Award Data

Toyon proposes development of a system which performs automated analysis of images for fish population monitoring and fishing regulation enforcement applications. The proposed system is capable of processing images collected from aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as images collected using boat-mounted or handheld cameras used to observe fish catches landed on the decks of vess ...

A preliminary design of a mobile receiver system for intra-cloud lightning detection, mapping, and tracking was completed and analyzed during the Phase I program. The direction-finding (DF) receiver design is small enough for use on small UAVs and utilizes the full VHF spectrum. The lightning Mapping Unmanned Sensor (LITMUS) design will be finalized, fabricated, assembled, and demonstrated durin ...

We propose to develop a system that can automatically detect, track, measure, and classify fish seen in video collected by stationary underwater cameras. Our approach makes use of a novel method for detecting motion that can mitigate false alarms due to swaying underwater vegetation. We propose a novel technique for tracking the fish in three spatial dimensions allowing for improved knowledge of ...

This project addresses the need for a non-contact instrument capable of measuring the isotopic ratios O-18/O-16 and D/H from water ice and other solid materials (rocks). Frozen H2O is the dominant ice in the outer solar system, recently found on the Moon. Extensive deposits of near-surface ice discovered on Mars. Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic records preserve history of water/rock interactions depe ...

A significant technology gap for NASA astrobiology missions is the detection of organics at the sub ppm level without sampling. Currently, NASA uses different sensing technologies such as Pyrolysis–GCMS to analyze planetary samples. These instruments require complex sample handling and can process only a limited number of samples. It is critical to develop an effective instrument with exten ...

During this Phase I effort ESAero will draw upon its knowledge of hybrid-electric propulsion system design and analysis for fixed wing aircraft to investigate the potential benefits of incorporating such systems into rotorcraft designs. Past rotorcraft studies have been conducted in conjunction with Electricore, Inc. and an industry prime, to develop hybrid propulsion system trade studies and deve ...

Ultramet and ARA Ablatives Laboratory previously developed and demonstrated advanced foam-reinforced carbon/phenolic ablators that offer substantially increased high heat flux performance and reduced weight relative to conventional ablators. The structure consisted of an ablator-filled foam front surface backed by Ultramet's highly insulating aerogel-filled foam. Arcjet testing was performed at NA ...

The Sense-and-Avoid Display System (SAVDS®) represents a technology that was developed to address the mid-air collision risk for low-flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Over a 4-week period in July-August 2013, SAVDS was used as a decision support tool (DST) for NASA's Marginal Ice Zone Observations and Processes EXperiment (MIZOPEX) Project in northern Alaska. Integrated with a Thales-Raythe ...

Adsys Controls' Razor UAS Test System is a high fidelity simulation and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test system. Razor provides extensive existing capability for high fidelity real world modeling, extensive I/O capability, real-time execution, system fault simulation, full test automation, and extensive diagnostics. Razor was developed not just as a 6DOF simulator, but as a whole vehicle simulato ...

Innoflight proposes developing a 0.5U Deep Space Cubesat Regenerative-ranging Transponder (DeSCReeT) compatible with NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) and similarly capable ground assets and with flight-ready units available for CubeSats deployed in cis-lunar space via the Exploratory Mission 1 (EM1) program. The transponder will leverage Innoflight's flight-heritage Software-defined Compact Radio ( ...