Award Data

This Phase II SBIR project will continue the development of an optical sorter that will be used to estimate drop sizes in sprays. The optical sorter will determine the size of drops in the 0.1 to 10 microns range. Drops in this size range are prevalent in the automobile industry, where the fuel injection pressures have increased tremendously over the past two decades. These newer injectors provide ...

A hollow reservoir cathode for use in ion and Hall thrusters which uses iodine as propellant. Reservoir cathodes have unique features not found in conventional impregnated cathodes. The critical barium reduction process occurs in the reservoir, not in the matrix, and this isolates that process from iodine poisoning. Also, the barium supply is 100 times greater than is available in conventional cat ...

For the purposes of supporting planned and future NASA missions and addressing an unmet NASA need for high-quality visible through shortwave-infrared telescope phase-correction optics manufactured and delivered quickly and inexpensively, Voxtel proposes a Phase II effort to develop a new class of three-dimensional freeform optics and to demonstrate the optical precision and size reduction possible ...

The nondestructivecharacterization of advanced composites, such ascarbon-fiber reinforced polymers (cfrp), by electromagnetic means iswell established [6]-[24]. What isneeded to advance the state of the art are sophisticated inversionalgorithms that allow layup and impact damage to be determined inlocalized regions, which means that the more traditional methods ofmodel-based inverse methods must ...

According to the decadal report titled, Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era of Space Exploration, a Report, "...the AHB Panel would be remiss if it did not strongly recommend an animal centrifuge capable of accommodating rats/mice at variable gravity levels." Furthermore, the panel stated, “...research on animal models will be constrained without the ability to manipulate the gravi ...

This SBIR system is a machine learning system that uses a very large database of airside and landside data to predict pushback and takeoff times of aircraft at a given airport. Airside data sources describe the state of the system after TSA security screening is complete, and includes information about the crew and passengers arriving at the departure gate, turnaround and pushback preparation, ra ...

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) has been mandated by the FAA for all aircraft that fly in Class A airspace in year 2020 and beyond. ADS-B will be the foundation of surveillance, and in this SBIR effort, we exploit the fact thta ADS-B data can also provide evidence of aircraft flying through known sources of aviation turbulence. Phase I R&D showed that moderate or greater leve ...

We develop a system composed of two displays, one for the Flight Deck (FD) and one for the Airline Operational Control (AOC) dispatcher. The FD and AOC displays form a shared situational awareness of the different forms of turbulence hazards that are ahead of the aircraft. A wide range of turbulence measurement, sensing, and forecasting systems are available, and we determined the most appropri ...

A Regenerable Carbon Filter (RCF) is proposed for the removal of carbonaceous particulate matter produced in Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) processes. Successful development of this technology will result in a device that effectively collects ultrafine carbon particles in a high density, high storage capacity volume which is subsequently regenerated in-situ using self-cleaning techn ...

PCKA is partnering with researchers at Purdue University to develop an Autonomous Power Controller (APC) for mission-critical microgrids to supply electric power in a highly autonomous and secure manner to accomplish mission objectives. The APC consists of a centralized controller connected to an array of local component controllers. The centralized controller will be capable of optimal generation ...