CLEVELAND, OH — Researchers at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration’s Lewis Research Center (LeRC) here fulfilled a near decade-old dream several months ago when they successfully conducted extensive microgravity experiments aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia for the study of potential manufacturing applications in space.

The experiments were notable only for their groundbreaking research into materialsprocessing technology in low-gravity environments, but also for the advanced systems developed for experiment monitoring and data acquisition aspects of the project. The use of a sophisticated new Windows-based graphical user interface (GUI) - InTouch® human-machine interface (HMI) software from Wonderware, a business unit of Invensys Systems, Inc. - enabled NASA staff at three different Earth stations to watch the experiement unfold right before their eyes. This was the last link in a data chain that E.T. would have envied.

Live experiment data was transferred from the Spacelab computer to the shuttle avionics computer for trans-mission to mission control in Houston, TX, then on to the Payload Operation Control Center (POCC) in Huntsville, AL, and to the staff at the U.S. Microgravity Laboratory (USML) at LeRC in Cleveland. The data was monitored, displayed and collected at each site using InTouch software running on industry-standard PCs. The real-

time viewing and subsequent data analysis have proven the validity of mathematical models developed by Principal Investigator Simon Ostrach and Co-Investigator Yasuhiro Kamotani, both of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, for the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment

Design of the experiment began in the mid-1980’s. It actually combined two physical characteristics: surface tension and convection. Surface tension is the propertyof a liquid that tends to minimize its surfacearea. As an example, rain drops are sphericalin shape, due to surface tension, and they

of water deform to a teardrop shape, due togravity, when not in a free fall, such as when

Convection refers to the flow of a fluid. Natural convection is driven by gravity, such that colder, heavier fluid is pulled down, causing warmer, lighter fluid to rise. This occurs whenever there is a temperature difference within a fluid, which is the principle behind operation of a convection oven. Convection can also be driven by surface tension, however.

Wonderware's InTouch®HMI helps NASA produce

"ultra-pure" space materials.

Success StoryAerospace & Defense InTouch

NASA Experiments Use InTouch HMI To Link Shuttle With Earthbound Labs

Potential of Space

Columbia using InTouch screens and live

Manufacturing

can maintain their shape because their freefall to the ground defies gravity. Yet drops

(STDCE).

NASA Lewis reseachers were able to monitor STDCE experiments aboard the space shuttle

videos of fluid movements.

hanging off the end of a faucet.

interfaces.

They worked closely with the NASA staff at Lewis Research Center to develop the complex STDCE experiment that wasconducted in June. The NASA effort was directed by ProjectManager Tom Jacobson and the design and construction of the USML Spacelab module has been directed by Engineering Managers Jim Meyer and Dennis Rohn since1988. The tests monitored the flow characteristics of siliconoil under the influence of two different heat sources, all in microgravity conditions. The instrumentation packageincluded two lasers, two visible spectrum cameras, an infrared imager, and assortment of optical systems andtemperature measuring devices.

14-day orbital flight of the Columbia, a four-inch diameter,two-inch deep cylindrical container was filled with silicon

oil and subjected to the two types of heating. Aluminum oxide particles were suspended in the oil so that the ensuring surface and internal convection flows created by the “heat stresses”would be visible to the video cameras and thus observable by participants. The infrared imager mapped the thermal profile at the free surface of the oil, while thermistors monitored bulk temperature gradients. The data generated was transferred via telemetry to the Johnson Space

As its temperature increases, a liquid has lower surface tension and will tend to deform in a convection current,

The STDCE experiment was set up to study how these natural phenomena work differently in a microgravity environment and whether they could be useful in critical materials processing in space. Large, pure crystals could be grown for advancing biotechnology and electronic

Huntsville with the extensive support staffwatching on-line in Cleveland. Working in threeshifts, largely at night, the scientists monitored theexperiment continuously using personal computersand the InTouch software package.

deployed in Huntsville for the Columbia flight tosupport Professors Ostrach and Kamotani. Theymonitored the performance of all STDCE hardwareand managed the flow of information and commu-

data. They assisted the investigators in developing

new sets of test variables for successive experiment runs, incorporating test prior results.

or thermocapillary flow.

materials, for example. New alloys that have unique properties not obtainable on Earth. Professors Ostrach and Kamotani had developed accurate, computer-basedmathematical models to predict these thermocapillary flows, but empirical data had to be obtained to verify theirfindings. This could only be done in an extended, low-gravity environment such as the Space Shuttle, using non-contact mapping of flows and temperatures at gas-liquid

During three six-hour test periods conducted during the

The InTouch screens show real-time data on the laser heating of the silicon oil.

