STTR Phase 1 Solicitation    Abstract Archives

NASA 2008 SBIR Phase 1 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nanosonic, Inc.
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060-5556
(540) 953-1785

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jennifer Lalli
jlalli@nanosonic.com
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-5556
(540) 953-1785

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In support of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NanoSonic would optimize our moisture-resistant aerospace adhesives with in-situ corrosion mitigating surface treatments to improve aviation safety by reducing durability related hazards on subsonic commercial aircraft. NanoSonic specializes in the production of advanced, non-commodity resins as adhesive, sealant, and novel coupling agents. One aspect of our synthetic method involves the systematic replacement of nonpolar groups along well defined polymer backbones with sidechain chemical moieties capable of complexing with metals, hence significantly increasing adhesion to metal or composites relative to nonpolar resins. Synthetically engineered hybrid copolymers allow the inherently hydrophobic backbone to mitigate moisture ingress, while the tailored sidechain moieties offer adhesion orders of magnitude greater than unmodified commodity resins. NanoSonic also tailors the number and type of crosslinking sites available to minimize CTE, while maximizing the mechanical properties and cohesive strength to prevent catastrophic disbonding from aircraft adherend. The specialty adhesives are available in 1-55 gallon drum quantities. Down-selected adhesives and coupling agents shall be tested under harsh thermal (-90ºF to 800ºF) and environmental conditions and in a wind tunnel (subsonic, Mach <1) along-side state-of-the-art structural aerospace adhesives to increase the TRL from 4 to 6 during Phase I.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NanoSonic's high performance polar, yet hydrophobic adhesives would result in advanced aerospace adhesives and surface treatments with increased durability to minimize subsonic aircraft aging and durability related hazards with a TRL of 6 upon completion of the Phase I program. NanoSonic's polar resins are synthetically engineered to offer stronger adhesion over commercial aircraft adhesives, and the hydrophobic backbone allows for superior moisture resistance and corrosion mitigation. The down-selected polymers would also serve as adhesives or sealants with solvent resistant against jet fuel, sea water and harsh aircraft solvents. The adhesives offered will be delivered in volumes up to 55 gallon drums and are roll-to-roll compatible for repair appliqué. TRL 9 would be reached via successful flight testing and platform integration of the adhesives onto commercial subsonic, supersonic and near-space aircraft such as 787 Dreamliner, V-22, AH-1, UH-60 F/A-18, JSF, HAA and ISIS.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NanoSonic's hydrophobic yet polar hybrid adhesives and coupling agents shall offer excellent adhesion, moisture and corrosion resistance over a wide service temperature range of -90<SUP>o</SUP>C to > 350<SUP>o</SUP>C. While typical epoxies offer good adhesion, the proposed copolymers offered herein are synthetically engineered to provide service over a wider thermal range with enhanced solvent resistance (sea water, jet fuel and solvents) and weatherability against UV and ozone. The backbone allows for cryogenic compliance, while the novel copolymer design offers inherently higher thermal stability relative to commodity structural adhesives. During Phase I, accelerated ageing studies will be carried out to verify peel and lap shear adhesion of > 10,000 psi up to 1,000 hours. Additional thermomechanical studies shall be carried out under cryogenic and elevated temperatures (-65ºF to 285ºF) for supersonic simulations and after soaking metal-to-appliqué peel specimens in boiling water and heated solvents.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Inflatable
Thermal Insulating Materials
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
General Public Outreach
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
JENTEK Sensors, Inc.
110-1 Clematis Avenue
Waltham, MA 02453-7013
(781) 642-9666

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Andrew Washabaugh JENTEK Sensors, Inc.
jentek@shore.net
110-1 Clematis Avenue
Waltham,  MA 01453-7013
(781) 642-9666

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Modern aircraft increasingly rely on composite components, due to their excellent material properties. However, fastening/joining and design methodologies in current use are artifacts of metallic aircraft component use and are not yet optimized for use with composites. Furthermore, limitations in our current ability to observe manufacturing quality and in-service damage evolution of composite structures may prevent designers from realizing their full potential. Current NDE practices are incapable of overcoming these limitations. Thus, a new framework and methodology is needed for high resolution imaging and tracking of manufacturing quality and damage evolution. The goal of this program is to enable assessment of the matrix, fiber, and bonding conditions for composites using a combination of detailed physics based models, high resolution imaging, and controlled loading sources to isolate the composite characteristic of interest. In Phase I we will focus on magnetic field sensing (i.e., eddy-current) methods that can be combined with structural analysis to enhance the diagnostic capabilities of these NDE methods. JENTEK and MR&D are well-positioned to deliver this methodology in the form of commercial software and NDE equipment. We will also work with a major aircraft OEM to maintain our focus on practical solutions to high priority needs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
If the program is successful, it will provide NASA with a framework in which a variety of NDE methods can deliver enhanced performance for manufacturing quality assessment and life management of composite components and bonded structures. This will be enabled by improving the understanding of the interactions between the incident energy associated with particular NDE methods and the composite constituents, including the use of thermal and mechanical loading sources.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Civilian aircraft designers will experience the same benefits in terms of being able to more fully utilize the capability of composite aircraft components to provide weight reductions, payload improvements and fuel efficiency. As composite component design, quality assessment and life management mature, composites will be increasingly integrated into automotive and transportation systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2737
(301) 294-5221

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
George Zhao
xzhao@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  AK 20855-2737
(301) 294-5232

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Ultrasonic guided wave nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are being used to detect flaws and damage in fracture critical structures such as composites. In order to provide early detection of aging and damage processes in composites, we propose to develop a "virtual inspection" simulation toolbox specifically for ultrasonic guided waves. This toolbox will be able to evaluate ultrasonic guided wave NDE methods for its feasibility as part of the design process for critical system components, and it would include modeling the changes in critical material properties as indicators of material aging and then quantifying the levels of detectability of these material properties with the guided wave NDE technique. This computational tool will be able to accurately model the interaction between the changes in the material properties and the probing energy of guided waves to allow the development of the inspection parameters needed for application on a particular structure.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Substantial budget expenditures and schedule delays are often required to develop and demonstrate effective NDE techniques for critical components not designed for inspection. To avoid such problems as NASA moves forward in the Constellation Program to develop the CEV, CLV, and follow-on spacecraft and habitat structures, it is essential to provide design tools that will enable rapid assessment of the feasibility of NDE methods as part of the design process for critical system components (thermal protection systems, pressure systems, composite structures, etc.). Computational NDE methodologies will help to predict the response from a variety of NDE methods (ultrasonic, radiographic, thermographic, electromagnetic, optical, etc.) in complex aerospace structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NDE and structural health monitoring is also important for many military and commercial systems such as aircraft, automobiles, trains, home appliances, nuclear reactors, etc. A computational NDE tool will help the maintenance staff and Original Equipment Manufactures (OEMs) for better design the structures and inspection practices to ensure the structure integrity. The success of such software toolbox will greatly benefit the NDE community for enhancing the structural safety while reducing the maintenance costs.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Artann Laboratories, Inc.
1753 Linvale Harbourton Road
Lamberville, NJ 08530-3302
(609) 883-0100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Armen Sarvazyan
armen@artannlabs.com
1753 Linvale Harbourton Rd.
Lambertville NJ,  NJ 08530-3302
(609) 333-0710

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The goal of the project is demonstration of the feasibility of Friction Stir Weld (FSW) assessment by novel Nonlinear Time Reversal Acoustic (TRA) method. Time reversal acoustic focusing provides the means to concentrate sound energy at any point in a material, inducing elastic nonlinear effects in the focal area. The level on nonlinearity depends on crack and defect presence and measurements of nonlinear effects in TRA focused wave are the basis of the proposed Nonlinear TRA NDE method. This method is especially sensitive to detection of kissing bond that is difficult to detect by other methods. The experimental setups for measurements of local nonlinearity in FSW will be developed and results of the measurements will be compared with the standard weld NDE methods including dye penetrant, radiographic and ultrasonic inspection.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The suggested work will lead to a simple, cost-effective technology and instrumentation for assessment of Friction Stir Weld (FSW). The developed method will be primary orientated to NASA needs and can be used for FSW control in production of Space Shuttle's gigantic External Tank. The developed method can be used by other airspace companies including: Boeing Delta II and Delta IV Expendable Launch Vehicles and the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket as for another NASA application.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed novel technology will have broad civilian applications for the quality control of Friction Stir Weld (FSW) and other kinds of welds. Friction welding is cost-effective method of joining highly dissimilar materials and geometries; it is a versatile process that had been successfully used in many industries. By assessment of the FSW quality, the life expectancy of the pars will be extended, replacement costs lowered and downtime reduced, higher production volume and increased capacity will be possible. Consumer based applications of the proposed method for FSW include as light and heavy automotive, electrical, chemical and civil engineering; pump, agricultural and construction equipment; electric motors; drilling, marine and printing industries. FSW produced components include air bag canisters, axle cases and tubes, drive shafts, drill pipes, tunneling rods, electrical connectors, hydraulic piston rods and cylinders, pump shafts, swivel pins, track rollers and turbo chargers. Materials which can be friction welded include nickel alloys, low and medium carbon, micro alloyed, case hardened, heat and corrosion resistant, nitriding and carburising steels, and titanium. Defense industry applications of the proposed method for FSW include assessment of armor plating for amphibious assault ships, and welding the wings and fuselage panels of the new Eclipse 500 aircraft from Eclipse Aviation.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Testing Facilities
Instrumentation
Production
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Metallics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fibertek, Inc.
510 Herndon Parkway
Herndon, VA 20170-5225
(703) 956-3646

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Shantanu Gupta
dmyer@fibertek.com
510 Herndon Parkway
Herndon,  VA 20170-5225
(703) 956-3646

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose a 1.5um fiber-optic pulsed coherent lidar as a highly effective sensor sub-system for airborne wake-vortex hazard detection. The proposed design is based on a recently developed platform at Fibertek, for fiber-optic pulsed coherent lidar capable of 6km range, and operating at high pulse rate to give high-resolution spatial map and circulation strength, characteristic of typical wake-vortex signatures. The proposed system uses all COTS 1.5um fiber-optic component technology and COTS high-speed digital electronics, to provide a cost-effective system, that is amenable to rapid transition for field testing and adoption.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
(1a) Ground-based wake vortex hazard monitoring at airport terminal area take-off/landing interval optimization (1b) Airborne wake-vortext hazard monitoring for pilot assistance, during landing in congested airports. (2) Wind-shear turbulence monitoring (3) Investigate & map atmospheric boundary layer dynamics for improved local weather scientific understanding, and local weather forecasting

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
(1) Wind vector sensor for aiding and/or extending Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight duration, for extended surveillance missions (2) Tracking of hazardous aerosol plume detection, for providing advance warning to affected entities.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Q-Peak, Inc.
135 South Road
Bedford, MA 01730-2355
(781) 275-9535

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Flint
flint@qpeak.com
135 South Rd
Bedford,  MA 01730-2355
(781) 275-9535

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has been tasked with supporting the development of key technologies to facilitate the evolution of the National Airspace System to NextGen, the Next Generation Air Transportation System. One of these key technologies is the detection of wake vortices generated by other aircraft. This is of particular concern during take-off and landing, both because the danger is particularly acute, and because of the large economic impact of having to widely space the aircraft. About $5 billion of revenue is lost each year due to delays and lower throughput in our nation's airports. Ground-based lidars have the ability to detect and track wake vortices, but mounting similar systems on aircraft would be prohibitively expensive. We propose to develop an intrinsically low-cost lidar that would be suitable for deployment on commercial airliners. Costs are kept low through an extremely simple design: a passively Q-switched single-frequency laser that uses a fiber delay-line in place of a local oscillator. The Phase I effort will also include a modeling task to explore detecting wake vortices using an on-axis lidar instead of imaging from the side. Since the primary flow components will be perpendicular to the lidar beam, we anticipate that looking for an increase in the width of the coherent return may prove to be the best approach.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications of coherent lidar relate to flight safety (clear air turbulence, wind shear) and Earth sensing (wind sensing for weather, as well as wind sensing for pollution and CO2 source/sink studies). Low-cost laser technology has much broader appeal to lasers for deep-space communication, automated docking, and DIAL.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA commercial applications of coherent lidar also relate to flight safety (clear air turbulence, wind shear) and to Earth sensing activities, but not from space. These include wind sensing for pollution tracking (especially if a pollution credit market develops) and for wind-farm site assessment. Low-cost laser technology has many applications including communication, materials processing, process control, and medical.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Optical
Photonics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Emerald Sky Technologies, LLC
6106 Hour Hand Court
Columbia, MD 21044-4702
(443) 745-4109

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steven Fritz
StevenFritz@fly-esky.com
6106 Hour Hand Court
Columbia,  MD 21044-4702
(443) 745-4109

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
eSky will develop specific crew state metrics based on the timeliness, tempo and accuracy of pilot inputs required by the H-mode Flight Control System (HFCS). Specific scenarios will be developed which define required inputs by the pilot and metrics of timeliness, tempo and accuracy will be developed for each required input. An existing HFCS simulator will be enhanced to support the full scenarios and crew state metric capture. Human subject testing will validate the stability of the metrics in normal situations and the responsiveness of the metrics to crew state degradation due to high workload. Strategies for continuous real-time function allocation to crew and automation will be developed. At the end of phase 1 crew state monitoring metrics will be at TRL 4/5. In phase 2 we will incorporate these metrics and strategies into the HFCS simulator and evaluate the usability and validity of these metrics and strategies using both workload and hypoxia as means of controlled crew state degradation. At the end of phase 2 metric-based function reallocation will be implemented in a collaborative flight control system ready for incorporation into a full motion simulator at TRL 5.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Crew state monitoring through performance-based metrics will be applicable to any manned flight, whether of aircraft or spacecraft. The metrics could be used for simple crew monitoring or embedded in a collaborative flight control system that bases assignment of specific functionality to crew or automation on the measured crew functional state. Specific applications include: 1. Orion crew monitoring on space flight missions 2. Space shuttle crew monitoring 3. Crew monitoring on any NASA aircraft 4. Enhancement of any Flight Management System on any NASA aircraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Crew state monitoring through performance-based metrics will be applicable to any manned flight, whether of aircraft or spacecraft. The metrics could be used for simple crew monitoring or embedded in a collaborative flight control system that bases assignment of specific functionality to crew or automation on the measured crew functional state. Specific applications include: 1. Private spacecraft such as the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne 2. General aviation Flight Management Systems 3. General aviation collaborative flight control systems 4. Air transport Flight Management Systems 5. Military aircraft Flight Management Systems 6. Light Sport Aircraft 7. Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles operator workstations

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Intelligence
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ingenium Technologies Corporation
4216 Maray Drive
Rockford, IL 61107-4970
(815) 399-8803

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Foskett
Jim.Foskett@IngeniumTech.com
2902 Spring Creek Road
Rockford,  IL 61107-1062
(815) 315-0741

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A feasibility analysis of adding a second modality to pilot/Air Traffic Control (ATC) communications. The real time availability of text in Air Traffic Control ground systems and pilot displays promises improvements in the safety and efficiency of pilot/ATC communication. The improvements would be especially applicable in high density/high workload environments such as low altitude terminal operations(<10,000ft) and airport ground operations. The phase 1 evaluation consists of the design of a conceptual systems model of the human-technology interface, an assessment of independent variables that affect information processing skills and a test of dual modality communications to show the impact of a second modality on task performance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Safety statistics show that 1 runway incursion or close call occurs each day in the US alone. In addition, air traffic volume is reaching a saturation point putting a strain on the system and its users. Long lines on the tarmac, wasted fuel and increasing congestion that threaten safety and efficiency. The technology addressed in this proposal will fill a gap in the Trajectory Based Operations by providing a system and method for unambiguous communication between pilots and Air Traffic Controllers in high density environments. For pilots who don't speak English as their first language this will enhance safety and efficiency of communication by significantly improving understanding.Radio frequency congestion will be reduced for all ATC end users by simplifying or significantly reducing the need for readbacks.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Personal, business, combat and industrial applications where the voice/audio signal is affected or compromised by factors such as noise, multiple rapid transmissions by multiple speakers on one radio frequency or by the psycho cognitive limitations of the receivers of such information. For example, this application could be applied in medivac where the high noise environments of helicopter cabins makes it difficult for the reception and transmission of auditory transmissions.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Pilot Support Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2737
(301) 294-5221

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Christine Bredfeldt
cbredfeldt@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  MD 20855-2737
(301) 294-4763

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
As flightdeck equipment becomes more sophisticated and complex, operations become significantly more cognitively demanding. When tasks demands exceed the operator's available cognitive resources, potentially costly errors occur. A task mitigation system that is able to monitor the task and the operator's functional state (OFS) and implement task mitigation strategies before an operator becomes overloaded could significantly reduce errors and allow operators to work more efficiently. This proposal describes the development of a closed-loop task mitigation system that uses advanced regression techniques to identify the relationships between the OFS, the physiological measurements, the mission-related context, and the task mitigation strategies. To maximize accuracy, we use task analysis to develop a computational cognitive model of the planned mission profile, which is then used to train the regression model. The computational cognitive model describes the OFS as a continuous function along four dimensions: executive function, spatial working memory, verbal working memory and attention. The task analysis is also used to develop task mitigation strategies for each psychological dimension that assist the operator with task switching, maintaining awareness of multiple task "threads", and performing cognitively demanding tasks. Finally, the task mitigation strategies enable the system to dynamically allocate tasks among multiple operators.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research is in direct support of NASA's mission in multiple areas. The research supports the mission of the Aviation Safety group, by providing a system that identifies cognitive states that are likely to lead to operational errors and aids operators to optimize performance and minimize risk. In addition, the proposed research is directly applicable to work currently underway in Operator State Assessment. Finally, the proposed system could be useful for both training and operations of air traffic controllers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The task mitigation system will be applicable in any environment, military or civilian, where human operators perform complex tasks over long periods of time, including UAVs, air traffic controllers, pilots and heavy equipment operators. The proposed work provides the following key benefits: 1) a closed loop system that monitors OFS, predicts performance decrements, selects the appropriate task mitigation strategy, and implements the task mitigation to maintain operator performance at optimal levels; and 2) the development of a task analysis process suitable for developing initial continuous models of OFS and identifying appropriate task mitigation strategies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Pilot Support Systems
Computer System Architectures
Human-Computer Interfaces
Mission Training

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Continuum Dynamics, Inc.
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing, NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jefrfrey Keller
jeff@continuum-dynamics.com
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing,  NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To improve aviation safety with anticipated growth in capacity, it is necessary to develop flight control technologies that enable safe operations as anomalous conditions occur. These developments are particularly important to reduce fatal loss of control accidents due to aircraft degradation and abrupt aerodynamic changes including upsets. It is necessary to develop methods to identify and characterize anomalies in flight, as well as to estimate the impacts on the flight envelope and the ability to effect control forces for recovery and/or flight planning to achieve safe landing. An approach to identify anomalies including aerodynamic upsets based on model-based fault detection methods will be combined with physics-based models to assess the impact on the aircraft flight envelope and controllability. These tools will permit off-line analysis and will facilitate the development of on-board guidance and control algorithms to support NASA goals for greater aircraft resiliency during adverse flight conditions. In Phase I, development and demonstration of a generalized system architecture to identify and assess the effects of aircraft anomalies will be performed, which builds upon previous work toward model-based aircraft upset detection. Phase I demonstrations will include simulation evaluation for a generic transport aircraft and test demonstration for a small unmanned aircraft.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary outcome of this research and development will be design and simulation tools to develop detection algorithms for aircraft anomalies and to assess the impacts of these anomalies on the aircraft controllability and recovery capability, including intelligent flight guidance for potentially degraded aircraft. These methods will form the basis of design toolbox for supporting development of aircraft resilient control and on-board guidance algorithms. Potential NASA applications include development of aircraft anomaly diagnostics and flight directors, which may be integrated with resilient flight control demonstration technology. These technologies support NASA Aviation Safety Program objectives for safe operations during adverse conditions and aircraft anomalies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to improving safety of existing and future commercial aircraft systems, the results of this research and development will also benefit general aviation, in particular for aircraft with modern avionics systems. Detection and assessment of a subset of aircraft anomalies and upset conditions may potentially be performed using reduced, low-cost sensor packages. This spin-off technology application may be incorporated into a retrofittable (portable) system, thus permitting development of a stand-alone avionics package that may have broad application beneficial to all general aviation aircraft.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Pilot Support Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 3000
Woburn, MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jovan Boskovic
Jovan.Boskovic@ssci.com
500 West Cummings Park Suite 3000
Woburn,  MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SSCI proposes to develop and test a framework referred to as the ADVANCE (Algorithm Design and Validation for Adaptive Nonlinear Control Enhancement), within which we plan to perform a comparison study of the state-of-the-art adaptive flight control algorithms on two challenging testbeds: (i) a small tailsitter unmanned aerial vehicle that is characterized by highly uncertain nonlinear dynamics, and (ii) F/A-18 aircraft under wing damage. The results of this study should give rise to a set of recommendations and guidelines regarding the use, tuning and implementation of different advanced nonlinear adaptive control algorithms to problems in flight control in the presence of large modeling uncertainties. Based on this study, we also propose to develop the ADVANCE algorithms and techniques as the most suitable combination of those that represent the state-of-the-art in nonlinear adaptive flight control. This combination will focus on retaining the most favorable features of the existing algorithms, while minimizing their disadvantages and unfavorable interactions. Specific Phase I tasks will include: (i) Problem formulation; (ii) Testbed modeling and simulation development; (iii) Simulation testing of flight control algorithms; (iv) Performance evaluation & trade study. Phase II will include further enhancement and development of the proposed ADVANCE algorithms and comprehensive testing of methods of interest through pilot-in-the-loop simulations of F/A-18 aircraft, and flight testing of the tailsitter UAV. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Prof. Jonathan How) and Boeing Phantom Works (James Urnes, Sr.) will provide technical support under the project.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Design of effective adaptive flight control systems capable of accommodating highly nonlinear vehicle dynamics and large uncertainties is fundamental to the future advancement of aircraft development and design. For most aerospace applications nonlinear dynamics and uncertainty can either be inherent to the airframe design or induced from flight sustained upsets, damage and/or external hazards. Hence the proposed technique will find wide applications in flight control design for both commercial and military aerospace vehicles. In addition, effective adaptive control designs are directly applicable to GNC problems in space exploration.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Efficient adaptive control system designs are applicable to a wide variety of engineering systems including general Unmanned Systems (aerial, ground, surface, underwater), robotics, automotive industry, process control, and power systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Techno-Sciences, Inc.
11750 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300
Beltsville, MD 20705-3194
(240) 790-0600

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gaurav Bajpai
bajpai@technosci.com
11750 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300
Beltsville,  MD 20705-3194
(240) 790-0600

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed project will develop and deliver a software system that integrates tools required for a complete analysis of loss-of-control incidents. The system will include a graphical user interface that provides easy access to symbolic and numerical computing tools that support aircraft modeling, nonlinear dynamic analysis and control analysis; sophisticated data base management; and visualization. We also propose and will implement an innovative methodology and associated computer tools for analysis and control synthesis in the context of upset prevention and recovery for unimpaired and impaired aircraft. Our approach will address: aerodynamic modeling of aircraft operating outside of the normal flight envelope, multi-mode operation of aircraft, automated assembly of analytical and simulation models – including real time models, analytical methods and tools for identifying conditions for departure from controlled flight and identification of 'safe' operating states, and analytical methods and tools for identifying the set of recoverable states and associated recovery strategies. The goal is to provide easy to use, verifiable design software to improve commercial flight safety.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposal will significantly advance NASA's Aviation Safety Programs technical goals of developing on-board flight envelope investigation for unimpaired and impaired aircraft alike. In particular, the technology proposed is closely linked to Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control project's goal of "Stability, maneuverability and safe landings in presence of adverse conditions". The proposed technology will go a long way in making not just commercial aircraft safer but it has the potential to improve the understanding of flight dynamics and control including that required for space shuttle safety.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary users of the proposed tools will be commercial aircraft manufacturers where air transport must provide improved capabilities to enhance passenger safety and mission performance, and commercial airline operators and manufactures where improving safety is an increasing imperative as air passenger miles expand. The secondary market is the Department of Defense agencies. We expect that the secondary market may be the first adopter of proposed technology. The proposed research addresses the need to reduce accidents caused by loss-of-control in flight, the leading cause that accounted for 59% of the fatal transport aircraft accidents in the past ten years.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Impact Technologies, LLC
200 Canal View Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14623-2893
(585) 627-1923

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Roemer
mike.roemer@impact-tek.com
200 Canal View Boulevard
Rochester,  NY 14623-2893
(585) 424-1990

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Impact Technologies, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, proposes to develop and demonstrate an innovative flight envelope estimation and protection system for aircraft under damage upset conditions or severe flight variations. Through the integration of advanced fault detection (IVHM) algorithms, real-time system identification of the damage/faulted aircraft and flight envelop mapping, real-time decision support can be executed autonomously for improving damage tolerance and flight recoverability. The core tasks to complete of this proposed workscope include: 1) Development of a strong-tracking health identification algorithm for assessing the dynamics and performance limitation of impaired aircraft; 2) Development of the adaptive flight envelope estimation process; 3) Development of the envelope protection algorithm based on adaptive neural networks that can learn the generated online dynamic models; and 4) Demonstration of the proposed technologies under realistic flight control actuator and propulsion fault conditions. A core innovation of this program is the use of the on-line, adaptive learning neural networks that are capable of generating the dynamic models and operational envelop in real-time, which can then be used to estimate limits on the controller commands while preventing envelope exceedances. The developed techniques will be demonstrated in Phase I using an integrated aircraft model that uses the NASA MAPSS propulsion model and Generic Transport Model (GTM), with eventual demonstration using the NASA Flight Simulator at NASA Langley.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The successful completion of the proposed work will substantially improve the performance, reliability, and survivability of the general aviation (GA) aircraft. Potential applications of the software include design and testing of Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC), aircraft IVHM, Crew Exploration Vehicle, Reusable Launch Vehicles, Unmanned Air Vehicles and future generation general aviation platforms.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential commercial use of the developed technologies is broad. Examples of key customers that could benefit through use of the developed technologies include: JSF, military and commercial fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, and high-performance land vehicles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Optimal Synthesis, Inc.
95 First Street, Suite 240
Los Altos, CA 94022-2777
(650) 559-8585

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
P. K. Menon
menon@optisyn.com
95 First Street, Suite 240
Los Altos,  CA 94022-2777
(650) 559-8585

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Development of a robust nonlinear guidance law for planning and executing the flare-touchdown maneuver for impaired aircraft under adverse wind conditions is proposed. The approach employs estimated operational envelope of the damaged aircraft and ambient winds to plan flap deployment schedule and the flare-touchdown maneuver. The algorithm will also provide guidance for precise execution of the terminal de-crab maneuver in the presence of crosswinds. The guidance law will be formulated in terms of aircraft attitude components to enable direct coupling with the autopilot or for providing pilot guidance through the flight director. Phase I research will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed guidance law in an aircraft simulation. Robustness to unmodeled dynamics and uncertainties will be demonstrated. Phase II research will develop standalone guidance law implementation in a real-time operating system for NASA-specified aircraft model. This implementation will then be coupled with a high-fidelity manned simulation to assess its performance under realistic operational scenarios. Algorithms and software developed under the proposed research will be provided to NASA at the end of Phase II research. Phase III work will focus on flight test evaluation of the robust flare guidance law.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research will contribute towards NASA's Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research will develop a robust guidance law for impaired aircraft. This guidance law is also useful for use under normal operating conditions. Algorithms and software developed under the proposed SBIR work will contribute significantly towards improving the safety of military, commercial and general aviation aircraft operations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation
9950 Wakeman Drive
Manassas, VA 20110-2702
(703) 369-3633

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Antonio Abad
aabad@aurora.aero
1 Broadway, 12th Floor
Cambridge,  MA 02142-1189
(617) 500-7048

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a flare planning logic that would provide aircraft guidance during this critical phase of flight. The algorithms that Aurora seeks to leverage address the reachability problem in the fields of Optimal Control and Hybrid Systems. Two competing technical approaches will beconsidered; Aurora collectively refers to them as "Safety Verification-based algorithms."To this end, Aurora proposes the innovation of applying a suitable version of these algorithms to the design of a flare maneuver guidance and planning logic. The planner will be capable of dynamically producing a flare maneuver guaranteed not to violate the aircraft flight envelope and other stipulated constraints. The planner will meet the robustness requirements stipulated in the topic solicitation; namely, it will apply to both impeded and unimpeded aircraft, and it will operate under significant weather disturbances. The main technical challenge in developing the planning logic is extending and applying the chosen control algorithms to 6-DOF aircraft dynamics models under the required variety of operating conditions. The ultimate goal of the Phase 1 effort is to explore the feasibility of applying Safety Verification-based optimal control algorithms to an appropriately sophisticated model of the aircraft dynamics during the flare maneuver.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aurora envisions two related NASA Commercial Applications resulting from the proposed innovation, both of which align with NASA's Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control (IRAC) project. First, the planning logic is envisioned as a separate, specialized module tailored specifically to the flare phase of flight, thus fulfilling the multi-disciplinary IRAC project goal for one flight phase. In a broader context, the success demonstration of applying Safety Verification-based algorithms to this difficult flight regime would spur similar efforts and thus, applications to many other flight regimes.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aurora envisions two possible non-NASA Commercial Applications resulting from the proposed innovation. The first, and immediate application of the planner is to UAV Automatic Take-off and Landing (ATOL) systems on Aurora'sfleets of UAVs. A second, and broader application is based on the opportunity of becoming experts in developing Safety Verification-based algorithms and their application to both manned and unmanned systems. An example application in the manned systems domain is the extension of the planner to autolander systems.For unmanned systems, Auroraviews this effort as a technical opportunity that will eventually assist in improving UAV safety and reliability.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Attitude Determination and Control
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Impact Technologies, LLC
200 Canal View Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14623-2893
(585) 627-1923

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Liang Tang
liang.tang@impact-tek.com
200 Canal View Boulevard
Rochester,  NY 14623-2893
(585) 424-1990

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Impact Technologies, LLC in collaboration with Wright State University and Pratt & Whitney, propose to develop innovative methods to differentiate sensor failure from actual system or component failure for advanced propulsion systems. In sharp contrast to many conventional methods which deal with either sensor failure or component failure but not both, our method considers sensor failure and component failure under one systematic and unified framework. The proposed solution consists of two main components: a bank of real-time nonlinear adaptive fault diagnostic estimators for residual generation and a Transferable Belief Model (TBM) based component for residual evaluation. By employing a nonlinear adaptive learning architecture, the presented approach is capable of directly dealing with nonlinear engine models and nonlinear faults without the need of linearization. Fault sensitivity and robustness to modeling uncertainty is enhanced by several important techniques including adaptive reference nonlinear engine model, adaptive diagnostic thresholds, and TBM based residual evaluation method. Software modules will be developed and integrated into the NASA C-MAPSS engine model for performance evaluation. A subset of core algorithms will be implemented and used in a hardware-in-the-loop demonstration under dSPACE environment to justify a Technology Readiness Level of 4-5 at the conclusion of Phase I.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The successful completion of the proposed work will lead to improvements in the safe operations of commercial and general aviation (GA) aircraft and address the goals of the NASA Aviation Safety program. The proposed fault diagnostic technologies with an emphasis on sensor/component failure isolation will be directly applicable to Propulsion IVHM, Crew Exploration Vehicle, Reusable Launch Vehicles, Unmanned Air Vehicles and future generation general aviation platforms. It will lead to benefits in the form of improved reliability, maintainability, and survivability of safety-critical aerospace systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential commercial use of the developed technologies is broad. Examples of key customers that could benefit through use of the developed technologies include: commercial and military aircraft, unmanned combat air vehicles, JSF, future combat systems, land and marine propulsion systems, industrial actuation systems, and robotic applications. The aero propulsion domain alone has thousands of potential systems to address with this technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Impact Technologies, LLC
200 Canal View Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14623-2893
(585) 627-1923

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Myra Torres
myra.torres@impact-tek.com
200 Canal View Boulevard
Rochester,  NY 14623-2893
(585) 424-1990

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Impact Technologies proposes to develop a real-time prognostic and fault/failure accommodation system of critical electric power system components including power converters and electro-mechanical drives for the aerospace and aeronautical industry. The innovation of project is focused on the integration of emerging prognostic technologies with fault tolerant methodologies to improve system reliability and mission readiness for NASA's next generation electrical power systems. The proposed concept will utilize incipient fault detection techniques to provide longer predicted horizons prior to failures, and time to trigger the appropriate reconfiguration scheme. Impact Technologies' approach uses fault detection circuits and algorithms to analyze data from several sources including electrical and environmental measurements, model estimates, and usage conditions. Up-to-date assessments of the electrical system health and remaining useful life of critical components will be made possible via an on-board embedded processing system, which continuously updates prognostic models with sensed data and predicts the best fault accommodation strategy to meet mission objectives. The proposed electrical system fault prognosis and accommodation approach will be demonstrated with a Motor/Generator/Drive test bench adapted for use in this program and with data from the modern aerospace power system and electromechanical actuators.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Reliability assessment and diagnostic methods for power electronics device and actuator will increase safety and controllability for Crew Exploration Vehicles, Reusable Launch Vehicles, Unmanned Air Vehicles, and future generation of general aviation platforms. It will lead to benefits in the form of improved reliability, maintainability, and survivability of safety-critical aerospace systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential commercial use of the developed technologies is broad. Examples of key customers that could benefit through use of the developed technologies include: unmanned combat air vehicles, JSF, future combat systems, commercial airlines, land and marine propulsion systems, industrial actuation systems, and robotic applications. The aero propulsion domain alone has thousands of potential systems to address with this technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Solar
Feed System Components
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Highly-Reconfigurable
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luna Innovations Incorporated
1 Riverside Circle, Suite 400
Roanoke, VA 24016-4962
(540) 769-8400

