Award Data

A Multimodal Acoustic Tool for Inline Pipe Inspection 3/19/2018 The US energy transport pipeline system is a longstanding distribution network with most of its still standing pipes being installed between the 1950s–1970s. Due to degradation mechanisms, such as embrittlement, capable of causing a two-fold reduction in fracture toughness, pipe rupture is a major risk. Current nondestructive ins ...

Combined Cleaning and Guided Wave Inspection System for Hazardous Liquid Pipelines 3/20/2018 For this SBIR we will develop a machine vision system which uses onboard standard-resolution cameras in vehicles to identify and read barcode signs on the roadside. The proposed approach could provide a low-cost solution that make connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology viable for rural areas ...

Proposal title: Rapid Assessment of Air Void System in Fresh Concrete Water expansion during freeze-thaw cycles can cause deterioration in concrete, leading to scaling, cracking, and crumbling over a period of years. Resistance to this damage is achieved with a system of voids formed by adding surfactants to the fresh concrete to stabilize air bubbles naturally entrained during mixing. The volume ...

Proposal title: Broken Rail Detection from Flashing Rear End Device Broken rails are a common cause of mainline derailments and a particular concern given the increasing use of our rail system for passenger traffic and petroleum products. The progressive nature of the defects provides an opportunity for early detection of cracks before they become significant enough to cause a derailment. Unfortu ...

With infrastructure costs escalating it is becoming essential to monitor the health of concrete structures so that timely maintenance can maximize their useful lives. This SBIR will demonstrate the feasibility of using a passive sensor, embedded within concrete, to measure mositure, temperature, pH and concentrations of chlorides. It will provide critical data for evaluating concrete performance s ...

More than 1,300,000 Level 1 commercial vehicle inspections - a safety-critical, time-consuming, often difficult and painstaking process, especially as regards the brake inspection component -- are performed every year in the United States, under all sorts of weather and lighting conditions. The current technology used adds to the complexity and error potential inherent in this important task. In ...

Calspan Corporation, located in Buffalo, NY is proposing the research and development of the technology and methodolgy that can be used to accurately measure pedestrian exposure. Existing technologies/methodologies will be analyzed, and a technology/methodolgy that focuses on an individual pedestrian's walking history will be specified. Only technologies that are small, lightweight, reliable, an ...

This proposal responds to DOT topic 081-PH2 "Hazardous Materials (Using Handheld Devices to Assist in Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials Incidents)." The significant innovation in this project involves extending cutting edge tools developed to enhance situation awareness among first responders with appropriate hazmat and traffic information to create a framework for interperting traffic re ...