Center in Houston and then to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and LeRC in Cleveland.

nications to and from the Spacelab, including

team of 19 people was on-site at the POCC inThe primary NASA science and engineering

A team of LeRC engineers and scientists was

Critical HMI Role

uplinking commands to the Spacelab and receiving downlinked data. They assisted with the reduction and analysis of all digital, video and infrared image

transmitted from the Spacelab experiments. NASA had developed a new configuration of PCs because previous monitoring involved only monochrome, text-only monitors that were difficult to read and

These activities were conducted using personalcomputers and the InTouch software so that theteam could monitor, display and save the data

tedious to observe hour after hour. Alphanumerictest data didn’t provide the intuitive understanding that high quality graphical representation could. The staff desired color displays with animation

Three i486-based PCs were set up in Huntsville formonitoring and data acquisition activities. Threei386-based PCs were set up at Lewis Research

capabilities for observation purposes, along with

data archiving and playback capabilities for subse-

quent rerun and analysis.

Center for monitoring STDCE progress aboard the Columbia. Each of the PCs has a minimum of four

megabytes of main memory for running InTouch software and associated Windows programs. NASA engineers Bill Thompson, Jack Oram, Steve Elgin and Joel Knappdeveloped the graphical interface screens and the associated tagname dictionary in only four weeks, with help from Wonderware distributor Microtek Controls, Inc., of Solon, OH.

Windows Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). NASA contracted with Joe Ogonek of Analex Corporation to develop thatinterface, using Wonderware’s DDE Server Toolkit, and itwas accomplished in about six weeks.

The InTouch application for STDCE monitored 45 analogmeasurements and 12 discrete values. This data comprisedactual experiment temperature data and equipment status information. Five screens were developed to monitor the experiment and several pop-up windows were employedfor equipment status data display. Temperature data wasdisplayed in both numerical format, with text color attributesbased on alarm conditions, and in trend chart format. Agraphical representation of the experiment system configuration was also provided, with animation showing the

To start the experiment, Payload Specialist Trinhmixed the alumina particles with the silicon oil, then turned on the pump to fill the test chamber. Final adjustment of the oil fill via video monitors. Upon confirmation that the desired surface shapewas achieved, Trinh actuated the experiment andthe STDCE tests were then controlled automatically.The tests included different heater powers for bothconstant flux constant temperature, various timeintervals and different oil fill levels, to obtain different free-surface shapes. After reconfiguration

The video output from the infrared imager and the CCD camera was recorded on VCRs inthe Spacelab and at the two Earth stations, allowing all staff to see the alumina particle flow generated. The videotapes were subsequently processed to produce quantitative measurements of the velocity vectors (i.e., the speed and

Real-Time Data Monitoring

and surface tension changes in the silicon oil.

Since the data was transmitted to the POCC computers in Huntsville over an asynchronous RS-422 link, a custom soft-ware program was also required to read the data streaminto the personal computer and transfer it to InTouch via

for each test, Trinh again activated the experiment microprocessor to continue the testprocedures.

The downlinked data displayed on the PCs via the InTouch HMI enabled scientists to select new test parameters for conducting additional sets of tests during later stages of the 14-day USML mission aboard Columbia. It will be re-examined thoroughly over the next severalmonths in preparation for subsequent experimentation aboard future Space Shuttleflights in 1995. All data collected will be studiedcarefully to further refine mathematical models that correlate fluid temperatures with flowcharacteristics.

computer calculations.comparison to the numerical results from the directions of the particles in the oil) for direct

The end result of the multiple STDCE experi-ments should be better understanding of fluiddynamics at their boundary layers, which can becritical for manufacturing “ultra-pure” materialsin space by preventing oscillations that could

The InTouch HMI provides a live view of the temperature

occur and introduce imperfections in finished products.

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lasers and the light beam patterns.surface curvature of the oil, the position of the