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The original motivation for this work was to develop coating for metallic MEMS components to improve their performance and reliability. During a review of refractory oxides a report came to our attention that indium tin oxide (ITO), well known as the most widely used transparent conductor, is also piezoresistive. Thus, in principle, coating of ITO either alone or in combination with other thin films might be both protective and electrically functional.

Precision spacecraft payloads are driving the need for fine pointing control and vibration cancellation. One implementation that provides pointing and disturbance control is the Stewart-Gough platform equipped with active sensing and actuating elements. The Precision Pointing Hexapod (PPH) at Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is exactly such a platform initially installed with voice coil actuators and accelerometers on each strut by CSA Engineering Inc. High pointing accuracy, however, requires an additional external sensing system that feeds back the accurate location and orientation information of the moving platform for control. The first implementation by NPS of such sensing system is the eddy current metrology system. Currently, that system only provides measurement of the two degrees of motion that define the pointing direction and has issues such as questionable absolute pointing accuracy and lower resolution. This thesis seeks to develop a new laser metrology system, utilizing diode lasers and position sensing detectors, to provide all six degree of freedom information of the platform motion at higher precision and accuracy. The tasks of developing the laser metrology system from theory to design, fabrication, implementation, and verification are documented in this thesis. Recommendations for future work and lessons learned are also captured., The original document contains color images.

Fitting of parametric curves and surfaces to a set of given data points is a relevant subject in various fields of science and engineering. In this paper, we review the current orthogonal distance fitting algorithms for parametric models in a well organized and easily understandable manner, and present a new algorithm. Each of these algorithms estimates the model parameters minimizing the square sum of the error distances between the model feature and the given data points. The model parameters are grouped and simultaneously estimated in terms of form, position, and rotation parameters. The form parameters determine the shape of the model feature, and the position/rotation parameters describe the rigid body motion of the model feature. The new algorithm is applicable to any kind of parametric curve and surface. We give fitting examples for circle, cylinder, and helix in space., The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white. Presented at Algorithms for Approximation IV held in Huddersfield, UK on 16-20 Jul 2001. This article is from ADA412833 Algorithms For Approximation IV. Proceedings of the 2001 International Symposium

To combine the information from several laboratories to output a representative value chi(sub r) and its probability distribution function is the main aim of an inter-comparison in Metrology. Here, the proposed procedure identifies a simple model for this probability function, by taking into account only the probability interval estimates as a measure of the uncertainty in each laboratory. A mixture density model is chosen to characterize the stochastic variability of the inter-comparison population considered as a whole. The bootstrap method is applied to approximate the distribution function of the comparison output in an automatic way., The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white. Presented at Algorithms for Approximation IV held in Huddersfield, UK on 16-20 Jul 2001. This article is from ADA412833 Algorithms For Approximation IV. Proceedings of the 2001 International Symposium

This document provides guidance for estimating environmental analytical measurement uncertainty. Each year billions of dollars are expended to generate environmental study data. These data are used in programs to protect the environment and mitigate environmental impacts. The quality of these data affect environmental cleanup, compliance, and ambient monitoring decision-making. To provide data of known quality, sampling and analysis plans are developed to accurately and precisely represent the contaminant distribution parameters of an environmental site or population. Associated with the environmental study data is the estimated measurement uncertainty that results from the sampling and analysis process. This measurement uncertainty affects environmental study data quality. The process of making decisions under uncertainty is a challenge for environmental decision-makers. Decision-makers must assess the effects of measurement uncertainty on environmental decisions. While the possibility of a decision error can never be totally eliminated, it can be controlled. To control decision errors, the measurement uncertainty must be controlled., Original contains color plates: All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white.

This report discusses the reasons for high repair costs in the Fluke 5700A/An Multifunction Calibrator (MFC)., Report consists entirely of viewgraphs presented at NCSLI Workshop & Symposium, 29 Jul-2 Aug 2001

Our long-term goals are twofold. First, to explore the new properties of gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates and advance our understanding of quantum gases. Second, we want to use Bose condensed gases as new atom sources of unprecedented brightness ("atom lasers") for precision atom optics and precision metrology.

The IAU Colloquium 167: New Perspectives on Solar Prominences was held in Aussois, France from April 28 to May 3, 1997. The purpose of the meeting was to review, discuss and try to understand the new observations of prominences and their environment. One hundred and seven scientists from twenty-one countries participated.

During this reporting period, manufacturing focus has been on both building gold customer masks and developing the refractory mask process. Ongoing research projects are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Completed projects are highlighted in the tables. Table 1 provides a concise, aggressive schedule to meet tighter specifications for x-ray mask performance. Each column lists by quarter the specifications for product and the beginning of projects to meet the improvements. Table 2 contains MMD objectives for the refractory metal process. The technology path by quarter comprises the goals and the learning initiated by quarter that must be met to reach these goals for the year. The learning activities are dependent upon each other. This report focuses in detail on the status of these activities.

The Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center (AGMC), at Newark Air Force Base in Ohio, was once one of the largest single-site users of ozone-depleting chemicals in the world, but the threat posed by these chemicals to the Earth's ozone layer prompted the facility to phase them out. The complexity of the work done at the Center would have made even a gradual phase-out tremendously difficult, but AGMC completed the process of adopting alternative technologies in a short time (mainly between 1992 and 1994). The speed with which AGMC found alternatives that met its requirements demonstrates the success of its technical and managerial innovations. Many organizations have already benefited from the technical innovations developed by AGMC. The Center has hosted government and industry representatives from the United States and foreign nations, and it has served as an information source on new ozone-protective technologies. However, as of October 1996, Newark AFB will cease to be part of the United States Air Force. It is one of the military sites chosen by government to be 'privatized in place,"' and industry will take over the site. The resulting changes in the Center's mission and structure will reduce its ability to disseminate information on technology transfer. The purpose of this report is to document the Center's accomplishments in this field.

Since the first man made earth satellite went aloft in 1957, the majority of spacecraft have been used in the acquiring and transmission of data. However, speaking in terms of earth and human society, the most important were communications and broadcast satellites, earth observation satellites, as well as satellites associated with the positioning of objects on the earth's surface and navigation. These satellites and related surface systems include measurement and control systems, data processing and application systems. They supply powerful technological means for various types of modern data activities, making communications, broadcasting, metrology, geodesy, navigation, and earth observation fields achieve progress which there has never been before. We can, in general, designate these systems as space data systems'. Space data systems are modern scientific technologies with high degrees of comprehensiveness. They take foundation sciences and technological sciences as their basis, applying in concentration a good number of the new achievements of engineering technology in the 20th century. As far as astronavigational technology, electronics technology, remote sensing technology, communications technology, computers, oceanographics, metrology, map making, and so on, are concerned, in every case--with regard to the progress of space data systems--important roles have been played. In regard to these sciences and technologies, among applications of space data systems, there are mutual overlaps and penetrations. Moreover, applications of space data systems also constantly present new requirements for them--promoting the progress of these sciences and technologies., Trans. of Zhongguo Hangtian (Aerospace China) (China), n193 p3-7, May 94.

Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) system program offices rely on cost metrics to acquire information on program effectiveness and organizational improvement. This study was an attempt to determine the effectiveness of ASCts cost metrics. The effectiveness of the metrics were determined by the desirability of the behaviors which are exhibited when individuals utilize the specific metrics. Using an expert panel to evaluate the metrics, data was collected using the Group Research Laboratory for Logistics located in Armstrong Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. Metric diagnostic charts were utilized to arrange the data into a format which would provide effectiveness information. The results of the study indicated that management should be aware that an integrated approach when utilizing metrics may I provide supplementary information about a particular situation.

The Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory Automated Management System (PAMS) is an Air Force-developed computer system that automates the administrative aspects of metrology and calibration. We received a Hotline complaint asserting that the Air Force has wasted resources by continuing to use PAMS when more capable Commercial-Off-The- Shelf products are available at lower costs. The complainant cited three specific deficiencies concerning the development of PAMS to support this conclusion. These deficiencies were: PAMS was not developed in accordance with Air Force directives, the Air Force was planning to reverse-engineer PAMS and convert the software from the Basic computer language to Ada, and an independent validation and verification of PAMS was never completed. The complaitant believed that the PAMS software would be difficult and expensive to maintain and that reverse-engineering and converting the PAMS software to Ada would be very costly. The complainant, therefore, concluded that Air Force could save money by replacing PAMS with a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf product. The objective of our technical assessment was to determine whether the Air Force had wasted resources by using PAMS instead of a Cornmercial-Off-The-Shelf product.

Corrosion of aging aircraft is a pivotal concern in today's Air Force as large transport and tanker aircraft are utilized well beyond their intended design life. The C/KC-135 aircraft, built in the late 1950's and early 1960's is currently projected for service through the year 2040. For such geriatric aircraft, corrosion is often the life limiting factor. Inspection for lap-joint corrosion on the C/KC-135 during depot maintenance has historically been conducted in a quasi-destructive manner. Typically, maintenance Personnel inspect fastener lines for visual indications of corrosion i.e. blistering paint, corrosion products, and skin pillowing. If a suspect region is located, the fasteners are removed and a section of the skin lap-seam is peeled open for an invasive inspection. This method is both inefficient and costly. The Aging Aircraft Disassembly and Hidden Corrosion Detection Program, conducted at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) is attempting to identify off the-shelf nondestructive inspection (NDI) equipment and technologies that can accurately detect and quantify corrosion in fuselage lap-joint structures of the C/KC-135 and E-3 aircraft. OC-ALC requested that the materials Directorate of Wright Laboratory develop a laboratory meterological tool by which the corrosion on disassembled aircraft fuselage skins can be accurately measured and mapped. This tool would be used to produce the solution set by which the vendor 'round-robin' inspections would be graded. The resulting technique, Topographic Radioscopic Metrology (TRM), exploits the calibrated gray scale of a digitized radioscopic image through image processing. The resulting 'corrosion maps' supply a topographical quantification of material loss due to corrosion., Presented at the Tri-Service Conference on Corrosion Held in Orlando, FL on 21-23 Jun 94.

