Innovative Research
Examples of How NASA Is Working with Small Businesses
SBIR Program Helps New York Company Create 3-D Innovation
A small company in Rochester, N.Y., is bringing new life to 3-D images without the use of goggles or headgear, resulting in innovation in medicine, architecture, business and entertainment.Dimension Technologies Inc. (DTI), under Phase I and II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards from NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., developed a 3-D display for use in computer games, protein analysis, surgical imaging and a variety of other consumer applications.
DTI President Arnie Lagergren says, “NASA was looking for the ability, through scientific visualization, to more intuitively look at displays that could give real depth for solving fluid-flow physics problems.”
In partnership with Ames, DTI developed a 3-D scientific visualization system that allows engineers to interpret large masses of data, such as those associated with the fluid flow around space shuttle launches. The technology makes images appear to jump off the screen and hang in space. It works via a patented optical system for flat-panel displays, based on parallax view, in which each eye sees the same image from a slightly different angle.
All stereoscopic imaging systems create at least two images of a scene. One image is displayed as a person’s left eye sees it; the other, as the right eye sees it. The two images are called a “stereo pair.” Both halves of a stereo pair are displayed simultaneously on the odd and even pixel columns of the liquid crystal display (LCD) and made visible to the corresponding eyes by a special panel that allows the light to pass through slits, creating hundreds of bright vertical lines, located behind the LCD. The lines are precisely spaced with respect to the pixel columns of the LCD. Therefore, the left eye only sees light through the odd columns and, thus, only the left-eye portion of the stereo pair, while the right eye only sees light through the even columns and, thus, only the right-eye portion of the pair.
When the halves of the stereo pair are adjusted to correspond to the scene perspective that would naturally be seen by the respective eyes, a vivid illusion of three-dimensionality is created. The objects seem to come out of the screen, giving the impression of an open window through which objects can protrude from or retreat into the background. This is DTI’s Virtual Window™.
Although the displays are designed for single users, the technology allows for several people to view simultaneously, as long as their left eyes are in the left-eye zone and their right eyes are in the right-eye zone.
The unique DTI monitor allows users to instantly change from 2-D to full-color, full-motion 3-D images with the flip of a switch.
In 2003, DTI’s Virtual Window was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
On another project, DTI has worked with NASA to provide a “virtual clinic” that served as a telemedicine demonstration. NASA used it to explore how medical experts on the ground might jointly solve problems that astronauts might face during space travel.
Working with the NASA researchers has been incredibly beneficial to DTI, and Lagergren sees more partnering possibilities as NASA pursues its space exploration vision. “We get smarter as a result of understanding their applications, and we work closely with them. They’re constantly keeping us in the right direction and showing us the next footprint, to be able to come up with a modified technology that could satisfy their requirements,” says Lagergren.
NASA is funding DTI research on a concept for an ultra-high definition (UHD) head-mounted telepresence display for use in its Robonaut program. The research will demonstrate a new type of lens that allows off-the-shelf microdisplays to create UHD images, instead of requiring modified, custom microdisplays to be built. It will also prove the feasibility of applying DTI’s UHD technology to a head-mounted display (HMD) that NASA astronauts could use to control robots working outside the shuttle or space station. The company hopes to receive additional funding to convert its findings into a working prototype.
Other applications for UHD HMDs include simulation and training for almost any type of vehicle operation, surgical simulation, scientific data visualization, and entertainment applications such as immersive arcade games. HMDs are used in all these fields, but widespread adoption is currently hindered by lack of resolution and narrow fields of view. Eventually, displays using DTI’s technology could help fulfill the promise of highly immersive virtual reality headsets for consumer-level personal computers and game consoles.
DTI displays have been adopted by the video gaming industry. With the addition of second-party software, movies and games can be displayed in “virtual 3-D,” created by the software and a DTI flat panel.
DTI also is working on a special cell phone prototype, and Lagergren predicts that cell phones will follow the same path as computers.
“Eventually, the platform is going to be the cell phone. You take any of the cell phone manufacturers’ visions today, it’s just like the vision for personal computers 23 or 24 years ago,” Lagergren says.
And DTI plans to be there.
For more information, contact Geoffrey Lee, Ames Research Center, (650) 604-6406, Geoff.Lee@nasa.gov.
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| Mars Rover |
Innovative technologies developed under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program have supported the success of the Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity during their missions on the Red Planet.
These innovations include lithium-ion batteries, which power the rovers and function at low temperatures; thermal heat switches to moderate changes in battery temperature; and a technology for producing analog-to-digital integrated circuits on a chip for the communication system that can withstand the high-radiation environment of Mars. Technical management for these three SBIR contracts was provided by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
Lithium-ion batteries from Yardney Technical Products of Pawcatuck, Conn., were selected for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. Their high efficiency allows the use of weight-saving smaller batteries, a critical consideration in the design of the rovers. In addition, the batteries’ ability to operate at low temperatures relaxes the requirement for heating, another important consideration. To meet the needs for power during the mission and the cold Mars nights, the batteries also store electrical energy from the solar panels.
Thermal heat switches from Starsys Research Corp. in Boulder, Colo., help regulate battery temperatures on the rovers. Surface temperatures on Mars range from -128 C (-199 F) during the polar night to 27 C (80 F) at the equator at midday, when Mars is closest to the sun. At a predefined temperature, the switches move thermal radiators into contact with the batteries to provide cooling. When the temperature drops, the thermal radiators are moved away from contact. The heat switches require no external inputs for operation. Expansion or contraction of paraffin at a specific temperature provides the driving force for the switch, or actuator. Paraffin undergoes a phase change when heated to a specific temperature, resulting in a significant increase in volume.
The Mars surface, a high-radiation environment, does not have the same protective atmosphere as on Earth. Atmospheric pressure is one hundredth that of Earth’s. High-energy radiation striking electronic integrated circuits can result in parts failure. To help solve the problem, San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies developed technology that provides high-energy radiation protection for commercial integrated circuit designs. The technology was used to make analog-to-digital converter integrated circuits for the Mars rovers at a significant cost savings to the mission. The alternative, a one-of-a-kind integrated circuit designed and produced specifically for the Martian environment, would require considerable time and expense.
Through the SBIR program, the small-business community is working on technology to support future NASA missions as well as developing products for the private economy.
For more information, contact Byron Jackson at JPL’s SBIR Program Office, (818) 354-1246, Byron.L.Jackson@jpl.nasa.gov.
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