casimir effect, which arises from the quantum fluctuations in an interacting BEC. (orig.)

  6. Sources, distribution and export coefficient of phosphorus in lowland polders of Lake Taihu Basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jiacong; Gao, Junfeng; Jiang, Yong; Yin, Hongbin; Amiri, Bahman Jabbarian

    2017-12-01

    Identifying phosphorus (P) sources, distribution and export from lowland polders is important for P pollution management, however, is challenging due to the high complexity of hydrological and P transport processes in lowland areas. In this study, the spatial pattern and temporal dynamics of P export coefficient (PEC) from all the 2539 polders in Lake Taihu Basin, China were estimated using a coupled P model for describing P dynamics in a polder system. The estimated amount of P export from polders in Lake Taihu Basin during 2013 was 1916.2 t/yr, with a spatially-averaged PEC of 1.8 kg/ha/yr. PEC had peak values (more than 4.0 kg/ha/yr) in the polders near/within the large cities, and was high during the rice-cropping season. Sensitivity analysis based on the coupled P model revealed that the sensitive factors controlling the PEC varied spatially and changed through time. Precipitation and air temperature were the most sensitive factors controlling PEC. Culvert controlling and fertilization were sensitive factors controlling PEC during some periods. This study demonstrated an estimation of PEC from 2539 polders in Lake Taihu Basin, and an identification of sensitive environmental factors affecting PEC. The investigation of polder P export in a watershed scale is helpful for water managers to learn the distribution of P sources, to identify key P sources, and thus to achieve best management practice in controlling P export from lowland areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Sequential survey of the occurrence and the possible effects of a 226Ra surplus in harbour slurry polder grounds: Definition study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoop, P.; Lembrechts, J.

    1993-11-01

    Sediments in the harbors of Rotterdam contain relatively large amounts of naturally occurring radionuclides resulting from emissions of the ore-processing industries (88Be, 92Be). Using harbour sludge as a landfill for polders has locally caused the 226 Ra contents of the soil to be a factor of 4 higher than the expected 226 Ra background. In polders where 226 Ra was measured, the 226 Ra surplus was found to be proportional to the cadmium contents (92Mo). Data on cadmium contents are available for many polders and therefore, cadmium may be useful as a tracer for enhanced levels of 226 Ra. Enhanced levels of 226 Ra may cause higher radon concentrations in dwellings that are built on these soils. Therefore, an extensive research programme is started to study the relation between the 226 Ra contents of the soil and radon concentrations in dwellings. The Laboratory of Radiation Research of RIVM has proposed to set up a sub-programme, focusing on the sites where harbour sludges have been dumped, with the following goals: 1) to investigate if there are dwellings with enhanced radon concentrations as a result of a 226 Ra surplus and 2) to investigate if the relation between the 226 Ra-surplus and the cadmium contents found is generally valid and useful. In this report we describe how this sub-programme may be set up and we give specific advice on the answers to various choices. We propose a.o. to use soil samples from 30 polders to investigate the relation between the 226 Ra surplus and the cadmium contents and to study in eight polders the possible consequences of enhanced 226 Ra levels for the radon concentrations in dwellings. Because the radon measurements take one year (four measurements averaged over three month) we propose that simple diagnostic measurements are made simultaneously with the radon measurements. These additional measurements include measurements of the groundwater table and of the effective ventilation pattern in the dwelling. 1 fig., 5 tabs., 16

  8. Comparasion of Cloud Cover restituted by POLDER and MODIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, S.; Parol, F.; Riedi, J.; Cornet, C.; Thieuxleux, F.

    2009-04-01

    PARASOL and AQUA are two sun-synchronous orbit satellites in the queue of A-Train satellites that observe our earth within a few minutes apart from each other. Aboard these two platforms, POLDER and MODIS provide coincident observations of the cloud cover with very different characteristics. These give us a good opportunity to study the clouds system and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of each dataset in order to provide an accurate representation of global cloud cover properties. This description is indeed of outermost importance to quantify and understand the effect of clouds on global radiation budget of the earth-atmosphere system and their influence on the climate changes. We have developed a joint dataset containing both POLDER and MODIS level 2 cloud products collocated and reprojected on a common sinusoidal grid in order to make the data comparison feasible and veracious. Our foremost work focuses on the comparison of both spatial distribution and temporal variation of the global cloud cover. This simple yet critical cloud parameter need to be clearly understood to allow further comparison of the other cloud parameters. From our study, we demonstrate that on average these two sensors both detect the clouds fairly well. They provide similar spatial distributions and temporal variations:both sensors see high values of cloud amount associated with deep convection in ITCZ, over Indonesia, and in west-central Pacific Ocean warm pool region; they also provide similar high cloud cover associated to mid-latitude storm tracks, to Indian monsoon or to the stratocumulus along the west coast of continents; on the other hand small cloud amounts that typically present over subtropical oceans and deserts in subsidence aeras are well identified by both POLDER and MODIS. Each sensor has its advantages and inconveniences for the detection of a particular cloud types. With higher spatial resolution, MODIS can better detect the fractional clouds thus explaining as one part

  9. Casimir-Polder potential for a metallic cylinder in cosmic string spacetime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saharian, A.A., E-mail: saharian@ysu.am [Department of Physics, Yerevan State University, 1 Alex Manoogian Street, 0025 Yerevan (Armenia); Kotanjyan, A.S. [Department of Physics, Yerevan State University, 1 Alex Manoogian Street, 0025 Yerevan (Armenia)

    2012-07-09

    Casimir-Polder potential is investigated for a polarizable microparticle in the geometry of a straight cosmic string with a metallic cylindrical shell. The electromagnetic field Green tensor is evaluated on the imaginary frequency axis. The expressions for the Casimir-Polder potential is derived in the general case of anisotropic polarizability for the both interior and exterior regions of the shell. The potential is decomposed into pure string and shell-induced parts. The latter dominates for points near the shell, whereas the pure string part is dominant near the string and at large distances from the shell. For the isotropic case and in the region inside the shell the both pure string and shell-induced parts in the Casimir-Polder force are repulsive with respect to the string. In the exterior region the shell-induced part of the force is directed toward the cylinder whereas the pure string part remains repulsive with respect to the string. At large distances from the shell the total force is repulsive.

  10. Square tracking sensor for autonomous helicopter hover stabilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oertel, Carl-Henrik

    1995-06-01

    Sensors for synthetic vision are needed to extend the mission profiles of helicopters. A special task for various applications is the autonomous position hold of a helicopter above a ground fixed or moving target. As a proof of concept for a general synthetic vision solution a restricted machine vision system, which is capable of locating and tracking a special target, was developed by the Institute of Flight Mechanics of Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (i.e., German Aerospace Research Establishment). This sensor, which is specialized to detect and track a square, was integrated in the fly-by-wire helicopter ATTHeS (i.e., Advanced Technology Testing Helicopter System). An existing model following controller for the forward flight condition was adapted for the hover and low speed requirements of the flight vehicle. The special target, a black square with a length of one meter, was mounted on top of a car. Flight tests demonstrated the automatic stabilization of the helicopter above the moving car by synthetic vision.

  11. Groundwater impacts on surface water quality and nutrient loads in lowland polder catchments: monitoring the greater Amsterdam area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Liang; Rozemeijer, Joachim; van Breukelen, Boris M.; Ouboter, Maarten; van der Vlugt, Corné; Broers, Hans Peter

    2018-01-01

    The Amsterdam area, a highly manipulated delta area formed by polders and reclaimed lakes, struggles with high nutrient levels in its surface water system. The polders receive spatially and temporally variable amounts of water and nutrients via surface runoff, groundwater seepage, sewer leakage, and via water inlets from upstream polders. Diffuse anthropogenic sources, such as manure and fertiliser use and atmospheric deposition, add to the water quality problems in the polders. The major nutrient sources and pathways have not yet been clarified due to the complex hydrological system in lowland catchments with both urban and agricultural areas. In this study, the spatial variability of the groundwater seepage impact was identified by exploiting the dense groundwater and surface water monitoring networks in Amsterdam and its surrounding polders. A total of 25 variables (concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), NH4, NO3, HCO3, SO4, Ca, and Cl in surface water and groundwater, N and P agricultural inputs, seepage rate, elevation, land-use, and soil type) for 144 polders were analysed statistically and interpreted in relation to sources, transport mechanisms, and pathways. The results imply that groundwater is a large source of nutrients in the greater Amsterdam mixed urban-agricultural catchments. The groundwater nutrient concentrations exceeded the surface water environmental quality standards (EQSs) in 93 % of the polders for TP and in 91 % for TN. Groundwater outflow into the polders thus adds to nutrient levels in the surface water. High correlations (R2 up to 0.88) between solutes in groundwater and surface water, together with the close similarities in their spatial patterns, confirmed the large impact of groundwater on surface water chemistry, especially in the polders that have high seepage rates. Our analysis indicates that the elevated nutrient and bicarbonate concentrations in the groundwater seepage originate from the decomposition of

  12. Groundwater impacts on surface water quality and nutrient loads in lowland polder catchments: monitoring the greater Amsterdam area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Yu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The Amsterdam area, a highly manipulated delta area formed by polders and reclaimed lakes, struggles with high nutrient levels in its surface water system. The polders receive spatially and temporally variable amounts of water and nutrients via surface runoff, groundwater seepage, sewer leakage, and via water inlets from upstream polders. Diffuse anthropogenic sources, such as manure and fertiliser use and atmospheric deposition, add to the water quality problems in the polders. The major nutrient sources and pathways have not yet been clarified due to the complex hydrological system in lowland catchments with both urban and agricultural areas. In this study, the spatial variability of the groundwater seepage impact was identified by exploiting the dense groundwater and surface water monitoring networks in Amsterdam and its surrounding polders. A total of 25 variables (concentrations of total nitrogen (TN, total phosphorus (TP, NH4, NO3, HCO3, SO4, Ca, and Cl in surface water and groundwater, N and P agricultural inputs, seepage rate, elevation, land-use, and soil type for 144 polders were analysed statistically and interpreted in relation to sources, transport mechanisms, and pathways. The results imply that groundwater is a large source of nutrients in the greater Amsterdam mixed urban–agricultural catchments. The groundwater nutrient concentrations exceeded the surface water environmental quality standards (EQSs in 93 % of the polders for TP and in 91 % for TN. Groundwater outflow into the polders thus adds to nutrient levels in the surface water. High correlations (R2 up to 0.88 between solutes in groundwater and surface water, together with the close similarities in their spatial patterns, confirmed the large impact of groundwater on surface water chemistry, especially in the polders that have high seepage rates. Our analysis indicates that the elevated nutrient and bicarbonate concentrations in the groundwater seepage originate

  13. Performance Measurement in Helicopter Training and Operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prophet, Wallace W.

    For almost 15 years, HumRRO Division No. 6 has conducted an active research program on techniques for measuring the flight performance of helicopter trainees and pilots. This program addressed both the elemental aspects of flying (i.e., maneuvers) and the mission- or goal-oriented aspects. A variety of approaches has been investigated, with the…

  14. Cutting dikes, cutting ties? Reintroducing Flood Dynamics in Coastal Polders in Bangladesh and the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warner, J.F.; Staveren, van M.F.; Tatenhove, van J.P.M.

    2018-01-01

    Renewed attention for ecosystem dynamics when considering flood related interventions has been instrumental in shaping initiatives to ‘de-polder' lands, i.e. returning previously reclaimed land to the waters. This is a substantial paradigm shift in land and water management, as poldering has been

  15. The dynamics of dissolved oxygen concentration for water quality monitoring and assessment in polder ditches

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veeningen, R.

    1983-01-01

    This study deals with the use of the dynamics of dissolved oxygen concentration for water quality assessment in polder ditches. The dynamics of the dissolved oxygen concentration, i.e. the temporal and spatial variations in a few polder ditches under a range of natural, pollution and management

  16. ‘The Netherlands and the Polder Model’ - ‘Nederland en het poldermodel’

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joost Jonker

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available With the new textbook Nederland en het poldermodel [The Netherlands and the Polder Model] by Utrecht History Professors Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten van Zanden the polder model may be said to have achieved full academic respectability. Asked to compress 1,000 years of Dutch economic and social history into a single 300-page volume targeted at a popular audience, the authors chose to do so by analysing the country’s ups-anddowns entirely in terms of its peculiar type of organisation, the polder model’s presumed strengths and weaknesses. The BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review editors asked four experts in the social and economic history of the Low Countries, Karel Davids and Marjolein ’t Hart (vu Amsterdam/Huygens ing, Jan de Vries (Berkeley, and Bert De Munck (University of Antwerp to review it, paying particular attention to what the conceptual approach adds to our understanding of the country’s marked economic fluctuations during the pastmillennium.

  17. Integration through compartmentalization? Pitfalls of 'poldering' in Bangladesh

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warner, J.F.

    2010-01-01

    The article sketches the history of the Flood Action Plan 20 (FAP-20), an experiment with polder compartmentalization, seeking to integrate flood management, drainage, and irrigation, and make it more democratic in response to the destructive 1987 and 1988 floods in Bangladesh. As a transferred

  18. Velocity-Aided Attitude Estimation for Helicopter Aircraft Using Microelectromechanical System Inertial-Measurement Units

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Cheol Lee

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an algorithm for velocity-aided attitude estimation for helicopter aircraft using a microelectromechanical system inertial-measurement unit. In general, high- performance gyroscopes are used for estimating the attitude of a helicopter, but this type of sensor is very expensive. When designing a cost-effective attitude system, attitude can be estimated by fusing a low cost accelerometer and a gyro, but the disadvantage of this method is its relatively low accuracy. The accelerometer output includes a component that occurs primarily as the aircraft turns, as well as the gravitational acceleration. When estimating attitude, the accelerometer measurement terms other than gravitational ones can be considered as disturbances. Therefore, errors increase in accordance with the flight dynamics. The proposed algorithm is designed for using velocity as an aid for high accuracy at low cost. It effectively eliminates the disturbances of accelerometer measurements using the airspeed. The algorithm was verified using helicopter experimental data. The algorithm performance was confirmed through a comparison with an attitude estimate obtained from an attitude heading reference system based on a high accuracy optic gyro, which was employed as core attitude equipment in the helicopter.

  19. Velocity-Aided Attitude Estimation for Helicopter Aircraft Using Microelectromechanical System Inertial-Measurement Units

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sang Cheol; Hong, Sung Kyung

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents an algorithm for velocity-aided attitude estimation for helicopter aircraft using a microelectromechanical system inertial-measurement unit. In general, high- performance gyroscopes are used for estimating the attitude of a helicopter, but this type of sensor is very expensive. When designing a cost-effective attitude system, attitude can be estimated by fusing a low cost accelerometer and a gyro, but the disadvantage of this method is its relatively low accuracy. The accelerometer output includes a component that occurs primarily as the aircraft turns, as well as the gravitational acceleration. When estimating attitude, the accelerometer measurement terms other than gravitational ones can be considered as disturbances. Therefore, errors increase in accordance with the flight dynamics. The proposed algorithm is designed for using velocity as an aid for high accuracy at low cost. It effectively eliminates the disturbances of accelerometer measurements using the airspeed. The algorithm was verified using helicopter experimental data. The algorithm performance was confirmed through a comparison with an attitude estimate obtained from an attitude heading reference system based on a high accuracy optic gyro, which was employed as core attitude equipment in the helicopter. PMID:27973429

  20. Annual sulfate budgets for Dutch lowland peat polders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vermaat, Jan E.; Harmsen, Joop; Hellmann, Fritz A.; Geest, van der Harm G.; Klein, de Jeroen J.M.; Kosten, Sarian; Smolders, Alfons J.P.; Verhoeven, Jos T.A.; Mes, Ron G.; Ouboter, Maarten

    2016-01-01

    Annual sulfate mass balances have been constructed for four low-lying peat polders in the Netherlands, to resolve the origin of high sulfate concentrations in surface water, which is considered a water quality problem, as indicated amongst others by the absence of sensitive water plant species.

  1. Evaluating the Aquatic Habitat Potential of Flooded Polders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John R. Durand

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss4art4Large tracts of land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are subsided due to agricultural practices, creating polders up to 10 m below sea level that are vulnerable to flooding. As protective dikes breach, these become shallow, open water habitats that will not resemble any historical state. I investigated physical and biotic drivers of novel flooded polder habitat, using a Native Species Benefit Index (NSBI to predict the nature of future Delta ecosystems. Results suggest that flooded polders in the north Delta will have the ecology and fish community composition of a tidal river plain, those in the Cache-Lindsey Complex will have that of a tidal backwater, those in the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers a brackish estuary, and those in the south Delta a fresh water lake. Flooded east-side Delta polders will likely be a transitional zone between south Delta lake-like ecosystems and north Delta tidal river plains. I compared each regional zone with the limited available literature and data on local fish assemblies to find support for NSBI predictions. Because flood probabilities and repair prioritization analyses suggest that polders in the south Delta are most likely to flood and be abandoned, without extensive intervention, much of the Delta will become a freshwater lake ecosystem, dominated by alien species. Proactive management of flooded tracts will nearly always hedge risks, save money and offer more functional habitats in the future; however, without proper immediate incentives, it will be difficult to encourage strong management practices.

  2. Validation of POLDER/ADEOS data using a ground-based lidar network: Preliminary results for semi-transparent and cirrus clouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chepfer, H.; Sauvage, L.; Flamant, P. H.; Pelon, J.; Goloub, P.; Brogniez, G.; spinhirne, J.; Lavorato, M.; Sugimoto, N.

    1998-01-01

    At mid and tropical latitudes, cirrus clouds are present more than 50% of the time in satellites observations. Due to their large spatial and temporal coverage, and associated low temperatures, cirrus clouds have a major influence on the Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere energy balance through their effects on the incoming solar radiation and outgoing infrared radiation. At present the impact of cirrus clouds on climate is well recognized but remains to be asserted more precisely, for their optical and radiative properties are not very well known. In order to understand the effects of cirrus clouds on climate, their optical and radiative characteristics of these clouds need to be determined accurately at different scales in different locations i.e. latitude. Lidars are well suited to observe cirrus clouds, they can detect very thin and semi-transparent layers, and retrieve the clouds geometrical properties i.e. altitude and multilayers, as well as radiative properties i.e. optical depth, backscattering phase functions of ice crystals. Moreover the linear depolarization ratio can give information on the ice crystal shape. In addition, the data collected with an airborne version of POLDER (POLarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances) instrument have shown that bidirectional polarized measurements can provide information on cirrus cloud microphysical properties (crystal shapes, preferred orientation in space). The spaceborne version of POLDER-1 has been flown on ADEOS-1 platform during 8 months (October 96 - June 97), and the next POLDER-2 instrument will be launched in 2000 on ADEOS-2. The POLDER-1 cloud inversion algorithms are currently under validation. For cirrus clouds, a validation based on comparisons between cloud properties retrieved from POLDER-1 data and cloud properties inferred from a ground-based lidar network is currently under consideration. We present the first results of the validation.

  3. Tracing the spatial propagation of river inlet water into an agricultural polder area using anthropogenic gadolinium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Rozemeijer

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Diverting river water into agricultural areas or nature reserves is a frequently applied management strategy to prevent fresh water shortage. However, the river water might have negative consequences for chemical and ecological water quality in the receiving water bodies. This study aimed to obtain a spatial image of the diverted river water propagation into a hydrologically complex polder area, the polder Quarles van Ufford in The Netherlands. We used anthropogenic gadolinium (Gd-anomaly as a tracer for river water that was diverted into the polder. A clear reduction in the river water contribution was found between very dry conditions on 5 August 2010 and very wet conditions on 22 October. Despite the large river water impact on 5 August, the diverted river water did not propagate up into the small agricultural headwater ditches. Gadolinium proved to be an effective tracer for diverted river water in a polder system. We applied our results to upgrade the interpretation of water quality monitoring data and to validate an integrated nutrient transport model.

  4. Optimisation and calibration of the polarimeter Polder at Saturne. Experiment t20 at the Jefferson Laboratory: Measurement of the deuteron form factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eyraud, Laurent

    1998-01-01

    The topic of this thesis is the made for the upgrade of the deuteron tensor polarimeter Polder, and its use in the so-called t 20 experiment at the Jefferson Laboratory (USA). The Polder polarimeter is based on the analysing reaction H(d → ,2p)n which makes possible the measurement of the tensor polarization of deuterons in the kinetic energy range 160 MeV - 520 MeV. The first part of this thesis describes the polarimeter and its performances as obtained during the calibration experiment at Saturne (Saclay, France). Specific developments of this polarimeter for the t 20 experiment (Wire Chambers with 3 detections planes, target, hodoscopes) are described. An acquisition system based on Fastbus-VME standard was developed and used during the calibration runs. The second part of the thesis is devoted to the t 20 experiment. The experimental devices, the CEBAF accelerator and the data analysis are presented. Finally the preliminary results for the polarization t 20 and the extraction of the electromagnetic form factors of the deuteron (G c , G q and G m ) for six values of the transferred momentum Q in the range of 4.11 - 6.8 fm -1 are presented and discussed along various theoretical models predictions. (author) [fr

  5. Mobile equipment for measurement of gamma radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    NRPA has several systems to perform mobile measurements. One of the systems consists of detectors mounted on the roof of a car. Mobile systems can be used to map the radioactive contamination of large areas in a short time, to the reference measurements and to search for sources astray. The systems can be mounted on the vehicle or used in a helicopter or airplane. (AG)

  6. Helicopter Aircrew Training Using Fused Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-06-01

    PROCESS Blue screening involving human filming usually employs a blue or green backdrop, since skin contains little blue or green hue. These backdrops...Helicopter Aircrew Training Using Fused Reality 27 - 10 RTO-MP-HFM-136 a. b. c. d. e. f. Figure 13: Frames Showing Physical Object ( witch ... filming . However, when a user’s hands disrupt the light from a helmet-mounted light source, the shadows cast onto the distant background are diffuse and

  7. Remote sensing of tropospheric total column water vapor: Intercomparison of POLDER, AMSR-E and MODIS retrievals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riedi, J.; Mcharek, L.; Dubuisson, P.; Parol, F.; Thieuleux, F.

    2013-05-01

    Since December 2004, the CNES Parasol (Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from a Lidar) mission has been flying in the A-train with Aqua (NASA) providing more than 5 years of temporally and spatially coincident observations from POLDER, MODIS and AMSRE which enable total column water vapor amount retrievals. We are providing here a temporal and statistical analysis of water vapor near-infrared retrievals from POLDER against MODIS and AMSR-E products derived from nearinfrared, thermal infrared and microwave observations over ocean. A temporal analysis of POLDER official product is conducted in view of AMSR-E and MODIS coincident retrievals over ocean. In a second step, an alternative approach based on the use of simple multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network (NN) is developed to improve the mathematical parameterization used to retrieve water vapor amount from near-infrared observation. The retrievals are further improved when an estimate of the 910 nm surface reflectance is obtained through interpolation between PARASOL 865 nm and 1020 nm channels. This last improvement now allows for a unified land/ocean retrieval algorithm for PARASOL/POLDER.

  8. Effects of polders on the course of floods in the watershed of the Tichá Orlice river

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimír Pavlík

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Polders show an important water-management function in the flood-control protection of watersheds. The course of actual floods in recent decades and effects of the water works on flood flows have proved the suitability of the construction within integrated flood-control measures in particular watersheds of the Czech Republic. To determine the transformation effect of flood-control measures in watersheds mathematical modelling is an important method, which is used not only in the preparation and design of retention areas but also in dealing with the flood protection of towns and villages. Easy verification of other measures in watersheds is also useful. Their implementation can be thus prepared for the future or it is possible to back off the intentions. In our case, a fact is advantageous that the model is ope­ra­ted in the workplace of the Elbe Basin water-management dispatching centre, which is compatible with assessed polders in the partial Elbe watershed, namely in the Tichá Orlice watershed and its partial Třebovka watershed. The polders assessed are situated on the Třebovka stream, which is the lar­gest tributary of the Tichá Orlice river. These dry reservoirs and the increased protective function of the Hvězda pond affect runoff from about 80 km2. Within research activities, possibilities were studied to obtain necessary retention areas in existing small water reservoirs. It became evident that the only rea­lis­tic solution was to increase protective functions of the pond Hvězda. Its present total retention space of 1.4 million m3 can be increased only by 0.35 million m3, however, in combination with the sophisticated lay-out of a new emergency spillway and outlet the whole retention space can be used much more effectively. To obtain other retention areas localities were found out in the whole upper watershed of the Třebovka stream, which fulfilled requirements for placing the adequate capacity of polders. Subsequent

  9. Repulsive Casimir and Casimir–Polder forces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milton, Kimball A; Abalo, E K; Parashar, Prachi; Pourtolami, Nima; Brevik, Iver; Ellingsen, Simen Å

    2012-01-01

    Casimir and Casimir–Polder repulsions have been known for more than 50 years. The general ‘Lifshitz’ configuration of parallel semi-infinite dielectric slabs permits repulsion if they are separated by a dielectric fluid that has a value of permittivity that is intermediate between those of the dielectric slabs. This was indirectly confirmed in the 1970s, and more directly by Capasso’s group recently. It has also been known for many years that electrically and magnetically polarizable bodies can experience a repulsive quantum vacuum force. More amenable to practical application are situations where repulsion could be achieved between ordinary conducting and dielectric bodies in vacuum. The status of the field of Casimir repulsion with emphasis on some recent developments will be surveyed. Here, stress will be placed on analytic developments, especially on Casimir–Polder (CP) interactions between anisotropically polarizable atoms, and CP interactions between anisotropic atoms and bodies that also exhibit anisotropy, either because of anisotropic constituents, or because of geometry. Repulsion occurs for wedge-shaped and cylindrical conductors, provided the geometry is sufficiently asymmetric, that is, either the wedge is sufficiently sharp or the atom is sufficiently far from the cylinder. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical in honour of Stuart Dowker’s 75th birthday devoted to ‘Applications of zeta functions and other spectral functions in mathematics and physics’. (review)

  10. Introduction of Ophiobolus graminis into new polders and its decline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gerlagh, M.

    1968-01-01

    After a short introductory chapter on the occurrence of Ophiobolus graminis (take-all disease) in the polders, in chapter 2 the course of the disease and the biology of the fungus are described. The third chapter deals with materials and methods. The following chapters deal with

  11. 78 FR 18224 - Airworthiness Directives; Robinson Helicopter Company Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-26

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Robinson Helicopter Company Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Helicopter Company (Robinson) Model R44 and R44 II helicopters equipped with emergency floats. This AD..., contact Robinson Helicopter Company, 2901 Airport Drive, Torrance, CA 90505; telephone (310) 539-0508; fax...

  12. Inferences about pressures and vertical extension of cloud layers from POLDER3/PARASOL measurements in the oxygen A-band

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desmons, Marine; Ferlay, Nicolas; Parol, Frédéric; Vanbauce, Claudine; Mcharek, Linda

    2013-05-01

    We present new inferences about cloud vertical structures from multidirectionnal measurements in the oxygen A-band. The analysis of collocated data provided by instruments onboard satellite platforms within the A-Train, as well as simulations have shown that for monolayered clouds, the cloud oxygen pressure PO2 derived from the POLDER3 instrument was sensitive to the cloud vertical structure in two ways: First, PO2 is actually close to the pressure of the geometrical middle of cloud and we propose a method to correct it to get the cloud top pressure (CTP), and then to obtain the cloud geometrical extent. Second, for the liquid water clouds, the angular standard deviation σPO2 of PO2 is correlated with the geometrical extent of cloud layers, which makes possible a second estimation of the cloud geometrical thickness. The determination of the vertical location of cloud layers from passive measurements, eventually completed from other observations, would be useful in many applications for which cloud macrophysical properties are needed.

  13. Contact Versus Non-Contact Measurement of a Helicopter Main Rotor Composite Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luczak, Marcin; Dziedziech, Kajetan; Vivolo, Marianna; Desmet, Wim; Peeters, Bart; Van der Auweraer, Herman

    2010-05-01

    The dynamic characterization of lightweight structures is particularly complex as the impact of the weight of sensors and instrumentation (cables, mounting of exciters…) can distort the results. Varying mass loading or constraint effects between partial measurements may determine several errors on the final conclusions. Frequency shifts can lead to erroneous interpretations of the dynamics parameters. Typically these errors remain limited to a few percent. Inconsistent data sets however can result in major processing errors, with all related consequences towards applications based on the consistency assumption, such as global modal parameter identification, model-based damage detection and FRF-based matrix inversion in substructuring, load identification and transfer path analysis [1]. This paper addresses the subject of accuracy in the context of the measurement of the dynamic properties of a particular lightweight structure. It presents a comprehensive comparative study between the use of accelerometer, laser vibrometer (scanning LDV) and PU-probe (acoustic particle velocity and pressure) measurements to measure the structural responses, with as final aim the comparison of modal model quality assessment. The object of the investigation is a composite material blade from the main rotor of a helicopter. The presented results are part of an extensive test campaign performed with application of SIMO, MIMO, random and harmonic excitation, and the use of the mentioned contact and non-contact measurement techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied instrumentation are discussed. Presented are real-life measurement problems related to the different set up conditions. Finally an analysis of estimated models is made in view of assessing the applicability of the various measurement approaches for successful fault detection based on modal parameters observation as well as in uncertain non-deterministic numerical model updating.

  14. Contact Versus Non-Contact Measurement of a Helicopter Main Rotor Composite Blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luczak, Marcin; Dziedziech, Kajetan; Peeters, Bart; Van der Auweraer, Herman; Vivolo, Marianna; Desmet, Wim

    2010-01-01

    The dynamic characterization of lightweight structures is particularly complex as the impact of the weight of sensors and instrumentation (cables, mounting of exciters...) can distort the results. Varying mass loading or constraint effects between partial measurements may determine several errors on the final conclusions. Frequency shifts can lead to erroneous interpretations of the dynamics parameters. Typically these errors remain limited to a few percent. Inconsistent data sets however can result in major processing errors, with all related consequences towards applications based on the consistency assumption, such as global modal parameter identification, model-based damage detection and FRF-based matrix inversion in substructuring, load identification and transfer path analysis [1]. This paper addresses the subject of accuracy in the context of the measurement of the dynamic properties of a particular lightweight structure. It presents a comprehensive comparative study between the use of accelerometer, laser vibrometer (scanning LDV) and PU-probe (acoustic particle velocity and pressure) measurements to measure the structural responses, with as final aim the comparison of modal model quality assessment. The object of the investigation is a composite material blade from the main rotor of a helicopter. The presented results are part of an extensive test campaign performed with application of SIMO, MIMO, random and harmonic excitation, and the use of the mentioned contact and non-contact measurement techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied instrumentation are discussed. Presented are real-life measurement problems related to the different set up conditions. Finally an analysis of estimated models is made in view of assessing the applicability of the various measurement approaches for successful fault detection based on modal parameters observation as well as in uncertain non-deterministic numerical model updating.

  15. Polders as active element of flood control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zilavy, M.

    2004-01-01

    In this presentation author deals with use of the polders as active element of flood control on the example Kysuca River and Podluzianka River (Slovakia). It was concluded that it is necessary: - dense network of rain gauge stations; - network of water level recorders; revision of design process for hydraulic objects - degree of safety; changes in legislation - permission for construction in flood-plains; maintenance of channel capacity; early flood forecasting - forecasting and warning service; river training works and maintenance; design of retention areas; preparation of retention areas prior to flood propagation

  16. Mobile equipment for measurement of gamma radiation; Mobilt maaleutstyr for maaling av gammastraaling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2009-07-01

    NRPA has several systems to perform mobile measurements. One of the systems consists of detectors mounted on the roof of a car. Mobile systems can be used to map the radioactive contamination of large areas in a short time, to the reference measurements and to search for sources astray. The systems can be mounted on the vehicle or used in a helicopter or airplane. (AG)

  17. 77 FR 63260 - Airworthiness Directives; Robinson Helicopter Company Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-16

    ... Helicopter Company Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Robinson Helicopter Company (Robinson) Model R44 and R44 II helicopters equipped with emergency floats, which would require...

  18. 77 FR 68055 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-15

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron (BHT) Model 412, 412EP, and 412CF helicopters. This AD requires a repetitive inspection of the...

  19. 77 FR 12991 - Airworthiness Directives; Robinson Helicopter Company Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-05

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Robinson Helicopter Company Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA...) that was published in the Federal Register. That AD applies to Robinson Helicopter Company (Robinson) Model R22, R22 Alpha, R22 Beta, R22 Mariner, R44, and R44 II helicopters. The paragraph reference in...

  20. An anthropometric analysis of Korean male helicopter pilots for helicopter cockpit design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Wonsup; Jung, Kihyo; Jeong, Jeongrim; Park, Jangwoon; Cho, Jayoung; Kim, Heeeun; Park, Seikwon; You, Heecheon

    2013-01-01

    This study measured 21 anthropometric dimensions (ADs) of 94 Korean male helicopter pilots in their 20s to 40s and compared them with corresponding measurements of Korean male civilians and the US Army male personnel. The ADs and the sample size of the anthropometric survey were determined by a four-step process: (1) selection of ADs related to helicopter cockpit design, (2) evaluation of the importance of each AD, (3) calculation of required sample sizes for selected precision levels and (4) determination of an appropriate sample size by considering both the AD importance evaluation results and the sample size requirements. The anthropometric comparison reveals that the Korean helicopter pilots are larger (ratio of means = 1.01-1.08) and less dispersed (ratio of standard deviations = 0.71-0.93) than the Korean male civilians and that they are shorter in stature (0.99), have shorter upper limbs (0.89-0.96) and lower limbs (0.93-0.97), but are taller on sitting height, sitting eye height and acromial height (1.01-1.03), and less dispersed (0.68-0.97) than the US Army personnel. The anthropometric characteristics of Korean male helicopter pilots were compared with those of Korean male civilians and US Army male personnel. The sample size determination process and the anthropometric comparison results presented in this study are useful to design an anthropometric survey and a helicopter cockpit layout, respectively.

  1. The Helicopter Observation Platform for Marine and Continental Boundary Layer Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avissar, R.; Broad, K.; Walko, R. L.; Drennan, W. M.; Williams, N. J.

    2016-02-01

    The University of Miami has acquired a commercial helicopter (Airbus H125) that was transformed into a one-of-a-kind Helicopter Observation Platform (HOP) that fills critical gaps in physical, chemical and biological observations of the environment. This new research facility is designed to carry sensors and instrument inlets in the undisturbed air in front of the helicopter nose at low airspeed and at various altitudes, from a few feet above the Earth's surface (where much of the climate and weather "action" takes place, and where we live) and up through the atmospheric boundary layer and the mid troposphere. The HOP, with its hovering capability, is also ideal for conducting various types of remote-sensing observations. It provides a unique and essential component of airborne measurement whose purpose, among others, is to quantify the exchanges of gases and energy at the Earth surface, as well as aerosol properties that affect the environment, the climate system, and human health. For its first scientific mission, an eddy-correlation system is being mounted in front of its nose to conduct high-frequency measurements of turbulence variables relevant to atmospheric boundary layer studies.Fully fueled and with both pilot and co-pilot on board, the HOP can carry a scientific payload of up to about 1,000 lbs internally (about 3,000 lbs externally) and fly for nearly 4 hours without refueling at an airspeed of 65 knots ( 30 m/s) that is ideal for in-situ observations. Its fast cruising speed is about 140 knots andits range, at that speed, is about 350 nautical miles. This specific helicopter was chosen because of its flat floor design, which is particularly convenient for installing scientific payload and also because of its high-altitude capability (it is the only commercial helicopter that ever landed at the top of Mt Everest).The HOP is available to the entire scientific community for any project that is feasible from a flight safety point of view and that fulfills

  2. Non-invasive dynamic measurement of helicopter blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serafini, J.; Bernardini, G.; Mattioni, L.; Vezzari, V.; Ficuciello, C.

    2017-08-01

    This paper presents the development and the application on helicopter blades of a measurement system based on FBG strain gauges. Here, the main goal is the structural characterization of the main rotor blades, with the aim of showing the potentialities of such a system in blades quality check applications, as well as in the development of structural health monitoring and rotor state feedback devices. The device has been used in both non-rotating and rotating tests, and does not require the presence of slip rings or optical joint since it is completely allocated in the rotating system. It has been successfully applied to characterize the frequency response of blades lead-lag, flap and torsion deformations, up to 250 Hz.

  3. Research regarding the reforestation with native forestry species of polders from the Lower Danube Valley and the Danube Delta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    GREAVU Manole

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available The Euro - American poplar and willow plantations have declined recently in the polders of Danube Delta due to the lessened level of underground water. This research was conducted in five precincts during 2005 -2009. Its aim was to observe the development of several native forestry species, such as the White Poplar, Black Poplar, Ash tree, Elm and Oak tree. These species are recommended for future cultivation in the polders of Danube Delta.

  4. Uncertainty of power curve measurement with a two-beam nacelle-mounted lidar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wagner, Rozenn; Courtney, Michael Stephen; Friis Pedersen, Troels

    2015-01-01

    Nacelle lidars are attractive for offshore measurements since they can provide measurements of the free wind speed in front of the turbine rotor without erecting a met mast, which significantly reduces the cost of the measurements. Nacelle-mounted pulsed lidars with two lines of sight (LOS) have...... lies between 1 and 2% for the wind speed range between cut-in and rated wind speed. Finally, the lidar was mounted on the nacelle of a wind turbine in order to perform a power curve measurement. The wind speed was simultaneously measured with a mast-top mounted cup anemometer placed two rotor diameters...... lidar was less than 10% larger on average than that obtained with the mast mounted cup anemometer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....

  5. Solar rotation measurements at Mount Wilson. Pt. 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Labonte, B.J.; Howard, R.; Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena

    1981-01-01

    Possible sources of systematic error in solar Doppler rotational velocities are examined. Scattered light is shown to affect the Mount Wilson solar rotation results, but this effect is not enough to bring the spectroscopic results in coincidence with the sunspot rotation. Interference fringes at the spectrograph focus at Mount Wilson have in two intervals affected the rotation results. It has been possible to correlate this error with temperature and thus correct for it. A misalignment between the entrance and exit slits is a possible source of error, but for the Mount Wilson slit configuration the amplitude of this effect is negligibly small. Rapid scanning of the solar image also produces no measurable effect. (orig.)

  6. 77 FR 30232 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-22

    ...-0530; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-075-AD] RIN 2120-AA64 Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter...

  7. Gravitational Casimir–Polder effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiawei Hu

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The interaction due to quantum gravitational vacuum fluctuations between a gravitationally polarizable object modelled as a two-level system and a gravitational boundary is investigated. This quantum gravitational interaction is found to be position-dependent, which induces a force in close analogy to the Casimir–Polder force in the electromagnetic case. For a Dirichlet boundary, the quantum gravitational potential for the polarizable object in its ground-state is shown to behave like z−5 in the near zone, and z−6 in the far zone, where z is the distance to the boundary. For a concrete example, where a Bose–Einstein condensate is taken as a gravitationally polarizable object, the relative correction to the radius of the BEC caused by fluctuating quantum gravitational waves in vacuum is found to be of order 10−21. Although the correction is far too small to observe in comparison with its electromagnetic counterpart, it is nevertheless of the order of the gravitational strain caused by a recently detected black hole merger on the arms of the LIGO.

  8. Measurement & Minimization of Mount Induced Strain on Double Crystal Monochromator Crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, J.; Alcock, S. G.

    2013-03-01

    Opto-mechanical mounts can cause significant distortions to monochromator crystals and mirrors if not designed or implemented carefully. A slope measuring profiler, the Diamond-NOM [1], was used to measure the change in tangential slope as a function of crystal clamping configuration and load. A three point mount was found to exhibit the lowest surface distortion (Diamond Light Source.

  9. Lateral Casimir-Polder forces by breaking time-reversal symmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oude Weernink, Ricardo R. Q. P. T.; Barcellona, Pablo; Buhmann, Stefan Yoshi

    2018-03-01

    We examine the lateral Casimir-Polder force acting on a circular rotating emitter near a dielectric plane surface. As the circular motion breaks time-reversal symmetry, the spontaneous emission in a direction parallel to the surface is in general anisotropic. We show that a lateral force arises which can be interpreted as a recoil force because of this asymmetric emission. The force is an oscillating function of the distance between the emitter and the surface, and the lossy character of the dielectric strongly influences the results in the near-field regime. The force exhibits also a population-induced dynamics, decaying exponentially with respect to time on time scales of the inverse of the spontaneous decay rate. We propose that this effect could be detected measuring the velocity acquired by the emitter, following different cycles of excitation and spontaneous decay. Our results are expressed in terms of the Green's tensor and can therefore easily be applied to more complex geometries.

  10. Geweld in de polder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. de Rooy

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Violence in the poldersThere is a staunch Whig tradition in Dutch historiography coupled with a strong inclination to emphasize moderation and tolerance as key features in Dutch history. The explanation for the relatively low level of violence, however, is rather weak or missing altogether. This article presents a case that links the low level of violence to three positive factors: the Netherlands was situated, geopolitically speaking, in the eye of the storm; there were relatively few cases of famine; and, it had no iron and coal basins that could easily be exploited. Violence, therefore, tended to manifest itself in the form of strict social control: specifically developed through the process of keeping tight control of religious differences, which culminated in the system of pillarization in the nineteenth century and continued as a means of suppressing the class war. This throws some light on one specific aspect of modern Dutch history, namely that far from being weak (as maintained in the Whig tradition, the state and societal organizations strengthened each other, as a result of which they were able to dispel all manner of unrest and discontent.

  11. Pesticide leaching in polders : field and model studies on cracked clays and loamy sand

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groen, K.P.

    1997-01-01

    This thesis reports on a study of pesticide leaching in polder areas. The study comprises two aspects: a data collection program and the development, calibration and application of the model SWACRO for the simulation of pesticide transport.

    Field data were

  12. 77 FR 52264 - Airworthiness Directives; Hughes Helicopters, Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Hughes Helicopters, Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (Type Certificate... Airworthiness Directive (AD): Hughes Helicopters Inc., and McDonnel Douglas Helicopter Systems (Type Certificate...

  13. 78 FR 18226 - Airworthiness Directives; Hughes Helicopters, Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-26

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Hughes Helicopters, Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (Type Certificate... directive (AD): 2013-05-16 Hughes Helicopters, Inc., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (Type...

  14. The making of helicopters: its strategic implications for EMS helicopter operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, F

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to provide EMS helicopter personnel with an understanding of the civil helicopter manufacturing industry. Specifically, this article examines the current helicopter marketplace and how various manufactures are responding to the recent decline in new helicopter sales. This article further describes how helicopters are designed and manufactured and how global markets, international competition, and strategic considerations are influencing future helicopter design and production. Data for this paper were obtained from a literature search through the ABI-inform Telnet Services offered through the University of Utah Marriott Library. On a search of "helicopter" during the past 5 years, 566 abstracts were identified, all of which were reviewed for information related to the purpose of this article. Forty-seven articles were identified and read in detail for information that may have related to the purpose of this article. In addition, a library search to identify textbooks that describe helicopter production systems was undertaken but did not identify any written resources. Because of the lack of written resources available in writing this article, a direct interview survey of leading helicopter manufactures, associations, and industry writers was conducted. Only information that was considered "public knowledge" was available because of concerns by the various manufactures that publication of confidential information could be detrimental to their competitive advantage. Because helicopter-manufacturing plants were not located within easy travel range, no direct observation of the production facilities could be undertaken. Furthermore, information regarding production and operational management was not easily accessible because the data were not published or were considered confidential. Therefore industry analysis had to take place through direct survey interviewing technique and data obtained through an analysis of the available published

  15. Coupled-oscillator theory of dispersion and Casimir-Polder interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berman, P. R.; Ford, G. W. [Physics Department, University of Michigan, 450 Church Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040 (United States); Milonni, P. W. [Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States)

    2014-10-28

    We address the question of the applicability of the argument theorem (of complex variable theory) to the calculation of two distinct energies: (i) the first-order dispersion interaction energy of two separated oscillators, when one of the oscillators is excited initially and (ii) the Casimir-Polder interaction of a ground-state quantum oscillator near a perfectly conducting plane. We show that the argument theorem can be used to obtain the generally accepted equation for the first-order dispersion interaction energy, which is oscillatory and varies as the inverse power of the separation r of the oscillators for separations much greater than an optical wavelength. However, for such separations, the interaction energy cannot be transformed into an integral over the positive imaginary axis. If the argument theorem is used incorrectly to relate the interaction energy to an integral over the positive imaginary axis, the interaction energy is non-oscillatory and varies as r{sup −4}, a result found by several authors. Rather remarkably, this incorrect expression for the dispersion energy actually corresponds to the nonperturbative Casimir-Polder energy for a ground-state quantum oscillator near a perfectly conducting wall, as we show using the so-called “remarkable formula” for the free energy of an oscillator coupled to a heat bath [G. W. Ford, J. T. Lewis, and R. F. O’Connell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2273 (1985)]. A derivation of that formula from basic results of statistical mechanics and the independent oscillator model of a heat bath is presented.

  16. Coupled-oscillator theory of dispersion and Casimir-Polder interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berman, P. R.; Ford, G. W.; Milonni, P. W.

    2014-01-01

    We address the question of the applicability of the argument theorem (of complex variable theory) to the calculation of two distinct energies: (i) the first-order dispersion interaction energy of two separated oscillators, when one of the oscillators is excited initially and (ii) the Casimir-Polder interaction of a ground-state quantum oscillator near a perfectly conducting plane. We show that the argument theorem can be used to obtain the generally accepted equation for the first-order dispersion interaction energy, which is oscillatory and varies as the inverse power of the separation r of the oscillators for separations much greater than an optical wavelength. However, for such separations, the interaction energy cannot be transformed into an integral over the positive imaginary axis. If the argument theorem is used incorrectly to relate the interaction energy to an integral over the positive imaginary axis, the interaction energy is non-oscillatory and varies as r −4 , a result found by several authors. Rather remarkably, this incorrect expression for the dispersion energy actually corresponds to the nonperturbative Casimir-Polder energy for a ground-state quantum oscillator near a perfectly conducting wall, as we show using the so-called “remarkable formula” for the free energy of an oscillator coupled to a heat bath [G. W. Ford, J. T. Lewis, and R. F. O’Connell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2273 (1985)]. A derivation of that formula from basic results of statistical mechanics and the independent oscillator model of a heat bath is presented

  17. Fiscal 2000 pioneering research report on the research on advanced safety helicopter; 2000 nendo advanced safety helicopter no chosa kenkyu hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    A survey was conducted concerning helicopter operating environments and the trends of related technologies in Japan and abroad, and the needs and seeds were grasped. Research was made to study technical problems and measures to solve them for the development of a safe, low-noise, and low-cost next-generation advanced safety helicopter (ASH). A market research was conducted on traffic systems in the future, state of aviation-related infrastructures and their future, current state of people's daily life which centers about locomotion, and the effect that ASH would impose on society. A technical research was carried out relative to flight safety, which involved EVS (enhanced vision system), information display system for helicopters, collision avoidance advisory for pilots, air collision prevention system/surveillance system for helicopters, obstacle detection/warning system for helicopters, blade deicing system for helicopters, and so forth. Detailed investigations were also conducted for technologies for reduction in the manufacturing, maintenance, and development costs, and for reduction in noise. (NEDO)

  18. Does modern helicopter construction reduce noise exposure in helicopter rescue operations?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Küpper, Thomas; Jansing, Paul; Schöffl, Volker; van Der Giet, Simone

    2013-01-01

    During helicopter rescue operations the medical personnel are at high risk for hearing damage by noise exposure. There are two important factors to be taken into account: first, the extreme variability, with some days involving no exposure but other days with extreme exposure; second, the extreme noise levels during work outside the helicopter, e.g. during winch operations. The benefit of modern, less noisier constructions and the consequences for noise protection are still unknown. We estimated the noise exposure of the personnel for different helicopter types used during rescue operations in the Alps and in other regions of the world with special regard to the advanced types like Eurocopter EC 135 to compare the benefit of modern constructions for noise protection with earlier ones. The rescue operations over 1 year of four rescue bases in the Alps (Raron and Zermatt in Switzerland; Landeck and Innsbruck in Austria, n = 2731) were analyzed for duration of rescue operations (noise exposure). Noise levels were measured during rescue operations at defined points inside and outside the different aircraft. The setting is according to the European standard (Richtlinie 2003/10/EG Amtsblatt) and to Class 1 DIN/IEC 651. With both data sets the equivalent noise level L(eq8h) was calculated. For comparison it was assumed that all rescue operations were performed with a specific type of helicopter. Then model calculations for noise exposure by different helicopter types, such as Alouette IIIb, Alouette II 'Lama', Ecureuil AS350, Bell UH1D, Eurocopter EC135, and others were performed. Depending on modern technologies the situation for the personnel has been improved significantly. Nevertheless noise prevention, which includes noise intermissions in spare time, is essential. Medical checks of the crews by occupational medicine (e.g. 'G20' in Germany) are still mandatory.

