Award Data

Develops a fully bioelectric , portable gesturing device that translates American Sign Language into English text and audio through two different versions wired (Phase I) and wireless (Phase II)

The key innovation proposed in this effort is the development of a model composition toolkit that will enable NASA Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) users to design and compose agents, activities, and models to meet specific design requirements. Our technical approach builds on recent advances in formal agent specification, role composition and model composers. The toolkit will allow end-u ...

Building on recent advances in formal agent specification, protocol composition, model composers, and visualization capabilities provided by development environments such as eclipse, the key innovation in this effort is the development of an agent model composition toolkit that will enable NASA ACES users to design and compose agents, activities, and models to meet specific design requirements. F ...

An acoustic igniter eliminates the need to use electrical energy to drive spark systems to initiate combustion in liquid-propellant rockets. It does not involve the use of catalysts (which have a limited life), it does not exhibit typical wear and tear as seen in spark and catalytic igniters, and it is simple in design with no moving parts. Orion's proposed Acoustic Igniter is expected to offer a ...

The minimization of vibration-induced damage has become a critical issue for rocket launch ground support electronics (GSE). GSE located near a major rocket launch can be exposed to damaging environments including heat, rocket plume impingement, vibration, and acoustics. This extreme vibratory environment results in the need for extensive check out and frequent repairs of GSE systems after each la ...

Radiative heat fluxes are important in the design of launch vehicles for Project Constellation. In this Phase II STTR, CFDRC and its partner Mississippi State University will develop an innovative, comprehensive, high fidelity radiation module in the LOCI CFD framework that will enable NASA to design/analyze heat transfer challenges that include radiation. In Phase I, CFDRC/MSU successfully demo ...

Valcor Engineering Corporation proposes to develop an advanced On Board Inert Gas Generation System, OBIGGS, for aircraft fuel tank inerting to prevent hazardous in-flight conditions and to mitigate their effect when they do occur. Aircraft fires represent a small number of actual accident causes, but the number of fatalities due to in-flight, post-crash, and on-ground fires is large. The novel OB ...

Silicone coatings are the system of choice for inflatable fabrics used in several space, military, and consumer applications, including airbags, parachutes, rafts, boat sails, and inflatable shelters. Commercial silicone coatings with improved mechanical, thermal and physical gas barrier properties are needed for a broad range of space, military, and commercial applications. The phase I program ...

CFDRC proposes to develop, validate and demonstrate a comprehensive aeroservoelastic analysis framework for aerospace vehicles by enabling coupled interactions between multi-physics simulation modules with variable fidelity for flexible structures, aerodynamics, flight dynamics, and embedded smart materials. In Phase I, a nonlinear electrodynamics finite-element model for smart materials, capable ...

NASA's vision of Space Exploration will require advancements in communication systems to maintain flexibility and adaptability to changing needs and requirements. The research outlined in this project will develop a hardware/software design environment that will allow NASA engineers to automatically develop flexible, reconfigurable communications systems. We will develop automated compiler algor ...