Award Data

At present, trains use various dissipative braking systems to slow and stop, and this significant braking energy is ultimately converted to heat and wasted. APEI, Inc. has proposed a hybrid tender which can capture and reuse a significant fraction of this braking energy (at least 50%). The hybrid tender draws power from the rails using a regenerative braking technique rather than by being electr ...

Resodyn Corporation is proposing a material and application system that will create a low friction coating on concrete median barriers. The advanced material developed for the low friction coating is an affordable, tough, weather resistant, and environmentally friendly copolymer. The proposed application concept is for truck mounted equipment that enables a single pass application of the coating ...

The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Automated Track Inspection Program uses optical systems such as cameras or laser-based systems to monitor rail performance throughout the country. These systems are hindered by adverse weather conditions that allow water, dirt and mud to coat their optical components resulting in unwanted maintenance costs. Thus FRA is seeking a low-cost, practical s ...

Quantifying oceanic CO2 uptake and ocean acidification and understanding their impact on global climate and ocean ecology are key goals of NOAA’s climate change research programs. NOAA’s request for Development of a long-term Langrangian pH and pCO2 drifter aims to address these goals by developing technology that measures both pCO2 and pH that can be widely deployed in the world’s oceans. ...

The PowerCube is a 1U CubeSat module that provides integrated propulsion, power, and precision pointing to enable the low-cost CubeSat platform to be used to conduct high-performance missions. The PowerCube concept integrates three innovative component technologies to provide these capabilities: First, a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water-electrolysis fuel cell supplies gH2/gO2 to a simple pres ...

a. Paragon Space Development Corporation¿ (Paragon) proposes to continue our investigation into the use of microporous-ionomer membrane technology to improve the robustness and effectiveness and simplify water recovery processes for space applications. Improved robustness and effectiveness will be evident through (1) reduced loading onthe downstream post processor due to the ionomer¿s unique pr ...

There are a number of critical telemetry measurements to be monitored under continuous field operation, including temperature data across the reactor chamber and the nozzle, pressure data, neutron flux density and flow rate of the propellant. Real-time monitoring of this data in nuclear thermal engines would greatly improve operational safety and performance, reduce operational costs, and signific ...

Frequency-locked single-frequency 2 micron fiber laser is proposed to be used for airborne/spaceborne coherent lidar measurements, i.e., Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons. The laser is based on our proprietary fiber technology and extensive experience in fiber laser development, which features a compact, highly stable, frequency-stabilized light source. Advanced freque ...

ZONA Technology, Inc. proposes an R & D effort to develop a Gust Load Alleviation (GLA) control system using a novel Leading Edge Stagnation Point (LESP) sensor that has the nearly instantaneous predictive capability. The real-time gust information from the sensor will enhance the performance of the proposed GLA control system. The GLA control method we will adopt is the Generalized Predictive Con ...

The proposed solution is to create a high fidelity simulation environment that merges a UAS ground control station (GCS) simulator with an air traffic control (ATC) simulator. The UAS GCS station will have the capability of introducing a single UAS or multiple UASs simulator operated by a single and/or multiple UAS pilots into the ATC. This simulation will have the ability to simulate manned aircr ...