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vladimir Kochergin
submissions@lunainnovations.com
3157 State Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6604
(540) 769-8400

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Health management of composite airframe components is essential for safety and reliability of future aircrafts. It reduces the risk of catastrophic failures and reduces operating costs. Luna Innovations proposes to develop a revolutionary airframe health management system on the basis of an all-fiber optic ultrasonic structural health monitoring system (SHM) and accurate prognostics algorithms. The key component of SHM system is a highly multiplexible transducer generating ultrasonic waves in the predefined locations of the optical fiber. Using such a technique, 10s of transducers and 1000s of sensors can be placed on the optical fiber embedded or surface-mounted to the airframe component thereby providing unmatched multiplexing capability. Origination and propagation of defects will be retrieved with high spatial resolution thus providing a basis for an accurate estimation of a component's Remaining Useful Life. During the Phase I, efforts will focus on demonstrating feasibility of an efficient ultrasound generation with the proposed fiber optic transducer and selecting appropriate prognostics algorithms. In Phase II, sensors, transducers will continue to be refined and will undergo extensive testing and validation. By the end of Phase II, the proposed health management system will reach TRL 5. In Phase III, Luna will commercialize the developed system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Due to the unique benefits (high accuracy, lightweight, cost-effectiveness, EMI-immunity and harsh-environment compatibility) over competing technologies, the proposed airframe health management system is expected to find a number of NASA applications. Besides the health management of composite and metallic airframe components, the proposed system is expected to find applications in structural health monitoring and health management of aircraft engine, fuselage and other parts. This is due to a proven harsh environment compatibility of the proposed sensors and a predicted harsh environment compatibility of the proposed actuators. In each of these applications the proposed health management system is expected to provide a significant impact on important characteristics such as safety, reliability of the structural components, and minimization of maintenance/replacement cost. This, in turn, will cause a significant impact on the cost, safety and reliability of future NASA missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA applications, the proposed all-fiber optic ultrasonic sensing system (the heart of proposed health management system) can be potentially applied to such fields as health monitoring and management of structural components including naval vehicles, civil structures (buildings and bridges), power plants (wind turbines, stuck liners). However, the most promising market for the proposed system is believed to be the structural health monitoring and management of military airframe and engine components.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sentient Corporation
850 Energy Drive
Idaho Falls, ID 83401-1503
(802) 861-6300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nate Bolander
nbolander@sentientscience.com
850 Energy Drive
Idaho Falls,  ID 83401-1503
(208) 522-8560

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal addresses the integration of physics-based damage propagation models with diagnostic measures of current state of health in a mathematically rigorous method for the determination of remaining useful life. The principle goal of the proposed Phase I research is the investigation of issues associated with the integration of three independently developed algorithms (physics-based damage progression, diagnostics, and model updating architecture) in a single functioning system. Of particular interest is the ability of the proposed architecture to adequately represent the uncertainty associated with both diagnostic state estimation and loading conditions, and the propagation of such uncertainties to the remaining useful life prediction. The integrated prognostic system will be demonstrated using bearing damage (spallation) propagation models coupled with vibration derived diagnostic measures of spall severity obtained from in house testing. Following V&V of the baseline component-level prognostic system, extension of the existing technology towards support of subsystem-level (multi-model) prognostics will be pursued.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed general-purpose set of reusable tools and code will substantially reduce the time and cost of developing on-board prognostics for new aircraft and spacecraft health management systems, while helping to ensure robust and accurate performance of the final system. Any system that uses sensor-based diagnostics to indicate state and models to predict fault progression (which includes most prognostics and health management systems) would benefit from the proposed toolset. This includes vehicle health management systems in spacecraft, launch vehicles, propulsion systems, and similar applications. Potential NASA applications are many, and include the Shuttle program and its successors, satellite health management systems, and exploration programs. Both orbiters and planetary rovers have components that do or could utilize autonomous health management technologies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed toolset will have extensive military and commercial applications. Again, any system that uses sensor-based diagnostics to indicate state and models to predict fault progression would benefit from the proposed toolset. Our vision for this technology is to develop a complete solution for most prognostics and health management applications, including the onboard framework and software components. System integrators or PHM/VHM developers will only need to add the application specific signal processing/diagnostics algorithms and fault progression model to rapidly assemble a complete prognostic capability. Sentient will strive to eventually make the architecture the de facto standard for prognostics by utilizing open interfaces, publishing all standards, and providing robust plug-and-play components. Aircraft and specifically propulsion systems are currently leading the way in implementation of new prognostic health monitoring technologies. Sentient is already working with the JSF program office, DARPA, and OEMs to develop new PHM technologies for this application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Structural Modeling and Tools
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Computer System Architectures
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Database Development and Interfacing
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Cornerstone Research Group, Inc.
2750 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton, OH 45440-3638
(937) 320-1877

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Christopher Hemmelgarn
hemmelgarncd@crgrp.net
2750 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638
(937) 320-1877

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Cornerstone Research Group Inc. (CRG) proposes to advance the state of the art in composite health management through refinement of an existing technology developed by CRG called Reflexive Composites. Reflexive Composites are the current state of the art in health management integrating piezoelectric structural health monitoring, healable polymer matrix composites, and intelligent controls delivering highly aware structures capable of identifying location and magnitude of damage with 1/16" spatial resolution. Reflexive Composites respond to damage with a healing cycle capable of restoring up to 90% of mechanical performance post failure. CRG proposes to advance the state of the art in health management through the development of a next generation control system capable of analyzing structural health monitoring (SHM) data and determining the appropriate healing cycle, identifying the type of failure in the composite, make predictions to the loss in mechanical performance, generating custom healing cycles based on failure type, healing, and making predictions of restored mechanical strength. The results of this analysis will allow the vehicle user to make any necessary mission adjustment to ensure vehicle survivability with the damaged structures on the vehicle.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Supporting NASA's IVHM Program, this project's technologies directly address requirements for integrated vehicle health monitoring as well as prediction models for remaining mechanical performance of aircraft systems and sub-systems for all vehicles, primarily air vehicle systems. This project's technologies offer a highly aware structure to identify and repair damage in flight as well as reduced preventative maintenance through scheduled active scanning capabilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This project's technologies developed for NASA systems would directly apply to systems operated by other government and commercial enterprises. Government systems that would derive the same benefits would include but not be limited both manned and unmanned air vehicles, ground vehicles, and marine vehicles operated by Army, Navy, and Air Force. This technology's attributes for damage identification and repair should yield a high potential for private sector commercialization for commercial air vehicles and high-end automobiles by companies such as Boeing, Vought, Spirit, and Mercedes Benz.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patz Materials & Technologies
4968 Industrial Way
Benicia, CA 94510-1006
(707) 748-7577

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nick Patz
nickpatz@patzmandt.com
4968 Industrial Way
Benicia,  CA 94510-1006
(707) 748-7577

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
As the use of composite materials on commercial airlines grows the technology of the composites must grow with it. Presently the efficiency gained by the utilization of core materials on composite structures can not be implemented into commercial aviation primary structures due to the poor impact performance of commercially available core materials. Patz Materials and Technologies proposes to develop a new multifunctional composite core material for airframe primary structures. The new composite core material will combine high impact performance with low weight, high acoustical absorption and high mechanical strength to greatly improve the structural efficiency of future commercial airframes.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The cost per weight of material placed into space is astronomical. The creation of stronger lighter core materials could significantly reduce the weight of a structure, sub structure and even the launch vehicle enabling higher payload capacities less fuel consumed and less overall cost to produce the structure.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial and Military Aerospace: Increasing the strength of core material will lend itself to the application of cored fuselages. Transportation Industry: Lowering the weight of a ground transportation vehicle such as a "big rig" trailer or even a commercial automobile would reduce fuel consumption and increase efficiency. Marine: Both commercial and military naval vessels have the same efficiency versus weight problem that plagues the other transportation industries reducing the weight of naval vehicles could

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Shape Change Technologies
1731 Hendrix Avenue
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-3316
(805) 312-5665

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Peter Jardine
jardine@shapechange.com
1731 Hendrix Ave
Thousand Oaks,  CA 91360-3316
(805) 312-5665

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Shape Change Technologies (SCT) has pioneered the use of Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis (SHS) to manufacture open celled, porous TiNi. Recently, we have been able to demonstrate the shape memory effect in these foams, which is a unique capability. Unlike solid, monolithic TiNi, the open-celled foam structure allows for very rapid response times when immersed in fluids, such as hot water or hot air. The SHS process makes net shape components, and so the cost of the tube can be dramatically reduced, and can have features introduced into the end of the tube to allow for simple torque transfer into a structure. Thus, in developing a foam torque tube using SHS, all of the key obstacles to its incorporation into existing aerostructures can be resolved, while preserving the key benefits of a lightweight, solid-state structure.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of porous foam TiNi torsional actuators fits into a niche of a large torque, large strain, fast response, solid state actuator. Our initial thoughts on NASA applications are to introduce these into new NASA concepts, such as in "morphing" UAVs, or such as the concept vehicles where wing twist can be used to control flexible wing structures. In addition to aircraft, the torsional actuators can also be used for deployment of booms, both for deploying sensors in aircraft but also in spacecraft where the lightweight, minimal part count actuators could be heated electrically. For next generation shuttles, where the actuators must also be space qualified, this type of actuator to control wing twist, nacelle structures or ancillary aircraft structures would be of great benefit.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications take two forms, one is introduction of these tubes to control variable nacelle structures, for example in Boeings new concept. More aerodynamically efficient structures via actuation control can also be introduced into windmills and turbines for more efficient energy generation. Light weight torsional actuators can also find application in assisting the disabled, for example as a lift device, as the cost of the device could be reduced to levels similar for hydraulic actuators but with less bulk. If the cost can be reduced sufficiently , this SME technology can be introduced within the broader cast of SME actuators now being introduced into the vehicle fleet.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Kinematic-Deployable
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Boston Applied Technologies, Inc.
6F Gill Street
Woburn, MA 01801-1721
(781) 935-2800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kewen Li
kkli@bostonati.com
6F Gill Street
Woburn,  MA 01801-1721
(781) 935-2800

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced high-temperature sensor technology and bonding methods are of great interests in designing and developing advanced future aircraft. Current state-of-the-art high temperature strain sensors are made of wires or thin film deposited by PVD on shims and then welded or glued onto strainable member, which is suffering the disadvantages such as creep, relaxation hysteresis and a limited range of operational temperatures. In this proposal, Boston Applied Technologies Incorporated (BATi) proposes to develop a novel high temperature strain gauge system through direct deposition technique. The strain gauge material features lower temperature coefficient, high structural stability and resistance to oxidation at high temperature. A temperature compensation circuit is employed in this design to minimize the effect of temperature change. Moreover, the insulating coating and protective coating are deposited by the same direct deposition technique to secure the accurate strain measurements on various hot structures, and making the whole system in a high efficient and low cost manner.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development effort of this program will directly contribute to NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program (FAP). This technique will provide a viable and promising solution in developing advanced high temperature sensors in measuring strain of structural components at elevated temperatures, which will enable the design and development of advanced future aircraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Successful development of high temperature strain gauge has wide application in both commercial and military industries. The high temperature strain gauge can be used to monitor the leading edges of hypersonic vehicles or gas turbine blades working under high temperature (up to1000 oC), thus provide important information for system design and safety evaluation.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Particle and Fields

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Materials Research and Design
300 E. Swedesford Road
Wayne, PA 19087-1858
(610) 964-9000

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Sullivan
brian.sullivan@m-r-d.com
300 E. Swedesford Road
Wayne,  PA 19087-1858
(610) 964-6131

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Future hypersonic vehicles will utilize thermal protection system (TPS) designs and propulsion system components that are capable of experiencing high temperatures within oxidative environments during their operation. These TPS and propulsion system components will include high temperature ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), such as C/SiC and SiC/SiC. Both hot structure control surfaces and hot wall propulsion system components are two examples of CMCs for which prototype parts have thus far been fabricated and subjected to mechanical performance and/or durability testing. Mechanical and thermal performance of these CMC components will benefit from low part count, integrally fabricated designs. In integrally fabricated designs, the reinforcement preforms have included 3D woven construction. The advantages of these designs include the elimination of the need for post-fabrication mechanical attachment as well as the higher interlaminar properties offered by the through thickness paths of the fibers within the 3D preform architectures. The specific innovations MR&D is proposing in this Phase I SBIR program are the following: 1)Extend the capabilities of an existing MR&D 3D preform design code to include material property calculations; 2)Automatically link the MR&D 3D preform design code to provide 3D solid model images of the 3D preform designs using the TexGen imaging freeware code, and 3)Calibrate the completed code specifically for 3D CMC materials through fabrication, imaging and mechanical property measurements.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology developed here will directly support the design of existing and future NASA space exploration vehicles utilizing CMC materials as hot structure control surfaces and hot wall propulsion system components. Proposed CMC TPS elements, ranging from thick leading edges to doubly-curved acreage TPS panels, to hot structure control surfaces, will all benefit from the proposed program, if successful. Hot structure propulsion system components, such as turbojet transition ducts, will also benefit from the proposed effort. Additionally, the preform design and CMC property prediction code developed in the Phase I program, if successful, may support the development of any hot structure materials used on the Crew Exploration Vehicle and subsequent airframes required for the Mission to Mars.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology proposed in the Phase I program will also be of direct interest to the Department of Defense (DOD) to support the development of CMC scramjets, hypersonic missiles, and maneuvering reentry bodies. The results are also expected to be of direct interest to programs including the USAF Common Aero Vehicle, and the DARPA Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Structural Modeling and Tools
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hyper Tech Research, Inc.
1275 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212-1155
(614) 481-8050

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Matt Rindfleisch
mrindfleisch@hypertechresearch.com
1275 Kinnear Rd.
Columbus,  OH 43212-1155
(614) 481-8050

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The development of magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting wires makes possible the potential to have much lighter weight superconducting stator and rotor coils for heavy aircraft motors and generators than with any other metal or ceramic superconductor. The MgB2 superconductor can be cooled to 20 K by liquid hydrogen fuel or conductively with a cyrocooler. The lighter weight coils, especially in the stator, will enable a lighter weight motor/generator. In a NASA SBIR Phase I and Phase II program we want to develop low AC loss MgB2 superconductors for the stators of synchronous motors or generators. For turbo-electric aircraft propulsion systems, it is desirable to have very light weight superconducting wires that can operate at greater than 1.5 T field and 500 Hz electrical frequency with input power between 10 and 100 kW. This SBIR Phase I aims to design, fabricate, and characterize AC-tolerant superconductors with a targeted loss budget less than 10 W/kA-m. This will be accomplished by reducing the hysteretic losses in MgB2 superconductors by fabricating wires with very small filaments, reducing the eddy current component of AC losses in MgB2 superconductors, and characterizing the transport current and AC losses of MgB2 wires.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Besides stator and rotor coils, magnesium diboride superconductors can benefit NASA applications for many applications where light weight power components are required such as cables, generators, motors, transformers, inductors, and power conditioning equipment. Other magnet applications that magnesium diboride wires can be considered for are magnetic shielding in space applications, ADR coils, magnetic bearings, actuators, MHD magnets, and magnetic launch devices.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Manufacturers of large electrical systems desire to increase the efficiency, and decrease the size and weight of their systems in order to reduce costs. Presently manufacturers of transformers, motors, generators, fault current limiters, transmission cables, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems are pursuing superconductor wires to achieve these objectives. To make major cost improvements with superconducting systems, the barriers have been the higher cost of cooling at liquid helium temperature (4 K) for traditional metallic superconductors and the high wire cost for ceramic high temperature superconductors at 20-30 K temperatures. Low cost MgB2 superconductor wires operating at 4 25 K can overall lower the upfront and ongoing operational costs of superconducting systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Superconductors and Magnetic

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Claytec, Inc.
5901 E. Sleepy Hollow Lane
East Lansing, MI 48823-9706
(517) 862-3928

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joel Dulebohn
jidulebohn@comcast.net
5901 East Sleepy Hollow Ln
East Lansing,  MI 48823-9706
(517) 388-7321

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Low-cost, environmentally compatible synthesis methods are used to prepare silicate nanoparticles with surface areas, surface polarity and hierarchical lamellar and mesoporous structures ideally suited as barrier and reinforcing agents for epoxy and polyimide thermoset polymers for use in next generation air transport systems (NGATS) and related aerospace vehicles. Unlike organoclays, which require temperature-sensitive organic modification for dispersion in polymer matrices, the new nanoparticles require no organic surface modification to achieve compatibility in the polymer matrix. Thus, thermoset nano-composites made from Claytec's purely inorganic nanoparticles exhibit superior thermal and oxidative stability, in addition to improved strength, stiffness and toughness. The technical objective of the proposal is to provide silicate nanoparticles that will improve substantially the thermal and oxidative stability properties, as well as the mechanical properties, of epoxy and polyimide polymers without the need for organic surface modifiers to achieve particle dispersion in the polymer matrix. The specific tasks associated with the proposed research project are (i) the synthesis and characterization of lamellar and mesoporous silicate nanoparticle suitable as barrier and reinforcing agents, respectively (ii) the preparation of representative epoxy and polyimide thermoset nanocomposites containing well-dispersed lamellar and mesoporous nanoparticles and (iii) the characterization of the nanocomposites with regard to oxygen permeability, oxidative stability, and tensile and impact properties.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The polyimide nanocomposites of interest will be used for the fabrication of high temperature ductwork, bushings and feed lines in engine compartments where thermal and oxidative stability is essential. The epoxy composites are targeted for use in fan casings where strength and toughness is needed to contain failed turbine blades. The anticipated improvements in performance properties will be realized at nanoparticle loadings in the range 2.0 to 15 wt %. The improvements in mechanical strength and oxidative stability will make it possible to reduce the weight of aeronautic and aerospace vehicle components and to improve the durability of those components, particularly for high temperature applications. Decreasing the weight of a vehicle while improving materials performance will improve vehicle fuel efficiency and safety and decrease environmental emissions due to the improved fuel efficiency.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We expect our new nanocomposite technology to improve the performance properties of thermoset polymers used as components in the domestic appliances, sporting goods, recreational marine (boating) and building construction sectors, as well as those used in high-value niche areas such as thermoset dental materials. As in the case of NASA applications, the savings in polymer costs provided by the technology will more than compensate for the cost of the nanoparticles, thus providing significant value to the user at no added cost.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Tankage
Composites
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Creare, Inc.
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755-0071
(603) 643-3800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Anthony Dietz
ajd@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover,  NH 03755-0071
(603) 640-2310

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aircraft powered by hydrogen power plants or gas turbines driving electric generators connected to distributed electric motors for propulsion have the potential to transform the aircraft design space by decoupling power generation from propulsion. Resulting aircraft designs such as blended wing bodies with distributed propulsion can provide the large reductions in emissions, fuel burn and noise required to make air transportation growth projections sustainable. The power density requirements for these electric machines can only be achieved with superconducting materials. However, their feasibility is dependent on improving the power density of the cryocoolers needed to cool the superconductors to their operating temperatures. We propose a Cryoflight turbo-Brayton cryocooler, optimized for low weight and high efficiency. Our initial design studies indicate that this design will exceed the mass and performance targets identified by NASA for superconducting aircraft. In Phase I of this project we will extend our initial design study to include a system trade study and individual component designs (TRL 3). In Phase II we will demonstrate the turbomachine, the most critical component in the system (TRL 4). In Phase III we will demonstrate a complete cryocooler (TRL 4 and TRL 5). Our proposed Cryoflight cryocooler development effort will provide an enabling technology for superconducting aircraft, which have the potential to revolutionalize future air transportation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed Cryoflight cryocooler development effort will support NASA's long term goal to increase aircraft efficiency and reduce aircraft emissions and noise. By providing a cryocooler optimized to meet the aggressive power density target required for aircraft systems, we will remove a key obstacle hindering the development of superconducting aircraft. While such aircraft are still two or three decades from production, supporting technology development needs to begin now if such aircraft are to become a viable alternative to the aircraft configurations in production today. The results of this SBIR project will support NASA design trade studies, system demonstrations, and eventual superconducting aircraft demonstrations. Other NASA applications include space applications such as cryogen liquefaction and storage for planetary and extraterrestrial exploration missions, CEVs, extended-life orbital transfer vehicles, in-space propellant depots and extraterrestrial bases. Terrestrial NASA applications include cooling for spaceport cryogen storage and transportation systems and for demonstration hydrogen production and transportation systems. The highly reliable and space-proven turbo-Brayton cryocooler is ideal for these applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary private application for this cryocooler is for cooling superconducting devices on electric aircraft once these aircraft are accepted in the commercial market. Other private sector applications include cooling for laboratory- and industrial-scale gas separation, liquefaction, cryogen storage and cryogen transportation systems; high-temperature superconducting magnets in motors and alternators; liquid hydrogen fuel cell storage for the automotive industry; and commercial orbital transfer vehicles and satellites.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Applied Poleramic, Inc.
6166 Egret Court
Benicia, CA 94510-1269
(707) 747-6738

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Hayes
hayesb1@sbcglobal.net
6166 Egret Court
Benicia,  CA 94510-1269
(707) 747-6738

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Polymeric composite materials that are currently utilized in aircraft structures are susceptible to significant damage from lightning strikes. Enhanced electrical and thermal conductivity in these polymeric composites could eliminate this damage. The addition of this multifunctional capability to composites will result in lower manufacturing costs and weight reductions in future aircraft since the addition of coatings, conductive mesh, or expanded foil materials can be eliminated. A combined materials and engineering approach will be utilized to accomplish this objective by modifying a high performance composite system with a combination of conductive nano and micron size filler materials. The large difference between the two filler sizes will create a stratified composite structure that consists of the conductive micron size particles residing in the interlayer region of the composite with the nanomaterials dispersed evenly throughout the matrix and in the fiber tows. Using this approach, these composites will have the same or better balance of mechanical properties as current state-of-the-art composite systems but also have the added functionality of a conductive interlayer and network to eliminate damage from lightning strikes. The Technology Readiness Level will be between 3 and 4 after the Phase 1 program.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The successful completion of the Phase 1 and 2 research programs will enable the development of lower weight and low cost composite structures that traditionally require lightning strike protection from secondary applications of conductive materials. All four of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Programs would benefit from this technology including Subsonic Fixed Wing, Subsonic Rotary Wing, Supersonic, and Hypersonic programs. Specific composite applications that would benefit from this technology include primary and secondary aircraft structures, such as fuselage sections, aircraft control surfaces, leading edges, fixed panels, and fairings. In addition, propeller blades, turbine blades, and engine core cowl applications may benefit from this technology. Other applications may be found in missile and rocket components that would benefit from enhanced electrical and thermal conductivity. Also, applications that involve EMI shielding and electrostatic discharge could benefit from this technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Next generation commercial, military, and civil aircraft, as well as helicopters can benefit from this technology to reduce weight and costs from the elimination of added lightning strike protection to composite structures. Since the lightning strike protection is built into the composite, better reliability and reduced maintenance will be observed over that of conductive paints, meshes or foils. This technology provides enhanced conductivity in every ply, not just on the surface plies. In addition to lightning strike applications, this technology may find use in composite structures that could benefit from better heat dissipation or heat transfer. Military ships, aircraft, missiles, and rockets may benefit from this added multifunctionality. Also, enhanced electrical conductivity and those applications requiring EMI shielding and electrostatic discharge could benefit from this technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Cooling
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TRS Ceramics, Inc.
2820 East College Avenue
State College, PA 16801-7548
(814) 238-7485

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Xiaoning Jiang
xiaoning@trstechnologies.com
2820 East College Avenue
State College,  PA 16801-7548
(814) 238-7485

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
High temperature piezoelectric crystal (HTP) sensors are desired for future propulsion component structure health monitoring, operating parameters optimization, turbine engine control and health monitoring, as well as improving performance and maintainability of power production facilities and other rotary combustion engines. Recently discovered high temperature piezoelectrics showed stable piezoelectric properties and high resistivity at temperatures close to its melting point (~ 1500 C) , which is very promising for high temperature sensor applications. The preliminary results showed excellent temperature sening performance at temperature up to 1000 C. Piezoelectric structural sensors on the basis of piezoelectric effect (non-resonant) and impedance measurement (resonant) have been widely demonstrated for pressure, stress, strain, temperature, acceleration, etc. measurements because of their high sensitivity, quick response, low profile, high reliability and low cost. The goal of this program is to develop highly sensitive HTPC based piezoelectric structural sensors for temperature, strain and acceleration measurements at temperatures up to 2000 oF.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High temperature piezoelectric crystal (HTPC) based structural sensor technology is desired for NASA future aerospace propulsion systems under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program (FAP). Specifically, high temperature sensors will be used for future propulsion component structure health monitoring and operating parameters optimization. The HTPC sensors can also benefit the current space vehicles health monitoring by providing high temperature structural data.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High temperature sensors can be used for turbine engine control and health monitoring, high mach flight tests, as well as improving performance and maintainability of power production facilities and other rotary combustion engines.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Perception/Sensing
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Ceramics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
MATECH Advanced Materials
31304 Via Colinas, Suite 102
Westlake Village, CA 91362-4586
(818) 991-8500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
heemann Yun
heemann@matechgsm.com
31304 Via Colinas, Suite 102
Westlake Village,  CA 91362-4586
(818) 991-8500

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
MATECH GSM (MG) proposes 1) to demonstrate a low-cost innovative Hi-Temp Si-doped in-situ BN fiber coating process for advanced ceramic matrix composites in order to eliminate performance barriers that prevent practical use of advanced future NASA aircraft by performing interfacial coating on single fiber tows and fiber preforms that are applicable to the shape and structural requirements of advanced SiC/SiC super- and hyper-sonic components, and 2) to examine and model environmental durability of the fiber coating constituent in various hot-section CMC components. The CVI coating process is costly and yields a porous non-uniform BN structure due to the low temperatures needed for diffusion and infiltration of the gaseous precursors. MG has discovered a faster, more economical and more versatile process for fiber interface coating formation, reactive-transformation-process (RTP), where the interface coating is formed from the ceramic fiber itself, a new innovative in-situ Si-doped BN-based fiber coating that is more stable during fabrication and service of Si-based CMC. The formation of an in-situ BN surface layer creates a more environmentally durable fiber surface not only because a more oxidation-resistant BN is formed, but also because this layer provides a physical barrier between contacting all single fibers with oxidation-prone SiC surface layers.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Future NASA's high-speed super- and hyper-sonic aircraft propulsion / power components, where low-noise, low-emission, high efficiency, and low-weight are crucial requirements. The versatility of this concept makes all high temperature advanced CMC relevant to a variety of hot section propulsion-engine and airframe-control components exposed to high-temperature salt/fog-containing oxidizing environments including combustion liner, HPT vanes/blades, HPT shrouds, hypersonic vehicle guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) components.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A wide rage of aerospace and defense applications that require low-cost material possessing, high temperature oxidation stability, high temperature moisture resistance, high strength, and low mass. These applications include many propulsion and power generating components with the advanced CMC such as hot gas generators, hot gas valves and components, and heat exchangers. Non-defense related uses include industrial high-temperature heat-treatment damage-tolerant furnace heating-element and insulation materials.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ceramics
Composites
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ORMOND, LLC
4718 B Street NW, Suite 104
Auburn, WA 98001-1750
(253) 854-0796

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Daniel Alberts
dana@ormondllc.com
4718 B Street NW, Suite 104
Auburn,  WA 98001-1750
(253) 854-0796

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Scramjet engine developers are working on advanced axisymmetric engine concepts that may not be feasible due to limitations of currently available manufacturing methods. The primary goal of this SBIR is to make available a new technology that will make it feasible to manufacture small diameter one-piece cooled axisymmetric scramjet combustors. The availability of the proposed technology will result in scramjet program cost savings and engine design improvements and a strong near term technology commercialization is likely. In fact, scramjet developers have expressed that there is no other known means of manufacturing some of the most desired axisymmetric combustor designs. Although Ormond, LLC currently manufactures scramjet engine panels using a novel abrasivejet machining process and software that is available nowhere else in industry, new engine developments have created the need for key technology advancements. A principal advantage of the proposed technology is that it can generate small high-aspect-ratio channels in nearly any material, and is now used to machine the complex cooling flow field patterns found in the Inconel scramjet heat exchanger circuits. There are technical and economic benefits over all of the existing manufacturing methods because it is a cold, non-chemical low-mechanical load process that has no affect on workpiece material crystal structure. Developments that will be made under this SBIR are: 1.) miniaturization of the specialized cutting head to fit in the axisymmetric combustor, 2.) development of a new numerical model and software needed to implement the process, and 3.) development of an appropriate long reach manipulator arm and control software to provide appropriate tool motion in the combustor cylinder. The Phase I program will initiate the development and demonstrate feasibility of the proposed technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Scramjets: Commercialization of the technology developed in this program has a huge economic value when the scramjet application is looked at alone. It is projected that scramjet engines will be manufactured for 300 missiles per year and 3 reusable launch vehicles per year once production starts. ABMACH is already considered to be the baseline manufacturing method for scramjet panels by a major prime because it was found to be the only cost effective technology available. Channel Wall Combustors: Channel wall liquid rocket combustors will benefit from the successful completion of the proposed SBIR. Engine developers have asked Ormond to mill channels from the inside of the combustor, but the capability does not currently exist. This application has requirements very similar to the axisymmetric scramjet. Adaptation of the proposed technology to manufacture channel wall rocket combustors can have a huge impact on the economic and technical success in implementing channel wall combustor technology. A principal advantage is that it can economically generate geometries that are not possible by other methods. The global market estimate for rocket propulsion systems over the next ten years is $4 billion/year. The domestic market represents half of this. The cost of manufacturing the channel combustor accounts for a significant fraction of the propulsion system cost and the technology developed in this program addresses the market directly.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Ground based turbine engine transition ducts are consumable high-temperature heat exchangers used in power generating gas turbines. Currently, over 90% of electric power in the world is produced using gas turbines. In one Westinghouse design, 16 transition duct pairs are used per turbine. ABMACH reduces the manufacturing cost by nearly 70%, resulting in $10M in savings per year. Ormond is currently working under funding by ground turbine manufacturers to evaluate implementing ABMACH in the manufacture of these components. Ormond is currently working with a major down-hole energy company to develop tooling with internal features machined into integral cases. The development of the proposed technology will support this proprietary effort directly by making available a means of machining features in tubular components made from tough materials.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch Assist (Electromagnetic, Hot Gas and Pneumatic)
Cooling
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Los Gatos Research
67 East Evelyn Avenue, Suite 3
Mountain View, CA 94041-1518
(650) 965-7772

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Douglas Baer
d.baer@lgrinc.com
67 East Evelyn Avenue, Suite 3
Mountain View,  CA 94041-1518
(650) 965-7772

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of the Phase I is to develop, demonstrate and test a novel instrument based on laser absorption diagnostics for fast, in situ measurements of important parameters (static gas temperature, bulk gas velocity, and gas concentration) in the high speed flows typical in NASA propulsion test facilities. In addition, the instrument will be easy to move (translate) during operation and thus allow measurements at different locations during a test run.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Instrumentation for rapid measurements in high speed, high enthalpy propulsion test facilities will enable NASA scientists and engineers to monitor the important parameters including: gas concentrations, gas temperatures and gas velocities under realistic engine operating conditions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA Commercial Applications include: Instrumentation for measurements, control and thus optimization of combustion engine flows (gas turbines, waste incinerators) based on measurements of gas concentrations, temperatures and velocities.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Optical
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aerodyne Research, Inc.
45 Manning Road
Billerica, MA 01821-3976
(978) 663-9500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Timko
timko@aerodyne.com
45 Manning Rd
Billerica,  MA 01821-3976
(978) 663-9500

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The characterization of aircraft particulate matter (PM) emissions has benefited greatly by the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) by providing size resolved compositional information. AMS data have been critical to much of our understanding of aircraft PM emissions, but it has limited utility in probing the smallest (<100 nm) particles in the exhaust. Also, to date the AMS has been able to detect only volatile PM and other instruments have been required to characterize the non-volatile (soot). We propose to improve greatly the capabilities of a novel version of the AMS to cover two important gaps in our understanding of gas turbine engine particle emissions: 1) size resolved composition of particles with diameters less than 50 nm; 2) size resolved mass and chemical composition (e.g., fullerenic composition) of black carbon soot. Specifically in Phase I, we aim to: 1) improve AMS detection of particles smaller than 100 nm by refining an existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and use the CFD model to guide the design of new AMS particle focusing designs, and 2) evaluate for model soot characterization a newly developed instrument which combines a laser ablation system with AMS technology – an instrument which we have termed the SP2-AMS.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA provides substantial potential commercial applications for an improved AMS technology. NASA has a long-term commitment to understand and reduce the trace gas and particle emissions of gas turbine engines. The current lack of robust composition information for nucleation particles smaller than 50 nm and the lack of direct, size-resolved mass measurements of soot limit current understanding. We expect that NASA will be eager to take advantage of the advanced lens and laser ablation technologies that we will develop during this SBIR program. NASA provides at least two types of commercial opportunities for advanced AMS technology: 1) direct instrument sales and 2) research contract jobs. At this time, NASA has not purchased an AMS for its own use. An improved lens technology and soot detection capability may provide the motivation for NASA to purchase an AMS. Due in part to the unique insight provided by the standard AMS, we have been an active participant in a series of NASA sponsored PM measurement activities, including the APEX experiments. Enhanced AMS technology will continue to make us an attractive NASA contractor for future measurement activities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The general commercial applications of the improved AMS technology are extensive. Engine manufacturers are currently seeking reliable methods that directly measure the mass of soot emissions; we anticipate strong interest from enigne manufacturers in the SP2-AMS technology, either for direct sales or for contracting opportunities. US EPA and DOE have long-term commitments to understanding and reducing PM emissions and they are potential customers. The chemical content of the SP2-AMS data set may differentiate aircraft soot from other sources. The ability to distinguish aviation PM from other combustion sources would be of great interest to FAA and the airport community; their support will provide ample research contract opportunities. Optimization of the aerodynamic lens technology for particles smaller than 100 nm will also enhance our field measurement capabilities and provide new opportunities in our emissions characterization business. The new lens will also increase new sales of AMS technology and will be a stand-alone product for existing AMS owners. Over the past 5 years, we have sold over 60 instruments to customers in industry, academia, and government laboratories. Improved understanding of the lens performance may provide insight necessary to expand the range of particles detected by the AMS, which in turn will open new applications in pharmaceutical characterization and related fields.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Particle and Fields