  19. Energy shift and Casimir-Polder force for an atom out of thermal equilibrium near a dielectric substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Wenting; Yu, Hongwei

    2014-09-01

    We study the energy shift and the Casimir-Polder force of an atom out of thermal equilibrium near the surface of a dielectric substrate. We first generalize, adopting the local source hypothesis, the formalism proposed by Dalibard, Dupont-Roc, and Cohen-Tannoudji [J. Phys. (Paris) 43, 1617 (1982), 10.1051/jphys:0198200430110161700; J. Phys. (Paris) 45, 637 (1984), 10.1051/jphys:01984004504063700], which separates the contributions of thermal fluctuations and radiation reaction to the energy shift and allows a distinct treatment of atoms in the ground and excited states, to the case out of thermal equilibrium, and then we use the generalized formalism to calculate the energy shift and the Casimir-Polder force of an isotropically polarizable neutral atom. We identify the effects of the thermal fluctuations that originate from the substrate and the environment and discuss in detail how the Casimir-Polder force out of thermal equilibrium behaves in three different distance regions in both the low-temperature limit and the high-temperature limit for both the ground-state and excited-state atoms, with special attention devoted to the distinctive features as opposed to thermal equilibrium. In particular, we recover the distinctive behavior of the atom-wall force out of thermal equilibrium at large distances in the low-temperature limit recently found in a different theoretical framework, and furthermore we give a concrete region where this behavior holds.

  20. Flying control of small-type helicopter by detecting its in-air natural features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chinthaka Premachandra

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Control of a small type helicopter is an interesting research area in unmanned aerial vehicle development. This study aims to detect a more typical helicopter unequipped with markers as a means by which to resolve the various issues of the prior studies. Accordingly, we propose a method of detecting the helicopter location and pose through using an infrastructure camera to recognize its in-air natural features such as ellipse traced by the rotation of the helicopter's propellers. A single-rotor system helicopter was used as the controlled airframe in our experiments. Here, helicopter location is measured by detecting the main rotor ellipse center and pose is measured following relationship between the main rotor ellipse and the tail rotor ellipse. Following these detection results we confirmed the hovering control possibility of the helicopter through experiments.

  1. Effects of ecological flooding on the temporal and spatial dynamics of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae and springtails (Collembola in a polder habitat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanja Lessel

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Within the scope of the Integrated Rhine Program an ecological flood gate and channel was inserted into the polder “Ingelheim” to enhance animal and plant diversity. In 2008, carabid beetles and springtails were collected, using pitfall traps, to measure the effects of ecological flooding and a strong precipitation event at a flood-disturbed and a dry location in this area. At both localities, xerophilic and mesophilic carabid beetle species were dominant throughout the study period. The total number of individuals of hygrophilic species was comparatively constant, while species number increased, partly due to the changed moisture conditions caused by ecological flooding and strong precipitation. Carabid beetle diversity and evenness decreased marginally when ecological flooding was absent. Springtails represent a less mobile arthropod order, and as such the impact of ecological flooding was stronger. An increase in both numbers of species and individuals of hygrophilic and hygrotolerant species occurred in the flood-disturbed location after ecological flooding. After the sites at both locations had dried, the number of individuals belonging to these species declined rapidly. In contrast to carabid species, the strong precipitation event showed no influence on hygrophilic springtail species. Thus, collembolan diversity and evenness decreased markedly in the absence of flooding. We showed that ecological flooding has an influence on the spatial and temporal dynamics of different arthropod groups that inhabit the polder “Ingelheim”. These findings demonstrate the importance of using different arthropod groups as bioindicators in determining the ecological value of a particular polder design.

  2. Full State Estimation for Helicopter Slung Load System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    This paper presents the design of a state estimator system for a generic helicopter based slung load system. The estimator is designed to deliver full rigid body state information for both helicopter and load and is based on the unscented Kalman filter. Two different approaches are investigated......: One based on a parameter free kinematic model and one based on a full aerodynamic helicopter and slung load model. The kinematic model approach uses acceleration and rate information from two Inertial Measurement Units, one on the helicopter and one on the load, to drive a simple kinematic model....... A simple and effective virtual sensor method is developed to maintain the constraints imposed by the wires in the system. The full model based approach uses a complex aerodynamical model to describe the helicopter together with a generic rigid body model. This rigid body model is based on a redundant...

  3. Full State Estimation for Helicopter Slung Load System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a state estimator system for a generic helicopter based slung load system. The estimator is designed to deliver full rigid body state information for both helicopter and load and is based on the unscented Kalman filter. Two different approaches are investigated......: One based on a parameter free kinematic model and one based on a full aerodynamic helicopter and slung load model. The kinematic model approach uses acceleration and rate information from two Inertial Measurement Units, one on the helicopter and one on the load, to drive a simple kinematic model....... A simple and effective virtual sensor method is developed to maintain the constraints imposed by the wires in the system. The full model based approach uses a complex aerodynamical model to describe the helicopter together with a generic rigid body model. This rigid body model is based on a redundant...

  4. Mount St. Helens: Controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) data and inversions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wynn, Jeff; Pierce, Herbert A.

    2015-01-01

    This report describes a series of geoelectrical soundings carried out on and near Mount St. Helens volcano, Washington, in 2010–2011. These soundings used a controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) approach (Zonge and Hughes, 1991; Simpson and Bahr, 2005). We chose CSAMT for logistical reasons: It can be deployed by helicopter, has an effective depth of penetration of as much as 1 kilometer, and requires less wire than a Schlumberger sounding.

  5. The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Rotor Source Noise Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, Frederic H.; Greenwood, Eric

    2011-01-01

    A new physics-based method called Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustic Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) is used to demonstrate the change in rotor harmonic noise of a helicopter operating at different ambient conditions. FRAME is based upon a non-dimensional representation of the governing acoustic and performance equations of a single rotor helicopter. Measured external noise is used together with parameter identification techniques to develop a model of helicopter external noise that is a hybrid between theory and experiment. The FRAME method is used to evaluate the main rotor harmonic noise of a Bell 206B3 helicopter operating at different altitudes. The variation with altitude of Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise, known to be a strong function of the helicopter s advance ratio, is dependent upon which definition of airspeed is flown by the pilot. If normal flight procedures are followed and indicated airspeed (IAS) is held constant, the true airspeed (TAS) of the helicopter increases with altitude. This causes an increase in advance ratio and a decrease in the speed of sound which results in large changes to BVI noise levels. Results also show that thickness noise on this helicopter becomes more intense at high altitudes where advancing tip Mach number increases because the speed of sound is decreasing and advance ratio increasing for the same indicated airspeed. These results suggest that existing measurement-based empirically derived helicopter rotor noise source models may give incorrect noise estimates when they are used at conditions where data were not measured and may need to be corrected for mission land-use planning purposes.

  6. Implications of Dynamic Pressure Transducer Mounting Variations on Measurements in Pyrotechnic Test Apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dibbern, Andreas; Crisafulli, Jeffrey; Hagopia, Michael; McDougle, Stephen H.; Saulsberry, Regor L.

    2009-01-01

    Accurate dynamic pressure measurements are often difficult to make within small pyrotechnic devices, and transducer mounting difficulties can cause data anomalies that lead to erroneous conclusions. Delayed initial pressure response followed by data ringing has been observed when using miniaturized pressure transducer mounting adapters required to interface transducers to small test chambers. This delayed pressure response and ringing, combined with a high data acquisition rate, has complicated data analysis. This paper compares the output signal characteristics from different pressure transducer mounting options, where the passage distance from the transducer face to the pyrotechnic chamber is varied in length and diameter. By analyzing the data and understating the associated system dynamics, a more realistic understanding of the actual dynamic pressure variations is achieved. Three pressure transducer mounting configurations (elongated, standard, and face/flush mount) were simultaneously tested using NASA standard initiators in closed volume pressure bombs. This paper also presents results of these pressure transducer mounting configurations as a result of a larger NASA Engineering and Safety Center pyrovalve test project. Results from these tests indicate the improved performance of using face/flush mounted pressure transducers in this application. This type of mounting improved initial pressure measurement response time by approximately 19 s over standard adapter mounting, eliminating most of the lag time; provided a near step-function type initial pressure increase; and greatly reduced data ringing in high data acquisition rate systems. The paper goes on to discuss other issues associated with the firing and instrumentation that are important for the tester to understand.

  7. 77 FR 729 - Airworthiness Directives; Enstrom Helicopter Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-06

    ... to the specified helicopters with a reversible trim motor, P/N 28-16621 (Ford Motor Company C1AZ... helicopters with a reversible trim motor, P/N 28-16621 (Ford Motor Company C1AZ- 14553A) or P/N AD1R-10...

  8. Advanced Airfoils Boost Helicopter Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-01-01

    Carson Helicopters Inc. licensed the Langley RC4 series of airfoils in 1993 to develop a replacement main rotor blade for their Sikorsky S-61 helicopters. The company's fleet of S-61 helicopters has been rebuilt to include Langley's patented airfoil design, and the helicopters are now able to carry heavier loads and fly faster and farther, and the main rotor blades have twice the previous service life. In aerial firefighting, the performance-boosting airfoils have helped the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service control the spread of wildfires. In 2003, Carson Helicopters signed a contract with Ducommun AeroStructures Inc., to manufacture the composite blades for Carson Helicopters to sell

  9. Introductie en vestiging van planteparasitaire aaltjes in nieuwe polders, in het bijzonder van Trichodorus teres

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuiper, K.

    1977-01-01

    The soil of the newly reclaimed polders of the former Zuiderzee was initially found to be free from plant parasitic nematodes. This meant that the practice of crop rotation, as used with 'old' land, did not need to be applied for a number of years.
    After several years however, nematode

  10. Performance Analysis of a Utility Helicopter with Standard and Advanced Rotors

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Yeo, Hyeonsoo; Bousman, William G; Johnson, Wayne

    2002-01-01

    Flight test measurements of the performance of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with both standard and advanced rotors are compared with calculations obtained using the comprehensive helicopter analysis CAMRAD II...

  11. POLDER/Parasol L2 Radiation Budget subset along CloudSat track V001 (PARASOLRB_CPR) at GES DISC

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This is the POLDER/Parasol Level-2 Radiation Budget Subset, collocated with the CloudSat track. The subset is processed at the A-Train Data Depot of the GES DISC,...

  12. A microscopic approach to Casimir and Casimir–Polder forces between metallic bodies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barcellona, Pablo; Passante, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    We consider the Casimir–Polder interaction energy between a metallic nanoparticle and a metallic plate, as well as the Casimir interaction energy between two macroscopic metal plates, in terms of the many-body dispersion interactions between their constituents. Expressions for two- and three-body dispersion interactions between the microscopic parts of a real metal are first obtained, both in the retarded and non-retarded limits. These expressions are then used to evaluate the overall two- and three-body contributions to the macroscopic Casimir–Polder and Casimir force, and to compare them with each other, for the two following geometries: metal nanoparticle/half-space and half-space/half-space, where all the materials are assumed perfect conductors. The above evaluation is obtained by summing up the contributions from the microscopic constituents of the bodies (metal nanoparticles). In the case of nanoparticle/half-space, our results fully agree with those that can be extracted from the corresponding macroscopic results, and explicitly show the non-applicability of the pairwise approximation for the geometry considered. In both cases, we find that, while the overall two-body contribution yields an attractive force, the overall three-body contribution is repulsive. Also, they turn out to be of the same order, consistently with the known non applicability of the pairwise approximation. The issue of the rapidity of convergence of the many-body expansion is also briefly discussed

  13. Simulation of Flow around Isolated Helicopter Fuselage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Garipov A.O.

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Low fuselage drag has always been a key target of helicopter manufacturers. Therefore, this paper focuses on CFD predictions of the drag of several components of a typical helicopter fuselage. In the first section of the paper, validation of the obtained CFD predictions is carried out using wind tunnel measurements. The measurements were carried out at the Kazan National Research Technical University n.a. A. Tupolev. The second section of the paper is devoted to the analysis of drag contributions of several components of the ANSAT helicopter prototype fuselage using the RANS approach. For this purpose, several configurations of fuselages are considered with different levels of complexity including exhausts and skids. Depending on the complexity of the considered configuration and CFD mesh both the multi-block structured HMB solver and the unstructured commercial tool Fluent are used. Finally, the effect of an actuator disk on the predicted drag is addressed.

  14. Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) RCS: DD-A&T(Q&A)823-479 Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) As of FY 2017 President’s Budget Defense Acquisition...Name Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) DoD Component Air Force Responsible Office References SAR Baseline (Development Estimate) Defense Acquisition... Helicopter (CRH) system will provide Personnel Recovery (PR) forces with a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is quickly deployable and

  15. Validation of AVHRR- and MODIS-derived albedos of snow and ice surfaces by means of helicopter measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Greuell, W.; Oerlemans, J.

    2005-01-01

    We describe the validation of surface albedos of snow and glacier ice as derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and MOderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) satellite data. For this purpose we measured surface albedos from a helicopter over Vatnajökull, Iceland, and

  16. 46 CFR 108.653 - Helicopter facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter facilities. 108.653 Section 108.653 Shipping... EQUIPMENT Equipment Markings and Instructions § 108.653 Helicopter facilities. (a) Each helicopter fueling facility must be marked adjacent to the fueling hose storage: “WARNING—HELICOPTER FUELING STATION—KEEP...

  17. Helicopter Pilot Performance for Discrete-maneuver Flight Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heffley, R. K.; Bourne, S. M.; Hindson, W. S.

    1984-01-01

    This paper describes a current study of several basic helicopter flight maneuvers. The data base consists of in-flight measurements from instrumented helicopters using experienced pilots. The analysis technique is simple enough to apply without automatic data processing, and the results can be used to build quantitative matah models of the flight task and some aspects of the pilot control strategy. In addition to describing the performance measurement technqiue, some results are presented which define the aggressiveness and amplitude of maneuvering for several lateral maneuvers including turns and sidesteps.

  18. Adaptive Control System for Autonomous Helicopter Slung Load Operations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    2010-01-01

    system on the helicopter that measures the position of the slung load. The controller is a combined feedforward and feedback scheme for simultaneous avoidance of swing excitation and active swing damping. Simulations and laboratory flight tests show the effectiveness of the combined control system......This paper presents design and verification of an estimation and control system for a helicopter slung load system. The estimator provides position and velocity estimates of the slung load and is designed to augment existing navigation in autonomous helicopters. Sensor input is provided by a vision......, yielding significant load swing reduction compared to the baseline controller....

  19. 46 CFR 108.486 - Helicopter decks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter decks. 108.486 Section 108.486 Shipping COAST... Fire Extinguishing Systems Fire Protection for Helicopter Facilities § 108.486 Helicopter decks. At least two of the accesses to the helicopter landing deck must each have a fire hydrant on the unit's...

  20. Evaluation of MEMS-Based Wireless Accelerometer Sensors in Detecting Gear Tooth Faults in Helicopter Transmissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewicki, David George; Lambert, Nicholas A.; Wagoner, Robert S.

    2015-01-01

    The diagnostics capability of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based rotating accelerometer sensors in detecting gear tooth crack failures in helicopter main-rotor transmissions was evaluated. MEMS sensors were installed on a pre-notched OH-58C spiral-bevel pinion gear. Endurance tests were performed and the gear was run to tooth fracture failure. Results from the MEMS sensor were compared to conventional accelerometers mounted on the transmission housing. Most of the four stationary accelerometers mounted on the gear box housing and most of the CI's used gave indications of failure at the end of the test. The MEMS system performed well and lasted the entire test. All MEMS accelerometers gave an indication of failure at the end of the test. The MEMS systems performed as well, if not better, than the stationary accelerometers mounted on the gear box housing with regards to gear tooth fault detection. For both the MEMS sensors and stationary sensors, the fault detection time was not much sooner than the actual tooth fracture time. The MEMS sensor spectrum data showed large first order shaft frequency sidebands due to the measurement rotating frame of reference. The method of constructing a pseudo tach signal from periodic characteristics of the vibration data was successful in deriving a TSA signal without an actual tach and proved as an effective way to improve fault detection for the MEMS.

  1. Modeling, Control and Coordination of Helicopter Systems

    CERN Document Server

    Ren, Beibei; Chen, Chang; Fua, Cheng-Heng; Lee, Tong Heng

    2012-01-01

    Modeling, Control and Coordination of Helicopter Systems provides a comprehensive treatment of helicopter systems, ranging from related nonlinear flight dynamic modeling and stability analysis to advanced control design for single helicopter systems, and also covers issues related to the coordination and formation control of multiple helicopter systems to achieve high performance tasks. Ensuring stability in helicopter flight is a challenging problem for nonlinear control design and development. This book is a valuable reference on modeling, control and coordination of helicopter systems,providing readers with practical solutions for the problems that still plague helicopter system design and implementation. Readers will gain a complete picture of helicopters at the systems level, as well as a better understanding of the technical intricacies involved. This book also: Presents a complete picture of modeling, control and coordination for helicopter systems Provides a modeling platform for a general class of ro...

  2. 78 FR 1730 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-09

    ... Helicopter Textron Inc. (BHTI) Model 205A, 205A-1, and 205B helicopters with certain starter/generator power... that may lead to a fire in the starter/generator, smoke in the cockpit that reduces visibility, and... Office, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12- 140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590...

  3. Amplifying the helicopter drift in a conformal HMD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmerwitz, Sven; Knabl, Patrizia M.; Lueken, Thomas; Doehler, Hans-Ullrich

    2016-05-01

    Helicopter operations require a well-controlled and minimal lateral drift shortly before ground contact. Any lateral speed exceeding this small threshold can cause a dangerous momentum around the roll axis, which may cause a total roll over of the helicopter. As long as pilots can observe visual cues from the ground, they are able to easily control the helicopter drift. But whenever natural vision is reduced or even obscured, e.g. due to night, fog, or dust, this controllability diminishes. Therefore helicopter operators could benefit from some type of "drift indication" that mitigates the influence of a degraded visual environment. Generally humans derive ego motion by the perceived environmental object flow. The visual cues perceived are located close to the helicopter, therefore even small movements can be recognized. This fact was used to investigate a modified drift indication. To enhance the perception of ego motion in a conformal HMD symbol set the measured movement was used to generate a pattern motion in the forward field of view close or on the landing pad. The paper will discuss the method of amplified ego motion drift indication. Aspects concerning impact factors like visualization type, location, gain and more will be addressed. Further conclusions from previous studies, a high fidelity experiment and a part task experiment, will be provided. A part task study will be presented that compared different amplified drift indications against a predictor. 24 participants, 15 holding a fixed wing license and 4 helicopter pilots, had to perform a dual task on a virtual reality headset. A simplified control model was used to steer a "helicopter" down to a landing pad while acknowledging randomly placed characters.

  4. A 3D imaging system for the non-intrusive in-flight measurement of the deformation of an aircraft propeller and a helicopter rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stasicki, Bolesław; Boden, Fritz; Ludwikowski, Krzysztof

    2017-02-01

    The non-intrusive in-flight deformation measurement and the resulting local pitch of an aircraft propeller or helicopter rotor blade is a demanding task. The idea of an imaging system integrated and rotating with the air-craft propeller has already been presented at the 30th International Congress on High-Speed Imaging and Photonics (ICHSIP30) in 2012. Since then this system has been designed, constructed and tested in the laboratory as well as in-flight on the Cobra VUT100 of Evektor Aerotechnik, Kunovice (CZ). The major aim of the EU FP7 project AIM2 ("Advanced In-flight Measurement techniques 2" - contract No. 266107) was to ascertain the feasibility of this technique under extreme conditions - vibration and large centrifugal forces - to real flight testing. Based on the gained experience a new rotating system for the application on helicopter rotors has recently been constructed and tested on the whirl tower of Airbus Helicopters, Donauwoerth (D). In this paper the principle of the applied Image Pattern Correlation Technique (IPCT), a specialized type of Digital Image Correlation (DIC), is outlined and the construction of both rotating 3D image acquisition systems dedicated to the in-flight deformation measurement of the aircraft propeller and helicopter rotor are described. Furthermore, the results of the ground and in-flight tests of these systems will be shown and discussed. The obtained results will be helpful for manufacturers in the design of their future aircrafts.

  5. 46 CFR 108.489 - Helicopter fueling facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter fueling facilities. 108.489 Section 108.489... AND EQUIPMENT Fire Extinguishing Systems Fire Protection for Helicopter Facilities § 108.489 Helicopter fueling facilities. (a) Each helicopter fueling facility must have a fire protection system that...

  6. Use of thermal infrared imaging for monitoring renewed dome growth at Mount St. Helens, 2004: Chapter 17 in A volcano rekindled: the renewed eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, David J.; Vallance, James W.; Wessels, Rick L.; Logan, Matthew; Ramsey, Michael S.; Sherrod, David R.; Scott, William E.; Stauffer, Peter H.

    2008-01-01

    A helicopter-mounted thermal imaging radiometer documented the explosive vent-clearing and effusive phases of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 2004. A gyrostabilized gimbal controlled by a crew member housed the radiometer and an optical video camera attached to the nose of the helicopter. Since October 1, 2004, the system has provided thermal and video observations of dome growth. Flights conducted as frequently as twice daily during the initial month of the eruption monitored rapid changes in the crater and 1980-86 lava dome. Thermal monitoring decreased to several times per week once dome extrusion began. The thermal imaging system provided unique observations, including timely recognition that the early explosive phase was phreatic, location of structures controlling thermal emissions and active faults, detection of increased heat flow prior to the extrusion of lava, and recognition of new lava extrusion. The first spines, 1 and 2, were hotter when they emerged (maximum temperature 700-730°C) than subsequent spines insulated by as much as several meters of fault gouge. Temperature of gouge-covered spines was about 200°C where they emerged from the vent, and it decreased rapidly with distance from the vent. The hottest parts of these spines were as high as 500-730°C in fractured and broken-up regions. Such temperature variation needs to be accounted for in the retrieval of eruption parameters using satellite-based techniques, as such features are smaller than pixels in satellite images.

  7. Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jared A. Frank

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability.

  8. Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Jared A; Brill, Anthony; Kapila, Vikram

    2016-08-20

    Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability.

  9. Final assessment of vibro-acoustic source strength descriptors of helicopter gearboxes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ohlrich, Mogens; Rasmussen, Ulrik Møller

    1996-01-01

    Two novel measurement techniques have been developed for quantifying the vibro-aqcoustic source strength of lightweight helicopter gearboxes. The accuracy, robustness and implementation of these methods have been examined by a comprehensive investigation, including theoretical studies of simple...... multi-modal beam systems and extensive experiments with more realistic small scale models and with large, detailed 3/4-scale test structures of a medium-size helicopter. In addition, partial verification tests have been conducted with the Eurocopter BK 117 helicopter and its main rotor gearbox....... The results of this work are essential as input for any prediction code of the internal noise in a helicopter cabin, because the prediction requires knowledge of the major sources, that is, the rotors, engines and gearboxes....

  10. Inflow measurements from blade-mounted flow sensors: Flow analysis, application and aeroelastic response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads Mølgaard

    -mounted flow sensor, BMFS, e.g. a five-hole pitot tube, which has been used in several research experiments over the last 30 years. The BMFS measured flow velocity is, however, located inside the induction zone and thereby influenced by the aerodynamic properties, the control strategy and the operational......The power and load performance of wind turbines are both crucial for the development and expansion of wind energy. The power and loads are highly dependent on the inflow conditions, which can be measured using different types of sensors mounted on nearby met masts, on the nacelle, at the spinner...... or at the blade. Each combination of sensor type and mounting position has advantages and shortcomings. To characterise the inflow that results in high and low fatigue loads, information about the temporal and spatial variations within the rotor area is required. This information can be obtained from a blade...

  11. Airborne radiation monitoring using a manned helicopter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanada, Yukihisa; Nishizawa, Yukiyasu; Ishizaki, Azusa; Urabe, Yoshimi

    2017-01-01

    The Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on 11 March 2011 generated a series of large tsunami waves that caused serious damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station, following which a large amount of radioactive material was discharged from the nuclear power plant into the environment. Airborne radiation measurements using a manned helicopter were applied to measure the radiation distribution immediately after accident as technique to quickly measure the radiation distribution over a wide area. In Japan, this technique was researched and developed in the 1980s. However, this technique and system were not applied immediately after the accident because standardization of analysis was not established and the Japanese system became deteriorated. This technique is important for post-accident studies at a nuclear facility. We summarized the methods of the airborne radiation measurement using a manned helicopter. In addition, measurement results of the dose rate distribution at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station are given in this paper. (author)

  12. Development of a Strontium Magneto-Optical Trap for Probing Casimir-Polder Potentials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Paul J.

    In recent years, cold atoms have been the centerpiece of many remarkably sensitive measurements, and much effort has been made to devise miniaturized quantum sensors and quantum information processing devices. At small distances, however, mechanical effects of the quantum vacuum begin to significantly impact the behavior of the cold-atom systems. A better understanding of how surface composition and geometry affect Casimir and Casimir-Polder potentials would benefit future engineering of small-scale devices. Unfortunately, theoretical solutions are limited and the number of experimental techniques that can accurately detect such short-range forces is relatively small. We believe the exemplary properties of atomic strontium--which have enabled unprecedented frequency metrology in optical lattice clocks--make it an ideal candidate for probing slight spectroscopic perturbations caused by vacuum fluctuations. To that end, we have constructed a magneto-optical trap for strontium to enable future study of atom-surface potentials, and the apparatus and proposed detection scheme are discussed herein. Of special note is a passively stable external-cavity diode laser we developed that is both affordable and competitive with high-end commercial options.

  13. 46 CFR 109.577 - Helicopter fueling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter fueling. 109.577 Section 109.577 Shipping... Miscellaneous § 109.577 Helicopter fueling. (a) The master or person in charge shall designate persons to conduct helicopter fueling operations. (b) Portable tanks are handled and stowed in accordance with...

  14. Maneuver Acoustic Flight Test of the Bell 430 Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Michael E.; Snider, Royce; Greenwood, Eric; Baden, Joel

    2012-01-01

    A cooperative flight test by NASA, Bell Helicopter and the U.S. Army to characterize the steady state acoustics and measure the maneuver noise of a Bell Helicopter 430 aircraft was accomplished. The test occurred during June/July, 2011 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This test gathered a total of 410 data points over 10 test days and compiled an extensive data base of dynamic maneuver measurements. Three microphone configurations with up to 31 microphones in each configuration were used to acquire acoustic data. Aircraft data included DGPS, aircraft state and rotor state information. This paper provides an overview of the test.

  15. Power curve measurement with a nacelle mounted lidar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wagner, Rozenn; Friis Pedersen, Troels; Courtney, Michael

    2014-01-01

    is tested. A pulsed lidar prototype, measuring horizontally, was installed on the nacelle of a multi-megawatt wind turbine. A met mast with a top-mounted cup anemometer standing at two rotor diameters in front of the turbine was used as a reference. After a data-filtering step, the comparison of the 10 min......Nacelle-based lidars are an attractive alternative to conventional mast base reference wind instrumentation where the erection of a mast is expensive, for example offshore. In this paper, the use of this new technology for the specific application of wind turbine power performance measurement...... in wind speed measurements. A lower scatter in the power curve was observed for the lidar than for the mast. Since the lidar follows the turbine nacelle as it yaws, it always measures upwind. The wind measured by the lidar therefore shows a higher correlation with the turbine power fluctuations than...

  16. Helicopter Toy and Lift Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shakerin, Said

    2013-01-01

    A $1 plastic helicopter toy (called a Wacky Whirler) can be used to demonstrate lift. Students can make basic measurements of the toy, use reasonable assumptions and, with the lift formula, estimate the lift, and verify that it is sufficient to overcome the toy's weight. (Contains 1 figure.)

  17. Investigating Flight with a Toy Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liebl, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Flight fascinates people of all ages. Recent advances in battery technology have extended the capabilities of model airplanes and toy helicopters. For those who have never outgrown a childhood enthusiasm for the wonders of flight, it is possible to buy inexpensive, remotely controlled planes and helicopters. A toy helicopter offers an opportunity…

  18. STUDY ON SAFETY TECHNOLOGY SCHEME OF THE UNMANNED HELICOPTER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Lin

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays the unmanned helicopter is widely used for its' unique strongpoint, however, the high failure rate of unmanned helicopter seriously limits its further application and development. For solving the above problems, in this paper, the reasons for the high failure rate of unmanned helicopter is analyzed and the corresponding solution schemes are proposed. The main problem of the failure cause of the unmanned helicopter is the aircraft engine fault, and the failure cause of the unmanned helicopter is analyzed particularly. In order to improving the safety performance of unmanned helicopter system, the scheme of adding the safety parachute system to the unmanned helicopter system is proposed and introduced. These schemes provide the safety redundancy of the unmanned helicopter system and lay on basis for the unmanned helicopter applying into residential areas.

  19. 46 CFR 108.487 - Helicopter deck fueling operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter deck fueling operations. 108.487 Section 108... DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Fire Extinguishing Systems Fire Protection for Helicopter Facilities § 108.487 Helicopter deck fueling operations. (a) Each helicopter landing deck on which fueling operations are...

  20. Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds †

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Jared A.; Brill, Anthony; Kapila, Vikram

    2016-01-01

    Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability. PMID:27556464

  1. 46 CFR 132.320 - Helicopter-landing decks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Helicopter-landing decks. 132.320 Section 132.320 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) OFFSHORE SUPPLY VESSELS FIRE-PROTECTION EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous § 132.320 Helicopter-landing decks. Each vessel with a helicopter-landing deck must...

  2. Three-dimensional geophysical mapping of shallow water saturated altered rocks at Mount Baker, Washington: Implications for slope stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finn, Carol A.; Deszcz-Pan, Maryla; Ball, Jessica L.; Bloss, Benjamin J.; Minsley, Burke J.

    2018-05-01

    Water-saturated hydrothermal alteration reduces the strength of volcanic edifices, increasing the potential for catastrophic sector collapses that can lead to far traveled and destructive debris flows. Intense hydrothermal alteration significantly lowers the resistivity and magnetization of volcanic rock and therefore hydrothermally altered rocks can be identified with helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic measurements. Geophysical models constrained by rock properties and geologic mapping show that intensely altered rock is restricted to two small (500 m diameter), >150 m thick regions around Sherman Crater and Dorr Fumarole Field at Mount Baker, Washington. This distribution of alteration contrasts with much thicker and widespread alteration encompassing the summits of Mounts Adams and Rainier prior to the 5600 year old Osceola collapse, which is most likely due to extreme erosion and the limited duration of summit magmatism at Mount Baker. In addition, the models suggest that the upper 300 m of rock contains water which could help to lubricate potential debris flows. Slope stability modeling incorporating the geophysically modeled distribution of alteration and water indicates that the most likely and largest ( 0.1 km3) collapses are from the east side of Sherman Crater. Alteration at Dorr Fumarole Field raises the collapse hazard there, but not significantly because of its lower slope angles. Geochemistry and analogs from other volcanoes suggest a model for the edifice hydrothermal system.

  3. Three-dimensional geophysical mapping of shallow water saturated altered rocks at Mount Baker, Washington: Implications for slope stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finn, Carol A.; Deszcz-Pan, Maria; Ball, Jessica L.; Bloss, Benjamin J.; Minsley, Burke J.

    2018-01-01

    Water-saturated hydrothermal alteration reduces the strength of volcanic edifices, increasing the potential for catastrophic sector collapses that can lead to far traveled and destructive debris flows. Intense hydrothermal alteration significantly lowers the resistivity and magnetization of volcanic rock and therefore hydrothermally altered rocks can be identified with helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic measurements. Geophysical models constrained by rock properties and geologic mapping show that intensely altered rock is restricted to two small (500 m diameter), >150 m thick regions around Sherman Crater and Dorr Fumarole Field at Mount Baker, Washington. This distribution of alteration contrasts with much thicker and widespread alteration encompassing the summits of Mounts Adams and Rainier prior to the 5600 year old Osceola collapse, which is most likely due to extreme erosion and the limited duration of summit magmatism at Mount Baker. In addition, the models suggest that the upper ~300 m of rock contains water which could help to lubricate potential debris flows. Slope stability modeling incorporating the geophysically modeled distribution of alteration and water indicates that the most likely and largest (~0.1 km3) collapses are from the east side of Sherman Crater. Alteration at Dorr Fumarole Field raises the collapse hazard there, but not significantly because of its lower slope angles. Geochemistry and analogs from other volcanoes suggest a model for the edifice hydrothermal system.

  4. Active vibration suppression of helicopter horizontal stabilizers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cinquemani, Simone; Cazzulani, Gabriele; Resta, Ferruccio

    2017-04-01

    Helicopters are among the most complex machines ever made. While ensuring high performance from the aeronautical point of view, they are not very comfortable due to vibration mainly created by the main rotor and by the interaction with the surrounding air. One of the most solicited structural elements of the vehicle are the horizontal stabilizers. These elements are particularly stressed because of their composite structure which, while guaranteeing lightness and strength, is characterized by a low damping. This work makes a preliminary analysis on the dynamics of the structure and proposes different solutions to actively suppress vibrations. Among them, the best in terms of the relationship between performance and weight / complexity of the system is that based on inertial actuators mounted on the inside of the horizontal stabilizers. The work addresses the issue of the design of the device and its use in the stabilizer from both the numerical and the experimental points of view.

  5. Resilient mounting systems in buildings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Breeuwer, R.; Tukker, J.C.

    1976-01-01

    The basic elements of resilient mounting systems are described and various measures for quantifying the effect of such systems defined. Using electrical analogue circuits, the calculation of these measures is illustrated. With special reference to resilient mounting systems in buildings, under

  6. Helicopter Operations and Personnel Safety (Helirescue Manual). Fourth Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalle-Molle, John

    The illustrated manual includes information on various aspects of helicopter rescue missions, including mission management roles for key personnel, safety rules around helicopters, requests for helicopter support, sample military air support forms, selection of landing zones, helicopter evacuations, rescuer delivery, passenger unloading, crash…

  7. Helicopter Control Energy Reduction Using Moving Horizontal Tail

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oktay, Tugrul; Sal, Firat

    2015-01-01

    Helicopter moving horizontal tail (i.e., MHT) strategy is applied in order to save helicopter flight control system (i.e., FCS) energy. For this intention complex, physics-based, control-oriented nonlinear helicopter models are used. Equations of MHT are integrated into these models and they are together linearized around straight level flight condition. A specific variance constrained control strategy, namely, output variance constrained Control (i.e., OVC) is utilized for helicopter FCS. Control energy savings due to this MHT idea with respect to a conventional helicopter are calculated. Parameters of helicopter FCS and dimensions of MHT are simultaneously optimized using a stochastic optimization method, namely, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (i.e., SPSA). In order to observe improvement in behaviors of classical controls closed loop analyses are done. PMID:26180841

  8. Helicopter Control Energy Reduction Using Moving Horizontal Tail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tugrul Oktay

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Helicopter moving horizontal tail (i.e., MHT strategy is applied in order to save helicopter flight control system (i.e., FCS energy. For this intention complex, physics-based, control-oriented nonlinear helicopter models are used. Equations of MHT are integrated into these models and they are together linearized around straight level flight condition. A specific variance constrained control strategy, namely, output variance constrained Control (i.e., OVC is utilized for helicopter FCS. Control energy savings due to this MHT idea with respect to a conventional helicopter are calculated. Parameters of helicopter FCS and dimensions of MHT are simultaneously optimized using a stochastic optimization method, namely, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (i.e., SPSA. In order to observe improvement in behaviors of classical controls closed loop analyses are done.

  9. Robust Helicopter Stabilization in the Face of Wind Disturbance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    A. Danapalasingam, Kumeresan; Leth, John-Josef; la Cour-Harbo, Anders

    2010-01-01

    When a helicopter is required to hover with minimum deviations from a desired position without measurements of an affecting persistent wind disturbance, a robustly stabilizing control action is vital. In this paper, the stabilization of the position and translational velocity of a nonlinear...... controller is then designed based on nonlinear adaptive output regulations and robust stabilization of a chain of integrators by a saturated feedback. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the control design in the stabilization of helicopter motion and the built-in robustness of the controller...

  10. Measurement of acoustic properties of the composite materials constituting the main rotor hub of the Agusta-Westland helicopter EH-101 (civil version)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenti, L.; Denis, R.; Lakestani, F.

    1991-10-01

    The acoustic properties of the EH-101 helicopter rotor hub are tested by characterizing the ultrasonic propagation phenomena in the main directions of the composite materials. The carbon fiber and epoxy resin that make up the rotor hub are measured to determine the attenuation coefficient, phase propagation at normal incidence, and phase propagation as a function of angle of incidence. The speeds are measured for external box and filler samples, and strap samples are discussed separately because of their anisotropic nature and structural importance. Deviations angles of 5 deg cause refraction angles of 10 deg in the deviation of the phase propagation; therefore planar defects with an angle of 10 deg relative to the fiber direction can be easily detected. The method presented is useful in characterizing and locating defects in the composite materials that make up the main rotor hub of helicopters.

  11. Effects of exhaust temperature on helicopter infrared signature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng-xiong, Pan; Jing-zhou, Zhang; Yong, Shan

    2013-01-01

    The effects of exhaust temperature on infrared signature (in 3–5 μm band) for a helicopter equipped with integrative infrared suppressor were numerically investigated. The internal flow of exhaust gas and the external downwash flow, as well as the mixing between exhaust gas and downwash were simulated by CFD software to determine the temperature distributions on the helicopter skin and in the exhaust plume. Based on the skin and plume temperature distributions, a forward–backward ray-tracing method was used to calculate the infrared radiation intensity from the helicopter with a narrow-band model. The results show that for a helicopter with its integrative infrared suppressor embedded inside its rear airframe, the exhaust temperature has significant influence on the plume radiation characteristics, while the helicopter skin radiation intensity has little impact. When the exhaust temperature is raised from 900 K to 1200 K, the plume radiation intensity in 3–5 μm band is increased by about 100%, while the skin radiation intensity is increased by only about 5%. In general, the effects of exhaust temperature on helicopter infrared radiation intensity are mainly concentrated on plume, especially obvious for a lower skin emissivity case. -- Highlights: ► The effect of exhaust temperature on infrared signature for a helicopter is numerically investigated. ► The impact of exhaust temperature on helicopter skin temperature is revealed. ► The impact of exhaust temperature on plume radiation characteristics is revealed. ► The impact of exhaust temperature on helicopter skin radiation is revealed. ► The impact of exhaust temperature on helicopter's total infrared radiation intensity is revealed

  12. Helicopter downwash measured by continuous-wave Doppler lidars with agile beam steering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sjöholm, Mikael; Angelou, Nikolas; Hansen, Per

    2012-01-01

    , minimizing the risk to aircraft and personnel when operating in a search and rescue role. The results from the application of the short-range WindScanner technology to the complex and turbulent helicopter downwash demonstrates the possibilities also within less demanding flows encountered within complex...

  13. Helicopter fuel burn modeling in AEDT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-01

    This report documents work done to enhance helicopter fuel consumption modeling in the Federal Aviation : Administrations Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). Fuel consumption and flight performance data : were collected from helicopter flig...

  14. Helicopter industry - early beginnings to now; an outlook on the helicopter market and its major players in the rotorcraft industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spranger, L.

    2013-01-01

    The helicopter is probably the most flexible aircraft that we know today. Although its history dates back to around 1500, the first practical helicopter wasn’t manufactured until the 1940s, roughly three decades after the Wright brothers’ first powered human flight. Today, helicopters fulfil a wide

  15. Observations on the colonization of a young polder area in the Netherlands with special reference to the clonal expansion of Phragmites australis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Clevering, O.A.; Van der Toorn, J.

    2000-01-01

    In 1968, the polder Zuidelijk Flevoland was reclaimed in the Netherlands. Observations on species succession were made during a period of seven years in an area later known as the nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen. Directly after reclamation, a large number of plant species were recruited. Here,

  16. Experimental Investigation of a Helicopter Rotor Hub Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reich, David

    The rotor hub system is by far the largest contributor to helicopter parasite drag and a barrier to increasing helicopter forward-flight speed and range. Additionally, the hub sheds undesirable vibration- and instability-inducing unsteady flow over the empennage. The challenges associated with rotor hub flows are discussed, including bluff body drag, interactional aerodynamics, and the effect of the turbulent hub wake on the helicopter empennage. This study was conducted in three phases to quantify model-scale rotor hub flows in water tunnels at The Pennsylvania State University Applied research lab. The first phase investigated scaling and component interaction effects on a 1:17 scale rotor hub model in the 12-inch diameter water tunnel. Effects of Reynolds number, advance ratio, and hub geometry configuration on the drag and wake shed from the rotor hub were quantified using load cell measurements and particle-image velocimetry (PIV). The second phase focused on flow visualization and measurement on a rotor hub and rotor hub/pylon geometry in the 12-inch diameter water tunnel. Stereo PIV was conducted in a cross plane downstream of the hub and flow visualization was conducted using oil paint and fluorescent dye. The third phase concentrated on high accuracy load measurement and prediction up to full-scale Reynolds number on a 1:4.25 scale model in the 48-inch diameter water tunnel. Measurements include 6 degree of freedom loads on the hub and two-component laser-Doppler velocimetry in the wake. Finally, results and conclusions are discussed, followed by recommendations for future investigations.

  17. 29 CFR 1926.551 - Helicopters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...) Loose gear and objects. Every practical precaution shall be taken to provide for the protection of the employees from flying objects in the rotor downwash. All loose gear within 100 feet of the place of lifting... manner in which loads are connected to the helicopter. If, for any reason, the helicopter operator...

  18. The Effects of Ambient Conditions on Helicopter Harmonic Noise Radiation: Theory and Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric; Sim, Ben W.; Boyd, D. Douglas, Jr.

    2016-01-01

    The effects of ambient atmospheric conditions, air temperature and density, on rotor harmonic noise radiation are characterized using theoretical models and experimental measurements of helicopter noise collected at three different test sites at elevations ranging from sea level to 7000 ft above sea level. Significant changes in the thickness, loading, and blade-vortex interaction noise levels and radiation directions are observed across the different test sites for an AS350 helicopter flying at the same indicated airspeed and gross weight. However, the radiated noise is shown to scale with ambient pressure when the flight condition of the helicopter is defined in nondimensional terms. Although the effective tip Mach number is identified as the primary governing parameter for thickness noise, the nondimensional weight coefficient also impacts lower harmonic loading noise levels, which contribute strongly to low frequency harmonic noise radiation both in and out of the plane of the horizon. Strategies for maintaining the same nondimensional rotor operating condition under different ambient conditions are developed using an analytical model of single main rotor helicopter trim and confirmed using a CAMRAD II model of the AS350 helicopter. The ability of the Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustics Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) technique to generalize noise measurements made under one set of ambient conditions to make accurate noise predictions under other ambient conditions is also validated.

  19. Helicopter transport: help or hindrance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plevin, Rebecca E; Evans, Heather L

    2011-12-01

    Traumatic injury continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the year 2011. In addition, the healthcare expenditures and lost years of productivity represent significant economic cost to the affected individuals and their communities. Helicopters have been used to transport trauma patients for the past 40 years, but there are conflicting data on the benefits of helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) in civilian trauma systems. Debate persists regarding the mortality benefit, cost-effectiveness, and safety of helicopter usage, largely because the studies to date vary widely in design and generalizability to trauma systems serving heterogeneous populations and geography. Strict criteria should be established to determine when HEMS transport is warranted and most likely to positively affect patient outcomes. Individual trauma systems should conduct an assessment of their resources and needs in order to most effectively incorporate helicopter transport into their triage model. Research suggests that HEMS improves mortality in certain subgroups of trauma patients, both after transport from the scene of injury and following interfacility transport. Studies examining the cost-effectiveness of HEMS had mixed results, but the majority found that it is a cost-effective tool. Safety remains an issue of contention with HEMS transport, as helicopters are associated with significant safety risk to the crew and patient. However, this risk may be justified provided there is a substantial mortality benefit to be gained. Recent studies suggest that strict criteria should be established to determine when helicopter transport is warranted and most likely to positively affect patient outcomes. Individual trauma systems should conduct an assessment of their resources and needs in order to most effectively incorporate HEMS into their triage model. This will enable regional hospitals to determine if the costs and safety risks associated with HEMS are worthwhile

  20. Application of a Broadband Active Vibration Control System to a Helicopter Trim Panel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabell, Randolph H.; Schiller, Noah H.; Simon, Frank

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses testing of a broadband active vibration control concept on an interior trim panel in a helicopter cabin mockup located at ONERA's Centre de Toulouse. The control system consisted of twelve diamond-shaped piezoelectric actuators distributed around a 1.2m x 1.2m trim panel. Accelerometers were mounted at the four vertices of each diamond. The aspect ratio of the diamond was based on the dielectric constants of the piezoelectric material in order to create an actuator-sensor pair that was collocated over a broad frequency range. This allowed robust control to be implemented using simple, low power analog electronics. Initial testing on a thick acrylic window demonstrated the capability of the controller, but actuator performance was less satisfactory when mounted on a composite sandwich trim panel. This may have been due to the orthotropic nature of the trim panel, or due to its much higher stiffness relative to the acrylic window. Insights gained from a finite element study of the actuator-sensor-structural system are discussed.

  1. Research on Measurement Accuracy of Laser Tracking System Based on Spherical Mirror with Rotation Errors of Gimbal Mount Axes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Zhaoyao; Song, Huixu; Chen, Hongfang; Sun, Yanqiang

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents a novel experimental approach for confirming that spherical mirror of a laser tracking system can reduce the influences of rotation errors of gimbal mount axes on the measurement accuracy. By simplifying the optical system model of laser tracking system based on spherical mirror, we can easily extract the laser ranging measurement error caused by rotation errors of gimbal mount axes with the positions of spherical mirror, biconvex lens, cat's eye reflector, and measuring beam. The motions of polarization beam splitter and biconvex lens along the optical axis and vertical direction of optical axis are driven by error motions of gimbal mount axes. In order to simplify the experimental process, the motion of biconvex lens is substituted by the motion of spherical mirror according to the principle of relative motion. The laser ranging measurement error caused by the rotation errors of gimbal mount axes could be recorded in the readings of laser interferometer. The experimental results showed that the laser ranging measurement error caused by rotation errors was less than 0.1 μm if radial error motion and axial error motion were within ±10 μm. The experimental method simplified the experimental procedure and the spherical mirror could reduce the influences of rotation errors of gimbal mount axes on the measurement accuracy of the laser tracking system.

  2. 78 FR 51123 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-20

    ...-0734; Directorate Identifier 2012-SW-080-AD] RIN 2120-AA64 Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter...). SUMMARY: We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron (Bell) Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430 helicopters. The existing AD currently requires inspecting...

