Award Data

PRESENT ISOTOPIC HEAT SOURCES FOR RADIOSCOPE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS HAVE POTENIALLY SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH TOXICITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. IT IS DESIRED TO IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVE ISOTOPIC FUELS THAT DO NOT HAVE THESE PROBLEMS. THE PROPOSEDPROGRAM INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE FOR CONSTANT INPUT POWER AND TEMPERATURE TO THERMOELECTRIC CONVERTERS THROUGH SEVERAL ISOTOPE HALF LIVES. THIS WILL ...

Andrews Space proposes an inflatable rigidizable wing that can be stored folded or rolled up, and deployed at altitude via an inflation system, and will then cure to form a rigid wing improving the reliability and reducing the risk of an inflatable wing. It will also be much lighter and have a much smaller storage volume than a mechanically folding wing. A high altitude, long endurance aircraft c ...

Structured Materials Industries, Inc. (SMI) and the Cornell Nanophotonics Group propose to develop and commercialize a new form of optical isolator which can be incorporated into integrated photonics platforms. The Recuperative Optical Isolator is of a completely new design based upon waveguide birefringence allows directionally dependent scattering, optical properties not previously used for opt ...

Wireless automated threat detection networks currently concentrate on non-imaging technology such as acoustic, seismic, and magnetic data. This proposal details our innovative “TimeScan” solution to fully enable video imaging devices to become a powerful yet economical addition to the arsenal of automatic threat detection sensors. Our solution encompasses the end-to-end goal of achieving reli ...

Scientists have made a lot of efforts to achieve subwavelength imaging or super-resolution imaging with a slab of metal film. It is very hard to obtain far-field super-resolution image in the visible range. In this SBIR program, we will carry out theoretical and experimental study on super-resolution imaging using novel transparent structures. We are confident that this proposed study will provide ...

EO polymer modulators have been demonstrated to operate with very low switching voltages (~0.4 V) due to the high activity of EO polymers. EO polymers also utilize spin-on fabrication processes and semiconductor like processes that allow precise device fabrication at high volumes. However, the optical loss in the state-of-the-art EO polymer material is somewhat high (3-4 dB/cm). Lumera is motivat ...

Fully autonomous, taskable robots for use in unconstrained environments are still a dream rather than a reality because of a host of problems, including capabilities of existing sensors, effectors, and control/planning software. Indeed, concepts of operations for robot use are tending toward robots collaborating directly with humans, in relationships similar to bomb squad dogs. Fortunately, enough ...

Development of new short-wave infrared imaging sensors with signal processing electronics on the same substrate is critical for a number of military and commercial applications. The objective of this research is to develop a new generation of Ge-on-Si p-n heterojunction photodiodes that will culminate in a demonstration of a 64 x 64-pixel infrared imaging array. These photodiodes, whose feas ...

Analysis of nuclear material samples in the field has many advantages over laboratory analysis. Laboratory analyses can be slow, involve increased expense, lead to additional waste generation and disposal problems, and may introduce errors due to sample degradation or mishandling. In situ analysis mitigates all of these problems. The specific aim of this project is the development of a truly por ...

We propose to develop a critical enhancement to an existing interactive task guidance system, integrating the capability to utilize data from sensors and control actuators. The system will allow caregivers or rehabilitation professionals to incorporate sensors and actuators into a task script in order to detect task state; detect user state; detect environmental context; detect safety risks; or pa ...