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Active Signal Technologies, Inc.
611-Q Hammonds Ferry Road
Linthicum, MD 21090-2712
(410) 636-9350

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Sewell
sewellactv@verizon.net
611Q N Hammonds Ferry Rd
Linthicum,  MD 21090-1322
(717) 235-9238

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Active Signal Technologies and its subcontractor Moog propose to develop a high-frequency actuator driven valve intended to achieve TRL 6 by the end of Phase II. This active control component will be capable of modulating fuel flow at multiple injection locations with minimum fuel pressure drop and thus enable critical improvements in aerospace vehicle turbine engine combustion dynamics, notably mitigation of thermo-acoustic instabilities. These instabilities have impeded development of advanced lean-burning combustors for reduction of NOx emissions and improvements in combustion efficiency. While passive approaches to control combustion instability have been successful on particular new engine designs, the ultimate solution is active combustion control where the greatest challenges are the bandwidth (1 kHz) and system temperature requirements. The Phase-I goal is to demonstrate that these are achievable by designing and building a proof-of-principle system complete with high-frequency, high-temperature actuator and valve. Active Signal has selected Terfenol as the most suitable actuator material and will apply 25 plus years of actuator, valve and pump experience to meet the goals. The system will be tested against pressure and flow requirements to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach before fabricating a prototype suitable for the GRC test stand in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NASA interest in this field is generic to the extent that it can cover ramjets air breathing jet engines rocket motors, etc. Each has a similar challenge but the categories contained within engines with combustors will vary to the extent that they may well require unique control systems with actuator needs proper to each. For instance, force and displacement requirements generated by pressure and flow requirements will imply actuator subsystems—the focus of this proposal—that are unique. This may well extend to frequency control and temperature requirements that will vary, having implications for the designer. At the same time, size, weight, and cost constraints will remain a significant factor set that a successful actuator designer teamed with a controls group can implement across a broad line of applications to build a business base with NASA. Teamed with Moog, it is this approach that Active Signal will pursue with NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Active Signal will team with Moog for the principal part of its Non-NASA applications given the fact that Moog is active in the turbine fuel control markets for both aero (military and commercial) and ground based turbine applications. There are numerous factors now driving the need for substantial advances in turbine engine technology to minimize emissions, suppress instabilities associated with lean-burning fuel efficient combustion, eliminate local hot spots and decrease noise. Clearly, Moog will have to see a path to market for the application of Active Combustion Control to make it part of their product line, but with the successful completion of both the proof of principle phase of this effort as well as the Phase II more realistic demonstration, we have been told that this can be an attractive product both directly in the aircraft applications as well as spin offs in the similar, while more cost constrained automobile market.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Feed System Components
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, LLC
2212 Harton Blvd.
Tullahoma, MS 37388-5583
(931) 393-5108

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paul Gloyer
paul.gloyer@gtlcompany.com
2212 Harton Blvd
Tullahoma,  MS 37388-5583
(931) 393-5108

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A recent breakthrough in combustion stability analysis (UCDS) offers the means to accurately predict the combustion stability of a scramjet. This capability is very important due to the extreme scramjet operational environment, which makes cut-and-try development approaches impractical. With UCDS, it is now possible to accurately predict the scramjet pressure oscillation amplitudes, along with critical parameters, including the unsteady wall heat flux. The UCDS tools were recently applied to the Ares I thrust oscillation issue in support of NASA's Thrust Oscillation Focus Team (TOFT). This effort included the analysis of the Shuttle four segment solid rocket motor (RSRM) to validate the capabilities of UCDS. After analyzing the new five segment (RSRMV) motor being developed for Ares I, GTL used the UCDS insight to identify a relatively minor motor modification that will eliminate the organized motor oscillations. With this validation of the capabilities and effectiveness of UCDS, GTL proposes to extend the application of UCDS by applying it to examine the stability characteristics of a representative scramjet. In addition to predicting the amplitudes of the scramjet pressure oscillations, a UCDS sensitivity analysis will be used to identify critical design parameters and establish development guidelines.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Since the UCDS models are built from a general formulation, they can be used to analyze practically any combustion device, including rockets (liquid, solid, hybrid), turbojets (combustors, augmentors), ramjets, scramjets, combined cycle engines and so on. As such, UCDS can be used by NASA in the development of practically any propulsive device. Specific near term NASA applications for UCDS include: - Continued effort to mitigate the Ares I thrust oscillation effort - Working with the Ares V team to avoid potential thrust oscillation issues - Supporting the Constellation Program by identifying and avoiding potential stability issues that will arise when engines and motors are scaling up to meet performance requirements - Supporting the development of new propulsion devices, such as scramjets

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
With its broad capabilities, UCDS can be used by any combustion device developer, including the Air Force, Navy, Army, MDA, DARPA, DOE, and commercial propulsion developers, such as ATK, Aerojet, Pratt & Whitney and others. One specific non-NASA applications for UCDS is the Air Force/Aerojet Hydrocarbon Boost Engine development program.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Monopropellants
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
AVEC, Inc.
3154 State Street, Suite 2230
Blacksburg, VA 24060-6732
(540) 961-2832

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patricio Ravetta
pravetta@avec-engineering.com
3154 State Street Suite 2230
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6732
(540) 961-2832

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
AVEC proposes an innovative concept for the evaluation of human response studies to sonic booms inside realistic structures. The approach proposed is to simulate the distributed boom load on the structure using an array of discrete forces. The forces are applied sequentially making the approach effective and implementable in real structures. In addition, the method allows evaluating the contribution of individual structural components to the vibro-acoustic responses. The main goal of Phase I is to experimentally demonstrate the approach in a realistic environment. Phase II efforts should involve the experimental validation of the proposed technology in a real house subjected to real sonic booms. Fortunately, this data set exists and corresponds to the latest field test performed by NASA at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) property. This will imply implementing the proposed method to the same house (preferred) or a similar one and use the outside pressure profile and direction to estimate the same vibro-acoustic responses measured by NASA in 2007. Comparison of the predicted and measured responses will provide the best validation of the approach. In support of this "real" validation of the method, a numerical model to better understand and improve the excitation methods should also be part of Phase II. At the conclusion of Phase II, it is expected that the method will be fully validated and ready for implementation on a range of structures for evaluating the human response to sonic booms as required by current industry needs. According to technology readiness levels (TRLs) guidelines, at the end of Phase II a TRL level of 6 would be achieved, i.e. system model/prototype demonstration in a relevant environment.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is a clear increasing demand for supersonic commercial airplanes that can fly overland. This will be possible only if current restrictions are lifted. To this end, the human response inside buildings to the expected weak sonic boom will need to be accurately estimated. The proposed method here will provide a validated synthesis/auditory tool for the evaluation of human objection to these types of sonic booms in real structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are a number of potential commercial opportunities for the technology proposed here. Obviously, the first potential clients are the industries directly involved in the development of supersonic business aircraft, e.g. Gulfstream, Lockheed, and so forth. In this sense, the developed technique/system can be commercialized as a service or turn-key product. Another potential commercialization market for the system is related to auditory protection of personnel exposed to explosions. For example, there is a need to assess and control the impact of impulsive noise (explosives) to military personnel inside different type of vehicles. The same technology proposed here can be used to estimate the response inside military vehicles, e.g. land, amphibious, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Comet Technology Corporation
3830 Packard, Suite 110
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2051
(734) 973-1600

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
S Raveendra
rraveendra@cometacoustics.com
3830 Packard, Suite 110
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-2051
(734) 973-1600

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In many situations, aerospace structures are subjected to a wide frequency spectrum of mechanical and/or acoustic excitations and therefore, there is a need for the development of numerical modeling techniques that are applicable for the resolution of dynamic response of complex systems spanning the entire frequency spectrum. However, the dynamic behavior of these structures at different frequency range is governed by different phenomena and as a result, a single numerical solution procedure is not suitable for the resolution of the entire frequency spectrum. Thus, on the basis of the numerical modeling techniques, the frequency spectrum is typically divided into three regions; low frequency region, mid-frequency region and high frequency region. The low frequency region is the frequency range where the characteristic dimensions of all component members of a vibroacoustic system are short with respect to wavelengths and these members are also referred to as 'short' members. On the other hand, in the high frequency region, the characteristic dimensions of all component members are long with respect to wavelengths and these members are referred to as 'long' members. There exists a broad mid frequency region in which not only some components are long and others are short with respect to wavelengths The proposal is directed towards the development of an innovative hybrid element method by coupling deterministic, transition and statistical Finite Element Methods to yield a solution system that is applicable for the solution of full frequency spectrum vibroacoustic prediction of nonuniform aerospace structures including metallic/composite configurations, accurately and efficiently.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of space vehicles and space stations requires the prediction of vibration levels to asses the fatigue life of critical components and noise levels to assess the comfort and functionality levels of crew members. The software product developed as part of the proposed project will enable NASA to effectively evaluate and apply noise and vibration control procedures spanning the entire frequency spectrum. It will also substantially reduce the effort involved in the design of products since the proposed development is based on finite element method that is already used extensively for low frequency noise and vibration analysis. Since low frequency (FEM), mid frequency (HEM) and high frequency (EFEM) analyses can be performed using mostly the same database, the modeling effort associated will be substantially reduced. The software will also enhance NASA's ability to evaluate the acoustic environment and resulting vibration in the payload bay of launch vehicle, diffuse sound field excitation on payloads during rocket launch and ground qualification, and structural integrity of airframe. Manufacturers of aircraft engines and components will also find the software useful for analysis and design.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed development will extend and enhance the computational modeling capabilities in many industries such as automotive, naval, heavy equipment and consumer products. Customers equate quality of a product with the sound the product makes. As a result of elevated demand for quieter products from customers together with the increased government regulations, manufactures of products with noise problem in all industries are searching for effective ways to make products with improved noise characteristics. For example, in automotive industry, the increased use of multi-media and telemetric devices demands quieter vehicle interiors and the manufactures and suppliers of interior products not only need to consider functionality, but also the noise control capability of the products. Consequently, there is increasing demand for tools based on computer simulation that can be used to guide design at the early design stage. Further, the software can be adapted to evaluate and improve radiated noise from engines, exhaust, tires, etc. It can be used to evaluate and improve consumer products such as compressors, air conditioners, hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Structural Modeling and Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
IllinoisRocstar, LLC
P. O. Box 3001
Champaign, IL 61826-3001
(217) 417-0885

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mark Brandyberry
mdbrandy@illinoisrocstar.com
P. O. Box 3001
Champaign,  IL 61820-3001
(217) 766-2567

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Broadband fan noise — closely tied to turbulent flow on and around the fan blades — represents a key challenge to the noise reduction community due to the interaction of a highly turbulent flow field with complex, moving geometries. Prediction and high-fidelity simulation of fan noise demands a fundamental innovation in CFD methods due to moving geometries and accuracy requirements. The objective this work is to develop a flexible approach to handling multiple, overset grids for use in simulations of turbomachinery. In Phase 1 we will develop an innovative computational software tool for efficiently managing multiple, overlapping structured meshes in relative motion. This application will be used concurrently with a compressible Navier-Stokes solver and is an enabling technology in enabling high-fidelity simulations of turbulent flows in complex, moving geometries. Phase 1 will demonstrate software feasibility using a simplified model of the NASA Glenn Source Diagnostic Test (SDT) fan at realistic take-off conditions. We propose a simulation that includes a moving "rotor" blade row adjacent to a static blade row. Tailored post-processing of simulation results will provide information on the turbulent flow — and implied turbulent noise sources — including unsteady blade surface pressures, acoustic modes, and overall radiated noise. In Phase 2 we focus primarily on broadband turbulent noise sources of modern turbofan engines. By utilizing a realistic NASA SDT fan geometry and take-off flow conditions, we will use our new tools to simulate real-world systems and commercialize our software product.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A new simulation technology will be available for prediction of turbofan noise, a key issue in the design of all modern civilian—and some military—aircraft. As reflected in the rapidly burgeoning number of airport regulations related to noise, aircraft must be quiet to be operated in populated areas and municipalities and must also be sufficiently quiet to sell in the multi-billion-dollar international market. NASA applications — New simulation technology available for prediction of turbofan noise — Analytical and consulting services to identify noise mechanisms and predict noise levels in novel designs

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Other Government and Industry — CFD software for DNS and LES calculations employing multiple, overlapping structured meshes — analytical and consulting services to identify noise mechanisms and predict noise levels in novel designs Engineering services — Analytical and consulting services based on the new simulation capability — Engineering services to identify noise mechanisms and predict noise levels of novel designs for government prime contractors and the aircraft OEMs

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Simulation Modeling Environment
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hersh Acoustical Engineering, Inc.
22305 Cairnloch Street
Calabasas, CA 91302-5875
(818) 224-4699

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alan Hersh
haeash@charter.net
22305 Cairnloch Street
CALABASAS,  CA 91302-5875
(818) 224-4699

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1 to 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
An innovative research program is proposed that numerically and physically models the response of resonator liners to intense sound and high speed grazing flow. The research program is divided into two parts. Part 1 addresses the feasibility of performing direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the sound and flow fields of the following: (i) one-slit and two-slit resonators in a normal incidence impedance tube, (ii) adjust and modify the computational algorithm and mesh design to allow the code to perform high temperature simulations, and (iii) use the simulation codes to initiate a study of the performance of high temperature liners. Part 2 develops the following: (iv) a grazing flow multi-slit orifice resonator impedance model, (v) a grazing flow 1-dof multi-circular orifice resonator impedance model and (vi) a 2-dof non-grazing flow multi-circular orifice resonator impedance model. The research program was motivated, in part, by high oil prices that place ever greater demands upon the near-term need to provide aircraft engine acoustic engineers with reasonably accurate tools to design optimized liners and the long-term need to develop sophisticated computational codes to provide physical understanding of the interaction between incident intense sound and grazing flow on resonator liners

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The resonator liner software can be used to design efficient sound absorbing liners that are lightweight, fuel efficient and operate with low static pressure losses for manufacturers of aircraft engine nacelles. The control of engine noise in the community surrounding commercial airports is known to be a difficult problem to solve given the cost, weight, safety and fuel cost constraints of the aircraft industry.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The resonator liner software can be used to design efficient sound absorbing liners that operate with low static pressue losses for manufactures of HVAC duct noise suppressors, space heaters and air conditioners.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ZONA Technology, Inc.
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85258-4578
(480) 945-9988

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ping Chih Chen
pc@zonatech.com
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale,  AZ 85258-4578
(480) 945-9988

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In practically all air-vehicle MDO studies to date involving configuration shape optimization, dynamic Aeroservoelastic constraints had to be left out. Flutter, gust stresses, vibration, and ride comfort cannot still be accounted for in MDO involving configuration shape variations. Development of the missing MDO building block is proposed here: A design-oriented ZEUS-DO CFD-based unsteady aerodynamic capability with 3D configuration shape sensitivities, integration with commercial structural finite element codes and with aeroelastic / aeroservoelastic stability / response behavior analysis and sensitivity analysis in the time and frequency domains for non-linear and linearized flows. Phase I will focus on shape parametrization and mesh, pressure, and generalized force sensitivities with respect to shape design variables of multi-lifting-surface configurations. Accuracy and numerical efficiency of the new capability will be demonstrated. In Phase II the ZEUS-DO development effort will proceed to complex 3D configurations including fuselages, nacelles, and external stores. Integration with structural Finite Element design-oriented codes and aeroelastic stability / response solvers, together with validation, assessment of numerical efficiency, and commercialization will be pursued. The new ZEUS-DO capability will provide rapid CFD-based unsteady aerodynamic modeling, analysis, sensitivity analysis, and approximation for re-analysis and for optimization with industry standard accuracy and complexity of configurations modeled.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Enhance NASA's configuration MDO to include CFD-based Aeroelastic/Aeroservoelastic constraints in design studies of practically all flight vehicle categories and any revolutionary concept pursued. The new capability will allow coverage of aeroelastic / aeroservoelastic stability and response constraints in multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) of subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flight vehicles of all types, whether conventional or revolutionary. ZEUS-DO will accelerate parametric and trade-off flight vehicle design studies through its rapid modeling and sensitivity analysis capabilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Because of its generality and its ZAERO-based geometry parametrization, which is already compatible with industry standard CAD and Finite Elements aeroelastic codes such as NASTRAN and ASTROS, it is expected that companies and agencies outside of NASA will be able to quickly integrate the new ZEUS-DO into their own MDO systems. Applications of ZEUS-DO to the configuration shape optimization of flight vehicle will include all types of fixed wing vehicles, conventional and revolutionary.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Modular Interconnects
Structural Modeling and Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Systems Technology, Inc.
13766 South Hawthorne Blvd.
Hawthorne, CA 90250-7083
(310) 679-2281

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Danowsky
bdanowsky@systemstech.com
13766 S. Hawthorne Blvd.
Hawthorne,  CA 90250-7083
(310) 679-2281

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Control surface free-play is important throughout the lifetime of a flight vehicle. Free-play can result in aeroservoelastic limit cycle oscillations (LCO) with significant amplitude causing degraded mission effectiveness, possibly leading to structural failure. Specifications for allowable free-play size can be overly conservative. Analytical tools are proposed for establishing free-play limits on aeroservoelastic aircraft systems without adverse consequences, justifying relief, which may otherwise be cost prohibitive or impossible to satisfy. The proposed tools include finite element modeling, model order reduction, nonlinear simulation, describing functions, and wavelet transforms. These tools will be integrated into the MatlabTM/SimulinkTM platform. A trade study is proposed that compares different free-play modeling techniques. Novel techniques will be used to determine the airspeed range over which limit cycles can occur, including the frequency and amplitude of the limit cycles. Novel techniques for the inverse problem are also proposed, whereby the free-play size is estimated based on diagnostic measurements. A general stabilator model will be used in Phase I to develop the analysis techniques and show feasibility. Wind tunnel test verification of the free-play analysis and estimation techniques will be conducted in Phase II using existing wind tunnel models and facilities at an industrial location.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA is a research leader in aeroservoelasticity. Recent advances include innovative experimental excitation mechanisms for more accurate vibration data, wavelet analysis for signal processing, stability estimation and nonlinear identification, and robust flutter boundary prediction. The proposed work naturally follows from and compliments these topic areas. This program will lead to a validated software tool for control surface free-play analysis and identification. This will be a valuable asset for the many NASA programs that involve the design, analysis, and test of air vehicles. Free-play is an area of concern for both transports and high performance aircraft including those routinely used at NASA DFRC. These aircraft will normally go through analysis, ground loads testing, and aeroservoelastic testing to ensure safe operations for the given research mission. The tools developed for this program will provide a means to accurately analyze, predict and identify the effect of aeroservoelastic free-play for many NASA programs

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
STI also has long standing relationships with numerous manufacturers of both commercial and military aircraft. This places STI in a unique position to demonstrate this product directly to likely potential industry users. This program will lead to a validated software tool for control surface free-play analysis and identification. The software can be used for aircraft design, flight test operations, post-flight test analysis and actuator maintenance testing. On-line identification of free-play is also a potential application. Target markets are military and commercial aircraft manufacturers. Other markets include industrial machinery and structural analysis.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Dynamics, Inc.
1500 Bull Lea Road, Suite 203
Lexington, KY 40511-1268
(859) 699-0441

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick Hu
patrick.g.hu@advanceddynamics-usa.com
1500 Bull Lea Road, Suite 203
Lexington,  KY 40511-1268
(859) 699-0441

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed research program will develop a physics-based identification, modeling and risk management infrastructure for aeroelastic transonic flutter and limit-cycle oscillations (LCO). This capability will be built upon high fidelity state-of-the-art theoretical/computational methods as validated and verified by available experimental data bases, and will include (1) rapid flutter boundary determination for a wide range of configurations; (2) an assessment of the relative importance of various aerodynamic and structural nonlinearities for aircraft and aerospace configurations that are determined to be flutter critical and hence potentially capable of LCO; (3) an assessment of expected LCO amplitudes based upon high fidelity computational models; (4) an assessment of the potential for active and/or passive alleviation of LCO; and (5) a proposed risk management methodology that incorporates a prediction of tolerable LCO amplitudes and the capability for reducing unacceptable LCO response. Key challenges and milestones to by met include (1) a demonstration of the use of Navier-Stokes based CFD models and nonlinear structural models, including the use of system identification methods as appropriate and needed to predict flutter and LCO; (2) a demonstration of accurate modeling of aerodynamic and structural nonlinearities such as large shock wave motion, separated flow, structural freeplay and large geometric structural deflections and their impact on flutter and LCO; (3) characterization and evaluation of nonlinear dampers and nonlinear stiffness devices for alleviating LCO; (4) characterization and evaluation of active control systems for alleviating LCO; and (5) design and demonstration in wind tunnel test and flight test of an LCO alleviation device.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Installation of a prototype device in air vehicles to suppress transonic flutter and LCO and extend the flight envelope is highly demanded for safely operating civil as well as military aircrafts. The direct application of the SBIR effort to the current needs of NASA represents a prime opportunity for further product development and enhancement and represents a considerable potential revenue stream in engineering support, plus further technology acquisition.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Improvement of physics-based identification, modeling and risk management of (transonic) flutter and limit-cycle oscillations of an aeroelastic system is a common interest for wide range of engineering applications and, thus is highly demanded. It will be demonstrated that the proposed methodologies have great potential for enhancing the physics-based identification, modeling and risk management of flutter and limit-cycle oscillations of an aeroelastic system. DoD components likely to have interests in the technology developed in this SBIR project are the US Air Force, Navy and Army. The US industrial companies, including various aerospace & ocean as well as general engineering companies such as Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin andTextron, will be the major non-military potential customers. In addition, the corresponding industrial companies in Europe and Asia represent a very large marketing share of the resulting methods and technologies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Software Development Environments
Computational Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Dynamics, Inc.
1500 Bull Lea Road, Suite 203
Lexington, KY 40511-1268
(859) 699-0441

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick Hu
patrick.g.hu@advanceddynamics-usa.com
1500 Bull Lea Road, Suite 203
Lexington,  KY 40511-1268
(859) 699-0441

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed work aims at developing techniques that will address the current limitations of Cartesian-based Navier-Stokes CFD schemes by exploring three promising methods of implementing improved wall boundary conditions. The three methods are based on: (1) the diamond stencil approach of Delanaye et al., (2) the extrapolation boundary condition work by Marshall and Ruffin, and (3) the Material Point Method developed by Advanced Dynamics. The knowledge gained from prototype implementations of these schemes will lead to the development of an efficient viscous modeling algorithm suitable to general Cartesian CFD codes at the end of Phase I. Phase II will integrate this algorithm into a large-scale Cartesian CFD code in consultation with NASA technical representative. Phase III will commercialize the resulting techniques to be developed in Phases I and II and demonstrate their applicability to a wide range of problems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The direct application of the SBIR effort to NASA represents a prime opportunity for further product development and enhancement of efficient and accurate treatment of viscous boundary conditions for Cartesian-grid-based Navier-stokes CFD schemes, and represents a considerable potential revenue stream in engineering support, plus further technology acquisition.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Various DoD components likely to have an interest in the technology include Air Force, Navy and Army. Non-military applications represent another opportunity for sales. The development of viscous modeling methodologies and algorithms for Cartesian-based solvers should be of interest to a wide range of aerospace and ocean applications. Potential clients include Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Textron, and others. In addition, corresponding companies in Europe and Asia represent a very large potential market for the resulting methodologies and algorithms.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Cellular Materials International, Inc.
2 Boars Head Lane
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4605
(434) 977-1405

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yellapu Murty
ymurty@cellularmaterials.com
2 Boars Head Lane
Charlottesville,  VA 22903-4605
(434) 977-1405

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Flow control is critical to the effective operation of space vehicles where high velocities must be achieved with minimum power consumption. Recent studies at Princeton have demonstrated the utility of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators for aerodynamic control. Nanosecond pulse sustained DC driven DBDs are predicted to have much higher flow velocities than conventional control systems. Our initial work in the area discovered that these devices produce charge build-up on pulse sustained DC driven DBDs which has hindered the realization of this prediction. If the charge build-up can be minimized, the DC driven DBDs have the potential for higher flow control efficiency than previously attainable with either AC or DC driven DBDs in laboratory experiments. The proposed research will develop integrated surface structures that simultaneously optimize the DBD performance to take advantage of the pulse or RF sustained DC bias approach while suppressing the surface charge build up. This success of this project will be critical for the development of a practical DBD actuator that can be implemented as a control device.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Important vehicle applications for transient operation of DBD devices include the enhancement of wing lift performance and reduction of stall probability during maneuvers, stall margin increase for high angle-of-attack slow flight (landing), enhanced performance of engine inlets under non-cruise conditions, initiation of transition from laminar to turbulent flow, and recovery from spin and other separation-related undesirable aerodynamic phenomena. If separation control can be accomplished with little penalty in power, then operation can be continuous. In such cases, contoured engine inlets may be designed with greater turning angles, higher lift may be achievable for in-flight operation, transition initiation or delay may be possible, and new methods for enhancement or suppression of shock induced separation may become practical.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Improved DBD technique with higher flow velocities than conventional control systems would be advantageous in many non-NASA commercial applications. For example, this technique could be utilized in civil aviation where drag reduction plays a crucial role in designing new high performance airplanes. Application of the improved DBD technology in turbine blades will attract the commercial sector to design high efficiency turbines. Other commercial applications of DBDs are as a source of ozone production and in medical applications where the weakly ionized plasma can be used to heal wounds. DBD medical applications can find wide markets especially in military and defense industries. DBD as an ultraviolet source of radiation could also be useful for disinfection and water cleaning.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Techno-Sciences, Inc.
11750 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300
Beltsville, MD 20705-3194
(240) 790-0600

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kothera Curt
kotherac@technosci.com
11750 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300
Beltsville,  MD 20705-0600
(240) 790-0600

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The current technology push in advanced aerospace flight systems is to replicate certain features seen in nature. Morphing aircraft, particularly unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), have thus received considerable attention in this respect. Aside from safety and aerodynamic efficiency, a single morphing UAV platform could possess the ability to carry out multiple mission objectives. Nearly all forms of conformal morphing vehicles have since been investigated, including twist, camber, span, and sweep, where simulation results showed the potential performance benefits that could be achieved. It was not until recently that material and actuator technology had reached a point of development that allowed viable prototypes to be fabricated and tested, however. Having successfully researched, designed, and evaluated supporting technologies, Techno-Sciences, Inc. proposes to develop an innovative morphing control surface system that is capable of in-plane (span extension) reconfiguration, sized and scaled for a candidate subsonic fixed-wing UAV platform. This morphing system will make use of high performance, light weight actuators to articulate the shape change, a morphing core to provide structural support, and a flexible skin as a viable aerodynamic surface layer. All components are custom-made in-house from COTS elements and have patents pending. The proposed research plan will work to design the morphing system to fit inside the volumetric constraints of the host vehicle with the goal of increasing efficiency and maneuverability. The Phase I program will end with prototype evaluations of a morphing wing section under representative loading. Successful demonstration here will lead to integration with the UAV and a flight test in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Throughout the Phase I effort, Techno-Sciences, Inc. will work in concert with NASA sponsors to ensure that the proposed morphing control surface technology can be seamlessly integrated with an existing and possible future unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). These include standard runway take-off vehicles, catapult launched vehicles, and vertical take-off vehicles. Typical UAV mission objectives include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue (SAR) operations, and payload delivery, in addition to collecting meteorological and atmospheric measurements. Aside from UAVs, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) also stand to benefit from this development. Not related to vehicle technology, but another possible application area is that of deployable systems, where the honeycomb-like core could be contracted during stowage and expanded to deploy a payload, while also serving as a stabilizing and controllable frame. To facilitate technology transfer, we will work in Phase I to address top-level hardware and software integration issues from a systems engineering perspective. Issues such as control electronics, software architectures, hardware interfaces, manufacturability, ruggedness, and reliability will be considered in Phase I and implemented in Phase II of the program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The morphing control surface system for improved flight performance characteristics will be applicable to a wide range of end-users in the defense, commercial, and industry sectors. Its broad applicability is enabled by the custom-fabricated components. More efficient control surfaces featuring chord/span extension and contraction and camber change are particularly attractive to the military. Increased efficiency allows for longer missions to take place, whether they be mapping of unexploded ordnance, monitoring of assets, or other ISR-related tasks. Other applications include supporting mine detection, biochemical weapons cleanup, and operations in other hazardous environments or rough terrain. Additionally, research in biomimetics and reconfigurable dwellings are other opportunities for application. It should be emphasized that while the proposed development focuses on a small UAV, the enabling technologies are scalable to larger craft using established design laws and material selection criteria. Overall, the proposed technology will be an integrated hardware/software product that can be licensed for manufacture. Techno-Sciences, Inc. already enjoys market share of related technologies through our existing customers, and we plan to leverage these marketing outlets and offer custom-design morphing control surface systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
PC Krause and Associates, Inc.
3016 Covington Street
West Lafayette, IN 47906-1108
(765) 464-8997

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alexander Heltzel
heltzel@pcka.com
5409 Clayton Road
Farmersville,  OH 45325-9211
(937) 255-8663

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Focusing on a reduced-dimension problem of a hypersonic orbital/lunar reentry capsule, an algorithm will be built which combines the stochastic Monte Carlo method for treatment of radiation transport in optically thin to moderate domains, with a single-term modified differential approximation (MP1) for use in optically thick domains. This numerical method will be verified against a known benchmark case before application to the reentry problem. The bandwise and cumulative distribution function (CDF) methods will be combined within the Monte Carlo framework, creating an efficient, dual-hybrid radiation transport algorithm. A detailed plan for the generation of the full algorithm will be developed, with a focus on parallelization and compatibility with existing commercial transport software. This plan will include thorough testing and validation stages.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed work offers a means to efficiently calculate thermal radiation transport in a broad range of NASA and defense technologies. Specifically, the program can be applied for accurate, efficient prediction of radiant heat transfer during manned spacecraft launch and reentry, as well as solar energy utilization and solar flux predictions for ground and space-based instrumentation or habitats. The proposed algorithm would be coupled to existing NASA CFD/thermal simulation codes for source term application in the energy equation. Compatibility and parallelization will exploit NASA's existing software and hardware resources, providing a powerful radiation transport capability.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The combined stochastic and diffusion-based algorithm will be modularly compatible with existing commercial codes, allowing wide access to accurate thermal radiation predictions within research, academic, and design communities. Other defense applications include thermal radiation characterization from rocket nozzles/plumes, combustion chambers, and nuclear explosions. Commercial space launch organizations will have access to state-of-the-art thermal calculation capability, as well as design firms supporting the nascent space tourism industry. Ground-based applications for efficient radiation transport predictions are numerous, and include metal forming, lithography, curing, and many other high-temperature manufacturing processes.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ablatives
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Cooling
Structural Modeling and Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luminad Technologies
73 Pond
Sharon, MA 02067-2059
(781) 784-3907

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Zeifman
miz3@psu.edu
73 Pond
Sharon,  MA 02067-2059
(781) 784-3907

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Development of highly accurate tools to predict aerothermal environments and associated effects on vehicles is needed to enable advanced spacecraft for future NASA missions. At heating rates encountered during hypersonic reentry, the surface is ablating and the interaction of ablation products blowing into the boundary layer induces new interactions (chemical reactions, radiation absorption) that have strong impacts on surface heating rates and integrated heat loads. One important effect of the reentry phenomenon is the interaction of the ablated debris with the atmospheric gas molecules and vehicle surface. Even though the ablated debris may include particles ranging from the micron-scale down to the molecular scale, the available models of ablation flows only incorporate ablated molecules and neglect molecular clusters. In this project, we will develop computationally-efficient methodology for coarse-grained yet accurate characterization of cluster reactions with the aid of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and parametric chemistry models. The resultant product will be a software module which will provide the cluster reaction characterization for the given interaction potential. This module will be compatible with existent NASA codes applicable for continuous or rarefied gas regimes. Another software model will perform MD simulations of energetic gas flow – surface interaction.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The principal advantage of our product to be developed over Phases I and II is unprecedented physical accuracy of modeling the processes of particulate interactions within non-equilibrium gas environment. The proposed research will provide information on clustering in terms of spatial distributions of cluster size, kinetic and internal energies, and on the dependence of these distributions on the initial conditions and the reaction types. The product to be developed during Phases I and II is directly applicable to the NASA efforts in computational modeling of the entry and reentry space vehicles under the Aeronautics Research Directorate. It is also applicable to the needs of space exploration program under the Exploration Systems Directorate.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Modeling of aerodynamic ablation, including the ablation debris flow interactions is of interest to DOD. In particular, ablators are used in ballistic missiles and accurate modeling of ablation process is required for optimization of missile design. Another important aspect is the prediction of optical signatures of ballistic missiles and other objects. Since clusters strongly affect the flow in the vicinity of a hypersonic projectile, the luminous species such as CN will be affected as well. The more commercially-oriented applications are intended for the industry working in the fields of materials fabrication, nano-technology, space technology, MEMS and NEMS. The principal advantage of our product to be developed over Phases I and II is unprecedented physical accuracy of modeling the processes of cluster formation and evolution in non-equilibrium gas environment. To the best of our knowledge, no product of such capability is currently available in the market and we expect high interest and demand. The implementation of our product will allow the user to accurately model physical processes in such technological segments as pulsed laser deposition of thin films, cluster deposition, obtaining of size-selected clusters, micro-thrusters and other space application. This modeling will impart a better understanding of the underlying physics and provide a basis for technology improvement.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Ablatives
Simulation Modeling Environment
Cooling
Thermal Insulating Materials
Aerobrake