  3. Photosensor-Based Latency Measurement System for Head-Mounted Displays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min-Woo Seo

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a photosensor-based latency measurement system for head-mounted displays (HMDs is proposed. The motion-to-photon latency is the greatest reason for motion sickness and dizziness felt by users when wearing an HMD system. Therefore, a measurement system is required to accurately measure and analyze the latency to reduce these problems. The existing measurement system does not consider the actual physical movement in humans, and its accuracy is also very low. However, the proposed system considers the physical head movement and is highly accurate. Specifically, it consists of a head position model-based rotary platform, pixel luminance change detector, and signal analysis and calculation modules. Using these modules, the proposed system can exactly measure the latency, which is the time difference between the physical movement for a user and the luminance change of an output image. In the experiment using a commercial HMD, the latency was measured to be up to 47.05 ms. In addition, the measured latency increased up to 381.17 ms when increasing the rendering workload in the HMD.

  4. 78 FR 44043 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-23

    ... lead to failure of the swashplate and subsequent loss of helicopter control. DATES: We must receive..., which may cause failure of MRH parts and loss of control of the helicopter. The EASA AD requires..., Section 2.3 Flight Envelope, Item 2 Temperature Limits, of the helicopter's Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM...

  5. Technical preparation of the Yuzhteploehnergomontazh trust for technological equipment mounting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zayats, A.I.

    1982-01-01

    Measures of technical preparation for equipment mounting at the Zaporozhe NPP developed with the Yuzhteploehnergomontazh trust experts are considered. These measures envisage the construction of mounting base of heat facilities, calculation of labour contents and determination of necessary quantity of mounters, development of optimal flowsheet of mounting control, improvement of mounting qualification and creation of stable collective body, improvement of technical level of mounting and welding works, organizational-technical measures on mounting logistics. Factors affecting negatively technical preparation quality of equipment mounting at the Zaporozhe NPP are discussed. The flowsheet of mounting control is presented

  6. Maryland's Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Experience From 2001 to 2011: System Improvements and Patients' Outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirshon, Jon Mark; Galvagno, Samuel M; Comer, Angela; Millin, Michael G; Floccare, Douglas J; Alcorta, Richard L; Lawner, Benjamin J; Margolis, Asa M; Nable, Jose V; Bass, Robert R

    2016-03-01

    Helicopter emergency medical services (EMS) has become a well-established component of modern trauma systems. It is an expensive, limited resource with potential safety concerns. Helicopter EMS activation criteria intended to increase efficiency and reduce inappropriate use remain elusive and difficult to measure. This study evaluates the effect of statewide field trauma triage changes on helicopter EMS use and patient outcomes. Data were extracted from the helicopter EMS computer-aided dispatch database for in-state scene flights and from the state Trauma Registry for all trauma patients directly admitted from the scene or transferred to trauma centers from July 1, 2000, to June 30, 2011. Computer-aided dispatch flights were analyzed for periods corresponding to field triage protocol modifications intended to improve system efficiency. Outcomes were separately analyzed for trauma registry patients by mode of transport. The helicopter EMS computer-aided dispatch data set included 44,073 transports. There was a statewide decrease in helicopter EMS usage for trauma patients of 55.9%, differentially affecting counties closer to trauma centers. The Trauma Registry data set included 182,809 patients (37,407 helicopter transports, 128,129 ambulance transports, and 17,273 transfers). There was an increase of 21% in overall annual EMS scene trauma patients transported; ground transports increased by 33%, whereas helicopter EMS transports decreased by 49%. Helicopter EMS patient acuity increased, with an attendant increase in patient mortality. However, when standardized with W statistics, both helicopter EMS- and ground-transported trauma patients showed sustained improvement in mortality. Modifications to state protocols were associated with decreased helicopter EMS use and overall improved trauma patient outcomes. Copyright © 2015 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. 14 CFR 29.71 - Helicopter angle of glide: Category B.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Helicopter angle of glide: Category B. 29... AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Flight Performance § 29.71 Helicopter angle of glide: Category B. For each category B helicopter, except multiengine helicopters meeting the...

  8. Performance and Vibration Analyses of Lift-Offset Helicopters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeong-In Go

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A validation study on the performance and vibration analyses of the XH-59A compound helicopter is conducted to establish techniques for the comprehensive analysis of lift-offset compound helicopters. This study considers the XH-59A lift-offset compound helicopter using a rigid coaxial rotor system as a verification model. CAMRAD II (Comprehensive Analytical Method of Rotorcraft Aerodynamics and Dynamics II, a comprehensive analysis code, is used as a tool for the performance, vibration, and loads analyses. A general free wake model, which is a more sophisticated wake model than other wake models, is used to obtain good results for the comprehensive analysis. Performance analyses of the XH-59A helicopter with and without auxiliary propulsion are conducted in various flight conditions. In addition, vibration analyses of the XH-59A compound helicopter configuration are conducted in the forward flight condition. The present comprehensive analysis results are in good agreement with the flight test and previous analyses. Therefore, techniques for the comprehensive analysis of lift-offset compound helicopters are appropriately established. Furthermore, the rotor lifts are calculated for the XH-59A lift-offset compound helicopter in the forward flight condition to investigate the airloads characteristics of the ABC™ (Advancing Blade Concept rotor.

  9. Maneuver Acoustic Flight Test of the Bell 430 Helicopter Data Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Michael E.; Greenwood, Eric; Smith, Charles D.; Snider, Royce; Conner, David A.

    2014-01-01

    A cooperative ight test by NASA, Bell Helicopter and the U.S. Army to characterize the steady state acoustics and measure the maneuver noise of a Bell Helicopter 430 aircraft was accomplished. The test occurred during June/July 2011 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This test gathered a total of 410 test points over 10 test days and compiled an extensive database of dynamic maneuver measurements. Three microphone arrays with up to 31 microphon. es in each were used to acquire acoustic data. Aircraft data included Differential Global Positioning System, aircraft state and rotor state information. This paper provides an overview of the test and documents the data acquired.

  10. Helicopter emergency medical service patient transport safe at night?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Peters, J.H.; Wageningen, B. van; Hoogerwerf, N.; Biert, J.

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Dutch helicopter emergency medical services are available 24/7. Working without daylight brings additional challenges, both in patient care and in-flight operation. We retrospectively evaluated the safety of this nighttime helicopter transportation of patients. METHODS: Our helicopter

  11. Helicopter type and accident severity in Helicopter Emergency Medical Services missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinkelbein, Jochen; Schwalbe, Mandy; Wetsch, Wolfgang A; Spelten, Oliver; Neuhaus, Christopher

    2011-12-01

    Whereas accident rates and fatal accident rates for Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) were investigated sufficiently, resulting consequences for the occupants remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to classify HEMS accidents in Germany to prognosticate accident severity with regard to the helicopter model used. German HEMS accidents (1 Sept. 1970-31 Dec. 2009) were gathered as previously reported. Accidents were categorized in relation to the most severe injury, i.e., (1) no; (2) slight; (3) severe; and (4) fatal injuries. Only helicopter models with at least five accidents were analyzed to retrieve representative data. Prognostication was estimated by the relative percentage of each injury type compared to the total number of accidents. The model BO105 was most often involved in accidents (38 of 99), followed by BK117 and UH-1D. OfN = 99 accidents analyzed, N = 63 were without any injuries (63.6%), N = 8 resulted in minor injuries of the occupants (8.1%), and N = 9 in major injuries (9.1%). Additionally, N = 19 fatal accidents (19.2%) were registered. EC135 and BK1 17 had the highest incidence of uninjured occupants (100% vs. 88.2%) and the lowest percentage of fatal injuries (0% vs. 5.9%; all P > 0.05). Most fatal accidents occurred with the models UH-1D, Bell 212, and Bell 412. Use of the helicopter models EC135 and BK117 resulted in a high percentage of uninjured occupants. In contrast, the fatality rate was highest for the models Bell UH-I D, Bell 222, and Bell 412. Data from the present study allow for estimating accident risk in HEMS missions and prognosticating resulting fatalities, respectively.

  12. Helicopter Rotor Blade Computation in Unsteady Flows Using Moving Overset Grids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Jasim; Duque, Earl P. N.

    1996-01-01

    An overset grid thin-layer Navier-Stokes code has been extended to include dynamic motion of helicopter rotor blades through relative grid motion. The unsteady flowfield and airloads on an AH-IG rotor in forward flight were computed to verify the methodology and to demonstrate the method's potential usefulness towards comprehensive helicopter codes. In addition, the method uses the blade's first harmonics measured in the flight test to prescribe the blade motion. The solution was impulsively started and became periodic in less than three rotor revolutions. Detailed unsteady numerical flow visualization techniques were applied to the entire unsteady data set of five rotor revolutions and exhibited flowfield features such as blade vortex interaction and wake roll-up. The unsteady blade loads and surface pressures compare well against those from flight measurements. Details of the method, a discussion of the resulting predicted flowfield, and requirements for future work are presented. Overall, given the proper blade dynamics, this method can compute the unsteady flowfield of a general helicopter rotor in forward flight.

  13. Effects of helicopter transport on red blood cell components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otani, Taiichi; Oki, Ken-ichi; Akino, Mitsuaki; Tamura, Satoru; Naito, Yuki; Homma, Chihiro; Ikeda, Hisami; Sumita, Shinzou

    2012-01-01

    There are no reported studies on whether a helicopter flight affects the quality and shelf-life of red blood cells stored in mannitol-adenine-phosphate. Seven days after donation, five aliquots of red blood cells from five donors were packed into an SS-BOX-110 container which can maintain the temperature inside the container between 2 °C and 6 °C with two frozen coolants. The temperature of an included dummy blood bag was monitored. After the box had been transported in a helicopter for 4 hours, the red blood cells were stored again and their quality evaluated at day 7 (just after the flight), 14, 21 and 42 after donation. Red blood cell quality was evaluated by measuring adenosine triphosphate, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, and supernatant potassium, as well as haematocrit, intracellular pH, glucose, supernatant haemoglobin, and haemolysis rate at the various time points. During the experiment the recorded temperature remained between 2 and 6 °C. All data from the red blood cells that had undergone helicopter transportation were the same as those from a control group of red blood cell samples 7 (just after the flight), 14, 21, and 42 days after the donation. Only supernatant Hb and haemolysis rate 42 days after the donation were slightly increased in the helicopter-transported group of red blood cell samples. All other parameters at 42 days after donation were the same in the two groups of red blood cells. These results suggest that red blood cells stored in mannitol-adenine-phosphate are not significantly affected by helicopter transportation. The differences in haemolysis by the end of storage were small and probably not of clinical significance.

  14. Airborne thermal infrared imaging of the 2004-2005 eruption of Mount St. Helens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, D. J.; Vallance, J. W.; Logan, M.; Wessels, R.; Ramsey, M.

    2005-12-01

    A helicopter-mounted forward-looking infrared imaging radiometer (FLIR) documented the explosive and effusive activity at Mount St. Helens during the 2004-2005 eruption. A gyrostabilzed gimbal controlled by a crew member houses the FLIR radiometer and an optical video camera attached at the lower front of the helicopter. Since October 1, 2004 the system has provided an unprecedented data set of thermal and video dome-growth observations. Flights were conducted as frequently as twice daily during the initial month of the eruption (when changes in the crater and dome occurred rapidly), and have been continued on a tri-weekly basis during the period of sustained dome growth. As with any new technology, the routine use of FLIR images to aid in volcano monitoring has been a learning experience in terms of observation strategy and data interpretation. Some of the unique information that has been derived from these data to date include: 1) Rapid identification of the phreatic nature of the early explosive phase; 2) Observation of faulting and associated heat flow during times of large scale deformation; 3) Venting of hot gas through a short lived crater lake, indicative of a shallow magma source; 4) Increased heat flow of the crater floor prior to the initial dome extrusion; 5) Confirmation of new magma reaching the surface; 6) Identification of the source of active lava extrusion, dome collapse, and block and ash flows. Temperatures vary from ambient, in areas insulated by fault gouge and talus produced during extrusion, to as high as 500-740 degrees C in regions of active extrusion, collapse, and fracturing. This temperature variation needs to be accounted for in the retrieval of eruption parameters using satellite-based techniques as such features are sub-pixel size in satellite images.

  15. A Maneuvering Flight Noise Model for Helicopter Mission Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric; Rau, Robert; May, Benjamin; Hobbs, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    A new model for estimating the noise radiation during maneuvering flight is developed in this paper. The model applies the Quasi-Static Acoustic Mapping (Q-SAM) method to a database of acoustic spheres generated using the Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustics Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) technique. A method is developed to generate a realistic flight trajectory from a limited set of waypoints and is used to calculate the quasi-static operating condition and corresponding acoustic sphere for the vehicle throughout the maneuver. By using a previously computed database of acoustic spheres, the acoustic impact of proposed helicopter operations can be rapidly predicted for use in mission-planning. The resulting FRAME-QS model is applied to near-horizon noise measurements collected for the Bell 430 helicopter undergoing transient pitch up and roll maneuvers, with good agreement between the measured data and the FRAME-QS model.

  16. 14 CFR 135.207 - VFR: Helicopter surface reference requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false VFR: Helicopter surface reference... VFR/IFR Operating Limitations and Weather Requirements § 135.207 VFR: Helicopter surface reference requirements. No person may operate a helicopter under VFR unless that person has visual surface reference or...

  17. Photogrammetric Analysis of the Current Dome-Building Eruption of Mount St. Helens Volcano

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefenbach, A. K.; Dzurisin, D.; Crider, J. G.; Schilling, S. P.

    2006-12-01

    Beginning in October 2004 and continuing to present day, the eruption of Mount St. Helens has provided a unique opportunity to experiment with new tools and techniques to study the dome-building eruption of a Cascade volcano. At the onset of eruption, a permanent camera station called Sugar Bowl was installed on the northeast rim of the crater about 2 km from the vent. Since that time, four additional cameras have been installed on the rim and crater floor to provide continuous visual observation of dome growth and crater conditions. We have analyzed images from four of the cameras to measure variations in three-dimensional lineal growth rates of lava spines extruding from the growing dome. Using photogrammetric techniques it is possible to obtain quantitative information on the geometry and displacement of a changing topographic model, in this case the evolving dome and glaciers in the crater of Mount St. Helens. The technique is an inexpensive, high-resolution, and efficient method that uses standard commercial software and an off-the-shelf digital camera to determine the x, y, z positions of selected points on the model surface. The model geometry at any given time is defined by the positions of all the points, and displacements are measured by tracking the changing positions of the points through time. Lineal extrusion rates during the first few months of the eruption ranged from 6-11 m/d, and subsequent estimates by other techniques were 4-5 m/d (Dzurisin et. al, 2005). For the past six months the extrusion rate has leveled off at 1 m/d, possibly indicative of steady-state extrusion or an approaching pause in the eruption. Another aspect of the project involves the use of overlapping oblique photos taken from a helicopter in 2004 and 2005 to produce fast and coarse digital elevation models (DEMs), which supplement high resolution DEMs produced by the USGS every 1 - 2 months. Comparing these results with seismicity and ground tilt measured by shallow borehole

  18. Helicopter Flight Procedures for Community Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric

    2017-01-01

    A computationally efficient, semiempirical noise model suitable for maneuvering flight noise prediction is used to evaluate the community noise impact of practical variations on several helicopter flight procedures typical of normal operations. Turns, "quick-stops," approaches, climbs, and combinations of these maneuvers are assessed. Relatively small variations in flight procedures are shown to cause significant changes to Sound Exposure Levels over a wide area. Guidelines are developed for helicopter pilots intended to provide effective strategies for reducing the negative effects of helicopter noise on the community. Finally, direct optimization of flight trajectories is conducted to identify low noise optimal flight procedures and quantify the magnitude of community noise reductions that can be obtained through tailored helicopter flight procedures. Physically realizable optimal turns and approaches are identified that achieve global noise reductions of as much as 10 dBA Sound Exposure Level.

  19. 78 FR 23686 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-22

    ...-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand Delivery: Deliver to the ``Mail... during a scheduled maintenance check, a helicopter was discovered to have interference between the...) Inspect the right and left attachment points of the TGB forward attachment to measure the dimension for a...

  20. Effects of helicopter transport on red blood cell components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otani, Taiichi; Oki, Ken-ichi; Akino, Mitsuaki; Tamura, Satoru; Naito, Yuki; Homma, Chihiro; Ikeda, Hisami; Sumita, Shinzou

    2012-01-01

    Background There are no reported studies on whether a helicopter flight affects the quality and shelf-life of red blood cells stored in mannitol-adenine-phosphate. Materials and methods Seven days after donation, five aliquots of red blood cells from five donors were packed into an SS-BOX-110 container which can maintain the temperature inside the container between 2 °C and 6 °C with two frozen coolants. The temperature of an included dummy blood bag was monitored. After the box had been transported in a helicopter for 4 hours, the red blood cells were stored again and their quality evaluated at day 7 (just after the flight), 14, 21 and 42 after donation. Red blood cell quality was evaluated by measuring adenosine triphosphate, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, and supernatant potassium, as well as haematocrit, intracellular pH, glucose, supernatant haemoglobin, and haemolysis rate at the various time points. Results During the experiment the recorded temperature remained between 2 and 6 °C. All data from the red blood cells that had undergone helicopter transportation were the same as those from a control group of red blood cell samples 7 (just after the flight), 14, 21, and 42 days after the donation. Only supernatant Hb and haemolysis rate 42 days after the donation were slightly increased in the helicopter-transported group of red blood cell samples. All other parameters at 42 days after donation were the same in the two groups of red blood cells. Discussion These results suggest that red blood cells stored in mannitol-adenine-phosphate are not significantly affected by helicopter transportation. The differences in haemolysis by the end of storage were small and probably not of clinical significance. PMID:22153688

  1. 14 CFR 136.13 - Helicopter performance plan and operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Helicopter performance plan and operations... Helicopter performance plan and operations. (a) Each operator must complete a performance plan before each helicopter commercial air tour, or flight operated under 14 CFR 91.146 or 91.147. The pilot in command must...

  2. 14 CFR 136.11 - Helicopter floats for over water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Helicopter floats for over water. 136.11... TOURS AND NATIONAL PARKS AIR TOUR MANAGEMENT National Air Tour Safety Standards § 136.11 Helicopter floats for over water. (a) A helicopter used in commercial air tours over water beyond the shoreline must...

  3. High-precision gravity measurements using absolute and relative gravimeters at Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciro Del Negro

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Accurate detection of time gravity changes attributable to the dynamics of volcanoes requires high-precision gravity measurements. With the aim of improving the quality of data from the Mount Etna gravity network, we used both absolute and relative gravimeters in a hybrid method. In this report, some of the techniques for gravity surveys are reviewed, and the results related to each method are compared. We show how the total uncertainty estimated for the gravity measurements performed with this combined use of absolute and relative gravimeters is roughly comparable to that calculated when the measurements are acquired using only relative gravimeters (the traditional method. However, the data highlight how the hybrid approach improves the measurement capabilities for surveying the Mount Etna volcanic area. This approach enhances the accuracy of the data, and then of the four-dimensional surveying, which minimizes ambiguities inherent in the gravity measurements. As a case study, we refer to two gravity datasets acquired in 2005 and 2010 from the western part of the Etna volcano, which included five absolute and 13 relative stations of the Etna gravity network.

  4. Association Between Helicopter vs Ground Emergency Medical Services and Survival for Adults With Major Trauma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galvagno, Samuel M.; Haut, Elliott R.; Zafar, S. Nabeel; Millin, Michael G.; Efron, David T.; Koenig, George J.; Baker, Susan P.; Bowman, Stephen M.; Pronovost, Peter J.; Haider, Adil H.

    2012-01-01

    Context Helicopter emergency medical services and their possible effect on outcomes for traumatically injured patients remain a subject of debate. Because helicopter services are a limited and expensive resource, a methodologically rigorous investigation of its effectiveness compared with ground emergency medical services is warranted. Objective To assess the association between the use of helicopter vs ground services and survival among adults with serious traumatic injuries. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cohort study involving 223 475 patients older than 15 years, having an injury severity score higher than 15, and sustaining blunt or penetrating trauma that required transport to US level I or II trauma centers and whose data were recorded in the 2007–2009 versions of the American College of Surgeons National Trauma Data Bank. Interventions Transport by helicopter or ground emergency services to level I or level II trauma centers. Main Outcome Measures Survival to hospital discharge and discharge disposition. Results A total of 61 909 patients were transported by helicopter and 161 566 patients were transported by ground. Overall, 7813 patients (12.6%) transported by helicopter died compared with 17 775 patients (11%) transported by ground services. Before propensity score matching, patients transported by helicopter to level I and level II trauma centers had higher Injury Severity Scores. In the propensity score–matched multivariable regression model, for patients transported to level I trauma centers, helicopter transport was associated with an improved odds of survival compared with ground transport (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% CI, 1.14–1.17; P<.001; absolute risk reduction [ARR], 1.5%). For patients transported to level II trauma centers, helicopter transport was associated with an improved odds of survival (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.13–1.17; P < .001; ARR, 1.4%). A greater proportion (18.2%) of those transported to level I trauma centers

  5. Quadrotor helicopter for surface hydrological measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagano, C.; Tauro, F.; Porfiri, M.; Grimaldi, S.

    2013-12-01

    Surface hydrological measurements are typically performed through user-assisted and intrusive field methodologies which can be inadequate to monitor remote and extended areas. In this poster, we present the design and development of a quadrotor helicopter equipped with digital acquisition system and image calibration units for surface flow measurements. This custom-built aerial vehicle is engineered to be lightweight, low-cost, highly customizable, and stable to guarantee optimal image quality. Quadricopter stability guarantees minimal vibrations during image acquisition and, therefore, improved accuracy in flow velocity estimation through large scale particle image velocimetry algorithms or particle tracking procedures. Stability during the vehicle pitching and rolling is achieved by adopting large arm span and high-wing configurations. Further, the vehicle framework is composed of lightweight aluminum and durable carbon fiber for optimal resilience. The open source Ardupilot microcontroller is used for remote control of the quadricopter. The microcontroller includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) equipped with accelerometers and gyroscopes for stable flight through feedback control. The vehicle is powered by a 3 cell (11.1V) 3000 mAh Lithium-polymer battery. Electronic equipment and wiring are hosted into the hollow arms and on several carbon fiber platforms in the waterproof fuselage. Four 35A high-torque motors are supported at the far end of each arm with 10 × 4.7 inch propellers. Energy dissipation during landing is accomplished by four pivoting legs that, through the use of shock absorbers, prevent the impact energy from affecting the frame thus causing significant damage. The data capturing system consists of a GoPro Hero3 camera and in-house built camera gimbal and shock absorber damping device. The camera gimbal, hosted below the vehicle fuselage, is engineered to maintain the orthogonality of the camera axis with respect to the water surface by

  6. Conceptual Design and Performance Analysis for a Large Civil Compound Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Carl; Johnson, Wayne

    2012-01-01

    A conceptual design study of a large civil compound helicopter is presented. The objective is to determine how a compound helicopter performs when compared to both a conventional helicopter and a tiltrotor using a design mission that is shorter than optimal for a tiltrotor and longer than optimal for a helicopter. The designs are generated and analyzed using conceptual design software and are further evaluated with a comprehensive rotorcraft analysis code. Multiple metrics are used to determine the suitability of each design for the given mission. Plots of various trade studies and parameter sweeps as well as comprehensive analysis results are presented. The results suggest that the compound helicopter examined for this study would not be competitive with a tiltrotor or conventional helicopter, but multiple possibilities are identified for improving the performance of the compound helicopter in future research.

  7. Automatic guidance and control laws for helicopter obstacle avoidance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Victor H. L.; Lam, T.

    1992-01-01

    The authors describe the implementation of a full-function guidance and control system for automatic obstacle avoidance in helicopter nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight. The guidance function assumes that the helicopter is sufficiently responsive so that the flight path can be readily adjusted at NOE speeds. The controller, basically an autopilot for following the derived flight path, was implemented with parameter values to control a generic helicopter model used in the simulation. Evaluation of the guidance and control system with a 3-dimensional graphical helicopter simulation suggests that the guidance has the potential for providing good and meaningful flight trajectories.

  8. Surface topography characterization using an atomic force microscope mounted on a coordinate measuring machine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Chiffre, Leonardo; Hansen, H.N; Kofod, N

    1999-01-01

    The paper describes the construction, testing and use of an integrated system for topographic characterization of fine surfaces on parts having relatively big dimensions. An atomic force microscope (AFM) was mounted on a manual three-coordinate measuring machine (CMM) achieving free positioning o...

  9. The Differential Effect of Sustained Operations on Psychomotor Skills of Helicopter Pilots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMahon, Terry W; Newman, David G

    2018-06-01

    Flying a helicopter is a complex psychomotor skill requiring constant control inputs from pilots. A deterioration in psychomotor performance of a helicopter pilot may be detrimental to operational safety. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that psychomotor performance deteriorates over time during sustained operations and that the effect is more pronounced in the feet than the hands. The subjects were helicopter pilots conducting sustained multicrew offshore flight operations in a demanding environment. The remote flight operations involved constant workload in hot environmental conditions with complex operational tasking. Over a period of 6 d 10 helicopter pilots were tested. At the completion of daily flying duties, a helicopter-specific screen-based compensatory tracking task measuring tracking accuracy (over a 5-min period) tested both hands and feet. Data were compared over time and tested for statistical significance for both deterioration and differential effect. A statistically significant deterioration of psychomotor performance was evident in the pilots over time for both hands and feet. There was also a statistically significant differential effect between the hands and the feet in terms of tracking accuracy. The hands recorded a 22.6% decrease in tracking accuracy, while the feet recorded a 39.9% decrease in tracking accuracy. The differential effect may be due to prioritization of limb movement by the motor cortex due to factors such as workload-induced cognitive fatigue. This may result in a greater reduction in performance in the feet than the hands, posing a significant risk to operational safety.McMahon TW, Newman DG. The differential effect of sustained operations on psychomotor skills of helicopter pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(6):496-502.

  10. Flow distortion on boom mounted cup anemometers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindelöw, Per Jonas Petter; Friis Pedersen, Troels; Gottschall, Julia

    In this report we investigate on wind direction dependent errors in the measurement of the horizontal wind speed by boom mounted cup anemometers. The boom mounting on the studied lattice tower is performed according to IEC standard design rules, yet, larger deviations than predicted by flow models...... are observed. The errors on the measurements are likely caused by an underestimation of the flow distortions around the tower. In this paper an experimental method for deriving a correction formula and an in-field calibration is suggested. The method is based on measurements with two cup anemometers mounted...

  11. 33 CFR 149.655 - What are the requirements for helicopter fueling facilities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... helicopter fueling facilities? 149.655 Section 149.655 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... EQUIPMENT Design and Equipment Helicopter Fueling Facilities § 149.655 What are the requirements for helicopter fueling facilities? Helicopter fueling facilities must comply with 46 CFR 108.489 or an equivalent...

  12. Attack Helicopter Operations: Art or Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-05-13

    ATTACK HELICOPTER OPERATIONS: ART OR SCIENCE ? BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAN CALLEN United States Army DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release...TASK IWORK UNIT ELEMENT NO. NO. NO. ACCESSION NC 11. TITLE (Include Socurity Classification) Attack Helicopter Operations: Art or Science ? 12. PERSONAL...OPERATIONS: ART OR SCIENCE ? AN INDIVIDUAL STUDY PROJECT by Lieutenant Colonel Jan Callen United States Army Colonel Greg Snelgrove Project Adviser U.S

  13. Black Hawk down? Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padilla-Walker, Laura M; Nelson, Larry J

    2012-10-01

    The purpose of the current study was to establish a measure of helicopter parenting that was distinct from other forms of parental control, and to examine parental and behavioral correlates of helicopter parenting. Participants included 438 undergraduate students from four universities in the United States (M(age) = 19.65, SD = 2.00, range = 18-29; 320 women, 118 men), and at least one of their parents. Analyses revealed that helicopter parenting loaded on a separate factor from both behavioral and psychological control, and that helicopter parenting was positively associated with behavioral and psychological control, but not at levels suggesting complete overlap. Results also revealed that helicopter parenting was positively associated with parental involvement and with other positive aspects of the parent-child relationship; but negatively associated with parental autonomy granting and school engagement. Discussion focuses on the implications of helicopter parenting for healthy development during emerging adulthood. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. CHANGES IN FLIGHT TRAINEE PERFORMANCE FOLLOWING SYNTHETIC HELICOPTER FLIGHT TRAINING.

    Science.gov (United States)

    CARO, PAUL W., JR.; ISLEY, ROBERT N.

    A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED AT THE U.S. ARMY PRIMARY HELICOPTER SCHOOL, FORT WOLTERS, TEXAS, TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE USE OF A HELICOPTER TRAINING DEVICE WOULD IMPROVE STUDENT PERFORMANCE DURING SUBSEQUENT HELICOPTER CONTACT FLIGHT TRAINING. SUBJECTS WERE TWO EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS AND TWO CONTROL GROUPS OF WARRANT OFFICER CANDIDATES ENROLLED FOR A…

  15. 46 CFR 109.575 - Accumulation of liquids on helicopter decks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Accumulation of liquids on helicopter decks. 109.575... DRILLING UNITS OPERATIONS Miscellaneous § 109.575 Accumulation of liquids on helicopter decks. The master or person in charge shall ensure that no liquids are allowed to accumulate on the helicopter decks. ...

  16. 78 FR 9793 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-12

    ...-numbered main rotor hub inboard strap fittings (fittings). This AD requires magnetic particle inspecting... identified in this AD, contact Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., P.O. Box 482, Fort Worth, TX 76101, telephone..., perform a magnetic particle inspection (MPI) of each fitting for a crack. If an MPI was already performed...

  17. Long term measurement of lake evaporation using a pontoon mounted Eddy Covariance system

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGowan, H. A.; McGloin, R.; McJannet, D.; Burn, S.

    2011-12-01

    Accurate quantification of evaporation from water storages is essential for design of water management and allocation policy that aims to balance demands for water without compromising the sustainability of future water resources, particularly during periods of prolonged and severe drought. Precise measurement of evaporation from lakes and dams however, presents significant research challenges. These include design and installation of measurement platforms that can withstand a range of wind and wave conditions; accurate determination of the evaporation measurement footprint and the influence of changing water levels. In this paper we present results from a two year long deployment of a pontoon mounted Eddy Covariance (EC) system on a 17.2ha irrigation reservoir in southeast Queensland, Australia. The EC unit included a CSAT-3 sonic anemometer (Campbell Scientific, Utah, United States) and a Li-Cor CS7500 open-path H2O/CO2 infrared gas analyzer (LiCor, Nebraska, United States) at a height of 2.2m, a net radiometer (CNR1, Kipp & Zonen, Netherlands) at a height of 1.2m and a humidity and temperature probe (HMP45C,Vaisala, Finland) at 2.3m. The EC unit was controlled by a Campbell Scientific CR3000 data logger with flux measurements made at 10 Hz and block averaged values logged every 15 minutes. Power to the EC system was from mounted solar panels that charged deep cycle lead-acid batteries while communication was via a cellphone data link. The pontoon was fitted with a weighted central beam and gimbal ring system that allowed self-levelling of the instrumentation and minimized dynamic influences on measurements (McGowan et al 2010; Wiebe et al 2011). EC measurements were corrected for tilt errors using the double rotation method for coordinate rotation described by Wilczak et al. (2001). High and low frequency attenuation of the measured co-spectrum was corrected using Massman's (2000) method for estimating frequency response corrections, while measurements were

  18. Surveys of Students Challenge "Helicopter Parent" Stereotypes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoover, Eric

    2008-01-01

    Stories of "helicopter parents" abound. But several longtime student-affairs officials agree that while helicopter parents are real, their numbers--and behaviors--have been exaggerated. Parental involvement on campus, they say, is usually more of a help than a headache, for students and colleges alike. Some officials believe colleges must do even…

  19. Long Island north shore helicopter route environmental study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-21

    This report presents the results of the noise and emissions analysis of helicopter operations along the North Shore Helicopter Route of Long Island, New York performed by the Federal Aviation Administration, with the assistance of the Volpe Center...

  20. Helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey data, Hunton anticline, south-central Oklahoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Bruce D.; Smith, David V.; Deszcz-Pan, Maryla; Blome, Charles D.; Hill, Patricia

    2011-01-01

    This report is a digital data release for multiple geophysical surveys conducted in the Hunton anticline area of south-central Oklahoma. The helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic surveys were flown on March 16–17, 2007, in four areas of the Hunton anticline in south-central Oklahoma. The objective of this project is to improve the understanding of the geohydrologic framework of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. The electromagnetic sensor for the helicopter electromagnetic survey consisted of six different transmitter-receiver orientations that measured the earth's electrical response at six distinct frequencies from approximately 500 Hertz to approximately 115,000 Hertz. The electromagnetic measurements were converted to electrical resistivity values, which were gridded and plotted on georeferenced maps. The map from each frequency represents a different depth of investigation for each area. The range of subsurface investigation is comparable to the depth of shallow groundwater. The four areas selected for the helicopter electromagnetic study, blocks A–D, have different geologic and hydrologic settings. Geophysical and hydrologic information from U.S. Geological Survey studies are being used by modelers and resource managers to develop groundwater resource plans for the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer.

  1. Input Shaping for Helicopter Slung Load Swing Reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    2008-01-01

    This chapter presents a feedforward swing reducing control system for augmenting already existing helicopter controllers and enables slung load flight with autonomous helicopters general cargo transport. The feedforward controller is designed to avoid excitation of the lightly damped modes...

  2. Comparison of Test Stand and Helicopter Oil Cooler Bearing Condition Indicators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dempsey, Paula J.; Branning, Jeremy; Wade, Damiel R.; Bolander, Nathan

    2010-01-01

    The focus of this paper was to compare the performance of HUMS condition indicators (CI) when detecting a bearing fault in a test stand or on a helicopter. This study compared data from two sources: first, CI data collected from accelerometers installed on two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters when oil cooler bearing faults occurred, along with data from helicopters with no bearing faults; and second, CI data that was collected from ten cooler bearings, healthy and faulted, that were removed from fielded helicopters and installed in a test stand. A method using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to compare CI performance was demonstrated. Results indicated the bearing energy CI responded differently for the helicopter and the test stand. Future research is required if test stand data is to be used validate condition indicator performance on a helicopter.

  3. Rearrangement of land and water use system in polder and drainage improvement. Kantakuchi no tochiter dot mizu riyo taikei no saihensei to haisui kairyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mitsuno, T; Nagahori, K [Okayama Univ., Okayama (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture; Yamamoto, T [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo (Japan)

    1991-09-01

    Polders have no basin of their own, and the supply of irrigation water in polders is always short and unstable. The irrigation water system is so structured that the conflicting objects of both the insurance of irrigation water and drainage of rainwater can be achieved. Quoting an example at the surrounding area of the Kojima Bay in the southern area of Okayaja Prefecture where inning (land reclamation by drainage) has been practiced for a long time, problems in drainage improvement required for better use of low-lying flat lands are discussed. There are complicate relations among the safety against flood, rainwater drainage capability, stock capacity, and critical leveling time, therefore, the basic operation which must be performed at first in making a drainage plan is to determine the basic framework of the plan taking those relations into consideration. In low-lying flat lands, safety of the total area against flood has been established basing on the stock capacity of the paddy fields, and it is important to secure paddy field areas to a certain extent. 8 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

  4. U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School Training Program Performance Norms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, John A.; Statham, Flavous D.

    The Helicopter Pilot Training Program of the Army differs from those of the other services in concept. It takes nonpilot servicemen and trains them to fly helicopters. The study provides normative performance data for a pilot trainee in an army light-observation helicopter as a first step toward establishing normative data for pilot performance in…

  5. Sleep and Alertness in North Sea Helicopter Operations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Simons, M.; Wilschut, E.S.; Valk, P.J.L.

    2011-01-01

    Introduction : Dutch North Sea helicopter operations are characterized by multiple sector flights to offshore platforms under difficult environmental conditions. In the context of a Ministry of Transport program to improve safety levels of helicopter operations, we assessed effects of pre-duty

  6. Minimum-complexity helicopter simulation math model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heffley, Robert K.; Mnich, Marc A.

    1988-01-01

    An example of a minimal complexity simulation helicopter math model is presented. Motivating factors are the computational delays, cost, and inflexibility of the very sophisticated math models now in common use. A helicopter model form is given which addresses each of these factors and provides better engineering understanding of the specific handling qualities features which are apparent to the simulator pilot. The technical approach begins with specification of features which are to be modeled, followed by a build up of individual vehicle components and definition of equations. Model matching and estimation procedures are given which enable the modeling of specific helicopters from basic data sources such as flight manuals. Checkout procedures are given which provide for total model validation. A number of possible model extensions and refinement are discussed. Math model computer programs are defined and listed.

  7. Helicopter training simulators: Key market factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcintosh, John

    1992-01-01

    Simulators will gain an increasingly important role in training helicopter pilots only if the simulators are of sufficient fidelity to provide positive transfer of skills to the aircraft. This must be done within an economic model of return on investment. Although rotor pilot demand is still only a small percentage of overall pilot requirements, it will grow in significance. This presentation described the salient factors influencing the use of helicopter training simulators.

  8. 78 FR 40055 - Airworthiness Directives; Agusta S.p.A. Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-03

    .... We also estimate that it would take about 3 work-hours per helicopter to rework the top cable cutter... helicopter to rework the top cable cutter assembly, $9,085 per helicopter to replace the top cable cutter... installing a WSPS upper installation, P/N 4G9540A00111, either: (i) Rework the top cable cutter assembly, P/N...

  9. 77 FR 52270 - Airworthiness Directives; Agusta S.p.A. Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-29

    ... would take about three work- hours per helicopter to rework the top cable-cutter assembly, one work... would be $255 per helicopter to rework the top cable-cutter assembly, $9,085 per helicopter to replace... 4G9540A00111, either: (i) Rework the top cable cutter assembly, P/N 423-83001-1, in accordance with the...

  10. Computed tomography (CT) as a nondestructive test method used for composite helicopter components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oster, Reinhold

    1991-09-01

    The first components of primary helicopter structures to be made of glass fiber reinforced plastics were the main and tail rotor blades of the Bo105 and BK 117 helicopters. These blades are now successfully produced in series. New developments in rotor components, e.g., the rotor blade technology of the Bo108 and PAH2 programs, make use of very complex fiber reinforced structures to achieve simplicity and strength. Computer tomography was found to be an outstanding nondestructive test method for examining the internal structure of components. A CT scanner generates x-ray attenuation measurements which are used to produce computer reconstructed images of any desired part of an object. The system images a range of flaws in composites in a number of views and planes. Several CT investigations and their results are reported taking composite helicopter components as an example.

  11. The use of helicopter-borne neutron detectors to detect nuclear warheads in the USSR-US Black Sea experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belyaev, S.T.; Lebedev, V.I.; Obinyakov, B.A.; Zemlyakov, M.V.; Ryazantsev, V.A.; Armashov, V.M.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that the Soviet Navy used a helicopter/ship system called Sovietnik to detect a cruise-missile warhead in the joint USSR-US experiment on the Black Sea, which took place on 5 July 1989. The system consists of a ship-based helicopter, equipped with a neutron detector and processing equipment, associated ship-based equipment. The neutron detector, together with instrumentation for recording preliminary processing, and analysis of initial information, is located on the helicopter, which carries out the measurement while flying slowly past the ship in question

  12. Overview of the aerial radiological measuring system (ARMS) program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deal, L.J.; Doyle, J.F. III.

    1975-01-01

    Since 1960 EG and G, Inc. has developed and maintained for the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) a state-of-the-art radiation surveillance program called the Aerial Radiological Measuring System (ARMS). Radiological surveys covering more than 300,000 square miles have been performed. In addition to the radiation detector gear, the system includes an inertial navigation system, radar altimeter, meteorological probes, air sampler, air sample analyzer, multispectral cameras, aerial mapping camera and infrared scanner. The recently improved data acquisition system, REDAR, records all inputs digitally on magnetic tape and is readily mounted in fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters. The data analysis system, REDAC, is mounted in a mobile processing laboratory which accompanies the aircraft on surveys. Radiation isopleth maps, both for gross counts and selected isotopes, can be prepared in the field. Special computer software enables the ARMS to detect changes of less than 1.0 μR/hr in exposure rates between successive surveys of a given site

  13. 14 CFR 135.271 - Helicopter hospital emergency medical evacuation service (HEMES).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Helicopter hospital emergency medical....271 Helicopter hospital emergency medical evacuation service (HEMES). (a) No certificate holder may... certificate holder may assign a helicopter flight crewmember, and no flight crewmember may accept an...

  14. Helicopter Emergency Medical Services: effects, costs and benefits

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.N. Ringburg (Akkie)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractAdvanced prehospital medical care with air transport was introduced in the Netherlands in May 1995. The fi rst helicopter Mobile Medical Team, also called Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) was a joint venture initiative of the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam and the Algemene

  15. INVESTINGATION DOWNWARD WIND PRESSURE ON A SMALL QUADROTOR HELICOPTER

    OpenAIRE

    RAHMATI, Sadegh; GHASED, Amir

    2015-01-01

    Abstract. Small rotary-wing UAVs are susceptible to gusts and other environmental disturbances that affect inflow at their rotors. Inflow variations cause unexpected aerodynamic forces through changes in thrust conditions and unmodeled blade-flapping dynamics. This pa­per introduces an onboard, pressure-based flow measurement system developed for a small quadrotor helicopter. The probe-based instrumentation package provides spatially dis­tributed airspeed measurements along each of the aircra...

  16. Preliminary Analysis of Helicopter Options to Support Tunisian Counterterrorism Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-27

    helicopters from Sikorsky to fulfill a number of roles in counterterrorism operations. Rising costs and delays in delivery raised the question of...whether other cost-effective options exist to meet Tunisia’s helicopter requirement. Approach Our team conducted a preliminary assessment of...alternative helicopters for counterterrorism air assault missions. Any decision to acquire an aircraft must consider many factors, including technical

  17. CasimirSim - A Tool to Compute Casimir Polder Forces for Nontrivial 3D Geometries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sedmik, Rene; Tajmar, Martin

    2007-01-01

    The so-called Casimir effect is one of the most interesting macro-quantum effects. Being negligible on the macro-scale it becomes a governing factor below structure sizes of 1 μm where it accounts for typically 100 kN m-2. The force does not depend on gravity, or electric charge but solely on the materials properties, and geometrical shape. This makes the effect a strong candidate for micro(nano)-mechanical devices M(N)EMS. Despite a long history of research the theory lacks a uniform description valid for arbitrary geometries which retards technical application. We present an advanced state-of-the-art numerical tool overcoming all the usual geometrical restrictions, capable of calculating arbitrary 3D geometries by utilizing the Casimir Polder approximation for the Casimir force

  18. PV module mounting method and mounting assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lenox, Carl J.S.; Johnson, Kurt M.

    2013-04-23

    A method for mounting PV modules to a deck includes selecting PV module layout pattern so that adjacent PV module edges are spaced apart. PV mounting and support assemblies are secured to the deck according to the layout pattern using fasteners extending into the deck. The PV modules are placed on the PV mounting and support assemblies. Retaining elements are located over and secured against the upper peripheral edge surfaces of the PV modules so to secure them to the deck with the peripheral edges of the PV modules spaced apart from the deck. In some examples a PV module mounting assembly, for use on a shingled deck, comprises flashing, a base mountable on the flashing, a deck-penetrating fastener engageable with the base and securable to the deck so to secure the flashing and the base to the shingled deck, and PV module mounting hardware securable to the base.

  19. Wind field reconstruction from nacelle-mounted lidar short-range measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Borraccino

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Profiling nacelle lidars probe the wind at several heights and several distances upstream of the rotor. The development of such lidar systems is relatively recent, and it is still unclear how to condense the lidar raw measurements into useful wind field characteristics such as speed, direction, vertical and longitudinal gradients (wind shear. In this paper, we demonstrate an innovative method to estimate wind field characteristics using nacelle lidar measurements taken within the induction zone. Model-fitting wind field reconstruction techniques are applied to nacelle lidar measurements taken at multiple distances close to the rotor, where a wind model is combined with a simple induction model. The method allows robust determination of free-stream wind characteristics. The method was applied to experimental data obtained with two different types of nacelle lidar (five-beam Demonstrator and ZephIR Dual Mode. The reconstructed wind speed was within 0.5 % of the wind speed measured with a mast-top-mounted cup anemometer at 2.5 rotor diameters upstream of the turbine. The technique described in this paper overcomes measurement range limitations of the currently available nacelle lidar technology.

  20. Development and evaluation of a helicopter-borne water-quality monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, J. W.; Jordan, R. A.; Flynn, J.; Thomas, R. W.

    1978-01-01

    A small, helicopter-borne water-quality monitoring package is being developed by the NASA/EPA using a combination of basic in situ water quality sensors and physical sample collector technology. The package is a lightweight system which can be carried and operated by one person as a passenger in a small helicopter typically available by rental at commercial airports. Real-time measurements are made by suspending the water quality monitoring package with a cable from the hovering helicopter. Designed primarily for use in rapidly assessing hazardous material spills in inland and coastal zone water bodies, the system can survey as many as 20 data stations up to 1.5 kilometers apart in 1 hour. The system provides several channels of sensor data and allows for the addition of future sensors. The system will also collect samples from selected sites with sample collection on command. An EPA Spill Response Team member can easily transport, deploy, and operate the water quality monitoring package to determine the distribution, movement, and concentration of the spilled material in the water body.

  1. Basic Helicopter Handbook, Revised. AC 61-13A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Federal Aviation Administration (DOT), Washington, DC. Flight Standards Service.

    This technical manual was designed to assist applicants preparing for the private, commercial, and flight instructor pilot certificates with a helicopter rating. The chapters outline general aerodynamics, aerodynamics of flight, loads and load factors, function of controls, other helicopter components and their functions, introduction to the…

  2. 78 FR 15277 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-11

    ... the ASB as mandatory. Costs of Compliance We estimate that this AD affects three helicopters of U.S... of the helicopter's bottom structure. AD 2006- 0152 requires compliance with Eurocopter Alert Service... with France, EASA, its technical representative, has notified us of the unsafe condition described in...

  3. Differences in physical workload between military helicopter pilots and cabin crew

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Oord, Marieke H. A.; Sluiter, Judith K.; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.

    2014-01-01

    The 1-year prevalence of regular or continuous neck pain in military helicopter pilots of the Dutch Defense Helicopter Command (DHC) is 20%, and physical work exposures have been suggested as risk factors. Pilots and cabin crew perform different tasks when flying helicopters. The aims of the current

  4. 46 CFR 131.950 - Placard on lifesaving signals and helicopter recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Placard on lifesaving signals and helicopter recovery... SUPPLY VESSELS OPERATIONS Miscellaneous § 131.950 Placard on lifesaving signals and helicopter recovery..., Chapter V, of SOLAS 74/83; and (2) In helicopter recovery. (b) The signals must be employed by vessels or...

  5. Quad-Rotor Helicopter Autonomous Navigation Based on Vanishing Point Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jialiang Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Quad-rotor helicopter is becoming popular increasingly as they can well implement many flight missions in more challenging environments, with lower risk of damaging itself and its surroundings. They are employed in many applications, from military operations to civilian tasks. Quad-rotor helicopter autonomous navigation based on the vanishing point fast estimation (VPFE algorithm using clustering principle is implemented in this paper. For images collected by the camera of quad-rotor helicopter, the system executes the process of preprocessing of image, deleting noise interference, edge extracting using Canny operator, and extracting straight lines by randomized hough transformation (RHT method. Then system obtains the position of vanishing point and regards it as destination point and finally controls the autonomous navigation of the quad-rotor helicopter by continuous modification according to the calculated navigation error. The experimental results show that the quad-rotor helicopter can implement the destination navigation well in the indoor environment.

  6. 78 FR 52407 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-23

    ... prevent failure of float and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter during an emergency water... requirements were intended to prevent failure of float and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter during... in the float becoming punctured, failure of the float to inflate, and subsequent loss of control of...

