Award Data

With the introduction of Level 2 (L2) vehicle automation technologies, a core challenge facing drivers is to remain engaged in the driving task and aware of the vehicle environment despite not playing an immediate role in the low level driving control loop. To overcome this challenge, SoarTech and its partners, UMTRI and Delphi Automotive, propose to develop DAISY, an innovative vehicle sub-system ...

NMR offers comprehensive capabilities for quantitative investigation of the chemistry, structure and deterioration conditions of concrete. Single-sided NMR provides opportunities for nondestructive, spatially resolved field evaluation of concrete. A first-generation single-sided NMR system was developed in Phase I project, and its potential for investigation of concrete deterioration mechanisms wa ...

Public and commercial application of NOAA developed products such as climate observations, weather products, and datasets are underutilized by public decision makers, infrastructure asset owners, or the public. Communities realize the risk posed by increases in storm intensity, flooding, and heat waves. However, communities lack understandable models targets to stakeholder questions that are affor ...

Recent theoretical studies of eddy flux correlation have suggested that the commonly used assumption of dry air having no net flux is erroneous and can lead to significant errors in reported observations. Presently, dry air density is calculated indirectly from measured temperature, pressure and relative humidity, all of which contribute to increased uncertainties in the result. If instead the den ...

Recent research suggests there are opportunities to enhance driver hazard anticipation and avoidance, which could in turn dramatically impact public safety. For example, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles among 16 year old drivers is some ten times higher than it is among those between the ages of 45 and 55. However, hazard-related training has traditionally been difficult to accompli ...

Autonomous Innovations Inc. (AII) proposes to develop a novel comprehensive monitoring system for motorcycles that will monitor vehicle miles traveled (VMT), as well as a varity of physical measurements, to understand the exposure and factors in the increased numbers of accidents among motorcycles riders. All has extensive experience in developing and integrating sensors and data-logging for a va ...

Various methods for increasing seat belt usage have been investigated over the last several years including visual and audible warnings currently installed in today's vehicles. In spite of these attempts, FMCSA research has shown that drivers of about 59% of commercial motor vehicles (those weighing over 10,000 pounds or more that operate in interstate commerce) buckle their safety belts as compa ...

OCCUPANT INJURY CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BY THE INCORPORATION OF PADDING OF HARD SURFACES IN VEHICLE INTERIORS. SEVERAL INTERIOR HARD SURFACES SUCH AS ROOF HEADER, A-PILLAR, AND B-PILLAR ARE DIFFICULT TO PAD DUE TO LIMITED SPACE. WAT IS NEEDED IS AN INFLATABLE PLASTIC BI-LAYER THAT COULD BE ATTACHED TO HARD SURFACES AND GIVE ACCEPTABLE WEAR AND APPEARANCE WHEN UNINFLATED, YET BE INFLATABLE DUR ...

MRC PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SAFETY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (PI) OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) PROTECTION STATUS OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (NPP). WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A PI IS NEEDED BECAUSE: (1) EM ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IS ON THE INCREASE,(2) ADDITIONAL EM THREATS MUST BE EVALUATED, AND (3) DISRUPTION OF NPP OPERATIONS BY EM EFFECTS CAN AND MUST BE AVOIDED. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF E ...

A RESEARCH PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING ADVANCED VACUUM INSULATIONS TO IMPROVE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF REFRIGERATED SHIPPING CONTAINERS WHILE AVOIDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS (CFC'S) IN FOAM INSULATION CURRENTLY BEING USED. ADVANCED VACUUM INSULATIONS, CURRENTLY UNDER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, DO NOT CONTAIN CFC'S AND HAVE VERYHIGH THERM ...