Award Data

DUE TO THE DOWNSIZING OF AUTOMOBILES ON U.S. HIGHWAYS, MINI-CARS HAVE BECOME A MAJOR PART OF THE AUTO POPULATION. THE LIGHT WEIGHT AND HIGH CRUSH RATE OF THESE VEHICLES CAN CAUSEHIGH VELOCITY CHANGE LEVELS WHEN IMPACTING MOST EXISTING BREAKAWAY LUMINAIRE SUPPORTS. THIS INCREASES THE PROBABILI-TY OF INJURY TO OCCUPANTSOF MINI-CARS WHEN IMPACTING LUMI- NAIRE SUPPORTS. CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED WH ...

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COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS DEPEND ON GROUND SUPPORT FOR NAVIGATION. THE GROUND SOLUTION CAN BE COSTLY AND MAY PROVIDE LESS ACCURACY THAN NEEDED. A GPS-BASED REAL-TIME AUTONOMOUS SPACECRAFT NAVIGATION SYSTEM IS PROPOSED. AN ALGORITHM WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH COMBINES GPS-DERIVED POINT POSITION ESTIMATES WITH A PROPAGATED A PRIORI POSITION ESTIMATE. THE POINT POSITIONS ARE ...

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INTEGRATED DAMAGE CONTROL SYSTEMS (IDCS) HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE MONITORING, DECISION-MAKING, AND RESPONSE TO SHIPBOARD EMERGENCIES. ULTIMATELY, IMPLIMENTATION OF THESE SYSTEMS MAY REDUCE MANPOWER. THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I WILL BE TO PROVIDE THE USCG WITH SEVERAL DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR INSTALLING IDCS ON USCG SHIPS. THIS WILL INCLUDE ALTERNATIVES FOR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AS A FUNCTIO ...

A NEED EXISTS TO MONITOR VIBRATION IN HIGHWAY BRIDGES. IT IS DESIRABLE TO MONITOR MANY POINTS ON THE BRIDGE. THE CURRENT PROBLEM IS THAT SENSORS MUST BE WIRED TO A CENTRAL LOCATION. WIRE IS DIFFICULT TO INSTALL AND TO MOVE. THE SOLUTION IS TO COLLECT SENSOR DATA BY RADIO. A SYSTEM EXISTS THAT ELIMINATES WIRE. IT GATHERS SENSOR DATA TO A CENTRAL LOCATION BY RADIO. THE SYSTEM'S UNIQUE FEATURE IS THA ...

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SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO TRAIN ALERTER DEVICES SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE "DEAD-MAN PEDAL." THERE CONTINUES TO BE ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS, PARTICULARLY IN LIGHT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN THE FIELD OF ERGONOMICS AND HUMAN FACTORS. ONE AREA OF POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT LIES IN THE RESPONSE THAT THE DEVICE REQUIRES FROM THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. DEVICES CURRENTLY IN USE HAVE B ...

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SEVERAL CONCEPTS ARE PROPOSED FOR LOCOMOTIVE CAB ALERTERS THAT CAN BE RETROFITTED TO ALERTER SYSTEMS ALREADY IN SERVICE. THE CONCEPTS INCLUDE A TOUCH SCREEN, WHICH REQUIRES TOUCHING A TARGET TO RESET THE TIMER OR TO RESPOND TO THE ALERTER LIGHT PROMPT. THE INITIAL LOCATION OF THE TARGET ON THE SCREEN IS AUTOMATICALLY SELECTED AT RANDOM. ANOTHER CONCEPT IS THE USE OF A TELEPHONE KEYPAD WITH LCD, WH ...