  7. Swing Damping for Helicopter Slung Load Systems using Delayed Feedback

    OpenAIRE

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the design and verification of a swing reducing controller for helicopter slung load systems usingintentional delayed feedback. It is intended for augmenting a trajectory tracking helicopter controller and thereby improving the slung load handing capabilities for autonomous helicopters. The delayed feedback controller is added to actively reduce oscillations of the slung load by improving the damping of the slung load pendulum modes. Furthermore, it is intended for integra...

  8. Multicenter observational prehospital resuscitation on helicopter study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holcomb, John B; Swartz, Michael D; DeSantis, Stacia M; Greene, Thomas J; Fox, Erin E; Stein, Deborah M; Bulger, Eileen M; Kerby, Jeffrey D; Goodman, Michael; Schreiber, Martin A; Zielinski, Martin D; O'Keeffe, Terence; Inaba, Kenji; Tomasek, Jeffrey S; Podbielski, Jeanette M; Appana, Savitri N; Yi, Misung; Wade, Charles E

    2017-07-01

    Earlier use of in-hospital plasma, platelets, and red blood cells (RBCs) has improved survival in trauma patients with severe hemorrhage. Retrospective studies have associated improved early survival with prehospital blood product transfusion (PHT). We hypothesized that PHT of plasma and/or RBCs would result in improved survival after injury in patients transported by helicopter. Adult trauma patients transported by helicopter from the scene to nine Level 1 trauma centers were prospectively observed from January to November 2015. Five helicopter systems had plasma and/or RBCs, whereas the other four helicopter systems used only crystalloid resuscitation. All patients meeting predetermined high-risk criteria were analyzed. Patients receiving PHT were compared with patients not receiving PHT. Our primary analysis compared mortality at 3 hours, 24 hours, and 30 days, using logistic regression to adjust for confounders and site heterogeneity to model patients who were matched on propensity scores. Twenty-five thousand one hundred eighteen trauma patients were admitted, 2,341 (9%) were transported by helicopter, of which 1,058 (45%) met the highest-risk criteria. Five hundred eighty-five of 1,058 patients were flown on helicopters carrying blood products. In the systems with blood available, prehospital median systolic blood pressure (125 vs 128) and Glasgow Coma Scale (7 vs 14) was significantly lower, whereas median Injury Severity Score was significantly higher (21 vs 14). Unadjusted mortality was significantly higher in the systems with blood products available, at 3 hours (8.4% vs 3.6%), 24 hours (12.6% vs 8.9%), and 30 days (19.3% vs 13.3%). Twenty-four percent of eligible patients received a PHT. A median of 1 unit of RBCs and plasma were transfused prehospital. Of patients receiving PHT, 24% received only plasma, 7% received only RBCs, and 69% received both. In the propensity score matching analysis (n = 109), PHT was not significantly associated with mortality

  9. Ball mounting fixture for a roundness gage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauler, Allen L.; Pasieka, Donald F.

    1983-01-01

    A ball mounting fixture for a roundness gage is disclosed. The fixture includes a pair of chuck assemblies oriented substantially transversely with respect to one another and mounted on a common base. Each chuck assembly preferably includes a rotary stage and a wobble plate affixed thereto. A ball chuck affixed to each wobble plate is operable to selectively support a ball to be measured for roundness, with the wobble plate permitting the ball chuck to be tilted to center the ball on the axis of rotation of the rotary stage. In a preferred embodiment, each chuck assembly includes a vacuum chuck operable to selectively support the ball to be measured for roundness. The mounting fixture enables a series of roundness measurements to be taken with a conventional rotating gagehead roundness instrument, which measurements can be utilized to determine the sphericity of the ball.

  10. Towards a better understanding of helicopter external noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damongeot, A.; Dambra, F.; Masure, B.

    The problem of helicopter external noise generation is studied taking into consideration simultaneously the multiple noise sources: rotor rotational-, rotor broadband -, and engine noise. The main data are obtained during flight tests of the rather quiet AS 332 Super Puma. The flight procedures settled by ICAO for noise regulations are used: horizontal flyover at 90 percent of the maximum speed, approach at minimum power velocity, take-off at best rate of climb. Noise source levels are assessed through narrow band analysis of ground microphone recordings, ground measurements of engine noise and theoretical means. With the perceived noise level unit used throughout the study, relative magnitude of noise sources is shown to be different from that obtained with linear noise unit. A parametric study of the influence of some helicopter parameters on external noise has shown that thickness-tapered, chord-tapered, and swept-back blade tips are good means to reduce the overall noise level in flyover and approach.

  11. Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds

    OpenAIRE

    Jared A. Frank; Anthony Brill; Vikram Kapila

    2016-01-01

    Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their em...

  12. Prehospital helicopter transport and survival of patients with traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekelis, Kimon; Missios, Symeon; Mackenzie, Todd A

    2015-03-01

    To investigate the association of helicopter transport with survival of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), in comparison with ground emergency medical services (EMS). Helicopter utilization and its effect on the outcomes of TBI remain controversial. We performed a retrospective cohort study involving patients with TBI who were registered in the National Trauma Data Bank between 2009 and 2011. Regression techniques with propensity score matching were used to investigate the association of helicopter transport with survival of patients with TBI, in comparison with ground EMS. During the study period, there were 209,529 patients with TBI who were registered in the National Trauma Data Bank and met the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 35,334 were transported via helicopters and 174,195 via ground EMS. For patients transported to level I trauma centers, 2797 deaths (12%) were recorded after helicopter transport and 8161 (7.8%) after ground EMS. Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated an association of helicopter transport with increased survival [OR (odds ratio), 1.95; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.81-2.10; absolute risk reduction (ARR), 6.37%]. This persisted after propensity score matching (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.74-2.03; ARR, 5.93%). For patients transported to level II trauma centers, 1282 deaths (10.6%) were recorded after helicopter transport and 5097 (7.3%) after ground EMS. Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated an association of helicopter transport with increased survival (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.64-2.00; ARR 5.17%). This again persisted after propensity score matching (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.55-1.94; ARR, 4.69). Helicopter transport of patients with TBI to level I and II trauma centers was associated with improved survival, in comparison with ground EMS.

  13. 77 FR 56581 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-13

    ... Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Supplemental notice of... airworthiness directive (AD) for the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopter, which... proposed AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, mailstop...

  14. 77 FR 41889 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-17

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... airworthiness directive (AD) for Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. This AD... identified in this AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support...

  15. 77 FR 49710 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-17

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-76A helicopters to require modifying the electric rotor brake (ERB... service information identified in this AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager...

  16. Helicopter Rotor Blade Monitoring using Autonomous Wireless Sensor Network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sanchez Ramirez, Andrea; Loendersloot, Richard; Tinga, Tiedo; Basu, B.

    2013-01-01

    The advancement on Wireless Sensor Networks for vibration monitoring presents important possibilities for helicopter rotor health and usage monitoring. While main rotor blades account for the main source of lift for helicopters, rotor induced vibration establishes an important source for

  17. 77 FR 68057 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-15

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-76C helicopters. This AD requires installing an improved... Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, mailstop s581a, 6900 Main Street, Stratford, CT...

  18. 78 FR 60656 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-02

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters to require modifying the No. 1 engine forward... Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, mailstop s581a, 6900 Main...

  19. 77 FR 23382 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-19

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. This AD was prompted by the manufacturer's..., contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, Mailstop s581a, 6900...

  20. 77 FR 21402 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-10

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. This AD was prompted by the discovery of tail... identified in this AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support...

  1. Black Hawk Down?: Establishing Helicopter Parenting as a Distinct Construct from Other Forms of Parental Control during Emerging Adulthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the current study was to establish a measure of helicopter parenting that was distinct from other forms of parental control, and to examine parental and behavioral correlates of helicopter parenting. Participants included 438 undergraduate students from four universities in the United States (M[subscript age] = 19.65, SD = 2.00,…

  2. Development of Fuzzy Logic Controller for Quanser Bench-Top Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafri, M. H.; Mansor, H.; Gunawan, T. S.

    2017-11-01

    Bench-top helicopter is a laboratory scale helicopter that usually used as a testing bench of the real helicopter behavior. This helicopter is a 3 Degree of Freedom (DOF) helicopter which works by three different axes wshich are elevation, pitch and travel. Thus, fuzzy logic controller has been proposed to be implemented into Quanser bench-top helicopter because of its ability to work with non-linear system. The objective for this project is to design and apply fuzzy logic controller for Quanser bench-top helicopter. Other than that, fuzzy logic controller performance system has been simulated to analyze and verify its behavior over existing PID controller by using Matlab & Simulink software. In this research, fuzzy logic controller has been designed to control the elevation angle. After simulation has been performed, it can be seen that simulation result shows that fuzzy logic elevation control is working for 4°, 5° and 6°. These three angles produce zero steady state error and has a fast response. Other than that, performance comparisons have been performed between fuzzy logic controller and PID controller. Fuzzy logic elevation control has a better performance compared to PID controller where lower percentage overshoot and faster settling time have been achieved in 4°, 5° and 6° step response test. Both controller are have zero steady state error but fuzzy logic controller is managed to produce a better performance in term of settling time and percentage overshoot which make the proposed controller is reliable compared to the existing PID controller.

  3. Aerial Measuring System (AMS)/ Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) Joint Comparison Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halevy, I.; Dadon, S.; Sheinfeld, M.; Broide, A.; Rofe, S.; Yaar, I.; Wasiolek, P.

    2014-01-01

    In support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) International Emergency Management and Cooperation (IEMC/NA-46) Program, the comparison of the U.S. and Israeli Aerial Measuring Systems (AMS) study was proposed and accepted. The study, organized by the DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL), involved the DOE/NNSA Aerial Measuring System Project based at the RSL and operated under a contractor agreement by National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec), and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) Aerial Measuring System. The operational comparison was conducted at RSL-Nellis in Las Vegas, Nevada, during week of June 24–27, 2013. The Israeli system, Air RAM 2000 (figure 1, down), was shipped to RSL-Nellis and mounted together with the DOE Spectral Advanced Radiological Computer System, Model A (SPARCS-A, figure 1 up) on U.S. DOE Bell-412 helicopter for a series of aerial comparison measurements at local test ranges, including the Desert Rock Airport and Area 3 at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). A four-person Israeli team from the IAEC, Nuclear Research Center – Negev (NRCN) supported the activity. The main objective of this joint comparison was use the DOE/RSL Bell-412 helicopter aerial platform, perform the comparison study of measuring techniques and radiation acquisition systems utilized for emergency response by IEAC and NNSA AMS

  4. Multidisciplinary Aerodynamic Design of a Rotor Blade for an Optimum Rotor Speed Helicopter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiayi Xie

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aerodynamic design of rotor blades is challenging, and is crucial for the development of helicopter technology. Previous aerodynamic optimizations that focused only on limited design points find it difficult to balance flight performance across the entire flight envelope. This study develops a global optimum envelope (GOE method for determining blade parameters—blade twist, taper ratio, tip sweep—for optimum rotor speed helicopters (ORS-helicopters, balancing performance improvements in hover and various freestream velocities. The GOE method implements aerodynamic blade design by a bi-level optimization, composed of a global optimization step and a secondary optimization step. Power loss as a measure of rotor performance is chosen as the objective function, referred to as direct power loss (DPL in this study. A rotorcraft comprehensive code for trim simulation with a prescribed wake method is developed. With the application of the GOE method, a DPL reduction of as high as 16.7% can be achieved in hover, and 24% at high freestream velocity.

  5. Analysing Blast and Fragment Penetration Effects on Composite Helicopter Structures

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    van't Hof, C; Herlaar, K; Luyten, J. M; van der Jagt, M. J

    2005-01-01

    .... The last decades the threat of helicopters has increased in military circumstances. Consequently the helicopters will be exposed to weapon effects like high blast loads and fragment impact more frequently...

  6. 78 FR 23698 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-22

    ... Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed... Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters to require modifying the No. 1 engine forward firewall center... Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, mailstop s581a, 6900 Main Street...

  7. 77 FR 68061 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-15

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. This AD requires inspecting the tail rotor (T/R... Corporation, Attn: Manager, Commercial Technical Support, mailstop s581a, 6900 Main Street, Stratford, CT...

  8. 77 FR 18969 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-29

    ... Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed... Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-76C helicopters. This proposed AD is prompted by a bird-strike to.... For service information identified in this proposed AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn...

  9. 77 FR 28328 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-14

    ... Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed... Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters, which requires inspecting the tail rotor (T/R) pylon for a... service information identified in this proposed AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Attn: Manager...

  10. Helmet-mounted display requirements: just another head-up display (HUD) or a different animal altogether?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Richard L.; Haworth, Loran A.

    1994-06-01

    The helmet-mounted display (HMD) presents flight, navigation, and weapon information in the pilot's line of sight. The HMD was developed to allow the pilot to retain aircraft and weapon information while looking off boresight. The present study reviewed the state-of-the-art in HMDs and identified a number of issues applying to HMDs. Several are identical to head-up display (HUD) issues: symbol standardization, excessive clutter, and the need for integration with other cockpit displays and controls. Other issues are unique to the head-mounted display: symbol stabilization, inadequate definitions, undefined symbol drive laws, helmet considerations, and field-of-view (FOV) vs. resolution tradeoff requirements. Symbol stabilization is critical. In the Apache helicopter, the lack of compensation for pilot head motion creates excessive workload during hovering and nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight. This high workload translates into excessive training requirements. At the same time, misleading symbology makes interpretation of the height of obstructions impossible. The underlying cause is the absence of design criteria for HMDs. The existing military standard does not reflect the current state of technology. In addition, there are inadequate test and evaluation guidelines. The situation parallels the situation for HUDs several years ago.

  11. Vibration measurements of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope mount, Coudé rotator, and enclosure assemblies

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBride, William R.; McBride, Daniel R.

    2016-08-01

    The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) will be the largest solar telescope in the world, with a 4-meter off-axis primary mirror and 16 meter rotating Coudé laboratory within the telescope pier. The off-axis design requires a mount similar to an 8-meter on-axis telescope. Both the telescope mount and the Coudé laboratory utilize a roller bearing technology in place of the more commonly used hydrostatic bearings. The telescope enclosure utilizes a crawler mechanism for the altitude axis. As these mechanisms have not previously been used in a telescope, understanding the vibration characteristics and the potential impact on the telescope image is important. This paper presents the methodology used to perform jitter measurements of the enclosure and the mount bearings and servo system in a high-noise environment utilizing seismic accelerometers and high dynamic-range data acquisition equipment, along with digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. Data acquisition and signal processing were implemented in MATLAB. In the factory acceptance testing of the telescope mount, multiple accelerometers were strategically located to capture the six axes-of-motion of the primary and secondary mirror dummies. The optical sensitivity analysis was used to map these mirror mount displacements and rotations into units of image motion on the focal plane. Similarly, tests were done with the Coudé rotator, treating the entire rotating instrument lab as a rigid body. Testing was performed by recording accelerometer data while the telescope control system performed tracking operations typical of various observing scenarios. The analysis of the accelerometer data utilized noise-averaging fast Fourier transform (FFT) routines, spectrograms, and periodograms. To achieve adequate dynamic range at frequencies as low as 3Hz, the use of special filters and advanced windowing functions were necessary. Numerous identical automated tests were compared to identify and select the data sets

  12. Multi-Mounted X-Ray Computed Tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Jian; Liu, Zhenzhong; Wang, Jingzheng

    2016-01-01

    Most existing X-ray computed tomography (CT) techniques work in single-mounted mode and need to scan the inspected objects one by one. It is time-consuming and not acceptable for the inspection in a large scale. In this paper, we report a multi-mounted CT method and its first engineering implementation. It consists of a multi-mounted scanning geometry and the corresponding algebraic iterative reconstruction algorithm. This approach permits the CT rotation scanning of multiple objects simultaneously without the increase of penetration thickness and the signal crosstalk. Compared with the conventional single-mounted methods, it has the potential to improve the imaging efficiency and suppress the artifacts from the beam hardening and the scatter. This work comprises a numerical study of the method and its experimental verification using a dataset measured with a developed multi-mounted X-ray CT prototype system. We believe that this technique is of particular interest for pushing the engineering applications of X-ray CT.

  13. Modeling, Estimation, and Control of Helicopter Slung Load System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten

    and simulating different slung load suspension types. It further includes detection and response to wire slacking and tightening, it models the aerodynamic coupling between the helicopter and the load, and can be used for multilift systems with any combination of multiple helicopters and multiple loads...

  14. An improved loopless mounting method for cryocrystallography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jian-Xun, Qi; Fan, Jiang

    2010-01-01

    Based on a recent loopless mounting method, a simplified loopless and bufferless crystal mounting method is developed for macromolecular crystallography. This simplified crystal mounting system is composed of the following components: a home-made glass capillary, a brass seat for holding the glass capillary, a flow regulator, and a vacuum pump for evacuation. Compared with the currently prevalent loop mounting method, this simplified method has almost the same mounting procedure and thus is compatible with the current automated crystal mounting system. The advantages of this method include higher signal-to-noise ratio, more accurate measurement, more rapid flash cooling, less x-ray absorption and thus less radiation damage to the crystal. This method can be extended to the flash-freeing of a crystal without or with soaking it in a lower concentration of cryoprotectant, thus it may be the best option for data collection in the absence of suitable cryoprotectant. Therefore, it is suggested that this mounting method should be further improved and extensively applied to cryocrystallographic experiments. (general)

  15. An improved loopless mounting method for cryocrystallography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Jian-Xun; Jiang, Fan

    2010-01-01

    Based on a recent loopless mounting method, a simplified loopless and bufferless crystal mounting method is developed for macromolecular crystallography. This simplified crystal mounting system is composed of the following components: a home-made glass capillary, a brass seat for holding the glass capillary, a flow regulator, and a vacuum pump for evacuation. Compared with the currently prevalent loop mounting method, this simplified method has almost the same mounting procedure and thus is compatible with the current automated crystal mounting system. The advantages of this method include higher signal-to-noise ratio, more accurate measurement, more rapid flash cooling, less x-ray absorption and thus less radiation damage to the crystal. This method can be extended to the flash-freeing of a crystal without or with soaking it in a lower concentration of cryoprotectant, thus it may be the best option for data collection in the absence of suitable cryoprotectant. Therefore, it is suggested that this mounting method should be further improved and extensively applied to cryocrystallographic experiments.

  16. Simulating effectiveness of helicopter evasive manoeuvres to RPG attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, D.; Thomson, D. G.

    2010-04-01

    The survivability of helicopters under attack by ground troops using rocket propelled grenades has been amply illustrated over the past decade. Given that an RPG is unguided and it is infeasible to cover helicopters in thick armour, existing optical countermeasures are ineffective - the solution is to compute an evasive manoeuvre. In this paper, an RPG/helicopter engagement model is presented. Manoeuvre profiles are defined in the missile approach warning sensor camera image plane using a local maximum acceleration vector. Required control inputs are then computed using inverse simulation techniques. Assessments of platform survivability to several engagement scenarios are presented.

  17. Recovery and well-being among Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) pilots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Radstaak, M.; Geurts, S.A.E.; Beckers, D.G.J.; Brosschot, J.F.; Kompier, M.A.J.

    2014-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of a compressed working week with high cognitive and emotional work demands within the population of Dutch Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) pilots. Work stressors were measured and levels of well-being were examined before, during and after a series of

  18. Vertical repositioning accuracy of magnetic mounting systems on 4 articulator models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Wonsup; Kwon, Ho-Beom

    2018-03-01

    Research of the ability of a cast mounted on an articulator on maintaining the identical position of a cast mounted on an articulator after repeated repositioning is lacking, despite the possible effects this may have on the occlusion of a mounted cast. The purpose of this in vitro study was to verify and compare the vertical repositioning accuracy of 4 different, commercially available articulator magnetic mounting plate systems. Four articulators and their associated magnetic mounting plates were selected for the study. These were the Artex AR articulator (Amann Girrbach AG), the Denar Mark II articulator (Whip Mix Corp), the Kavo Protar Evo articulator (Kavo Dental GmbH), and the SAM3 articulator (SAM Präzisionstechnik GmbH). Three new magnetic mounting plates were prepared for each articulator system. The repositioning accuracy of each mounting plate was evaluated by comparing the standard deviation of the vertical distances measured between the mounting plate and a laser displacement sensor. The lower arm of the articulator was secured, and the vertical distance was measured by positioning the laser displacement sensor positioned vertically above the mounting plate. Once the vertical distance was measured, the mounting plate was detached from the articulator and reattached manually to prepare for the next measurement. This procedure was repeated 30 times for each of the 3 magnetic mounting plates. Data were analyzed by ANOVA for 2-stage nested design and the Levene test (α=.05). Significant differences were detected among articulator systems and between magnetic mounting plates of the same type. The standard deviations of the measurements made with the Artex AR articulator, Denar Mark II articulator, Kavo Protar Evo articulator, and SAM3 articulator were 0.0027, 0.0308, 0.0214, and 0.0215 mm, respectively. Thus, the repositioning accuracy could be ranked in the order as follows: Artex AR, Kavo Protar Evo, SAM3, and Denar Mark II. The position of the

  19. NASA/FAA helicopter simulator workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, William E. (Editor); Randle, Robert J., Jr. (Editor); Bray, Richard S. (Editor); Zuk, John (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    A workshop was convened by the FAA and NASA for the purpose of providing a forum at which leading designers, manufacturers, and users of helicopter simulators could initiate and participate in a development process that would facilitate the formulation of qualification standards by the regulatory agency. Formal papers were presented, special topics were discussed in breakout sessions, and a draft FAA advisory circular defining specifications for helicopter simulators was presented and discussed. A working group of volunteers was formed to work with the National Simulator Program Office to develop a final version of the circular. The workshop attracted 90 individuals from a constituency of simulator manufacturers, training organizations, the military, civil regulators, research scientists, and five foreign countries.

  20. Small-Scale Helicopter Automatic Autorotation : Modeling, Guidance, and Control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Taamallah, S.

    2015-01-01

    Our research objective consists in developing a, model-based, automatic safety recovery system, for a small-scale helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in autorotation, i.e. an engine OFF flight condition, that safely flies and lands the helicopter to a pre-specified ground location. In pursuit

  1. The Helicopter Parent (Part 2): International Arrivals and Departures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somers, Patricia; Settle, Jim

    2010-01-01

    The phenomenon of helicopter parenting has been widely reported, yet the research literature is anemic on the topic. Based on interviews and focus groups involving 190 academic and student services professionals, this article continues by discussing the social, psychological, economic, and cultural factors that influence helicoptering; exploring…

  2. Helicopter Approach Capability Using the Differential Global Positioning System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufmann, David N.

    1994-01-01

    The results of flight tests to determine the feasibility of using the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the Differential mode (DGPS) to provide high accuracy, precision navigation and guidance for helicopter approaches to landing are presented. The airborne DGPS receiver and associated equipment is installed in a NASA UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The ground-based DGPS reference receiver is located at a surveyed test site and is equipped with a real-time VHF data link to transmit correction information to the airborne DGPS receiver. The corrected airborne DGPS information, together with the preset approach geometry, is used to calculate guidance commands which are sent to the aircraft's approach guidance instruments. The use of DGPS derived guidance for helicopter approaches to landing is evaluated by comparing the DGPS data with the laser tracker truth data. The errors indicate that the helicopter position based on DGPS guidance satisfies the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Category 1 (CAT 1) lateral and vertical navigational accuracy requirements.

  3. Swing Damping for Helicopter Slung Load Systems using Delayed Feedback

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

    2009-01-01

    of swing. The design of the delayed feedback controller is presented as an optimization problem which gives the possibility of an automated design process. Simulations and flight test verifications of the control system on two different autonomous helicopters are presented and it is shown how a significant......This paper presents the design and verification of a swing reducing controller for helicopter slung load systems using intentional delayed feedback. It is intended for augmenting a trajectory tracking helicopter controller and thereby improving the slung load handing capabilities for autonomous...... helicopters. The delayed feedback controller is added to actively reduce oscillations of the slung load by improving the damping of the slung load pendulum modes. Furthermore, it is intended for integration with a feedforward control scheme based on input shaping for concurrent avoidance and dampening...

  4. 77 FR 64439 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (Bell) Model Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-22

    ... unsafe condition for the Bell Model 430 helicopters. Discrepancies in the processing and display of air... pilot and copilot electronic attitude direction indicators airspeed indicators; [cir] Leak testing the... and responsibilities among the various levels of government. For the reasons discussed, I certify this...

  5. Reliability model for helicopter main gearbox lubrication system using influence diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashid, H.S.J.; Place, C.S.; Mba, D.; Keong, R.L.C.; Healey, A.; Kleine-Beek, W.; Romano, M.

    2015-01-01

    The loss of oil from a helicopter main gearbox (MGB) leads to increased friction between components, a rise in component surface temperatures, and subsequent mechanical failure of gearbox components. A number of significant helicopter accidents have been caused due to such loss of lubrication. This paper presents a model to assess the reliability of helicopter MGB lubricating systems. Safety risk modeling was conducted for MGB oil system related accidents in order to analyse key failure mechanisms and the contributory factors. Thus, the dominant failure modes for lubrication systems and key contributing components were identified. The Influence Diagram (ID) approach was then employed to investigate reliability issues of the MGB lubrication systems at the level of primary causal factors, thus systematically investigating a complex context of events, conditions, and influences that are direct triggers of the helicopter MGB lubrication system failures. The interrelationships between MGB lubrication system failure types were thus identified, and the influence of each of these factors on the overall MGB lubrication system reliability was assessed. This paper highlights parts of the HELMGOP project, sponsored by the European Aviation Safety Agency to improve helicopter main gearbox reliability. - Highlights: • We investigated methods to optimize helicopter MGB oil system run-dry capability. • Used Influence Diagram to assess design and maintenance factors of MGB oil system. • Factors influencing overall MGB lubrication system reliability were identified. • This globally influences current and future helicopter MGB designs

  6. Simulator Investigation of Pilot Aids for Helicopter Terminal Area Operations with One Engine Inoperative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iseler, Laura; Chen, Robert; Dearing, Munro; Decker, William; Aiken, Edwin W. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    Two recent piloted simulation experiments have investigated advanced display concepts applied to civil transport helicopter terminal area operations. Civil Category A helicopter operations apply to multi-engine helicopters wherein a safe recovery (land or fly out) is required in the event of a single engine failure. The investigation used the NASA Ames Research Center Vertical Motion Simulator, which has a full six degrees of freedom, to simulate the flight task as closely as possible. The goal of these experiments was to use advanced cockpit displays to improve flight safety and enhance the mission performance of Category A terminal area operations in confined areas. The first experiment investigated the use of military display formats to assist civil rotorcraft in performing a Category A takeoff in confined terminal areas. Specifically, it addressed how well a difficult hovering backup path could be followed using conventional instruments in comparison to panel mounted integrated displays. The hovering backup takeoff, which enables pilots to land back to the confined area pad in the event of an engine failure, was chosen since it is a difficult task to perform. Seven NASA and Army test pilots participated in the experiment. Evaluations, based on task performance and pilot workload, showed that an integrated display enabled the pilot to consistently achieve adequate or desired performance with reasonable pilot workload. Use of conventional instruments, however, frequently resulted in unacceptable performance (poor flight path tracking), higher pilot workload, and poor situational awareness. Although OEI landbacks were considered a visual task, the improved performance on the backup portion, in conjunction with increased situational awareness resulting from use of integrated displays, enabled the pilots to handle an engine failure and land back safely. In contrast, use of conventional instruments frequently led to excessive rates of sink at touchdown. A second

  7. 14 CFR 61.161 - Aeronautical experience: Rotorcraft category and helicopter class rating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... category and helicopter class rating. 61.161 Section 61.161 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION... helicopter class rating. (a) A person who is applying for an airline transport pilot certificate with a rotorcraft category and helicopter class rating, must have at least 1,200 hours of total time as a pilot that...

  8. Quantifying performance on an outdoor agility drill using foot-mounted inertial measurement units.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonia M Zaferiou

    Full Text Available Running agility is required for many sports and other physical tasks that demand rapid changes in body direction. Quantifying agility skill remains a challenge because measuring rapid changes of direction and quantifying agility skill from those measurements are difficult to do in ways that replicate real task/game play situations. The objectives of this study were to define and to measure agility performance for a (five-cone agility drill used within a military obstacle course using data harvested from two foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs. Thirty-two recreational athletes ran an agility drill while wearing two IMUs secured to the tops of their athletic shoes. The recorded acceleration and angular rates yield estimates of the trajectories, velocities and accelerations of both feet as well as an estimate of the horizontal velocity of the body mass center. Four agility performance metrics were proposed and studied including: 1 agility drill time, 2 horizontal body speed, 3 foot trajectory turning radius, and 4 tangential body acceleration. Additionally, the average horizontal ground reaction during each footfall was estimated. We hypothesized that shorter agility drill performance time would be observed with small turning radii and large tangential acceleration ranges and body speeds. Kruskal-Wallis and mean rank post-hoc statistical analyses revealed that shorter agility drill performance times were observed with smaller turning radii and larger tangential acceleration ranges and body speeds, as hypothesized. Moreover, measurements revealed the strategies that distinguish high versus low performers. Relative to low performers, high performers used sharper turns, larger changes in body speed (larger tangential acceleration ranges, and shorter duration footfalls that generated larger horizontal ground reactions during the turn phases. Overall, this study advances the use of foot-mounted IMUs to quantify agility performance in

  9. Power harvesting using piezoelectric materials: applications in helicopter rotors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, Pieter

    2013-01-01

    The blades of helicopters are heavily loaded and are critical components. Failure of any one blade will lead to loss of the aircraft. Currently, the technical lifespan of helicopter blades is calculated using a worst-case operation scenario. The consequence is that a blade that may be suitable for,

  10. Measurements of SO2 in the Mount St. Helens debris

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerr, J.B.; Evans, F.J.; Mateer, C.L.

    1982-01-01

    Routine measurements of ozone and SO 2 are made with the Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers at the Atmospheric Environment Service in Downsview Ontario. On May 20 and 21, 1980, large values of column SO 2 were observed with both spectrophotometers at the time of passage of the Mount St. Helens debris. Enhanced SO 2 values were first observed at 1800Z on May 20. The maximum column amount of SO 2 measured was 0.06 cm at 2200 Z. On May 21, SO 2 values slowly decreased from 0.03 cm at 1100 Z cm to 0.01 cm at 2000Z. Typical SO 2 amounts due to pollution at the Downsview site are approximately 0.003 to 0.005 cm. At the same time of maximum SO 2 enhancement, both Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers measured a 0.040 cm decrease of total ozone. It is not clear whether the decrease of total ozone was caused by the volcanic cloud or natural ozone variability. Air mass trajectories indicate that the altitude of the debris cloud, which passed over Downsview at the time, was between 10 km and 12 km

  11. Vision Aided State Estimation for Helicopter Slung Load System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; la Cour-Harbo, Anders

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the design and verification of a state estimator for a helicopter based slung load system. The estimator is designed to augment the IMU driven estimator found in many helicopter UAV s and uses vision based updates only. The process model used for the estimator is a simple 4...

  12. Structural Integrity and Aging-Related Issues of Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-10-01

    inherently damage lolerant , any damage- inspection in critical locations where tests have indicated tolerant features in airframe design only enhances...required, so European Rotorcraft Forum. Marseilles, France, 15- that helicopters are equipped with such features as fly- 17 September 1998 . by-wire and...fatigue Evaluation of structural integrity issues of aging helicopters. The Structure," 29 April, 1998 . extended safe-life approach encompasses the best

  13. A kinesthetic-tactual display concept for helicopter-pilot workload reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilson, R. D.; Dunn, R. S.; Sun, P.

    1977-01-01

    A kinesthetic-tactual (K-T) display concept is now under research and development (R & D) at the Ohio State University. It appears to offer considerable promise for useful application in helicopters by conveying control information via the sense of touch. This is a review of the overall R & D program including the original K-T display design, initial studies in automobile and fixed-wing vehicles, and feasibility experiments in a helicopter simulator. In addition to investigations of control and potential workload reduction, present efforts are directed toward establishing optimal design requirements for K-T helicopter displays. Potential applications, modes of usage, and the kinds of information that may be displayed in helicopter applications are discussed along with a brief forecast of future R & D. A brief description of the latest multi-axis laboratory prototype K-T display is also provided.

  14. Development of a Field-Deployable Psychomotor Vigilance Test to Monitor Helicopter Pilot Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMahon, Terry W; Newman, David G

    2016-04-01

    Flying a helicopter is a complex psychomotor skill. Fatigue is a serious threat to operational safety, particularly for sustained helicopter operations involving high levels of cognitive information processing and sustained time on task. As part of ongoing research into this issue, the object of this study was to develop a field-deployable helicopter-specific psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) for the purpose of daily performance monitoring of pilots. The PVT consists of a laptop computer, a hand-operated joystick, and a set of rudder pedals. Screen-based compensatory tracking task software includes a tracking ball (operated by the joystick) which moves randomly in all directions, and a second tracking ball which moves horizontally (operated by the rudder pedals). The 5-min test requires the pilot to keep both tracking balls centered. This helicopter-specific PVT's portability and integrated data acquisition and storage system enables daily field monitoring of the performance of individual helicopter pilots. The inclusion of a simultaneous foot-operated tracking task ensures divided attention for helicopter pilots as the movement of both tracking balls requires simultaneous inputs. This PVT is quick, economical, easy to use, and specific to the operational flying task. It can be used for performance monitoring purposes, and as a general research tool for investigating the psychomotor demands of helicopter operations. While reliability and validity testing is warranted, data acquired from this test could help further our understanding of the effect of various factors (such as fatigue) on helicopter pilot performance, with the potential of contributing to helicopter operational safety.

  15. Nonlinear Feedforward Control for Wind Disturbance Rejection on Autonomous Helicopter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisgaard, Morten; la Cour-Harbo, Anders; A. Danapalasingam, Kumeresan

    2010-01-01

    for the purpose. The model is inverted for the calculation of rotor collective and cyclic pitch angles given the wind disturbance. The control strategy is then applied on a small helicopter in a controlled wind environment and flight tests demonstrates the effectiveness and advantage of the feedforward controller.......This paper presents the design and verification of a model based nonlinear feedforward controller for wind disturbance rejection on autonomous helicopters. The feedforward control is based on a helicopter model that is derived using a number of carefully chosen simplifications to make it suitable...

  16. Photovoltaic mounting/demounting unit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2014-01-01

    The present invention relates to a photovoltaic arrangement comprising a photovoltaic assembly comprising a support structure defining a mounting surface onto which a photovoltaic module is detachably mounted; and a mounting/demounting unit comprising at least one mounting/demounting apparatus...... which when the mounting/demounting unit is moved along the mounting surface, causes the photovoltaic module to be mounted or demounted to the support structure; wherein the photovoltaic module comprises a carrier foil and wherein a total thickness of the photo voltaic module is below 500 muiotaeta....... The present invention further relates to an associated method for mounting/demounting photovoltaic modules....

  17. Helicopter crashes into water: warning time, final position, and other factors affecting survival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Christopher J; MacDonald, Conor V; Baker, Susan P; Shanahan, Dennis F; Haaland, Wren L

    2014-04-01

    According to 40 yr of data, the fatality rate for a helicopter crash into water is approximately 25%. Does warning time and the final position of the helicopter in the water influence the survival rate? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database was queried to identify helicopter crashes into water between 1981 and 2011 in the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaii. Fatality rate, amount of warning time prior to the crash, and final position of the helicopter were identified. There were 133 helicopters that crashed into water with 456 crew and passengers. Of these, 119 occupants (26%) did not survive; of those who did survive, 38% were injured. Twelve died after making a successful escape from the helicopter. Crashes with 1 min. However, more than half of fatalities (57%) came from crashes for which the warning time could not be determined. Lack of warning time and how to survive in the water after the crash should be a topic for study in all marine survival/aircraft ditching courses. Investigators should be trained to provide estimates of warning time when investigating helicopter crashes into water.

  18. Real-time estimation of helicopter rotor blade kinematics through measurement of rotation induced acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allred, C. Jeff; Churchill, David; Buckner, Gregory D.

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to monitoring rotor blade flap, lead-lag and pitch using an embedded gyroscope and symmetrically mounted MEMS accelerometers. The central hypothesis is that differential accelerometer measurements are proportional only to blade motion; fuselage acceleration and blade bending are inherently compensated for. The inverse kinematic relationships (from blade position to acceleration and angular rate) are derived and simulated to validate this hypothesis. An algorithm to solve the forward kinematic relationships (from sensor measurement to blade position) is developed using these simulation results. This algorithm is experimentally validated using a prototype device. The experimental results justify continued development of this kinematic estimation approach.

  19. Study of Helicopter Performance and Terminal Instrument Procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-06-01

    possible employment of decelerating or other innovative approaches to be discussed in Section 3 and may be employed to advantage in reviewing missed...330J Puma is a 19 passenger medium helicopter manufactured by Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale of Marignane, France and marketed in the...for use by the French and British armed forces. It is manufactured by the Helicopter Divison of Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale of Marignane

  20. Vertebral pain in helicopter pilots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auffret, R.; Delahaye, R. P.; Metges, P. J.; VICENS

    1980-01-01

    Pathological forms of spinal pain engendered by piloting helicopters were clinically studied. Lumbalgia and pathology of the dorsal and cervical spine are discussed along with their clinical and radiological signs and origins.

  1. Extending helicopter operations to meet future integrated transportation needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanton, Neville A; Plant, Katherine L; Roberts, Aaron P; Harvey, Catherine; Thomas, T Glyn

    2016-03-01

    Helicopters have the potential to be an integral part of the future transport system. They offer a means of rapid transit in an overly populated transport environment. However, one of the biggest limitations on rotary wing flight is their inability to fly in degraded visual conditions in the critical phases of approach and landing. This paper presents a study that developed and evaluated a Head up Display (HUD) to assist rotary wing pilots by extending landing to degraded visual conditions. The HUD was developed with the assistance of the Cognitive Work Analysis method as an approach for analysing the cognitive work of landing the helicopter. The HUD was tested in a fixed based flight simulator with qualified helicopter pilots. A qualitative analysis to assess situation awareness and workload found that the HUD enabled safe landing in degraded conditions whilst simultaneously enhancing situation awareness and reducing workload. Continued development in this area has the potential to extend the operational capability of helicopters in the future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  2. Mutations to the Polder Model: Critical Reflections on ‘Exceptionalism’ and Continuity in the Low Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bert De Munck

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In this review of the book Nederland en het poldermodel [The Netherlands and the Polder Model], the idea that the ‘polder model’ dates from the medieval principalities in the Low Countries is qualified. It is argued that the coupling of the plea for continuity and the focus on one area causes problems. First, the exact differences between the Netherlands and other regions with a strong civil society and tradition of negotiation and power sharing appear hard to pinpoint. The endeavours to do so are often artificial and ignore broader developments of which Dutch history is a part. Secondly, the continuity thesis is not made credible (especially with respect with the transition to the nineteenth century and injustice is done to the contingency and unpredictability of historical developments. The result is a teleological narrative and a missed opportunity for a critical reflection onnationalistic ideas.Veranderingen in het poldermodel. Kritische reflecties op ‘exceptionalisme’ en continuïteit in de Lage LandenIn deze review van het boek Nederland en het poldermodel wordt de idee dat het poldermodel stamt uit de middeleeuwse vorstendommen in de Lage Landen kritisch tegen het licht gehouden. Er wordt geargumenteerd dat de koppeling van het pleidooi voor continuïteit aan de focus op één regio voor problemen zorgt. Enerzijds blijkt het heel erg moeilijk om de vinger te leggen op de precieze verschillen tussen (het huidige Nederland en andere regio’s met een sterke civiele maatschappij en onderhandelingstraditie; dit gaat gepaard met kunstgrepen en het negeren van bredere ontwikkelingen waarvan de Nederlandse geschiedenis deel uitmaakt. Anderzijds wordt de continuïteit (voornamelijk in de overgang naar de negentiende eeuw helemaal niet hard gemaakt en wordt onrecht gedaan aan de contingentie en onvoorspelbaarheid van historische ontwikkelingen. Het resultaat is een teleologisch beeld en een gemiste kans voor een kritische reflectie op

  3. 14 CFR Appendix B to Part 29 - Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter Instrument Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter... Appendix B to Part 29—Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter Instrument Flight I. General. A transport category helicopter may not be type certificated for operation under the instrument flight rules (IFR) of...

  4. Design, manufacture and spin test of high contact ratio helicopter transmission utilizing Self-Aligning Bearingless Planetary (SABP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folenta, Dezi; Lebo, William

    1988-01-01

    A 450 hp high ratio Self-Aligning Bearingless Planetary (SABP) for a helicopter application was designed, manufactured, and spin tested under NASA contract NAS3-24539. The objective of the program was to conduct research and development work on a high contact ratio helical gear SABP to reduce weight and noise and to improve efficiency. The results accomplished include the design, manufacturing, and no-load spin testing of two prototype helicopter transmissions, rated at 450 hp with an input speed of 35,000 rpm and an output speed of 350 rpm. The weight power density ratio of these gear units is 0.33 lb hp. The measured airborne noise at 35,000 rpm input speed and light load is 94 dB at 5 ft. The high speed, high contact ratio SABP transmission appears to be significantly lighter and quieter than comtemporary helicopter transmissions. The concept of the SABP is applicable not only to high ratio helicopter type transmissions but also to other rotorcraft and aircraft propulsion systems.

  5. Using Discrete Event Simulation To Analyze Personnel Requirements For The Malaysian Armys New Utility Helicopter Fleet

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    HELICOPTER FLEET Hasnan bin Mohamad Rais Major, Malaysian Army B.S., University Technology of Malaysia , 2000 Submitted in partial...HELICOPTER MAINTENANCE POLICY B. The objective of MAA helicopter maintenance activities is to preserve helicopter safety and mission reliability to

  6. Helicopter TEM parameters analysis and system optimization based on time constant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Pan; Wu, Xin; Shi, Zongyang; Li, Jutao; Liu, Lihua; Fang, Guangyou

    2018-03-01

    Helicopter transient electromagnetic (TEM) method is a kind of common geophysical prospecting method, widely used in mineral detection, underground water exploration and environment investigation. In order to develop an efficient helicopter TEM system, it is necessary to analyze and optimize the system parameters. In this paper, a simple and quantitative method is proposed to analyze the system parameters, such as waveform, power, base frequency, measured field and sampling time. A wire loop model is used to define a comprehensive 'time constant domain' that shows a range of time constant, analogous to a range of conductance, after which the characteristics of the system parameters in this domain is obtained. It is found that the distortion caused by the transmitting base frequency is less than 5% when the ratio of the transmitting period to the target time constant is greater than 6. When the sampling time window is less than the target time constant, the distortion caused by the sampling time window is less than 5%. According to this method, a helicopter TEM system, called CASHTEM, is designed, and flight test has been carried out in the known mining area. The test results show that the system has good detection performance, verifying the effectiveness of the method.

  7. Non-Destructive Measurement Methods (Neutron-, X-ray Radiography, Vibration Diagnostics and Ultrasound) in the Inspection of Helicopter Rotor Blades

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Balasko, M; Endroczi, G; Tarnai, Gy; Veres, I; Molnar, Gy; Svab, E

    2005-01-01

    The experiments regarding structural failures in helicopter rotor blade's composite structures causing water penetrations and bypasses were performed at the Dynamic Radiography Station (DRS) of the Budapest...

  8. The Helicopter Parent: Research toward a Typology (Part I)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somers, Patricia; Settle, Jim

    2010-01-01

    With 117,000 hits on a recent Google[TM] search, the phenomenon of helicopter parenting has been widely reported in the popular press. Yet the scholarly literature is anemic on the topic. This article, part one of a two-part series, presents the small body of research on helicopter parenting and describes a qualitative study of 190 participants…

  9. MM99.50 - Surface Topography Characterization Using an Atomic Force Microscope Mounted on a Coordinate Measuring Machine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chiffre, Leonardo De; Hansen, Hans Nørgaard; Kofod, Niels

    1999-01-01

    The paper describes the construction, testing and use of an integrated system for topographic characterization of fine surfaces on parts having relatively big dimensions. An atomic force microscope (AFM) was mounted on a manual three-coordinate measuring machine (CMM) achieving free positioning o...

  10. 14 CFR Appendix B to Part 27 - Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter Instrument Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter... Appendix B to Part 27—Airworthiness Criteria for Helicopter Instrument Flight I. General. A normal category helicopter may not be type certificated for operation under the instrument flight rules (IFR) of this chapter...

  11. The Use of Commercial Remote Sensing Systems in Predicting Helicopter Brownout Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-09-01

    REFERENCES Anthoni, J. F. (2000). Soil Erosion and Conservation – Part 2. Retrieved 15 August 2009, from http://www.seafriends.org.nz/ enviro / soil ... soils susceptible to helicopter brownout. Helicopter brownout occurs when downwash disturbs the dust and sand beneath the aircraft during takeoff...destruction, as well as personnel injury or death. The likelihood of helicopter brownout is related to soil moisture content, particle size distribution, and

  12. VH-92A Presidential Helicopter (VH-92A)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    provide safe, reliable, and timely transportation for the President, Vice President, Foreign Heads of State, and other official parties as directed by...the Director of the White House Military Office. Presidential helicopter transportation requirements are executed by Marine Helicopter Squadron One...Review Jul 2016 Jul 2016 Jan 2017 Jul 2016 Milestone C Jan 2019 Jan 2019 Jul 2019 Jan 2019 IOT &E Complete Mar 2020 Mar 2020 Sep 2020 Mar 2020 IOC Jul

  13. 29 CFR 1910.183 - Helicopters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... objects. The employer shall take all necessary precautions to protect employees from flying objects in the... safety. The size and weight of loads, and the manner in which loads are connected to the helicopter shall...

  14. Heat stress reduction of helicopter crew wearing a ventilated vest

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reffeltrath, P.A.

    2006-01-01

    Background: Helicopter pilots are often exposed to periods of high heat strain, especially when wearing survival suits. Therefore, a prototype of a ventilated vest was evaluated on its capability to reduce the heat strain of helicopter pilots during a 2-h simulated flight. Hypothesis: It was

  15. Hearing loss in civilian airline and helicopter pilots compared to air traffic control personnel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagstaff, Anthony S; Arva, Per

    2009-10-01

    In order to investigate possible hearing loss as a consequence of aviation noise, a comparative analysis of audiometric data from Norwegian Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel, airline (fixed-wing) pilots, and helicopter pilots was performed. The results may be of use in giving advice regarding preventive measures. Male ATC, airline, and helicopter pilots were selected randomly from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) medical files. There were 182 subjects included in the study: 50, 81, and 51 subjects for ATC, helicopter, and airline pilots, respectively. Two audiograms with a 2-3-yr interval were analyzed for each individual. Age correction was performed using data from ISO 7129. Threshold changes per year for the frequencies 3, 4, and 6 kHz were examined in particular after age correction. For all three groups, mean hearing threshold levels were above (worse than) ISO 7129 predictions for most frequencies. As expected, hearing thresholds increased with age in the group as a whole. Looking at the 3-, 4-, and 6-kHz frequencies in particular, all groups had small but highly significant increases in hearing thresholds at 4 kHz between the first and second audiogram. The mean hearing thresholds for this group of aviation personnel are higher than International Standard ISO-7129 would predict according to age. Highly significant changes in hearing threshold after age correction, indicating possible noise-induced hearing loss, were found in all groups at 4 kHz. The fact that helicopter pilots had similar hearing loss to their other aviation colleagues indicates that current hearing protection for these pilots is effective in counteracting the increased noise levels in helicopters.

  16. Helicopter-Ship Qualification Testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoencamp, A.

    2015-01-01

    The goal of this research project is to develop a novel test methodology which can be used for optimizing cost and time efficiency of helicopter-ship qualification testing without reducing safety. For this purpose, the so-called “SHOL-X” test methodology has been established, which includes the

  17. Measurement of distances between anatomical structures using a translating stage with mounted endoscope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahrs, Lueder A.; Blachon, Gregoire S.; Balachandran, Ramya; Fitzpatrick, J. Michael; Labadie, Robert F.

