Award Data

This proposal describes a plan for the design and development of line of sight and area averaged rain measurements using microwave techniques. The line averaged (and area covered) could be made variable, from as low as 100m (100m x 100m) to several km. The individual units can thus be used for both local measurements as well as for extending the observation over rain-cells. The techniques might be ...

Space robotics technology can provide productivity enhancements for astronauts performing extravehicular activities (EVA). Reducing or avoiding EVA time directly translates to a higher degree of safety and can reduce on-orbit servicing costs. System concept challenges result from (1) safety considerations for operating near or within the same envelope as astronauts, (2) the non-repetitive operatio ...

"The modern warfighter has to process a large amount of constant critical information. While cognitive performance evaluation of a warfighter's capabilities can be done in the lab, it has yet to be taken out into the field where the real stresses occur.Fortunately, it is now technologically possible to gather warfighter cognitive workload data through the use of wearable computers. Current cogni ...

DSI will develop an integrated backplane/server solution for the SATS cockpit. The GAAINS (General Aviation Aircraft Information Network Server) solution will provide the foundation for tomorrows SATS cockpit. DSI believes in the spirit of SATS, and through the integration of COTS technologies combined with current open architecture standards, a new enabling platform will be developed which increa ...

The goal of the proposed Phase I research is to explore the feasibility of developing a family of novel synthetic muscle systems with robotic sensing and actuation capabilities, for a wide spectrum of NASA space robotic and EVA applications. In particular, configurations of interest may be in the form of multi-fingered biomimetic robotic hands to handle delicate and small space objects such as sma ...

Robust sensors that can survive the high-temperature environment of gas turbine engine hot sections are critically needed for test and validation of advanced engine designs. Sensors based on semiconductors, silicon carbide, or silica optical fibers are unlikely to satisfy those needs in the near future, due to high temperatures and corrosion in the engine environment. While sensors made of sapphir ...

Rotational molding is a low-cost processing scheme used to fabricate large tanks, ducts, and tubes with complicated shapes. Rotational molding of liquid crystal polymer (LCP) resins was successfully demonstrated in the Phase I program, and the proposed Phase II effort will continue development of this process. LCP materials are of interest in application to cryogenic propellant storage because of ...

NASA's Aviation Safety Program teams with the FAA and the aerospace industry to achieve large strides in aircraft safety under Pillar One of the Aerospace Technology Enterprise's Three Pillars for Success, Global Civil Aviation, and aims to improve aviation safety five-fold over the next 10 years and ten-fold over the next 25 years. To achieve this goal, improved health monitoring systems are requ ...

NASA's Aviation Safety Program teams with the FAA and the aerospace industry to achieve large strides in aircraft safety under Pillar One of the Aerospace Technology Enterprise's Three Pillars for Success, Global Civil Aviation, and aims to improve aviation safety five-fold over the next 10 years and ten-fold over the next 25 years. To achieve this goal, improved health monitoring systems are requ ...

This project?s goal is to produce a flight qualifiable tunable laser system specifically for use in optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) based distributed fiber Bragg grating sensing applications. This work represent an enabling technology for NASA's requirement for distributed optical fiber sensing for health monitoring, aviation safety, and aircraft morphing programs. The work is based ...