This document describes the Umbra System representation. Umbra System representation, initially developed in the spring of 2003, is implemented in Incr/Tcl using concepts borrowed from Carnegie Mellon University's Architecture Description Language (ADL) called Acme. In the spring of 2004 through January 2005, System was converted to Umbra 4, extended slightly, and adopted as the underlying software system for a variety of Umbra applications that support Complex Systems Engineering (CSE) and Complex Adaptive Systems Engineering (CASE). System is now a standard part Of Umbra 4. While Umbra 4 also includes an XML parser for System, the XML parser and Schema are not described in this document.
We have improved deformable mirror approach to allow good parabolic deformation for efficient thermal lens compensation. Our design uses an annulus to push onto the back surface of a flat mirror substrate, simply supported at the outer edge, thereby creating a parabolic deformation within the encircled area. We built an assembly using a 25.4 mm diameter, 1 mm thick mirror with a wedge of less than 10 arc seconds that was deformed with a 12 mm diameter annulus at the back of the mirror. Using a Shack-Hartman wavefront sensor we performed careful measurements to characterize the performance of the mirrors.
Sandia National Laboratories has completed thermal performance testing on the Schott parabolic trough receiver using the LS-2 collector on the Sandia rotating platform at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque, NM. This testing was funded as part of the US DOE Sun-Lab USA-Trough program. The receiver tested was a new Schott receiver, known as Heat Collector Elements (HCEs). Schott is a new manufacturer of trough HCEs. The Schott HCEs are 4m long; therefore, two were joined and mounted on the LS-2 collector module for the test. The Schott HCE design consists of a 70mm diameter high solar absorptance coated stainless steel (SS) tube encapsulated within a 125mm diameter Pyrex{reg_sign} glass tube with vacuum in the annulus formed between the SS and glass tube to minimize convection heat losses. The Schott HCE design is unique in two regards. First, the bellows used to compensate for the difference in thermal expansion between the metal and glass tube are inside the glass envelope rather than outside. Second, the composition of materials at the glass-to-metal seal has very similar thermal expansion coefficients making the joint less prone to breakage from thermal shock. Sandia National Laboratories provided both the azimuth and elevation collector module tracking systems used during the tests. The test results showed the efficiency of the Schott HCE to be very similar to current HCEs being manufactured by Solel. This testing provided performance verification for the use of Schott tubes with Solargenix trough collector assemblies at currently planned trough power plant projects in Arizona and Nevada.
There is a keen interest in using periodic structures to model such structures as phased arrays, frequency selective surfaces, and metamaterials. Recent interest has focused on modeling the truncation effects of periodic structures. The GIFFT (Green's function Interpolation using Fast Fourier Transform) method has recently been proposed as an efficient integral equation approach for handling moderate-to-large structures with essentially arbitrary (but identical) elements within each cell. The method uses an array mask--a listing of whether or not an element of the periodic structure is present at each potential cell location within the structure's bounding box--to simplify the handling of arbitrary array boundaries and missing elements. The interaction between adjacent cells is treated using the method of moments in its usual form,but periodicity reduces the number of distinct near-interactions over the entire structure to a 3 x 3 block matrix. The inverse of this block or even of its central block serves as an effective preconditioner. The calculation of interactions between non-adjacent cells relies on the following features: (1) For cell sizes less than a few wavelengths, the Green's function is sufficiently smooth that it may be interpolated accurately over both source and observation points within interacting cell pairs via equispaced Lagrange polynomial interpolation. (2) Periodicity of the interpolation points over the entire transverse dimensions of the array implies that the Green's function samples connecting source and observation cell interpolating polynomials form a discrete convolution matrix. (3) Basis and testing function projections for subdomains within a cell are onto the cell interpolation polynomials, and the resulting projection matrix is identical for every cell of the structure. These features imply that the matrix/vector product in an iterative scheme can be accelerated using FFT to perform the discrete convolution between the Green's function sample matrix and the column vector of surface current projections onto interpolation polynomials. This GIFFT approach, which shares many features with the AIM method, is found to be ideal for quasi-planar periodic structures. In this paper, we extend GIFFT to treat manufacturing defects in periodic structures that inevitably arise in producing nano-meter structures. Calculations for several structures of interest are presented. The main generalizations required are the following: (1) Both 'background' and 'defect' elements must now be separately defined in translatable unit cells. (2) The near-interaction block matrix must allow for the possibility of background-to-defect cell interactions. (3) Matrices of projections of both background and defect subdomain bases onto the interpolation polynomials must be defined and selected appropriately while forming the matrix/vector product.