    2012-02-01

    During endoscopic procedures it is often desirable to determine the distance between anatomical features. One such clinical application is percutaneous cochlear implantation (PCI), which is a minimally invasive approach to the cochlea via a single, straight drill path and can be achieved accurately using bone-implanted markers and customized microstereotactic frame. During clinical studies to validate PCI, traditional open-field cochlear implant surgery was performed and prior to completion of the surgery, a customized microstereotactic frame designed to achieve the desired PCI trajectory was attached to the bone-implanted markers. To determine whether this trajectory would have safely achieved the target, a sham drill bit is passed through the frame to ensure that the drill bit would reach the cochlea without damaging vital structures. Because of limited access within the facial recess, the distances from the bit to anatomical features could not be measured with calipers. We hypothesized that an endoscope mounted on a sliding stage that translates only along the trajectory, would provide sufficient triangulation to accurately measure these distances. In this paper, the design, fabrication, and testing of such a system is described. The endoscope is mounted so that its optical axis is approximately aligned with the trajectory. Several images are acquired as the stage is moved, and threedimensional reconstruction of selected points allows determination of distances. This concept also has applicability in a large variety of rigid endoscopic interventions including bronchoscopy, laparoscopy, and sinus endoscopy.

  18. Signal Separation of Helicopter Radar Returns Using Wavelet-Based Sparse Signal Optimisation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-10-01

    helicopter from the composite radar returns. The received signal consists of returns from the rotating main and tail rotor blades, the helicopter body...is used to separate the main and tail rotor blade components of a helicopter from the composite radar returns. The received signal consists of returns...Two algorithms are presented in the report to separately extract main rotor blade returns and tail rotor blade returns from the composite signal

  19. Active structural acoustic control of helicopter interior multifrequency noise using input-output-based hybrid control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xunjun; Lu, Yang; Wang, Fengjiao

    2017-09-01

    This paper presents the recent advances in reduction of multifrequency noise inside helicopter cabin using an active structural acoustic control system, which is based on active gearbox struts technical approach. To attenuate the multifrequency gearbox vibrations and resulting noise, a new scheme of discrete model predictive sliding mode control has been proposed based on controlled auto-regressive moving average model. Its implementation only needs input/output data, hence a broader frequency range of controlled system is modelled and the burden on the state observer design is released. Furthermore, a new iteration form of the algorithm is designed, improving the developing efficiency and run speed. To verify the algorithm's effectiveness and self-adaptability, experiments of real-time active control are performed on a newly developed helicopter model system. The helicopter model can generate gear meshing vibration/noise similar to a real helicopter with specially designed gearbox and active struts. The algorithm's control abilities are sufficiently checked by single-input single-output and multiple-input multiple-output experiments via different feedback strategies progressively: (1) control gear meshing noise through attenuating vibrations at the key points on the transmission path, (2) directly control the gear meshing noise in the cabin using the actuators. Results confirm that the active control system is practical for cancelling multifrequency helicopter interior noise, which also weakens the frequency-modulation of the tones. For many cases, the attenuations of the measured noise exceed the level of 15 dB, with maximum reduction reaching 31 dB. Also, the control process is demonstrated to be smoother and faster.

  20. Nonlinear Dynamics of a Helicopter Model in Ground Resonance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, D. M.; Dowell, E. H.

    1985-01-01

    An approximate theoretical method is presented which determined the limit cycle behavior of a helicopter model which has one or two nonlinear dampers. The relationship during unstable ground resonance oscillations between lagging motion of the blades and fuselage motion is discussed. An experiment was carried out on using a helicopter scale model. The experimental results agree with those of the theoretical analysis.

  1. 78 FR 44050 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-23

    ..., and subsequent loss of helicopter control. DATES: We must receive comments on this proposed AD by... could result in failure of an engine, loss of engine power, and subsequent loss of helicopter control... corrosion, leaking grease, condensation, or water. This proposed AD is prompted by metallic debris from an...

  2. A general method for closed-loop inverse simulation of helicopter maneuver flight

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei WU

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Maneuverability is a key factor to determine whether a helicopter could finish certain flight missions successfully or not. Inverse simulation is commonly used to calculate the pilot controls of a helicopter to complete a certain kind of maneuver flight and to assess its maneuverability. A general method for inverse simulation of maneuver flight for helicopters with the flight control system online is developed in this paper. A general mathematical describing function is established to provide mathematical descriptions of different kinds of maneuvers. A comprehensive control solver based on the optimal linear quadratic regulator theory is developed to calculate the pilot controls of different maneuvers. The coupling problem between pilot controls and flight control system outputs is well solved by taking the flight control system model into the control solver. Inverse simulation of three different kinds of maneuvers with different agility requirements defined in the ADS-33E-PRF is implemented based on the developed method for a UH-60 helicopter. The results show that the method developed in this paper can solve the closed-loop inverse simulation problem of helicopter maneuver flight with high reliability as well as efficiency. Keywords: Closed-loop, Flying quality, Helicopters, Inverse simulation, Maneuver flight

  3. Stable Hovering Flight for a Small Unmanned Helicopter Using Fuzzy Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arbab Nighat Khizer

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Stable hover flight control for small unmanned helicopter under light air turbulent environment is presented. Intelligent fuzzy logic is chosen because it is a nonlinear control technique based on expert knowledge and is capable of handling sensor created noise and contradictory inputs commonly encountered in flight control. The fuzzy nonlinear control utilizes these distinct qualities for attitude, height, and position control. These multiple controls are developed using two-loop control structure by first designing an inner-loop controller for attitude angles and height and then by establishing outer-loop controller for helicopter position. The nonlinear small unmanned helicopter model used comes from X-Plane simulator. A simulation platform consisting of MATLAB/Simulink and X-Plane© flight simulator was introduced to implement the proposed controls. The main objective of this research is to design computationally intelligent control laws for hovering and to test and analyze this autopilot for small unmanned helicopter model on X-Plane under ideal and mild turbulent condition. Proposed fuzzy flight controls are validated using an X-Plane helicopter model before being embedded on actual helicopter. To show the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy control method and its ability to cope with the external uncertainties, results are compared with a classical PD controller. Simulated results show that two-loop fuzzy controllers have a good ability to establish stable hovering for a class of unmanned rotorcraft in the presence of light turbulent environment.

  4. Recurrent and Transient Spinal Pain Among Commercial Helicopter Pilots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Knut; Baardsen, Roald; Dalen, Ingvild; Larsen, Jan Petter

    2015-11-01

    The aim of this study was to provide information on the occurrence of spinal pain, i.e., low back and neck pain, among commercial helicopter pilots, along with possible associations between pain and anthropometric and demographic factors and flying exposure. Data were collected through a subjective and retrospective survey among all the 313 (294 men, 19 women) full-time pilots employed by two helicopter companies. A questionnaire was used to assess the extent of spinal complaints in a transient and recurrent pain pattern along with information on physical activities, occupational flying experience, and airframes. The survey had 207 responders (194 men, 13 women). The pilots had extensive flying experience. Spinal pain was reported by 67%. Flying-related transient pain was reported among 50%, whereas recurrent spinal pain, not necessarily associated with flying, was reported by 52%. Women experienced more pain, but sample size prevented further conclusions. Male pilots reporting any spinal pain flew significantly more hours last year (median 500 h, IQR 400-650) versus men with no pain (median 445 h, IQR 300-550). Male pilots with transient or recurrent spinal pain did not differ from nonaffected male colleagues in the measured parameters. Spinal pain is a frequent problem among male and female commercial helicopter pilots. For men, no significant associations were revealed for transient or recurrent spinal pain with age, flying experience in years, total hours, annual flying time, type of aircraft, or anthropometric factors except for any spinal pain related to hours flown in the last year.

  5. A general method for closed-loop inverse simulation of helicopter maneuver flight

    OpenAIRE

    Wei WU

    2017-01-01

    Maneuverability is a key factor to determine whether a helicopter could finish certain flight missions successfully or not. Inverse simulation is commonly used to calculate the pilot controls of a helicopter to complete a certain kind of maneuver flight and to assess its maneuverability. A general method for inverse simulation of maneuver flight for helicopters with the flight control system online is developed in this paper. A general mathematical describing function is established to provid...

  6. High-integrity databases for helicopter operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pschierer, Christian; Schiefele, Jens; Lüthy, Juerg

    2009-05-01

    Helicopter Emergency Medical Service missions (HEMS) impose a high workload on pilots due to short preparation time, operations in low level flight, and landings in unknown areas. The research project PILAS, a cooperation between Eurocopter, Diehl Avionics, DLR, EADS, Euro Telematik, ESG, Jeppesen, the Universities of Darmstadt and Munich, and funded by the German government, approached this problem by researching a pilot assistance system which supports the pilots during all phases of flight. The databases required for the specified helicopter missions include different types of topological and cultural data for graphical display on the SVS system, AMDB data for operations at airports and helipads, and navigation data for IFR segments. The most critical databases for the PILAS system however are highly accurate terrain and obstacle data. While RTCA DO-276 specifies high accuracies and integrities only for the areas around airports, HEMS helicopters typically operate outside of these controlled areas and thus require highly reliable terrain and obstacle data for their designated response areas. This data has been generated by a LIDAR scan of the specified test region. Obstacles have been extracted into a vector format. This paper includes a short overview of the complete PILAS system and then focus on the generation of the required high quality databases.

  7. Photovoltaic module mounting system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miros, Robert H. J. [Fairfax, CA; Mittan, Margaret Birmingham [Oakland, CA; Seery, Martin N [San Rafael, CA; Holland, Rodney H [Novato, CA

    2012-04-17

    A solar array mounting system having unique installation, load distribution, and grounding features, and which is adaptable for mounting solar panels having no external frame. The solar array mounting system includes flexible, pedestal-style feet and structural links connected in a grid formation on the mounting surface. The photovoltaic modules are secured in place via the use of attachment clamps that grip the edge of the typically glass substrate. The panel mounting clamps are then held in place by tilt brackets and/or mid-link brackets that provide fixation for the clamps and align the solar panels at a tilt to the horizontal mounting surface. The tilt brackets are held in place atop the flexible feet and connected link members thus creating a complete mounting structure.

  8. Helicopter trajectory planning using optimal control theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menon, P. K. A.; Cheng, V. H. L.; Kim, E.

    1988-01-01

    A methodology for optimal trajectory planning, useful in the nap-of-the-earth guidance of helicopters, is presented. This approach uses an adjoint-control transformation along with a one-dimensional search scheme for generating the optimal trajectories. In addition to being useful for helicopter nap-of-the-earth guidance, the trajectory planning solution is of interest in several other contexts, such as robotic vehicle guidance and terrain-following guidance for cruise missiles and aircraft. A distinguishing feature of the present research is that the terrain constraint and the threat envelopes are incorporated in the equations of motion. Second-order necessary conditions are examined.

  9. Development of Helicopter Capabilities in the U.S. Army During the Korean and Vietnam Wars

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-10

    28. 14 and could land almost in any place bigger than its rotor diameter. It demonstrated the nature of the helicopter . Nevertheless, rotorcraft of... composition of airmobile units, and 67 methodology of helicopter use on the battlefield. The study seems to cover a broad spectrum of knowledge and...can be focused on the one of several aspects: employment of armored helicopters , land mobility vs helicopter mobility, composition of airmobile units

  10. Magnetic core mounting system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronning, Jeffrey J.

    2002-01-01

    A mounting apparatus for an electromagnetic device such as a transformer of inductor includes a generally planar metallic plate as a first heat sink, and a metallic mounting cup as a second heat sink. The mounting cup includes a cavity configured to receive the electromagnetic device, the cavity being defined by a base, and an axially-extending annular sidewall extending from the base to a flange portion of the mounting cup. The mounting cup includes first and second passages for allowing the leads of first and second windings of the electromagnetic device to be routed out of the cavity. The cavity is filled with a polyurethane potting resin, and the mounting cup, including the potted electromagnetic device, is mounted to the plate heat sink using fasteners. The mounting cup, which surrounds the electromagnetic device, in combination with the potting resin provides improved thermal transfer to the plate heat sink, as well as providing resistance to vibration and shocks.

  11. Study on Helicopter Antitorque Device Based on Cross-Flow Fan Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Du Siliang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve low-altitude flight security of single-rotor helicopter, an experimental model of a helicopter antitorque device is developed for wind tunnel test. The model is based on the flow control technology of the cross-flow fan (CFF. Wind tunnel tests show that the model can produce side force. It is concluded that the influence of the CFF rotating speed, the rotor collective pitch, and the forward flight speed on the side force of the model is great. At the same time, the numerical simulation calculation method of the model has been established. Good agreement between experimental and numerical side force and power shows that results of numerical solution are reliable. Therefore, the results in actual helicopter obtained from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD solution are acceptable. This proves that this antitorque device can be used for a helicopter.

  12. Addressing Differences in Safety Influencing Factors—A Comparison of Offshore and Onshore Helicopter Operations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rolf J. Bye

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The accident levels in helicopter transportation vary between geographical regions and types of operations. In this paper, we develop some hypotheses regarding the factors that may explain this variation. The aim of this paper is to improve safety in helicopter transportation through better understanding of the causes leading to fatal accidents. We provide an analysis of three segments of helicopter transportation in Norway (i.e., offshore transportation; onshore ambulance/police, and onshore transportation. This analysis refers to international research on helicopter accidents. The number of fatal accidents per million flight hours in Norwegian offshore helicopter transportation was 2.8 in 1990–1999 and zero in 2000–2015. In Norwegian onshore helicopter transportation, the fatal accident rate was 13.8 in the period 2000–2012. Twenty-three onshore helicopters crashed to the ground; seven of these crashes were fatal, killing 16 people. It is reasonable to question why there is such a significant difference in accident rates between offshore and onshore helicopter transportation. We have approached this question by comparing how the different segments of helicopter transportation are organized and managed. Our analysis shows that there are major differences both at the “sharp” end (i.e., in actual operations and the “blunt” end (i.e., rules, regulations and organization. This includes differences in regulations, market conditions, work organization (i.e., training, employment conditions, and qualifications of the crews, operations and technology. A central argument is that differences in the market conditions and requirements stipulated by the users explain some of these differences. The same differences can be found internationally. If we use best practice and expert judgments, there is an opportunity to improve helicopter safety through improving the socio-technical system (i.e., organizational issues, improved design, improved

  13. Development in helicopter tail boom strake applications in the US

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, John C.; Kelley, Henry L.; Donahue, Cynthia C.; Yenni, Kenneth R.

    1988-01-01

    The use of a strake or spoiler on a helicopter tail boom to beneficially change helicopter tail boom air loads was suggested in the United States in 1975. The anticipated benefits were a change of tail boom loads to reduce required tail rotor thrust and power and improve directional control. High tail boom air loads experienced by the YAH-64 and described in 1978 led to a wind tunnel investigation of the usefullness of strakes in altering such loads on the AH-64, UH-60, and UH-1 helicopters. The wind tunnel tests of 2-D cross sections of the tail boom of each demonstrated that a strake or strakes would be effective. Several limited test programs with the U.S. Army's OH-58A, AH-64, and UH-60A were conducted which showed the effects of strakes were modest for those helicopters. The most recent flight test program, with a Bell 204B, disclosed that for the 204B the tail boom strake or strakes would provide more than a modest improvement in directional control and reduction in tail rotor power.

  14. Dispersion forces in micromechanics: Casimir and Casimir-Polder forces affected by geometry and non-zero temperature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ellingsen, Simen Andreas Aadnoey

    2011-01-15

    The present thesis focuses on several topics within three separate but related branches of the overall field of dispersion forces. The three branches are: temperature corrections to the Casimir force between real materials (Part 1), explicit calculation of Casimir energy in wedge geometries (Part 2), and Casimir-Polder forces on particles out of thermal equilibrium (Part 3). Part 1 deals primarily with analysis of a previously purported thermodynamic inconsistency in the Casimir-Lifshitz free energy of the interaction of two plane mirrors - violation of the third law of thermodynamics - when the latter's dielectric response is described with dissipative models. It is shown analytically and numerically that the Casimir entropy of the interaction between two metallic mirrors described by the Drude model does tend to zero at zero temperature, provided electronic relaxation does not vanish. The leading order terms at low temperature are found. A similar calculation is carried out for the interaction of semiconductors with small but non-zero DC conductivity. In a generalisation, it is shown that a violation of the third law can only occur for permittivities whose low-frequency behaviour is temperature dependent near zero temperature. A calculation using path integral methods shows that the low temperature behaviour of the interaction of fluctuating Foucault currents in two mirrors of Drude metal is identical to that of the full Casimir-Lifshitz free energy, reasserting a previous finding by Intravaia and Henkel that such fluctuating bulk currents are the physical reason for the anomalous entropy behaviour. In a related effort, an analysis of the frequency dependence of the Casimir force by Ford is generalised to imperfectly reflecting mirrors. A paradox is pointed out, in that the effects of a perturbation of the reflecting properties of the mirrors in a finite frequency window can be calculated in two ways giving different results. It is concluded that optimistic

  15. Civilian Helicopter Search and Rescue Accidents in the United States: 1980 Through 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Worley, Gordon H

    2015-12-01

    Helicopters are commonly used in search and rescue operations, and accidents have occurred during helicopter search and rescue (HSAR) missions. The purposes of this study were to investigate whether the HSAR accident rate in the United States could be determined and whether any common contributing factors or trends could be identified. Searches were conducted of the National Transportation Safety Board aviation accident database, the records of the major search and rescue and air medical organizations, and the medical and professional literature for reports of HSAR accidents. A total of 47 civilian HSAR accidents were identified during the study. Of these, 43% involved fatal injuries, compared with a 19% fatality rate for US helicopter general aviation accidents during the same time period and a 40% rate for helicopter emergency medical services. The HSAR accidents carried a significantly higher risk of fatal outcomes when compared with helicopter general aviation accidents (2-tailed Fisher's exact test, P .05). The number of HSAR missions conducted annually could not be established, so an overall accident rate could not be calculated. Although the overall number of HSAR accidents is small, the percentage of fatal outcomes from HSAR accidents is significantly higher than that from general helicopter aviation accidents and is comparable to that seen for helicopter emergency medical services operations. Further study could help to improve the safety of HSAR flights. Copyright © 2015 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Physiological effects of stress related to helicopter travel in Federal Emergency Management Agency search-and-rescue canines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, E; Gulson, N; Liu Cross, T-W; Swanson, K S

    2017-01-01

    Working canines are deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of a National Disaster Response Plan. Stress associated with helicopter flight and the resulting physical effects on the dog are unknown. Our objective was to test the hypotheses that (1) helicopter travel affects the physiology and faecal microbiota of working canines, but that (2) physiological consequences of helicopter travel will not negatively affect their work performance. A total of nine FEMA canines were loaded onto helicopters and flown for 30 min in July 2015. Rectal temperature, behavioural stress indicators and saliva swabs (for cortisol) were collected at baseline, loading, mid-flight and post-flight. After flight, canines completed a standardised search exercise to monitor work performance. Faecal samples were collected for microbial DNA extraction and Illumina sequencing. All canines were on a standardised diet (CANIDAE ® Grain Free PURE Land ® ) for 3 weeks prior to the study. Visible indicators of stress were observed at loading and at mid-flight and corresponded with an increase ( P  travel did not affect search performance ( P  > 0·05). We found that α- and β-diversity measures of faecal microbiota were not affected ( P  > 0·05). Our data suggest that although helicopter travel may cause physiological changes that have been associated with stress in working dogs, it does not make an impact on their search performance or the stability of faecal microbiota.

  17. Radiation Mapping in Post-Disaster Environments Using an Autonomous Helicopter

    OpenAIRE

    Towler, Jerry; Krawiec, Bryan; Kochersberger, Kevin

    2012-01-01

    Recent events have highlighted the need for unmanned remote sensing in dangerous areas, particularly where structures have collapsed or explosions have occurred, to limit hazards to first responders and increase their efficiency in planning response operations. In the case of the Fukushima nuclear reactor explosion, an unmanned helicopter capable of obtaining overhead images, gathering radiation measurements, and mapping both the structural and radiation content of the environment would have ...

  18. ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FLIGHT PERSONNEL FOR DESIGNING DAMPERS FOR SHOCKPROOF SEATS OF HELICOPTER CREWS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moiseev, Yu B; Ignatovich, S N; Strakhov, A Yu

    The article discusses anthropometric design of shockproof pilot seats for state-of-the-art helicopters. Object of the investigation was anthropometric parameters of the helicopter aviation personnel of the Russian interior troops. It was stated that the body parameters essential for designing helicopter seat dampers are mass of the body part that presses against the seat in the seating position, and eye level above the seat surface. An uncontrolled seat damper ensuring shockproof safety to 95 % helicopter crews must be designed for the body mass contacting the seat of 99.7 kg and eye level above the seat of 78.6 cm. To absorb.shock effectively, future dampers should be adjustable to pilot's body parameters. The optimal approach to anthropometric design of a helicopter seat is development of type pilot' body models with due account of pilot's the flight outfit and seat geometry. Principle criteria of type models are body mass and eye level. The authors propose a system of type body models facilitating specification of anthropometric data helicopter seat developers.

  19. Numerical simulation of helicopter engine plume in forward flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimanlig, Arsenio C. B.; Vandam, Cornelis P.; Duque, Earl P. N.

    1994-01-01

    Flowfields around helicopters contain complex flow features such as large separated flow regions, vortices, shear layers, blown and suction surfaces and an inherently unsteady flow imposed by the rotor system. Another complicated feature of helicopters is their infrared signature. Typically, the aircraft's exhaust plume interacts with the rotor downwash, the fuselage's complicated flowfield, and the fuselage itself giving each aircraft a unique IR signature at given flight conditions. The goal of this project was to compute the flow about a realistic helicopter fuselage including the interaction of the engine air intakes and exhaust plume. The computations solve the Think-Layer Navier Stokes equations using overset type grids and in particular use the OVERFLOW code by Buning of NASA Ames. During this three month effort, an existing grid system of the Comanche Helicopter was to be modified to include the engine inlet and the hot engine exhaust. The engine exhaust was to be modeled as hot air exhaust. However, considerable changes in the fuselage geometry required a complete regriding of the surface and volume grids. The engine plume computations have been delayed to future efforts. The results of the current work consists of a complete regeneration of the surface and volume grids of the most recent Comanche fuselage along with a flowfield computation.

  20. Engineering Design Handbook. Helicopter Engineering. Part One. Preliminary Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    1974-08-30

    the cost of prime interest being life-cycle cost, climate that is hot or cold, in atmosphere that is humid Chapter 3 discusses helicopter performance...required to satisfy 8-3.2 ENGINE INSTALLATION LOSSES varying climatic and environmental factors. For in- stance, maintenance of the helicopter should be...thammable h aulic , asytem l at mhtproidtem a considering the overall flight mission in segments, dur- source of flammable fluids, as well as electrical

  1. Smart actuation for helicopter rotorblades

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paternoster, Alexandre; Loendersloot, Richard; de Boer, Andries; Akkerman, Remko; Berselli, G.; Vertechy, R.; Vassura, G.

    2012-01-01

    Successful rotorcrafts were only achieved when the differences between hovering flight conditions and a stable forward flight were understood. During hovering, the air speed on all helicopter blades is linearly distributed along each blade and is the same for each. However, during forward flight,

  2. Helicopter detection and classification demonstrator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koersel, A.C. van

    2000-01-01

    A technology demonstrator that detects and classifies different helicopter types automatically, was developed at TNO-FEL. The demonstrator is based on a PC, which receives its acoustic input from an all-weather microphone. The demonstrator uses commercial off-the-shelf hardware to digitize the

  3. Optoelectronic Mounting Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Gene R.; Armendariz, Marcelino G.; Baca, Johnny R. F.; Bryan, Robert P.; Carson, Richard F.; Chu, Dahwey; Duckett, III, Edwin B.; McCormick, Frederick B.; Peterson, David W.; Peterson, Gary D.; Reber, Cathleen A.; Reysen, Bill H.

    2004-10-05

    An optoelectronic mounting structure is provided that may be used in conjunction with an optical transmitter, receiver or transceiver module. The mounting structure may be a flexible printed circuit board. Thermal vias or heat pipes in the head region may transmit heat from the mounting structure to the heat spreader. The heat spreader may provide mechanical rigidity or stiffness to the heat region. In another embodiment, an electrical contact and ground plane may pass along a surface of the head region so as to provide an electrical contact path to the optoelectronic devices and limit electromagnetic interference. In yet another embodiment, a window may be formed in the head region of the mounting structure so as to provide access to the heat spreader. Optoelectronic devices may be adapted to the heat spreader in such a manner that the devices are accessible through the window in the mounting structure.

  4. Neck and shoulder muscle activity and posture among helicopter pilots and crew-members during military helicopter flight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Mike; Lange, Britt; Chreiteh, Shadi Samir; Olsen, Henrik Baare; Nørnberg, Bo Riebeling; Boyle, Eleanor; Søgaard, Karen; Sjøgaard, Gisela

    2016-04-01

    Neck pain among helicopter pilots and crew-members is common. This study quantified the physical workload on neck and shoulder muscles using electromyography (EMG) measures during helicopter flight. Nine standardized sorties were performed, encompassing: cruising from location A to location B (AB) and performing search and rescue (SAR). SAR was performed with Night Vision Goggles (NVG), while AB was performed with (AB+NVG) and without NVG (AB-NVG). EMG was recorded for: trapezius (TRA), upper neck extensors (UNE), and sternocleido-mastoid (SCM). Maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) were performed for normalization of EMG (MVE). Neck posture of pilots and crew-members was monitored and pain intensity of neck, shoulder, and back was recorded. Mean muscle activity for UNE was ∼10% MVE and significantly higher than TRA and SCM, and SCM was significantly lower than TRA. There was no significant difference between AB-NVG and AB+NVG. Muscle activity in the UNE was significantly higher during SAR+NVG than AB-NVG. Sortie time (%) with non-neutral neck posture for SAR+NVG and AB-NVG was: 80.4%, 74.5% (flexed), 55.5%, 47.9% (rotated), 4.5%, 3.7% (lateral flexed). Neck pain intensity increased significantly from pre- (0.7±1.3) to post-sortie (1.6±1.9) for pilots (p=0.028). If sustained, UNE activity of ∼10% MVE is high, and implies a risk for neck disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Autonomous vertical autorotation for unmanned helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalamagkidis, Konstantinos

    Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are considered the stepping stone for the integration of civil unmanned vehicles in the National Airspace System (NAS) because of their low cost and risk. Such systems are aimed at a variety of applications including search and rescue, surveillance, communications, traffic monitoring and inspection of buildings, power lines and bridges. Amidst these systems, small helicopters play an important role because of their capability to hold a position, to maneuver in tight spaces and to take off and land from virtually anywhere. Nevertheless civil adoption of such systems is minimal, mostly because of regulatory problems that in turn are due to safety concerns. This dissertation examines the risk to safety imposed by UAS in general and small helicopters in particular, focusing on accidents resulting in a ground impact. To improve the performance of small helicopters in this area, the use of autonomous autorotation is proposed. This research goes beyond previous work in the area of autonomous autorotation by developing an on-line, model-based, real-time controller that is capable of handling constraints and different cost functions. The approach selected is based on a non-linear model-predictive controller, that is augmented by a neural network to improve the speed of the non-linear optimization. The immediate benefit of this controller is that a class of failures that would otherwise result in an uncontrolled crash and possible injuries or fatalities can now be accommodated. Furthermore besides simply landing the helicopter, the controller is also capable of minimizing the risk of serious injury to people in the area. This is accomplished by minimizing the kinetic energy during the last phase of the descent. The presented research is designed to benefit the entire UAS community as well as the public, by allowing for safer UAS operations, which in turn also allow faster and less expensive integration of UAS in the NAS.

  6. Direct CFD Predictions of Low Frequency Sounds Generated by a Helicopter Main Rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Ben W.; Potsdam, Mark A.; Conner, Dave A.; Conner, Dave A.; Watts, Michael E.

    2010-01-01

    The use of CFD to directly predict helicopter main rotor noise is shown to be quite promising as an alternative mean for low frequency source noise evaluation. Results using existing state-of-the-art grid structures and finite-difference schemes demonstrated that small perturbation pressures, associated with acoustics radiation, can be extracted with some degree of fidelity. Accuracy of the predictions are demonstrated via comparing to predictions from conventional acoustic analogy-based models, and with measurements obtained from wind tunnel and flight tests for the MD-902 helicopter at several operating conditions. Findings show that the direct CFD approach is quite successfully in yielding low frequency results due to thickness and steady loading noise mechanisms. Mid-to-high frequency contents, due to blade-vortex interactions, are not predicted due to CFD modeling and grid constraints.

  7. Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Knut; Baardsen, Roald; Dalen, Ingvild; Larsen, Jan Petter

    2017-06-20

    Flight related low back pain (LBP) among helicopter pilots is frequent and may influence flight performance. Prolonged confined sitting during flights seems to weaken lumbar trunk (LT) muscles with associated secondary transient pain. Aim of the study was to investigate if structured training could improve muscular function and thus improve LBP related to flying. 39 helicopter pilots (35 men and 4 women), who reported flying related LBP on at least 1 of 3 missions last month, were allocated to two training programs over a 3-month period. Program A consisted of 10 exercises recommended for general LBP. Program B consisted of 4 exercises designed specifically to improve LT muscular endurance. The pilots were examined before and after the training using questionnaires for pain, function, quality of health and tests of LT muscular endurance as well as ultrasound measurements of the contractility of the lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM). Approximately half of the participants performed the training per-protocol. Participants in this subset group had comparable baseline characteristics as the total study sample. Pre and post analysis of all pilots included, showed participants had marked improvement in endurance and contractility of the LMM following training. Similarly, participants had improvement in function and quality of health. Participants in program B had significant improvement in pain, function and quality of health. This study indicates that participants who performed a three months exercise program had improved muscle endurance at the end of the program. The helicopter pilots also experienced improved function and quality of health. Identifier: NCT01788111 Registration date; February 5th, 2013, verified April 2016.

  8. Terrain and Radiation Mapping in Post-Disaster Environments Using an Autonomous Helicopter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin Kochersberger

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Recent events have highlighted the need for unmanned remote sensing in dangerous areas, particularly where structures have collapsed or explosions have occurred, to limit hazards to first responders and increase their efficiency in planning response operations. In the case of the Fukushima nuclear reactor explosion, an unmanned helicopter capable of obtaining overhead images, gathering radiation measurements, and mapping both the structural and radiation content of the environment would have given the response team invaluable data early in the disaster, thereby allowing them to understand the extent of the damage and areas where dangers to personnel existed. With this motivation, the Unmanned Systems Lab at Virginia Tech has developed a remote sensing system for radiation detection and aerial imaging using a 90 kg autonomous helicopter and sensing payloads for the radiation detection and imaging operations. The radiation payload, which is the sensor of focus in this paper, consists of a scintillating type detector with associated software and novel search algorithms to rapidly and effectively map and locate sources of high radiation intensity. By incorporating this sensing technology into an unmanned aerial vehicle system, crucial situational awareness can be gathered about a post-disaster environment and response efforts can be expedited. This paper details the radiation mapping and localization capabilities of this system as well as the testing of the various search algorithms using simulated radiation data. The various components of the system have been flight tested over a several-year period and a new production flight platform has been built to enhance reliability and maintainability. The new system is based on the Aeroscout B1-100 helicopter platform, which has a one-hour flight endurance and uses a COFDM radio system that gives the helicopter an effective range of 7 km.

  9. Helicopter Parenting: The Effect of an Overbearing Caregiving Style on Peer Attachment and Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ingen, Daniel J.; Freiheit, Stacy R.; Steinfeldt, Jesse A.; Moore, Linda L.; Wimer, David J.; Knutt, Adelle D.; Scapinello, Samantha; Roberts, Amber

    2015-01-01

    Helicopter parenting, an observed phenomenon on college campuses, may adversely affect college students. The authors examined how helicopter parenting is related to self-efficacy and peer relationships among 190 undergraduate students ages 16 to 28 years. Helicopter parenting was associated with low self-efficacy, alienation from peers, and a lack…

  10. Simulation Analysis of Helicopter Ground Resonance Nonlinear Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yan; Lu, Yu-hui; Ling, Ai-min

    2017-07-01

    In order to accurately predict the dynamic instability of helicopter ground resonance, a modeling and simulation method of helicopter ground resonance considering nonlinear dynamic characteristics of components (rotor lead-lag damper, landing gear wheel and absorber) is presented. The numerical integral method is used to calculate the transient responses of the body and rotor, simulating some disturbance. To obtain quantitative instabilities, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is conducted to estimate the modal frequencies, and the mobile rectangular window method is employed in the predictions of the modal damping in terms of the response time history. Simulation results show that ground resonance simulation test can exactly lead up the blade lead-lag regressing mode frequency, and the modal damping obtained according to attenuation curves are close to the test results. The simulation test results are in accordance with the actual accident situation, and prove the correctness of the simulation method. This analysis method used for ground resonance simulation test can give out the results according with real helicopter engineering tests.

  11. Liner mounting assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halila, Ely E. (Inventor)

    1994-01-01

    A mounting assembly includes an annular supporting flange disposed coaxially about a centerline axis which has a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart supporting holes therethrough. An annular liner is disposed coaxially with the supporting flange and includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart mounting holes aligned with respective ones of the supporting holes. Each of a plurality of mounting pins includes a proximal end fixedly joined to the supporting flange through a respective one of the supporting holes, and a distal end disposed through a respective one of the liner mounting holes for supporting the liner to the supporting flange while unrestrained differential thermal movement of the liner relative to the supporting flange.

  12. Fiber Optic Strain Sensor for Planetary Gear Diagnostics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiddy, Jason S.; Lewicki, David G.; LaBerge, Kelsen E.; Ehinger, Ryan T.; Fetty, Jason

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a new sensing approach for helicopter damage detection in the planetary stage of a helicopter transmission based on a fiber optic strain sensor array. Complete helicopter transmission damage detection has proven itself a difficult task due to the complex geometry of the planetary reduction stage. The crowded and complex nature of the gearbox interior does not allow for attachment of sensors within the rotating frame. Hence, traditional vibration-based diagnostics are instead based on measurements from externally mounted sensors, typically accelerometers, fixed to the gearbox exterior. However, this type of sensor is susceptible to a number of external disturbances that can corrupt the data, leading to false positives or missed detection of potentially catastrophic faults. Fiber optic strain sensors represent an appealing alternative to the accelerometer. Their small size and multiplexibility allows for potentially greater sensing resolution and accuracy, as well as redundancy, when employed as an array of sensors. The work presented in this paper is focused on the detection of gear damage in the planetary stage of a helicopter transmission using a fiber optic strain sensor band. The sensor band includes an array of 13 strain sensors, and is mounted on the ring gear of a Bell Helicopter OH-58C transmission. Data collected from the sensor array is compared to accelerometer data, and the damage detection results are presented

  13. Perioperative versus postoperative measurement of Taylor Spatial Frame mounting parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sökücü, Sami; Demir, Bilal; Lapçin, Osman; Yavuz, Umut; Kabukçuoğlu, Yavuz S

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the differences, if any, between application parameters for the Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF) system obtained during surgery under fluoroscopy and after surgery from digital radiography. This retrospective study included 17 extremities of 15 patients (8 male, 7 female; mean age: 21.9 years, range: 10 to 55 years) who underwent TSF after deformity and fracture. Application parameters measured by fluoroscopy at the end of surgery after mounting the fixator were compared with parameters obtained from anteroposterior and lateral digital radiographs taken 1 day after surgery. Fixator was applied to the femur in 8 patients, tibia in 6 and radius in 3. Mean time to removal of the frame was 3.5 (range: 3 to 7) months. Mean perioperative anteroposterior, lateral and axial frame offsets of patients were 9.1 (range: 3 to 20) mm, 18.1 (range: 5 to 37) mm and 95.3 (range: 25 to 155) mm, respectively. Mean postoperative anteroposterior, lateral and axial frame offset radiographs were 11.8 (range: 2 to 30) mm, 18 (range: 6 to 47) mm and 109.5 (range: 28 to 195) mm, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). While measurements taken during operation may lengthen the duration in the operation room, fluoroscopy may provide better images and is easier to perform than digital radiography. On the other hand, there is no difference between measurements taken during perioperative fluoroscopy and postoperative digital radiography.

  14. Merenje vibracija i relevantnih parametara leta transportnog helikoptera Mi-8 sa revitalizovanim lopaticama nosećeg rotora / Vibration and flight data measurement on the transport helicopter Mi-8 with replaced main rotor blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veljko Rakonjac

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available Rad se odnosi na merenje parametara leta transportnog helikoptera ruske proizvodnje Mi-8 sa ugrađenim originalnim, kao i revitalizovanim - delimično kompozitnim lopaticama nosećeg rotora. Cilj merenja bio je dobijanje relevantnih podataka za ocenu kvaliteta revitalizovanih lopatica usled zamene lopatica nosećeg rotora. Prikazani su oprema, postupak i analiza rezultata merenja parametara leta i vibracija, uz poseban osvrt na probleme izazvane uticajem vibracija na mernu opremu. / This paper presents helicopter flight data acquisition made on the Russian helicopter Mi-8 with its original main rotor blades as well as with regenerated, partially composite ones. The purpose of the measurement was collecting data for flight quality of the main rotor composite blades changing the actual main rotor blades. This paper also presents equipment procedures and analysis of flight data and vitration measurements with special attention to problems caused by vibration influence on equipment.

  15. Consistency of aerosols above clouds characterization from A-Train active and passive measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deaconu, Lucia T.; Waquet, Fabien; Josset, Damien; Ferlay, Nicolas; Peers, Fanny; Thieuleux, François; Ducos, Fabrice; Pascal, Nicolas; Tanré, Didier; Pelon, Jacques; Goloub, Philippe

    2017-09-01

    This study presents a comparison between the retrieval of optical properties of aerosol above clouds (AAC) from different techniques developed for the A-Train sensors CALIOP/CALIPSO and POLDER/PARASOL. The main objective is to analyse the consistency between the results derived from the active and the passive measurements. We compare the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) above optically thick clouds (cloud optical thickness (COT) larger than 3) and their Ångström exponent (AE). These parameters are retrieved with the CALIOP operational method, the POLDER operational polarization method and the CALIOP-based depolarization ratio method (DRM) - for which we also propose a calibrated version (denominated DRMSODA, where SODA is the Synergized Optical Depth of Aerosols). We analyse 6 months of data over three distinctive regions characterized by different types of aerosols and clouds. Additionally, for these regions, we select three case studies: a biomass-burning event over the South Atlantic Ocean, a Saharan dust case over the North Atlantic Ocean and a Siberian biomass-burning event over the North Pacific Ocean. Four and a half years of data are studied over the entire globe for distinct situations where aerosol and cloud layers are in contact or vertically separated. Overall, the regional analysis shows a good correlation between the POLDER and the DRMSODA AOTs when the microphysics of aerosols is dominated by fine-mode particles of biomass-burning aerosols from southern Africa (correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.83) or coarse-mode aerosols of Saharan dust (R2 of 0.82). A good correlation between these methods (R2 of 0.68) is also observed in the global treatment, when the aerosol and cloud layers are separated well. The analysis of detached layers also shows a mean difference in AOT of 0.07 at 532 nm between POLDER and DRMSODA at a global scale. The correlation between the retrievals decreases when a complex mixture of aerosols is expected (R2 of 0.37) - as in the

  16. Time domain system identification of longitudinal dynamics of single rotor model helicopter using sidpac

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khaizer, A.N.; Hussain, I.

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a time-domain approach for identification of longitudinal dynamics of single rotor model helicopter. A frequency sweep excitation input signal is applied for hover flying mode widely used for space state linearized model. A fully automated programmed flight test method provides high quality flight data for system identification using the computer controlled flight simulator X-plane. The flight test data were recorded, analyzed and reduced using the SIDPAC (System Identification Programs for Air Craft) toolbox for MATLAB, resulting in an aerodynamic model of single rotor helicopter. Finally, the identified model of single rotor helicopter is validated on Raptor 30-class model helicopter at hover showing the reliability of proposed approach. (author)

  17. Helicopter pilots' views of air traffic controller responsibilities: a mismatch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Daniel; Nixon, Jim

    2018-02-21

    Controllers and pilots must work together to ensure safe and efficient helicopter flight within the London control zone. Subjective ratings of pilot perception of controller responsibility for five key flight tasks were obtained from thirty helicopter pilots. Three types of airspace were investigated. Results indicate that there is variation in pilot understanding of controller responsibility compared to the formal regulations that define controller responsibility. Significant differences in the perception of controller responsibility were found for the task of aircraft separation in class D airspace and along helicopter routes. Analysis of the patterns of response suggests that task type rather than the airspace type may be the key factor. Results are framed using the concept of a shared mental model. This research demonstrates that pilots flying in complex London airspace have an expectation of controller responsibility for certain flight tasks, in certain airspace types that is not supported by aviation regulation. Practitioner Summary: The responsibility for tasks during flight varies according to the flight rules used and airspace type. Helicopter pilots may attribute responsibility to controllers for tasks when controllers have no responsibility as defined by regulation. This variation between pilot perceptions of controller responsibility could affect safety within the London control zone.

  18. Overuse of helicopter transport in the minimally injured: A health care system problem that should be corrected.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vercruysse, Gary A; Friese, Randall S; Khalil, Mazhar; Ibrahim-Zada, Irada; Zangbar, Bardiya; Hashmi, Ammar; Tang, Andrew; O'Keeffe, Terrence; Kulvatunyou, Narong; Green, Donald J; Gries, Lynn; Joseph, Bellal; Rhee, Peter M

    2015-03-01

    Mortality benefit has been demonstrated for trauma patients transported via helicopter but at great cost. This study identified patients who did not benefit from helicopter transport to our facility and demonstrates potential cost savings when transported instead by ground. We performed a 6-year (2007-2013) retrospective analysis of all trauma patients presenting to our center. Patients with a known mode of transfer were included in the study. Patients with missing data and those who were dead on arrival were excluded from the study. Patients were then dichotomized into helicopter transfer and ground transfer groups. A subanalysis was performed between minimally injured patients (ISS helicopter and 76.7% (3,992) were transferred via ground transport. Helicopter-transferred patients had longer hospital (p = 0.001) and intensive care unit (p = 0.001) stays. There was no difference in mortality between the groups (p = 0.6).On subanalysis of minimally injured patients there was no difference in hospital length of stay (p = 0.1) and early discharge (p = 0.6) between the helicopter transfer and ground transfer group. Average helicopter transfer cost at our center was $18,000, totaling $4,860,000 for 270 minimally injured helicopter-transferred patients. Nearly one third of patients transported by helicopter were minimally injured. Policies to identify patients who do not benefit from helicopter transport should be developed. Significant reduction in transport cost can be made by judicious selection of patients. Education to physicians calling for transport and identification of alternate means of transportation would be both safe and financially beneficial to our system. Epidemiologic study, level III. Therapeutic study, level IV.

  19. Wind instrument mountings for above-the-cab lookout exposure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owen P. Cramer; Ralph H. Moltzau

    1968-01-01

    The lookout tower offers a ready-made platform from which the speed of true unobstructed wind can be measured, then reduced to equivalent of 20-foot wind. Tower-mounted instruments must meet the requirements of a lightning conductor system, but should also be easily installed and removed for storage and maintenance. Lightweight aluminum mountings for catwalk or flat-...

  20. Conference on Helicopter Structures Technology, Moffett Field, Calif., November 16-18, 1977, Proceedings

    Science.gov (United States)

    1978-01-01

    Work on advanced concepts for helicopter designs is reported. Emphasis is on use of advanced composites, damage-tolerant design, and load calculations. Topics covered include structural design flight maneuver loads using PDP-10 flight dynamics model, use of 3-D finite element analysis in design of helicopter mechanical components, damage-tolerant design of the YUH-61A main rotor system, survivability of helicopters to rotor blade ballistic damage, development of a multitubular spar composite main rotor blade, and a bearingless main rotor structural design approach using advanced composites.

  1. Application of the ABC helicopter to the emergency medical service role

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levine, L. S.

    1981-01-01

    Attention is called to the use of helicopters in transporting the sick and injured to medical facilities. It is noted that the helicopter's speed of response and delivery increases patient survival rates and may reduce the cost of medical care and its burden on society. Among the vehicle characteristics desired for this use are a cruising speed of 200 knots, a single engine hover capability at 10,000 ft, and an absence of a tail rotor. Three designs for helicopters incorporating such new technologies as digital/optical control systems, all composite air-frames, and third-generation airfoils are presented. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to show the effect of design speed, mission radius, and single engine hover capability on vehicle weight, fuel consumption, operating costs, and productivity.

  2. Helicopter thermal imaging for detecting insect infested cadavers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amendt, Jens; Rodner, Sandra; Schuch, Claus-Peter; Sprenger, Heinz; Weidlich, Lars; Reckel, Frank

    2017-09-01

    One of the most common techniques applied for searching living and even dead persons is the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) system fixed on an aircraft like e.g. a helicopter, visualizing the thermal patterns emitted from objects in the long-infrared spectrum. However, as body temperature cools down to ambient values within approximately 24h after death, it is common sense that searching for deceased persons can be just applied the first day post-mortem. We postulated that the insect larval masses on a decomposing body generate a heat which can be considerably higher than ambient temperatures for a period of several weeks and that such heat signatures might be used for locating insect infested human remains. We examined the thermal history of two 70 and 90kg heavy pig cadavers for 21days in May and June 2014 in Germany. Adult and immature insects on the carcasses were sampled daily. Temperatures were measured on and inside the cadavers, in selected maggot masses and at the surroundings. Thermal imaging from a helicopter using the FLIR system was performed at three different altitudes up to 1500ft. during seven day-flights and one night-flight. Insect colonization was dominated by blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) which occurred almost immediately after placement of the cadavers. Larvae were noted first on day 2 and infestation of both cadavers was enormous with several thousand larvae each. After day 14 a first wave of post-feeding larvae left the carcasses for pupation. Body temperature of both cadavers ranged between 15°C and 35°C during the first two weeks of the experiment, while body surface temperatures peaked at about 45°C. Maggot masses temperatures reached values up to almost 25°C above ambient temperature. Detection of both cadavers by thermal imaging was possible on seven of the eight helicopter flights until day 21. Copyright © 2017 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Design of a Stability Augmentation System for an Unmanned Helicopter Based on Adaptive Control Techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shouzhao Sheng

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The task of control of unmanned helicopters is rather complicated in the presence of parametric uncertainties and measurement noises. This paper presents an adaptive model feedback control algorithm for an unmanned helicopter stability augmentation system. The proposed algorithm can achieve a guaranteed model reference tracking performance and speed up the convergence rates of adjustable parameters, even when the plant parameters vary rapidly. Moreover, the model feedback strategy in the algorithm further contributes to the improvement in the control quality of the stability augmentation system in the case of low signal to noise ratios, mainly because the model feedback path is noise free. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated through a series of tests.