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
CFD Research Corporation
215 Wynn Drive, 5th Floor
Huntsville, AL 35805-1944
(256) 726-4800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vladimir Kolobov
vik@cfdrc.com
215 Wynn Drive, 5th Floor
Huntsville,  AL 35805-1944
(256) 726-4800

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The goal of this SBIR project is to develop an innovative, high fidelity computational tool for accurate prediction of aerothermal environment around space vehicles. This tool will be based on the Unified Flow Solver (UFS) developed at CFDRC for hybrid simulations of rarefied, transitional and continuum flows. In this project, UFS will be enhanced to include: Boltzmann/continuum solvers for vibrationally excited molecules, advanced non-equilibrium chemistry coupled to non-gray radiative transport with real gas effects, and charged particle transport and chemistry. The unique strengths of our proposal are: (i) smart software with self-aware physics and adaptive numerics for hypersonic flows with non-equilibrium chemistry, (ii) direct Boltzmann solvers for charged and neutral particles in rarefied regimes, and (iii) a high-fidelity multi-scale radiation transport model that can handle orders of magnitude variation in the medium optical thickness. Phase 1 will include evaluation of physical models, initial implementation and demonstration of new capabilities. In Phase 2, these capabilities will be fully developed, validated for selected benchmark problems, and applied to practical cases relevant to NASA. The proposed tool will significantly upgrade the modeling fidelity of high-speed flows of molecular gases, and enable computational investigation of innovative hypersonic flow and plasma technologies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This project will result in a high fidelity, non-equilibrium reentry computational tool with unique predictive capabilities. The tool will find direct and immediate application in a multitude of NASA technology development programs such as the Constellation and New Millennium Programs. Multiple operational risks may be mitigated, including but not limited to ascent and descent aerothermal effects on Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) components such as the crew capsule and Launch Abort System, plume impact during orbital maneuvering, plume environments during Altair lunar landing operations or spacecraft landing near planetary outpost habitat structures. The accurate modeling of aerothermal environments is essential for protecting space vehicles and insuring crew safety and overall mission success. The code will be used as a design tool for development of new generation reentry vehicles (such as CEV) and components of future hypersonic vehicles. The code will be also used for plasma flow control for subsonic and supersonic aerospace applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Technology applications beyond NASA include Ballistic Missile Defense vehicles performing exo-atmospheric missile intercepts, interceptor divert thruster plume interaction, and the generation of target missile plume signatures. The tool will have wide appeal to rocket engine manufacturers (e.g., ATK, Pratt & Whitney, and Aerojet) and to universities developing rocket engine technology (e.g. Purdue, Penn State, and University of Alabama in Huntsville). Advanced space propulsion systems such as arcjets, ion thrusters, and plasma thrusters must be evaluated for their installed performance and environmental impact. The Air Force is actively pursuing development of high-speed, long-range, scramjet-powered strike aircraft that will operate at high altitudes presenting complex propulsion airframe interaction challenges. The software may also find numerous commercial and research applications in material processing (Chemical Vapor Deposition and dry etching), semiconductor manufacturing, microelectronics, microsystems, MEMS, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ZONA Technology, Inc.
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85258-4578
(480) 945-9988

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Danny Liu
danny@zonatech.com
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale,  AZ 85258-4578
(480) 945-9988

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A consistent and accurate Hybrid gaskinetic BGK and DSMC method, valid in the full Knudsen number (Kn) range, is proposed as a 3D tool to handle hypersonic aerothermodynamics from continuum to thermochemical nonequilibrium and ionized/plasma flows. By domain-decomposition, the proposed method will provide adjoint but automated sub-domain solutions by solving the gaskinetic BGK method of Xu (BGKX) and DSMC in their respective low and high Knudsen regimes, therein the BGKX and DSMC solvers have been proven comparatively efficient for thermo-chemical nonequilibrium flows with accurate heat rate prediction. The proposed approach is considered an advancement in rarefied gasdynamic methodology in that: BGKX is efficient for near continuum flows, say 0 <Kn <0.1, and its extension to the Burnett order of Kn~0.5 has been assured; BGKX /DSMC share compatible gaskinetic fluxes, hence a consistent and simpler flux reconstruction and numerically more stable scheme than that of hybrid Navier-Stokes/DSMC approach; and BGKX/DSMC can more suitably handle nonequilibrium/chemical reacting flow than the Direct Boltzmann Equation (DBE) approach. Phase I will construct 2D hybrid method, and validate its pressure/heat rate solutions with that of DSMC in full Knudsen range. Phase II will fully develop its 3D and aerothermodynamic capabilities for thermochemical nonequilibrium flows.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The developed hybrid BGKX/DSMC solver can be used for hypersonic applications from continuum to rarefied flow regimes for thermochemical nonequilibrium effects up to ionization/plasma flows. This solver can generate accurate aerodynamic forces and heat rates. Typical applications are for launch vehicles in space access, aerobrakes, entry command module and ballutes in atmospheric entry; plume flows in chemical engines or rockets pertinent to space maneuver and Lunar/Martian landing problems. Civilian dual-use applications include micro flows and micro heat transfer, such as those inside Micro- or Nano- Electro-Mechanical Systems, MEMS/NEMS; vacuum chambers. Examples include the heat flow rate prediction of microchips inside a vacuum packaged enclosure, gas flows through micro-thrusters, gas phase chemical sensors, lab-on-a-chip. Potential customers include the Air Force, DoD, NASA and private sectors using the solver for hypersonic vehicle design/analysis. Civil applications will provide design/analysis methods for MEMs, vacuum facility and biomedical equipments.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential Non-NASA Commercial Applications Non NASA applications are supported by non-aerospace domains and private industry for rarefied gas flows applications with a wide range of Kn number and Mach number. Examples of such examples include hypersonic flows around missiles; aerosol effects on weather prediction; materials processing inside vacuum chamber, especially for the semi-conductor industry; air purification with tools made of fine fibers, such as masks; rarefied gas flows associated with MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), such as various gas sensors. ZONA will extend the proposed BGKX/DSMC method, and package them into a commercial software. Potential customers include DoD, Department of Homeland security, chemical and civil engineering firms, vacuum industry, semiconductor industry, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Micro Thrusters
Inflatable
Aerobrake

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville, VA 22901-2559
(434) 973-1215

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alec Bateman
bateman@bainet.com
1410 SAchem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville,  VA 22901-2559
(434) 973-1215

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Flight in the hypersonic regime is critical to NASA's goals because access to earth orbit and re-entry from orbit to earth or to other planets with atmospheres require flight through this regime. Hypersonic flight poses a wide array of difficulties, including significant guidance and control challenges. For example, flexible airframes and highly integrated airframe and propulsion systems common in scramjet designs mean that aerodynamic and propulsion control are closely coupled. Control laws for hypersonic vehicles must also handle a very broad range of dynamics as hypersonic vehicles often operate from subsonic through hypersonic speeds and possibly with multiple propulsion modes for different speed ranges. Actuator saturation and significant models uncertainty also pose control challenges, and demanding energy management requirements make guidance and trajectory optimization challenging tasks as well. The proposed research will develop innovative control strategies to address the challenges of hypersonic flight. These will be based on recent advances in switching control methods that provide large stable regions and disturbance rejection guarantees in the presence of actuator saturation. The proposed control methods will ultimately be integrated with advanced guidance approaches for hypersonic vehicles developed by Barron Associates.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed guidance and control approaches will help to facilitate successful hypersonic flight. Reaching and returning from orbit both involve hypersonic flight, and hypersonic flight is therefore essential to NASA's mission, which traditionally includes space access and exploration. In particular, hypersonic flight is an integral part the Highly Reliable Reusable Launch Systems (HRRLS) program and the High Mass Mars Entry Systems (HMMES) program. The HRRLS program calls for air-breathing horizontal takeoff/horizontal landing launch vehicles to provide reliable and cost effective access to space. The HMMES program is closely related to the strategic goals set by the President, which include manned exploration of Mars. Supporting humans on Mars will require landing of higher mass cargo than has been previously attempted, and targeting this cargo more precisely. The HMMES program addresses these needs, and advanced guidance and control techniques will be critical to the success of the program.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
With the significant recent interest in commercial space access and enhanced military space access, control technology for hypersonic vehicles has the potential for significant non-NASA applications. Several private companies are currently working to provide commercial space launch capabilities. For example, Orbital Sciences has several commercial launch vehicles and has conducted a number of successful launches already, and SpaceX has made several launch attempts in recent years. As these and other companies field the next generation of launch vehicles, improved guidance and control technology will be of interest. The rapid mission planning capabilities currently being developed by Barron under other funding, combined with the highly robust inner-loop control approach to be developed under the proposed research should have significant appeal to these organizations. Technology for rapid and robust access to space will also serve the goals of the military to rapidly deploy surveillance assets and to conduct rapid long range strikes.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Impact Technologies, LLC
200 Canal View Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14623-2893
(585) 627-1923

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Carl Byington
carl.byington@impact-tek.com
200 Canal View Boulevard
Rochester,  NY 14623-2893
(585) 424-1990

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA's vision for an "intelligent engine" will be realized with the development of a truly distributed control system and reliable smart transducer node components; however a significant hurdle in its realization is the reliability of these components when subjected to the harsh operating environment throughout the engine. In this Phase I award, Impact Technologies, in collaboration with GE Aviation, will develop a fault-tolerant smart transducer node through a Distributed Engine Control Simulator (DECSim) design tool that will utilize a commercial of-the-shelf (COTS) open-system communications standard and will interface with the C-MAPSS engine model. In Phase I, Impact will successfully develop: i) the DECSim utility, ii) the smart node self-validation and cross-validation capabilities, iii) the overall distributed control architecture, and iv) the firmware code that will reside on hardware. At the end of the Phase I program, Impact will demonstrate the functionality of a candidate DEC smart node in hardware within the DECSim framework. The final smart node technology will alleviate the severe system-level limitations of current centralized architectures that include a large weight imposition, limited design flexibility, and life cycle cost burdens associated with certification and obsolescence management.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed fault-tolerant smart node technology and the DECSim software will enable the development of distributed aircraft propulsion control systems and flight control avionic systems, which is well-aligned with the Fundamental Aeronautics program mission. The final transducer hardware device will be integrated with DEC hardware prototype tests for inclusion in NASA DEC demonstrators.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aside from safety-critical aircraft propulsion applications, the array of applications for distributed smart transducers is vast. The interest in fault-tolerant distributed control systems and fault-tolerant smart transducer node technologies spans across many industries, particularly the automotive and manufacturing systems areas. Ground-based and marine gas turbines also stand to benefit from the proposed distributed control technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Software Development Environments
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Global Aerospace Corporation
711 West Woodbury Road, Suite H
Altadena, CA 91001-5327
(626) 345-1200

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kristin Medlock
kristin.g.medlock@gaerospace.com
711 West Woodbury Road, Suite H
Altadena,  CA 91001-5327
(626) 524-2244

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Global Aerospace Corporation proposes to develop a hypersonic control modeling and simulation tool for hypersonic aeroassist vehicles. Our control and simulation testbed will be focused on the particularly important problem of a lifting, towed ballute for planetary aerocapture. The importance of this technology innovation is in the understanding it can provide NASA on the control of hypersonic vehicles, in particular, of lifting towed ballutes. Lift control of a towed ballute will enable the use of smaller and lighter-weight ballutes for planetary orbit capture, which will make ballutes more attractive and feasible for missions to planets such as Neptune where high heating rates require extremely large ballutes for ballistic capture. The application of the comprehensive tool, to be developed in later phases, will be extensive including, but not limited to, control studies for entry and descent, aerocapture, and aero-gravity-assist with a range of hypersonic aeroassist systems (e.g. rigid and deployable aeroshells, waveriders, etc.). This proposal responds directly to the request in subtopic A2 to "leverage the foundational research to develop technologies and analytical tools focused on discipline-based solutions." In addition, in the hypersonic focus arena, we are responding directly to the interest in "system dynamic models incorporating the essential coupled dynamic elements with varying fidelity for control design, analysis and evaluation" and "simulation test beds for evaluating hypersonic concept vehicle control."

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary applications for the proposed control modeling and simulation tool will be for carrying out trade studies to evaluate control and technology options and concept studies of planetary orbit capture missions that utilize controlled lifting towed ballutes. The technology from this effort may have additional applications for the study of controlled lifting towed ballutes for return of injection stages, NASA Exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and robotic Space Science missions to all planets and moons that have substantial atmospheres. The applications of the comprehensive tool, to be developed in later phases, will be extensive. This tool could be used by NASA to design and assess the performance of control concepts for hypersonic vehicles used in crewed exploration vehicles and stages for the Moon and Mars and unmanned planetary exploration systems including entry, descent and landing, aerocapture, and aero-gravity-assist systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology from this effort will have additional commercial applications outside of NASA. This tool could be used by prime spacecraft system and vehicle developers, in early lifting towed ballute design trade studies, to assess their performance as a function of control schemes and uncertainties. The comprehensive tool, to be developed in later phases, could be applied by industry to the full range of aeroassist problems, including entry and descent, aerocapture and aero-gravity-assist, to study the performance of control schemes as a function of aerodynamic and environmental uncertainties.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Inflatable
Simulation Modeling Environment
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Aerobrake

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
M4 Engineering, Inc.
4020 Long Beach Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90807-2617
(562) 981-7797

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Katherine Alston
kalston@m4-engineering.com
4020 Long Beach Blvd
Long Beach,  CA 90807-2617
(562) 981-7797

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
M4 Engineering proposes to implement physics-based, multidisciplinary analysis and optimization objects that will be integrated into a Python, open-source framework and used in a wide variety of simulations. The integrated objects will perform discipline-specific analysis across multiple flight regimes at varying levels of fidelity. The process will also deliver system-level, multi-objective optimization. Addressing physics-based, system-level objectives that span more than one discipline will have profound effects on improving decision-making abilities during the conceptual design phase when evaluating advanced technological concepts. In the proposed effort, existing capabilities will be leveraged to create a high fidelity, physics based, multidisciplinary analysis and optimization (MDAO) system. This proposed work will compliment M4 Engineering's expertise in developing modeling and simulation toolsets that solve relevant subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic demonstration applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The goal of this SBIR project is to tie directly into the current efforts coming from the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). Specifically, NASA Glenn Research Center has a long-term goal (ALPHA) of developing an open-source Python framework by 2012. Integrating existing discipline-specific and common object modules into GRC's framework gives users a baseline set of modules available for immediate use in constructing and solving MDAO problems. This open-source framework with ready-to-use objects will help create an unbounded development platform that establishes commonality (Python language) without restrictions (open-source) and allows versatility as modules and objects are available for use as required per configuration. It is also expected that this technology will be directly applicable to the research projects planned in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). The multidisciplinary nature of the technology makes it an ideal candidate for use any time a very high performance vehicle is designed, where interactions between components and disciplines is important. Examples include future high efficiency subsonic aircraft, quiet supersonic aircraft, high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, hypersonic aircraft, and next-generation launch vehicles (either airbreathing or rocket powered).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
M4 Engineering has discovered that developing the technology components and integrated MDAO processes such as those proposed in this Phase I has significant impact in our capturing related commercial work. Getting M4 modules into NASA's open-source framework increases the commercialization potential for those M4 modules and other associated M4 products. The applications developed in Phase I and transitioning to Phases II and III will not only serve as demonstrations of M4's capability, but will also provide exposure of the technology to the technical leadership of future development efforts, giving excellent chances of technology transition to these programs. M4 Engineering is participating in the NASA Glenn Transition Assistance Program. Through this program, M4 Engineering is increasing its potential to infuse its technology into the marketplace by learning how to transition projects to Phase III awards. The modules implemented in this proposal will be candidates for moving from Technology Research and Development to Technology Development and Demonstration and then on to System Development. Commercial Products, Services, and Systems are derived from projects, which reach the System Development stage. M4 is receiving the background and training to satisfy NASA's objective of moving SBIR funded R&D towards products available to NASA and the free market.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Empirical Systems Aerospace, LLC
P.O. Box 595
Pismo Beach, CA 93448-0595
(805) 275-1053

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Andrew Gibson
staff@esaero.com
P.O. Box 595
Pismo Beach,  CA 93448-0595
(805) 275-1053

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal defines innovative aerodynamic concepts and technology goals aimed at vehicle efficiency for future subsonic aircraft in the 2020 – 2030 timeframe. Noise, emissions and fuel burn are all vehicle efficiency concerns which can be addressed by aerodynamic concepts either on the component, subsystem, or aircraft design system level. In line with the NASA, an assumption is made that by 2025, higher air traffic demand (2-3 times the 2004 level) will require a significant increase in airport throughput, improved air traffic control procedures, and a significant decrease in noise. Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) has a design and analysis team to address high risk/high pay-off technologies on the aircraft aerodynamics concept level and airframe/propulsion integration to dramatically reduce noise, pollution, and fuel burn in the 2020-2030 timeframe. The key technology for these breakthroughs is the use of an advanced cryogenically-cooled electric propulsion system installed in advanced unconventional aircraft configurations. An important feature of this study is to understand and evaluate the impact of this propulsion system on the design and aerodynamic performance of the total aircraft. In addition, ESAero will examine the applicability of STOL performance to potential improvements in airport throughput using multiple configuration and aerodynamic performance concepts.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This research could provide the NASA with cutting edge airplane configurations incorporating unique aerodynamic concepts and a propulsion system which could drastically increase efficiency over SOTA aircraft. The vehicles and propulsion concepts proposed here are directly applicable to NASA's current SSFW directives and a complement to its current activities in the SBIR and NRA arenas. NASA is looking for improved sub-sonic transport aerodynamics and noise improvements, of which the results of this proposal can meet in the near-term. As new airplanes generally take almost a decade for production, the propulsion system proposed here can be available much earlier than that. Electric distributed propulsion systems are available now, and with the addition of cryo, can be available in as early as 5 to 7 years. The cryo-electric distributed propulsion system can be adapted to 737NGs which are available today and will likely still be available as an N+1.5 aircraft in 2015.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Various non-NASA commercial applications exist for the proposed technologies. Currently, the C-130 replacement, the EAGL C-5 replacement, and the Joint Future Theater Lift are three major military tactical airlift vehicles being considered. From the proposed research, both the aerodynamically efficient concepts and the propulsion system are applicable to these on-going military mission studies. In addition, the research is applicable to the rapidly growing UAV industry. Resulting UAVs from the propulsion study would be smaller and more efficient than current fuel powered aircraft. The noise of the proposed propulsion system and aerodynamic concepts would also be less than that of current generation UAVs. A large UAS such as the Global Hawk can benefit greatly from the proposed propulsion system as an increase of efficiency will lead to longer loiter times for the BAMS mission and longer range flights for Air Force Reconnaissance missions.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Airframe
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Cooling
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Fluid Storage and Handling
Superconductors and Magnetic
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
EcoPro Technologies, LLC
P.O. Box 4051
Berkeley, CA 94704-3448
(510) 549-1779

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Angela Chen
ecoprotechnologies@gmail.com
P.O. Box 4051
Berkeley,  CA 94704-3448
(510) 549-1779

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing an integrated starting model for gas turbine engines using a new physics-based combustion dynamics model that accurately simulates flow interactions among the compressor, combustor, and turbine. Replacing conventionally costly guess-and-test techniques, this new process for starting system analysis, design, and optimization promises a new generation of predictive capability that will allow system engineers to design engines with higher fidelity and eliminate the need for multiple iterations and testing cycles found in current industry practice. EcoPro Technologies' physics-based starting model is built from an innovative solution algorithm which solves the 1-D speed-dependent conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy for each starting system component. From this integrated algorithmic model, we will be able to achieve predictive capabilities for the most vital engine dynamics, including starting/transient instabilities of combustor flameout, compressor surge and over-temperature shutdowns. Our integrated design tool allows for complex starting simulations, thus enabling successful engine design and modeling with rapid determination of sensitivities with respect to all engine design variables and constraints. This empowers engineers to choose optimized design directions without violating constraints and make appropriate design changes to engines prior to costly manufacturing and testing.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Achieving altitude starting capability is one of the most important design requirements for any gas turbine engine used in both military and commercial aircraft. Any shortfalls of altitude starting performance discovered during qualifications or flight tests will cause expensive engine re-design and significant schedule delay. Therefore, NASA can apply this innovative R&D program in the following ways: 1. The first and most urgent potential application of this R&D program is for NASA to use this model as a conceptual design tool for mitigating program risks of engine re-design. 2. Optimizing engine transient/starting performance including altitude light-off, starter cut-off, and transient load operations during preliminary and detailed design. 3. Troubleshooting any existing development or production engine starting problems including fail-to-lights, combustor flameouts, compressor surges, over-temperature shutdowns and any starting instabilities. 4. The starting model also can be used to help identify the component failure modes and improve engine starting reliability.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
All commercial aircrafts have design requirements for reliable altitude starting. Some newer commercial aircraft under development additionally demand ETOPS-proven starting requirements of > 99.99% reliability for altitude environments up to 43,000 ft. With these stringent design requirements, an altitude starting model which allows clear analytical understanding and physical predictions during high altitude starts for gas turbine engines is in urgent need commercially. In addition to being used for NASA applications, EcoPro Technologies' altitude starting model will be commercialized as a gas turbine industry design "best-practice" to help improve engine starting reliability to meet ETOPS-proven starting requirements of >99.99% reliability for altitudes environments up to 43,000 ft.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Simulation Modeling Environment
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Continuum Dynamics, Inc.
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing, NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Glen Whitehouse
glen@continuum-dynamics.com
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing,  NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Ongoing work in unconventional air-vehicles, i.e. deformable mold-lines and bio-mimetics, is beginning to provide the insight necessary to exploit performance benefits associated with unsteady flow phenomena. However, the current generation of conceptual design/analysis tools, based on empirical and heuristic models, is incapable of analyzing advanced concepts with confidence, and a new approach, which exploits recent and ongoing developments in unsteady aeromechanics, is needed. The proposed effort addresses these shortcomings by developing a hierarchical system of validated variable-fidelity physics-based aeromechanical tools for designing, analyzing and evaluating advanced concepts that employ aerodynamic shape change and other unsteady phenomena. This suite of state-of-the-art tools will be integrated as a design and analysis system which can rapidly and reliably perform "virtual expeditions" through the design space. In addition, validated subcomponents, ranging from real-time free-wake analyses and fully-coupled non-linear fluid-structure interaction tools to highly efficient CFD solvers with automated grid generation, will be made available as retrofittable modules for current tools. The capability to design and evaluate advanced concepts offered by this system directly addresses the long-term aircraft systems development goals of prospective users in both government and industry. The software will achieve TRL=4 during Phase I and TRL=7-8 by the end of Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed effort directly supports the long-term aircraft systems design and analysis goals of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program by developing a state-of-the-art variable-fidelity physics-based design and analysis system that will encompass validated numerical models for the development and evaluation of advanced conventional and unconventional air-vehicle concepts that exploit aerodynamic shape change and other unsteady flow phenomena for lift, propulsion and noise reduction. Moreover, unlike the current generation of conceptual design tools, this suite will not rely on linear/empirical techniques or heuristic models and thus will not be constrained by airframe configuration. Consequently, the proposed system will be able to support current air-vehicle design and evaluation tasks already underway in NASA, as well as future unconventional air-vehicle development efforts under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. Additional NASA applications will be made available by the leveraging of emerging research into multidisciplinary technologies for systems level design and optimization. For example, recent NASA sponsored work developed unsteady flow-control devices to enhance the performance of current generation aircraft; the physics-based nature of the tools proposed here will make them ideal for further developing and optimizing such devices for various applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A successful Phase I/II effort will produce a suite of commercial products for the design, analysis and evaluation of advanced conventional and unconventional air-vehicle concepts that exploit aerodynamic shape change and other non-linear unsteady flow phenomena for lift, propulsion and noise reduction. This suite would include a complete state-of-the-art variable-fidelity physics-based stand-alone design and analysis system and a set of modular aero-structural analyses that can be coupled to contemporary multidisciplinary aircraft synthesis tools. Significant commercialization opportunities are anticipated from licensing the new modeling tools and components, as both stand-alone software and retrofittable modules, to major air-vehicle manufacturers and other branches of the government involved in air platform development and support. In addition, because of the physics based nature of these tools, this suite will be able to support to design and development of emerging technologies such as unsteady flow control devices under development to enhance the performance of current generation air-vehicles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nanosonic, Inc.
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060-5556
(540) 953-1785

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Claus
roclaus@nanosonic.com
1485 South Main Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-5556
(540) 953-1785

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this NASA SBIR program is to develop conformal Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> sensor skins for the distributed measurement of wall shear or skin friction on rotorcraft rotor blades. The sensor skin arrays would allow the direct two-dimensional mapping of both orthogonal components of tangential skin friction on rotor blade surfaces without requiring large recessed cavities within the blade structure. Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> skin friction sensor element prototypes have been demonstrated on small laboratory flow test articles. Wall shear measurement data are important to 1) establishing boundary conditions for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of air vehicle boundary layer flow and turbulence, and 2) active flight control of air platforms. During Phase I, NanoSonic would design, fabricate and test new, large-area Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> sensor skin materials and arrays capable of surviving the thermal, mechanical, UV and chemical environment of operational aircraft, and work with NASA and industrial partners to transition the use of such sensor skins to use on rotor blade wind tunnel models. The new high performance Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> materials, sensor skin arrays, and data acquisition and signal processing electronics would be evaluated using multiple air and water flow systems at NanoSonic and in wind tunnel facilities at a partner institution.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications of conformal Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> 'sensor skin' arrays include 1) direct distributed measurement of air data on wind tunnel models to establish CFD boundary conditions as part of air vehicle development, 2) co-located measurement and mapping of skin friction and pressure on full-scale flight test aircraft, 3) conformal, skin-like 2D tactile sensor arrays for astronaut-assisted or telerobotic manipulators, and 4) distributed physiological sensor arrays of blood pressure, and heart and respiration rate for astronauts during extended space missions and extravehicular activities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications of similar conformal Metal Rubber<SUP>TM</SUP> 'sensor skin' arrays include 1) measurement of skin friction and pressure on operational hydrocraft, 2) tactile sensor skin arrays that can flex in addition to bend, 3) 2D strain and pressure sensor arrays for biomedical instrumentation, and 3) sensors for high performance military aircraft, especially UAVs and Morphing Aircraft that require active air data sensing and flow control to optimize performance.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Attitude Determination and Control
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Continuum Dynamics, Inc.
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing, NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert McKillip, Jr.
bob@continuum-dynamics.com
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing,  NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A surface-mounted instrumentation system for measuring rotor blade motions on rotorcraft, for use both in flight and in wind tunnel testing, is proposed for development. The technology builds upon previous Navy- and NASA-sponsored SBIR work in the design of a system for measuring rotor blade motion and loads, by combining several separate measurement technologies into a single instrumentation unit. The device may be applied onto the underside of any rotor system, and has a sufficiently small weight and form factor to minimize any impact on either blade aerodynamic or inertial properties. Data transfer to and from the unit is performed using optical telemetry, and power for the system is provided from self-contained conformal batteries. A novel feature of the new approach is the dual-use nature of the telemetry link to provide additional blade position measurements. These features eliminate the need for specialized rotor hub hardware for blade angle measurement or sliprings for power or data exchange, thus enabling its use on a wide range of rotor systems of interest to NASA and commercial customers.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The instrumentation system to be developed here would significantly enhance the capabilities of NASA researchers to improve rotorcraft aeromechanical modeling and prediction tools by providing much-needed high-quality data on rotor blade motion during rotorcraft testing. These data would be used to validate analyses of distributed aerodynamic and aeroelastic loads on rotor systems both in-flight and in wind tunnel test environments. The additional detail available from these datasets would improve physical understanding of the complicated aeromechanical interactions present in rotor system response, thereby leading to the development of better design tools for characterizing the rotor's behavior.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA commercial applications for this measurement system include supporting rotorcraft flight test operations, functioning as a condition monitoring system for rotor motion limit checking, and aiding routine maintenance for rotor blade vibration reduction through enhanced blade tracking. Future applications could include rotor state measurement for enhanced rotorcraft flight control feedback functions.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Attitude Determination and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Materials Technologies Corporation
57 Maryanne Drive
Monroe, CT 06468-3209
(203) 814-3100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Yogesh Mehrotra Materials Technologies Corp
ymehrotra@aboutmtc.com
57 Maryannne Drive
Monroe,  CT 06468-3209
(203) 874-3100

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In rotorcraft flight dynamics, optimized warping camber/twist change is a potentially enabling technology for improved overall rotorcraft performance. Recent research efforts have led to the application of active materials for rotorcraft blade actuation to dynamically change the blade camber/twist. However, full-scale aircraft application of these systems in demanding rotor blade environments gets significantly degraded by dynamic operational factors including friction, free play, and, aerodynamic and inertial loads. In a radical departure from current techniques, MTC proposes an innovative three-dimensional concept wherein typically closed section blade is cut open to create a torsionally compliant mechanism that acts as its own amplification device; blade deformation is dynamically driven by out-of-plane warping. During Phase I, this concept will be analyzed under dynamic operational factors. Required analytical and finite element tools will be developed within the framework of multibody dynamics that enable comprehensive aeroelastic evaluation of the concept. Feasibility of the concept for (i) swashplateless rotor system and (ii) higher harmonic control will be investigated and first-order actuator and blade cross-sectional design requirements will be established. Applications include both rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft in the government and commercial sectors.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
3D warping has potential application to all vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Fixed blade twist is a design compromise between forward flight and hover performance thus limiting the overall aircraft efficiency. The technology proposed here will be a suitable candidate for NASA wind tunnel testing to quantify the degree of improvement offered by both quasi-steady and 1-per-rev twist (swashplateless rotor).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Applications of 3D warping include both civilian and military VTOL aircraft. 3D warping can reduce the empty weight of helicopters and tiltrotors by lessening the weight dedicated to vibration suppression. For example, on the UH-60M, the weight of the current vibration systems is about 270 lbs. On the MH-60S the vibration control weight is about 400 lbs. Similar weight savings will likely be accrued for tiltrotors including the heavy lift tiltrotor being pursued by the Army and NASA Ames. The 3D warping concept can significantly reduce these values thus allowing more payload and/or flight range. Additionally, to the extent that variable blade twist can improve rotor L/De, the warping concept will result in further improvements in payload / flight range. Our warping concept will have application in the Worldwide Wind Turbine industry for power generation. An effective camber/twist change is needed to benefit most from the dynamic airflow through wind turbines. The potential for this rapidly growing "green" power generation industry is enormous.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Structural Modeling and Tools
Composites
Computational Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc.
2766 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton, OH 45440-3638
(937) 429-4980

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Jim Crafton
jwcrafton@innssi.com
2766 Indian Ripple Rd
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638
(937) 429-4980

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 7 to 8

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed work focuses on implementing fast-response pressure-sensitive paint and Surface Stress Sensitive Films for measurements of unsteady pressure and skin friction in rotorcraft applications. Significant rotorcraft problems such as dynamic stall, rotor blade loads in forward flight, and blade-vortex interaction all have significant unsteady pressure oscillations that must be resolved in order to understand the underlying physics. Often these unsteady pressures are difficult to resolve in the rotating frame due to difficult installation of pressure transducers, and data is available only at discrete points. Pressure-sensitive paint formulations have been developed to provide surface pressure information in situations such as this, but conventional PSP formulations have slow response times. Conventional skin friction measurements, for example oil flow, do not offer significant frequency response. In order to improve the frequency response characteristics of PSP, sprayed porous paint binders have been developed for measurement of unsteady pressures. Fast-responding Surface Stress Sensitive Films provide both quantitative skin friction and qualitative flow visualization measurements. These techniques can provide high-spatial-resolution, time-resolved pressure and skin friction information that will provide unparalleled insight into the physical mechanisms driving certain rotorcraft problems. Both of these techniques will be demonstrated in Ohio State's unique 6"x22" transonic wind tunnel, where an airfoil may be tested for dynamic stall simulation in compressible flow. Successful demonstration of fast-responding PSP and S3F on a dynamic stall test in the 6"x22" tunnel will serve as a proof of concept that will allow transition of the technologies into larger-scale wind tunnels at NASA and elsewhere.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Distributed measurements of skin friction and pressure are of significant interest in a variety of fields including aeronautical and bio-medical engineering. ISSI is currently pursuing commercial applications in these fields by demonstrating skin friction and pressure measurements on aerodynamic models, micro-channels, artificial heart models, and contact force measurements such as force distribution under a foot. In the aeronautical community, the skin friction and pressure measurements offered by this technique are essential for the validation of CFD codes and the design of low Reynolds number airfoils for micro air vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non NASA commercial applications of this technology are mostly in the bio-medical field where measurements of skin friction are essential to the design of artificial implants to minimize the occurrence of clotting. Also with respect to contact force measurements, ISSI has developed a sensor based on the S3F technology which is being used to study the effect of shear and on diabetic ulceration in feet. In conjunction with these proof of concept tests, ISSI has recently developed a commercial Pressure Sensitive Paint system. The components of the skin friction technology have been developed to be compatible with this commercially deployed system and therefore, extension of these systems to include skin friction measurements is offered as a system upgrade. Along with internal marketing efforts of ISSI, TekMark has been retained as an external contractor to assist ISSI with marketing of the PSP/Skin Friction system. Over the past 12 months, eight complete systems and several components have been sold with total revenue of over $500,000.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Testing Facilities
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michigan Engineering Services, LLC
2890 Carpenter Road, Suite 1900
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1100
(734) 358-0792

