Hall Thruster Plume Data Analysis

Overview

Hall thrusters are a type of fuel-efficient thruster that emit energetic ions to produce thrust. Data files have been collected during the testing of these thrusters to be analyzed. Understanding details of this data such as the shape and centroid of the plume are important to understanding both how the thruster is performing as well as ensuring the thruster will not cause any damage to the rest of the spacecraft.

Objectives

The objective of this project is to build an analysis tool to help engineers to better understand the data collected while testing Hall thrusters. Information about the shape of the plume as well as the centroid should be calculated and displayed.

Approach

• Met with NASA engineer to discuss meaning of data and collect requirements
• Researched integration techniques to enhance data
• Utilized machine learning technique to calculate centroid
• Developed prototypes of data analysis processes in Python
• Created system design from requirements
• Ported prototypes to JavaScript for increased compatibility
• Implemented automated testing to validate system accuracy throughout development
• Optimized interpolation techniques to enhance user experience
• Communicated with NASA engineers to validate system functionality

Outcomes

The developed system is written in pure JavaScript to provide maximum portability, assure data security, and provide users with an interactive and familiar interface. After processing a data file, the system is able to do the following:

• Interpolate Data
• Compute centroid of raw/interpolated data
• Apply collector bias adjustments
• Produce interactive plume data displays
• Provide display settings to adjust plots
• Calculate model accuracy