Processing of boron filament wound composites

Boron fiber reinforced composites have been extensively evaluated in epoxy resin matrix materials, which are satisfactory for applications in comparatively moderate environments, and are usually inapplicable at temperatures in excess of 400°F. For use in high temperature environments in excess of this figure, it is necessary to use more thermally stable resins. A modified phenolic resin was selected for this application because of the versatility of the material and the successful performance of phenolics in glass fiber reinforced structures. The modifications increased the viscosity and tack of the formulation so that consolidation could not be readily accomplished by a combination of tension and heat during the winding process, so that a multi-stage winding process with intermediate consolidation steps became necessary. Winding a complex path to make a uniformly thick wall on a frustrum required further modifications to the basic winding process. The successful solution of these problems and the development of structurally sound composites was the primary object of this work.     

Phase-Locked Loop Coherent Combiners for Phased Array Sensor Systems

Phase-locked loops (PLL's) may be used to implement signal combiners which coherently sum multiple signals from an array of sensors. In each combiner channel, the sensor signal is simultaneously downconverted to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal and phase-locked to an appropriately generated reference signal by a "long-loop" PLL. This loop maintains a nominal 90° phase difference between the IF signal and the reference signal irrespective of phase of the channel input (sensor output) signal. The channel IF signals are summed to generate the combiner output signal. The reference signal may be a locally generated sine wave or a delayed version of the combiner output signal. Imperfect phase control and, thus, imperfect signal combining results when noise voltages are associated with the channel signals. In this paper, a lincarized model of a PLL coherent combiner is developed. This model applies when the desired channel signals are equal amplitude and angle modulated; the channel noise voltages are equal level, Gaussian distributed, and independent; and the combiner phase errors are appropriately small. This model is then used to derive equations for the variance of differential phase errors associated with combiner operation and to show the effect of these phase errors on the average power in the combiner output signal. Relevant experimental results from a four-channel combiner are compared with the performance predicted by the linear model.     

Postural stability of the two-degree-of-freedom biped by general linear feedback

The use of linear feedback to stabilize the two-degree-of-freedom model of a biped is considered. Linear feedback is used not only for stabilization but also for placing the system poles and for altering the system characteristics. The use of constraints to reduce the number of external inputs required to control the model is investigated. The effect of various linear feedback strategies on the nonlinear model is studied via computer simulation.     

An approach to analyzing biped locomotion dynamics and designing robot locomotion controls

An approach to analyzing biped locomotion problems is presented. This approach applies the principles of Lagrangian dynamics to derive the equations of motion of locomotion gaits, state-variable techniques to analyze locomotion dynamics, and multivariable feedback to design locomotion controls. A robot model which has no knee joints or feet and is constrained to motion in the sagittal plane is chosen as a sufficiently simple model of a biped to illustrate the approach. A goal of the analysis is the design of a locomotion control for the robot which produces a walking gait having a velocity and stride length similar to those of a human walking gait. The principle feature of the approach is a much deeper understanding of the dynamics of biped locomotion than previous approaches have provided.