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aimin Wang
wangam@miengsrv.com
2890 Carpenter Road, Sute 1900
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-1100
(734) 477-5710

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
One of the main attributes contributing to the civil competitiveness of rotorcraft, is the continuously increasing expectations for passenger comfort which is directly related with reduced vibration levels and reduced interior noise levels. Such expectations are amplified in the VIP market where people are used in the acoustic and vibration levels of civil and executive jets. One of the most critical excitations for interior noise in helicopters is the one from the gearbox. Thus, the structure-borne noise path (i.e. excitation propagating from mounting locations through the fuselage structure to the panels of the cabin and to the interior) must be captured in rotorcraft interior noise computations. This proposal addresses the need stated in the solicitation for developing physics based tools that can be used within a multi-disciplinary design-analysis-optimization for computing interior noise in rotorcraft applications. The hybrid FEA method can be used for structure-borne helicopter applications and can be integrated very easily (due to the finite element based model) with models from other disciplines within a multidisciplinary design environment. During the Phase I project the main focus will be in demonstrating the feasibility of the hybrid FEA technology for computing rotorcraft structure-borne interior noise from gearbox excitation. A multi-discipline optimization rotorcraft case study will also be performed for demonstrating how the hybrid FEA facilitates the design of a rotorcraft fuselage based on simultaneous crash landing/passenger safety and structure-borne noise considerations. The new developments will become part of MES' commercial EFEA code and of its implementation within SOL400 of NASTRAN. UTRC will participate in the proposed effort for ensuring relevance of the work to rotorcraft interests and for providing technical consultancy.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Structural-acoustic concerns are present in rotorcraft, aircraft, and launch vehicles, since they are directly related with occupant comfort, and noise induced vibration on payloads and electronic equipment. In all of these areas simulations are utilized during design. Currently, structural-borne paths are difficult to address, particularly in rotorcraft applications due to the nature of the excitation and the physics of the rotorcraft structure. Bringing structure-borne noise simulations within a multidisciplinary design environment will enable the evaluation of advanced concepts and offer cost and weight savings. Therefore, the proposed developments will be useful to all NASA groups interested in reducing weight and cost when designing rotorcraft, aircraft, and launch vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Structure-borne interior noise concerns are present in the shipbuilding, the automotive, the military ground vehicle, and heavy construction equipment industries since structural-acoustic performance is directly related with the perceived product quality, occupant comfort, and health regulations. In all of these areas simulations are utilized during design. Therefore enabling structure-borne noise computations and linking them with other simulation models within a multidisciplinary environment will offer cost and weight savings. Thus, there is a great market potential for the outcome of this SBIR.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Structural Modeling and Tools
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Composites
Computational Materials
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Continuum Dynamics, Inc.
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing, NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Glen Whitehouse
glen@continuum-dynamics.com
34 Lexington Avenue
Ewing,  NJ 08618-2302
(609) 538-0444

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Reduction of noise is critical to the public acceptance and mission suitability of rotorcraft. Accurate prediction of rotorcraft noise is directly related to the ability to predict the highly complicated interaction between the aerodynamic surfaces and their wakes, and while current numerical tools can, in principle, model the complete rotorcraft, they are severely hampered by modeling assumptions or numerical formulation. Consequently, commonly used tools fail to adequately predict the load distribution, and hence noise, of arbitrarily shaped rotors and fuselages. The proposed effort directly supports NASA's mission of assisting the development of advanced rotorcraft by developing an innovative physics-based multidisciplinary tool for predicting rotorcraft aeroacoustics. This tool, consisting of a fully coupled FUN3D CFD code, VorTran-M module and acoustic propagation model, will be able to address interactional aeroacoustics problems unique to rotorcraft, capturing rotor-fuselage interactions that lead to both structural vibration and undesirable interactional acoustics. This effort will build upon recent work addressing critical issues such as numerical diffusion, grid generation, turbulence modeling and rotorcraft noise prediction and reduction at CDI, GIT and elsewhere. The hybrid code will achieve TRL=4 during Phase I and TRL=7-8 by the end of Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed effort directly supports NASA's Subsonic Rotary Wing Fundamental Aeronautics Program goals by leveraging emerging research into first-principles multidisciplinary technologies for simulating advanced rotorcraft configurations. This system will incorporate validated NASA design and analysis tools with CDI's novel VorTran-M low diffusion CFD wake module and an acoustic propagation model to create a hybrid system for the development and aerodynamic/aeroacoustic evaluation of manned and unmanned rotorcraft. A critically important result of this effort would be cost savings associated with the reduction in resources required to setup (i.e. grid generation) and perform adequate aeroacoustic predictions, as well as the ability of NASA rotorcraft design practitioners to exploit the large amount of NASA research into aerodynamic design and optimization that has previously been exclusive to the fixed-wing community. Moreover, this system will also support interest within NASA in vorticity dominated flows, such as bluff body (i.e. unsteady vortex shedding from the shuttle and other rockets when sitting on the launch pad), aircraft in landing configurations and wake vortex hazards.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A successful SBIR effort would produce a fully-validated physics-based multidisciplinary tool for rotorcraft performance and external noise analysis that directly addresses the failings of current methods. This tool could significantly diminish the cost and risk of new designs by reducing the need to perform tests and modifications (i.e. the evolution of the AH-64 empennage from T-tail to cruciform configuration) to ensure both mission suitability and public acceptance. Thus beyond direct commercial gain to CDI, the tool will provide a large indirect commercial benefit to the government and to the rotorcraft community at large. While CDI cannot market FUN3D directly, significant commercialization is anticipated from licensing the VorTran-M module to rotorcraft manufacturers and government branches involved in rotorcraft development/support. Further interest would come from organizations that routinely use CFD to analyze vortex-dominated flows such as meteorology, submarine and ship wakes, building and vehicle aerodynamics. Moreover, the wind turbine community could us this methodology to optimize turbine performance and acoustical signature.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SynGenics Corporation
5190 Olentangy River Road
Delaware, OH 43015-7990
(740) 369-9579

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michelle McMillan
michelle@syngenics.com
5190 Olentangy River Road
Delaware,  OH 43015-7990
(314) 324-4482

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SynGenics Corporation proposes a program that incorporates systems engineering processes, Response Surface Methods, and state-of-the-art numerical methods to develop optimized, fail safe technologies to control shockwave boundary layer interactions and demonstrate improvements in supersonic mixed compression inlet performance. Specific program objectives are to apply structured, mathematically based methods to evaluate, compare, rate, and downselect flow control concepts that will enable improved inlet stability and control shockwave boundary layer interactions in supersonic, mixed compression inlets, to develop and demonstrate an approach to flow control system design and optimization based on designed experiments and response surface methodology, and to obtain a better understanding of the physics driving supersonic inlet performance improvements enabled by fail safe, supersonic inlet flow control and quantify the benefit in terms of inlet total pressure recovery and dynamic distortion. The significance of this program is that it will provide inlet system-level assessments of flow control technologies, including stationary micro-devices, active devices, and hybrid systems comprised of stationary and active devices. In addition, this program will quantify flow control effectiveness in terms of total pressure recovery and distortion computed at the inlet/engine aerodynamic interface plane. This program supports the Propulsion Efficiency key research area of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Supersonics Program by working to develop fail safe inlet flow control technologies that will facilitate low TSFC of highly integrated supersonic inlets and improved overall cruise efficiency through reduced inlet drag.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The advanced flow control techniques developed under this program support the Propulsion Efficiency key research area of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Supersonics Program by working to develop fail safe inlet flow control technologies that will facilitate low thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC) of highly integrated supersonic inlets and improved overall cruise efficiency through reduced inlet drag.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Fail safe advanced flow control technologies and guidelines developed under this program may be tailored to future high-speed commercial and business type aircraft employing mixed compression inlet systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Spectral Energies, LLC
2238 Hunters Ridge Blvd.
Dayton, OH 45434-7065
(937) 266-9570

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sivaram Gogineni
spgogineni@gmail.com
2238 Hunters Ridge Blvd
Dayton,  OH 45434-7065
(937) 266-9570

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose Phase I and II efforts that will focus on turbomachinery flow control. Specifically, the present work will investigate active control in a high speed turbine flow. The flow control actuators will be Single Dielectric Barrier Discharge (SDBD), or "plasma actuators." The work will be primarily experimental, with a focus on realistic operating environments for investigating the efficacy of the actuators. The proposed measurements will be the first to utilize plasma flow control in an aerodynamically realistic LPT environment. The objective of the research will be to study the secondary flows in a modern low pressure turbine (LPT) environment, and use active flow control to provide enhanced aerodynamic and/or heat transfer characteristics by controlling the secondary flows through the nozzle and rotor sections of the turbine. The research will build upon extensive experimental development and numerical modeling of weakly-ionized plasma actuators for flow control applications. The study of these actuators in realistic operating environments will be made possible using a new transonic turbine rig located at the University of Notre Dame. The objectives of the proposed research will involve measurements of the baseline flow field, including the secondary flows produced by the inlet nozzle vanes and the rotor vanes. These data will be used to motivate the actuator design for reduced secondary flows and losses. Specifically, a conceptual model will be constructed to describe how vorticity from the endwall boundary layers, blade surface, and tip gap is stretched and convected into regions of high loss. The actuators will be used to modify the unsteady surface vorticity flux through the plasma body force in order to reduce the net secondary flow losses.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed flow control technology will lead to advances in the cycle efficiency of air breathing propulsion systems. This will impact NASA¹s efforts to develop the next generation of engine technology that will reduce fuel burn and decrease air pollution from future aircraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed flow control technology will also provide efficiency increase in land based power generation systems. Many medium scale as well as large scale power generation systems have turbines that could benefit from active flow control in order to reduce fuel burn.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Testing Facilities

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jabiru Software and Services
3819 Sunnycroft Place
West Lafayette, IN 47906-8815
(765) 497-3653

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sanjay Mathur
sm@jabirusoft.com
3819 Sunnycroft Place
West Lafayette,  IN 47906-8815
(765) 497-3653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In recent years, there has been a tendency to use ever-higher gas turbine inlet temperatures, resulting in ever-higher heat loads necessitating efficient cooling. Internal cooling designs have evolved from the use of simple curved ducts in early designs to very complex geometries. Similar complexities govern film cooling as well, leading to complex fluid-structure interactions and turbulence physics. These complexities make it impossible to obtain optimal cooling designs by intuition alone. In this project we propose to develop optimization software for the design and optimization of turbine blade cooling strategies. The objectives of Phase I are to (i) demonstrate the feasibility of accurate single-point physical modeling of internal and film cooling geometries using our CFD solver TETHYS, (ii) demonstrate the feasibility of sensitivity computation and uncertainty quantification using TETHYS, (iii) apply these sensitivity and uncertainty quantification approaches to turbine blade cooling and to demonstrate their advantage over single-point CFD simulations, and (iv) develop and demonstrate multivariate optimization of a chosen turbine blade cooling problem. Phase II will extend our methodology to geometry optimization, the improvement of physical models and numerical schemes, parallel processing on shared and distributed memory platforms and multicore architectures, as well as application to more complex optimization problems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The solver developed during Phases I and II of this project will find wide applicability in NASA. Efficient and accurate flow solvers based on unstructured meshes addressing compressible and incompressible flows will find use in NASA's aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, space entry, internal fluid mechanics, turbomachinery, microgravity, propulsion and materials processing programs. Sensitivity, uncertainty and optimization software will find use in every application in which computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used, but especially in aerodynamics, propulsion, turbomachinery, space re-entry, and materials processing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The solver developed in Phases I and II will find non-NASA applications in virtually every application in which computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used today. This includes aerodynamics, automotive, chemicals processing, electronics cooling, food processing, materials processing, power generation, propulsion and many others.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fundamental Propulsion Physics
Cooling
Aircraft Engines

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Munro and Associates
1749 Northwood
Troy, MI 48084-5524
(248) 362-5110

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Weiss Joe Feord
jfeord@leandesign.com
1749 Northwood
Troy,  MI 48084-5524
(248) 362-5110

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
FAA NextGencontrollers can employ the ADS-B datalink to send aircraft flight plans guiding the around traffic conflicts that the on-board system hasn't seen or hasn't resolved quickly by ATC standards. The emergency function that has 2 features; 1, if the on-board system detects an anomaly it will initiate a priority message and datastream to report a potential safety problem to NextGen ATC controllers; 2 in event of rapid airspace congestion issues ATC can use such a priority datalink to re-route the aircraft. This emergency route to the nearest suitable airport will avoid traffic, restricted airspace, weather and terrain.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Phase III goals are to provide a unique safety systems evaluatein for NASA's NextGen Airspace technology development database.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Phase III goals are the development of enormously productive, FAA certifiable, precise, highly automatable, and attractive ADSB-ADS-B-ER. MUNRO will commercial exploit the LWB process with its MISATS industry partners. There is no other market focused product development effort that has the potential to provide such systems for NextGen.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Automation, Inc.
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855-2737
(301) 294-5221

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Goutam Satapathy
goutam@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville,  MD 20855-2737
(301) 294-5249

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The key innovation in this effort is the development of algorithms and a framework for automated Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) using a cooperative Bayesian game framework. Given an initial sector plan, we propose an approach for dynamic re-sectorization in which boundaries can be redefined in response to changing demand, weather or other user preferences. Advantages of this approach are that it models the human coordination process, provides a rich domain independent framework for modeling collaboration and a theoretical framework to analyze issues related to convergence, decision-making complexity and stability. The communicative aspects of the game-framework also make it well suited for an agent-based implementation. In this agent-based implementation, each agent represents a player (Sector ATC/TMC) in the air traffic domain. Sector ATC's collaborate with neighboring Sector ATC's within the current sector, and across center boundaries to "collapse", "split" or borrow airspace to optimize traffic flow. The players engage in an "automated collaborative negotiation search" with each other to determine sector geometries that will optimize the overall airspace efficiency. We propose to implement DAC algorithms in Cybele's Decision Support System Infrastructure and demonstrate feasibility using NASA's ACES software.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Our initial target for the product developed in this effort is the NextGen airspace design, modeling and simulation community within NASA and FAA. The proposed approach and testbed will provide a unique capability to model and simulate DAC concepts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA applications the proposed agent-based game theoretic has several applications in DOD strategic and tactical planning warfare scenarios where joint forces are teaming against red forces. The proposed framework has direct application to DOD and FAA SUA management in terms dynamically changing SUA structure to optimize SUA utilization, en-route capacity, controller workload and overall all delay.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aerotech Research
11836 Fishing Point Drive, Suite 200
Newport News, VA 23606-4507
(757) 723-1300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paul Robinson
paulrobinson@atr-usa.com
11836 Fishing Point Drive, Suite 200
Newport News,  VA 23606-4507
(757) 723-1300

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
FAA predicts that air traffic will double or even triple by 2025 and unless solutions that enable improvements in the use of airspace can be developed and implemented, significant airspace congestion will occur. Advancements in aircraft capabilities via new technologies can enable aircraft to operate more efficiently in the NAS and to operate safely in areas previously restricted. AeroTech proposes to enhance ATM simulations and the assessment of Performance Based Operations (PBO) by developing an Autonomous Aircraft Decision Making Model for Weather Hazard Avoidance based on the aircraft's weather hazard detection capabilities, ATC constraints, FAA regulations, and operator policies. The model will provide autonomous guidance for aircraft in ATM simulations such as FACET and ACES. PBO and traffic flow schemes can be assessed for any scenario by varying the detection capabilities of simulation aircraft, regulations, and/or policies, and examining deviation decisions, flight paths, safety impacts, and NAS throughput. Phase I will develop and test the Model's methodology and algorithms, and perform a proof of concept study. By the end of Phase II, the Model will have been implemented and tested in ATM simulations, and will enable researchers to improve NAS operations through new traffic flow techniques based on PBO.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
When the goals of the proposed R/R&D are met, the Autonomous Aircraft Decision Making Model for Weather Hazard Avoidance will be supportive of NASA's NextGen-Airspace program's goal to develop methodologies and techniques to minimize or solve the demand/capacity imbalance problem in the NextGen future. The proposed Model will support level 1 and 2 research areas in Traffic Flow Management (TFM), Separation Assurance, Performance Based Services, and System-Level Simulation Tools by improving the autonomous decision making capabilities of simulation aircraft, enabling the exploration of Performance Based Operations (PBO) based on aircraft weather detection capabilities, enabling the assessment of 4-D weather cube information for PBO, and enabling the development and testing of new TFM techniques that maximize airspace usage through PBO. The Autonomous Aircraft Decision Making Model will also enhance NASA's Aviation Systems Division simulation tools and efforts in Modeling and Simulation, Tactical ATM, and Strategic ATM.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
AeroTech's Autonomous Aircraft Decision Making Model for Weather Hazard Avoidance will provide benefits to ATM research efforts and as a technology cost-benefit analysis tool. The proposed Model will provide the FAA, the Joint Planning and Development Office, higher educational institutions, and commercial research organizations a tool to examine NextGen capacity and throughput issues due to aircraft system capabilities and Performance Based Operations policies. Understanding the benefits of PBO will enable the development of techniques to safely maximize airspace usage. Aircraft operators and system developers can use the proposed Model in simulations to analyze the cost-benefits (operational efficiency and safety) of specific aircraft weather hazard detection systems and weather hazard information dissemination systems to support purchase decisions and development decisions respectively.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Computer System Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
The Innovation Laboratory, Inc.
2360 SW Chelmsford Avenue
Portland, OR 97201-2265
(503) 242-1761

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Joseph Krozel
Joe.Krozel@gmail.com
2360 SW Chelmsford Ave.
Porltland,  OR 97201-2265
(503) 242-1761

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1 to 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Innovation Laboratory, Inc. builds a control system which controls the topology of an air traffic flow network and the network flow properties which enables Air Traffic Management (ATM) to adapt to hazardous weather constraints and provide high capacity flows in the National Airspace System (NAS). The Network Flow Organizer automatically adjusts the flows of air traffic with respect to weather hazards and Special Use Airspace (SUA) constraints and allows for parallel flows along the network (a 2-times (2x) to 3-times (3x) increase in today's flow rates) without conflicts at intersection points.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
For NASA, the proposed software product offers a R&D capability that enables NASA researchers to investigate future NextGen concepts. Used in conjunction with a NAS-wide simulator like FACET or ACES, our software can be used to study Dynamic Airsapce Configuration (DAC) and Traffic Flow Management (TFM) NextGen concepts. DAC adjustments in the NAS can potentially maximize capacity in highly constrained hazardous weather regions given our recommended network flow design that is adaptable to moving weather constraints and provides high capacity parallel flows of traffic where needed. In the process of dynamically defining airspace regions for controllers, the Network Flow Organizer can establish the tube network that handles the majority of traffic in the NAS. TFM researchers will want to study the efficiency of a tube network in delivering safe and efficient travel for the largest city pair markets in the NAS.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed software has application to military systems as well. In wartime, the constraints are very dynamic and automated airspace usage planning is required to support the pilot and the mission. The airspace may be constrained by weather, but also by hostile threats, both moving and stationary. With minor modifications, our solution approach for estimating the avenues of approach and for estimates of total troop movement flow rates.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aptima, Inc.
12 Gill Street, Suite 1400
Woburn, MA 01801-1765
(781) 496-2487

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amy Alexander
aalexander@aptima.com
12 Gill Street, Suite 1400
Woburn,  MA 01801-1765
(781) 496-2471

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The limitations of current airspace management have necessitated the planning and development of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NextGen seeks to change the fundamental structure of airspace management to increase the safety and efficiency of flight operations. This effort will require the introduction of advanced flight deck technologies capable of meeting NextGen requirements, such as assimilating weather information into navigation displays. To rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of these new human-machine interface designs, we propose the Use-driven Testbed for Evaluating Systems and Technologies (U-TEST). This proposed innovation will provide a platform for collecting and integrating human performance measures for evaluating NextGen technologies in simulated environments. At the core of U-TEST will be a data integration platform that combines multiple data streams (i.e. observer-based, system-based, and self-report measures), producing a comprehensive evaluation of pilot performance using novel systems and technologies. The 3D Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) will serve as a vehicle for U-TEST development during this SBIR effort. System engineers can utilize the U-TEST environment to acquire rapid, comprehensive, and cost-effective feedback to inform the modification of emerging flight deck systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
U-TEST will be useful to NASA researchers within the NextGen ATM-Airspace Project as a platform that will allow them to meet multiple milestones related to assessing emerging NextGen technologies. The use-driven approach to evaluating pilot performance in simulated environments will inform redesign efforts, such as further developing the 3D CDTI's weather integration functionality.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
U-TEST will appeal to groups external to NASA who are developing flight deck technologies aimed at NextGen integration. Research organizations (e.g. MITRE, FAA) and universities may also benefit from this application, as they are often interested in experimentation and publication of emerging technologies. In the future, U-TEST could also be applied toward evaluating military applications (e.g. Defense, Homeland Security, Intelligence), as well as commercial products such as automobiles and consumer electronics.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Human-Computer Interfaces
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation
9950 Wakeman Drive
Manassas, VA 20110-2702
(703) 369-3633

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Antonio Abad
aabad@aurora.aero
1 Broadway, 12th Floor
Cambridge,  MA 02142-1189
(617) 500-7048

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aurora Flight Sciences, in collaboration with Air Network Simulation and Analysis, Inc. (ANSA), proposes to develop a simulation-based methodology to analyze and guide the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS).The key technical accomplishment of the Phase I effort will be the integration of Aurora's 4D Path Planner with ANSA's stochastic NAS simulation. Within this framework, the path planner generates trajectories inside a single ARTCC of interest, and is supported by a coarser ANSA model of the remaining NAS.Simulation requirements will be developed for civil aircraft routing and planning in dynamic, stochastic environments, and will include realistic performance models for both manned and unmanned vehicles. The initial, proof-of-concept simulation environments will be comprised of exactly one ARTCC and one Terminal Area. Aurora will use this simulation to conduct a Capacity Impact Study during the Phase I effort. A major focus of the study will be a parametric analysis in which the effects from varying the UAV separation standards, flight performance, quantity relative to manned aircraft, and total operations growth on NAS performance will be simulated.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aurora envisions two NASA Commercial Applications resulting from the proposed innovation. First, the simulation platform, as well as any results, analysis and capabilities, can be used by NASA to assist in bringing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to fruitition. Another application is made possible because a portion of the Phase 2 effort will be devoted to extending the simulation capability across the entire NAS. Given that the standard airspace simulation for many research applications is NASA's Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES), this portion of the effort could be tailored to porting specific elements of our platform and approach to it.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Aurora envisions several possible non-NASA Commercial Applications resulting from the proposed innovation. First, the simulation platform could be used as a tool to guide the company's strategy for integrating UAVs into the NAS. Second, the simulation platform could be used to make an informed case to system managers for opening or increasing access to target locations in the NAS. In this form, Aurora could license the platform to air transportation stakeholders, while also providing related consulting and support services. In addition, the simulation platform could be used to position Aurora as the first third-party developer of FAA-approved UAV operations in the NAS. Given some future FAA-specified certification process, Aurora could use the platform to design approved routes and procedures for other UAV operators and vendors. In this capacity, Aurora would resemble third-party developers that currently design approved RNP procedures and routes that are then processed through an abbreviated certification process.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mosaic ATM, Inc.
801 Sycolin Road, Suite 212
Leesburg, VA 20175-5686
(703) 737-7637

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bryan Wood
wood@mosaicatm.com
801 Sycolin Road, Suite #212
Leesburg,  VA 20175-5686
(800) 405-8576

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Recent advances in airport surface surveillance and other sensor, automation, and data sharing technologies now allow the consideration of a significant change in the control paradigm for aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface. Through the use of airport surface surveillance displays, and other computer information systems, it is conceptually possible to provide ATC services without the ATC tower. This Virtual Tower concept has been identified as a primary component of the Joint Planning and Development Office operational concept for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Remote video surveillance of the airfield is likely to play a key role in any such Virtual Tower implementation. However, significant research on computer vision and video surveillance capabilities to support the Virtual Tower concept must first be addressed. These video surveillance capabilities will also provide information to support flight and airport status monitoring. Mosaic ATM proposes to research and develop image processing algorithms to integrate video and airport surface surveillance data to enable NASA researchers to conduct detailed evaluation of fundamental issues associated with the Virtual Tower concept.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This proposed effort will provide a design and initial prototype of the Future Airportal Research Environment. This environment will be available for use by NASA to support the study of future airport ATC operational concepts. The completion of the project objectives and tasks will allow major advances in NASA's research capability, and will be a catalyst for even greater steps in NASA's airportal research program. Through this research, critical enhancements for the prediction of flight push-back times will be researched and prototyped. The deployment of such capabilities would provide significant benefit to the Traffic Flow Management system in reducing demand uncertainty and enabling better planning. The integration of the computer vision capabilities into an advanced ATC Tower automation system will provide additional required data to support SMS operation that is not available through other means. For example, if an aircraft pushes back from its gate without turning on its transponder or ADS-B system, it will be 'invisible' to airport surface multi-lateration systems without some other means of detection. Optical recognition and tracking is a much more cost-effective means of such recognition and tracking than existing airport surface radar equipment.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary non-government commercialization of this technology that we will pursue is as a product for airlines and airports to use to monitor the operation on the airport surface. By using this surveillance capability, improved planning and operations can be conducted on the airport surface. In addition to the aviation market, Mosaic ATM is already pursuing other markets and business opportunities for the computer vision technology. Key market areas that Mosaic ATM has identified for pursuit include security and education. Our approach to each of these markets is to use the future airportal concept prototype that will be developed in this effort with a focus on the aviation sector, as a demonstration capability and test-bed for applications to other markets. The computer vision processing for integration of video and surveillance data can be directly extended to numerous security surveillance applications including building, airport, border, battlefield, and other security surveillance needs. Through the use of the virtual tower concept and extended video surveillance, security personnel will be able to perform their monitoring tasks more efficiently and effectively.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Optimal Synthesis, Inc.
95 First Street, Suite 240
Los Altos, CA 94022-2777
(650) 559-8585

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Victor Cheng
vcheng@optisyn.com
95 First Street, Suite 240
Los Altos,  CA 94022-2777
(650) 559-8585

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Trajectory-based operations constitute a key mechanism considered by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) for managing traffic in high-density or high-complexity airspace in the Next-Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). With this concept applied to surface operations at major airports, NASA's NextGen-Airportal Project is exploring the use of surface 4-dimensional (4D) trajectories, which use required times of arrival (RTAs) at selected locations along the route. Observing these RTAs as constraints along the taxi route, the flight still has many degrees of freedom in adjusting its state profiles (i.e., position, velocity, etc. as functions of time) to achieve the timing constraints. This research will investigate whether and how these degrees of freedom in trajectory control may be used to achieve desirable behaviors for the taxi operations. Previous research has applied the trajectory control freedom to assure passenger comfort by keeping the accelerations and decelerations within pre-specified limits, and yet there is still untapped flexibility in designing the trajectories. The proposed research will explore this trajectory design problem to achieve additional desirable behaviors, beginning with the consideration of fuel burn, emissions, and noise. A flight-deck automation experimental prototype will provide the platform for simulating the designs. The findings will benefit future designs of flight-deck automation systems, as well as tower automation systems which rely on accurate understanding of the flight deck's operational behaviors to plan efficient and safe operations for the entire surface traffic.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research contributes directly to trajectory-based surface operations (TBSO), which constitute an important area of research being pursued by the NextGen-Airportal Project under NASA's Airspace Systems Program. The research will produce realistic and favorable surface 4D trajectory designs to enable TBSO. Sharing these design models with the control tower will allow its automation system to plan safe and efficient operations, and enhance separation assurance by using the models to infer intent when monitoring the traffic movements.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Whereas NASA's NextGen-Airportal Project investigates innovative new technologies, approaches, and procedures to enable capacity enhancements within the airport and terminal domains to meet the JPDO NextGen capacity goals, products from the proposed research will contribute to this cause. The research findings will strengthen the understanding of flight-deck automation potentials for trajectory-based surface operations (TBSO) to help avionics companies design and develop flight control systems that enable such operations. Knowledge of the flight-deck automation will also help developers of air traffic management systems develop control tower automation to realize the full potential of the TBSO concepts. NASA research products, including the technologies envisioned from the proposed research, can be transferred to the FAA through the Research Transition Teams (RTT) set up between NASA and the FAA, to promote transition of these products to real-world applications and acceptance.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Autonomous Control and Monitoring

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 3000
Woburn, MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jovan Boskovic
Jovan.Boskovic@ssci.com
500 West Cummings Park Suite 3000
Woburn,  MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) strives to transform the existing National Airspace System (NAS) into the safest, most efficient system feasible. This proposal addresses the automated surface traffic and resource planning for the NextGen Airportal concept. Current system is primarily reliant on manual planning and human decision making with minimal computer support. The proposed Collaborative Aircraft Planning System (CAPS) will implement advanced evolutionary algorithms to achieve Airportal usage optimality in real-time while maintaining the required safety margins in aircraft separation and conflict resolution. CAPS will be designed to be flexible to accommodate future aircraft capabilities and equipage, modeling of arbitrary pre-requisite and post-requisite resource requirements, weather driven changes in Airportal constraints, and will be scalable to larger metro-plexes of multiple airportals while maintaining real-time planning capabilities. CAPS will also provide intuitive graphical operator interfaces with enhanced visualization and safety alert capabilities. SSCI will leverage its expertise and past experience in implementing evolutionary algorithms for large planning problems in designing the CAPS software tool. Phase II will lead to a CAPS software package delivery that can be integrated with NASA's FACET and ACES software for evaluation and demonstration.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed effort directly supports the NASA Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen NGATS) and provides advanced algorithms and software tools to perform integrated NextGen Airportal traffic and resource management. Phase II deliverable software package will be designed to interface with the existing tools like FACET and ACES that NASA uses for analysis and evaluation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
FAA and other government agencies will benefit from automated Airportal resource and traffic management through improved throughput of the airports with minimal delays. Performance based automated traffic planning will also enable efficient and safe operations of diverse aircraft types including unmanned vehicles alongside commercial flights. Besides aerospace, the proposed algorithms and software can easily be generalized towards transportation, manufacturing, logistics and military resource and asset planning.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aerotech Research
11836 Fishing Point Drive, Suite 200
Newport News, VA 23606-4507
(757) 723-1300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bill Buck
billbuck@atr-usa.com
11836 Fishing Point Drive, Suite 200
Newport News,  VA 23606-4507
(757) 723-1300

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Wake vortices are a critical constraint to aircraft separation and therefore airportal throughput, which is already at or near capacity at many major airports in the NAS. Improvements to current methods of spacing aircraft could significantly increase airportal capacity, but there is currently limited awareness of wake encounters and information with which to assess spacing in real-time or to design new spacing schemes. AeroTech proposes to improve situational awareness of wake vortices and enhance the prediction of wake vortex transport and decay by developing an In Situ Wake Vortex Encounter Detection and Reporting System (VEDARS). The VEDARS will quantitatively detect wake encounters using flight data; downlink encounter reports in real-time to enhance ATC awareness and enable assessment of spacing schemes; and collect and report meteorological parameters from aircraft for use in wake transport and decay predictions. Additionally, the VEDARS software can process historical flight data to identify prior wake encounters and assess spacing for a given weather day at an airportal. Phase I will develop and test the VEDARS methodology and algorithms, and perform a feasibility assessment. By the end of Phase II, the VEDARS will have been both ground and flight tested, and will be enhancing wake awareness.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
When the goals of the proposed R/R&D are met, the In Situ Wake Vortex Encounter Detection and Reporting System (VEDARS) will directly support NASA's NextGen-Airportal project goal to realize an airportal environment that will achieve the highest possible throughput and operational efficiency, while balancing safety and environmental requirements. VEDARS will support the Safe and Efficient Surface Operations and Coordinated Arrival and Departure Operations Management (CADOM) focus areas by enhancing researchers' awareness of wake encounters; supporting the assessment and optimization of aircraft separation schemes; providing data that assists in the characterization of wake transport and decay; and providing a capability for simulations that can be used to assess airportal operations and procedures within various weather conditions and airfield layouts. The VEDARS will also support NASA's research efforts under the JPDO in NextGen Super Density Arrival/Departure Operations and Trajectory-Based Operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
AeroTech's In Situ Wake Vortex Encounter Detection and Reporting System (VEDARS) will provide benefits to both research efforts and real-time situational awareness of wake vortices. The VEDARS will enable the FAA Wake Vortex Program and other commercial researchers to assess historical spacing schemes through identification of wake encounters from historical flight data, and develop new techniques for various airfield configurations. Real-time implementation of the VEDARS on aircraft and within wake vortex spacing systems will enhance controller's awareness of wake encounters and their decision making regarding the current separation distances. Additionally, the meteorological information provided can be incorporated into wake transport and decay predictions to assess real-time safety issues for parallel runway operations. Finally, data from the VEDARS can be used by commercial organizations to develop and validate the performance of wake vortex detection systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Attitude Determination and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Pilot Support Systems
Architectures and Networks
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aerospace Innovations, LLC
4822 George Washington Memorial Hwy, Suite 200
Yorktown, VA 23692-2768
(757) 875-5144

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Chi Nguyen
chi@ai-llc.com
4822 George Washington Memorial Hwy, Ste 200
Yorktown,  VA 23692-2768
(757) 875-5144

