Award Data

In partnership with MIT, AeroAstro will continue the development of a highly innovative lightweight, inexpensive, low power star tracker for small satellite applications. No solution currently exists currently in this area of the trade space. The design developed in Phase I takes advantage of the processing capabilities embedded in newer CMOS imagers to reduce power consumption and limit the amo ...

The terahertz wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum offers exciting and unique attributes for security imaging and secure broadband communications. However, THz signal generation is difficult and current applications are rare. Existing THz sources utilize large and expensive lasers operating in pulsed mode. Practical application of THz radiation requires the development of THz source techn ...

This MDA STTR Phase II proposal is a continuation of the work started in Phase I where we proposed to employ ionically self-assembled monolayer (ISAM) processing methods for the fabrication of interconnection joints for high temperature packaging of power electronics devices. The ISAM technique is a recently developed revolutionary method which provides nanoscale control of structure, density, and ...

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the novel type of mode selection for high power lasers for target tracking and interception. In Phase I, LPTI proved the concept of volume Bragg gratings (VBGs), which were recorded in photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass, as effective selectors of transverse modes for pulsed neodymium laser. Dramatic narrowing of angular divergence of Nd:YAG laser w ...

Mass and cost reductions are needed to meet the demanding requirements of present and future DOD, NASA and commercial spacecraft solar arrays. Unfortunately, the state of the art (SOA) rigid space solar cell technology has reached its limitations in system cost & specific power. The cheapest "off the shelf" cost is greater than $1000/watt (Only economies of scale can reduce $/watt for rigid solar ...

We propose the prototype development of a novel miniature dielectric traveling-wave tube (DTWT) that will provide short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation for numerous military and civilian applications. The DTWT is based on an efficient interaction between a small-diameter electron beam and the electromagnetic fields of a traveling wave inside a very compact and novel dielectric waveguide. Du ...

This Phase II proposal focuses on the development of a data-driven, integrated damage diagnosis and prognosis technology to enable on-line, accurate and useful failure predictions for ABL systems. The developed software system will utilize the advanced nonlinear dynamics based signal analysis and dynamics reconstruction methods to identify active damage modes, track their evolution, develop approp ...

Photonic approaches are attractive for next generation computing and communication systems. In particular, photonic switch matrix is useful for reconfigurable optical interconnection of several high-speed computing systems for missile defense applications. Existing switching device architectures requiring N2 cascaded matrix switching elements for N x N non-blocking switching limits the scalabilit ...

The utilization of High Test Hydrogen Peroxide (HTP) as military propellant can be greatly simplified by replacing the classical catalyst bed with a novel thermal decomposer. A thermal peroxide decomposition system offers the potential to enhance the operability and system safety margin of peroxide systems. Fundamental knowledge of decomposition kinetics, including the effects of common stabiliz ...

Orbital Research Inc. (ORI) working teaming with The Ohio State University (OSU) propose the development of a novel integrative architecture for ultra tight coupling of GPS/INS. Ultra tight coupled GPS/INS offer the potential to improve jamming tolerance of future guided munitions resulting in improved accuracy and performance. One of the challenges of ultra tight coupled GPS/INS is the inherent ...