Award Data

Our team proposes to develop, test, and commercialize a Micro Air Vehicle Tether Recovery APparatus (MAVTRAP). This system operates by deploying an instrumented MAV capture device attached via a tether system from a mothership unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The instrumented MAV capture device contains an integrated avionics suite. Our team will determine and control the precise mother ship UAV loi ...

ABSTRACT: One of the Air Force main interests is to improve the antireflective (AR) optical properties of polycarbonate by exploring new coating materials or coating techniques to eliminate delamination and stress cracks due to the mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the coatings and the polymer substrates. SwRI and INTER Materials are in a unique position to assist the Air F ...

The main objective of the proposed Phase II project is to leverage the technology of THz generation in resonantly-pumped quasi-phase-matched (QPM) GaAs structures, jointly developed by Stanford University and Microtech Instruments, Inc., and create a compact and power-efficient commercial THz source with a mW-level average power. This source will be continuously or step-tunable in the 0.5-3 THz ra ...

Through the execution of our Phase 1 effort, Nutronics, Inc. and Montana State University developed an improved means to optimize the Pellizzarri cost functional for coherent imaging using digital holography. Our algorithm developed during the Phase 1 effort accelerates convergence times by a factor of 20-40 for the majority of scenarios evaluated. Our proposed Phase 2 effort has a two-fold focus: ...

Owing to a unique set of intellectual property and core expertise, this Phase II team, led by Traycer Diagnostic Systems, will build and characterize a packaged, 16x16 terahertz focal plane array (FPA) for broadband video-rate imaging at frequencies up to 1.3 THz. Traycer’s competitive advantage is based on its record-performing detectors, novel antennas, and array architectures that permit a d ...

Jet engine disk components are increasingly subjected to higher operating temperatures. To meet the demands of increasing thrust and higher operating temperatures, a newer generation of nickel based superalloys such as LSHR, Alloy 10, Rene104 and RR1000 are being processed with dual microstructure distributions. Fine grain, high strength, fatigue resistant bore properties are contrasted with co ...

Aurora and Georgia Tech’s Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of a partially distributed control scheme with separate controllers on the engine core and fan, where the controllers are linked by a supervisory controller. This scheme is representative of the situation encountered in VTOL UAV design and the design of new turbo-props and variable pitch turbofans by the large commercial gas ...

Aurora and Georgia Tech"s Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of a partially distributed control scheme with separate controllers on the engine core and fan, where the controllers are linked by a supervisory controller. This scheme is representative of the situation encountered in VTOL UAV design and the design of new turbo-props and variable pitch turbofans by the large commercial gas t ...

ABSTRACT: For this Phase II STTR effort, Prime Photonics and Virginia Tech propose to demonstrate a fully packaged hybrid photovoltaic/magneto-thermoelectric (PV/MTG) panel with improved energy conversion efficiency designed for solar powered air vehicles. In addition to acting as an active thermal backplane for the PV, the MTG is designed to maximize thermal to electrical conversion from the av ...

Training can now be delivered on a large scale through emerging platforms, but training must be engaging to be effectively utilized. Key to providing training that makes a difference in the field is an understanding of how to induce high levels of engagement during learning and the ability to objectively assess engagement in real-time so that interventions can be tailored during training to optimi ...