Modified Surface Having Low Adhesion Properties to Mitigate Insect Residue Adhesion

Langley inventors have developed a method to reduce insect adhesion on metallic substrates, polymeric materials, engineering plastics, and other surfaces. The method topographically modifies a surface using laser ablation patterning followed by chemical modification of the surface. This innovation was originally developed to enhance aircraft laminar flow by preventing insect residue buildup, but the method provides a permanent solution for any application requiring insect adhesion mitigation as well as adhesion prevention of other typical environmental contaminants.

 

Electric Field Quantitative Measurement System and Method

The invention is a method and system for making a quantitative measurement of an electric field. The Electric Field Imaging (EFI) system that is the only non-contact method capable of quantitatively measuring the magnitude and direction of electrostatic fields in near- and far-field applications. Based on low-cost, commercially available components, the EFI system uses measurement of very low-current, human-safe electric fields to construct a three-dimensional image of objects and people based on their dielectric properties. This platform technology, originally developed for measurement of the efficacy of electrical shielding around cables, could be optimized for a variety of applications, including medical imaging, security and detection, weather and natural disaster prediction, and nondestructive evaluation of composites and insulators. The EFI system has the potential to offer a lower-cost, portable, and safer alternative to the imaging systems currently used in these applications.

 

In-Flight Pitot-Static Calibration

Langley researchers have developed a new method for calibrating pitot-static air data systems used in aircraft. Pitot-static systems are pressure-based instruments that measure the aircrafts airspeed. These systems must be calibrated in flight to minimize potential error. Other methods that include trailing cone, tower fly-by, and pacer airplane are time- and cost-intensive, requiring extensive flight time per calibration. This new method can reduce this calibration time by up to an order of magnitude, cutting a significant fraction of the cost. In addition, the calibration method enables near real-time monitoring of error in airspeed measurements, which can be used to alert pilots when airspeed instruments are inaccurate or failing. Because of this feature, the technology also has applications in the health usage and monitoring (HUMS) industry. Flight test engineers can be trained to use this method proficiently in 12 days without costly specialized hardware.

 

Method and Apparatus for Performance Optimization through Physical Perturbation of Task Elements

This invention is an innovative method for improving athletes’ responses to stress, anxiety, and loss of concentration during competition. In the training environment, when the user successfully attains an optimal target state of psychophysiological functioning, the technology informs and/or rewards that user through real-time physical changes in the athletic equipment.
The technology incorporates software and hardware to provide real-time feedback to the athlete about how close his or her arousal and emotive responses are to an optimal state required to successfully perform the athletic task. This innovation presents the capability to extend current sports training and psychological practices of guided imagery visualization and cognitive reinforcement learning by systematically providing demonstrable and relevant feedback through the use of closed-loop, cybernetic feedback principles that provide immediate reinforcement of pyschophysiological self- regulation and translate into better skill-based performance.

 

Credit : www.nasa.gov