Award Data

Reduced mass composite materials are crucial to the success of aerospace systems, but are inhibited by expensive autoclave consolidation, especially for large parts. To remedy this, NASA-LaRC has been developing cost-effective high-performance thermoplastic composite materials for years. NASA materials could dramatically reduce the cost of large aerospace structures, because those materials avo ...

The system proposed in this effort will allow the handicapped individual with hand/arm motor impairment to use the computer and access digital libraries on the Internet and in internal networks in a more effective manner. Furthermore, the system allows full use of the actual keyboard and mouse so that terminals enabled with the proposed software are still useful for the general public. Because of ...

Prediction and enhancement of vehicle interior noise due to high frequency excitation, based on computer simulation, allows the application of the technology at the early stage of design process thereby improving the quality and reducing the cost. Traditionally, Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) has been used for this purpose. Modeling of SEA is rather complex and requires high level of analyst e ...

Evaluation and enhancement of the acoustical performance of turbomachinery requires knowledge of the acoustic sources. However, the noise generation mechanisms associated with turbomachinery are complex and as result it is not easy to identify these noise sources. The development of an integrated experimental/numerical technique that is based on holography and is applicable for the identification ...

A new type of calibration standard is proposed which produces a pair of microwave noise signals to aid in the characterization and calibration of correlating radiometers. The Correlated Noise Calibration Standard (CNCS) is able to generate pairs of broad bandwidth stochastic noise signals with a wide variety of statistical properties. The CNCS can be used with synthetic aperture interferometers to ...

Preliminary results have shown that low temperature eddy current sensors can provide excellent resolution for blade tip timing, and have the ability to see ?through the case? of an engine and measure blade passings, without having to drill into the case material or subject the sensor to the harsh environment of the gas flow. What is needed is a rugged, high resolution sensor that can be used for ...

IR Telemetrics builds microwave telemetry systems for transmitting sensor data through narrow metallic passages within automobile engines. IRT devices can interface with sensors and transmit their data to a local receiver network through complex passages as small as four centimeters. Research will adapt IRT core technology to enable continuous communication with marine containers. The performance ...

Currently, no method exists for continuously, noninvasively monitoring flow in the vascular and other biofluidic systems. The proposed effort will ultimately develop a stent-based, telemetric, implantable flow monitor. Once implanted, flow data may be read noninvasively through magnetic telemetry, using a compact readout unit. This system will take advantage of state-of-the-art Microelectromechani ...

Potential commercial applications include the retirement of satellites that have become unresponsive or unstable. For instance when this occurs in a constellation of satellites, where relative position to each other is critical, removing the defective satellite and replacing it with a new one is of great importance. A potential military application is the retirement of a spacecraft that attempts t ...

Michigan Aerospace Corporation has been funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) over the past several years to investigate on-orbit satellite docking and servicing technology. One of the key technologies required for all of those operations (rendezvous, docking, and inspection) is the sensor. For rendezvous and docking, the guidance senso ...