Award Data

Modern fligt control systems rely on hardware redundancy to overcome failures of sensors and actuators. This is an expensive approach which does not make use of analytical redundancy present in a flight control system. Analytical redundancy is achieved by comparison of sensor outputs over time and across sensors using physical and identified models. We propose here methods to detect failures us ...

A radical, high performance system design concept for UAV missions is proposed. Its characteristics derive directly from propulsion and power generation capabilities inherent in microturbine technology under development at MIT. The proposed vehicle configurations is an oblate spheroid, giving a high package volume with sufficient fuel capacity for hover duration of about one hour. Thrust from m ...

A feasibility study for the development of a Fuel-to-Aerostat Shuttling Transporter (FAST) is proposed. This powered vehicle would transport liquid fuel from the ground to an aerostat, guided by the non-powered control tether. The fuel carried to the aerostat will be used to produce electricity by running existing liquid-fueled generators on-board the ship. By allowing for the delivery of fuel ...

Providing the commander with timely, accurate, and meaningful information is a critical problem in the design and deployment of battlefield information management systems. A methodology is needed for presenting the critical information in a situationally-relevant manner, to support the commander's visualization of the battlefield and assessment of tactical alternatives. We propose a hybrid solu ...

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Physical Sciences, Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop an etching tool based upon its patented Fast Atom Sample Tester (FAST) technology that addresses a critical processing problem faced by manufacturers of Bonded wafers. The fabrication process for bonded wafers results in a 5 mm wide strip of partially delaminated silicon along the perimeter of the 8-in. wafer which can serve as a source of unaccep ...

We propose a plan sentinel prototype consisting of three components. The first component is the development of a plan mining tool which identifies and computes false or missing assumptions and deviations to plans and time phased tasks. The second component, the annotated database, computes plans which the plan mining tool access and parses into a logical annotated rule set. Finally, MAVIS, a to ...

Active Devices proposes an innovation for energy harvesting using piezoelectric based approaches to extract energy from mechanical vibrations. This innovation consists of a piezoelectric element for energy transduction, rectifier circuits for extraction, and storage devices to store power for use by other devices. Ideal models predict that a 1" x1" x.010" piezoelectric wafer undergoing moderate ...

This Phase I project has two primary objectives. The first objective is to develop an engineering model of Resonant Tunneling Devices (RTD) to be implemented in AIM-Spice, a commercial software package running under Windows 95/NT. The development of a reliable device model is a prerequisite for the design and production of any semiconductor device technology. The RTD model will be a semi-empiri ...