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1 to 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors have been successfully demonstrated and implemented capabilities to detect and measure wake vortices in and around the terminal area. Although LIDAR systems have been used to measure wake vortex strength and position in NASA and FAA measurement campaigns and too little is known about their accuracy in quantifying location and strength in different regimes. Field data analysis suggests that strength may be commonly overestimated compared to theoretical models, but no study has been conducted to determine the validity and accuracy of the sensing techniques to determine these estimates. Additionally, these uncertainties cannot be determined since no other remote sensing system has been verified to accurately measure and characterize the wake vortices. A risk with no quantitative assessment is that it may negatively impact the separation standards. Aerospace Innovations, LLC proposes to design and develop a physics-based Monte Carlo LIDAR Simulation and Visualization (LiSiVi) Tool to provide NASA and industry researchers the ability to accurately model the performance of LIDAR based wake vortex sensing systems. The significance of this innovation is that it combines the advancement of knowledge in the wake vortex modeling research and the laser technology areas.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential NASA commercial application exists in aeronautics and sensors research. LIDAR sensors are being considered for remote detection of wake vortices in the National Airspace System both in the terminal area and en route. NASA Langley researchers could use this tool in their current work in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Project to evaluate and assess current and candidate LIDAR systems for their ability to accurately measure wake vortices. No simulation tool is commercially available to provide the comprehensive modeling and analysis capabilities that LIDAR Simulation and Visualization Tool will be able to provide.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
As laser technology advances, companies interested in developing LIDAR sensors for wake vortex, turbulence, and other atmospheric phenomena could use LiSiVi Tool to help conduct parametric studies for the design of their LIDAR sensor system. The application of this simulation extends beyond wake vortex detection and measurement to other atmospheric phenomena. The simulation will be designed to incorporate measurement other atmospheric targets such as winds, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence, and clouds. Commercial application of LiSiVi exists and will be considered in the definition of the requirements for the design.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Airport Infrastructure and Safety

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luna Innovations Incorporated
1 Riverside Circle, Suite 400
Roanoke, VA 24016-4962
(540) 769-8400

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Matthew Davis
submissions301@lunainnovations.com
3157 State Street
Blacksburg,  VA 24060-6604
(540) 769-8400

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The mission of NASA's ATP is to maintain and advance the testing capabilities of the United States' extensive infrastructure of aerospace research facilities. One key component to these ground based test facilities are the force balances used to measure aerodynamic loads on models undergoing characterization and testing. NASA currently maintains an inventory of balances that were designed for previous models and operating ranges that may not be as relevant to current test conditions. Project resources do not always allow a balance to be designed for specific testing applications due to the associated costs and schedule. Luna Innovations is proposing to develop new and innovative force balance technology that will reduce the cost of facility instrumentation and allow for reduced design and instrumentation time, while providing more accurate and reliable results when compared to current balances. This development utilizes proven fiber optic sensor technology that integrates active thermal compensation with a miniaturized, highly accurate, multi-channel sensing network. The versatile operating range of this technology with respect to temperatures and loading conditions, combined with a high channel count data processing system designed by Luna, will provide advanced measurement capabilities for NASA facilities and enable accurate testing of emerging propulsion and transport technologies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The implementation of fiber optic technology into a 6-component force balance will enable improved accuracy in aerodynamic measurements made across NASA facilities under a variety of test conditions at a reduced cost when compared to traditional, electrically instrumented balances. Operating at a reduced cost will allow more extensive testing of design features and system level designs in support of the next generation CEV, Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), and advanced propulsion systems. The reduced machining and instrumentation cost of the balances themselves will also enable individual designs to be completed for specific models at a scale that was previously not feasible due to project resource limitations. The versatile operating ranges of this technology will also reduce the design time as the limits of aerodynamic testing are extended. This technology will demonstrate itself as being vital to increasing the future design and testing capabilities of NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
While NASA is the leader in fundamental research for advancing aerospace technology within the United States, commercial entities are also working to advance the state-of-the-art in high and low-speed propulsion, flight vehicles, and fundamental aerospace sciences. Key to verification of computer simulations is the ability to cost effectively obtain data under ground based simulated flight conditions. The technology developed during this project will enable commercial air and spacecraft developers to obtain vital data which will improve vehicle design, safety, and efficiency. In addition, the strain gauges and system developed during this program will also be applicable across industry to all harsh-environment applications in which electrical gauges cannot survive. Fiber optic gauges provide a miniature, non-intrusive EMI-resistant method of accurately measuring strain and temperature. Luna expects this system will provide a significant upgrade to existing facilities in which current systems have become obsolete.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Testing Facilities
Structural Modeling and Tools

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc.
2766 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton, OH 45440-3638
(937) 429-4980

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Jim Crafton
jwcrafton@innssi.com
2766 Indian Ripple Rd
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638
(937) 429-4980

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6 to 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Here we introduce a new sensor for measurement of skin friction and pressure, Surface Stress Sensitive Film (S3F). This technique can operate over a range of temperatures from cryogenic (160 K, -113„aC) to well above ambient (470 K, 197„aC). The operation of the sensor is based on the deformations of an elastic film that distorts under the action of the applied normal and tangential loads. Skin friction and pressure gradients are determined by monitoring these distortions and applying a finite element model to the film. Quantitative measurements of skin friction and pressure have been demonstrated on aerodynamic models from 10-m/s to Mach 5. Among these tests was an experiment that included S3F on one side of the model and PSP on the other side. Data from each sensor was acquired simultaneously, thus demonstrating the compatibility of the S3F with existing PSP hardware. Tunnels with existing PSP systems could be upgraded to include skin friction capability. The opportunity to develop this sensor system for measurements of skin friction in production facilities, including cryogenic tunnels as well as tunnels with operating temperatures up to 200C, is recognized and this is the focus of this proposal.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Distributed measurements of skin friction and pressure are of significant interest in a variety of fields including aeronautical and bio-medical engineering. ISSI is currently pursuing commercial applications in these fields by demonstrating skin friction and pressure measurements on aerodynamic models, micro-channels, artificial heart models, and contact force measurements such as force distribution under a foot. In the aeronautical community, the skin friction and pressure measurements offered by this technique are essential for the validation of CFD codes and the design of low Reynolds number airfoils for micro air vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non NASA commercial applications of this technology are mostly in the bio-medical field where measurements of skin friction are essential to the design of artificial implants to minimize the occurrence of clotting. Also with respect to contact force measurements, ISSI has developed a sensor based on the S3F technology which is being used to study the effect of shear and on diabetic ulceration in feet. In conjunction with these proof of concept tests, ISSI has recently developed a commercial Pressure Sensitive Paint system. The components of the skin friction technology have been developed to be compatible with this commercially deployed system and therefore, extension of these systems to include skin friction measurements is offered as a system upgrade. Over the past 12 months, eight complete systems and several components have been sold with total revenue of over $500,000.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Instrumentation
Biochemical
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Systems Technology, Inc.
13766 South Hawthorne Blvd.
Hawthorne, CA 90250-7083
(310) 679-2281

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Edward Bachelder Systems Technology, Inc.
edbach@systemstech.com
13766 S Hawthorne Blvd.
Hawthorne,  CA 90250-7083
(310) 679-2281

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
While modern ground-based flight simulators continue to improve in fidelity and effectiveness, there remains no substitute for flight test evaluations. In addition to real world cueing (vestibular, visual, aural, environmental, etc.), flight test provides intangibles that can not yet be duplicated in a ground-based simulator. There is, however, a cost to be paid for the benefits of flight in terms of budget, mission complexity, and safety including the need for ground and control room personnel, additional aircraft, etc. New technologies and test techniques are therefore needed to maximize the investments and perhaps even reduce some of the related costs associated with flight test. Systems Technology, Inc. proposes to develop a Fused Reality (FR) system that will allow an animated virtual environment to be integrated with the test aircraft so that tasks such as aerial refueling, formation flying, or air-to-air tracking can be accomplished without additional aircraft resources. Furthermore, for the first time, the dynamic motions of the simulated objects (e.g., refueling drogue or tanker) can be directly correlated with the test aircraft. The FR system will allow real-time observation of and manual interaction with the cockpit environment that serves as a frame for the virtual out-the-window scene.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Following the successful completion of a Phase 2 in-flight evaluation program, a prototype FR-based flight test system will be ready to transition into a commercially viable product. The FR system will have potential applications for NASA, other government agencies, and commercial aviation. For NASA this product will directly address the stated need for highly innovative and more efficient flight test techniques. FR will reduce the need for specific aircraft that are costly and often difficult to schedule. Critical flight test evaluation tasks involving other aircraft and related dynamic elements can still be conducted in a safe and repeatable manner.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
For other government agencies, specifically the DoD, a FR-based flight test system will find new uses in addition to those identified for NASA. These include; target tracking of simulated enemy aircraft and/or ground targets, interaction of test aircraft with unmanned aerial vehicles, mission training and rehearsal, degraded visibility for all aircraft or brownout training for rotorcraft, etc. For commercial aviation, a FR-based flight test system can be used for advanced training involving up-and-away collision avoidance, poor visibility approach and landings, runway incursions, etc. Finally, potential applications for all areas include in-flight synthetic vision. Here, the entire cockpit window area can be a virtual HUD where symbology/objects are superimposed on the actual out-of-the-window scene. In this application, an intended runway can be highlighted, important landmarks/hazards can be identified, the precise location of other aircraft can be displayed, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Pilot Support Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Erigo Technologies, LLC
P.O. Box 899
Enfield, NH 03748-0899
(603) 632-4156

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Matthew Miller
matt.miller@erigo.com
P.O. Box 899, 64 Main Street
Enfield,  NH 03748-0899
(603) 632-4156

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Over-the-horizon communications and information networks are beginning to produce sustainable capabilities for Earth science operations using advanced unpiloted vehicles. There is a growing need for affordable desktop access to globally deployable data acquisition and data processing sensor-web networks on board these airborne platforms. Central to meeting this need is further miniaturizing on-board computing, data acquisition, and satellite network communication equipment. With current technology, the associated on-board components weigh several pounds. We propose to reduce the weight to mere ounces while also lowering cost and power consumption. This will greatly expand the deployment of this technology to new-generation ultra-small unmanned air vehicles, other space and weight-constrained airborne systems, and a wide range of terrestrial applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NASA vision for a Global Test Range (GTR) will be greatly enhanced through the significant miniaturization and portability of the Suborbital Telepresence and REVEAL technology. This will open up its utility and lower its cost to enable deployment on a wider range of unmanned air vehicle (UAV) and other remotely deployable sensor web platforms.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The flagship non-NASA commercial application will be micro-UAV over-the horizon control and communication for military, homeland security, and law enforcement surveillance. Other commercial applications include remote environmental sensing by science researchers as an extension and enhancement to the activities of the Open Source DataTurbine community. Extremely miniaturized data acquisition and recording equipment with wireless satellite network connectivity will have a broad range of benefits and commercial applications for both land and airborne vehicular-borne recording systems for remote sensing such as surveillance and security.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Telemetry, Tracking and Control
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Architectures and Networks
Computer System Architectures
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SIFT, LLC
211 N. First Street, Suite 300
Minneapolis, MN 55401-1480
(612) 339-7438

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Musliner
musliner@sift.info
211 N. First St., Suite 300
Minneapolis,  MN 55401-1480
(763) 449-9373

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Problem: Ensuring that command execution scripts do not deviate from Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is time-consuming, costly, and error-prone. Deviations can be inefficient or hazardous. Solution: We propose to design and develop SAFE-P, an interactive tool to ensure conformance between command scripts and procedures, or guide users to clarify their rationale for deviations. Using semantic differencing and formal verification of bisimulation relations, SAFE-P will ensure that the scripts comply with SOPs and will highlight differences for the operators, so that they can double-check their work and confirm any deviations from standard procedures. SAFE-P's design will begin with relatively simple syntactic mechanisms to find differences between command sequences and textual procedures that can be applied directly to current flight control practices, including the use of SOPs captured in simple XML or PDF files and command scripts in ThinLayer. To reduce false error detection and assess the criticality of differences, we will incorporate knowledge of the space platform's architecture. For future missions, we will extend SAFE-P to richer languages (PRL, PLEXIL, SCL) and employ more complex verification of program-equivalence relationships (bisimulation) to ensure conformance between scripts and procedures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed SAFE-P tool will be applicable to a wide variety of NASA missions including ISS, Shuttle, and Constellation operations. For manned and unmanned spacecraft operations, SAFE-P will bridge a critical gap in NASA's safety procedures, preventing the possibility of inadvertent commands that do not conform to standard operating procedures and that could lead to dangerous or even catastrophic consequences. SAFE-P fits directly within NASA's Automation for Operations (A4O) system concept, helping support significant reductions in operations costs and increases in operational efficiency while maintaining or improving system safety. The SAFE-P tool will be designed to integrate with NASA's Procedure Integrated Development Environment (PRIDE), seamlessly supporting efficient development of future executable procedures and scripts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Large-scale industrial control systems, in particular oil refineries, paper mills, and food processing plants, also maintain a large library of standard operating procedures which have been developed by system designers and installers. These must be adapted on a daily basis to the specific system configuration and product targets for manual or automatic execution. The SAFE-P technology will be directly applicable to ensuring that industrial plants' daily operating plans and scripts conform to the standard operating procedures. SAFE-P technology may also be applied when manually-operated industrial control systems are being transitioned to more automated control systems, to verify that newly-written executable control scripts conform to legacy manual (textual) operating procedures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Intelligence
Teleoperation
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stottler Henke Associates, Inc.
951 Mariner's Island Blvd., Suite 360
San Mateo, CA 94404-1585
(650) 931-2700

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Mohammed
mohammed@stottlerhenke.com
951 Mariner's Island Blvd, Ste. 360
San Mateo,  CA 94404-1560
(650) 931-2700

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The paper-based manual crew procedures that formed the basis of mission management for the manned space program are being replaced by electronic procedure representations and execution engines that support adjustable autonomy. Adhering to the conventions of the legacy procedures makes procedure authoring intuitive and less error prone than approaches that require the author to program in a formal planning language. However, this approach also preserves a drawback of the paper-based procedure: inflexibility in execution due to a lack of information about constraints implicit in the procedure. We propose to develop the Procedure Authoring with Constraints Tool (PACT), an intuitive graphical drag-and-drop and WYSIWYG authoring environment that preserves the conventions of the paper-base procedure, but adds the capability to capture timing and ordering constraints with minimal additional effort. During this Phase I project, we will specify user interface and functional requirements, create representative use cases, design the Phase II system, and develop and evaluate a proof-of-concept prototype to illustrate our approach and demonstrate its utility and feasibility.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
PACT software technologies will increase the trustworthiness of semi-autonomous procedures by making explicit the timing and ordering constraints that are normally implicit in the representation of such procedures. This will ensure compliance with these constraints, and safely enable flexible execution.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We will market PACT technologies to organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense and its contractors to develop and operate semi-autonomous systems such as unmanned vehicles as well as non-robotic software agents. In addition, the technology will complement Stottler Henke's own procedure authoring toolkits such as TaskGuide.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Expert Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Cybernet Systems Corporation
727 Airport Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1639
(734) 668-2567

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Marcus Huber
proposals@cybernet.com
727 Airport Blvd
Ann Arbor,  MI 48108-1639
(734) 668-2567

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
There is a persistent pressure upon NASA crew members to achieve very high productivity during their missions. Significant challenges exist to maintaining manageable workload while the crew is performing their many and varied tasks allotted for each day while ensuring the crew maintain situation awareness. NASA crew members deal with a large amount of very high technology equipment and perform experiments and procedures that can be extremely long and complex. The solution will require the development of automated management technologies that will operate synergistically with the crew, automating tasks of varying complexity in a dynamic, flexible manner with representations of automation state that the crew is familiar and comfortable with. In this proposal, Cybernet proposes to leverage crew members' capabilities with the design of a distributed Procedure Execution and Projection (PEP) system that focuses on supporting automation of complex procedures while ensuring crew situational awareness and anticipating future problems. Our team will leverage the recent work on the Procedure Representation Language (PRL) and the flexible, distributed and hierarchical capabilities of holonic systems. PRL is an XML encoding of the vehicle/habitat procedures in a form that both crew and automation can use, and the PEP systems' intelligent holonic modules will support crew with a range of capabilities, including automation of procedures, projection of procedures to look for problems and determine courses of action to prevent or mitigate the problems, and make sure that the crew maintain situational awareness of the procedural state. The objectives of the Phase I project are to establish critical requirements for NASA vehicle and habitat crew automation and to design and implement a prototype of the PEP system to demonstrate approach viability.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology could be applied to all current and future NASA missions wherein procedures can be at least partially automated. This applies to current space shuttle, international space station, upcoming Constellation project systems, and manned Mars expeditions. The leverage of PRL for the project provides significant benefits, but even without such its use, the PEP system is suitable for executing, monitoring, and projecting at least portions of any vehicle or habitat procedure.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Because the design approach for the PEP system is modular and adaptive, there is a broad range of commercialization opportunities: • Military squads who need to use remote robotic systems for tactical surveillance and engagement, such as the US Army Maneuver Center and the US Army Infantry. These groups are currently developing Operational Requirements Documents that specify the need for remotely controlled robotic systems. The US Marine Corps is also developing an ORD for a larger, remotely controlled system (Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle). • Search and rescue teams, who need flexible, robust, controllers that will be deployed to natural disasters. The National Guard has planned the deployment of multiple remotely controlled robots for search and rescue. The robots will be stationed with various National Guard units, ready to be sent to any area that needs robotic support. • The Department of Energy (DoE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), need robust robotic control for cleanup of hazardous waste sites and chemical contamination. Large amounts of highly toxic wastes were stored on sites maintained by the DOE and pose significant hazards to personnel who need to characterize the level of contamination. The EPA has also been actively working to characterize other contaminated sites. Both the EPA and DOE have used robots fitted with monitors and sensors in order to reliably and accurately characterize the site and a high level of control is needed.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Computer System Architectures
Expert Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stottler Henke Associates, Inc.
951 Mariner's Island Blvd., Suite 360
San Mateo, CA 94404-1585
(650) 931-2700

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Emilio Remolina
remolina@stottlerhenke.com
951 Mariner's Island Blvd, Ste. 360
San Mateo,  CA 94404-1560
(650) 931-2700

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Execution and monitoring of command plans are central for spacecraft operations. Diverse execution engines and languages exist to define such command plans. Language dependent development tools have been created for such languages. However, there is not a reusable framework and code base that can be used to create such automation tools even thought there are many commonalties in the functionality and form of such tools. As a consequence, existing automation tools cannot be easily adapted across missions or languages. We proposed the development of an authoring and debugging framework for the definition of spacecraft operation plans. The framework provides a reusable code base that facilitates the creation of authoring and debugging tools tailored to a particular language and particular user type. Traditional text based authoring will be complemented with graphical representations of plans that provide friendly abstractions of a language's low level execution details. Traditional in-line debugging techniques will be enhanced with context-based visual debugging techniques suitable to understand the rationale of why a plan or rule has been applied and the interactions between different plans running in parallel. The Phase I prototype will illustrate the utility of the proposed framework by developing editors and debuggers for PLEXIL and SCL.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed framework for graphical authoring and visual debugging will provide NASA with a unified toolkit with enough out of the box functionality to reduce the time and manpower needed to build IDEs for NASA command languages. The use of the APIs here proposed will facilitate the reuse and adaptation of related tools created by different NASA groups, like the Planning and Scheduling group at NASA Ames.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology will complement Stottler Henke's own advanced automation toolkits such as SimBionic and its MadCap real-time planning system used for controlling intelligent simulated agents in training, wargaming, and entertainment games. These toolkits are used by the U.S. Department of Defense and its contractors to develop and operate semi-autonomous systems such as unmanned vehicles as well as non-robotic software agents.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Traclabs, Inc.
8620 N. New Braunfels, Suite 603
San Antonio, TX 78217-3586
(210) 822-2310

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Kortenkamp
korten@traclabs.com
1012 Hercules
Houston,  TX 77058-3586
(281) 461-7884

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Procedures are the accepted means of commanding spacecraft. Procedures encode the operational knowledge of a system as derived from system experts, testing, training and experience. NASA has tens of thousands of procedures for Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, which are used daily by both flight controllers and crew. It is expected that the new Constellation vehicles, including Orion, Altair and Lunar habitats, will have thousands of procedures to ensure safe operation. Currently procedures are executed manually using standard command and control displays. We are proposing a new paradigm whereby procedures interact closely with the next generation telemetry and command displays being developed for NASA and with a procedure assistant that can automatically dispatch commands and evaluate telemetry under tight supervision of the operator. The procedure assistant will consist of an interactive procedure display, a procedure assistant executive, a set of procedure support services and an editor for modifying existing procedures or building simple new procedures. In our paradigm rocedures will be just like any other component of an integrated suite of mission control tools. This will greatly enhance the efficiency of flight controllers and reduce training costs associated with having a separate set of tools for procedures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA is currently designing the next generation of mission control software and displays. This new software will begin rolling out in the next several years. This makes for perfect timing to infuse new procedure technology into NASA mission operations. We will work with NASA JSC Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) personnel such as Alan Crocker to ensure that our SBIR technology meets NASA's needs. Our goal is for our software to be a piece of a larger delivery of new mission control software and displays into Mission Control Center (MCC).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
All complex systems, such as nuclear power plants, oil refineries and petrochemical plants, use procedures as the core of their operations. Just like current NASA operations, these procedures are often on paper and are manual. Given the hundreds of nuclear power plants in the US alone and many more overseas and the thousands of oil refineries and petrochemical plants the potential market for software and services that move these industries from paper to electronic procedures is enormous.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Human-Computer Interfaces

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aries Design Automation, LLC
6157 N Sheridan Road, Suite 16M
Chicago, IL 60660-5818
(773) 856-6633

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Miroslav Velev
miroslav.velev@aries-da.com
6157 N Sheridan Road, Suite 16M
Chicago,  IL 60660-5818
(773) 856-6633

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The hundreds of stream cores in the latest graphics processors (GPUs), and the possibility to execute non-graphics computations on them, open unprecedented levels of parallelism at a very low cost. We will investigate ways to efficiently exploit this parallelism in order to accelerate the execution of a Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solver. SAT has a wide range of applications, including formal verification and testing of software and hardware, scheduling and planning, cryptanalysis, and detection of security vulnerabilities and malicious intent. We bring a tremendous expertise in SAT solving, formal verification, and solving of Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) by efficient translation to SAT. In our previous work (done on the expenses of our company) we obtained 2 orders of magnitude speedup in solving Boolean formulas from formal verification of complex pipelined microprocessors, as well as 4 orders of magnitude speedup in SAT-based solving of CSPs. We expect to achieve speedups of up to 1 – 2 orders of magnitude in Phase 1, and up to 3 – 4 orders of magnitude in Phase 2.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Efficiently solving of challenging Boolean formulas is critical to NASA, as this will increase both the scalability and speed of formal verification and testing methods for complex mission software and hardware, as well as of SAT-based methods for solving of scheduling and planning problems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential non-NASA commercial applications include: 1) Formal verification and testing of software and hardware, where the potential customers will be all major semiconductor and software companies. 2) Scheduling, planning, and solving of Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs), where the potential customers will be all companies that develop scheduling and planning tools. 3) Formal methods for cryptanalysis, where the potential customers will be the Department of Defense, the NSA, and all companies that use cryptanalysis. 4) Formal methods for cyber security, such as for detection of security vulnerabilities and malicious intent in software, where the potential customers will be all companies that develop robust virus scanners based on formal methods, and companies that develop formal methods for detecting security vulnerabilities in software. Because of the potential for a very wide range of software obfuscations that can be used to hide malicious intent, future virus scanners will have to employ efficient formal methods to detect malware, and thus the importance of speed and scalability that will be possible due to an efficient SAT solver.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Intelligence
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Training Concepts and Architectures
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Computer System Architectures
Data Input/Output Devices
Expert Systems
Software Development Environments
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Highly-Reconfigurable

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SureLogic, Inc.
5806 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217-1602
(412) 422-1980

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aaron Greenhouse
aaron.greenhouse@surelogic.com
5806 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh,  PA 15217-1602
(412) 787-6395

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The goal of the proposed work is to create new ways to manage, visualize, and share data produced by multiple software analysis tools, and to create a framework for integrating diversely-sourced analysis tools into software practices, across the lifecycle, in a way that improves both reliability and productivity. Software analysis tools are used by software programmers, analysts, and managers to find potential defects in software source code, to enhance compliance with organizational development standards of practice, and to assist developers and teams in expressing and managing key information regarding design intent. While analysis tools have been shown to offer quality and productivity benefits to programmers, the present user experience limits their effectiveness and is a substantial barrier to their adoption into mainstream software development practices. Additionally, there is a growing number of tools now becoming available, and the tools are proving to have complementary capabilities, which means that groups seeking some comprehensiveness of coverage must develop multi-tool approaches. Finally, a suite of tools can produce more than 10,000 individual findings for a mid-sized software system, creating challenges for prioritization and focus. The project addresses the challenge through the development and evaluation of an analytic tool suite, called Sierra client and server, to support data management, integration, filtering, and querying of large numbers of findings drawn from multiple tools. It does this in a way that supports teams and collaboration, auditing and tracking, longitudinal analysis, interactive visualization, and management analytics.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Sierra tool, along with the JSure and Flashlight tools in the SureLogic tool suite, have been field tested on a diverse representation of mature and developing NASA mission software. These tools already have proven value to NASA, based on multiple field tests. This project builds on that experience, and also on the most recent developments in analysis and tooling technology, to augment that value and provide a capability that can be readily integrated with the software lifecycle in a wide range of NASA development efforts. SureLogic's strategy of developing partnerships will be enhanced through this effort in several ways. First, new capabilities will be added to augment the value provided by the tools. Second, any field evaluations undertaken will reduce the risk of adoption by any potential commercial partners. Finally, the tools will embody an understanding of NASA requirements that will make them more attractive and valuable to a broader segment of the NASA software development community.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA reliability requirements are often a leading indicator of reliability requirements for non-NASA applications, both commercial and government. They are also representative of requirements for critical systems in industry and government. By developing an experience that integrates tooling, lifecycle support, and team experience that is highly valuable to NASA developers and readily used by them in practice, SureLogic is better prepared to address the broader market. SureLogic's market strategy of developing partnerships with vendors will enable the SureLogic tools to be provisioned along with vendor environments for development and operations, both. The SureLogic tools and technology will be enhanced through this effort in several ways. First, new capabilities will be added to augment the value already provided by the tools. Second, any field evaluations undertaken will reduce the risk of adoption by any potential commercial partners. Finally, the tools will embody an understanding of NASA requirements that will make them more attractive and valuable to a broader segment of the NASA software development community.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Emergent Space Technologies, Inc.
6301 Ivy Lane, Suite 720
Greenbelt, MD 20770-6330
(301) 345-1535

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dilmurat Azimov
dilmurat.azimov@emergentspace.com
2900 South Congress Ave. Ste 206
Austin,  TX 78704-6444
(512) 215-4977

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
he objective of this proposal is to research, design and develop an automated real-time targeting and guidance (ARTGUID) software for precision lunar landing and descent. The software tool will be reliable, extensible, scalable and verifiable based on the complex mission-driven requirements on the Altair Lunar Lander and other landers for NASA's future exploration missions. It will provide an integrated real-time targeting, guidance, navigation and control (TGNC) capability to perform autonomous vehicle-centered operations to accomplish mission objectives. The algorithms provide a fuel-optimal powered descent and precision landing at any desirable site on the Moon. The method of technical approach is based on the revalidation, operational assessment and qualitative improvement of all Apollo-era programs. The real-time targeting and guidance operations are performed on all phases of the descent trajectory by employing exact closed-form solutions for constant thrust arcs on braking phase. Development of the real-time TGNC capability represents an innovative approach in advancing the state-of-the-art autonomous landing GNC technology. The preliminary development of the advanced targeting algorithms has demonstrated the reliability, functionality and likelihood of success of the proposed software by re-constructing the Apollo 11 and 12 post-flight lunar-descent trajectories and guidance performances.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed design of the high-fidelity automated real-time targeting and guidance software and the resulting capabilities for the landing missions to the Moon will contribute - to the NASA human space exploration by extending and enhancing the existing capabilities of autonomous spacecraft, and by providing precision landing on any celestial body, including automatic re-designation of landing site, terrain mapping from high altitudes, terrain and hazard relative navigation, topographic data analysis, etc.; - to the progress in the NASA Lunar return program as it is a new real-time targeting and guidance (TGNC) system, which provides precision landing and extends the capabilities of the hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) applicable to the Moon. The proposed investigation of constant thrust solutions and high-fidelity software development on real-time targeting and guidance would enrich the NASA science environment.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
It is known that the high-fidelity automated real-time targeting and guidance software and the resulting capabilities of TGNC for the landing missions to the Moon and other celestial gravitational bodies are under active development at the research centers of the European Space Agency and other commercial organizations associated with space exploration and related business. In the commercial market of software and advanced technologies, such as state-of-the-art autonomous guidance technology or real-time targeting technology, Emergent will be able to provide engineering analysis and architecture design services to spacecraft manufacturers and service organizations in the development of TGNC and related software. In addition, Emergent will be able to sell documentation, consulting, and software maintenance and development services to users of the proposed software.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
CoolCAD Electronics
7101 Poplar Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912-4671
(240) 432-6535

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Neil Goldsman
neil.goldsman@coolcadelectronics.com
7101 Poplar Avenue
Takoma Park,  MD 20912-4671
(240) 432-6535

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We are developing CAD tools, models and methodologies for electronics design for circuit operation in extreme environments with a focus on very low temperature and radiation effects. These new tools and methodologies will help enable NASA to design next generation electronics. Such capabilities will significantly improve reliability, performance and lifetime of electronics that are used for space applications, including satellites and space travel. This will be achieved through the development of novel physics-based modeling techniques and verified by experiment. The new cryogenic design tools will greatly reduce the chances of error during actual circuit implementation, and thus reduce the number of design cycles, thereby substantially decreasing fabrication times and expenses. Models and CAD tools are relatively inexpensive as compared to fabrication costs; thus the results of this project should provide a very large return on investment.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The work proposed in this program will help NASA develop electronics for space missions where ambient temperatures are in the cryogenic region. We are developing CAD tools for DC, AC and Transient device modeling for very low temperatures. We plan to provide model cards for compact spice-type simulators for electronics design at cryogenic temperatures. This will help allow NASA to design and operate low tempeature, ruggedized electronics for future space applications. Related NASA commercial applications include cryogenic detectors and communication electronics.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA, there is a large civilian space applications business, especially with respect to communications satellites. There is also a large commitment by the Department of Defense to space applications. This work should find applications with these types of organizations as well. There is also a need for cryogenic electronics in terrestrial low noise applications. Such applications can be found in infrared and far infrared optical detectors. Furthermore, any application where the input signal is extremely weak, and a very large signal to noise ratio is required, may be enhanced by cryogenic operation. The developing field of quantum computing is also in need of circuits operated at cryogenic temperatures as input and readout subsystems. CoolCAD is currently working with agencies and industry for developing design methodologies for infrared photo-detector arrays, and for very low noise communication circuits.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
RF
Instrumentation
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation
Optical
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
RNET Technologies, Inc.
240 W Elmwood Drive, Suite 2010
Dayton, OH 45459-4248
(937) 433-2886

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
V. Nagarajan
vnagarajan@rnet-tech.com
240 W Elmwood Dr, Ste 2010
Dayton,  OH 45459-4248
(937) 433-2886

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
One of the needs of NASA is the development of avionic systems and components that have the capability to operate in extreme radiation and temperature environments found in deep space, as well as the lunar and Martian surfaces. As a result, spacecraft electronics will be required to be hardened against radiation environment and temperature cycling. In fact, they should withstand a total ionizing dose (TID) of at least 100 krads (Si) and provide single-event latchup (SEL) immunity of at least 100 MeV cm2/mg. As part of these needs, NASA is interested in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology with reliable reprogrammability and a degree of radiation hardness. We intend to answer NASA's need for FPGA technologies suitable for future exploration systems. In Phase I, we plan to focus on the integration of radiation hardening technologies involving both the structure of the FPGA and its sub-components, as well as use of an advanced foundry process and specialized circuits to mitigate radiation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The first application that we would pursue is one of NASA's future exploration missions of the moon, Mars, and beyond. The missions are in the early planning stages, which leaves plenty of opportunities to transition our technology into a real system. Opportunities exist in space and surface vehicles, orbiters, satellites, etc. Although the topic is interested in the mitigation of radiation on reprogrammable FPGAs, the technology could be applied other types of ICs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The same technology would also have applicability with the DoD. Example applications could include satellites, high attitude UAVs and aircraft, nuclear power plants (i.e. ship or submarine), or basically any electronic circuits requiring radiation hardness. This technology could also be applied in several DOE focused areas. The first and most obvious application would be the support electronics in a nuclear reactor. Another, potential area would be in support of electronics of a particle collider. There are also multiple places in industry where radiation hardened integrated circuits are needed. Some are not obvious as others. Certain medical equipment does require a degree of radiation tolerance. Apparently, some communication equipment and servers used in the banking industry have radiation mitigation requirements.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Space Photonics, Inc.
700 West Research Center Blvd
Fayetteville, AR 72701-7175
(479) 856-6367

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Matthew Leftwich
mleftwich@spacephotonics.com
700 West Research Center Blvd
Fayetteville,  AR 72701-7175
(479) 856-6367

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Phase I SBIR proposal seeks funding to develop a radiation-hardened circuit architecture to achieve SEU and SEL immunity by using delay-insensitive asynchronous logic, and to demonstrate its feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency. Further, early studies reveal that an operational temperature range of 2K to 400K will be highly feasible. Delay-insensitive asynchronous logic removes the concept of a global clock by incorporating handshaking protocols to control the circuit. The handshaking protocols allows for flexible timing requirements, high power efficiency, and low noise/emission generation. The flexible timing nature of delay-insensitive logic makes this type of circuits an excellent candidate for mitigating radiation effects in digital electronics. Compared to the existing radiation-hardening techniques, the proposed solution has several substantial benefits including cost efficiency, SEU/SEL immunity without weak points, and the ability to retain data during power cycling while mitigating SEL. In addition, significantly improved supply voltage variation sustainability and security against power-based side-channel attacks can also be achieved.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Early applications for the proposed technology are limited to space and defense electronics in which detrimental ionizing radiation environment effects must be mitigated and/or in which broad, low temperature operation is required, e.g. 2K - 400K.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
However, once mature and due to the low cost nature of processing that may be utilized to fabricate the device, commercial applications are more feasible, especially those involving harsher terrestrial environments,e.g. defense, homeland security, etc.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luna Innovations Incorporated
1 Riverside Circle, Suite 400
Roanoke, VA 24016-4962
(540) 769-8400

