Award Data

NASA is investigating advanced turboelectric aircraft propulsion systems that utilize superconducting motors to drive a number of distributed turbofans. Conventional electric motors are too large and heavy to be practical for this application, and so superconducting motors are required. In order to improve maneuverability of the aircraft, variable speed power converters would be required to thro ...

In this SBIR project, AlphaSense, Inc. and the Carnegie Mellon University propose to develop a RF receiver front end based on CMOS-MEMS components for miniaturized digital EVA radio applications. In Phase I, we have proven the feasibility of implementing a compact, low power and high performance S band receiver front end based on CMOS- MEMS components. Specifically, we conducted link budget analys ...

This NASA SBIR Phase II project seeks to develop and demonstrate a suite of sensor products to monitor the health of composite structures. Sensors will be made using the Company¡¦s Direct Write process based on Mesoplasma?§ deposition technology. This allows a wide variety of sensor materials and architectures to be deposited onto conformal components made from polymer composite, metallic, an ...

Future landed robotic missions to the lunar poles will seek to characterize the properties of subsurface regolith. Current instruments for such in-situ analysis, however, require that geological samples be brought to the surface by a sample acquisition tool and subsequently processed and presented to the analyzer. This model has significant limitations with regard to science yield: evaporation of ...

Impact Technologies, LLC in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes to develop and demonstrate a flight-worthy hardware prototype of a miniature, low cost/weight/ power device that provides stable and highly accurate near continuous positioning, attitude, and inertial measurements while being subjected to highly dynamic maneuvers and high vibration effects. In contrast t ...

NASA sees an increasing role in the near future for small satellites in the 5-100 kg size range. A potentially disruptive technology, small satellites are being eyed as platforms for the rapid demonstration of new technologies and important science missions. Currently, small satellite platforms struggle to balance the three critical tasks of collecting enough power, acquiring data and downlinking ...

In response to the need for actuators that can operate in the harsh Venusian environment for extended periods of time, Honeybee Robotics conducted extensive research and testing to resolve the tall poles in developing an extreme temperature gear. During the Phase I effort, multiple gear material and lubrication candidates were tested under load in Venus-like conditions (486oC temperatu ...

Impact Technologies has proposed development of an effective prognostic and fault accommodation system for critical DC power systems including PV systems. Overall goal for this program is development of techniques that enable power system fault tolerance based on diagnostic features from the solar cells, power bus, and power transistors. After completion of Phase I efforts towards this goal, Impac ...

The continued development of automated sample acquisition and handling tools is of critical importance to future robotic missions on Mars, the Moon, Venus, and other planetary bodies. In response to the need for a compact, low mass, low power, and low weight-on-bit coring device, Honeybee Robotics proposes to continue development of an arm-deployed and arm-stabilized rotary-percussive coring tool. ...

During Phase I, IEM developed a proof of concept for a Smart Grade Crossing Monitor (SGCM) using multispectral imaging technology for enhanced monitoring of highway rail grade crossings to improve safety by providing warnings of significant objects present in the crossing. The Phase I work conclusively demonstrated that multispectral imaging is clearly superior to visible or infrared spectrum imag ...