Award Data

Semantically Linked Data is widely seen as a revolutionary approach for maximizing the usefulness of existing and future information. In the materials domain, semantically linked materials data holds considerable promise with the ability to facilitate materials research and product development, improve communication, and open up avenues for new types of materials informatics. But realizing the pro ...

This effort proposes to develop a toolset to evaluate the effectiveness of a safety-controller that monitors a learning-based autonomous control system. The traditional use of deterministic verification techniques for real-time monitoring is not feasible in the presence of uncertainty. This effort would advance the recommended verification techniques to include non-deterministic approaches. The ...

Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) are complex systems that exhibit a broad array of behaviors in a wide range of missions and environments. They can change their behaviors over time so the UAS rigorously tested at the range is not the same as the one operating in the field. Current testing methods are inadequate to verify that they are safe to operate in close proximity with humans. Testing Robust ...

Barron Associates has assembled a team of researchers that include Dr. Sayan Mitra of the University of Illinois and Dr. Ufuk Topcu of the University of Pennsylvania. They will spearhead three complimentary investigations into the development of verification and validation (V & V) approaches for adaptive systems protected by run time assurance (RTA) mechanisms. Two of these approaches involve us ...

Baker Engineering Inc. (BEI) proposes an advanced, electrically-assisted turbocharger to meet the needs identified in this solicitation. BEI"s solution provides a lightweight, durable, self-lubricated turbocharger that will set new standards in performance on heavy fuel engines in the 50-150 Hp class. An electrically-assisted turbocharger offers supercharger characteristics to a turbocharged eng ...

Existing physics-based device simulation tools are prohibitively expensive computationally, and therefore ill-suited for parametric analysis and design optimization of photonic integrated circuits (PIC). The proposed effort aims to develop and demonstrate an innovative, easy-to-use simulation tool for accurate, fast circuit/system analysis of PICs. The salient aspects of the proposed solution are: ...

Pacific Science & Engineering Group (PSE) proposes to design, develop, and demonstrate a prototype human-autonomous system tool & #208;Operators Context and Trust in Automation Visualization (OCTAV) & #208; that will support improved transparency, trust, and human-machine team performance. OCTAV will automatically monitor human and autonomous system team context and task, visualize context-based s ...

A formal approach to the management of information involved in human-automation interactions is proposed. The mathematical formalism is enabled by employing the notion of hybrid systems. The information management involves ensuring correct information flow and shared cognition between human operators and machines. It is envisioned that the proposed algorithms will formalize the analysis of human-a ...

The environmental impact of wood coatings has become a pressing issue as the manufacturing of wooden products such as flooring, cabinetry, furniture and doors moves back to the United States amidst rising labor costs overseas. For 30 years, the bulk of these products have been painted in countries with lax environmental regulations, allowing the use of inexpensive but environmentally hazardous oil ...

There are approximately 7,000 flares in operation at industrial facilities across the United States. Flares are one of the largest volatile organic compounds (VOC) and air toxics emission sources. Based on a special emission inventory required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2007, highly reactive VOC emissions from 28 flares located in Harris County, Texas were 1469.5 tons in a ...