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Highlights from the Manufacturing
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Programmatic/Technical AccomplishmentsMEL TRANSTAC Evaluation Is A Success In All Languages Wartime military patrols and civilian encounters can be especially dangerous if neither group understands the other’s language. To help American forces secure critical information and communicate with the local population, MEL researchers are evaluating prototype, real-time, two-way translation systems for the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) TRANSTAC (Spoken Language Communication and Translation System for Tactical Use) program. During the week of July 16th 2007, MEL ran an evaluation of the speech-to-speech translation systems being developed. Six research teams participated in the evaluation (Carnegie Mellon University, University of Southern California, Fluential, BBN Technologies, IBM, and SRI International), which involved lab-based evaluation, field-based evaluation, and offline evaluation in which pre-recorded audio files were fed into the TRANSTAC systems. The primary focus of the evaluation was the Iraqi Arabic dialect, but translation between English and Farsi was also evaluated. During the evaluation, MEL brought in 15 Marines, 10 Arabic speakers, and 5 Farsi speakers. The evaluation centered on determining how many pieces of information a Marine was able to retrieve from the foreign language speakers in 10 minutes while interacting only with the TRANSTAC system. This evaluation is a follow-on to a similar evaluation held in January 2007. The evaluation was a huge success, with 160 scenarios being run over the course of the week. The data is now being analyzed by the MEL evaluation team and a report documenting the results will be presented to DARPA in the coming weeks. Articles about the event showed up in numerous media sources, including: By selecting the some of the links below, you will be leaving NIST webspace. We have provided these links to other web sites because they may have information that would be of interest to you. NIST does not endorse any commercial products that may be mentioned on these sites. http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/07/27/research-evaluations-aim-to-advance-translation-technology/ First Shipment of SRM 2461 Standard Casings Received The first shipment of 31 Standard Reference Materials (SRM) 2461 Standard Casings was received in July 13, 2007. These SRMs were manufactured by Rubert Co. Ltd. in the UK using the electro-forming technique. The master casing was provided by the U.S. National Laboratory Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The topography of the firing pin signatures of these SRM casings were measured by Nanofocus confocal microscope and correlated using the NIST 3D ballistics signature measurement system. Twenty-seven (27) SRM casings have shown acceptable values for the cross correlation function maximum specified in the NIST specification (CCFmax > 95 %). These 27 casings will be further measured and correlated at ATF using Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS). The topography measurements and correlations were made by NIST researchers Alan Zheng and John Song, and Clark Britan (SURF student). Urban Search and Rescue Robot Exercise Held at Disaster City in Texas MEL engineers conducted the fourth in a series of Response Robot Evaluation Exercises June 18-22, 2007, at Texas A&M University’s “Disaster City” training facility in College Station, Texas. The exercises are part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-sponsored project to develop performance standards for urban search and rescue robots. At this latest exercise, over a dozen test methods were piloted. Based on the feedback from the participants, the test methods will be modified and submitted through the standards process hosted by ASTM International. In addition to the test methods, several realistic scenarios were used for evaluating robot applicability in search operations. These included a mocked-up garage and office building collapse and two train derailments - a passenger train and a cargo train (with hazmat issues). Seventeen different robots, including small throwable ones, serpentine ones, wide-area survey robots, and one aerial platform were present. Fifteen responders from various Federal Emergency Management Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces participated. A new feature in this exercise was a “technology initiatives” section, where the responders were able to have hands-on time with promising innovative technologies that are applicable to response robots. Included in this section were the NIST-supported simulation environment USARSim, set up to allow responders to drive models of some of the robots through portions of Disaster City that had been modeled, three-dimensional laser scanners, and a tool suite developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for integrating sensor data. The EPA Rapid Assessment Tool (RAT) collects data in real-time from global position systems (GPS) and other sensors (such as Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Explosive) and can produce various types of integrated displays over geographic information system data and images. The RAT tool was also demonstrated in a train derailment scenario using a robot to circumnavigate the site carrying a sensor suite. MEL Holds Another Successful Evaluation of ASSIST Technologies From June 11-14, 2007, the ASSIST (Advanced Soldier Sensor Information Systems and Technology) Independent Evaluation Team held a very successful event at the Aberdeen Test Center. The purpose of this event was to evaluate two technologies that have been developed in the DARPA ASSIST program. The first is a real-time face detection and recognition system which attempts to match faces in the environment which a pre-load “watch” list. The second is a small, 2-lb system that soldiers wear on their chest that characterizes their actions, determines their GPS location, and responds to voice commands. The overall goal of these technologies is to make it easier for soldiers to recall important events about their mission when they are giving after action reports. The event evaluated both the technical capability as well as the utility of the ASSIST technologies. Technical capability was evaluated by placing the technologies in very controlled environment and assessing how changes in certain variables affect their performance. Utility was evaluated by placing the technologies on the soldiers in realistic situations (vignettes) and having the soldiers fill out surveys to assess their perception of the performance of the system. The vignettes involved over 100 personnel simulating a realistic Iraqi village environment. The data collected throughout this event was