Every year METECS allows our employees to vote for which open source projects they would like the company to financially contribute to.
METECS is proud to recognize and contribute financially to these great open source projects. The results for the 2020 METECS Open Source Awards are:
1st place: Wikipedia (through Wikimedia foundation
2nd place: Mozilla Foundation
3rd place: Git (through SFC)
Thanks to the winners along with all the other valuable open-source applications available.
Next-Generation Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) to hold Conceptual Design Review August 18th and 19th. METECS Software Engineers will present custom software design concepts to safely simulate lunar gravity for Astronauts in pressurized planetary space suits to perform complex Moon training and testing. METECS Systems Engineer will support the Conceptual Design Review to review engineering designs and integrate software, mechanical, electrical, and safety teams. The ARGOS eXploration EVA Simulator, known as ARGOS AXES, will simulate Moon gravity, terrain, and lighting conditions for up to three Astronauts training for the 2024 Artemis mission to the Moon.
The countdown begins! Our team is incredibly excited to have been a part in helping the commercial crew program get to this point. May 30ths scheduled launch of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, American astronauts will once again launch an American spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station.
Our hearts, prayers and excitement go out to everyone involved in today’s Launch! #LaunchAmerica
https://www.nasa.gov/content/live-launch-america-nasas-spacex-demo-2-mission-to-the-international-space-station
Recent Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)-Enabled Autonomous Logistics Management (REALM) advances in beta versions of a novel deep learning tool, “Tagnet”, and a random forest classification tool, “Fangorn”, led the crew and ISS Inventory Stowage Officers (ISOs) to a missing Cargo Transfer Bag (CTB) in Node 4. Tagnet was conceived by EV8 intern Joel Simonoff during a summer tour in 2019, and continued in 2020. Although further planned testing is required, this early success was an exciting step in the application of machine learning applied to RFID. The CTB was reported lost approximately a year ago, but was not required by the crew until April 20th, 2020. Initial human inspection of raw data indicated that the missing CTB was likely in Node 1 or PMA 1, but localizing to the rack level had proven exceedingly difficult using human analysis and other deterministic and machine learning tools to date. To further complicate localization of this particular CTB, the two readers in Node 1 had not been properly reading tags due to a network anomaly that is being worked. Tagnet and Fangorn were able to localize the CTB to the Node 4 location using previous training on several TB of archived and new data obtained through only US LAB RFID readers. Data mining and derivation of machine inferences from raw RFID data is a critical technology focus of the REALM project, as RFID technology has not previously been applied to localizing items to the level of accuracy required by NASA. Moreover, the complex scattering environment faced by NASA spacecraft and habitats presents additional RFID localization challenges. – Patrick Fink, EV8 REALM Deep Learning Directs Crew to Missing CTB on ISS
Congratulations to the NASA employees listed on the recently released “NASA Inventors Hall of Fame”. We at METECS are extremely excited to see two NASA associates that we work closely with included on this very exclusive list of only 32 inventors in NASA’s history! Congratulations to Pat Fink and Phong Ngo. We are happy to see them recognized for their great contributions to their field and to NASA.
Patrick Fink: https://technology.nasa.gov/ihof/inventors.php#Patrick-Fink
Phong Ngo: https://technology.nasa.gov/ihof/#Phong-Ngo
You can read more about the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame at https://technology.nasa.gov/ihof/
METECS employee, Nicholas Davis has a couple big-hearted kids. During the stay at home order, Sophomore Michelle Davis and eighth grader Nicholas Davis both decided to combine skills to help their community. Using a 3D printer and a sewing machine, Michelle and Nicholas are making masks for frontline workers. The masks were specially designed and handmade, paired with flexible straps that relieve tension on the ears.
“It makes us feel very happy that we can help the people that help us because they risk their lives every day to keep our community safe and healthy,” said Michelle.
By working hard, both kids have made more than a combined 40 masks and 100 ear-relief straps all while balancing their schoolwork.
Great Job, Michelle and Nicholas!
Video Interview:
The REALM software team reached a major milestone recently deploying an on-orbit software upgrade to the REALM-1 system on the International Space Station. This upgrade’s main feature allows better compatibility with other RF systems onboard the vehicle and also includes various other enhancements to commanding and telemetry of the system. Congratulations to the whole team making this a success! We look forward to new RFID based technologies currently in development that will extend the inventory management capabilities of the REALM system and help the ISS crew succeed in their mission!
METECS is excited to see the new Falcon booster now at Space Center Houston. Our team has been involved with simulation and graphics integration of the SpaceX Dragon vehicle within our ISS simulations, which is trained in NASA Space Station Training Facility (SSTF) and many other NASA facilities.
Learn more about the exhibit:
https://spacecenter.org/video-spacex-unveiling-getting-close/
METECS was proud to sponsor the Goforth Elementary School’s robotics team in the 2019 Vex IQ challenge.
Read more about the Vex IQ Challenge! https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-iq-challenge
METECS, a recognized leader in virtual reality simulation, debuted a new Tulsamerican B-24 exhibit and virtual reality experience on December 17th, 2019, the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. The dedication ceremony included an in-depth historical presentation on the Tulsamerican’s heroic crew, words of inspiration from the family of the crew, a moment of silence for the lost crew members, a ribbon cutting ceremony with the media and a chance to relive the B-24’s last flight in a permanent virtual reality viewing station.
As part of President Roosevelt’s “Arsenal of Democracy” to aid WWII efforts, Tulsa was selected as the new location of a Douglas plant. Employees of the Douglas-Tulsa plant bought enough war bonds to cover the cost of the last B-24 built in Tulsa, and so dubbed it The Tulsamerican. The Tulsamerican fought in Europe, it’s last mission was on December 17, 1944 where it was attacked and crashed. It currently rests in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia.
Teaser Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3uSUwIqt_4&feature=emb_logo