  4. Helicopter overtriage in pediatric trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michailidou, Maria; Goldstein, Seth D; Salazar, Jose; Aboagye, Jonathan; Stewart, Dylan; Efron, David; Abdullah, Fizan; Haut, Elliot R

    2014-11-01

    Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) have been designed to provide faster access to trauma center care in cases of life-threatening injury. However, the ideal recipient population is not fully characterized, and indications for helicopter transport in pediatric trauma vary dramatically by county, state, and region. Overtriage, or unnecessary utilization, can lead to additional patient risk and expense. In this study we perform a nationwide descriptive analysis of HEMS for pediatric trauma and assess the incidence of overtriage in this group. We reviewed records from the American College of Surgeons National Trauma Data Bank (2008-11) and included patients less than 16 years of age who were transferred from the scene of injury to a trauma center via HEMS. Overtriage was defined as patients meeting all of the following criteria: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) equal to 15, absence of hypotension, an Injury Severity Score (ISS) less than 9, no need for procedure or critical care, and a hospital length of stay of less than 24 hours. A total of 19,725 patients were identified with a mean age of 10.5 years. The majority of injuries were blunt (95.6%) and resulted from motor vehicle crashes (48%) and falls (15%). HEMS transported patients were predominately normotensive (96%), had a GCS of 15 (67%), and presented with minor injuries (ISS<9, 41%). Overall, 28 % of patients stayed in the hospital for less than 24 hours, and the incidence of overtriage was 17%. Helicopter overtriage is prevalent among pediatric trauma patients nationwide. The ideal model to predict need for HEMS must consider clinical outcomes in the context of judicious resource utilization. The development of guidelines for HEMS use in pediatric trauma could potentially limit unnecessary transfers while still identifying children who require trauma center care in a timely fashion. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. 75 FR 62639 - Air Ambulance and Commercial Helicopter Operations, Part 91 Helicopter Operations, and Part 135...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-12

    ... helicopter air ambulance operators implement a safety management system program that includes sound risk... partially address NTSB Safety Recommendation A-09-89 regarding the implementation of sound risk management... documents. Authority for This Rulemaking The FAA's authority to issue rules on aviation safety is found in...

  6. 3D Vision Based Landing Control of a Small Scale Autonomous Helicopter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhenyu Yu

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Autonomous landing is a challenging but important task for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV to achieve high level of autonomy. The fundamental requirement for landing is the knowledge of the height above the ground, and a properly designed controller to govern the process. This paper presents our research results in the study of landing an autonomous helicopter. The above-the-ground height sensing is based on a 3D vision system. We have designed a simple plane-fitting method for estimating the height over the ground. The method enables vibration free measurement with the camera rigidly attached on the helicopter without using complicated gimbal or active vision mechanism. The estimated height is used by the landing control loop. Considering the ground effect during landing, we have proposed a two-stage landing procedure. Two controllers are designed for the two landing stages respectively. The sensing approach and control strategy has been verified in field flight test and has demonstrated satisfactory performance.

  7. Cognitive Workload and Psychophysiological Parameters During Multitask Activity in Helicopter Pilots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaetan, Sophie; Dousset, Erick; Marqueste, Tanguy; Bringoux, Lionel; Bourdin, Christophe; Vercher, Jean-Louis; Besson, Patricia

    2015-12-01

    Helicopter pilots are involved in a complex multitask activity, implying overuse of cognitive resources, which may result in piloting task impairment or in decision-making failure. Studies usually investigate this phenomenon in well-controlled, poorly ecological situations by focusing on the correlation between physiological values and either cognitive workload or emotional state. This study aimed at jointly exploring workload induced by a realistic simulated helicopter flight mission and emotional state, as well as physiological markers. The experiment took place in the helicopter full flight dynamic simulator. Six participants had to fly on two missions. Workload level, skin conductance, RMS-EMG, and emotional state were assessed. Joint analysis of psychological and physiological parameters associated with workload estimation revealed particular dynamics in each of three profiles. 1) Expert pilots showed a slight increase of measured physiological parameters associated with the increase in difficulty level. Workload estimates never reached the highest level and the emotional state for this profile only referred to positive emotions with low emotional intensity. 2) Non-Expert pilots showed increasing physiological values as the perceived workload increased. However, their emotional state referred to either positive or negative emotions, with a greater variability in emotional intensity. 3) Intermediate pilots were similar to Expert pilots regarding emotional states and similar to Non-Expert pilots regarding physiological patterns. Overall, high interindividual variability of these results highlight the complex link between physiological and psychological parameters with workload, and question whether physiology alone could predict a pilot's inability to make the right decision at the right time.

  8. Dependence of the Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a cavity wall on atomic and material properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mostepanenko, V M; Babb, J F; Caride, A O; Klimchitskaya, G L; Zanette, S I

    2006-01-01

    The Casimir-Polder and van der Waals interactions between an atom and a flat cavity wall are investigated under the influence of real conditions including the dynamic polarizability of the atom, actual conductivity of the wall material and nonzero temperature of the wall. The cases of different atoms near metal and dielectric walls are considered. It is shown that to obtain accurate results for the atom-wall interaction at short separations, one should use the complete tabulated optical data for the complex refractive index of the wall material and the accurate dynamic polarizability of an atom. At relatively large separations in the case of a metal wall, one may use the plasma model dielectric function to describe the dielectric properties of the wall material. The obtained results are important for the theoretical interpretation of experiments on quantum reflection and Bose-Einstein condensation

  9. Shoulder-Mounted Robot for MRI-guided arthrography: Accuracy and mounting study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monfaredi, R; Wilson, E; Sze, R; Sharma, K; Azizi, B; Iordachita, I; Cleary, K

    2015-08-01

    A new version of our compact and lightweight patient-mounted MRI-compatible 4 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot for MRI-guided arthrography procedures is introduced. This robot could convert the traditional two-stage arthrography procedure (fluoroscopy-guided needle insertion followed by a diagnostic MRI scan) to a one-stage procedure, all in the MRI suite. The results of a recent accuracy study are reported. A new mounting technique is proposed and the mounting stability is investigated using optical and electromagnetic tracking on an anthropomorphic phantom. Five volunteer subjects including 2 radiologists were asked to conduct needle insertion in 4 different random positions and orientations within the robot's workspace and the displacement of the base of the robot was investigated during robot motion and needle insertion. Experimental results show that the proposed mounting method is stable and promising for clinical application.

  10. Integrated modeling and robust control for full-envelope flight of robotic helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Civita, Marco

    Robotic helicopters have attracted a great deal of interest from the university, the industry, and the military world. They are versatile machines and there is a large number of important missions that they could accomplish. Nonetheless, there are only a handful of documented examples of robotic-helicopter applications in real-world scenarios. This situation is mainly due to the poor flight performance that can be achieved and---more important---guaranteed under automatic control. Given the maturity of control theory, and given the large body of knowledge in helicopter dynamics, it seems that the lack of success in flying high-performance controllers for robotic helicopters, especially by academic groups and by small industries, has nothing to do with helicopters or control theory as such. The problem lies instead in the large amount of time and resources needed to synthesize, test, and implement new control systems with the approach normally followed in the aeronautical industry. This thesis attempts to provide a solution by presenting a modeling and control framework that minimizes the time, cost, and both human and physical resources necessary to design high-performance flight controllers. The work is divided in two main parts. The first consists of the development of a modeling technique that allows the designer to obtain a high-fidelity model adequate for both real-time simulation and controller design, with few flight, ground, and wind-tunnel tests and a modest level of complexity in the dynamic equations. The second consists of the exploitation of the predictive capabilities of the model and of the robust stability and performance guarantees of the Hinfinity loop-shaping control theory to reduce the number of iterations of the design/simulated-evaluation/flight-test-evaluation procedure. The effectiveness of this strategy is demonstrated by designing and flight testing a wide-envelope high-performance controller for the Carnegie Mellon University robotic

  11. 76 FR 37261 - Establishment of Helicopter Area Navigation (RNAV) Routes; Northeast United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-27

    ...; Northeast United States AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY...) structure and designates two helicopter RNAV routes (TK-routes) in the northeast corridor between the... Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish two helicopter RNAV routes in Northeast United States...

  12. A Novel Emergent State Control Law for an Integrated Helicopter/Turboshaft Engine System

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhang, H.; Li, Y.; Deng, S.

    2014-01-01

    A two-layer robust control scheme is proposed to get a better response ability for emergency maneuvers of helicopter. Note that the power used in ascending flight is the main coupling between helicopter and its turboshaft engines; therefore vertical flight control is separated from conventional

  13. A helicopter emergency medical service may allow faster access to highly specialised care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Afzali, Monika; Hesselfeldt, Rasmus; Steinmetz, Jacob

    2013-01-01

    Centralization of the hospital system entails longer transport for some patients. A physician-staffed helicopter may provide effective triage, advanced management and fast transport to highly specialized treatment for time-critical patients. The aim of this study was to describe activity and poss......Centralization of the hospital system entails longer transport for some patients. A physician-staffed helicopter may provide effective triage, advanced management and fast transport to highly specialized treatment for time-critical patients. The aim of this study was to describe activity...... and possible beneficial effect of a physician-staffed helicopter in a one-year trial period in eastern Denmark....

  14. Helicopter vs. ground transportation of patients bound for primary percutaneous coronary intervention

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Funder, K S; Rasmussen, L S; Siersma, V

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Implementation of the first Danish helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) was associated with reduced time from first medical contact to treatment at a specialized centre for patients with suspected ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We aimed to investigate effects of HEMS...... was 22.1% (HEMS) vs. 21.2% (adjusted OR = 1.10, 0.64-1.90, P = 0.73). CONCLUSION: In an observational study of patients with suspected STEMI in eastern Denmark, no significant beneficial effect of helicopter transport could be detected on mortality, premature labour market exit or work ability. Only...... a study with random allocation to one system vs. another, along with a large sample size, will allow determination of superiority of helicopter transport....

  15. 76 FR 53315 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Model SA-365N and SA-365N1 Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-26

    ... of compliance. (d) The Joint Aircraft System/Component Code is 2897: Fuel System Wiring. (e) The... helicopters. This action requires you to disconnect the high level fuel switches in the fuel tanks on the affected helicopters. In addition, for helicopters without a crossfeed between the fuel filler necks, you...

  16. CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter (CH-53K)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) RCS: DD-A&T(Q&A)823-390 CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter (CH-53K) As of FY 2017 President’s Budget...December 2015 SAR March 4, 2016 10:04:18 UNCLASSIFIED 4 Col Henry Vanderborght PMA-261 Heavy Lift Helicopters Program Executive Office - Air, Anti...757-5780 Fax: 301-757-5109 DSN Phone: 757-5780 DSN Fax: 757-5109 Date Assigned: May 29, 2014 Program Information Program Name CH-53K Heavy Lift

  17. Tests with an integrated helmet system for the TIGER helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boehm, Hans-Dieter V.; Evers, Carl; Stenner, K.-H.

    1998-08-01

    The TIGER helicopter is under development by the MODs of France and Germany for their armies. The initial German requirement was for anti-tank missions only. This task has been extended to support missions which resulted in an upgrade to the German 'UH-TIGER' variant. German MOD is planning to procure 212 UH-TIGER helicopters armed with TRIGAT-, HOT anti-tank missiles, STINGER air-to-air missiles, 68 mm rockets and a gun pod with a 12.7 mm gun.

  18. Shock Mounting for Heavy Machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, A. R.

    1984-01-01

    Elastomeric bearings eliminate extraneous forces. Rocket thrust transmitted from motor to load cells via support that absorbs extraneous forces so they do not affect accuracy of thrust measurements. Adapter spoked cone fits over forward end of rocket motor. Shock mounting developed for rocket engines under test used as support for heavy machines, bridges, or towers.

  19. Maximizing commonality between military and general aviation fly-by-light helicopter system designs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enns, Russell; Mossman, David C.

    1995-05-01

    In the face of shrinking defense budgets, survival of the United States rotorcraft industry is becoming increasingly dependent on increased sales in a highly competitive civil helicopter market. As a result, only the most competitive rotorcraft manufacturers are likely to survive. A key ingredient in improving our competitive position is the ability to produce more versatile, high performance, high quality, and low cost of ownership helicopters. Fiber optic technology offers a path of achieving these objectives. Also, adopting common components and architectures for different helicopter models (while maintaining each models' uniqueness) will further decrease design and production costs. Funds saved (or generated) by exploiting this commonality can be applied to R&D used to further improve the product. In this paper, we define a fiber optics based avionics architecture which provides the pilot a fly-by-light / digital flight control system which can be implemented in both civilian and military helicopters. We then discuss the advantages of such an architecture.

  20. NASA-FAA helicopter Microwave Landing System curved path flight test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swenson, H. N.; Hamlin, J. R.; Wilson, G. W.

    1984-01-01

    An ongoing series of joint NASA/FAA helicopter Microwave Landing System (MLS) flight tests was conducted at Ames Research Center. This paper deals with tests done from the spring through the fall of 1983. This flight test investigated and developed solutions to the problem of manually flying curved-path and steep glide slope approaches into the terminal area using the MLS and flight director guidance. An MLS-equipped Bell UH-1H helicopter flown by NASA test pilots was used to develop approaches and procedures for flying these approaches. The approaches took the form of Straight-in, U-turn, and S-turn flightpaths with glide slopes of 6 deg, 9 deg, and 12 deg. These procedures were evaluated by 18 pilots from various elements of the helicopter community, flying a total of 221 hooded instrument approaches. Flying these curved path and steep glide slopes was found to be operationally acceptable with flight director guidance using the MLS.

  1. Analysis of adjusting effects of mounting force on frequency conversion of mounted nonlinear optics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Ruifeng; Liu, Haitao; Liang, Yingchun; Lu, Lihua

    2014-01-10

    Motivated by the need to increase the second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of nonlinear optics with large apertures, a novel mounting configuration with active adjusting function on the SHG efficiency is proposed and mechanically and optically studied. The adjusting effects of the mounting force on the distortion and stress are analyzed by the finite element methods (FEM), as well as the contribution of the distortion and stress to the change in phase mismatch, and the SHG efficiency are theoretically stated. Further on, the SHG efficiency is calculated as a function of the mounting force. The changing trends of the distortion, stress, and the SHG efficiency with the varying mounting force are obtained, and the optimal ones are figured out. Moreover, the mechanism of the occurrence of the optimal values is studied and the adjusting strategy is put forward. Numerical results show the robust adjustment of the mounting force, as well as the effectiveness of the mounting configuration, in increasing the SHG efficiency.

  2. [Helicopters and medical first aid units. Role of Medical First Aid Unit 94].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huguenard, P; Hanote, P; Metrot, J

    1975-10-01

    For the transport of injured and sick patients, the helicopter (even the mono-turbine type) offers greater advantages when compared to land vehicles: - more comfort (less vibrations, accelerations and decelerations); - a greater speed, that is to say a 61 p. 100 gain of time upon the distance and a gain from 29 up to 44 p. 100 upon the total amount of time taken up by each transport. This gain in time enables valuable specialised medical teams to be more available: - more precise time-tables than by land which namely makes it easier to receive the patients. The drawbacks are linked with the risks which are not nonexistent but rather less serious than by land. The drawbacks also depend upon the weather-conditions (although this factor does not matter much in our area), upon nuisances such as the noise (which is more important but far more transitory than by ambulance) and chiefly upon the cost of air-transport. In fact, the mean cost of a medical land transport amounts roughly to one thousand Francs, a quarter of which only does represent the actual cost of medical aid. For a similar transport, the helicopter comes to a 47 mns flight. There are several ways of making good use of a helicopter. Practical problems have been solved. The "SAMU 94" experience goes back to 1973 and includes over 500 transports by helicopter essentially with the help of the teams and the helicopters belonging to the Paris Base (Civil Protection and the Fire-Brigade). For flights over urban areas, it is to be desired in the future that only twin-turbine helicopters should be used.

  3. Rapid, low-cost photogrammetry to monitor volcanic eruptions: an example from Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diefenbach, Angela K.; Crider, Juliet G.; Schilling, Steve P.; Dzurisin, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    We describe a low-cost application of digital photogrammetry using commercially available photogrammetric software and oblique photographs taken with an off-the-shelf digital camera to create sequential digital elevation models (DEMs) of a lava dome that grew during the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens (MSH) volcano. Renewed activity at MSH provided an opportunity to devise and test this method, because it could be validated against other observations of this well-monitored volcano. The datasets consist of oblique aerial photographs (snapshots) taken from a helicopter using a digital single-lens reflex camera. Twelve sets of overlapping digital images of the dome taken during 2004–2007 were used to produce DEMs and to calculate lava dome volumes and extrusion rates. Analyses of the digital images were carried out using photogrammetric software to produce three-dimensional coordinates of points identified in multiple photos. The evolving morphology of the dome was modeled by comparing successive DEMs. Results were validated by comparison to volume measurements derived from traditional vertical photogrammetric surveys by the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory. Our technique was significantly less expensive and required less time than traditional vertical photogrammetric techniques; yet, it consistently yielded volume estimates within 5% of the traditional method. This technique provides an inexpensive, rapid assessment tool for tracking lava dome growth or other topographic changes at restless volcanoes.

  4. Quantum electrodynamics based on self-energy, without second quantization: The Lamb shift and long-range Casimir-Polder van der Waals forces near boundaries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barut, A.O.; Dowling, J.P.

    1986-12-01

    Using a previously formulated theory of quantum electrodynamics based on self-energy, we give a general method for computing the Lamb shift and related Casimir-Polder energies for a quantum system in the vicinity of perfectly conducting boundaries. Our results are exact and easily extendable to a full covariant relativistic form. As a particular example we apply the method to an atom near an infinite conducting plane, and we recover the standard QED results (which are known only in the dipole approximation) in a simple and straightforward manner. This is accomplished in the context of the new theory which is not second quantized and contains no vacuum fluctuations. (author)

  5. Multi-Scale Modeling of an Integrated 3D Braided Composite with Applications to Helicopter Arm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Diantang; Chen, Li; Sun, Ying; Zhang, Yifan; Qian, Kun

    2017-10-01

    A study is conducted with the aim of developing multi-scale analytical method for designing the composite helicopter arm with three-dimensional (3D) five-directional braided structure. Based on the analysis of 3D braided microstructure, the multi-scale finite element modeling is developed. Finite element analysis on the load capacity of 3D five-directional braided composites helicopter arm is carried out using the software ABAQUS/Standard. The influences of the braiding angle and loading condition on the stress and strain distribution of the helicopter arm are simulated. The results show that the proposed multi-scale method is capable of accurately predicting the mechanical properties of 3D braided composites, validated by the comparison the stress-strain curves of meso-scale RVCs. Furthermore, it is found that the braiding angle is an important factor affecting the mechanical properties of 3D five-directional braided composite helicopter arm. Based on the optimized structure parameters, the nearly net-shaped composite helicopter arm is fabricated using a novel resin transfer mould (RTM) process.

  6. Who's in Charge Here? Cooperative Work and Authority Negotiation in Police Helicopter Missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linde, Charlotte

    A study of collaboration and the ongoing negotiation of authority in police helicopter work focused on inflight communication in one helicopter during two weeks of operation. Data were drawn from audio and video recordings of internal and external communications obtained inflight and from observation and physiological indicators of stress and…

  7. Helicopter Icing Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-09-01

    helicopter (i.e. in an icing tunnel or engine test cell ) and therefore can be subjected to controlled icing where spe- cific problems can be safely...evaluation. 69 2.2.5.2 Ice Protection Systems Demonstration Many of the systems noted in 2.2.5.1 can be evaluated in icing test cells or icing wind tunnels...Figure 2-32 illustrates a typical rotor deice system control arrangement. 104 (N >4 A.dO INaH -E- C4) uo U En 9 E-1 H m I ~z O 04 04iH U 0 El4 E-f C E

  8. Mounting LHCb hadron calorimeter scintillating tiles

    CERN Multimedia

    Maximilien Brice

    2004-01-01

    Scintillating tiles are carefully mounted in the hadronic calorimeter for the LHCb detector. These calorimeters measure the energy of particles that interact via the strong force, called hadrons. The detectors are made in a sandwich-like structure where these scintillator tiles are placed between metal sheets.

  9. Measurements on Buoyant Jet Flows from a Ceiling-Mounted Slot Diffuser

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Peter V.; Möller, Åke T. A.

    Ceiling-mounted slot diffusers in ventilated rooms will often generate a flow of the wall jet type. The jet follows the ceiling, entrains air from the occupied zone and generates a recirculating flow in the whole room. This paper will deal with the flow in the ceiling region. The wall jet flow...

  10. Arterial blood gases and oxygen content in climbers on Mount Everest

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grocott, Michael P. W.; Martin, Daniel S.; Levett, Denny Z. H.; McMorrow, Roger; Windsor, Jeremy; Montgomery, Hugh E.; Ahuja, V.; Aref-Adib, G.; Burnham, R.; Chisholm, A.; Clarke, K.; Coates, D.; Coates, M.; Cook, D.; Cox, M.; Dhillon, S.; Dougall, C.; Doyle, P.; Duncan, P.; Edsell, M.; Edwards, L.; Evans, L.; Gardiner, P.; Grocott, M.; Gunning, P.; Hart, N.; Harrington, J.; Harvey, J.; Holloway, C.; Howard, D.; Hurlbut, D.; Imray, C.; Ince, C.; Jonas, M.; van der Kaaij, J.; Khosravi, M.; Kolfschoten, N.; Levett, D.; Luery, H.; Luks, A.; Martin, D.; McMorrow, R.; Meale, P.; Mitchell, K.; Montgomery, H.; Morgan, G.; Morgan, J.; Murray, A.; Mythen, M.; Newman, S.

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The level of environmental hypobaric hypoxia that affects climbers at the summit of Mount Everest (8848 m [29,029 ft]) is close to the limit of tolerance by humans. We performed direct field measurements of arterial blood gases in climbers breathing ambient air on Mount Everest. METHODS:

  11. Mounting for ceramic scroll

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petty, Jack D.

    1993-01-01

    A mounting for a ceramic scroll on a metal engine block of a gas turbine engine includes a first ceramic ring and a pair of cross key connections between the first ceramic ring, the ceramic scroll, and the engine block. The cross key connections support the scroll on the engine block independent of relative radial thermal growth and for bodily movement toward an annular mounting shoulder on the engine. The scroll has an uninterrupted annular shoulder facing the mounting shoulder on the engine block. A second ceramic ring is captured between mounting shoulder and the uninterrupted shoulder on the scroll when the latter is bodily shifted toward the mouting shoulder to define a gas seal between the scroll and the engine block.

  12. Safe-life and damage-tolerant design approaches for helicopter structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddick, H. K., Jr.

    1983-01-01

    The safe-life and damage-tolerant design approaches discussed apply to both metallic and fibrous composite helicopter structures. The application of these design approaches to fibrous composite structures is emphasized. Safe-life and damage-tolerant criteria are applied to all helicopter flight critical components, which are generally categorized as: dynamic components with a main and tail rotor system, which includes blades, hub and rotating controls, and drive train which includes transmission, and main and interconnecting rotor shafts; and the airframe, composed of the fuselage, aerodynamic surfaces, and landing gear.

  13. Solar panel truss mounting systems and methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Haddad, Tristan Farris; Cavieres, Andres; Gentry, Russell; Goodman, Joseph; Nolan, Wade; Pitelka, Taylor; Rahimzadeh, Keyan; Brooks, Bradley; Lohr, Joshua; Crooks, Ryan; Porges, Jamie; Rubin, Daniel

    2016-06-28

    An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a solar panel truss mounting system comprising a base and a truss assembly coupled to the base. The truss assembly comprises a first panel rail mount, second panel rail mount parallel to the first panel rail mount, base rail mount parallel to the first and second panel rail mounts, and a plurality of support members. A first portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first and second panel rail mounts. A second portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first panel rail mount and the base rail mount. A third portion of the plurality of support members extends between the second panel rail mount and the base rail mount. The system can further comprise a plurality of connectors for coupling a plurality of photovoltaic solar panels to the truss assembly.

  14. Solar panel truss mounting systems and methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Haddad, Tristan Farris; Cavieres, Andres; Gentry, Russell; Goodman, Joseph; Nolan, Wade; Pitelka, Taylor; Rahimzadeh, Keyan; Brooks, Bradley; Lohr, Joshua; Crooks, Ryan; Porges, Jamie; Rubin, Daniel

    2018-01-30

    An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a solar panel truss mounting system comprising a base and a truss assembly coupled to the base. The truss assembly comprises a first panel rail mount, second panel rail mount parallel to the first panel rail mount, base rail mount parallel to the first and second panel rail mounts, and a plurality of support members. A first portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first and second panel rail mounts. A second portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first panel rail mount and the base rail mount. A third portion of the plurality of support members extends between the second panel rail mount and the base rail mount. The system can further comprise a plurality of connectors for coupling a plurality of photovoltaic solar panels to the truss assembly.

  15. Solar panel truss mounting systems and methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Haddad, Tristan Farris; Cavieres, Andres; Gentry, Russell; Goodman, Joseph; Nolan, Wade; Pitelka, Taylor; Rahimzadeh, Keyan; Brooks, Bradley; Lohr, Joshua; Crooks, Ryan; Porges, Jamie; Rubin, Daniel

    2015-10-20

    An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a solar panel truss mounting system comprising a base and a truss assembly coupled to the base. The truss assembly comprises a first panel rail mount, second panel rail mount parallel to the first panel rail mount, base rail mount parallel to the first and second panel rail mounts, and a plurality of support members. A first portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first and second panel rail mounts. A second portion of the plurality of support members extends between the first panel rail mount and the base rail mount. A third portion of the plurality of support members extends between the second panel rail mount and the base rail mount. The system can further comprise a plurality of connectors for coupling a plurality of photovoltaic solar panels to the truss assembly.

  16. Incomplete Faraday cage effect of helicopters used in platform live-line maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cameron, G.W.; Bodger, P.S.; Woudberg, J.J. [University of Canterbury, Christchurch (New Zealand). Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

    1998-03-01

    The use of helicopters for maintenance on live overhead transmission lines has become a realistic option. The helicopter blades, body and working platform can be seen as creating an incomplete Faraday cage which may be an enhancement to live-line worker safety. This paper simulates the condition using a Faraday cage which can be dismantled in a controlled laboratory environment, to ascertain the effectiveness of apparatus. (author)

  17. Impact of a physician-staffed helicopter on a regional trauma system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hesselfeldt, R; Steinmetz, J; Jans, H

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to compare the trauma system before and after implementing a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (PS-HEMS). Our hypothesis was that PS-HEMS would reduce time from injury to definitive care for severely injured patients.......This study aims to compare the trauma system before and after implementing a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (PS-HEMS). Our hypothesis was that PS-HEMS would reduce time from injury to definitive care for severely injured patients....

  18. S-7OA-9 Black Hawk Helicopter: Internal Panel Cracking Investigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-01-01

    research into helicopter usage monitoring and is involved with a sub-committee of TTCP HTP 8 looking at issues related to helicopter usage monitoring. He is...Repair Manual . It was subsequently discovered that a majority of the ESSS struts in service had the same damage and this raised an airworthiness issue...Black Hawk Structural Repair Manual , Royal Australian Air Force Publication, DI(AF) AAP7210.015-3,12 May 1994. 15. Fraser, R.C., A One-Pass Method For

  19. Feasibility of Helicopter Support Seek Frost.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-05-01

    the allowable maximum weight can be used as the payload. The payload is a variable. Small helicopters with full fuel and auxillary tanks can fly...equipment, that the program to obtain icing approval on the S-76 will be finalized for management evaluation, and a decision can be made at that time to

  20. Helicopter Parents Help Students, Survey Finds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipka, Sara

    2007-01-01

    Helicopter parents, notorious for hovering over their college-age children, may actually help students thrive, according to this year's National Survey of Student Engagement. Students whose parents intervene on their behalf--38 percent of freshmen and 29 percent of seniors--are more active in and satisfied with college, says the monstrous annual…

  1. The head-mounted microscope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ting; Dailey, Seth H; Naze, Sawyer A; Jiang, Jack J

    2012-04-01

    Microsurgical equipment has greatly advanced since the inception of the microscope into the operating room. These advancements have allowed for superior surgical precision and better post-operative results. This study focuses on the use of the Leica HM500 head-mounted microscope for the operating phonosurgeon. The head-mounted microscope has an optical zoom from 2× to 9× and provides a working distance from 300 mm to 700 mm. The headpiece, with its articulated eyepieces, adjusts easily to head shape and circumference, and offers a focus function, which is either automatic or manually controlled. We performed five microlaryngoscopic operations utilizing the head-mounted microscope with successful results. By creating a more ergonomically favorable operating posture, a surgeon may be able to obtain greater precision and success in phonomicrosurgery. Phonomicrosurgery requires the precise manipulation of long-handled cantilevered instruments through the narrow bore of a laryngoscope. The head-mounted microscope shortens the working distance compared with a stand microscope, thereby increasing arm stability, which may improve surgical precision. Also, the head-mounted design permits flexibility in head position, enabling operator comfort, and delaying musculoskeletal fatigue. A head-mounted microscope decreases the working distance and provides better ergonomics in laryngoscopic microsurgery. These advances provide the potential to promote precision in phonomicrosurgery. Copyright © 2011 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.

  2. Three-dimensional repositioning accuracy of semiadjustable articulator cast mounting systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Ming Yi; Ung, Justina Youlin; Low, Ada Hui Yin; Tan, En En; Tan, Keson Beng Choon

    2014-10-01

    In spite of its importance in prosthesis precision and quality, the 3-dimensional repositioning accuracy of cast mounting systems has not been reported in detail. The purpose of this study was to quantify the 3-dimensional repositioning accuracy of 6 selected cast mounting systems. Five magnetic mounting systems were compared with a conventional screw-on system. Six systems on 3 semiadjustable articulators were evaluated: Denar Mark II with conventional screw-on mounting plates (DENSCR) and magnetic mounting system with converter plates (DENCON); Denar Mark 330 with in-built magnetic mounting system (DENMAG) and disposable mounting plates; and Artex CP with blue (ARTBLU), white (ARTWHI), and black (ARTBLA) magnetic mounting plates. Test casts with 3 high-precision ceramic ball bearings at the mandibular central incisor (Point I) and the right and left second molar (Point R; Point L) positions were mounted on 5 mounting plates (n=5) for all 6 systems. Each cast was repositioned 10 times by 4 operators in random order. Nine linear (Ix, Iy, Iz; Rx, Ry, Rz; Lx, Ly, Lz) and 3 angular (anteroposterior, mediolateral, twisting) displacements were measured with a coordinate measuring machine. The mean standard deviations of the linear and angular displacements defined repositioning accuracy. Anteroposterior linear repositioning accuracy ranged from 23.8 ±3.7 μm (DENCON) to 4.9 ±3.2 μm (DENSCR). Mediolateral linear repositioning accuracy ranged from 46.0 ±8.0 μm (DENCON) to 3.7 ±1.5 μm (ARTBLU), and vertical linear repositioning accuracy ranged from 7.2 ±9.6 μm (DENMAG) to 1.5 ±0.9 μm (ARTBLU). Anteroposterior angular repositioning accuracy ranged from 0.0084 ±0.0080 degrees (DENCON) to 0.0020 ±0.0006 degrees (ARTBLU), and mediolateral angular repositioning accuracy ranged from 0.0120 ±0.0111 degrees (ARTWHI) to 0.0027 ±0.0008 degrees (ARTBLU). Twisting angular repositioning accuracy ranged from 0.0419 ±0.0176 degrees (DENCON) to 0.0042 ±0.0038 degrees

  3. A hybrid flight control for a simulated raptor-30 v2 helicopter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khizer, A.N.

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a hybrid flight control system for a single rotor simulated Raptor-30 V2 helicopter. Hybrid intelligent control system, combination of the conventional and intelligent control methodologies, is applied to small model helicopter. The proposed hybrid control used PID as a traditional control and fuzzy as an intelligent control so as to take the maximum advantage of advanced control theory. The helicopter model used; comes from X-Plane flight simulator and their hybrid flight control system was simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK in a simulation platform. X-Plane is also used to visualize the performance of this proposed autopilot design. Through a series of numerous experiments, the operation of hybrid control system was investigated. Results verified that the proposed hybrid control has an excellent performance at hovering flight mode. (author)

  4. Vertically mounted bifacial photovoltaic modules: A global analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Siyu; Walsh, Timothy Michael; Peters, Marius

    2013-01-01

    Bifacial PV (photovoltaic) modules have recently come to increasing attention and various system designs have been investigated. In this paper, a global comparison is made between vertically mounted bifacial modules facing East–West and conventionally mounted mono-facial modules. An analytical method is used to calculate the radiation received by these two module configurations. It is found that the answer to the question which of these two module configurations performs better strongly depends on three factors: (i) the latitude, (ii) the local diffuse fraction and (iii) the albedo. In a subsequent part of the paper, the minimum albedo required to result in a better performance for vertically mounted bifacial modules is calculated for every place in the world. The calculation is based on measured data of the diffuse light fraction and the results are shown in the form of a global map. Finally, the albedo requirements are compared with the measured global albedo distribution. The calculation allows a distinct decision which module configuration is more suitable for a certain place in the world. The result is also shown as a map defining the corresponding areas. - Highlights: • Vertically mounted bifacial module and conventionally monofacial module are compared. • The key factors affecting the performance of the two configurations are investigated. • Which module configuration is more suitable for each place is shown in a world map. • The minimum albedo for bifacial modules to have a better performance is calculated

  5. Assessment of noise level and noise propagation generated by light-lift helicopters in mountain natural environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grigolato, Stefano; Mologni, Omar; Proto, Andrea Rosario; Zimbalatti, Giuseppe; Cavalli, Raffaele

    2018-01-20

    The use of helicopter rises discussion about environmental noise propagation especially when it operates in proximity of environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) for an extended period because of its potential implications in wildlife behaviours. In order to support decisions on helicopter logging operation management in proximity of ESAs, this study focused on (i) analysing the noise spectrum of a light-lift helicopter during logging operations and on (ii) assessing the noise propagation in the surrounding environments. This study investigated a helicopter logging operation for wood fuel extraction in the eastern part of the Italian Alps. The potential disturbance area covered for the entire helicopter logging operation was evaluated by a specific GIS application according to hearing sensitivity of the most sensitive wildlife species in the study area (different strigiform species). The noise level at the ground appeared to be affected by the location regardless both the use of equivalent continuous sound pressures level dB(A) (LAeq) and the single-event level (SEL) noise metrics. The lowest values were recorded when the helicopter was flown over the sound meter level located under the forest canopy, while the highest was recorded when the helicopter was unhooking the loads at the landing. The GIS application highlighted the consistent of the exceeded noise area (weighted to strigiform hearing range and sensitivity) for the lower frequency bands (0.016-0.250 kHz). A more restricted exceeded noise area concerned instead the most sensitive frequency bands" for the strigiform (1-2 kHz). Graphical abstract ᅟ.

  6. Channel uranium-graphite reactor mounting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polushkin, K.K.; Kuznetsov, A.G.; Zheleznyakov, B.N.

    1981-01-01

    According to theoretical principles of general engineering technology the engineering experience of construction-mounting works at the NPP with channel uranium-graphite reactors is systematized. Main parameters and structural features of the 1000 MW channel uranium-graphite reactors are considered. The succession of mounting operations, premounting equipment and pipelines preparation and mounting works technique are described. The most efficient methods of fitting, welding and machining of reactor elements are recommended. Main problems of technical control service are discussed. A typical netted diagram of main equipment of channel uranium-graphite reactors mounting is given

  7. The Counterproductive Effects of Helicopter Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Von Bergen, C. W.; Bressler, Martin S.

    2017-01-01

    Perhaps universities have gone too far in their attempts to provide the best learning experience for our students? We have heard of helicopter parents who hover over their sons and daughters, removing all obstacles their student might face and solve problems for them. Have colleges and universities adopted this same kind of behavior in their…

  8. Compound cycle engine for helicopter application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castor, Jere G.

    1986-01-01

    The Compound Cycle Engine (CCE) is a highly turbocharged, power compounded, ultra-high power density, light-weight diesel engine. The turbomachinery is similar to a moderate pressure ratio, free power turbine engine and the diesel core is high speed and a low compression ratio. This engine is considered a potential candidate for future military light helicopter applications. This executive summary presents cycle thermodynamic (SFC) and engine weight analyses performed to establish general engine operating parameters and configuration. An extensive performance and weight analysis based on a typical two hour helicopter (+30 minute reserve) mission determined final conceptual engine design. With this mission, CCE performance was compared to that of a T-800 class gas turbine engine. The CCE had a 31% lower-fuel consumption and resulted in a 16% reduction in engine plus fuel and fuel tank weight. Design SFC of the CCE is 0.33 lb-HP-HR and installed wet weight is 0.43 lbs/HP. The major technology development areas required for the CCE are identified and briefly discussed.

  9. High fidelity medical simulation in the difficult environment of a helicopter: feasibility, self-efficacy and cost

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holland Carolyn

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This study assessed the feasibility, self-efficacy and cost of providing a high fidelity medical simulation experience in the difficult environment of an air ambulance helicopter. Methods Seven of 12 EM residents in their first postgraduate year participated in an EMS flight simulation as the flight physician. The simulation used the Laerdal SimMan™ to present a cardiac and a trauma case in an EMS helicopter while running at flight idle. Before and after the simulation, subjects completed visual analog scales and a semi-structured interview to measure their self-efficacy, i.e. comfort with their ability to treat patients in the helicopter, and recognition of obstacles to care in the helicopter environment. After all 12 residents had completed their first non-simulated flight as the flight physician; they were surveyed about self-assessed comfort and perceived value of the simulation. Continuous data were compared between pre- and post-simulation using a paired samples t-test, and between residents participating in the simulation and those who did not using an independent samples t-test. Categorical data were compared using Fisher's exact test. Cost data for the simulation experience were estimated by the investigators. Results The simulations functioned correctly 5 out of 7 times; suggesting some refinement is necessary. Cost data indicated a monetary cost of $440 and a time cost of 22 hours of skilled instructor time. The simulation and non-simulation groups were similar in their demographics and pre-hospital experiences. The simulation did not improve residents' self-assessed comfort prior to their first flight (p > 0.234, but did improve understanding of the obstacles to patient care in the helicopter (p = 0.029. Every resident undertaking the simulation agreed it was educational and it should be included in their training. Qualitative data suggested residents would benefit from high fidelity simulation in other

  10. A model for helicopter guidance on spiral trajectories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendenhall, S.; Slater, G. L.

    1980-01-01

    A point mass model is developed for helicopter guidance on spiral trajectories. A fully coupled set of state equations is developed and perturbation equations suitable for 3-D and 4-D guidance are derived and shown to be amenable to conventional state variable feedback methods. Control variables are chosen to be the magnitude and orientation of the net rotor thrust. Using these variables reference controls for nonlevel accelerating trajectories are easily determined. The effects of constant wind are shown to require significant feedforward correction to some of the reference controls and to the time. Although not easily measured themselves, the controls variables chosen are shown to be easily related to the physical variables available in the cockpit.

  11. A Helicopter submarine Search Game

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-09-01

    Figure 3. Graphical representation of Baston and Bostock ................. 10 Figure 4. Dips and Speed Circle...dimen.ional helicopter submarine gaines studied by Meinardi [Ref. 7] and more recently by Baston and Bostock [Ref. 8]. Meinardi solves a discr,-te form of...the game while Baston and Bostock solve the continuous case. Bes.ides Danskin’s game, not much work has been done on the two dimensional case except

  12. The NASA/industry Design Analysis Methods for Vibrations (DAMVIBS) program: McDonnell-Douglas Helicopter Company achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toossi, Mostafa; Weisenburger, Richard; Hashemi-Kia, Mostafa

    1993-01-01

    This paper presents a summary of some of the work performed by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company under NASA Langley-sponsored rotorcraft structural dynamics program known as DAMVIBS (Design Analysis Methods for VIBrationS). A set of guidelines which is applicable to dynamic modeling, analysis, testing, and correlation of both helicopter airframes and a large variety of structural finite element models is presented. Utilization of these guidelines and the key features of their applications to vibration modeling of helicopter airframes are discussed. Correlation studies with the test data, together with the development and applications of a set of efficient finite element model checkout procedures, are demonstrated on a large helicopter airframe finite element model. Finally, the lessons learned and the benefits resulting from this program are summarized.

  13. The influence of environmental factors and dredging on chironomid larval diversity in urban drainage systems in polders strongly influenced by seepage from large rivers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vermonden, K.; Brodersen, Klaus Peter; Jacobsen, Dean

    2011-01-01

    , in urban waters strongly influenced by seepage of large rivers. Chironomid assemblages were studied in urban surface-water systems (man-made drainage ditches) in polder areas along lowland reaches of the rivers Rhine-Meuse in The Netherlands. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the key environmental...... factors. Taxon richness, Shannon index (H'), rareness of species, and life-history strategies at urban locations were compared with available data from similar man-made water bodies in rural areas, and the effectiveness of dredging for restoring chironomid diversity in urban waters was tested. Three...... diversity of chironomid communities in urban waters affected by nutrient-rich seepage or inlet of river water...

  14. Helicopter noise footprint prediction in unsteady maneuvers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gennaretti, Massimo; Bernardini, Giovanni; Serafini, Jacopo; Anobile, A.; Hartjes, S.

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates different methodologies for the evaluation of the acoustic disturbance emitted by helicopter’s main rotors during unsteady maneuvers. Nowadays, the simulation of noise emitted by helicopters is of great interest to designers, both for the assessment of the acoustic impact

  15. AUTONOMOUS UNMANNED HELICOPTER SYSTEM FOR REMOTE SENSING MISSIONS IN UNKNOWN ENVIRONMENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Merz

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design of an autonomous unmanned helicopter system for low-altitude remote sensing. The proposed concepts and methods are generic and not limited to a specific helicopter. The development was driven by the need for a dependable, modular, and affordable system with sufficient payload capacity suitable for both research and real-world deployment. The helicopter can be safely operated without a backup pilot in a contained area beyond visual range. This enables data collection in inaccessible or dangerous areas. Thanks to its terrain following and obstacle avoidance capability, the system does not require a priori information about terrain elevation and obstacles. Missions are specified in state diagrams and flight plans. We present performance characteristics of our system and show results of its deployment in real-world scenarios. We have successfully completed several dozen infrastructure inspection missions and crop monitoring missions facilitating plant phenomics studies.

  16. Application of an active device for helicopter noise reduction in JAXA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Shigeru; Kobiki, Noboru; Tanabe, Yasutada

    2010-01-01

    Important issues in noise problems for current helicopters are described. An active tab (AT) was developed as a new active device for noise/vibration reduction under research cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Kawada Industries, Inc. The wind tunnel test was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of the AT on the aeroacoustic characteristics of a helicopter. From the wind tunnel test, the capability of reducing blade vortex interaction (BVI) noise by an AT was verified. A new control law using instantaneous pressure change on a blade during BVI phenomena was introduced and applied to the wind tunnel testing. This new control law shows reasonable controllability for helicopter noise reduction. Furthermore, in order to analyze noise characteristics, the advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code named JAXA o v3d was developed in JAXA and extended to include CFD-CSD (computational structure dynamics) coupling by using the beam theory for blade deformation. (invited paper)

  17. Integrated flight path planning system and flight control system for unmanned helicopters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jan, Shau Shiun; Lin, Yu Hsiang

    2011-01-01

    This paper focuses on the design of an integrated navigation and guidance system for unmanned helicopters. The integrated navigation system comprises two systems: the Flight Path Planning System (FPPS) and the Flight Control System (FCS). The FPPS finds the shortest flight path by the A-Star (A*) algorithm in an adaptive manner for different flight conditions, and the FPPS can add a forbidden zone to stop the unmanned helicopter from crossing over into dangerous areas. In this paper, the FPPS computation time is reduced by the multi-resolution scheme, and the flight path quality is improved by the path smoothing methods. Meanwhile, the FCS includes the fuzzy inference systems (FISs) based on the fuzzy logic. By using expert knowledge and experience to train the FIS, the controller can operate the unmanned helicopter without dynamic models. The integrated system of the FPPS and the FCS is aimed at providing navigation and guidance to the mission destination and it is implemented by coupling the flight simulation software, X-Plane, and the computing software, MATLAB. Simulations are performed and shown in real time three-dimensional animations. Finally, the integrated system is demonstrated to work successfully in controlling the unmanned helicopter to operate in various terrains of a digital elevation model (DEM).

  18. Integrated Flight Path Planning System and Flight Control System for Unmanned Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jan, Shau Shiun; Lin, Yu Hsiang

    2011-01-01

    This paper focuses on the design of an integrated navigation and guidance system for unmanned helicopters. The integrated navigation system comprises two systems: the Flight Path Planning System (FPPS) and the Flight Control System (FCS). The FPPS finds the shortest flight path by the A-Star (A*) algorithm in an adaptive manner for different flight conditions, and the FPPS can add a forbidden zone to stop the unmanned helicopter from crossing over into dangerous areas. In this paper, the FPPS computation time is reduced by the multi-resolution scheme, and the flight path quality is improved by the path smoothing methods. Meanwhile, the FCS includes the fuzzy inference systems (FISs) based on the fuzzy logic. By using expert knowledge and experience to train the FIS, the controller can operate the unmanned helicopter without dynamic models. The integrated system of the FPPS and the FCS is aimed at providing navigation and guidance to the mission destination and it is implemented by coupling the flight simulation software, X-Plane, and the computing software, MATLAB. Simulations are performed and shown in real time three-dimensional animations. Finally, the integrated system is demonstrated to work successfully in controlling the unmanned helicopter to operate in various terrains of a digital elevation model (DEM). PMID:22164029

  19. High Fidelity Multidisciplinary Tool Development for Helicopter Quieting

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chen, Chung-Lung; Chen, Ya-Chi; Chen, Bing; Jain, Rohit; Lund, Tom; Zhao, Hongwu; Wang, Z.-J; Sun, Yuzhi; Saberi, Hossein; Shih, T.-H

    2007-01-01

    .... The problem is indeed multidisciplinary. Current helicopter blade designers use computational models, which depend heavily on experimental data and cannot be used to predict any novel design, which is a significant departure from existing designs...

  20. Aerodynamic interaction effects of tip-mounted propellers installed on the horizontal tailplane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Arnhem, N.; Sinnige, T.; Stokkermans, T.C.A.; Eitelberg, G.; Veldhuis, L.L.M.

    2018-01-01

    This paper addresses the effects of propeller installation on the aerodynamic performance of a tailplane featuring tip-mounted propellers. A model of a low aspect ratio tailplane equipped with an elevator and a tip-mounted propeller was installed in a low-speed wind-tunnel. Measurements were

  1. A summary of NASA/FAA experiments concerning helicopter IFR airworthiness criteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebacqz, J. V.; Chen, R. T. N.; Gerdes, R. M.; Weber, J. M.

    1983-01-01

    A sequence of ground and flight simulation experiments was conducted to investigate helicopter instrument-flight-rules airworthiness criteria. The first six of these experiments and major results are summarized. Five of the experiments were conducted on large-amplitude motion base simulators. The NASA-Army V/STOLAND UH-1H variable-stability helicopter was used in the flight experiment. Artificial stability and control augmentation, longitudinal and lateral control, and in pitch and roll attitude augmentation were investigated. Previously announced in STAR as N82-23219

  2. Detector Mount Design for IGRINS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jae Sok Oh

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrometer (IGRINS is a near-infrared wide-band high-resolution spectrograph jointly developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the University of Texas at Austin. IGRINS employs three HAWAII-2RG Focal Plane Array (H2RG FPA detectors. We present the design and fabrication of the detector mount for the H2RG detector. The detector mount consists of a detector housing, an ASIC housing, a Field Flattener Lens (FFL mount, and a support base frame. The detector and the ASIC housing should be kept at 65 K and the support base frame at 130 K. Therefore they are thermally isolated by the support made of GFRP material. The detector mount is designed so that it has features of fine adjusting the position of the detector surface in the optical axis and of fine adjusting yaw and pitch angles in order to utilize as an optical system alignment compensator. We optimized the structural stability and thermal characteristics of the mount design using computer-aided 3D modeling and finite element analysis. Based on the structural and thermal analysis, the designed detector mount meets an optical stability tolerance and system thermal requirements. Actual detector mount fabricated based on the design has been installed into the IGRINS cryostat and successfully passed a vacuum test and a cold test.

