Award Data

The inability to plan in real-time is a major reason why robot manufacturing is restricted to high-value, high-volume products, in carefully engineered factories where robots blindly repeat pre-programmed trajectories. Today, robots simply cannot generate collision-free motion on the fly. We are solving this core problem—real-time motion planning in unstructured, fluid environments and on divers ...

A motif is a non-commonplace, specific narrative element (such as a striking event, character, or object) that is repeated across stories found within the same cultural group, and concisely expresses complex cultural and political ideas through the inferences it evokes about a particular situation. If we can track motifs in communications, we will have a significant advantage in modeling informati ...

There is a critical need for revolutionary approaches for thermal management of 21st century semiconductor devices and hardware, such as advanced high performance computers, high-power laser diodes and solar cells for the conversion of sun light to renewable energy. The one limiting factor for all of the above extremely important and compelling technologies is waste heat management that can remove ...

There is a critical need for revolutionary approaches for thermal management of 21st century semiconductor devices and hardware, such as advanced high performance computers, high-power laser diodes and solar cells for the conversion of sun light to renewable energy. The one limiting factor for all of the above extremely important and compelling technologies is waste heat management that can remove ...

VIStology, Northeastern University and BBN are proposing a standards-based solution to seamless insertion of new RF devices and capabilities into multifunction Electronic Warfare (EW)/Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) networks without re

To-date, the realization of VTOL personal air vehicles capable of executing agile missions has largely been limited by the availability of high T/W, low fuel-consumption propulsion systems with minimal noise and IR signatures. Metis Design proposes the development of an innovative, high T/W, low-TSFC turbofan in the 200-1,000 lbf thrust-class for a variety of air-vehicle applications. The proposed ...

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has been widely studied for water permeation barriers for flexible OLED displays. Inorganic films of approximately 100nm have been demonstrated to reduce the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) to 6e-7 g/m^2/d at room temperature. However, these films crack at less than 2% strain. Inorganic ALD films cannot withstand the required 5% strain until their thickness is re ...

Increasing the distance for standoff detection of nuclear materials, beyond that capable with direct radiation detection, using “alternative signatures”, such as the concentration of ionization in the surrounding atmosphere, improves the ability to locate, track and monitor this material. Ionizing radiation generates free elections, ions, and exited states in the nearby atmosphere, even when t ...

The use of WMDs and IEDs by covert insurgents and terrorists poses a significant risk to U.S. military forces and civilians. The capability to execute rapid forensic DNA analysis to identify individuals who manufactured and transported these threatening devices is of paramount importance to military mission, homeland security and civilian safety. Current DNA forensic analyses are time-consuming, b ...

Certain lanthanide halides have significantly higher light output than NaI:Tl, the comparison standard for scintillators, plus other important properties, including fast decay times and excellent proportionality. Unfortunately, lanthanide halides grown by traditional melt processes have high production costs and limited availability. Crystals are usually limited to about 5 cm x 5 cm, right cylinde ...