Award Data

Achieving and maintaining effective control of our nation`s maritime borders which comprise 95,000 miles of shoreline and navigable waters, and 361 ports is an ongoing challenge. Due to greater numbers, increased maneuverability and reduced observables, smaller vessels pose unique and special risks. A complete accounting of all these small vessels that could be anywhere in the nearly 3.5 million s ...

It is clear from prior research that quality metrics can predict and improve recognition performance. As we add new quality metrics, however, determining a weighting scheme using simple rules for their combination becomes infeasible. This argues for a machine learning approach that will automatically determine the optimal weighting. We propose to develop a large set of quality metrics based on req ...

TRI proposes to develop reliable methodology and protocols for in-service inspection,recertifying and retiring DOT COPVs to maximize service life while ensuring personnel safety. This method must be sufficiently robust to prevent in-service failures, while being straightforward and affordable enough to be conducted at cylinder recertification facilities. To accomplish this with a high degree of co ...

Current inspection, maintenance and lifetime estimation practices for composite cylinders have been adopted from earlier NASA research. WavesinSolids LLC are proposing a technological based on an acoustic emission (AE) technique for the in-service testing of composite cylinders. The approach will establish the correlation between AE activity and intensity metrics and the stress intensity factor, a ...

A nondestructive tool will be developed to quatitatively assess residual stress in pipelines from the exterior and through coatings. Residual stress is a critical factor that determines the cracking susceptibility of pipeline steels, but existing methods for measuring mechanical damage in pipeline steels are incapable of quantifying the residual stress levels. A larger gouge or dent does not nec ...

Nanometrology International, Inc. (NMI) proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of 3-dimensional (3D) characterization of nanoscale objects using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with a measurement uncertainty of less than 0.7 nm. To accomplish this task, we propose a novel method of 3D tip characterization and use of an innovative surface reconstruction algorithm recently introduced by NIST and th ...

This Phase 2 project targets the completion of the development of an improved system for the broadcasting of the WWVB signal, as a direct continuation of the Phase 1 project, which successfully validated the proposed approach through a feasibility study and analyses. Objectives of this project include the design of the new modulation scheme and protocol, the development of a new time-code generato ...

Purpose: Braille is the primary medium of written communication for persons who are blind. Prior research shows that Braille literacy strongly correlates with stronger reading habits and the pursuit of higher education, whereas Braille illiteracy negatively impacts students' academic performance and ability to navigate the everyday world. A recent report found that there has been a dramatic declin ...

"As part of its mission to protect human health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is dedicated to developing and promoting innovative cleanup strategies that restore contaminated sites to productive use, reduce associated costs, and promote environmental stewardship. However, in adopting this strategy there will be an increasing need to implement a more cost effective, ...

"The widely distributed water infrastructure system provides drinking water and waste water treatment for human life and the environment. A significant amount of water infrastructure network has served the public for decades and is encountering aging problems. Water leakage resulting from aging infrastructure may put human life and public health at risk. Therefore, it is imperative to search fo ...