  3. Wirebond crosstalk and cavity modes in large chip mounts for superconducting qubits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wenner, J; Neeley, M; Bialczak, Radoslaw C; Lenander, M; Lucero, Erik; O' Connell, A D; Sank, D; Wang, H; Weides, M; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M, E-mail: martinis@physics.ucsb.edu [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)

    2011-06-15

    We analyze the performance of a microwave chip mount that uses wirebonds to connect the chip and mount grounds. A simple impedance ladder model predicts that transmission crosstalk between two feedlines falls off exponentially with distance at low frequencies, but rises to near unity above a resonance frequency set by the chip to ground capacitance. Using SPICE simulations and experimental measurements of a scale model, the basic predictions of the ladder model were verified. In particular, by decreasing the capacitance between the chip and box grounds, the resonance frequency increased and transmission decreased. This model then influenced the design of a new mount that improved the isolation to - 65 dB at 6 GHz, even though the chip dimensions were increased to 1 cm x 1 cm, three times as large as our previous devices. We measured a coplanar resonator in this mount as preparation for larger qubit chips, and were able to identify cavity, slotline, and resonator modes.

  4. Wirebond crosstalk and cavity modes in large chip mounts for superconducting qubits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wenner, J; Neeley, M; Bialczak, Radoslaw C; Lenander, M; Lucero, Erik; O'Connell, A D; Sank, D; Wang, H; Weides, M; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M

    2011-01-01

    We analyze the performance of a microwave chip mount that uses wirebonds to connect the chip and mount grounds. A simple impedance ladder model predicts that transmission crosstalk between two feedlines falls off exponentially with distance at low frequencies, but rises to near unity above a resonance frequency set by the chip to ground capacitance. Using SPICE simulations and experimental measurements of a scale model, the basic predictions of the ladder model were verified. In particular, by decreasing the capacitance between the chip and box grounds, the resonance frequency increased and transmission decreased. This model then influenced the design of a new mount that improved the isolation to - 65 dB at 6 GHz, even though the chip dimensions were increased to 1 cm x 1 cm, three times as large as our previous devices. We measured a coplanar resonator in this mount as preparation for larger qubit chips, and were able to identify cavity, slotline, and resonator modes.

  5. Detection of Naturally Occurring Gear and Bearing Faults in a Helicopter Drivetrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Detection of Naturally Occurring Gear and Bearing Faults in a Helicopter Drivetrain by Kelsen E. LaBerge, Eric C. Ames, and Brian D. Dykas...5066 ARL-TR-6795 January 2014 Detection of Naturally Occurring Gear and Bearing Faults in a Helicopter Drivetrain Kelsen E. LaBerge...ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Kelsen E. LaBerge, Eric C. Ames, and Brian D. Dykas 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

  6. Thermal Casimir-Polder forces on a V-type three-level atom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Chen-Ran; Xu, Jing-Ping; Al-amri, M.; Zhu, Cheng-Jie; Xie, Shuang-Yuan; Yang, Ya-Ping

    2017-09-01

    We study the thermal Casimir-Polder (CP) forces on a V-type three-level atom. The competition between the thermal effect and the quantum interference of the two transition dipoles on the force is investigated. To shed light onto the role of the quantum interference, we analyze two kinds of initial states of the atom, i.e., the superradiant state and the subradiant state. Considering the atom being in the thermal reservoir, the resonant CP force arising from the real photon emission dominates in the evolution of the CP force. Under the zero-temperature condition, the quantum interference can effectively modify the amplitude and the evolution of the force, leading to a long-time force or even the cancellation of the force. Our results reveal that in the finite-temperature case, the thermal photons can enhance the amplitude of all force elements, but have no influence on the net resonant CP force in the steady state, which means that the second law of thermodynamics still works. For the ideal degenerate V-type atom with parallel dipoles under the initial subradiant state, the robust destructive quantum interference overrides the thermal fluctuations, leading to the trapping of the atom in the subradiant state and the disappearance of the CP force. However, in terms of a realistic Zeeman atom, the thermal photons play a significant role during the evolution of the CP force. The thermal fluctuations can enhance the amplitude of the initial CP force by increasing the temperature, and weaken the influence of the quantum interference on the evolution of the CP force from the initial superradiant (subradiant) state to the steady state.

  7. Mount Athos: Between autonomy and statehood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Avramović Dragutin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Legal status of the Mount Athos is characterized by many special features that make it internationally unique legal regime. The author analyzes peculiarities of Mount Athos territorial status, legal position of residents and visitors, as well as organization of Mount Athos authorities. The author concludes that the Mount Athos is characterized by a kind of para-sovereignty. Its autonomy involves not only the internal organization, autonomous governance and religious autonomy, but it also includes many elements of secular life of their visitors. Mount Athos has its own, separate legislative, administrative and judicial powers, while the Statute of the Mount Athos has greater legal force than all the other laws of the Greek state, because the state can not unilaterally change its provisions. Having in mind that the wide self-government is vested in church authorities and that the monks have very specific way of living, the author takes a position that the Mount Athos represent 'monastic state', but without statehood. The author also states that the Mount Athos will be faced with many challenges in the context of spreading of an assimilating, universal conception of human rights.

  8. Pilot ejection, parachute, and helicopter crash injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBratney, Colleen M; Rush, Stephen; Kharod, Chetan U

    2014-01-01

    USAF Pararescuemen (PJs) respond to downed aircrew as a fundamental mission for personnel recovery (PR), one of the Air Force's core functions. In addition to responding to these in Military settings, the PJs from the 212 Rescue Squadron routinely respond to small plane crashes in remote regions of Alaska. While there is a paucity of information on the latter, there have been articles detailing injuries sustained from helicopter crashes and while ejecting or parachuting from fixed wing aircraft. The following represents a new chapter added to the Pararescue Medical Operations Handbook, Sixth Edition (2014, editors Matt Wolf, MD, and Stephen Rush, MD, in press). It was designed to be a quick reference for PJs and their Special Operations flight surgeons to help with understanding of mechanism of injury with regard to pilot ejection, parachute, and helicopter accident injuries. It outlines the nature of the injuries sustained in such mishaps and provides an epidemiologic framework from which to approach the problem. 2014.

  9. Autonomous formation flight of helicopters: Model predictive control approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Hoam

    Formation flight is the primary movement technique for teams of helicopters. However, the potential for accidents is greatly increased when helicopter teams are required to fly in tight formations and under harsh conditions. This dissertation proposes that the automation of helicopter formations is a realistic solution capable of alleviating risks. Helicopter formation flight operations in battlefield situations are highly dynamic and dangerous, and, therefore, we maintain that both a high-level formation management system and a distributed coordinated control algorithm should be implemented to help ensure safe formations. The starting point for safe autonomous formation flights is to design a distributed control law attenuating external disturbances coming into a formation, so that each vehicle can safely maintain sufficient clearance between it and all other vehicles. While conventional methods are limited to homogeneous formations, our decentralized model predictive control (MPC) approach allows for heterogeneity in a formation. In order to avoid the conservative nature inherent in distributed MPC algorithms, we begin by designing a stable MPC for individual vehicles, and then introducing carefully designed inter-agent coupling terms in a performance index. Thus the proposed algorithm works in a decentralized manner, and can be applied to the problem of helicopter formations comprised of heterogenous vehicles. Individual vehicles in a team may be confronted by various emerging situations that will require the capability for in-flight reconfiguration. We propose the concept of a formation manager to manage separation, join, and synchronization of flight course changes. The formation manager accepts an operator's commands, information from neighboring vehicles, and its own vehicle states. Inside the formation manager, there are multiple modes and complex mode switchings represented as a finite state machine (FSM). Based on the current mode and collected

  10. A helicopter that flaps its wings : The Ornicopter flaps its wings like a bird to get into the air

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Holten, T.; Mols, B.

    2003-01-01

    No other type of aircraft is as manoeuvrable as a helicopter. Reverse in full flight, rotate in the air, hover at a standstill, the helicopter can do it all. The police, fire services, medical services, military and civil aviation all use the helicopter for the freedom of flight it offers. However,

  11. Surveying glacier bedrock topography with a helicopter-borne dual-polarization ground-penetrating radar system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhammer, L.; Rabenstein, L.; Schmid, L.; Bauder, A.; Schaer, P.; Maurer, H.

    2017-12-01

    Glacier mass estimations are crucial for future run-off projections in the Swiss Alps. Traditionally, ice thickness modeling approaches and ground-based radar transects have been the tools of choice for estimating glacier volume in high mountain areas, but these methods either contain high uncertainties or are logistically expensive and offer mostly only sparse subsurface information. We have developed a helicopter-borne dual-polarization ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system, which enhances operational feasibility in rough, high-elevation terrain and increases the data output per acquisition campaign significantly. Our system employs a prototype pulseEKKO device with two broadside 25-MHz antenna pairs fixed to a helicopter-towed wooden frame. Additionally attached to the system are a laser altimeter for measuring the flight height above ground, three GPS receivers for accurate positioning and a GoPro camera for obtaining visual images of the surface. Previous investigations have shown the significant impact of the antenna dipole orientation on the detectability of the bedrock reflection. For optimal results, the dipoles of the GPR should be aligned parallel to the strike direction of the surrounding mountain walls. In areas with a generally unknown bedrock topography, such as saddle areas or diverging zones, a dual-polarization system is particularly useful. This could be demonstrated with helicopter-borne GPR profiles acquired on more than 25 glaciers in the Swiss Alps. We observed significant differences in ice-bedrock interface visibility depending on the orientation of the antennas.

  12. Closed polderized housing developments in the lower basin of the Río Luján: Approaches to this phenomenon's dimensioning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvina Fernández

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper springs up from reflecting upon the connection between global capitalism and urbanization, specifically of the transformations produced in the metropolitan territories during the past two decades. What can be particularly observed is the spreading of closed polderized housing developments (CPHD, the new forms of production in residential areas on the borders of the metropolitan conglomerate of Buenos Aires, whose development implies an extensive demand of the soil in areas of great patrimonial value and environmental fragility, like the wetlands in the lower basin of the Río Luján. From such a perspective, this work contributes elements which allow for a characterization and dimensioning of the phenomenon, based on a thorough surveying of the variables deemed essential by the study, by comparing databases from public institutions, journalistic information and real estate developers' web sites from the area.

  13. FlyTact : A tactile display improves a helicopter pilot's landing performance in degraded visual environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, C.; Wennemers, A.S.; Vos, W.K.; Groen, E.L.

    2008-01-01

    Helicopter landings are more challenging in 'brownout' conditions, in which sand and dust is stirred up by the rotary wing aircraft, obscuring visibility. Safe brownout landings require new sensor and display technologies to provide the pilot with information on helicopter motion. In this respect

  14. Effect of helicopter transport on neurological outcomes in a mouse model of embolic stroke with reperfusion: AIR-MICE pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leira, Enrique C; Zaheer, Asgar; Schnell, Thomas; Torner, James C; Olalde, Heena M; Pieper, Andrew A; Ortega-Gutierrez, Santiago; Nagaraja, Nandakumar; Marks, Nancy L; Adams, Harold P

    2015-10-01

    Patients often suffer a stroke at a significant distance from a center capable of delivering endovascular therapy, thus requiring rapid transport by helicopter emergency medical services while receiving a recombinant tissue plasminogen activator infusion that was initiated locally. But little is known about how a helicopter flight may impact the safety and efficacy of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator-induced reperfusion and patient outcomes. To establish a new animal method to address with fidelity the safety and overall effect of helicopter emergency medical services during thrombolysis. Prospective randomized open blinded end-point study of an actual helicopter flight exposure. Adult C57BL/6 male mice were treated with a 10 mg/kg recombinant tissue plasminogen activator infusion two-hours after an embolic middle cerebral artery occlusion. Mice were randomized in pairs to simultaneously receive the infusion during a local helicopter flight or in a ground hangar. Eighteen mice (nine pairs) were analyzed. The paired t-test analysis showed nonsignificant smaller infarction volumes in the helicopter-assigned animals (mean pair difference 33 mm(3) , P = 0·33). The amount of hemorrhagic transformation between the helicopter and ground groups was 4·08 vs. 4·56 μl, respectively (paired t-test, P = 0·45). This study shows that helicopter emergency medical services do not have an inherent adverse effect on outcome in a mouse model of ischemic stroke with reperfusion. These results endorse the safety of the practice of using helicopter emergency medical services in stroke patients. The observed potential synergistic effect of helicopter-induced factors, such as vibration and changes in altitude, with reperfusion merits further exploration in animal experimental models and in stroke patients. © 2015 World Stroke Organization.

  15. Integration of gamma measuring equipment into an Agusta A109BA helicopter of the Belgian Armed Forces for use in emergency situations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paridaens, J.

    2007-01-01

    In case of a nuclear emergency, accidental releases of radioactive material might cause large scale environmental contamination. After the emergency has been brought under control, and the radioactive releases have settled on the ground, it is essential to map as quickly as possible the extent of the contaminated area and to evaluate the severity of the contamination. Airborne gamma measurements are known to be an effective means for quickly and safely mapping and evaluating large scale contaminations of gamma-emitting radio nuclides. We wanted to integrate gamma measuring equipment, based on a NaI detector, into an Agusta A109BA helicopter of the Belgian armed forces. This was done within the framework of ''Aid to the Nation'', a special program developed by the Belgian Armed Forces for facilitating cooperation between the armed forces and civilian organisations, for projects that are to the benefit of the Belgian Nation. Working in this framework, we also want to develop the necessary procedures that will allow quick and efficient deployment of the measuring capability in case of an emergency

  16. Conservative Management of Mechanical Neck Pain in a Helicopter Pilot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alagha, Babak

    2015-10-01

    Acute and chronic spinal symptoms such as neck pain may limit flying performance significantly and disqualify the pilot from flight duty. Mechanical neck pain is very common among pilots because of their exposure to vibration, +GZ forces, helmet weight, poor neck posture during air combat maneuvers, previous neck injuries, and poor treatment plans for such injuries. Successful treatment of such injuries requires appropriate therapeutic procedures as well as an aeromedical assessment. The aim of this case study was to demonstrate the benefits of conservative procedures such as spinal manipulation and mobilization therapy (SMMT) and exercise therapy (ET) in treating chronic mechanical neck pain in an Iranian commercial helicopter pilot. A 36-yr-old male patient presented to the clinic with moderate, intermittent nonradicular chronic neck pain and limited range of motion over a 2-yr period. The patient was treated with cervical and upper thoracic SMMT followed by home ET for 5 wk. After this period, the patient reported significant recovery and improvement in range of motion in his neck. Mechanical neck pain is very common among helicopter pilots. Although Air Force and Navy waiver guides recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications as well as SMMT and ET, there are currently very few published studies that examine the benefits of manual and exercise therapy for treating mechanical neck pain in commercial and military pilots. Based on the results of this study, it seems that SMMT and ET may be a safe and effective in treatment of uncomplicated mechanical neck pain in helicopter pilots. Alagha B. Conservative management of mechanical neck pain in a helicopter pilot.

  17. Characteristics of Helicopter-Generated and Volcano-Related Seismic Tremor Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eibl, Eva P. S.; Lokmer, Ivan; Bean, Christopher J.; Akerlie, Eggert; Vogfjörd, Kristin S.

    2017-04-01

    In volcanic environments it is crucial to distinguish between man-made seismic signals and signals created by the volcano. We compare volcanic, seismic signals with helicopter generated, seismic signals recorded in the last 2.5 years in Iceland. In both cases a long-lasting, emergent seismic signal, that can be referred to as seismic tremor, was generated. In the case of a helicopter, the rotating blades generate pressure pulses that travel through the air and excite Rayleigh waves at up to 40 km distance depending on wind speed, wind direction and topographic features. The longest helicopter related seismic signal we recorded was at the order of 40 minutes long. The tremor usually has a fundamental frequency of more than 10 Hz and overtones at integers of the fundamental frequency. Changes in distance lead to either increases or decreases of the frequency due to the Doppler Effect and are strongest for small source-receiver distances. The volcanic tremor signal was recorded during the Bardarbunga eruption at Holuhraun in 2014/15. For volcano-related seismic signals it is usually more difficult to determine the source process that generated the tremor. The pre-eruptive tremor persists for 2 weeks, while the co-eruptive tremor lasted for 6 months. We observed no frequency changes, most energy between 1 and 2 Hz and no or very little energy above 5 Hz. We compare the different characteristics of helicopter-related and volcano-related seismic signals and discuss how they can be distinguished. In addition we discuss how we can determine if a frequency change is related to a moving source or change in repeat time or a change in the geometry of the resonating body.

  18. Impact of mounting methods in computerized axiography on assessment of condylar inclination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schierz, Oliver; Wagner, Philipp; Rauch, Angelika; Reissmann, Daniel R

    2017-08-30

    Valid and reliable recording is a key requirement for accurately simulating individual jaw movements. Horizontal condylar inclination (HCI) and Bennett's angle were measured using a digital jaw tracker (Cadiax® Compact 2) in 27 young adults. Three mounting methods (paraocclusal tray adapter, periocclusal tray adapter, and tray adapter with mandibular clamp) were tested. The mean values of the HCI differed by up to 10° between the mounting methods; however, the values for Bennett's angle did not differ substantially. While the intersession reliability of the Bennett's angle assessment did not depend on the mounting method, the reliability of the HCI assessment was only fair to good for the paraocclusal mounting method but poor for both periocclusal mounting methods. For attaching the tracing bow of jaw trackers to the mandible, a paraocclusal tray adapter should be applied, to achieve the most reliable results.

  19. Application of Face-Gear Drives in Helicopter Transmissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litvin, F. L.; Wang, J.-C.; Bossler, R. B., Jr.; Chen, Y.-J. D.; Heath, G.; Lewicki, D. G.

    1992-01-01

    The use of face gears in helicopter transmissions was explored. A light-weight, split torque transmission design utilizing face gears was described. Face-gear design and geometry were investigated. Topics included tooth generation, limiting inner and outer radii, tooth contact analysis, contact ratio, gear eccentricity, and structural stiffness. Design charts were developed to determine minimum and maximum face-gear inner and outer radii. Analytical study of transmission error showed face-gear drives were relatively insensitive to gear misalignment, but tooth contact was affected by misalignment. A method of localizing bearing contact to compensate for misalignment was explored. The proper choice of shaft support stiffness enabled good load sharing in the split torque transmission design. Face-gear experimental studies were also included and the feasibility of face gears in high-speed, high-load applications such as helicopter transmissions was demonstrated.

  20. Ten years of helicopter emergency medical services in Germany: do we still need the helicopter rescue in multiple traumatised patients?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andruszkow, Hagen; Hildebrand, Frank; Lefering, Rolf; Pape, Hans-Christoph; Hoffmann, Reinhard; Schweigkofler, Uwe

    2014-10-01

    Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) has been established in the preclinical treatment of multiple traumatised patients despite an ongoing controversy towards the potential benefit. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of TraumaRegister DGU(®) of the German Trauma Society (DGU) the presented study intended to provide an overview of HEMS rescue in Germany over the last 10 years analysing the potential beneficial impact of a nationwide helicopter rescue in multiple traumatised patients. We analysed TraumaRegister DGU(®) including multiple traumatised patients (ISS ≥ 16) between 2002 and 2012. In-hospital mortality was defined as main outcome. An adjusted, multivariate regression with 13 confounders was performed to evaluate the potential survival benefit. 42,788 patients were included in the present study. 14,275 (33.4%) patients were rescued by HEMS and 28,513 (66.6%) by GEMS. Overall, 66.8% (n=28,569) patients were transported to a level I trauma centre and 28.2% (n=12,052) to a level II trauma centre. Patients rescued by HEMS sustained a higher injury severity compared to GEMS (ISS HEMS: 29.5 ± 12.6 vs. 27.5 ± 11.8). Helicopter rescue teams performed more on-scene interventions, and mission times were increased in HEMS rescue (HEMS: 77.2 ± 28.7 min. vs. GEMS: 60.9 ± 26.9 min.). Linear regression analysis revealed that the frequency of HEMS rescue has decreased significantly between 2002 and 2012. In case of transportation to level I trauma centres a decrease of 1.7% per year was noted (p<0.001) while a decline of 1.6% per year (p<0.001) was measured for level II trauma centre admissions. According to multivariate logistic regression HEMS was proven a positive independent survival predictor between 2002 and 2012 (OR 0.863; 95%-CI 0.800-0.930; Nagelkerkes-R(2) 0.539) with only little differences between each year. This study was able to prove an independent survival benefit of HEMS in multiple traumatised patients during the last 10 years. Despite this

  1. Assimilation of Polder aerosol optical thickness into LMD2-Inca model in order to study aerosol-climate interactions; Etude des interactions entre aerosols et climat: assimilation des observations spatiales de Polder dans LMDz-Inca

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Generoso, S.

    2004-12-15

    Aerosols influence the Earth radiative budget both through their direct (scattering and absorption of solar radiation) and indirect (impacts on cloud microphysics) effects. The anthropogenic perturbation due to aerosol emissions is of the same order of magnitude than the one due to greenhouse gases, but less well known. To improve our knowledge, we need to better know aerosol spatial and temporal distributions. Indeed, aerosol modeling still suffers from large uncertainties in sources and transport, while satellite observations are incomplete (no detection in the presence of clouds, no information on the vertical distribution or on the chemical nature). Moreover, field campaigns are localized in space and time. This study aims to reduce uncertainties in aerosol distributions, developing assimilation of satellite data into a chemical transport model. The basic idea is to combine information obtained from spatial observation (optical thickness) and modeling studies (aerosol types, vertical distribution). In this study, we assimilate data from the POLDER space-borne instrument into the LMDz-INCA model. The results show the advantage of merging information from different sources. In many regions, the method reduces uncertainties on aerosol distribution (reduction of RMS error). An application of the method to the study of aerosol impact on cloud microphysics is shown. (author)

  2. Adaptation of the Neural Network Recognition System of the Helicopter on Its Acoustic Radiation to the Flight Speed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. K. Hohlov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article concerns the adaptation of a neural tract that recognizes a helicopter from the aerodynamic and ground objects by its acoustic radiation to the helicopter flight speed. It uses non-centered informative signs-indications of estimating signal spectra, which correspond to the local extremes (maximums and minimums of the power spectrum of input signal and have the greatest information when differentiating the helicopter signals from those of tracked vehicles. The article gives justification to the principle of the neural network (NN adaptation and adaptation block structure, which solves problems of blade passage frequency estimation when capturing the object and track it when tracking a target, as well as forming a signal to control the resonant filter parameters of the selection block of informative signs. To create the discriminatory characteristics of the discriminator are used autoregressive statistical characteristics of the quadrature components of signal, obtained through the discrete Hilbert Converter (DGC that perforMathematical modeling of the tracking meter using the helicopter signals obtained in real conditions is performed. The article gives estimates of the tracking parameter when using a tracking meter with DGC by sequential records of realized acoustic noise of the helicopter. It also shows a block-diagram of the adaptive NN. The scientific novelty of the work is that providing the invariance of used informative sign, the counts of local extremes of power spectral density (PSD to changes in the helicopter flight speed is reached due to adding the NN structure and adaptation block, which is implemented as a meter to track the apparent passage frequency of the helicopter rotor blades using its relationship with a function of the autoregressive acoustic signal of the helicopter.Specialized literature proposes solutions based on the use of training classifiers with different parametric methods of spectral representations

  3. Helicopter rotor dynamics and aeroelasticity - Some key ideas and insights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedmann, Peretz P.

    1990-01-01

    Four important current topics in helicopter rotor dynamics and aeroelasticity are discussed: (1) the role of geometric nonlinearities in rotary-wing aeroelasticity; (2) structural modeling, free vibration, and aeroelastic analysis of composite rotor blades; (3) modeling of coupled rotor/fuselage areomechanical problems and their active control; and (4) use of higher-harmonic control for vibration reduction in helicopter rotors in forward flight. The discussion attempts to provide an improved fundamental understanding of the current state of the art. In this way, future research can be focused on problems which remain to be solved instead of producing marginal improvements on problems which are already understood.

  4. On-land and offshore testing of a new helicopter bucket for dispersant application - response 3000D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brandvik, P. J.; Lewis, A.; Daling, P. S.; Strom-Kristiansen, T.; Larsen, E.

    1997-01-01

    Development of a new helicopter bucket for dispersant applications to serve the dispersant spraying needs of Norwegian oil companies was described. Testing two existing helicopter buckets and practical experience with firefighting helicopter operations provided the foundations for this developmental experiment, combined with the dispersant applications experience of SINTEF. The newly designed bucket, 3000D, has two dispersant spray systems (high and low flow rates) and a large capacity ( three cu m). It is capable of direct filling of dispersant via a suction hose while the helicopter is hovering and is equipped for remote control of all functions. It is robustly designed for use under harsh offshore conditions in the North Sea. The bucket has been subjected to extensive testing on land and offshore with experimental oil slicks. The results were fully satisfactory. 9 refs., 1 tab., 13 figs

  5. Helicopter Acoustic Flight Test with Altitude Variation and Maneuvers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Michael E.; Greenwood, Eric; Sim, Ben; Stephenson, James; Smith, Charles D.

    2016-01-01

    A cooperative flight test campaign between NASA and the U.S. Army was performed from September 2014 to February 2015. The purposes of the testing were to: investigate the effects of altitude variation on noise generation, investigate the effects of gross weight variation on noise generation, establish the statistical variability in acoustic flight testing of helicopters, and characterize the effects of transient maneuvers on radiated noise for a medium-lift utility helicopter. This test was performed at three test sites (0, 4000, and 7000 feet above mean sea level) with two aircraft (AS350 SD1 and EH-60L) tested at each site. This report provides an overview of the test, documents the data acquired and describes the formats of the stored data.

  6. A comprehensive comparison of simple step counting techniques using wrist- and ankle-mounted accelerometer and gyroscope signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhudy, Matthew B; Mahoney, Joseph M

    2018-04-01

    The goal of this work is to compare the differences between various step counting algorithms using both accelerometer and gyroscope measurements from wrist and ankle-mounted sensors. Participants completed four different conditions on a treadmill while wearing an accelerometer and gyroscope on the wrist and the ankle. Three different step counting techniques were applied to the data from each sensor type and mounting location. It was determined that using gyroscope measurements allowed for better performance than the typically used accelerometers, and that ankle-mounted sensors provided better performance than those mounted on the wrist.

  7. Helicopter Parents Can Be a Good Thing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiltz, Julie

    2015-01-01

    Helicopter parents get a bad rap. Teachers and administrators should view them as a resource--not a nuisance. By encouraging open communication, teachers can begin to understand the motivations of these parents and find creative ways to connect them with opportunities to promote their students' academic success and the school's overall…

  8. Aerodynamical errors on tower mounted wind speed measurements due to the presence of the tower

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergstroem, H. [Uppsala Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Meteorology; Dahlberg, J.Aa. [Aeronautical Research Inst. of Sweden, Bromma (Sweden)

    1996-12-01

    Field measurements of wind speed from two lattice towers showed large differences for wind directions where the anemometers of both towers should be unaffected by any upstream obstacle. The wind speed was measured by cup anemometers mounted on booms along the side of the tower. A simple wind tunnel test indicates that the boom, for the studied conditions, could cause minor flow disturbances. A theoretical study, by means of simple 2D flow modelling of the flow around the mast, demonstrates that the tower itself could cause large wind flow disturbances. A theoretical study, based on simple treatment of the physics of motion of a cup anemometer, demonstrates that a cup anemometer is sensitive to velocity gradients across the cups and responds clearly to velocity gradients in the vicinity of the tower. Comparison of the results from the theoretical study and field tests show promising agreement. 2 refs, 8 figs

  9. Flush Mounting Of Thin-Film Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Thomas C., Sr.

    1992-01-01

    Technique developed for mounting thin-film sensors flush with surfaces like aerodynamic surfaces of aircraft, which often have compound curvatures. Sensor mounted in recess by use of vacuum pad and materials selected for specific application. Technique involves use of materials tailored to thermal properties of substrate in which sensor mounted. Together with customized materials, enables flush mounting of thin-film sensors in most situations in which recesses for sensors provided. Useful in both aircraft and automotive industries.

  10. 3D Measurement of Forearm and Upper Arm during Throwing Motion using Body Mounted Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koda, Hideharu; Sagawa, Koichi; Kuroshima, Kouta; Tsukamoto, Toshiaki; Urita, Kazutaka; Ishibashi, Yasuyuki

    The aim of this study is to propose the measurement method of three-dimensional (3D) movement of forearm and upper arm during pitching motion of baseball using inertial sensors without serious consideration of sensor installation. Although high accuracy measurement of sports motion is achieved by using optical motion capture system at present, it has some disadvantages such as the calibration of cameras and limitation of measurement place. Whereas the proposed method for 3D measurement of pitching motion using body mounted sensors provides trajectory and orientation of upper arm by the integration of acceleration and angular velocity measured on upper limb. The trajectory of forearm is derived so that the elbow joint axis of forearm corresponds to that of upper arm. Spatial relation between upper limb and sensor system is obtained by performing predetermined movements of upper limb and utilizing angular velocity and gravitational acceleration. The integration error is modified so that the estimated final position, velocity and posture of upper limb agree with the actual ones. The experimental results of the measurement of pitching motion show that trajectories of shoulder, elbow and wrist estimated by the proposed method are highly correlated to those from the motion capture system within the estimation error of about 10 [%].

  11. Characterization of Engine Mount Elastomers

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Szabo, Jeffrey P

    2005-01-01

    As part of a project to develop methods for modelling the performance of engine mounts, several oil resistant alternative materials were prepared, and compared to conventional materials from mounts...

  12. Piezoelectric actuation of helicopter rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieven, Nicholas A. J.

    2001-07-01

    The work presented in this paper is concerned with the application of embedded piezo-electric actuators in model helicopter rotor blades. The paper outlines techniques to define the optimal location of actuators to excite particular modes of vibration whilst the blade is rotating. Using composite blades the distribution of strain energy is defined using a Finite Element model with imposed rotor-dynamic and aerodynamics loads. The loads are specified through strip theory to determine the position of maximum bending moment and thus the optimal location of the embedded actuators. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated on a 1/4 scale fixed cyclic pitch rotor head. Measurement of the blade displacement is achieved by using strain gauges. In addition a redundant piezo-electric actuator is used to measure the blades' response characteristics. The addition of piezo-electric devices in this application has been shown to exhibit adverse aeroelastic effects, such as counter mass balancing and increased drag. Methods to minimise these effects are suggested. The outcome of the paper is a method for defining the location and orientation of piezo-electric devices in rotor-dynamic applications.

  13. Control-Oriented Modeling and System Identification for Nonlinear Trajectory Tracking Control of a Small-Scale Unmanned Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pourrezaei Khaligh, Sepehr

    Model-based control design of small-scale helicopters involves considerable challenges due to their nonlinear and underactuated dynamics with strong couplings between the different degrees-of-freedom (DOFs). Most nonlinear model-based multi-input multi-output (MIMO) control approaches require the dynamic model of the system to be affine-in-control and fully actuated. Since the existing formulations for helicopter nonlinear dynamic model do not meet these requirements, these MIMO approaches cannot be applied for control of helicopters and control designs in the literature mostly use the linearized model of the helicopter dynamics around different trim conditions instead of directly using the nonlinear model. The purpose of this thesis is to derive the 6-DOF nonlinear model of the helicopter in an affine-in-control, non-iterative and square input-output formulation to enable many nonlinear control approaches, that require a control-affine and square model such as the sliding mode control (SMC), to be used for control design of small-scale helicopters. A combination of the first-principles approach and system identification is used to derive this model. To complete the nonlinear model of the helicopter required for the control design, the inverse kinematics of the actuating mechanisms of the main and tail rotors are also derived using an approach suitable for the real-time control applications. The parameters of the new control-oriented formulation are identified using a time-domain system identification strategy and the model is validated using flight test data. A robust sliding mode control (SMC) is then designed using the new formulation of the helicopter dynamics and its robustness to parameter uncertainties and wind disturbances is tested in simulations. Next, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed is designed to allow for the control implementation and gain tuning as well as testing the robustness of the controller to external disturbances in a controlled

  14. Neural network-based optimal adaptive output feedback control of a helicopter UAV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nodland, David; Zargarzadeh, Hassan; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

    2013-07-01

    Helicopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used for both military and civilian operations. Because the helicopter UAVs are underactuated nonlinear mechanical systems, high-performance controller design for them presents a challenge. This paper introduces an optimal controller design via an output feedback for trajectory tracking of a helicopter UAV, using a neural network (NN). The output-feedback control system utilizes the backstepping methodology, employing kinematic and dynamic controllers and an NN observer. The online approximator-based dynamic controller learns the infinite-horizon Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation in continuous time and calculates the corresponding optimal control input by minimizing a cost function, forward-in-time, without using the value and policy iterations. Optimal tracking is accomplished by using a single NN utilized for the cost function approximation. The overall closed-loop system stability is demonstrated using Lyapunov analysis. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design for trajectory tracking.

  15. A Surface-Mounted Rotor State Sensing System, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A surface-mounted instrumentation system for measuring rotor blade motions on rotorcraft, for use both in flight and in wind tunnel testing, is proposed for...

  16. World helicopter market study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleary, B.; Pearson, R. W.; Greenwood, S. W.; Kaplan, L.

    1978-01-01

    The extent of the threat to the US helicopter industry posed by a determined effort by foreign manufacturers, European companies in particular, to supply their own domestic markets and also to penetrate export markets, including the USA is assessed. Available data on US and world markets for civil and military uses are collated and presented in both graphic and tabular form showing the past history of production and markets and, where forecasts are available, anticipated future trends. The data are discussed on an item-by-item basis and inferences are drawn in as much depth as appears justified.

  17. NASA/FAA experiments concerning helicopter IFR airworthiness criteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebacqz, J. V.

    1983-01-01

    A sequence of ground and flight simulation experiments was conducted as part of a joint NASA/FAA program to investigate helicopter instrument flight rules (IFR) airworthiness criteria. The first six of these experiments are described and the results summarized. Five of the experiments were conducted on large amplitude motion base simulators; V/STOLAND UH-1H variable stability helicopter was used in the flight experiment. Airworthiness implications of selected variables that were investigated across all of the experiments are discussed, including the level of longitudinal static stability, the type of stability and control augmentation, the addition of flight director displays, and the type of instrument approach task. Among the specific results reviewed are the adequacy of neutral longitudinal statics for dual pilot approaches and the requirement for pitch and roll attitude stabilization in the stability and control augmentation system to achieve flying qualities evaluated as satisfactory.

  18. Experimental Investigation of a Helicopter Rotor Hub Wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reich, David; Elbing, Brian; Schmitz, Sven

    2013-11-01

    A scaled model of a notional helicopter rotor hub was tested in the 48'' Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel at the Applied Research Laboratory Penn State. The main objectives of the experiment were to understand the spatial- and temporal content of the unsteady wake downstream of a rotor hub up to a distance corresponding to the empennage. Primary measurements were the total hub drag and velocity measurements at three nominal downstream locations. Various flow structures were identified and linked to geometric features of the hub model. The most prominent structures were two-per-revolution (hub component: scissors) and four-per-revolution (hub component: main hub arms) vortices shed by the hub. Both the two-per-revolution and four-per-revolution structures persisted far downstream of the hub, but the rate of dissipation was greater for the four-per-rev structures. This work provides a dataset for enhanced understanding of the fundamental physics underlying rotor hub flows and serves as validation data for future CFD analyses.

  19. Flow Structures within a Helicopter Rotor Hub Wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elbing, Brian; Reich, David; Schmitz, Sven

    2015-11-01

    A scaled model of a notional helicopter rotor hub was tested in the 48'' Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel at the Applied Research Laboratory Penn State. The measurement suite included total hub drag and wake velocity measurements (LDV, PIV, stereo-PIV) at three downstream locations. The main objective was to understand the spatiotemporal evolution of the unsteady wake between the rotor hub and the nominal location of the empennage (tail). Initial analysis of the data revealed prominent two- and four-per-revolution fluid structures linked to geometric hub features persisting into the wake far-field. In addition, a six-per-revolution fluid structure was observed in the far-field, which is unexpected due to the lack of any hub feature with the corresponding symmetry. This suggests a nonlinear interaction is occurring within the wake to generate these structures. This presentation will provide an overview of the experimental data and analysis with particular emphasis on these six-per-revolution structures.

  20. Direct Self-Repairing Control for Quadrotor Helicopter Attitude Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiliao Yang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A quadrotor helicopter with uncertain actuator faults, such as loss of effectiveness and lock-in-place, is studied in this paper. An adaptive fuzzy sliding mode controller based on direct self-repairing control is designed for such nonlinear system to track the desired output signal, when any actuator of this quadrotor helicopter is loss of effectiveness or stuck at some place. Moreover, using the Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of the whole system and the convergence of the tracking error can be guaranteed. Finally, the availability of the proposed method is verified by simulation on 3-DOF hover to ensure that the system performance under faulty conditions can be quickly recovered to its normal level. And this proposed method is also proved to be better than that of LQR through simulation.

  1. Flight service evaluation of composite helicopter components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mardoian, George H.; Ezzo, Maureen B.

    1994-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a NASA funded contract and Sikorsky research and development programs to evaluate structural composite components in flight service on Sikorsky Model S-76 helicopters. Selected components were removed and tested at prescribed intervals over a nine year time frame. Four horizontal stabilizers and thirteen tail rotor spars were returned from commercial service in West Palm Beach, Florida and in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana to determine the long term effects of operations in hot and humid climates on component performance. Concurrent with the flight component evaluation, panels of materials used in their fabrication were exposed to the environment in ground racks. Selected panels were tested annually to determine the effects of exposure on physical and mechanical properties. The results of 55,741 component flight hours and 911 months of field exposure are reported and compared with initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification data. The findings of this program have provided increased confidence in the long term durability of advanced composite materials used in helicopter structural applications.

  2. Solar panel parallel mounting configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutschler, Jr., Edward Charles (Inventor)

    1998-01-01

    A spacecraft includes a plurality of solar panels interconnected with a power coupler and an electrically operated device to provide power to the device when the solar cells are insolated. The solar panels are subject to bending distortion when entering or leaving eclipse. Spacecraft attitude disturbances are reduced by mounting each of the solar panels to an elongated boom made from a material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion, so that the bending of one panel is not communicated to the next. The boom may be insulated to reduce its bending during changes in insolation. A particularly advantageous embodiment mounts each panel to the boom with a single mounting, which may be a hinge. The single mounting prevents transfer of bending moments from the panel to the boom.

  3. 76 FR 52593 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Canada Ltd. Model BO 105 LS A-3 Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-23

    ... fatigue failure of a TT strap, loss of a blade, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. DATES... failure of a TT strap, loss of a blade, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. Since issuing... ASB also describes and contains a graph for determining the revised life limit, and provides various...

  4. Automatic Censoring CFAR Detector Based on Ordered Data Difference for Low-Flying Helicopter Safety

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen Jiang

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Being equipped with a millimeter-wave radar allows a low-flying helicopter to sense the surroundings in real time, which significantly increases its safety. However, nonhomogeneous clutter environments, such as a multiple target situation and a clutter edge environment, can dramatically affect the radar signal detection performance. In order to improve the radar signal detection performance in nonhomogeneous clutter environments, this paper proposes a new automatic censored cell averaging CFAR detector. The proposed CFAR detector does not require any prior information about the background environment and uses the hypothesis test of the first-order difference (FOD result of ordered data to reject the unwanted samples in the reference window. After censoring the unwanted ranked cells, the remaining samples are combined to form an estimate of the background power level, thus getting better radar signal detection performance. The simulation results show that the FOD-CFAR detector provides low loss CFAR performance in a homogeneous environment and also performs robustly in nonhomogeneous environments. Furthermore, the measured results of a low-flying helicopter validate the basic performance of the proposed method.

  5. Automatic Censoring CFAR Detector Based on Ordered Data Difference for Low-Flying Helicopter Safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wen; Huang, Yulin; Yang, Jianyu

    2016-01-01

    Being equipped with a millimeter-wave radar allows a low-flying helicopter to sense the surroundings in real time, which significantly increases its safety. However, nonhomogeneous clutter environments, such as a multiple target situation and a clutter edge environment, can dramatically affect the radar signal detection performance. In order to improve the radar signal detection performance in nonhomogeneous clutter environments, this paper proposes a new automatic censored cell averaging CFAR detector. The proposed CFAR detector does not require any prior information about the background environment and uses the hypothesis test of the first-order difference (FOD) result of ordered data to reject the unwanted samples in the reference window. After censoring the unwanted ranked cells, the remaining samples are combined to form an estimate of the background power level, thus getting better radar signal detection performance. The simulation results show that the FOD-CFAR detector provides low loss CFAR performance in a homogeneous environment and also performs robustly in nonhomogeneous environments. Furthermore, the measured results of a low-flying helicopter validate the basic performance of the proposed method. PMID:27399714

  6. Fermions on the low-buckled honey-comb structured lattice plane and classical Casimir-Polder force

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goswami, Partha

    2016-05-01

    We start with the well-known expression for the vacuum polarization and suitably modify it for 2+1-dimensional spin-orbit coupled (SOC) fermions on the low-buckled honey-comb structured lattice plane described by the low-energy Liu-Yao-Feng-Ezawa (LYFE) model Hamiltonian involving the Dirac matrices in the chiral representation obeying the Clifford algebra. The silicene and germanene fit this description suitably. They have the Dirac cones similar to those of graphene and SOC is much stronger. The system could be normal or ferromagnetic in nature. The silicene turns into the latter type if there is exchange field arising due to the proximity coupling to a ferromagnet (FM) such as depositing Fe atoms to the silicene surface. For the silicene, we find that the many-body effects considerably change the bare Coulomb potential by way of the dependence of the Coulomb propagator on the real-spin, iso-spin and the potential due to an electric field applied perpendicular to the silicene plane. The computation aspect of the Casimir-Polder force (CPF) needs to be investigated in this paper. An important quantity in this process is the dielectric response function (DRF) of the material. The plasmon branch was obtained by finding the zeros of DRF in the long-wavelength limit. This leads to the plasmon frequencies. We find that the collective charge excitations at zero doping, i.e., intrinsic plasmons, in this system, are absent in the Dirac limit. The valley-spin-split intrinsic plasmons, however, come into being in the case of the massive Dirac particles with characteristic frequency close to 10 THz. Our scheme to calculate the Casimir-Polder interaction (CPI) of a micro-particle with a sheet involves replacing the dielectric constant of the sample in the CPI expression obtained on the basis of the Lifshitz theory by the static DRF obtained using the expressions for the polarization function we started with. Though the approach replaces a macroscopic constant by a microscopic

  7. 78 FR 37156 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-20

    ... inspecting each jettisonable emergency exit window panel (window) for sealant, and removing any sealant that... prevent failure of the windows to jettison, so helicopter occupants can exit the aircraft during an... comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor...

  8. A stretchable electrode array for non-invasive, skin-mounted measurement of electrocardiography (ECG), electromyography (EMG) and electroencephalography (EEG).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Rui; Kim, Dae-Hyeong; McCormick, Martin; Coleman, Todd; Rogers, John

    2010-01-01

    This paper reports a class of stretchable electrode array capable of intimate, conformal integration onto the curvilinear surfaces of skin on the human body. The designs employ conventional metallic conductors but in optimized mechanical layouts, on soft, thin elastomeric substrates. These devices exhibit an ability to record spontaneous EEG activity even without conductive electrolyte gels, with recorded alpha rhythm responses that are 40% stronger than those collected using conventional tin electrodes and gels under otherwise similar conditions. The same type of device can also measure high quality ECG and EMG signals. The results suggest broad utility for skin-mounted measurements of electrical activity in the body, with advantages in signal levels, wearability and modes of integration compared to alternatives.

  9. Impact of immersion oils and mounting media on the confocal imaging of dendritic spines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Brittni M; Mermelstein, Paul G; Meisel, Robert L

    2015-03-15

    Structural plasticity, such as changes in dendritic spine morphology and density, reflect changes in synaptic connectivity and circuitry. Procedural variables used in different methods for labeling dendritic spines have been quantitatively evaluated for their impact on the ability to resolve individual spines in confocal microscopic analyses. In contrast, there have been discussions, though no quantitative analyses, of the potential effects of choosing specific mounting media and immersion oils on dendritic spine resolution. Here we provide quantitative data measuring the impact of these variables on resolving dendritic spines in 3D confocal analyses. Medium spiny neurons from the rat striatum and nucleus accumbens are used as examples. Both choice of mounting media and immersion oil affected the visualization of dendritic spines, with choosing the appropriate immersion oil as being more imperative. These biologic data are supported by quantitative measures of the 3D diffraction pattern (i.e. point spread function) of a point source of light under the same mounting medium and immersion oil combinations. Although not a new method, this manuscript provides quantitative data demonstrating that different mounting media and immersion oils can impact the ability to resolve dendritic spines. These findings highlight the importance of reporting which mounting medium and immersion oil are used in preparations for confocal analyses, especially when comparing published results from different laboratories. Collectively, these data suggest that choosing the appropriate immersion oil and mounting media is critical for obtaining the best resolution, and consequently more accurate measures of dendritic spine densities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Comparing Simultaneous Stratospheric Aerosol and Ozone Lidar Measurements with SAGE 2 Data after the Mount Pinatubo Eruption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, G. K.; Poole, L. R.; McCormick, M. P.; Veiga, R. E.; Wang, P.-H.; Rizi, V.; Masci, F.; DAltorio, A.; Visconti, G.

    1995-01-01

    Stratospheric aerosol and ozone profiles obtained simultaneously from the lidar station at the University of L'Aquila (42.35 deg N, 13.33 deg E, 683 m above sea level) during the first 6 months following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo are compared with corresponding nearby Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) 2 profiles. The agreement between the two data sets is found to be reasonably good. The temporal change of aerosol profiles obtained by both techniques showed the intrusion and growth of Pinatubo aerosols. In addition, ozone concentration profiles derived from an empirical time-series model based on SAGE 2 ozone data obtained before the Pinatubo eruption are compared with measured profiles. Good agreement is shown in the 1991 profiles, but ozone concentrations measured in January 1992 were reduced relative to time-series model estimates. Possible reasons for the differences between measured and model-based ozone profiles are discussed.

  11. Real-time electrocardiogram transmission from Mount Everest during continued ascent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Wei-Fong; Huang, Jyh-How; Kuo, Terry B J; Chang, Po-Lun; Chang, Wen-Chen; Chan, Kuo-Hung; Liu, Wen-Hsiung; Wang, Shih-Hao; Su, Tzu-Yao; Chiang, Hsiu-chen; Chen, Jin-Jong

    2013-01-01

    The feasibility of a real-time electrocardiogram (ECG) transmission via satellite phone from Mount Everest to determine a climber's suitability for continued ascent was examined. Four Taiwanese climbers were enrolled in the 2009 Mount Everest summit program. Physiological measurements were taken at base camp (5300 m), camp 2 (6400 m), camp 3 (7100 m), and camp 4 (7950 m) 1 hour after arrival and following a 10 minute rest period. A total of 3 out of 4 climbers were able to summit Mount Everest successfully. Overall, ECG and global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of climbers were transmitted in real-time via satellite phone successfully from base camp, camp 2, camp 3, and camp 4. At each camp, Resting Heart Rate (RHR) was transmitted and recorded: base camp (54-113 bpm), camp 2 (94-130 bpm), camp 3 (98-115 bpm), and camp 4 (93-111 bpm). Real-time ECG and GPS coordinate transmission via satellite phone is feasible for climbers on Mount Everest. Real-time RHR data can be used to evaluate a climber's physiological capacity to continue an ascent and to summit.

  12. 78 FR 63429 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-24

    ... Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand Delivery: Deliver to the ``Mail'' address between 9 a... rotor control turnbuckle ruptured because of corrosion. The damage was discovered during a flight... corrosion or a crack. The delivery date is the date the helicopter left Eurocopter's manufacturing plant in...