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lee Lerner
submissions303@lunainnovations.com
1 Riverside Circle, Suite 400
Roanoke,  VA 24016-4962
(540) 769-8400

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Traditional radiation hardened by process (RHBP) and radiation hardened by design (RHBD) techniques have seen success in mitigating the effects of radiation induced corruption, but are often cumbersome, slow and expensive. Current RHBP hardening techniques include foundry processing methods which take place at the manufacturing level such as the use of radiation resistant device packaging, radiation doping, and one-time programmable architectures. To date, RHBP approaches are often unavailable, prohibitively expensive, or too far behind the state of the art for many designers, forcing them to investigate RHBD techniques. RHBD design methods attempt to mitigate the effects of radiation by integrating principles of redundancy, error correction, and self-testing at multiple levels of the design, including the physical layout of a system function, the programming of the device, and the software running on the device. Traditional RHBD methods are often flawed when implemented on modern FPGA devices due to unique device architectures and supporting vendor CAD tools. Luna Innovations Incorporated proposes to develop susceptibility metrics and innovative RHBD methods to minimize the vulnerabilities of reprogrammable FPGAs in radiation prone environments. Luna will combine these developments into Luna PAR, a software program that optimizes designs for radiation hardening.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Any NASA program or mission with space based platforms would be improved by adding more effective, efficient and less expensive radiation hardened techniques created through the successful completion of this program and any subsequent products and services generated from this research. The creation of susceptibility metrics will also aid in the evaluation of past and future designs for radiation tolerance. Susceptibility metrics can also be used to guide and enhance existing FPGA implementation tools. Luna PAR will integrate with existing tools to enhance radiation hardening in FPGA designs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Successful research and development efforts will generate additional market interest and sales within the DoD marketplace in any space based applications / platforms. Similarly, any space system manufacturer or commercial industry that relies on space based systems (telecommunications, broadcast television, satellite radio, navigation systems, weather, etc.) would also realize cost reductions through better efficiencies in any value added features provided by Luna Innovations

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Expert Systems
Software Development Environments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Qualtech Systems, Inc.
100 Great Meadow Road, Suite 603
Wethersfield, CT 06109-2355
(860) 257-8014

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sudipto Ghoshal
sudipto@teamqsi.com
100 Great Meadow Road, STE 603
Wethersfield,  CT 06109-2355
(860) 805-1828

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Qualtech Systems Inc. (QSI) proposes to develop a well defined process for integration of distributed diagnostic schemes. The process includes a set of guidelines to build component diagnostic models/schemes that will undergo integration and an automated/semi-automated tool that will assess the diagnostic efficacy of the integrated scheme so as to suggest modification/redesign of the component diagnostic schemes. Parametric and functional dependencies will be the prime criteria in devising the integration process, while measures of diagnosability (e.g., ambiguity, fault masking, etc) will determine the modification/redesign directives.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology proposed for development in this Phase I effort will result in novel diagnostic, prognostic, degradation and power capability evaluation techniques. In addition, it will develop a process of automated recovery and power availability-based reactive mission planning. The diagnostic, prognostic, and degradation analysis techniques are expected to be integrated into QSI's TEAMS product suite. TEAMS is currently used in NASA Constellation program for early design decisions related to testability and maintainability, as well as for developing solutions for diagnostics, fault isolation and guided maintenance of fielded systems. The reactive mission planner software will be provided by NASA; we would incorporate the capabilities into TEAMS-RDS (remote diagnostic server) to communicate with such software directly. This will enhance TEAMS product suit's compatibility with third party software products.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Industries and agencies who use complex reschedulable mission plans (such as automotive industry) will also be targeted for commercialization of this product. NASA's current vision to enhance the level of autonomy for vehicle health management and reactive mission planning makes the proposed effort worthy of funding from several branches within it. Among the other agencies, DoD and Air-force and Navy are the most potential customer for the resulting technologies. Large scale military systems (systems of systems) such as NORAD, Space Command ground segments, the Joint Strike Fighter fleet, the Navy shipboard platforms, Submarine Commands and ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems, can be potential areas to field the reactive planning technology. The product is expected to be of commercial value to the manufacturers of DoD and military's remotely guided weapons and reconnaissance systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Simulation Modeling Environment
Testing Requirements and Architectures
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Expert Systems
Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Energy Research, Inc.
P.O. Box 2034
Rockville, MD 20847-2034
(301) 881-0866

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Shilp Vasavada
sxv@eri-world.com
P.O. Box 2034
Rockville,  MD 20847-2034
(301) 881-0866

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
There is a defined need for long term earth based testing for the development and deployment of two-phase flow systems in reduced-gravity, including lunar gravity, conditions. The proposed study intends to develop a scaling methodology to meet this requirement. A hierarchical two-tiered scaling approach will be used to obtain scaling relations for an entire system (integral scale), individual components of the system and local phenomena. The final product of the Phase I effort will be a rigorous scaling methodology along with important non-dimensional numbers which can be used for developing earth-based systems to study reduced-gravity two-phase systems and/or phenomena. The feasibility of the approach will be demonstrated in Phase I by using data available in literature that has been acquired in reduced-gravity as well as earth based conditions. As part of Phase II a scaled experimental facility will be designed and confirmatory experiments performed.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA requires significant advances in the areas of two-phase flow and heat transfer which are essential for thermal management and advanced life support systems for future missions (manned and unmanned) and the establishment of a lunar base. However, uncertainties prevail in the understanding of the operation and behavior of such systems due to the lack of data and limitations of performing experiments. The results of this project will significantly aid and speed up the design, testing and deployment of thermal management systems for heat removal from components and for advanced life support.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of the scaling methodology will benefit the experimental design and operation of facilities. The chemical industry where liquid-liquid flows involving small density differences exist which are similar to reduced-gravity conditions due to the reduction in buoyancy can use the scaling methodology applied as part of the proposal to scale experimental facilities. The rapidly growing biomedical field is a prime example where such a method can be applied since multiple scales and different processes exist in any biological system of interest.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Cooling
Microgravity
Biophysical Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
R&D Dynamics Corporation
15 Barber Pond Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002-1421
(860) 726-1204

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dr. Giri Agrawal
agragiri@rddynamics.com
15 Barber Pond Road
Bloomfield,  CT 06002-1421
(860) 726-1204

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Developing a quiet fan for Environmental Control and Life Support systems to enhance the livable environment within the spacecraft has been a challenge. A Foil Gas Bearing Supported Fan is proposed which will be quiet, efficient, reliable, contamination free, compact, and lightweight. In Phase I a set of foil gas bearings necessary to prove out the feasibility of the program will be manufactured and tested. In Phase II a complete prototype fan will be manufactured and tested incorporating the technology proved out in Phase I. In Phase III the developed fan will be system tested for airworthiness.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary, near term, NASA use for this fan is in ventilation of spacecraft. This fan can be scaled to a smaller size and can be used for SPACESUIT ventilation also. Since the fan will be quiet and compact it can be used in UAV applications where noise level and compactness are key.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is a range of private sector applications for this technology including, commercial aviation, UAV's and fuel cell applications. Commercial fuel cell systems need compact and efficient blowers to feed air into the stack. This fan will be well suited for that use.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Air Revitalization and Conditioning

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sol-gel Solutions, LLC
4110 SW 34th Street, Suite 22
Gainesville, FL 32608-6566
(352) 378-4950

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Anna Casasus
aicasasus@Sol-Gel-Solutions.com
4110 SW 34th St. Suite 22
Gainesville,  FL 32608-6566
(352) 378-4950

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed work herein focuses on waste subsystems with emphasis on odor control associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The development of efficient odor removal systems for use inside lunar mission architectures is one of NASA's critical needs (Topic X2.03). Because of the limited space and resources in both exploration vehicles and non-moving habitats, it is important for a treatment system to be compact, lightweight, and robust, and have low energy and material input requirements with the ultimate focus on reducing equivalent systems mass (ESM). Professors at the University of Florida have developed a novel, robust, and highly effective Silica-Titania Composite (STC) capable of adsorbing and oxidizing VOCs to harmless byproducts. The technology has been licensed by Sol-gel Solutions, LLC. In preparation for the design and fabrication of a prototype for validation in a relevant environment during a Phase II study, the evaluation and optimization of two potential configurations employing the STC is proposed. One configuration would employ continuous UV irradiation, and the other would employ intermittent UV. The ultimate goal is to determine which configuration results in a lower Equivalent Systems Mass (ESM).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
After successful completion of the proposed Phase I study, all the information required for design and fabrication of a prototype that can be validated in the space environment will have been acquired. The initial NASA application of focus is odor removal from waste subsystems in lunar architectures. This includes moving and stationary structures. However, the two proposed system configurations would be well suited for other NASA applications related to environmental control and life support, including, for example, air revitalization in spacecraft ventilation and thermal control systems. With some minor reconfiguration an STC system may also be used as a post-processor to NASA's existing water recovery systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The STC technology is applicable to several non-NASA applications. For example, the technology can be used to remove VOCs from indoor air in commercial buildings, homes, hospitals, and schools. It may also be used by the military for air purification in submarines and aircraft. The technology is currently being developed for use in commercial aircraft cabin air purification. Significant work has been done in the development of the technology for methanol removal from gaseous exhaust at pulp and paper mills. Furthermore, the STC technology has been commercialized for mercury removal from caustic exhaust at a chlor-alkali facility, and a pilot-scale study is scheduled for mercury removal from coal-fired power plant flue gas.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Requirements and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton, MA 02466-1311
(781) 529-0500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Han Liu
hliu@ginerinc.com
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton,  MA 02466-1311
(781) 529-0531

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is directed toward development of a novel microfiltration filter that has distinctively narrow pore size distribution, low flow resistance, low pressure drop and simple regeneration process. The regeneration process, which requires minimal material and energy consumption, can be completely automated and the filtration performance can be restored within a very short period of time.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Particulate matter removal for cabin atmosphere; Other filtration processes for water/air recovery

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In-door air filtration; Biological filtration and protein purification; Precision filtration for milk and beverage industry that requires good anti-fouling and regeneration properties

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
UMPQUA Research Company
PO Box 609
Myrtle Creek, OR 97457-0102
(541) 863-7770

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Atwater
jatwater@urcmail.net
PO Box 609
Myrtle Creek,  OR 97457-0102
(541) 863-2652

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Effective methods are needed to control pervasive Lunar Dust within spacecraft and surface habitations. Once inside, airborne transmission is the primary mode of dispersion. Inhalation of this fine powder may pose a serious health risk. Lunar dust may cause degradation of materials, interfere with proper operation of instrumentation & controls, and may prevent formation of adequate seals. To solve this problem, we propose the development of a fully regenerable hypogravity compatible filtration system for removal of Lunar Dust from air, suitable for deployment within the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) and Lunar Outpost (LO). Using microgravity and hypogravity compatible Gradient Magnetically Assisted Filtration/Fluidization Bed (GMAFB) technology, we will develop a fully regenerable Airborne Lunar Dust Filtration System. The system will minimize Equivalent System Mass (ESM) by the elimination of expendables.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NASA application will be as Flight Hardware for deployment in support of NASA's return to the moon. The Regenerable Airborne Lunar Dust Filter will be suitable for near term use in the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), and may later be used in a permanently manned Lunar Outpost.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications include a host of industrial filtration processes which recover value-added materials or which are plagued by excessive particulate loads and therefore require frequent filter change-out. For recovery of value-added materials, the innovation can facilitate recovery of airborne and waterborne particles and then easily produce concentrates of recovered particles. This application will directly benefit the bio-pharmaceutical industry for recovery of therapeutic agents produced in expanded bed bioreactors, and the mineral processing industry, particularly in hydrometallurgical methods for recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc, where small incremental increases in overall metal recovery percentages can translate into millions of dollars of increased profit over the life of a particular recovery operation. The innovation also offers a means of effective treatment of industrial process streams bearing excessive particle loads. A dual filter system offers flexibility in process design and execution, as one filter loads while the other regenerates.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomedical and Life Support

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
UMPQUA Research Company
PO Box 609
Myrtle Creek, OR 97457-0102
(541) 863-7770

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Akse, Ph.D.
akse@urcmail.net
PO Box 609
Myrtle Creek,  OR 97457-0102
(541) 863-2653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Recovery of water from brine is critically important for manned space exploration. Resupply of water is prohibitively costly for extended missions. It is anticipated that NASA will pool urine, hygiene water and humidity condensate into a combined waste stream that will subsequently be concentrated into a brine while recovering some but not all of the water, 90-95%. The concentrated brine that results from primary water recovery systems contains a significant amount of water. The proposed innovation will recover virtually all of the remaining water. This will be accomplished by ultrasonically creating nebulized droplets of the brine that can be readily dried under a partial vacuum with moderate temperature microwave heating. The process bears some resemblance to spray drying, but uses much smaller droplets (1.6 µm as compared to ~100 µm). Small droplets enable quicker drying due to their high relative surface area. This is particularly important when drying wastewater brines which contain ingredients that are thermally labile and require drying at relatively low temperatures. The proposed system has no nozzles to become plugged, requires no chemical additives, uses a minimal amount of power, is simple and small, requires minimal astronaut attention and uses a continuous, closed cycle process that is gravity independent.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NASA application of this innovative technology will be as Hardware for Lunar Base and other Early Planetary Bases. The partial gravity at these locations will permit nebulization without the use of a wick. Gravity based water accumulation at the bottom of the condenser will be accomplished without the assistance of an air/water separator. This technology will enable efficient water recovery from brines resulting in a major mass closure for water usage on the Lunar Base. Use as Flight Hardware for Transit Missions is also anticipated. With this application, a wick will be used to hold the brine at the desired location during nebulization. An air/water separator will be included to facilitate separation without the assistance of gravity.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
For the private sector, a major application is improved drying processes for pharmaceuticals. Many biologically active compounds are thermally labile and would benefit from the use of this technology for preparation of inhalants. In addition, the ultra-small size of the resulting particles is desirable for inhalation because they are more easily suspended in air and because solvation and uptake through the alveoli in the lungs is more efficient for small particles. For example, NaCl particles are widely used in dry powder inhalers for bronchial provocation tests to identify people with active asthma or exercise-induced asthma. Such powders are currently made using laborious processes to control particle sizes and distributions. The technology developed during this SBIR project will allow continuous formation of small, dried NaCl crystallites, in a process more amenable for large-scale production.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Waste Processing and Reclamation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Fuel Research, Inc.
87 Church Street
East Hartford, CT 06108-3728
(860) 528-9806

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Serio
mserio@AFRinc.com
87 Church Street
East Hartford,  CT 06108-3728
(860) 528-9806

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Both pyrolysis and oxidation steps have been considered as the key solid waste processing step for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). Pyrolysis is more amenable to handling mixed solid waste streams in a microgravity environment, but produces a more complex product stream. Oxidation (incineration) produces a simpler product stream, but the oxidation of mixed solids is a complex unit operation in a microgravity environment. Pyrolysis is endothermic and requires no oxygen, while oxidation is exothermic and requires oxygen. A previous NASA SBIR Phase I and Phase II project has successfully integrated pyrolysis of the solid waste and oxidation of the fuel gases into a single, batch processing prototype unit. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the feasibility of integrating pyrolysis, tar cracking, and oxidation steps into a compact, efficient system for processing of spacecraft solid wastes. This integration will result in a reduction in energy consumption, an overall reduction in system complexity, and a lower Equivalent System Mass (ESM). The objective of the Phase I study is to demonstrate the feasibility of this integration process using bench scale experiments. This will be accomplished in three tasks: 1) design and construct integrated bench scale unit; 2) laboratory studies using simulated solid waste sample; 3) evaluation of laboratory results and preliminary design of Phase II prototype.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed work would make it technically feasible to process solid waste streams in space which will benefit long term space travel, such as an extended Lunar stay or a mission to Mars. The proposed approach is beneficial to NASA in allowing for solid waste sterilization and stabilization, water purification and recovery, fuel gas production for propulsion or power generation, and/or production of chemical feedstocks and carbon materials in a single processing unit.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In the near term, the technology would have applications to solid waste resource recovery problems in remote areas such as underdeveloped countries, artic regions, oil production platforms, rural areas, farms, submarines, ships, etc., analogous to the uses for NASA technology developed for water purification. In the long term, the technology could be integrated with microturbines or fuel cells and have widespread business or residential use for solid waste removal and power generation. It could also be used by the DOD in military operations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomass Production and Storage
Biomedical and Life Support
Sterilization/Pathogen and Microbial Control
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Radiation Shielding Materials
Renewable Energy

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vista Photonics, Inc.
67 Condesa Road
Santa Fe, NM 87508-8136
(505) 466-3830

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joerg Kutzner
jkutzner@vistaphotonics.com
67 Condesa Road
Santa Fe,  NM 87508-8136
(505) 466-3830

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The well-being of the crew on manned missions depends critical on the composition of the habitat air. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor are the most important air constituents that have to be monitored continuously. Optical monitoring with its features of high precision, strong species selectivity and fast response is the preferred method if lightweight, small and low power-draw instrumentation can be developed. Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are now available covering a broad wavelength range. These single frequency light sources are ideal candidates for high performance gas monitoring and especially suited for space applications due to their small size and extremely low power consumption. Vista Photonics proposes to develop technology based on these lasers that leads to small sensors that fulfill the strict requirements of spaceflight. The narrowband output of these lasers combined with wavelength modulation spectroscopy and a compact absorption cell will provide superior sensor performance. Inherent features like sensor health monitoring and recalibration without the use of expendable gases will be incorporated. The developed sensor will be fully automated and no maintenance will be required.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The targeted NASA application is monitoring of air composition on spacecraft and space stations. The emerging technology is adaptable to changing pressure conditions and suitable to operate in diverse environments, including corrosive atmospheres. The technology will be developed for major air constituents monitoring but is extendable to selective detection of trace contaminants. Trace gas detection capabilities might be incorporated into the same sensor. Relevant NASA applications are contaminant sensing in air revitalization and water recovery processes.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The developed sensor will be a general device for highly reliable, sensitive monitoring and/or detection of different gas species. The developed sensor platform will be broadly deployable for simultaneous detection of a variety of molecules with a cost-effective, small device. Applications include environmental monitoring and protection, occupational safety, modern manufacturing, and biomedical applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lynntech, Inc.
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station, TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jinseong Kim
jinseong.kim@lynntech.com
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station,  TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
One of the highest priorities in Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) for longer missions is to recover and process wastewater to provide clean water. There is an important need for a total organic carbon (TOC) sensor to assure that the organic chemical content of water environment of the astronaut crew habitat falls within acceptable limits, and that the chemical life support system is functioning properly. For longer missions, water monitoring requires sensitive, fast response, online analytical sensors. Lynntech has successfully developed a novel regenerative TOC analyzer for real-time monitoring of water quality with an operational lifetime of 5 years with no maintenance required and no need to supply reagents. In addition, the TOC analyzer was flight-qualifiable and microgravity-compatible. This proposal concerns further development of the TOC analyzer as a compact online analytical sensor utilizing (i) electrochemical components producing two key elements in TOC analysis, acid and oxidant; (ii) photolysis/photocatalysis for the complete oxidation of organic carbons to carbon dioxide; and (iii) mesofluidic design. During the Phase I effort, the feasibility of the proposed system and approach will be demonstrated. A prototype will be designed, fabricated, tested, and delivered to NASA during the Phase II project.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Successful development of a compact online total organic carbon analyzer (TOCA) will lead to water quality monitoring assuring that the chemical contents of the water environment of the astronaut crew habitat falls within acceptable limits for potable or hygienic water, which is essential to enable human planetary exploration missions ranging from a return to the Moon and through an initial Mars mission, including using the International Space Station.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis is a well-defined and commonly used analytical tool. Many water utilities monitor TOC to determine raw water quality or to evaluate the effectiveness of processes designed to remove organic carbons. Successful development of a compact online total organic carbon analyzer (TOCA) as a hand-held device will have a high commercial applicability to a wide range of industries where water quality assurance and control is important, such as semiconductor industries or pharmaceutical industries.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomedical and Life Support
Waste Processing and Reclamation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Innosense, LLC
2531 West 237th Street, Suite 127
Torrance, CA 90505-5245
(310) 530-2011

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Uma Sampathkumaran
uma.sampathkumaran-1@innosense.us
2531 W. 237th Street, Suite 127
Torrance,  CA 90505-5245
(310) 530-2011

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to develop a miniaturized, multi-analyte sensor for near real-time monitoring of analytes in the spacecraft environment. The proposed innovations will build on ISL's past NASA SBIR project to develop an oxygen sensor for aircraft fuel tanks and DOE funded project to develop a carbon dioxide sensor for unattended remote deployment. In this project ISL will incorporate the disparate sensors on a single chip and develop a space-worthy sensor array. Through iterative development, ISL will expand capabilities of the system to monitor chemical, microbial and particulate content in the spacecraft environment. The proposed Phase I studies will demonstrate the sensor array approach by detecting oxygen, carbon dioxide and moisture simultaneously at the low parts per million (ppm) levels with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of at least 3. A prototype sensor array system will be constructed and field-tested during Phase II. To assure success of this project, InnoSense LLC has assembled an engineering team with a cumulative 80 person-years of experience in developing commercially viable optical sensor systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA vision calls for safe, affordable human missions beyond Earth orbit to Moon, Mars, and through the Solar System. To support the transport of small crewed missions to the moon with capabilities to extend this to outer space, monitoring and controlling of the life-support process needs to be performed by devices having attributes such as: (a) high accuracy and precision, (b) reduced size and weight, (c) long operational life, (d) reliable performance, (e) minimal maintenance requirement, and (f) in-line operational ability. Hazardous trace gases within the space-craft crew habitat pose risks to human health during long duration missions. Therefore, the proposed sensor technology provides NASA with a low-cost, robust, real-time monitoring format for protecting both the crew and spacecraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The multi-analyte capabilities of the device make it very attractive for applications ranging from environmental monitoring to process control. The study by Frost & Sullivan on World Gas Sensors, Detectors and Analyzers Market reveals that these markets earned revenues of over $1 billion in 2005 and estimates this to exceed $1.4 billion in 2012 (Source: Frost and Sullivan Report MC1377591, August 31, 2006). Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, fermentation monitoring, cell culturing, and tissue culturing represent some important applications. Upon repackaging, the device will have applications in a variety of civilian emergency response and occupational environment monitoring or related research facilities. Examples include: firefighting, hazardous material response, hazardous material workers, industrial safety workers (e.g., coal miners, steel workers, etc.), and industrial confined space monitoring associated with many occupations (e.g., industrial chemical manufacturing).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Operations Concepts and Requirements
Testing Facilities
Testing Requirements and Architectures
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Particle and Fields
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Pilot Support Systems
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomass Production and Storage
Biomedical and Life Support
Biomolecular Sensors
Sterilization/Pathogen and Microbial Control
Waste Processing and Reclamation
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Database Development and Interfacing
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Biochemical
Gravitational
Optical
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Portable Life Support
Suits
General Public Outreach
K-12 Outreach
Photonics
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Optical & Photonic Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
H.V. Setty Enterprises, Inc.
12110 Red Oak Court, South
Burnsville, MN 55337-3312
(952) 894-2792

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
H.V. Venkatasetty
venka006@umn.edu
12110 Red Oak Ct South
Burnsville,  MN 55337-3312
(952) 894-2792

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A microsensor cell with interdigitated micron-size three electrode structure cell of thin film platinum sensing and counter electrodes and platinum pseudo or silver quasi reference electrodes deposited on silicon dioxide over silicon will be fabricated. A unique thin film composite polymer membrane electrolyte with high ionic conductivity and wide voltage window and hydrophobic property will be prepared and characterized and coated on the electrodes of the cell. The prototype sensor will be assembled in a suitable container covered with thin film PTFE membrane and feasibility demonstrated for sensing oxygen, water vapor and carbon dioxide.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The light weight, low power and low cost solid state microsensors with potential capability for self calibration have applications for monitoring oxygen, water vapor and carbon dioxide and trace contaminant gases and vapors for Spacecraft Cabin Environmental Monitoring and Control system. They have the capability for detecting trace contaminant toxic gases and vapors. They will be highly useful to NASA for future human Exploration missions as well as Space Station and Space Shuttle.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Long life and low cost sensors with multi-gas/vapor sensing capability have potential application for detecting toxic vapors at the Department of Energy Hazard Waste Sites and EPA applications for toxic gases. These sensors have the potential for use in monitoring toxic and polluting gases such as SO2, NOx and CO2 at power plants and industrial boilers using fossil fuels. They find use detecting CO and volatile organic compounds(VOCs)for Indoor Air Quality monitoring homes and buildings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Control Instrumentation
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lynntech, Inc.
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station, TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Waheguru Singh
waheguru.singh@lynntech.com
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station,  TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA is now concerned with maintaining, validating, and improving fire safety on the ISS throughout its lifetime while providing maximum flexibility in the types of experiments and operations that can be conducted by the crew members. Thus, more comfortable, durable and flexible flame retardant crew clothing is required, especially during long term missions. Current cotton clothing is highly flammable and not suitable for fire fighting. There is urgent need to develop non-flammable alternatives for shirts, shorts, sweaters, and jackets without compromising the comfort and flexibility. This Phase I project aims to develop flame retardant textiles using a new class of chemicals called polyoxometalates (POMs). We have devised methods to anchor this class of compound to a variety of conventional (cotton based) fabrics. The overall goal is to take existing fabrics, with their desirable physical properties and high level of comfort, and add a flame retardant capability. The functionalized textile material will have thermal stability, reduction in smoke generation and flammability, reasonable cost, no skin and environmental toxicity, and permanence while retaining the desired properties of the starting material. Our novel flame resistant textile material will withstand harsh conditions without leaching of the agents.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Development of this technology will lead to non-flammable alternatives for NASA crew clothing items like shirts, shorts, sweaters, and jackets without compromising the comfort and flexibility. This technology can also be applied to develop other fire resistant materials used in the space craft like the insulation materials, packing materials, foams etc.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
At home : Clothes, Sleepwear, bed linen, blankets, mattresses, upholstered furniture covers, furniture fabrics, carpets, textile wall lining, curtains At work: Protective clothes for workers, military personnel and firemen, agricultural workers, technical fabrics such as belts and ropes, sunshades, sunblinds, tarpaulins Others: Tents (military or private), flags

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ADA Technologies, Inc.
8100 Shaffer Parkway, Suite 130
Littleton , CO 80127-4107
(303) 792-5615

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Butz
jimb@adatech.com
8100 Shaffer Parkway, Suite 130
Littleton ,  CO 80127-4107
(303) 874-8276

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5 to 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Fine water mist is being considered as a replacement technology for fire suppression on the next generation of manned spacecraft. It offers advantages in performance, ease of cleanup, compatibility with on-board environmental systems, and ability to recharge during a mission. ADA Technologies has designed a prototype hand-held extinguisher that is being tested at ambient environmental conditions. In this SBIR program ADA Technologies proposes to advance this prototype with a new design for a reduced-momentum nozzle to generate a fine water mist that can be discharged into confined and obstructed spaces to attack hidden fires as well as open fires in manned spacecraft. In Phase I multiple nozzle concepts will be designed, fabricated, and competed to identify the most promising concepts. In addition, we will adapt a vacuum chamber at team member Colorado School of Mines to evaluate the advanced nozzles against fires in an atmosphere of 34% oxygen and 7.6 psia total pressure, representative of the conditions in manned spacecraft. These tests will validate the efficacy of Fine Water Mist at these nonstandard atmospheric conditions. Phase I products will include a comprehensive specification for a beta prototype hand-held FWM extinguisher that incorporates the best advanced reduced momentum nozzle. In Phase II we will carry the beta prototype design forward to testing in microgravity and develop a plan for flight qualification of the hardware. We will work with a partner experienced in the production and qualification of flight test fixtures and experiments. ADA will partner with a commercial supplier of fire protection equipment to take this technology into the broader commercial marketplace, targeting aerospace and flammable fuels storage as early market segments.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Fine Water Mist is a versatile fire suppression technology ideal for application in manned spacecraft and planetary habitats. It is effective and efficient, with a small mass and volume impact. The ADA prototype design can be operated in any gravity environment, including microgravity, and with the gravity vector in any orientation with respect to the extinguisher. The ADA extinguisher is rechargeable on-station, a key feature for extended lunar and planetary missions. In addition, FWM is fully compatible with spacecraft systems, using only water and nitrogen as agents which offer no adverse impact to human health. ADA has identified two candidate partners to advance our technology through flight qualification to make hardware available for the full next generation of manned spacecraft. In other configurations, Fine Water Mist Fire Suppression is also useful and effective in a range of applications in NASA facilities and Ground Support Equipment. ADA has designed, built, and tested specialized FWM systems for use in hazardous environments on board US Air Force aircraft, and has worked on conceptual designs for such applications as flammable liquid storage and ground protection of aircraft. We anticipate that Fine Water Mist would prove ideal for many NASA fire protection situations. ADA intends to partner with a commercial supplier of fire suppression equipment to bring this technology to market in the coming years.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Significant market opportunities exist outside the base applications within NASA. ADA will leverage these to create a commercial opportunity that is of significant potential impact to the company while satisfying the NASA need/requirement. Aerospace applications (airlines) constitute one major opportunity. Airplanes are currently equipped with halon extinguishers both automatic and handheld. As noted elsewhere in this proposal, halon is no longer in production and the European Union is mandating its replacement even prior to the depletion of Halon stockpiles. FWM is an excellent candidate for this application as it is very effective, safe for human exposure, and environmentally friendly. ADA's fine water mist system is also a great fit for the needs in vehicle and enclosed space applications. These applications are found in military vehicles, subway trains, tunnels, museums, passenger and merchant ships, hotels, data centers, flammable fuel storage locations and many other places. Overall, this is a several hundred million dollar market opportunity, and will have a positive impact on safety, human health, and the environment. ADA's approach is to partner with companies that have existing products and market share to update their product lines and increase market opportunities. ADA's strong grasp and intellectual property in this emerging technology make us an ideal partner for firms seeking to deploy new and improved products into the fire protection market.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Testing Facilities
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Biomedical and Life Support
Combustion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-2320
(212) 966-0661

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kris Zacny
zacny@honeybeerobotics.com
460 W 34th Street
New York ,  NY 10001-2320
(646) 459-7836

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop a vacuum compatible, impact-actuated digging tool for the excavation of frozen and compacted regolith on the lunar surface and in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar poles. This technology development effort will address the most challenging aspects of excavation in the lunar environment and work to develop a design relevant to a range of future lunar missions. This effort will also serve to guide and inform the requirements for the vehicles and systems that will be necessary for such missions. The fundamental architecture of an impact-actuated digging tool has been demonstrated for terrestrial applications for the Department of Defense. Honeybee's digging tool design is a novel approach ideally suited for lunar applications to defeat compacted and frozen regolith. By using the impact energy imparted by a reciprocating hammer transferred through the scoop to defeat the target material, the need for large reaction loads from the vehicle is minimized, allowing for a much smaller, lower mass system. This ongoing effort will serve to instruct and maximize the benefit to NASA.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA's draft lunar architecture calls for an outpost at a single location at the lunar pole and a proposed ISRU system for life support and EVA by 2023 and propulsion activities by 2027. The potentially frozen regolith at the lunar poles has been identified as a likely source for volatile extraction activities to support the presence of humans and provide a resource for the generation of fuel on the lunar surface. In order to meet these objectives, lunar regolith prospecting and excavation technologies such as the impact actuated digging tool will need to be brought to a high TRL for ISRU activities. The technologies stemming from this research will directly meet the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program (LPRP) and human lunar exploration mission objectives. The resulting technologies will be robust enough to operate under the extreme lunar conditions, particularly in terms of exposure to the abrasive lunar regolith, and be scalable and adaptable to a wide range of potential system architectures for regolith excavation and volatile extraction. The same technology will be relevant to future Mars missions as well. Honeybee will build upon its proven record of bringing R&D efforts such as this one to successful flight contracts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is an established interest from the Department of Defense in the development of digging tool technology appropriate for integration with small platform unmanned vehicles. Over 2000 such robotic platforms are currently fielded in Iraq and Afghanistan to deal with the persistent threat posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), with more on the way. Currently these systems are unable to access buried IEDs commonly deployed as roadside bombs due to the inadequate end-of-arm tooling and the limited reaction forces available. Honeybee sees this related effort to develop an impact actuated digging tool for lunar applications as helping to advance the state of the art for this critical application. With the completion of this Phase I and Phase II effort and the related effort for the DoD for whom we have delivered and fielded a prototype of a very similar system, Honeybee Robotics will have matured the fundamental technology to a high TRL for both lunar and terrestrial applications. This will position Honeybee well to pursue flight contracts for future NASA missions, support activities critical to the military, and seek out commercial markets for robotic digging technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Reactive Innovations, LLC
2 Park Drive, Unit 4
Westford, MA 01886-3525
(978) 692-4664

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Kimble
mkimble@reactive-innovations.com
2 Park Drive, Unit 4
Westford,  MA 01886-3525
(978) 692-4664

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA's plans for a lunar habitation outpost call out for process technologies to separate hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases from regolith product gas streams. A low-pressure drop separation unit is needed to remove these sulfur compounds from regolith process streams that is compact and lightweight. To this end, Reactive Innovations, LLC proposes to develop an electrochemical reactive-separation unit to selectively bind and remove the sulfur compounds into a separated stream of sulfur-based compounds. During the Phase I program, we will develop and demonstrate an electrochemical reactive-separation platform that binds sulfur compounds via a charge transfer process to a redox carrier that is subsequently transported across a membrane separator releasing the sulfur components. In this effort, we will demonstrate the redox carrier for binding and releasing sulfur components, develop and assess electrodes that are corrosion resistant to the sulfur compounds, and culminate with a prototype reactive-separator unit design and evaluation for removing sulfur components from regolith streams. By the end of the Phase I effort, this lunar regolith reactive-separator unit will be at a Technology Readiness Level of 3 with a Phase II program delivering an operational reactive-separator at a TRL of 4-5.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Specific uses of the proposed lunar regolith reactive-separator for NASA are directed toward the removal of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide from regolith process streams. The continuous removal of these compounds in a lightweight and efficient reactive-separator unit will enable regolith to be processed continuously for lunar habitation development.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications of this reactive-separation unit may find applications in processing and removing sulfur-based compounds from exhaust streams including automotive gasoline and diesel engine exhausts and coal-fired utility operations and burners. The low-pressure drop design of the reactive-separator unit in a compact and lightweight design would lessen the impact of removing sulfur on the engine and combustion efficiency.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Waste Processing and Reclamation
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Makel Engineering, Inc.
1585 Marauder Street
Chico, CA 95973-9064
(530) 895-2770

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Susana Carranza
scarranza@makelengineering.com
1585 Marauder Street
Chico,  CA 95973-9064
(512) 589-0718

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Makel Engineering, Inc. (MEI) and the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) propose to develop and demonstrate a microchannel methanation reactor based on nanofabricated catalysts. Sustainable/affordable exploration of space exploration will require minimization of re-supply from Earth by implementation of In-Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) strategies. For exploration of the Moon, one of the most significant resources is the lunar regolith, which is a complex mix of minerals with large oxygen content in their composition. Oxygen finds its main uses as a propellant, and for life support systems. There are currently many technologies being developed addressing the production of oxygen from lunar regolith, including carbothermal processes. The key to sustainability is to make sure any consumables carried from Earth are recycled to the maximum extent possible, minimizing the need of re-supply. In the case of carbothermal based oxygen production, carbon oxides must be converted to methane for reintroduction in the carbothermal system. This proposed program specifically addresses topic X3.02 Oxygen Production from Lunar Regolith, by developing a methanation system that will efficiently convert mixed carbon oxides and hydrogen to methane and water.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of highly efficient microchannel reactors will be applicable to multiple ISRU programs. Propellants can be produced from carbon dioxide (Mars atmosphere). Ethylene can be produced from methane. Methane reformation can produce hydrogen on board rovers to feed fuel cell power systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Small scale, integrated, autonomous reactors can be used to enable in situ chemical processes which are not cost effective otherwise. Markets include: • Hydrocarbon reformers (fuel cells) • Natural gas upgrading (light hydrocarbons, GTL, etc.)