As spatial resolution of any measurement process increases, the amount of data per unit area (or volume) increases, leading to huge amounts of data and/or long measurement times when attempting to map small spatial variations in material properties over large spatial dimensions. It is therefore desirable to develop techniques in which high resolution information can be obtained, while maintaining the ability to cover large areas without being overwhelmed by measurement time or data. This report discusses the issues involved and seeks to formulate and advocate strategies that could guide such endeavors.

Cognitech researchers have worked with Dr. Brent Ellerbroek of Philips Laboratory on the task of restoring noisy, blurry images which arise in aero-optic metrology. Cognitech's TV and MTV (recently developed by Dr. Rudin) algorithms were applied to Philips supplied data using experimentally obtained point spread functions and various nonlinear noise models. The algorithms were speeded up using an implicit method which allowed the constraints to be enforced for large time marching steps. The results, successfully applied to real images, are displayed. (AN)

This document sets forth the Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center (AGMC)policy for eliminating ozone depleting solvents from its industrial operations and sets forth requirements for the policy's implementation.

The objectives of the work reported in this document were (1) to assess the status of optical techniques for nondestructive evaluation and (2) to relate available optical phenomena and methods to nondestructive inspection problems. The intended reader benefits of this technology assessment of optical methods for nondestructive evaluation are twofold. First, brief qualitative descriptions of selected optical methods, which may be used in nondestructive evaluation applications, are given to help the reader quickly understand the principles involved and to visualize typical apparatus configurations. Second, specific application examples as reported in the literature are discussed so that the reader can readily grasp the variety of nondestructive evaluation problems in which the selected optical technologies can be used. These descriptions are in sufficient detail that the reader can determine whether or not a particular optical method is applicable to a nondestructive evaluation problem which he faces. Additionally, descriptions of apparatus and procedures and numerical data concerning accuracies, resolutions, operating ranges and other pertinent factors are included so that the reader can further assess applicability of a particular method to his problem and so that he can weigh possible benefits against process complexity, apparatus cost, etc. (Author), See also Part 1, AD-A083 619.

Conversion of the United States military to the International System of measurement units is in the very early stages. Little formal planning has been done to articulate the management required to complete the conversion of operational Army and Air Force units. For those operational forces tasked to provide continuous combat readiness throughout metrication, management problems associated with the conversion are particularly difficult because of the nature of these assigned missions. This is the case for the 82nd Airborne Division ready brigade force (DRB) and the Military Airlift Command (MAC) strategic airlift system operating the C-141 and C-5A aircraft., Master's thesis.

The report contains abstracts and news items on aeronautical, marine, mechanical, automotive, civil and industrial engineering, related research and development, and engineering materials and equipment.

The report contains abstracts and news items on aeronautical, marine, mechanical, automotive, civil and industrial engineering, related research and development, and engineering materials and equipment.

The paper discusses the evaluation and improvement of tests used during the repair of Inertial Navigation Systems at the Aerospace Guidance and Metrology Center (AGMC) at Newark Air Force Station, in Newark, Ohio. The highly significant impact of both diagnostic and functional tests errors on the efficiency of the overall repair process is discussed. An evaluation program at AGMC to 'test the tests' is described. The results should be generally applicable to any repair process that uses diagnostic tests combined with selective replacement. (Author)

Partial Contents: Applied Sciences, Life Sciences, Mechanics, Metrology, Microbiology, Nuclear Engineering, Physics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Institute of Optics, 2015, Gradient-index (GRIN) materials have an index of refraction that varies as a function of position. Compared to traditional homogeneous optical elements, the new degrees of freedom that are available with a GRIN optical element, especially the chromatic dispersion, are very beneficial in the design of broadband imaging systems. GRIN materials allow the optical designer to improve the performance of an imaging system, or, to maintain the performance and decrease the size, weight, and/or number of elements. However, there are many challenges in the design, fabrication, and metrology of GRIN optical elements. This thesis develops a general gradient-index material model that is used to represent real and theoretical GRIN materials. The model allows for analyzing the chromatic properties of GRIN materials in a way that is familiar to the optical designer. It also serves as a framework for constraining the chromatic properties of GRIN materials during the optimization of index of refraction profiles in lens design software. The model and optimization constraints are used in design studies in the 1-5 μm infrared spectral band and 350-360 nm near-ultraviolet spectral band. These design studies demonstrate the ability of GRIN elements to improve the performance of an optical system or reduce the size, weight, and/or number of elements compared to homogeneous designs. A diffusion model with a composition-dependent diffusion coefficient is developed for fabricating gradient-index aluminum oxynitride (ALON). A method for using the diffusion model to fabricate deterministic GRIN profiles is presented. Finally, non-destructive metrology methods for the characterization of gradient-index lens blanks are investigated. Two methods are developed for determining the orientation of an axial GRIN distribution within a lens blank and these techniques are applied to a fabricated polymer GRIN blank. Improvements are made to a beam deflection technique for non-destructive characterization of