Ruggedized Infrared Camera

This dual band infrared imaging system is capable of spatial resolution of 60 m from orbit and earth observing expected NEDT less than 0.2o C. It is designed to fit within the top two-thirds of a 3U CubeSat envelope, installed on the International Space Station, or deployed on other orbiting or airborne platforms. This infrared imaging system will utilize a newly conceived strained-layer superlattice GaSb/InAs broadband detector array cooled to 60 K by a miniature mechanical cryocooler. The camera is controlled by a sensor chip assembly consisting of a newly developed 25 m pitch, 640 x 512 pixel.

Supersonic flight over land is generally prohibited because sonic booms created by shockwaves disturb people on the ground and can damage property. Armstrong innovators are working to solve this problem through a variety of innovative techniques that measure, characterize, and mitigate sonic booms. The BOSCO technology is helping researchers understand how sonic booms travel through the air. How It Works Armstrong's patented system visualizes air density gradients generated by air compressing as it flows around an object. Researchers first obtain a celestial background image and then collect a series of images of an object in supersonic flow in front of the celestial object. The density change in the air refracts the light, shifting the background as compared to the undisturbed background image. The amount of movement corresponds directly to density gradients in the airflow. Using computer algorithms to analyze the images, resultant images essentially show the distortions caused by the aerodynamic flow of shockwaves passing between the camera and the celestial background. Why It Is Better Schlieren photography has been used for years in wind tunnels, where the environment is controlled. BOSCO enables its use in the real atmosphere with real propulsion systems. Studying life-sized aircraft flying through Earth's atmosphere provides better results than modeling and can help engineers design better and quieter supersonic airplanes. In addition to studying shock waves for aircraft, NASA's schlieren techniques have the potential to aid the understanding of a variety of flow phenomena and air density changes, such as investigating air flows around tall buildings and the tips of wind turbines and helicopter blades.

The FOSS technology revolutionizes fiber optic sensing by using its innovative algorithms to calculate a range of useful parameters—any and all of which can be monitored simultaneously and in real time. FOSS also couples these cutting-edge algorithms with a high-speed, low-cost processing platform and interrogator to create a single, robust, stand-alone instrumentation system. The system distributes thousands of sensors in a vast network—much like the human body's nervous system—that provides valuable information. How It Works Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are embedded in an optical fiber at intervals as small as 0.25 inches, which is then attached to or integrated into the structure. An innovative, low-cost, temperature-tuned distributed feedback (DFB) laser with no moving parts interrogates the FBG sensors as they respond to changes in optical wavelength resulting from stress or pressure on the structure, sending the data to a processing system. Unique algorithms correlate optical response to displacement data, calculating the shape and movement of the optical fiber (and, by extension, the structure) in real time, without affecting the structure's intrinsic properties. The system uses these data to calculate additional parameters, displaying parameters such as 2D and 3D shape/position, temperature, liquid level, stiffness, strength, pressure, stress, and operational loads. Why It Is Better FOSS monitors strain, stresses, structural instabilities, temperature distributions, and a plethora of other engineering measurements in real time with a single instrumentation system weighing less than 10 pounds. FOSS can also discern between liquid and gas states in a tank or other container, providing accurate measurements at 0.25-inch intervals. Adaptive spatial resolution features enable faster signal processing and precision measurement only when and where it is needed, saving time and resources. As a result, FOSS lends itself well to long-term bandwidth-limited monitoring of structures that experience few variations but could be vulnerable as anomalies occur (e.g., a bridge stressed by strong wind gusts or an earthquake). As a single example of the value FOSS can provide, consider oil and gas drilling applications. The FOSS technology could be incorporated into specialized drill heads to sense drill direction as well as temperature and pressure. Because FOSS accurately determines the drill shape, users can position the drill head exactly as needed. Temperature and pressure indicate the health of the drill. This type of strain and temperature monitoring could also be applied to sophisticated industrial bore scope usage in drilling and exploration. For more information about the full portfolio of FOSS technologies, see visit https://technology-afrc.ndc.nasa.gov/featurestory/fiber-optic-sensing

This NASA technology transforms a conventional infrared (IR) imaging system into a multi-wavelength imaging pyrometer using a tunable optical filter. The actively tunable optical filter is based on an exotic phase-change material (PCM) which exhibits a large reversible refractive index shift through an applied energetic stimulus. This change is non-volatile, and no additional energy is required to maintain its state once set. The filter is placed between the scene and the imaging sensor and switched between user selected center-wavelengths to create a series of single-wavelength, monochromatic, two-dimensional images. At the pixel level, the intensity values of these monochromatic images represent the wavelength-dependent, blackbody energy emitted by the object due to its temperature. Ratioing the measured spectral irradiance for each wavelength yields emissivity-independent temperature data at each pixel. The filter’s Center Wavelength (CWL) and Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM), which are related to the quality factor (Q) of the filter, are actively tunable on the order of nanoseconds-microseconds (GHz-MHz). This behavior is electronically controlled and can be operated time-sequentially (on a nanosecond time scale) in the control electronics, a capability not possible with conventional optical filtering technologies.

This technology provides comprehensive, detailed, and accurate NDE detection and characterization of subsurface defects in composites and some metallic hardware. This complete software suite normalizes and calibrates the data, which provides more stable measurements and reduces the occurrence of errors due to the operator and to camera variability. When using flash IR thermography to evaluate materials, variations in the thermal diffusivity of the material manifest themselves as anomalies in the IR image of the test surface. Post-processing of this raw IR camera data provides highly detailed analysis of the size and characterization of anomalies. The newly incorporated Transient and Lock-In Thermography methods allow the analysis of thicker material and with better flaw resolution than Flash Thermography alone. The peak contrast and peak contrast time profiles generated through this analysis provide quantitative interpretation of the images, including detailed information about the size and shape of the anomalies. The persistence energy and persistence time profiles provide highly sensitive data for detected anomalies. Peak contrast, peak time, persistence time, and persistence energy measurements also enable monitoring for flaw growth and signal response to flaw size analysis. This technology is at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 7 (system prototype demonstration in an operational environment), and the innovation is now available for your company to license. Please note that NASA does not manufacture products itself for commercial sale.