Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Sunday, November 01 2009

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Anyone who has ever experienced an unpleasant jolt from a doorknob after shuffling across the carpet on a dry morning knows that static electricity—also known as triboelectric charging—can be a nuisance. However, many computer enthusiasts are too familiar with how built-up triboelectricity can actually cause major problems when building a home computer; a simple spark from a finger can damage sensitive components and render them unusable. Under certain conditions, built-up triboelectricity discharges in these seemingly minor jolts, called electrostatic discharge (ESD), which can also cause major problems for NASA, as well as the computer industry. ESD can create sparks that ignite fuel in launch operations, and ESD can also damage delicate electronics and avionics, for operations on Earth as well as on space missions.

This concern over static electricity damaging mission-critical components led scientists to add grounding wires to the base of antennas for Spirit and Opportunity, which continuously discharge up to a few hundred volts, accumulated as they make their way across the dry surface of Mars. Without some sort of grounding or protection, the Mars rovers might have been incapacitated by a single electric shock.

Kennedy Space Center’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Labo­ratory scientist, Dr. Carlos Calle, proposed developing static sensors for future missions, in which larger vehicles would be at greater risk from accumulating more dangerous levels of triboelectricity. These static sensors would not just be useful on other planets for roving robots, however; they could also help protect sensitive components here on Earth.

In addition to causing problems for personal computers, ESD can also cause problems in the manufacture of hard disk drives, semiconductors, flat panel displays, and avionics. These problems include electrostatic attraction drawing contaminants onto the product, the ESD itself causing defects, and electromagnetic interference causing consequent malfunction in the products and production equipment.

Partnership

In 2004, San Diego’s QUASAR Federal Systems Inc.(QFS) completed Phase I of a Small Business Inno­vation Research (SBIR) contract for Kennedy’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Labo­ratory, after Calle provided NASA’s requirements for a wearable electrostatic sensor. QFS focuses on electromagnetic sensor products for relatively low frequencies, from near-DC through the megahertz range. Led by the company’s vice-president of research and development, Dr. Yongming Zhang, QFS completed a prototype of an electrostatic hazard detection sensor in Phase II of the contract in 2006. The company now calls the product its Remote Voltage Sensor (RVS).

QFS formed a partnership with Novx Corporation, which was then acquired by MKS Instruments Inc. (MKS). A creator of ionization and monitoring products for many electronics and industrial markets, MKS now distributes the QFS RVS sensor as part of its ION Systems product line.