Award Data

NDT of Fracture Toughness for Pipeline Steels3/16/2018Ultrasound-based technology to nondestructively determine fracture toughness of pipeline steels will be developed. Fracture toughness is the material parameter that, along with applied loading and flaw geometry, dictates the critical crack size, and therefore controls the flaw size that must be detected during inspections. A major challenge fac ...

Tragically, 936 children have died in hot cars since 1998. Wisely, NHTSA has prioritized evaluation of sensor systems in vehicles for “the ability to detect unattended children and prevent heat stroke occurrence.”Recently, innovators have developed systems that detect children present in the vehicle by measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) in the vehicle cabin, but there is no test method to assess w ...

There is a growing need for a single source of truth data about intertidal zones that can used by lawmakers, resource managers, conservationists, engineers, pharmaceutical and food manufacturers, farmers and fishers, and scientists for better environmental planning and protection, particularly for the land-sea interface. Our Phase II research will solve this challenge by developing a data analytic ...

This SBIR effort proposes using live and continuous monitoring of metal tanks, pressure vessels, and pipelines using carbon nanomaterial-based sensing skins to detect excessive physical strains, cracks, and to inspect impact damage. The proposed research and development work leverages 15+ years of fundamental research. The key objective is to advance the TRL level and the scalability of carbon nan ...

Over the past decade, private industry has shown a growing interest in the development of autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs). A successful autonomous CMV system will require that the vehicles meet both technological requirements and existing regulatory requirements for traditional CMVs. While some regulations are passive, others require drivers to take actions. Of note is the requirement ...

In response to the DOT’s FY21 SBIR topic 21-FT2, Interphase Materials (IPM) proposes the development of a low-cost automated data collection system that uses machine learning (ML), a type of artificial intelligence (AI), to predict and alert transit agencies of biological and viral contamination risks making condition-based sanitization possible for more effective and efficient operations.The CO ...

Nanoplastics (plastic debris

Harmful algal blooms can devastate ecological and economic systems; federal disasters are declared, public drinking water systems shut down, fisheries closed, and mass wildlife die offs and acute toxicity/death for humans occur. By the numbers, the negative financial impact of HABs globally is $10B and, as temperatures climb, conditions are increasingly favorable for HAB events. HABs can be contro ...

There is a dearth of accessible information and innovative tools to map and obtain biomass data for analysis, conservation, and sustainable resource management of intertidal vegetation in the United States and globally. A major technical problem is the integration of biological and physical data at small spatial scales (2 meters). We propose Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) can be used for quality ...

Over the past decade, private industry has shown a growing interest in the development of autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs). A successful autonomous CMV system will require that the vehicles meet both technological requirements and existing regulatory requirements for traditional CMVs. While some regulations are passive, others require drivers to take actions. Of note is the requirement ...