Award Data

CU Aerospace and team partner the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign propose to develop a new type of plasma-based flow control actuator, which uses a high-voltage electrode that arcs to a cylindrical grounded electrode within a magnetic field. The result is that an arc plasma can be produced, with a Lorentz force that creates a plasma disc (similar concept to a cyclotron). The thought beh ...

Barron Associates proposes to develop a runtime assurance (RTA) system that provides in-flight protection to research aircraft that are flight testing advanced or experimental controllers. The RTA system monitors key critical parameters to determine if errors in the experimental controller are potentially driving the vehicle to unsafe flight conditions. If such conditions are ensuing, the RTA sy ...

Current Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) rely heavily on human oversight, with the majority of commercial operations currently authorized by the FAA through the Section 333 exemption process restricted to visual line of sight with a single vehicle controlled by an experienced UAS operator. Operation of SUAS may be highly automated, but human oversig ...

During a piloted forced landing in which the aircraft can no longer maintain level flight and is therefore forced to make an emergency off-airport landing, the human pilot continuously reassesses and updates the plan to minimize on-ground and onboard injury and damage. In the case of an unmanned air vehicle, this level of intelligent risk minimization is unavailable. Moreover, low-weight and low- ...

Both the current NAS, as well as NextGen, need successful use of advanced tools. Successful training is required today because more information gathering and decision making must be done manually, which requires training in the fundamental principles and objectives of traffic management. Successful training is required in NextGen due to the increased reliance on automation. Given the multitude of ...

HyperV Technologies Corp. proposes to construct a long-record-length, fiber-coupled, fast imaging diagnostic for recording X-ray back-lit material flows and X-ray emission events. X-ray imaging of material flows in detonation fronts and combustion through protective housings has many important aerospace, industrial and defense implications. First HyperV will design, construct and test, in conjunct ...

In this SBIR, USNC will develop an accident tolerant reactor shut-down system for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) systems that will guarantee sub-criticality in the event of a water submersion accident. Reactor shut down during a water submersion accident is a crucial issue that must be addressed in NTP systems. The technology that USNC will develop in this SBIR is a low risk design feature that ...

EPIR Inc. and Brimrose Technology Corporation propose a miniaturized spectrometer covering the 0.35 to 2.3um wavelength range by integrating a Hg1-xCdxTe (MCT) - based photodetector (PD) with an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). The goal is to achieve 4um spectral resolution with wide dynamic range to measure both the Sun's and the Moon's radiometric characteristics. Currently the best known in ...

The next generation of wide-field survey instruments with improved angular and energy resolution for research into astrophysical transient X-ray phenomena is currently under development. A scalable detector plane architecture has been developed at Harvard using CZT detector arrays for use in high resolution coded-aperture telescopes. Despite decades of research, the yield of device grade CZT is st ...

This two-phase SBIR program targets the need for highly integrated SiC-based electronics systems by developing analog and digital circuits that can be fully integrated with 4H-SiC power switching devices, enabling eventual realization of a monolithic, highly integrated gate driver circuit. Specifically, the final goal of this program is to develop and demonstrate a fully integrated, isolated, high ...