The ion photon emission microscope, or IPEM, is the first device that allows scientists to microscopically study the effects of single ions in air on semiconductors, microchips and even biological cells without having to focus the beam. Reported here is a prototype, the size of a conventional optical microscope, developed at Sandia. The alpha-IPEM, that employs alpha particles from a radioactive source, represents the first example of IBA imaging without an accelerator. The IPEM resolution is currently limited to 10 {micro}m, but we also report a gridded-phosphor approach that could improve this resolution to that of the optical microscope, or {approx} 1 {micro}m. Finally, we propose that a simple adaptation of the alpha-IPEM could be the only way to maintain the high utility of radiation effects microscopy into the future.
A Ka-band RF MEMS enabled frequency reconfigurable triangular microstrip patch antenna has been designed for monolithic integration with RF MEMS phase shifters to demonstrate a low-cost monolithic passive electronically scanned array (PESA). This paper introduces our first prototype reconfigurable triangular patch antenna currently in fabrication. The aperture coupled patch antenna is fabricated on a dual-layer quartz/alumina substrate using surface micromachining techniques.
Complex problem solving approaches and novel strategies employed by the military at the squad, team, and commander level are often best learned experimentally. Since live action exercises can be costly, advances in simulation game training technology offer exciting ways to enhance current training. Computer games provide an environment for active, critical learning. Games open up possibilities for simultaneous learning on multiple levels; players may learn from contextual information embedded in the dynamics of the game, the organic process generated by the game, and through the risks, benefits, costs, outcomes, and rewards of alternative strategies that result from decision making. In the present paper we discuss a multiplayer computer game simulation created for the Adaptive Thinking & Leadership (ATL) Program to train Special Forces Team Leaders. The ATL training simulation consists of a scripted single-player and an immersive multiplayer environment for classroom use which leverages immersive computer game technology. We define adaptive thinking as consisting of competencies such as negotiation and consensus building skills, the ability to communicate effectively, analyze ambiguous situations, be self-aware, think innovatively, and critically use effective problem solving skills. Each of these competencies is an essential element of leader development training for the U.S. Army Special Forces. The ATL simulation is used to augment experiential learning in the curriculum for the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center & School (SWCS) course in Adaptive Thinking & Leadership. The school is incorporating the ATL simulation game into two additional training pipelines (PSYOPS and Civil Affairs Qualification Courses) that are also concerned with developing cultural awareness, interpersonal communication adaptability, and rapport-building skills. In the present paper, we discuss the design, development, and deployment of the training simulation, and emphasize how the multiplayer simulation game is successfully used in the Special Forces Officer training program.
The reactions of HCO and DCO with NO have been measured by the laser photolysis/continuous-wave (CW) laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) method from 296 to 623 K, probing the ({tilde B}{sup 2}A{prime} {l_arrow} {tilde X}{sup 2}A{prime}) HCO (DCO) system. The HCO + NO rate coefficient is (1.81 {+-} 0.10) x 10{sup -11} cm{sup 3} molecule{sup -1} s{sup -1} and the DCO + NO rate coefficient is (1.61 {+-} 0.12) x 10{sup -11} cm{sup 3} molecule{sup -1} s{sup -1} at 296 K. Both rate coefficients decrease with increasing temperature between 296 and 623 K. The kinetic isotope effect is k{sub H}/k{sub D} = 1.12 {+-} 0.09 at 296 K and increases to 1.25 {+-} 0.15 at 623 K. The normal kinetic isotope effect supports abstraction as the principal mechanism for the reaction, in agreement with recent computational results.