  13. Preparation of source mounts for 4π counting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, E.P.

    1991-01-01

    The 4πβ/γ counter in the ANSTO radioisotope standards laboratory at Lucas Heights constitutes part of the Australian national standard for radioactivity. Sources to be measured in the counter must be mounted on a substrate which is strong enough to withstand careful handling and transport. The substrate must also be electrically conducting to minimise counting errors caused by charging of the source, and it must have very low superficial density so that little or none of the radiation is absorbed. The entire process of fabrication of VYNS films, coating them with gold/palladium and transferring them to source mount rings, as carried out in the radioisotope standards laboratory, is documented. 3 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs

  14. Selecting locations for landing of various formations of helicopters using spatial modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kovarik, V; Rybansky, M

    2014-01-01

    During crisis situations such as floods, landslides, humanitarian crisis and even military clashes there are situations when it is necessary to send helicopters to the crisis areas. To facilitate the process of searching for the sites suitable for landing, it is possible to use the tools of spatial modelling. The paper describes a procedure of selecting areas potentially suitable for landing of particular formations of helicopters. It lists natural and man-made terrain features that represent the obstacles that can prevent helicopters from landing. It also states specific requirements of the NATO documents that have to be respected when selecting the areas for landing. These requirements relate to a slope of ground and an obstruction angle on approach and exit paths. Creating the knowledge base and graphical models in ERDAS IMAGINE is then described. In the first step of the procedure the areas generally suitable for landing are selected. Then the different configurations of landing points that form the landing sites are created and corresponding outputs are generated. Finally, several tactical requirements are incorporated

  15. REFLECTANCE ANISOTROPY MEASUREMENTS USING A PUSHBROOM SPECTROMETER MOUNTED ON UAV AND A LABORATORY GONIOMETER – PRELIMINARY RESULTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Suomalainen

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available During 2014–2015 we have developed a new method to measure reflectance factor anisotropy using a pushbroom spectrometer mounted on a multicopter UAV. In this paper/presentation we describe the acquisition method and show the preliminary results of the experiment. To validate the measurements the same targets have also been measured with a laboratory goniometer system. The first experiments over sugar beet fields in 2014 show similar trends in both UAV and laboratory anisotropy data, but also some differences caused by differences in sampling and diffuse illumination. In 2015 a more extensive study on wheat, barley and potato fields were performed. The measurements were repeated on three days over the growth of the crops allowing linking the development of the crops to the anisotropy signals. On each day the anisotropy measurement was repeated 4–5 times with different solar zenith angles ranging from 60° to 40° allowing analysis how the solar angle affects the anisotropy. The first results of these experiments will be presented in this conference.

  16. Low-Thermal-Resistance Baseplate Mounting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perreault, W. T.

    1984-01-01

    Low-thermal-resistance mounting achieved by preloading baseplate to slight convexity with screws threaded through beam. As mounting bolts around edge of base-place tightened, baseplate and cold plate contact first in center, with region of intimate contact spreading outward as bolts tightened.

  17. Vibration control of a camera mount system for an unmanned aerial vehicle using piezostack actuators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oh, Jong-Seok; Choi, Seung-Bok; Han, Young-Min

    2011-01-01

    This work proposes an active mount for the camera systems of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in order to control unwanted vibrations. An active actuator of the proposed mount is devised as an inertial type, in which a piezostack actuator is directly connected to the inertial mass. After evaluating the actuating force of the actuator, it is combined with the rubber element of the mount, whose natural frequency is determined based on the measured vibration characteristics of UAV. Based on the governing equations of motion of the active camera mount, a robust sliding mode controller (SMC) is then formulated with consideration of parameter uncertainties and hysteresis behavior of the actuator. Subsequently, vibration control performances of the proposed active mount are experimentally evaluated in the time and frequency domains. In addition, a full camera mount system of UAVs that is supported by four active mounts is considered and its vibration control performance is evaluated in the frequency domain using a hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) method

  18. Full scale wind turbine test of vortex generators mounted on the entire blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bak, Christian; Skrzypinski, Witold Robert; Gaunaa, Mac

    2016-01-01

    Measurements on a heavily instrumented pitch regulated variable speed Vestas V52 850 kW wind turbine situated at the DTU Risø Campus are carried out, where the effect of vortex generators mounted on almost the entire blade is tested with and without leading edge roughness. The measurements...... are compared to the predictions carried out by a developed design tool, where the effect of vortex generators and leading edge roughness is simulated using engineering models. The measurements showed that if vortex generators are mounted there is an increase in flapwise blade moments if the blades are clean...

  19. Using Polar Coordinates to Filter Trajectories Data without Adding Extra Physical Constraints

    OpenAIRE

    BUISSON, Christine; VILLEGAS, Daniel; RIVOIRARD, Lucas

    2016-01-01

    Filtering methods for the position or the speed measurements of the NGSim trajectories dataset are numerous, but specific to the noise resulting of NGSim data collection and processing. The MOCoPo (Measuring and mOdelling COngestion and POllution) collaboration collected more than 10 hours of data with a high resolution camera mounted underneath a helicopter flying almost immobile above a freeway in Grenoble. Along with the post-treatment method, this generates a noise in the position measure...

  20. 78 FR 76984 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-20

    ... inspecting each jettisonable emergency exit window panel (window) for sealant, and removing any sealant that... prevent failure of the windows to jettison, so helicopter occupants can exit the aircraft during an... Office, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590...

  1. 77 FR 30230 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-22

    ... September 30, 2011. (g) Subject Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) Code: 2436: DC Generator Control... Deutschland GmbH Model MBB-BK117 C-2 helicopters with certain Generator Control Units (GCU) installed. This..., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand...

  2. 77 FR 69556 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-20

    ..., 2011. (h) Subject Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) Code: 2436: DC Generator Control Unit. Issued... Deutschland GmbH (ECD) Model MBB-BK117 C-2 helicopters with certain Generator Control Units (GCU) installed... Ground Floor, Room W12- 140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

  3. Helicopter fuselage drag - combined computational fluid dynamics and experimental studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batrakov, A.; Kusyumov, A.; Mikhailov, S.; Pakhov, V.; Sungatullin, A.; Valeev, M.; Zherekhov, V.; Barakos, G.

    2015-06-01

    In this paper, wind tunnel experiments are combined with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aiming to analyze the aerodynamics of realistic fuselage configurations. A development model of the ANSAT aircraft and an early model of the AKTAI light helicopter were employed. Both models were tested at the subsonic wind tunnel of KNRTU-KAI for a range of Reynolds numbers and pitch and yaw angles. The force balance measurements were complemented by particle image velocimetry (PIV) investigations for the cases where the experimental force measurements showed substantial unsteadiness. The CFD results were found to be in fair agreement with the test data and revealed some flow separation at the rear of the fuselages. Once confidence on the CFD method was established, further modifications were introduced to the ANSAT-like fuselage model to demonstrate drag reduction via small shape changes.

  4. An Experimental Study of a Sting-Mounted Circulation Control Wing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-12-01

    atmospheric pressure was read from a Henry J. Green ML-330/FM mercury barometer and the desired tunnel q was determined from: q.)= 1/2 RTatms (21) F atmos C2...attachment to the Coanda surface. With the model mounted on a bench outside the tunnel, a fixture was attached to the model so that a pitot tube could be...mounted immediately aft of the blowing slot to measure jet total pressure at any point along the trailing edge. The pitot tube was connected to a 50 inch

  5. Implementation and Analysis of the Chromakey Augmented Virtual Environment (ChrAVE) Version 3.0 and Virtual Environment Helicopter (VEHELO) Version 2.0 in Simulated Helicopter Training

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hahn, M. E

    2005-01-01

    The Chromakey Augmented Virtual Environment (ChrAVE) 3.0 System is a training system created to augment initial, refresher, and proficiency training in helicopter aviation using accurate simulation...

  6. Housing And Mounting Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Gene R.; Armendariz, Marcelino G.; Baca, Johnny R.F.; Bryan, Robert P.; Carson, Richard F.; Duckett, III, Edwin B.; McCormick, Frederick B.; Miller, Gregory V.; Peterson, David W.; Smith, Terrance T.

    2005-03-08

    This invention relates to an optical transmitter, receiver or transceiver module, and more particularly, to an apparatus for connecting a first optical connector to a second optical connector. The apparatus comprises: (1) a housing having at least a first end and at least a second end, the first end of the housing capable of receiving the first optical connector, and the second end of the housing capable of receiving the second optical connector; (2) a longitudinal cavity extending from the first end of the housing to the second end of the housing; and (3) an electromagnetic shield comprising at least a portion of the housing. This invention also relates to an apparatus for housing a flexible printed circuit board, and this apparatus comprises: (1) a mounting structure having at least a first surface and a second surface; (2) alignment ridges along the first and second surfaces of the mounting structure, the alignment ridges functioning to align and secure a flexible printed circuit board that is wrapped around and attached to the first and second surfaces of the mounting structure; and (3) a series of heat sink ridges adapted to the mounting structure, the heat sink ridges functioning to dissipate heat that is generated from the flexible printed circuit board.

  7. U. S. Department of Energy Aerial Measuring Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. J. Lease

    1998-10-01

    The Aerial Measuring Systems (AMS) is an aerial surveillance system. This system consists of remote sensing equipment to include radiation detectors; multispectral, thermal, radar, and laser scanners; precision cameras; and electronic imaging and still video systems. This equipment, in varying combinations, is mounted in an airplane or helicopter and flown at different heights in specific patterns to gather various types of data. This system is a key element in the US Department of Energy's (DOE) national emergency response assets. The mission of the AMS program is twofold--first, to respond to emergencies involving radioactive materials by conducting aerial surveys to rapidly track and map the contamination that may exist over a large ground area and second, to conduct routinely scheduled, aerial surveys for environmental monitoring and compliance purposes through the use of credible science and technology. The AMS program evolved from an early program, begun by a predecessor to the DOE--the Atomic Energy Commission--to map the radiation that may have existed within and around the terrestrial environments of DOE facilities, which produced, used, or stored radioactive materials.

  8. U. S. Department of Energy Aerial Measuring Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lease, J.J.

    1998-01-01

    The Aerial Measuring Systems (AMS) is an aerial surveillance system. This system consists of remote sensing equipment to include radiation detectors; multispectral, thermal, radar, and laser scanners; precision cameras; and electronic imaging and still video systems. This equipment, in varying combinations, is mounted in an airplane or helicopter and flown at different heights in specific patterns to gather various types of data. This system is a key element in the US Department of Energy's (DOE) national emergency response assets. The mission of the AMS program is twofold--first, to respond to emergencies involving radioactive materials by conducting aerial surveys to rapidly track and map the contamination that may exist over a large ground area and second, to conduct routinely scheduled, aerial surveys for environmental monitoring and compliance purposes through the use of credible science and technology. The AMS program evolved from an early program, begun by a predecessor to the DOE--the Atomic Energy Commission--to map the radiation that may have existed within and around the terrestrial environments of DOE facilities, which produced, used, or stored radioactive materials

  9. The Effects of Modafinil on Aviator Performance During 40 Hours of Continuous Wakefulness: A UH-60 Helicopter Simulator Study

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Caidwell, John

    1999-01-01

    ...) activation in helicopter pilots who had been deprived of sleep. Six Army helicopter pilots were each exposed to two 40-hour periods of continuous wakefulness separated by one night of recovery sleep...

  10. 78 FR 44042 - Airworthiness Directives; Agusta S.p.A. Helicopters (Type Certificate Currently Held By...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-23

    ... helicopters. All of the BTs are dated October 3, 2012. The BTs specify a one-time inspection of each rod end assembly, P/Ns M004-01H007-041 and M004-01H007-045, to determine its serial number. The BTs then require... rod ends in these batches. According to the BTs, no one was injured in the helicopters and no...

  11. 78 FR 20234 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-04

    ... prompted by flight crew reports of deviations between the displayed attitude on the attitude display screen... screens occurred simultaneously during flight on several helicopters equipped with the GV76-1 vertical... of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM) by inserting a copy of this AD into the RFM or by pen and ink...

  12. Organizing a Ground Crew for Today's Helicopter Parents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coburn, Karen Levin

    2006-01-01

    The relationship between college students and their parents is far closer than it was when most of today's educators were in school. Tapping into the upside and managing the potential drawbacks of highly involved parents is taking on great importance on an increasing number of campuses. Whether people call them "helicopter parents" or…

  13. Increased earthquake safety through optimised mounting concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kollmann, Dieter; Senechal, Holger

    2013-01-01

    Since Fukushima, there has been intensive work on earthquake safety in all nuclear power plants. A large part of these efforts aim at the earthquake safety of safety-relevant pipeline systems. The problem with earthquake safety here is not the pipeline system itself but rather its mountings and connections to components. This is precisely the topic that the KAE dealt with in years of research and development work. It has developed an algorithm that determines the optimal mounting concept with a few iteration steps depending on arbitrary combinations of loading conditions whilst maintaining compliance with relevant regulations for any pipeline systems. With this tool at hand, we are now in a position to plan and realise remedial measures accurately with minimum time and hardware expenditure, and so distinctly improve the earthquake safety of safety-relevant systems. (orig.)

  14. PECULIARITIES OF ASSIGNMENT OF ROLLING BEARING MOUNTING AND PARAMETERS OF GEOMETRIC ACCURACY OF MOUNTING SURFACES OF SHAFTS AND FRAMES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adamenko Yu. І.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The standards and methods concerning assignment of rolling bearing fit with shafts and frames via example of bearing 6-208 are analyzed. We set certain differences of recommendations according to GOST 3325-85, "Rolling bearings. Tolerance zones and technical requirements to mounting surfaces of shafts and frames. Attachment" and by reference of rolling bearing manufacturers. The following factors should be taken into consideration when assigning the mounting with the tension the internal ring of the bearing with shaft and mounting with a gap in the outer ring with a housing bore. The methods of achieving accuracy of mounting surfaces of shafts and frames via form tolerance assignment: roundness tolerance, profile of longitudinal cut, cross section, cylindricity and others. It is possible to limit the bearing rings in different ways, for example appointing the cylindrical mounting surfaces and bead end surfaces the appropriate tolerances, namely: coaxiality tolerance or full radial beat of mounting surfaces, and also perpendicularity tolerance, butt beats and full butt beats of mounting end surfaces. We suggest to expand methods of achieving the accuracy of shafts and frames depending on seriation of production and production operations metrology support.

  15. Helicopter Gas Turbine Engine Performance Analysis : A Multivariable Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Arush, Ilan; Pavel, M.D.

    2017-01-01

    Helicopter performance relies heavily on the available output power of the engine(s) installed. A simplistic single-variable analysis approach is often used within the flight-testing community to reduce raw flight-test data in order to predict the available output power under different atmospheric

  16. 77 FR 68058 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-15

    ... Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Helicopters AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... airworthiness directive (AD) for Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-70, S-70A, S-70C, S-70C(M... after receipt. For service information identified in this AD, contact Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation...

  17. Helicopter-based lidar system for monitoring the upper ocean and terrain surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kwi Joo; Park, Youngsik; Bunkin, Alexey; Pershin, Serguei; Voliak, Konstantin; Nunes, Raul

    2002-01-01

    A compact helicopter-based lidar system is developed and tested under laboratory and field conditions. It is shown that the lidar can measure concentrations of chlorophyll a and dissolved organic matter at the surface of water bodies, detect fluorescence spectra of ground vegetation at a distance of up to 530 m, and determine the vertical profile of light-scattering particle concentration in the upper ocean. The possibilities of the lidar system are demonstrated by detection of polluted areas at the ocean surface, by online monitoring of three-dimensional distribution of light-scattering layers, and by recognition of plant types and physiological states

  18. Real-time electrocardiogram transmission from Mount Everest during continued ascent.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Fong Kao

    Full Text Available The feasibility of a real-time electrocardiogram (ECG transmission via satellite phone from Mount Everest to determine a climber's suitability for continued ascent was examined. Four Taiwanese climbers were enrolled in the 2009 Mount Everest summit program. Physiological measurements were taken at base camp (5300 m, camp 2 (6400 m, camp 3 (7100 m, and camp 4 (7950 m 1 hour after arrival and following a 10 minute rest period. A total of 3 out of 4 climbers were able to summit Mount Everest successfully. Overall, ECG and global positioning system (GPS coordinates of climbers were transmitted in real-time via satellite phone successfully from base camp, camp 2, camp 3, and camp 4. At each camp, Resting Heart Rate (RHR was transmitted and recorded: base camp (54-113 bpm, camp 2 (94-130 bpm, camp 3 (98-115 bpm, and camp 4 (93-111 bpm. Real-time ECG and GPS coordinate transmission via satellite phone is feasible for climbers on Mount Everest. Real-time RHR data can be used to evaluate a climber's physiological capacity to continue an ascent and to summit.

  19. Using Paper Helicopters to Teach Statistical Process Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Danny J.

    2011-01-01

    This hands-on project uses a paper helicopter to teach students how to distinguish between common and special causes of variability when developing and using statistical process control charts. It allows the student to experience a process that is out-of-control due to imprecise or incomplete product design specifications and to discover how the…

  20. 77 FR 70360 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-26

    ... helicopters. This AD requires inspecting the cage of the free-wheel assembly for the correct alignment of the... tail rotor drive shaft free-wheel cage, which caused a pilot to experience a heavy jerk in the yaw.... That NPRM proposed to require inspecting the cage of the free-wheel assembly for the correct alignment...

  1. ASTER measurement of supraglacial lakes in the Mount Everest region of the Himalaya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wessels, R.L.; Kargel, J.S.; Kieffer, H.H.

    2002-01-01

    We demonstrate an application of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images to detect and monitor supraglacial lakes on glaciers in the Mount Everest region in Tibet (Xizang) and Nepal. ASTER offers powerful capabilities to monitor supraglacial lakes in terms of (1) surface area, growth and disappearance (spatial resolution = 15 m), (2) turbidity (15 m resolution), and (3) temperature (90 m resolution). Preliminary results show an overall similarity of supraglacial lakes on three glaciers. Lakes have widely varying turbidity as indicated by color in visible/near-infrared bands 1-3, the largest lakes being bright blue (highly turbid), cold (near 0??C) and hydrautically connected with other lakes and supraglacial streams, while small lakes are mostly dark blue (relatively clear water), warmer (>4??C), and appear hydrautically isolated. High levels of turbidity in supraglacial lakes indicate high rates of meltwater input from streams or erosion of ice cliffs, and thus are an indirect measure relating to the activity and hydraulic integration of the lake with respect to other lakes and streams in the glacier.

  2. A method of mounting multiple otoliths for beam-based microchemical analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donohoe, C.J.; Zimmerman, C.E.

    2010-01-01

    Beam-based analytical methods are widely used to measure the concentrations of elements and isotopes in otoliths. These methods usually require that otoliths be individually mounted and prepared to properly expose the desired growth region to the analytical beam. Most analytical instruments, such as LA-ICPMS and ion and electron microprobes, have sample holders that will accept only one to six slides or mounts at a time. We describe a method of mounting otoliths that allows for easy transfer of many otoliths to a single mount after they have been prepared. Such an approach increases the number of otoliths that can be analyzed in a single session by reducing the need open the sample chamber to exchange slides-a particularly time consuming step on instruments that operate under vacuum. For ion and electron microprobes, the method also greatly reduces the number of slides that must be coated with an electrical conductor prior to analysis. In this method, a narrow strip of cover glass is first glued at one end to a standard microscope slide. The otolith is then mounted in thermoplastic resin on the opposite, free end of the strip. The otolith can then be ground and flipped, if needed, by reheating the mounting medium. After otolith preparation is complete, the cover glass is cut with a scribe to free the otolith and up to 20 small otoliths can be arranged on a single petrographic slide. ?? 2010 The Author(s).

  3. Noise exposure during prehospital emergency physicians work on Mobile Emergency Care Units and Helicopter Emergency Medical Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Mads Christian Tofte; Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Brøchner, Anne C

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Prehospital personnel are at risk of occupational hearing loss due to high noise exposure. The aim of the study was to establish an overview of noise exposure during emergency responses in Mobile Emergency Care Units (MECU), ambulances and Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS)....... initiatives. Although no hearing loss was demonstrated in the personnel of the ground-based units, a reduced function of the outer sensory hair cells was found in the HEMS group following missions.......BACKGROUND: Prehospital personnel are at risk of occupational hearing loss due to high noise exposure. The aim of the study was to establish an overview of noise exposure during emergency responses in Mobile Emergency Care Units (MECU), ambulances and Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS......). A second objective was to identify any occupational hearing loss amongst prehospital personnel. METHODS: Noise exposure during work in the MECU and HEMS was measured using miniature microphones worn laterally to the auditory canals or within the earmuffs of the helmet. All recorded sounds were analysed...

  4. Mounting support for a photovoltaic module

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandt, Gregory Michael; Barsun, Stephan K.; Coleman, Nathaniel T.; Zhou, Yin

    2013-03-26

    A mounting support for a photovoltaic module is described. The mounting support includes a foundation having an integrated wire-way ledge portion. A photovoltaic module support mechanism is coupled with the foundation.

  5. Evaluation of wind flow with a nacelle-mounted, continuous wave wind lidar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Medley, John; Barker, Will; Harris, Mike

    2014-01-01

    Nacelle-mounted lidar is becoming widely recognized as a tool with potential for assessing power curves, understanding wind flow characteristics, and controlling turbines. As rotor diameters continue to increase, and the deployment of turbines in complex terrain becomes more widespread, knowledge...... mounted on the nacelle of a 550 kW turbine at the Risø campus of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Lidar measurements of wind speed and turbulence were compared against those made by anemometers on a high-quality traditional mast. Analysis showed excellent correlation between mast and Zeph...... that this is the first time that a commercially available nacelle-mounted lidar has been used to evaluate such rotor-equivalent power curves....

  6. Learning Basic Mechatronics through Helicopter Workshop

    OpenAIRE

    Adzly Anuar; Maryam Huda Ahmad Phesal; Azrul Abidin Zakaria; Goh Chin Hock; Sivadass Thiruchelvam; Dickson Neoh Tze How; Muhammad Fahmi Abdul Ghani; Khairul Salleh Mohamed Sahari

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, technologies related to mechatronics and robotics is available even to elementary level students. It is now common to see schools in Malaysia using Lego Mindstorm as a tool for active learning on mechatronics and robotics. A new yet interesting way of learning mechatronics and robotics is introduced by Dr. Dan Barry, a former astronaut and his son Andrew Barry during their visit to Malaysia. The kits used are based on a 4-channel RC helicopter, Arduino Uno microcontroller, IR...

  7. Optimization of helicopter hub locations and fleet composition in the Brazilian pre-salt fields

    OpenAIRE

    Norddal, Ida Kristine

    2013-01-01

    When implementing oil and gas operations in the Santos Basin pre-salt fields, Brazilian energy corporation Petróleo Brasileiro S.A (Petrobras) faces some significant challenges. One of these is the large distance from shore: exceeding 300 km at the most, it is about three times the distance to oil fields explored in the past. This has great impact on the company's offshore helicopter operations. In its current form, helicopters transport employees directly between onshore airport bases and of...

  8. COMPARISON OF A HEAD MOUNTED IMPACT MEASUREMENT DEVICE TO THE HYBRID III ANTHROPOMORPHIC TESTING DEVICE IN A CONTROLLED LABORATORY SETTING.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schussler, Eric; Stark, David; Bolte, John H; Kang, Yun Seok; Onate, James A

    2017-08-01

    Reports estimate that 1.6 to 3.8 million cases of concussion occur in sports and recreation each year in the United States. Despite continued efforts to reduce the occurrence of concussion, the rate of diagnosis continues to increase. The mechanisms of concussion are thought to involve linear and rotational head accelerations and velocities. One method of quantifying the kinematics experienced during sport participation is to place measurement devices into the athlete's helmet or directly on the athlete's head. The purpose of this research to determine the accuracy of a head mounted device for measuring the head accelerations experienced by the wearer. This will be accomplished by identifying the error in Peak Linear Acceleration (PLA), Peak Rotational Acceleration (PRA) and Peak Rotational Velocity (PRV) of the device. Laboratory study. A helmeted Hybrid III 50th percentile male headform was impacted via a pneumatic ram from the front, side, rear, front oblique and rear oblique at speeds from 1.5 to 5 m/s. The X2 Biosystems xPatch® (Seattle, WA) sensor was placed on the headform's right side at the approximate location of the mastoid process. Measures of PLA, PRA, PRV from the xPatch ® and Hybrid III were analyzed for Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Absolute and Relative Error (AE, RE). Seventy-six impacts were analyzed. All measures of correlation, fixed through the origin, were found to be strong: PLA R 2 =0.967 pstandard yet above the average error of testing devices in both PLA and PRA, but a low error in PRV. PLA measures from the xPatch® system demonstrated a high level of correlation with the PLA data from the Hybrid III mounted data collection system. 3.

  9. 78 FR 38826 - Airworthiness Directives; Various Helicopter Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-28

    ... (ECD) Model MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopter picked up a dummy load of 552 lbs. to conduct a ``maximum load... comply with this AD. It will take about 1 work-hour to perform the lift testing at an average labor rate... the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. For the reasons...

  10. 78 FR 58256 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-23

    ... revising the RFM to reduce the Velocity Never Exceed (V NE ) indicated airspeed (IAS) limitation. It also... (IAS). EAD 2012-0217-E retains some of the requirements of EAD 2012-0207-E, removes the airspeed... Model AS550C3 helicopters (EASB 01.00.65). EASB 01.00.65 is Revision 3, dated February 4, 2013. EASB 01...

  11. Transformation of Helicopter PinS Procedures for Airplanes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jakub Kraus

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the possibility to use existing helicopter Point in Space procedures with minor changes for airplanes. The basis is to find parts of PinS procedures that need to be changed, suggest these changes, and then determine whether the revised procedures could be usable and could bring the benefits for airplane operations.

  12. Resilience and brittleness in the offshore helicopter transportation system: The identification of constraints and sacrifice decisions in pilots' work

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomes, Jose O.; Woods, David D.; Carvalho, Paulo V.R.; Huber, Gilbert J.; Borges, Marcos R.S.

    2009-01-01

    Offshore transportation using helicopters is a complex socio-technical system. The resilience of this system is an emergent property related to performance variability in many nested levels, e.g. pilot activities, maintenance, management systems, helicopter design and so forth. This paper examines production/safety tradeoffs in pilots' work in the helicopter transportation system for the Campos Basin oil fields in Brazil to understand the resilience and brittleness of this system. The study team carried out and analyzed 63 h of interviews with pilots, co-pilots, managers and human resources personnel of some of the main helicopter-operating companies. About 80% of the oil extracted in Brazil comes from this Basin, a 3 h drive north of Rio de Janeiro city. The oil company hires nine helicopter-operating companies to transport about 40,000 people who work on ships and platforms every month. The main goal of this project is to discover how the transport system is resilient and brittle, given the workload demands and economic pressures. The analysis uncovered goal conflicts that arise at the boundaries of the organizations and how people in different roles cope with these conflicts, and their implications to overall system safety and resilience

  13. Requirements for a Hydrogen Powered All-Electric Manned Helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, Anubhav

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to set propulsion system targets for an all-electric manned helicopter of ultra-light utility class to achieve performance comparable to combustion engines. The approach is to begin with a current two-seat helicopter (Robinson R 22 Beta II-like), design an all-electric power plant as replacement for its existing piston engine, and study performance of the new all-electric aircraft. The new power plant consists of high-pressure Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells, hydrogen stored in 700 bar type-4 tanks, lithium-ion batteries, and an AC synchronous permanent magnet motor. The aircraft and the transmission are assumed to remain the same. The paper surveys the state of the art in each of these areas, synthesizes a power plant using best available technologies in each, examines the performance achievable by such a power plant, identifies key barriers, and sets future technology targets to achieve performance at par with current internal combustion engines.

  14. Synchronization of multiple 3-DOF helicopters under actuator faults and saturations with prescribed performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Huiliao; Jiang, Bin; Yang, Hao; Liu, Hugh H T

    2018-04-01

    The distributed cooperative control strategy is proposed to make the networked nonlinear 3-DOF helicopters achieve the attitude synchronization in the presence of actuator faults and saturations. Based on robust adaptive control, the proposed control method can both compensate the uncertain partial loss of control effectiveness and deal with the system uncertainties. To address actuator saturation problem, the control scheme is designed to ensure that the saturation constraint on the actuation will not be violated during the operation in spite of the actuator faults. It is shown that with the proposed control strategy, both the tracking errors of the leading helicopter and the attitude synchronization errors of each following helicopter are bounded in the existence of faulty actuators and actuator saturations. Moreover, the state responses of the entire group would not exceed the predesigned performance functions which are totally independent from the underlaying interaction topology. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Systems and methods for mirror mounting with minimized distortion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonille, Scott R. (Inventor); Wallace, Thomas E. (Inventor); Content, David A. (Inventor); Wake, Shane W. (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    A method for mounting a mirror for use in a telescope includes attaching the mirror to a plurality of adjustable mounts; determining a distortion in the mirror caused by the plurality adjustable mounts, and, if the distortion is determined to be above a predetermined level: adjusting one or more of the adjustable mounts; and determining the distortion in the mirror caused by the adjustable mounts; and in the event the determined distortion is determined to be at or below the predetermined level, rigidizing the adjustable mounts.

  16. Mach number scaling of helicopter rotor blade/vortex interaction noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leighton, Kenneth P.; Harris, Wesley L.

    1985-01-01

    A parametric study of model helicopter rotor blade slap due to blade vortex interaction (BVI) was conducted in a 5 by 7.5-foot anechoic wind tunnel using model helicopter rotors with two, three, and four blades. The results were compared with a previously developed Mach number scaling theory. Three- and four-bladed rotor configurations were found to show very good agreement with the Mach number to the sixth power law for all conditions tested. A reduction of conditions for which BVI blade slap is detected was observed for three-bladed rotors when compared to the two-bladed baseline. The advance ratio boundaries of the four-bladed rotor exhibited an angular dependence not present for the two-bladed configuration. The upper limits for the advance ratio boundaries of the four-bladed rotors increased with increasing rotational speed.

  17. Capability of State-of-the-Art Navier-Stokes Solvers for the Prediction of Helicopter Fuselage Aerodynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    N., Kroll; P., Renzoni; M., Amato

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to describe the influence of different Navier-Stokes solvers and grids on the prediction of the global coefficients for a simplified geometry of a helicopter fuselage.......The purpose of this paper is to describe the influence of different Navier-Stokes solvers and grids on the prediction of the global coefficients for a simplified geometry of a helicopter fuselage....

  18. Military Potential Test of the UH-2A Helicopter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1963-10-25

    required to fully service two engines during engine change. 3. One quart of hydr aulic fluid , MIL 5606. Used to replace spillage while disconnecting...Maryland , dated 24 January 1963. 7. Report Nr. 1, Final Report, Climatic Laboratory Environ- mental Test of the Model UH- 2A Helicopter , by US

  19. Routing helicopters for crew exchanges on off-shore locations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sierksma, G.; Tijssen, G.A.

    This paper deals with a vehicle routing problem with split demands, namely the problem of determining a flight schedule for helicopters to off-shore platform locations for exchanging crew people employed on these platforms. The problem is formulated as an LP model and solved by means of a

  20. Flight Test Guide (Part 61 Revised): Instrument Pilot: Helicopter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Federal Aviation Administration (DOT), Washington, DC. Flight Standards Service.

    The guide provides an outline of the skills required to pass the flight test for an Instrument Pilot Helicopter Rating under Part 61 (revised) of Federal Aviation Regulations. General procedures for flight tests are described and the following pilot operations outlined: maneuvering by reference to instruments, IFR navigation, instrument…

  1. Combat vehicle crew helmet-mounted display: next generation high-resolution head-mounted display

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Scott A.

    1994-06-01

    The Combat Vehicle Crew Head-Mounted Display (CVC HMD) program is an ARPA-funded, US Army Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center monitored effort to develop a high resolution, flat panel HMD for the M1 A2 Abrams main battle tank. CVC HMD is part of the ARPA High Definition Systems (HDS) thrust to develop and integrate small (24 micrometers square pels), high resolution (1280 X 1024 X 6-bit grey scale at 60 frame/sec) active matrix electroluminescent (AMEL) and active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD) for head mounted and projection applications. The Honeywell designed CVC HMD is a next generation head-mounted display system that includes advanced flat panel image sources, advanced digital display driver electronics, high speed (> 1 Gbps) digital interconnect electronics, and light weight, high performance optical and mechanical designs. The resulting dramatic improvements in size, weight, power, and cost have already led to program spin offs for both military and commercial applications.

  2. Biogeographic patterns of forest diversity at mount Kasigau, Kenya ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study reports 140 species, 46 were measured in only one plot, and affinities for 75 species to the Somalia-Masai (43%), Afromontane (29%), and Zanzibar- Inhambane (Coastal, 28%) floristic regions. Cluster and Indicator Species Analyses identified eight community types. Mount Kasigau uniquely conserves much ...

  3. Job Performance Tests for CH-53E Helicopter Mechanics. Volume 2: Administrative Duties and Job Knowledge Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-01-01

    SUBTmI.E 5 FU.NDING NUMBERS Job Performance Tests for CII-53E Helicopter Miechanacs - Volume I1: Admiutstrative Duties and Job Knowlede Tests C - N...performance measures to Marine Corps personnel managers . training instructors, and interested researchers who may find them useful. This work comprises...Corps personnel managers , training instructors, and interested researchers who may find them useful. 3. This work comprises two parts: volume I

  4. Use cases and usability challenges for head-mounted displays in healthcare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mentler T.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In the healthcare domain, head-mounted displays (HMDs with augmented reality (AR modalities have been reconsidered for application as a result of commercially available products and the needs for using computers in mobile context. Within a user-centered design approach, interviews were conducted with physicians, nursing staff and members of emergency medical services. Additionally practitioners were involved in evaluating two different head-mounted displays. Based on these measures, use cases and usability considerations according to interaction design and information visualization were derived and are described in this contribution.

  5. Mounting and Alignment of IXO Mirror Segments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Kai-Wing; Zhang, William; Evans, Tyler; McClelland, Ryan; Hong, Melinda; Mazzarella, James; Saha, Timo; Jalota, Lalit; Olsen, Lawrence; Byron, Glenn

    2010-01-01

    A suspension-mounting scheme is developed for the IXO (International X-ray Observatory) mirror segments in which the figure of the mirror segment is preserved in each stage of mounting. The mirror, first fixed on a thermally compatible strongback, is subsequently transported, aligned and transferred onto its mirror housing. In this paper, we shall outline the requirement, approaches, and recent progress of the suspension mount processes.

  6. Analysis of Factors Influencing Soil Salinity, Acidity, and Arsenic Concentration in a Polder in Southwest Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayers, J. C.; Patton, B.; Fry, D. C.; Goodbred, S. L., Jr.

    2017-12-01

    Soil samples were collected on Polder 32 in the coastal zone of SW Bangladesh in wet (October) and dry (May) seasons from 2013-2017 and analyzed to characterize the problems of soil salinization and arsenic contamination and identify their causes. Soils are entisols formed from recently deposited, predominantly silt-sized sediments with low carbon concentrations typical of the local mangrove forests. Soluble (DI extract) arsenic concentrations were below the Government of Bangladesh limit of 50 ppb for drinking water. Soil acidity and extract arsenic concentrations exhibit spatial variation but no consistent trends. In October soil extract As is higher and S and pH are lower than in May. These observations suggest that wet season rainwater oxidizes pyrite, reducing soil S and releasing H+, causing pH to decrease. Released iron is oxidized to form Hydrous Ferric Oxyhydroxides (HFOs), which sorb As and increase extractable As in wet season soils. Changes in pH are small due to pH buffering by soil carbonates. Soil and rice paddy water salinities are consistently higher in May than October, reaching levels in May that reduce rice yields. Rice grown in paddies should be unaffected by salt concentrations in the wet season, while arsenic concentrations in soil may be high enough to cause unsafe As levels in produced rice.

  7. 14 CFR 33.23 - Engine mounting attachments and structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Engine mounting attachments and structure... mounting attachments and structure. (a) The maximum allowable limit and ultimate loads for engine mounting attachments and related engine structure must be specified. (b) The engine mounting attachments and related...

  8. 76 FR 76689 - Cibola National Forest, Mount Taylor Ranger District, NM, Mount Taylor Combined Exploratory Drilling

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-08

    ... National Forest, Mount Taylor Ranger District, NM, Mount Taylor Combined Exploratory Drilling AGENCY... proposed action is to approve two Plans of Operations for exploratory uranium drilling on the Cibola... San Mateo. In total, there are up to 279 drill holes that would be drilled over a period not to exceed...

  9. Classification of response-types for single-pilot NOE helicopter combat tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, David G.; Hoh, Roger H.; Atencio, Adolph, Jr.

    1987-01-01

    Two piloted simulations have recently been conducted to evaluate both workload and handling qualities requirements for operation of a helicopter by a single pilot in a nap-of-the-earth combat environment. An advanced cockpit, including a moving-map display and an interactive touchpad screen, provided aircraft mission, status, and position information to the pilot. The results of the simulations are reviewed, and the impact of these results on the development of a revised helicopter handling qualities specification is discussed. Rate command is preferred over attitude command in pitch and roll, and attitude hold over groundspeed hold, for low-speed precision pointing tasks. Position hold is necessary for Level 1 handling qualities in hover when the pilot is required to perform secondary tasks. Addition of a second crew member improves pilot ratings.

  10. Measurement and Analysis of the Extreme Physical Shock Environment Experienced by Crane-Mounted Radiation Detection Systems.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boyd, M [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Erchinger, J [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Marianno, C [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Kallenbach, Gene A. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Grypp, M [US Dept. of the Navy

    2017-09-01

    Potentially, radiation detectors at ports of entry could be mounted on container gantry crane spreaders to monitor cargo containers entering and leaving the country. These detectors would have to withstand the extreme physical environment experienced by these spreaders during normal operations. Physical shock data from the gable ends of a spreader were recorded during the loading and unloading of a cargo ship with two Lansmont SAVER 9X30 units (with padding) and two PCB Piezotronics model 340A50 accelerometers (hard mounted). Physical shocks in the form of rapid acceleration were observed in all accelerometer units with values ranging from 0.20 g’s to 199.99 g’s. The majority of the shocks for all the Lansmont and PCB accelerometers were below 50 g’s. The Lansmont recorded mean shocks of 21.83 ± 13.62 g’s and 24.78 ± 11.49 g’s while the PCB accelerometers experienced mean shocks of 34.39 ± 25.51 g’s and 41.77 ± 22.68 g’s for the landside and waterside units, respectively. Encased detector units with external padding should be designed to withstand at least 200 g’s of acceleration without padding and typical shocks of 30 g’s with padding for mounting on a spreader.

  11. 77 FR 58971 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) Helicopters

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-25

    ... prompted by flight crew reports of deviations between the displayed attitude on the attitude display screen... screens occurred simultaneously during flight on several helicopters equipped with the GV76-1 vertical... of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM) by inserting a copy of this AD into the RFM or by pen and ink...

  12. Earlier reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation Myocardial infarction by use of helicopter

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background In patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) reperfusion therapy should be initiated as soon as possible. This study evaluated whether use of a helicopter for transportation of patients is associated with earlier initiation of reperfusion therapy. Material and methods A prospective study was conducted, including patients with STEMI and symptom duration less than 12 hours, who had primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) performed at Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby. Patients with a health care system delay (time from emergency call to first coronary intervention) of more than 360 minutes were excluded. The study period ran from 1.1.2011 until 31.12.2011. A Western Denmark Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) project was initiated 1.6.2011 for transportation of patients with time-critical illnesses, including STEMI. Results The study population comprised 398 patients, of whom 376 were transported by ambulance Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and 22 by HEMS. Field-triage directly to the PCI-center was used in 338 of patients. The median system delay was 94 minutes among those field-triaged, and 168 minutes among those initially admitted to a local hospital. Patients transported by EMS and field-triaged were stratified into four groups according to transport distance from the scene of event to the PCI-center: ≤25 km., 26–50 km., 51–75 km. and > 75 km. For these groups, the median system delay was 78, 89, 99, and 141 minutes. Among patients transported by HEMS and field-triaged the estimated median transport distance by ground transportation was 115 km, and the observed system delay was 107 minutes. Based on second order polynomial regression, it was estimated that patients with a transport distance of >60 km to the PCI-center may benefit from helicopter transportation, and that transportation by helicopter is associated with a system delay of less than 120 minutes even at a transport distance up to 150 km

  13. A Foot-Mounted Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) Positioning Algorithm Based on Magnetic Constraint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yan; Li, Xin; Zou, Jiaheng

    2018-03-01

    With the development of related applications, indoor positioning techniques have been more and more widely developed. Based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and geomagnetism, indoor positioning techniques often rely on the physical location of fingerprint information. The focus and difficulty of establishing the fingerprint database are in obtaining a relatively accurate physical location with as little given information as possible. This paper presents a foot-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU) positioning algorithm under the loop closure constraint based on magnetic information. It can provide relatively reliable position information without maps and geomagnetic information and provides a relatively accurate coordinate for the collection of a fingerprint database. In the experiment, the features extracted by the multi-level Fourier transform method proposed in this paper are validated and the validity of loop closure matching is tested with a RANSAC-based method. Moreover, the loop closure detection results show that the cumulative error of the trajectory processed by the graph optimization algorithm is significantly suppressed, presenting a good accuracy. The average error of the trajectory under loop closure constraint is controlled below 2.15 m.

  14. A Foot-Mounted Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU Positioning Algorithm Based on Magnetic Constraint

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Wang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available With the development of related applications, indoor positioning techniques have been more and more widely developed. Based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low energy (BLE and geomagnetism, indoor positioning techniques often rely on the physical location of fingerprint information. The focus and difficulty of establishing the fingerprint database are in obtaining a relatively accurate physical location with as little given information as possible. This paper presents a foot-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU positioning algorithm under the loop closure constraint based on magnetic information. It can provide relatively reliable position information without maps and geomagnetic information and provides a relatively accurate coordinate for the collection of a fingerprint database. In the experiment, the features extracted by the multi-level Fourier transform method proposed in this paper are validated and the validity of loop closure matching is tested with a RANSAC-based method. Moreover, the loop closure detection results show that the cumulative error of the trajectory processed by the graph optimization algorithm is significantly suppressed, presenting a good accuracy. The average error of the trajectory under loop closure constraint is controlled below 2.15 m.

  15. On the retrieval of ice cloud particle shapes from POLDER measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Wenbo; Loeb, Norman G.; Yang Ping

    2006-01-01

    Shapes of ice crystals can significantly affect the radiative transfer in ice clouds. The angular distribution of the polarized reflectance over ice clouds strongly depends on ice crystal shapes. Although the angular-distribution features of the total or polarized reflectance over ice clouds imply a possibility of retrieving ice cloud particle shapes by use of remote sensing data, the accuracy of the retrieval must be evaluated. In this study, a technique that applies single ice crystal habit and multidirectional polarized radiance to retrieve ice cloud particle shapes is assessed. Our sensitivity studies show that the retrieved particle shapes from this algorithm can be considered good approximations to those in actual clouds in calculation of the phase matrix elements. However, this algorithm can only work well under the following conditions: (1) the retrievable must be overcast and thick ice cloud pixels, (2) the particles in the cloud must be randomly oriented, (3) the particle shapes and size distributions used in the lookup tables must be representative, and (4) the multi-angle polarized measurements must be accurate and sufficient to identify ice cloud pixels of randomly oriented particles. In practice, these conditions will exclude most of the measured cloud pixels. Additionally, because the polarized measurements are only sensitive to the upper cloud part not deeper than an optical thickness of 4, the retrieved particle shapes with the polarized radiance may only approximate those in the upper parts of the clouds. In other words, for thicker clouds with vertical inhomogeneity in particle shapes, these retrieved particle shapes cannot represent those of whole clouds. More robust algorithm is needed in accurate retrieval of ice cloud particle shapes

  16. Physiological and behavioral reactions elicited by simulated and real-life visual and acoustic helicopter stimuli in dairy goats

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Anecdotal reports and a few scientific publications suggest that flyovers of helicopters at low altitude may elicit fear- or anxiety-related behavioral reactions in grazing feral and farm animals. We investigated the behavioral and physiological stress reactions of five individually housed dairy goats to different acoustic and visual stimuli from helicopters and to combinations of these stimuli under controlled environmental (indoor) conditions. The visual stimuli were helicopter animations projected on a large screen in front of the enclosures of the goats. Acoustic and visual stimuli of a tractor were also presented. On the final day of the study the goats were exposed to two flyovers (altitude 50 m and 75 m) of a Chinook helicopter while grazing in a pasture. Salivary cortisol, behavior, and heart rate of the goats were registered before, during and after stimulus presentations. Results The goats reacted alert to the visual and/or acoustic stimuli that were presented in their room. They raised their heads and turned their ears forward in the direction of the stimuli. There was no statistically reliable rise of the average velocity of moving of the goats in their enclosure and no increase of the duration of moving during presentation of the stimuli. Also there was no increase in heart rate or salivary cortisol concentration during the indoor test sessions. Surprisingly, no physiological and behavioral stress responses were observed during the flyover of a Chinook at 50 m, which produced a peak noise of 110 dB. Conclusions We conclude that the behavior and physiology of goats are unaffected by brief episodes of intense, adverse visual and acoustic stimulation such as the sight and noise of overflying helicopters. The absence of a physiological stress response and of elevated emotional reactivity of goats subjected to helicopter stimuli is discussed in relation to the design and testing schedule of this study. PMID:21496239

  17. Comparative study between 2 methods of mounting models in semiadjustable articulator for orthognathic surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayrink, Gabriela; Sawazaki, Renato; Asprino, Luciana; de Moraes, Márcio; Fernandes Moreira, Roger William

    2011-11-01

    Compare the traditional method of mounting dental casts on a semiadjustable articulator and the new method suggested by Wolford and Galiano, 1 analyzing the inclination of maxillary occlusal plane in relation to FHP. Two casts of 10 patients were obtained. One of them was used for mounting of models on a traditional articulator, by using a face bow transfer system and the other one was used to mounting models at Occlusal Plane Indicator platform (OPI), using the SAM articulator. After that, na analysis of the accuracy of mounting models was performed. The angle made by de occlusal plane and FHP on the cephalogram should be equal the angle between the occlusal plane and the upper member of the articulator. The measures were tabulated in Microsoft Excell(®) and calculated using a 1-way analysis variance. Statistically, the results did not reveal significant differences among the measures. OPI and face bow presents similar results but more studies are needed to verify its accuracy relative to the maxillary cant in OPI or develop new techniques able to solve the disadvantages of each technique. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Mounting apparatus for a nozzle guide vane assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyd, Gary L.; Shaffer, James E.

    1995-01-01

    The present invention provides a ceramic nozzle guide assembly with an apparatus for mounting it to a metal nozzle case that includes an intermediate ceramic mounting ring. The mounting ring includes a plurality of projections that are received within a plurality of receptacles formed in the nozzle case. The projections of the mounting ring are secured within the receptacles by a ceramic retainer that allows contact between the two components only along arcuate surfaces thus eliminating sliding contact between the components.

  19. Effects of Control-Response Characteristics on the Capability of Helicopter for Use as a Gun Platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pegg, Robert J.; Connor, Andrew B.

    1960-01-01

    An investigation with a variable-stability helicopter was undertaken to ascertain the steadiness and ability to "hold on" to the target of a helicopter employed as a gun platform. Simulated tasks were per formed under differing flight conditions with the control-response characteristics of the helicopter varied for each task. The simulated gun-platform mission included: Variations of headings with respect to wind, constant altitude and "swing around" to a wind heading of 0 deg, and increases in altitude while performing a swing around to a wind heading of 0 deg. The results showed that increases in control power and damping increased pilot ability to hold on to the target with fewer yawing oscillations and in a shorter time. The results also indicated that wind direction must be considered in accuracy assessment. Greatest accuracy throughout these tests was achieved by aiming upwind.

  20. Mounting clips for panel installation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavieres, Andres; Al-Haddad, Tristan; Goodman, Joseph

    2017-07-11

    A photovoltaic panel mounting clip comprising a base, central indexing tabs, flanges, lateral indexing tabs, and vertical indexing tabs. The mounting clip removably attaches one or more panels to a beam or the like structure, both mechanically and electrically. It provides secure locking of the panels in all directions, while providing guidance in all directions for accurate installation of the panels to the beam or the like structure.