Award Data

This Phase I SBIR project will evaluate the feasibility of utilizing low cost and high accuracy local position sensors and transmitters to autonomously estimate Mid-chord offset in rails. The two innovative parts of the proposed system are (1) a set of miniature and highly accurate local position sensors and transmitters for estimating the absolute positions of the mid point and end points of a 62 ...

Multiple major pipeline failures have been caused by seam weld defects not detected by available ILI technology [August 16, 2013 WSJ]. Phase I will demonstrate a game changing capability to deliver internal and external corrosion mapping and seam weld crack detection in a low-cost tool that “encourages more repetitive ILI runs and wider use.” JENTEK’s new through wall imaging method called S ...

What is needed is a lightweight system that can be deployed and used by one person that will measure and compile the track geometry data and compute the MCO for a rail section in real time without reliance on any external reference. Such a device, the Mid-chord Rail Offset Measurement System (McROMS) is the subject of this proposal. But MCO is not the only rail geometry data of interest. If this s ...

Trenchless excavation methods, such as horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations, offer the potential for significant cost savings on many utility relocation projects; however, these methods require extremely accurate drill head navigation in addition to precise knowledge of existing utility location in order to ensure boring operations do not interfere with existing pipelines or conduits. ...

Based upon the PSI InstantEye sUAV platform, PSI will develop a high performance, low cost tactically employed, small UAV that willprovide on-demand overhead aerial video surveillance to firefighters actively engaged in containing wildfires.

Larger, taller wind turbines could significantly reduce the cost of wind energy and enable much broader deployment. For example, a recent study from the National Renewable Energy Lab [NREL/TP-5000-61063] showed that increasing tower heights from 96m to 140m would nearly double the available wind resource in the US (adding 1,800 GW) and bring wind development to many areas where it is not currently ...

Although rural seniors (people 65 years and over) are living longer, they frequently require ongoing support from caregivers and medical professionals to make that possible. However, rural America has long been represented as having a unique set of obstacles and conditions that make the delivery of caregiving and medical services for seniors difficult.In this project, CreateAbility will conduct fo ...

The objective of the proposed research effort is to develop low-cost, non-toxic, soy-based polymers as vehicles for ePaint photoactive antifouling technology. Phase I research investigates the feasibility of synthesizing soy polymers as water-based emulsions and assessing their utility as photoactive biofouling release coatings. This approach, if successful, will result in an affordable, non-toxic ...

Sturgeons have very high potential to become an important and profitable aquaculture species in the US, as males are grown for meat and brood stock and female sturgeon are primarily raised for their eggs (caviar). In fact, sturgeon caviar is the highest-valued aquaculture product worldwide, selling for $104 - $250 per 50 grams (depending on the quality). One 60 kg adult female can produce approxim ...

A vastly under-served community, located in an impoverished, 1,500-acre tract in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, is in dire need of increased accessibility to nutritious food. Most of the buildings are torn down, decayed, and abandoned. There are no grocery stores selling nutritious, local, and fresh foods; it is very much a food desert. However, a great opportunity to enrich the lives of this co ...