Search

Circular microdisk mechanical resonators vibrating in their various resonance modes have emerged as important platforms for a wide spectrum of technologies including photonics, cavity optomechanics, optical metrology, and quantum optics. Optically transduced microdisk resonators made of advanced materials such as silicon carbide (SiC), diamond, and other wide- or ultrawide-bandgap materials are especially attractive. They are also of strong interest in the exploration of transducers or detectors for harsh environments and mission-oriented applications. Here we report on the first experimental investigation and analysis of energetic proton radiation effects on microdisk resonators made of 3C-SiC thin film grown on silicon substrate. We fabricate and study microdisks with diameters of ∼48 µm and ∼36 µm, and with multimode resonances in the ∼1 to 20 MHz range. We observe consistent downshifts of multimode resonance frequencies, and measure fractional frequency downshifts from the first three flexural resonance modes, up to ∼-3420 and -1660 ppm for two devices, respectively, in response to 1.8 MeV proton radiation at a dosage of 1014/cm2. Such frequency changes are attributed to the radiation-induced Young’s modulus change of ∼0.38% and ∼0.09%, respectively. These devices also exhibit proton detection responsivity of ℜ ≈ -5 to -6 × 10−6 Hz/proton. The results provide new knowledge of proton radiation effects in SiC materials, and may lead to better understanding and exploitation of micro/nanoscale devices for harsh-environment sensing, optomechanics, and integrated photonics applications.

Versions of Scheduling and Planning Interface for Exploration (SPIFe) have supported a variety of mission operations across NASA. This software tool has evolved and matured over several years, assisting planners who develop intricate schedules. While initially conceived for surface Mars missions, SPIFe has been deployed in other domains, where people rather than robotic explorers, execute plans. As a result, a diverse set of end-users has compelled growth in a new direction: supporting real-time operations. This paper describes the new needs and challenges that accompany this development. Among the key features that have been built for SPIFe are current time indicators integrated into the interface and timeline, as well as other plan attributes that enable execution of scheduled activities. Field tests include mission support for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) and Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) campaigns.

This paper presents Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) lessons learned over the course of design, development, and operation of activity planning tools on the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Phoenix Mars Lander, and looking ahead to the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory.

The Phoenix Mars Mission is the first mission in the NASA Scout Program. As a Scout Mission, Phoenix must be relatively low-cost and yet highly innovative. Likewise, the Ground Data System (GDS) is under similar constraints. Key to the GDS tool development has been the utilization of the Ensemble framework -an open architecture for the development, integration, and deployment of mission operations software. Ensemble has enabled the production of a low-cost, feature-rich tool to support tactical mission activity planning called The Phoenix Science Interface (PSI).

In this work we discuss how the quality of localization knowledge impacts the remote operation of rovers on the surface of Mars. We look at the techniques of localization estimation used in the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover missions. We discuss the virtues and shortcomings of existing approaches and new improvements in the latest operations tools used to support the Mars Exploration Rover missions and rover technology development tasks at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We conclude with future directions we plan to explore in improving the localization knowledge available for operations and more effective targeting of rovers and their instrument payloads.

This paper describes the role of human-computer interaction (HCI) design in the development and deployment of mission systems. We make the argument that more broad application of HCI methods and practice will be necessary to complete the ambitious objectives of future missions. In particular, the introduction of increased autonomy, reduction of ops personnel, increasingly tactical nature of surface operations, and more distributed mission ground operations present unique challenges that must be met with sound HCI-driven solutions. We describe a case study from where solid underlying technology was hindered by lack of attention to HCI issues, and describe how this is being remedied moving forward. Future missions will require planning processes to be much more efficient (orders of magnitude) than what was achieved for the Mars Exploration Rovers mission (2003). The case study focuses on the critical shift from the MAPGEN software used for tactical activity planning on MER to SPIFe, now base-lined for the Phoenix 2007 and MSL 2009 missions. MAPGEN added automated planning functionality (Europa) to the APGEN manual planning tool. SPIFe provides a next generation interface designed specifically to take advantage of an automated planner. The design of SPIFe is based on hundreds of hours of observation and operations experience on MER. This paper examines how key HCI lessons learned are being fed forward into this new set of planning tools, SPIFe and Europa 2.

This paper presents a summary of the space of commonly-used HCI prototyping methods (low-fidelity to high-fidelity) and asserts that with a better understanding of this space, HCI practitioners will be better equipped to direct scarce prototyping resources toward an effort likely to yield specific results. It presents a set of five dimensions along which prototypes can be planned and characterized. The paper then describes an analysis of this space performed by members of the NASA Ames Human-Computer Interaction Group when considering prototyping approaches for a new set of tools for Mars mission planning and scheduling tools. A description is presented of a prototype that demonstrates design solutions that would have been particularly difficult to test given conventional low- or mid- fidelity prototyping methods. The prototype created was "mixed-fidelity," that is, high-fidelity on some dimensions and low-fidelity on others. The prototype is compared to a preexisting tool being redesigned and to a tool that has been developed using the prototype. Experimental data are presented that show the prototype to be a good predictor of eventual user performance with the final application. Given the relative cost of developing prototypes, it is critical to better characterize the space of fidelity in order to more precisely allocate design and development resources.

The concept of Knowledge Management concerns the creation of structures that combine the most advanced elements of technological resources and the indispensable input of human response and decision making. This chapter addresses a very interesting topic—Knowledge Management (KM) and e-business initiatives within global organizations. It compares and contrasts the experiences of two global corporations as they have conceived and implemented KM initiatives. After in-depth secondary research on the subject, both companies developed their own KM in e-business strategy. The two case studies discussed in this chapter highlight Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Business-to-Employee (B2E) initiatives at these two global organizations. This provides concepts and viewpoints related to the drivers of KM, the hurdles to KM in an organization, the elements of KM philosophy and process, how KM can come to be understood as a critical part of a company’s competitive strategy, and how to deploy a sustainable KM system that suits the business needs of an organization.

This paper describes the design and deployment of a collaborative software tool, designed for and presently in use on the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) 2003 mission. Two central questions are addressed. Does collaborative content like that created on easels and whiteboards have persistent value? Can groups of people jointly manage collaboratively created content? Based on substantial quantitative and qualitative data collected during mission operations, it remains difficult to conclusively answer the first question while there is some positive support for the second question. The MER mission provides a uniquely rich data set on the use of collaborative tools.

In this paper we report a new approach to generating predictions about skilled interactive cognition. The approach, which we call Cognitive Constraint Modeling, takes as input a description of the constraints on a task environment, on user strategies, and on the human cognitive architecture and generates as output a prediction of the time course of interaction. In the Cognitive Constraint Models that we have built this is achieved by encoding the assumptions inherent in CPM-GOMS as a set of constraints and reasoning about them using finite domain constraint satisfaction.

This paper presents X-PRT, a new cognitive modeling tool supporting activities ranging from interface design to basic cognitive research. X-PRT provides a graphical model development environment for the CORE constraint-based cognitive modeling engine [7,13,21]. X-PRT comprises a novel feature set: (a) it supports the automatic generation of predictive models at multiple skill levels from a single task-specification, (b) it supports a comprehensive set of modeling activities, and (c) it supports compositional reuse of existing cognitive/perceptual/motor skills by transforming high-level, hierarchical task descriptions into detailed performance predictions. Task hierarchies play a central role in X-PRT, serving as the organizing construct for task knowledge, the locus for compositionality, and the cognitive structures over which the learning theory is predicated. Empirical evidence supports the role of task hierarchies in routine skill acquisition.