analyzed by the ASSIST team in the weeks following the event and a presentation was given to DARPA characterizing the results. Overall, DARPA and the developers were very pleased with NIST/MEL's evaluation procedures as seen by DARPA asking that NIST/MEL quadruple the number of evaluations that we have next year. Report on Ballistics Imaging and Topography Completed for the National Academies NIST recently provided to the National Academies its final report as part of a study by the National Academies Committee to Assess the Feasibility, Accuracy, and Technical Capability of a National Ballistics Database. NIST’s report, NISTIR 7362, is entitled Surface Topography Analysis for Feasibility Assessment of a National Ballistics Imaging Database. The subject of this work is identification of firearms evidence. Guns leave telltale markings on fired casings and bullets that enable firearms examiners to link weapons to crimes or one crime to another by comparing the fired casings or bullets in an optical comparison microscope. This has led to the development of automated comparison systems linked to image databases for storing large amounts of ballistics imaging data and comparing them to obtain matches of evidence fired by the same guns. This technology has in turn led the National Academies to study the feasibility of acquiring and storing the microscopic images of casing and/or bullets fired from every new gun manufactured in the United States., This would be a significantly larger database than the crime-gun database managed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. NIST’s conclusion in its NISTIR 7362 is that the accuracy of the technology is likely not sufficient to make such a large database feasible. In addition, NIST observed for four different sets of casing markings that the relatively new technique using surface topography signatures was more accurate than the traditional approach using optical microscopy for identifying casings fired by the same gun. The NIST Team included Ted Vorburger, Brian Renegar, Hyug-Gyo Rhee, Alan Zheng, John Song, and Dewey Foreman of the Surface and Microform Metrology Group (MEL), James Yen and Jim Filliben of the Statistical Engineering Division (ITL), Ben Bachrach of Intelligent Automation Incorporated, Rockville, Li Ma of the Metallurgy Division (MSEL), and Mike Riley and Susan Ballou of the Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES-EEEL). The work was supported by the National Institute of Justice through a Grant provided to OLES. MEL Demonstrates Magnetic Force Microscopy Under Fluid Conditions Natalia Farkas, a guest researcher from the University of Akron, and John A. Dagata of MEL demonstrated magnetic force microscopy (MFM) detection of paramagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles under fluid conditions. To their knowledge, this is the first instance in which topographic interferences have been systematically eliminated from the magnetic signal channel. The team achieve good signal to noise ratios through the use of novel magnetic thin-film coatings, which are deposited onto scanning probe cantilevers optimized for fluid imaging, and through the use of strong, yet compact, external magnets to magnetize the probe and sample material during imaging. In particular, they accounted for MFM signal detection in the presence of acoustically excited modes of the cantilever which represents stable imaging operation of a scanning probe immersed in a fluid. This work is being performed in essential collaboration with Bob Shull and Cindi Dennis of MSEL as part of the FY07-08 NIST Biomagnetic Imaging Initiative. World’s First Helium Ion Microscope Installed at NIST/MEL Helium Ion Microscopy (HIM) is a new, potentially revolutionary imaging and particle beam measurement methodology. The first commercial HIM has been installed at NIST within the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL). A research program within MEL will study the imaging mechanisms, modeling, analytical capabilities and uncertainties regarding dimensional measurements made with this microscope. This is not only a research instrument, MEL is researching the instrument itself - it too is a work in progress. This work will be done under a CRADA with the manufacturer. This fundamental research is of extreme interest for early application to accurate metrology for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. To that end, this work is of great interest to the Advanced Metrology Advisory Group (AMAG) of SEMATECH. Part of the recent SEMATECH contract awarded to MEL involves evaluation of this new technology. In addition, an initial MEL collaboration with the Surface and Microanalysis Science Division of CSTL will explore a number of chemical spectroscopies including helium ion induced analogs of: UPS (ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy) and IPES (inverse photoelectron spectroscopy) INS (ion neutralization spectroscopy), and LEIS (low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy). The Nanomechanical Properties and Processing Characterization Groups within MSEL are also collaborating to take advantage of the expected great surface sensitivity and the insignificant surface sputtering damage characteristics of the microscope to generate accurate images of surface topography, surface features, or nanoscale entities that can be used to calibrate or verify measurements obtained using contact or near-contact scanned probe techniques. The HIM is unique but, in many ways, complimentary to the traditional scanning electron microscope (SEM). HIM potentially poses several imaging advantages over SEMs currently in use in research and manufacturing facilities across the world. Due to the very high source brightness, and the shorter wavelength of the helium ions, it is theoretically possible to focus the helium ion beam into a smaller probe size relative to that of an electron beam of an SEM, hence higher resolution is possible. In an SEM, an electron beam interacts with the sample and a variety of signals are generated, collected and imaged. This interaction zone may be quite large depending upon the electron energy and sample material. Conversely, when the helium ion beam interacts with the sample, it does not have as large an excitation volume and thus the image collected contains more surface-related information and can potentially provide atomic resolution images on a wide range of materials. The current suite of HIM detectors can provide information on topographic, material, crystallographic, and electrical properties of the sample. With the successful installation of the world first Helium Ion Microscope, MEL is at the forefront of research with this new microscopy that could prove to be one of the best new emerging techniques for nanometrology and nanotechnology. |
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