Award Data

LOWER QUALITY LUMBER PRODUCTS ARE USED WITH INCREASING REGULARITY DUE TO THE CONTINUOUSLY SHRINKING HIGH QUALITY TIMBER RESOURCE. THE USE OF LOWER QUALITY LUMBER RESULTS IN ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS DUE TO A POTENTIALLY EXTENSIVE WARPING, BOTH DURING STORAGE AND CONSTRUCTION. INCREASED WARPING IS EQUATED TO UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC LOSSES DUE TO NEEDED REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT. THE PROPOSAL ...

ISOTOPIC CARBON ANALYSIS PROVIDES A VALUABLE TOOL FOR STUDIES OF METABOLIC PATHWAYS AND FOR TRACING CARBON TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS PROPOSAL WOULD DEVELOP AN OPTICAL TECHNIQUE FOR THE CONVENIENT MEASUREMENT OF CARBON ISOTOPIC ((13)C/(12)C) RATIOS. THE INSTRUMENT WILL UTILIZE A LINEAR PHOTODIODE ARRAY TO IMAGE THE SPECTRA ARISING FROM PLASMA EMISSION OF THE CARBON-CONTAINING MOLECUL ...

RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AN INNOVATIVE NEW APPROACH TO LABORATORY TRAINING IN HEALTH PHYSICS, I.E., THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER SIMULATOR THAT CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF ACTUAL RADIATION SOURCES IN LABORATORY TRAINING. SUCH A SIMULATOR RESULTS IN MUCH LOWER COST OF TRAINING, PROVIDES FOR A WIDER VARIETY OF TRAINING SITUATIONS, AND ELIMINATES THE SAFETY HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH ACTUAL RADIATION SOU ...

Mission Support proposes to develop a compact, self-contained neutron spectrometer for MeV neutrons that will be suitable for the detection of the nitrogen, oxygen and carbon components in explosive materials. Neutron-resonance-radiographic techniques will be employed to detect the presence of these materials through their distinctive total-neutron-cross-section resonances. The detector insures ...

TODAY'S ROBOTS CANNOT PERFORM COMPLEX MANIPULATION TASKS BECAUSE THEIR CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE UNABLE TO MEET THE REAL-TIME DEMANDS OF THE ADVANCED CONTROL ALGORITHMS. THE NSF-SUPPORTED RIPS PROJECT, AT THE CENTER FOR ROBOTIC SYSTEMS IN MICROELECTRONICS (CRSM), UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, HAS DEVELOPED A PROTOTYPE ROBOT CONTROL SYSTEM WHICH EXCEEDS THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER ROBOT CONTROL S ...

RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AND DEMONSTRATING ADAPTABLE VIBRATION ANALYSIS SENSORS WHICH USE SPECIALIZED WEIGHTED-SENSITIVITY OPTICAL FIBER WAVEGUIDE STRUCTURES. SEVERAL METHODS TO CREATE THE NECESSARY SENSITIVITY VARIATIONS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE WAVEGUIDE ARE SUGGESTED. EXTENSIONS OF THIS WORK TO FURTHER PERMIT THE REAL-TIME MODIFICATION OF SUCH SPATIAL FIBER SENSITIVITY PROFILES, AND HENCE THE ...

COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT INVERSION ALGORITHMS ARE NEEDED IN A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINES, SUCH AS MEDICAL IMAGING, NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION, GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, AND ROBOTIC VISION. THE RIGOROUS MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF INVERSION THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE PROBLEM AREAS ARE USUALLY NONLINEAR, BECAUSE THEY INVOLVE THE PRODUCT OF AN UNKNOWN MATERIAL PARAMETER (SUCH AS ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY)AND ...

THE UNITED STATES IS CONVERTING ITS ANALOG CELLULAR TELEPHONE NETWORK TO DIGITAL. THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS CONVERSION IS THE NEED FOR GREATER CAPACITY. CELLULAR SYSTEMS IN MOST LARGE CITIES ARE FULL AND BLOCKING PROBABILITIES ARE UNACCEPTABLY HIGH DURING BUSY HOURS. DIGITAL CELLULAR WILL INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF EXISTING SYSTEMS BY BETWEEN 4 AND 10 TIMES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL RAD ...

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