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Electrolytic Research Corporation, LLC
73 Winsor Road
Sudbury, MA 01776-2370
(978) 443-9861

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Yurko
jimyurko@hotmail.com
73 Winsor Rd.
Sudbury,  MA 01776-2370
(616) 405-5327

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Molten oxide electrolysis is a demonstrated laboratory-scale process for producing oxygen from the JSC-1a lunar simulant; however, critical subsystems necessary for a larger-scale, lunar-ready reactor must be further developed to increase technology readiness. An enabling technology of the MOE system that must be scaled is the iridium inert anode. Iridium, a proven inert anode in the process, is expensive, scarce, extremely dense, and difficult to fabricate. Electrolytic Research Corporation will develop a larger-scale anode optimized for cost, weight, material availability, and manufacturability. ERC proposes an optimized iridium-based alloy or composite anode using electrochemical and thermophysical materials selection criteria validated with experiments (electrolysis testing) and modeling. The iridium alloy and composite screening will generate results necessary for Phase 2, where a surface engineered, multi-layer anode will be designed that includes either a refractory-metal or carbon substrate, a conductive diffusion-barrier inner layer, and an iridium outer layer. Completion of the work will greatly enhance the technology readiness level of the NASA molten oxide electrolysis in-situ resource utilization program.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA has identified In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) as a key technology for permanent establishment of a lunar base. An important product is oxygen, and Molten Oxide Electrolysis has been identified as a potential technology for this application. While MOE has been demonstrated at a laboratory-scale to produce oxygen, critical systems must be developed to meet the goals of producing in excess of 1M tons of oxygen per year in the lunar environment. The proposed work, Large-Scale Inert Anode Development for MOE, would significantly advance the technology readiness level of the MOE process for ISRU oxygen generation. NASA is currently increasing the MOE process size to produce 5 10 kg of oxygen, and an optimized anode would allow NASA to continue scaling operations with greater confidence, while also providing the future foundation of moving to much larger reactor sizes that could meet the goal of producing 1M tons per year.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
While Molten Oxide Electrolysis can produce oxygen from lunar regolith, the process has the potential to make a much larger impact on the global metals industry. Capable of reducing numerous metals from their oxide states, the process is already under development as a lower-energy, more environmentally friendly method for producing titanium. This research is being conducted with carbon anodes, which are consumed in the process. The use of carbon limits the number of metal reduction candidates, and does not earn the process the attribute of being CO2-free. Development of a cost-effective, large-scale inert anode would be significant in the MOE commercialization process. In the global titanium reduction market, a more than $1B industry, an inert anode could be retrofitted into the MOE reactor to render the process carbon-free. This is particularly significant in the case of chromium, which cannot be made without carbon contamination by the existing technology, i.e., carbothermic reduction of Cr2O3 in an electric arc furnace. Ultralow levels of carbon confer enhanced metallurgical properties on chromium and, hence, stainless steel. In the extreme, we envision green electrochemical extraction of steel. The development of an inert anode for use in molten oxides is the pivotal enabling technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization
Ceramics
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Pioneer Astronautics
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215-5516
(303) 980-0890

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Douwe Bruinsma
dbruinsma@pioneerastro.com
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood,  CO 80215-5516
(303) 468-6718

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The counterflow regolith heat exchanger (CoRHE) is a device that transfers heat from hot regolith to cold regolith. The CoRHE is essentially a tube-in-tube heat exchanger with internal and external augers attached to the inner, rotating tube to move the regolith. Hot regolith in the outer tube is moved in one direction by a right-handed auger and the cool regolith in the inner tube is moved in the opposite by a left-handed auger attached to the inside of the rotating tube. In this counterflow arrangement a large fraction of the heat from the expended regolith is transferred to the new regolith. The spent regolith leaves the heat exchanger close to the temperature of the cold new regolith and the new regolith is pre-heated close to the initial temperature of the spent regolith. Using the CoRHE can reduce the heating requirement of a lunar ISRU system by 80%, reducing the total power consumption by a factor of two.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The counterflow regolith heat exchanger (CoRHE) provides an efficient means to transfer heat from hot regolith to cold regolith. The ability to conserve the heat from the expended regolith can lead to significant energy savings for a lunar oxygen production system. If, for example, oxygen is produced at a rate of 1 metric ton (MT) per year with an oxygen content of 2% in the soil, then 50 metric tons of regolith must be processed per year. With oxygen production occurring 50% of the time (only during daylight) then the heating load is an average of 2.8 kW. In comparison, the electrolysis power required to produce 1 MT of oxygen per year at 50% duty cycle is about 1.1 kW. Thus, heating the regolith is one of the major power consumers of a lunar oxygen production system. The counterflow regolith heat exchanger is intended to reduce the heating requirement for the lunar oxygen production system by 80% with minimal hardware and power requirements. This reduces the total power requirement of the oxygen production system from 3.9 kW to 1.7 kW, a power savings of 55%.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are many chemical processes where powders or granular materials are processed at high temperatures. In each of these processes energy is spent heating and cooling the chemicals. The CoRHE can be used to simultaneously heat and cool the chemicals for a significant energy savings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Plasma Processes, Inc.
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville, AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Anatoliy Shchetkovksiy
ashchetkovksiy@plasmapros.com
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville,  AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Processing of lunar regolith into oxygen for habitat and propulsion is needed to support future space missions. Direct electrochemical reduction of molten regolith is most attractive method of processing because no additional chemical reagents are needed. The electrochemical processing of molten oxides requires high surface area inert anodes. Such electrodes need to be structurally robust at elevated temperatures (1400-1600<SUP>o</SUP>C), be resistant to thermal shock, have good electrical conductivity, be resistant to attack by molten oxide (silicate), be electrochemically stable and support high current density. Because of high melting point, good oxidation resistance, superior high temperature strength and ductility, iridium is the most promising candidate for anodes in high temperature electrochemical processes. Two innovative concepts for manufacturing such anodes by electrodeposition of iridium from molten salt electrolyte (EL-Form<SUP>TM</SUP> process) are proposed. This technique is characterized by its ability to produce dense, ductile, pore-free, 99.9% pure iridium in form of complex shape components and coatings. The result of this program will be the development, manufacturing and testing of high surface iridium anodes for molten oxide electrolysis. The testing will be performed in cooperation with NASA and MIT.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
oxygen generators, metal refiners, and rocket nozzles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High surface iridium dimensionally stable anodes will be used in the chlorine production industry and extractive metallurgy. Non consumable iridium anodes will be used in copper foil electrochemical production. Another potential application for dimensionally stable iridium based composite anodes is electroplating industry. Other applications are petro-chemical industry, catalyst producers, crystal growth, spark plugs and rocket nozzles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization
Microgravity
Ceramics
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Zybek Advanced Products, Inc.
2845 29th Street
Boulder, CO 80301-1229
(303) 530-2727

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Weinstein
mike@zybekap.com
2845 29th Street
Boulder,  CO 80301-1229
(303) 530-2727

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Zybek Advanced Products has proven the ability to produce industrial quantities of lunar simulant materials, including glass, agglutinate and melt breccias. These are critical components in the NU-LHT-series and OB1 lunar simulants. The feed stock for this simulant is a mining industry by-product. The feedstock contains many contaminates, may not always be available, and can be inconsistent. Although the standard lunar simulant produced from the mineral industry byproduct feedstock is useful for some applications, many projects require a simulant with a higher fidelity. This project provides the means to produce individual components that are not available from terrestrial sources. These components can be mixed in different proportions to determine the effect on a particular process. The basic theory of the innovation is to mix known industrial ingredients, bring to molten temperatures, allow time for full reaction (in molten state), and then control the cooling rate to cause re-crystallization. These components are readily available and can be processed at multi-ton rates in the plasma melter.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Applications inside of NASA include: Oxygen Production, testing of mechanical equipment, bio-medical research, specific beneficiation of lunar materials, development of database of spectrometry data from NASA space equipment, testing excavation and drilling equipment, and connector mating tests.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Contractors and researchers for other Space Agencies, and University Researchers. Also, the strong potential exists for using this material production means as a medium for producing nanophase elements that cannot be exposed to Oxygen (e.g., Fe0). This has been demonstrated in the production of iron-bearing agglutinate.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Mobility
Manipulation
Perception/Sensing
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Suits
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Energid Technologies
124 Mount Auburn Street, Suite 200N
Cambridge, MA 02138-5787
(888) 547-4100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James English
jde@energid.com
124 Mount Auburn Street, Suite 200N
Cambridge,  MA 02138-5787
(888) 547-4100

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Energid Technologies proposes to create a tool for simulation-based verification of lunar excavator designs. Energid will combine the best of 1) automatic control system generation from computer aided design (CAD) models, 2) rapid validation of complex mechanism designs, and 3) detailed simulation models of the lunar environment, including regolith, dust, temperature, remote supervision, and communication latency to create a system of high value to NASA. Energid has previously developed unique algorithms for controlling and simulating complex robotic mechanisms automatically from just a CAD description. These algorithms will be leveraged to create a system to quickly test excavation systems by generating optimal control algorithms for use in studies. Energid has also developed high-fidelity real-time physics-based simulation algorithms that include models of internal forces and the forces produced when a mechanism interacts with the outside world. This existing capability will be combined with an innovative organization for simulation algorithms, new regolith simulation methods, and a unique control and study architecture to make a powerful tool with the potential to transform the way NASA verifies and compares excavator designs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The excavator validation tool will have application to all of NASA's future lunar missions. It will reduce cost and improve schedule in these efforts. Following completion of Phase II--to some degree, even upon completion of Phase I--the software will be ready for use by NASA, and Energid will partner with larger NASA contractors to commercialize the capability through contracts.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Outside of NASA, Energid will offer the software firstly to the construction and mining industries. We receive contacts and needs from representatives of these industries, and the new capability developed under this project is needed. Beyond the construction and mining industries, Energid will provide the software components developed under this effort as a software toolkit that can be licensed across all industries. Potential customers will purchase the toolkit as software libraries and header files. By linking these libraries into their code, developers will have full access to all the capability provided by the toolkit. The new capability will allow developers to leverage our simulation and remote-control technologies into new applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Materials and Systems Research, Inc.
5395 West 700 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84104-4403
(801) 530-4987

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Greg Tao
gtao@msrihome.com
5395 West 700 South
Salt Lake City,  UT 84104-4403
(801) 530-4987

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This small business innovation research is intended to develop a simple processing concept based-on an advanced direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) technology enabling directly converting plastic trash into life support consumables (such as H2, CO2 and H2O) and electricity simultaneously, for supporting Lunar ISRU development. The proposed innovation involves the areas associated with the advanced DCFC characteristics and simplified processes turning plastic trash into renewable energy at a high efficiency. In Phase I, the decomposition/oxidation electrochemistry of polyethylene-based plastic bags and spoons, catalyzed by molten carbonate anode composites, will be characterized. Tubular electrochemical cells built upon the proposed DCFC technology will be studied at elevated temperatures, followed by performance optimization.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The DCFC-based device integral with a water-gas-shift reactor, a Sabatier reactor and solar cells can in-situ convert plastic trash and crew solid waste directly into electricity, methane fuel and water, providing a residential environment for supporting human extraterrestrial exploration activities. For such applications, the weight and volume of the life support consumables are important considerations, because both must be as low as possible to decrease payload and thus cost significantly. The Applicant's state-of-the-art DCFC innovation will have the potential to prolong the NASA long-duration missions with substantial savings in mission costs and launch/landing masses.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
DCFC, which co-generates electricity and fuels directly from plastic trash, can be viewed as an energy recovering device. Presently polymer and plastic industry values at around $1.6 trillion. DCFC integral with a water-gas-shift reactor can be used to recover the ecology-unfriendly plastic waste into electricity and hydrogen for power parks and H2 internal combustion engines applications. DCFC is also capable of running on locally available low-value waste feedstock or coal for distributed power generation application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Renewable Energy

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Grainflow Dynamics, Inc.
1141 Catalina Drive, PMB #270
Livermore, CA 94550-5928
(925) 447-4293

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Otis Walton
walton@grainflow.com
1141 Catalina Drive, PMB #270
Livermore,  CA 94550-5928
(925) 447-4293

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR Phase-1 project will demonstrate the feasibility of using a novel coaxial counterflow solid-solid heat exchanger to recover heat energy from spent regolith at 1050<SUP>o</SUP>C to pre-heat inlet regolith to 750<SUP>o</SUP>C, either continuously, or in 20kg batches. In granular solids the area of contacts between 'touching' grains is quite small. Thus, solid-solid conduction often plays only a minor role in heat transfer through granular solids (i.e., 'effective' conduction), and when an interstitial gas is present, heat transfer occurs primarily via conduction through the gas. If the granular solid is also flowing, then solids convection becomes a significant factor in overall heat transfer and effective 'conduction'. Under vacuum conditions, and at temperatures above 700<SUP>o</SUP>C, radiation will dominate most heat transfer processes; however, solids convection can also play a very significant secondary role. Utilizing judicious placement of radiation baffles, and a novel counterflow configuration, the approach proposed in this SBIR can accomplish the desired heat transfer between spent and fresh regolith with only one moving mechanical part, by making effective use of both radiative heat transfer and solids convection. Discrete-element simulations of regolith flow will be utilized to refine the concept. Utilization of an existing ~1.4 cubic meter partial-vacuum facility at the University of Florida will facilitate construction of feasibility demonstration prototypes during Phase-1 and/or Phase-2. The Phase-1 project will demonstrate the effectiveness of combining solids convection with radiative heat transfer to rapidly transfer heat from 1050C spent material to heat fresh regolith to 750C under vacuum conditions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
As currently envisioned, the production of oxygen from lunar regolith requires heating the material to a temperature of 1050C. Since the minerals of interest for oxygen production are stable to temperatures of 750C, the regolith can be preheated to that temperature, before entering the actual reactor without loss of potential product. Utilization of the sensible heat of the spent regolith (exiting the reactor at 1050C) to preheat the fresh regolith to 750C, can provide significant energy savings, dramatically increasing the efficiency of the oxygen recovery process. Other lunar volatile recovery operations may, also, benefit from the efficiency of preheating fresh regolith in a vacuum using the sensible heat of the spent material exiting the process.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Similar configurations may also be of use in terrestrial mineral recovery operations; however, the potential existence of an interstitial gas in most terrestrial environments dramatically changes the character of heat transfer in/to/from granular solids. Thus, terrestrial applications of the specific configurations designed for lunar conditions may be limited to situations where interstitial gases need to be excluded for some other chemical or operational reason.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-2320
(212) 966-0661

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Kris Zacny
zacny@honeybeerobotics.com
460 W 34th Street
te: New York ,  NY 10001-2320
(646) 459-7836

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop a vacuum compatible percussive dynamic cone penetrometer (PDCP), for establishing soil bin characteristics, with the ultimate intent of taking it to a flight system level. Penetrometers are used to determine the Cone index (CI), which is a composite index influenced by both soil compressibility and shear strength. A dynamic cone penetrometer is used to estimate bearing strength, soil compressibility, and shear strength (when compared with calibration data), consisting of a percussive actuator and a rod with a sharp 60 degree cone at the end. The penetrometer is driven into the soil under constant load and the penetration, converted to California Bearing Ratio (CBR), which gives an indication of soil trafficability. The Honeybee-developed percussive dynamic cone penetrometer offers the significant advantage of being a low mass, low power, low force, stand alone device that requires limited to no human intervention to operate, as opposed to heavy and cumbersome manual Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) widely used today. This percussive system is also of further advantage with its capability to reach much greater depths than typical surface tools such as Bevameter. The high-frequency vibration of the percussive rod also reduces the force required for pushing a rod into regolith by almost two orders of magnitude. This translates directly into smaller rover/lander or less effort on behalf of an Astronaut.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The vacuum compatible PDCP will enable surveying of extra terrestrial sites to determine their candidacy for establishment of site preparation and outpost infrastructure emplacement, and it will provide vital characteristics for efficient design and future development of all related components, mechanisms, and systems, set up resource mining operations, and survey exploration sites, and routes. In addition, soil physical properties are used to help interpret surface geologic processes and to constrain the origins and formation processes of the soils. This vacuum compatible PDCP is, therefore, not only a necessary surveying, and exploratory tool, but a valuable scientific instrument as well, which would prove to be most useful for lunar missions and for ongoing exploration on Mars. It is also very simple, quick, and efficient way of reaching significant depth. This would be useful to any application ranging from, burying sensory equipment to digging a post-hole.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Within the scope of a flight ready system is going to be the task of making this system not only vacuum compatible, but reliable, heat resistant, and capable of coping with lunar dust. It will also have to be compact and light weight. All of the scientific and technological advances obtained from this project will translate directly to development of a technically advanced, and robust terrestrial surveying tool ideal for commercial, scientific, and defense applications, where its portability and ease of use with minimum user input will be most valuable assets.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Structural Modeling and Tools
Tools
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Pioneer Astronautics
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215-5516
(303) 980-0890

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mark Berggren
mberggren@pioneerastro.com
11111 W. 8th Ave, Unit A
Lakewood,  CO 80215-5516
(303) 980-0231

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Lunar Soil Particle Separator (LSPS) is an innovative method to beneficiate soil prior to in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The LSPS improves ISRU oxygen yield by boosting the concentration of ilmenite or other iron-oxide bearing materials found in lunar soils. LSPS particle size separations can be performed to improve gas-solid interactions and reactor flow dynamics. LSPS mineral separations can be used to alter the sintering characteristics of lunar soil. The LSPS can eventually be used to separate and concentrate lunar minerals useful for manufacture of structural materials, glass, and chemicals. The LSPS integrates an initial centrifugal particle size separation with magnetic, gravity, and/or electrostatic separations. The LSPS centrifugal separation method overcomes the reduced efficiency of conventional particle sieving in reduced gravity. Feed conditioning, such as charge neutralization, can be incorporated into the LSPS to release and disperse surface fines prior to particle separations. The conceptual LSPS hardware design integrates many individual unit operations to reduce system mass and power requirements. The LSPS is applicable to ISRU feed processing as well as robotic prospecting to characterize soils over a wide region on the Moon. The LSPS is scalable and is amenable to testing and development under simulated lunar environmental conditions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary initial application of the LSPS is for lunar particle separations in support of improving the feed to hydrogen reduction ISRU. The LSPS has direct use to improve the overall efficiency of hydrogen reduction ISRU by boosting the iron-oxide content of feeds. In addition, the LSPS has uses for optimizing particle size distribution to improve material flow properties and gas-particle interactions in fluidized bed and other reactors as well as adjusting mineral composition to minimize sintering during reduction. The LSPS can also serve as a component of a robotic lunar prospector to characterize soils and their potential for ISRU applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
One non-NASA commercialization application is directed toward small-scale terrestrial mineral processing. In particular, the LSPS is useful in remote locations where a compact, low-power device is needed to perform dry separations for production of mineral concentrates. A device such as the LSPS can be tailored to dry separation prospecting or small-scale minerals production to reduce the transportation of large amounts of un-beneficiated samples or ore to laboratories or downstream processing facilities. Applications may include prospecting or small-scale production of gold ores and heavy mineral sands.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Lynntech, Inc.
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station, TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alan Cisar
alan.cisar@lynntech.com
7610 Eastmark Drive
College Station,  TX 77840-4023
(979) 693-0017

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lunar and other extraterrestrial environments put extreme demands on moving mechanical components. Gears must continue to function and surfaces must continue to slide over a wide temperature range, the low end of which renders most conventional lubricants solidified while the high end vaporizes them, especially in a vacuum. Extremely long service lives are needed, and dust can cause abrasive damage. The solution is to use a high lubricity wear resistant solid, but not even all solid lubricants are suitable for the full range of challenges. We propose to use a novel electrocodeposition process to produce a quasicrystalline coating on the surface of metal parts. Quasicrystals are a unique family of alloys having symmetries found nowhere else. They are exceptionally hard, with low surface energies. Quasicrystalline coatings have been demonstrated to be stable over wide temperature ranges and to have low friction over the entire range. Our process produces solid, high-density, low friction coatings on a variety of metal substrates. The coatings are stable for the long periods needed to achieve long operating lives. They are applied under relatively mild conditions using readily available equipment and can be applied to substrates of any shape or size. In this project we will demonstrate the application of low friction coatings to gear alloys and show their low friction and wear properties over a temperature range that extends from above ambient to cryogenic.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The initial NASA target application for electrodeposited quasicrystal coatings is as a high lubricity surface suitable for use at all temperatures with no risk of loss of lubricant due to evaporation, even in a hard vacuum. Additional potential applications include locations where the temperature concerns are less severe, but the gears or sliding surfaces must remain free to move for long periods of time, times sufficiently long that a fluid lubricant could deteriorate, be lost, or just puddle up from surface tension and fail to properly coat the working surfaces. These applications can be on the surface of extraterrestrial bodies or in space. Quasicrystalline coatings aren't just for low temperature applications. These materials are stable to above 650 <SUP>o</SUP>C. This makes them suitable for many high temperature applications as well, including applications where conventional fluid lubricants would be oxidized or thermally decomposed.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
While commercial space craft do not comprise a large market for these lubricants, there are many other applications available where the high durability and lubricity of electrocodeposited quasicrystal coatings have promise. These include many types of machine equipment and other devices with moving parts, especially those operating in harsh environments or where access to the components is difficult making regular lubrication challenging. One completely unrelated application that makes use of these properties is as a non-stick coating for cookware that can be cleaned and scoured like a conventional metal pan. Extensive testing is already under way for this application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Sciences, Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bryan Bergeron
bergeron@psicorp.com
20 New England Business Center
Andover,  MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to synthesize, characterize, and test new ionic liquids and formulations as lubricants for aerospace applications. The compounds will operate effectively at low temperatures with appropriate viscosities, high viscosity indices, large heat capacities, and high thermal decomposition temperatures. The innovative, versatile, lubricants will also have an extremely wide liquidus range, nearly zero vapor pressure, low friction coefficients, small wear effects, and low outgassing for long-term operational stability in aerospace systems. In the Phase II program, additional ionic liquids will be identified, synthesized, characterized, formulated with various additives, and tested as liquid lubricants and base lubricants in greases for use at low temperature. Their tribological performance will be evaluated in an aerospace system(s) for TRL 3.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed lubricants and formulations will have direct applications to NASA aerospace systems that require minimal/no maintenance over extended periods of time. These compounds will provide lower volatility, decreased wear effects, and better tribological characteristics than those of standard liquid or grease lubricants that are currently used, particularly at lower temperatures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed lubricants and formulations have applications in terrestrial machinery. They will substantially increase performance, and reduce maintenance costs and frequencies of industrial transportation and construction systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI)
Erectable
Inflatable
Kinematic-Deployable
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
UES, Inc.
4401 Dayton-Xenia Road
Dayton, OH 45432-1894
(937) 426-6900

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amarendra Rai
arai@ues.com
4401 Dayton-Xenia Road
Dayton,  OH 45432-1894
(937) 426-6900

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Ionic liquids are candidate lubricant materials. However for application in low temperature space mechanisms their lubrication performance needs to be enhanced. UES Inc in collaboration with Covalent Technologies Inc propose to improve the tribological (lubrication) characteristics of the appropriate ionic liquids through formulation with innovative additive technology. The formulated ionic liquids will be thoroughly characterized to demonstrate their extremely low volatility and non-corrosive extreme pressure anti wear characteristics. The performance of the formulated ionic liquids will be ranked. Highly ranked formulations will be further optimized in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Lubrication for low temperature space mechanisms is critical to enable reliable and efficient operation of NASA's exploration vehicles. Formulated ionic fluids will be a critical component for longer life of low temperature mechanisms.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Formulated ionic liquid based lubricants can be used in many moving mechanical assemblies such as bearings, gears etc. It can also be used in several electrochemical applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Materials Modification, Inc.
2721-D Merrilee Drive
Fairfax, VA 22031-4429
(703) 560-1371

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ramachandran Radhakrishnan
radha@matmod.com
2721-D Merrilee Drive
Fairfax,  VA 22031-4429
(703) 560-1371

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Radiation shielding is an enabling technology required for extended manned missions to the Moon, Mars and the planets beyond. Multifunctional structural must protect crew in a spacecraft, crew exploration vehicle, landers, rover, or habitat from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR), Solar Energy Particles (SEP) and micrometeroid impact and at the same time keep both the weight of the structure and the cost of fabricating the structure to a minimum. Materials Modification, Inc. (MMI) proposes to develop and evaluate a series of versatile, novel, multifunctional hybrid structural composites comprised of a high hydrogen epoxy matrix

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
These new lightweight, high performance composites have three key functions: (1) protect astronaut crews from hazardous long-term GCR and SEP space radiation; (2) help fabricate space structural components such as crew exploration vehicles, landers, rovers, habitats, ISS applications, planetary fly-bys and rovers, and any space structural item requiring radiation shielding; and (3) provide protection against impact of meteoroid and space debris.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Applications will focus on commercial aircraft structure and interiors, satellites, wind turbine blades, and ballistic protection for law enforcement officers. Companies building satellites for commercial communication applications as well as DoD organizations building critical space satellites may be potential customers since these our new materials may be useful in mitigating not only cosmic radiation but also solar radiation so destructive to satellites.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
EIC Laboratories, Inc.
111 Downey Street
Norwood, MA 02062-2612
(781) 469-9450

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jane Bertone
bertone@eiclabs.com
EIC Labs, 111 Downey Street
Norwood,  MA 02062-2612
(781) 769-9450

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
EIC Laboratories Inc. is proposing a lightweight multifunctional polymer/nanoparticle composite for radiation shielding during long-duration lunar missions. Isolated nanoparticles homogeneously dispersed throughout the polymer reinforce polymer matrices relative to conventional powder dispersion. This will enable the exploitation of the high hydrogen density of the polyolefin while improving the mechanical and structural properties of polymer composites used in radiation shielding. The goal of this program is to demonstrate that hydrogen dense polyolefins loaded with neutron shielding nanoparticles demonstrate improved shielding and mechanical properties relative to commercially available alternatives. In Phase I, polyolefin/nanoparticle-shielding composites will be fabricated and characterized for thermal, mechanical, and particle dispersion properties relative to commercial products.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications of the radiation shielding material include: retrofits and upgrades on International Space Station, space vehicles for human return to the Moon and human Mars Exploration, and for lunar and Martian habitats.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Terrestrial and commercial applications in radiation shielding in nuclear reactor, particle accelerator, high-altitude aircraft, and radiation-based medical treatments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Erectable
Suits
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Radiation Shielding Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Plasma Processes, Inc.
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville, AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Elizabeth Schofield
eschofield@plasmapros.com
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville,  AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A tailorable structural composite that will provide protection from the lunar radiation environment, including GCR and albedo neutrons will be developed. This composite will have increased structural strength combined with more efficient shielding of GCR and albedo neutrons when compared to previously developed composites, leading to increased TRL level. Boron coated fabric will be integrated precisely where it will have the most positive effect on shield characteristics (according to simulations and testing), providing an efficient and highly tailorable composite. A highly innovative processing method, Low Pressure Vacuum Plasma Spray (LPVPS), will be demonstrated during this effort to deposit a layer of boron containing natural abundance of 10B onto carbon fabric from the vapor phase. Benefits of this processing method include significantly higher deposition rates and through-put than PVD/CVD, significantly larger deposition footprint, and excellent quality control due to the exact nature of the deposition process. Composite strength will be increased by using carbon fabric as a carrier for the 10B, with bonding between the coated fabric and epoxy matrix enhanced through surface treatments. Thermal protection system incorporation for protection against temperature extremes and micrometeorite impact will be investigated during Phase 2.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial potential for the technology being developed is very high. Potential NASA applications for this technology developed through Phase 2 include structural radiation shielding for the protection of humans and electronics in aerospace transportation vehicles, space transportation vehicles such as the Ares V launch vehicle, large space structures, such as space stations, orbiters, landing vehicles such as the Altair Lunar Lander, rovers, habitats, and nuclear propulsion. Potential customers include Boeing, ATK, Lockheed, and other NASA contractors.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications include shielding for particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, radioactive waste containment, satellite hardware shielding, radiation protection for passengers/crew in high-altitude commercial and military airliners, and medical patient shielding.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Erectable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Simulation Modeling Environment
Suits
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Composites
Radiation Shielding Materials
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Applied Sensor Research & Development Corporation
1195 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Unit #2
Arnold, MD 21012-1815
(410) 544-4664

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jacqueline Hines
jhines@asrdcorp.com
1195 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Unit #2
Arnold,  MD 21012-1815
(410) 544-4664

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal describes the development of passive wireless surface acoustic wave (SAW) RFID sensor-tags with enhanced range for remote monitoring of large groups of conventional sensors. Passive wireless sensing tags using SAW technology have been demonstrated by Robert Brocato at Sandia National Labs and others. These sensor-tags consist of a SAW device with an antenna attached to one port and sensor(s) and reference impedance(s) connected to the other ports. RF signals are reflected off of the surface wave device, and their reflection characteristics are modified by changes in the impedance of the attached sensor(s). This proposal describes development of novel passive wireless SAW sensor tags that combine radio frequency identification (RFID) coding with dispersive and low-loss SAW transducers and reflectors. The proposed devices utilize RFID reflective delay line coding techniques to produce devices capable of data densities over 32 bits, enabling production of large codesets. Variations in the reflected RFID code are used to identify the device and to provide a measure of the attached sensor(s), along with any internal sensing function(s). The use of dispersive low-loss transducers and reflectors provides increased processing gain and over 10 times the range of conventional SAW RFID tags. The proposed sensor devices also operate in a manner that is inherently immune to RF backscatter signals, further enhancing S/N. Successful completion of the proposed Phase I activities will establish the technical feasibility of these sensor-tags, will evaluate their performance in the laboratory when used with at least two external sensor devices, and will provide performance projections for use with other sensors. At the end of Phase I, devices will be at TRL 4. Phase II will result in development of multiple uniquely identifiable passive sensor-tags and interrogation systems operable to wirelessly monitor sensors of interest to specific NASA programs (TRL6).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Throughout NASA programs and facilities, sensors and data acquisition systems that require a reduced wire infrastructure are needed. Exploration systems such as the Ares V launch vehicle require development of lightweight structure technology, and structural health monitoring of these systems is needed to reduce risk and extend operational lifetimes. Acoustic Emission (AE) sensors have been widely used in testing of composite and other materials, and can provide indications of growing defects as well as incipient failure. The proposed sensors will allow widespread distributed wireless monitoring of AE sensors for structural health monitoring. The high S/N ratio of these devices makes them ideal for use in metal environments. Diagnosis of aircraft aging and damage, detection of incipient failures in cryotanks, evaluation of the structural integrity of bonded assemblies, and inspection of numerous composite and metallic structures are all significant NASA applications. Ground operations would benefit from the capability to detect corrosion and deterioration in concrete and other structures. AE sensors and others may be useful in this application as well. Finally, non-NDE applications such as distributed wireless measurement of temperature throughout inflatable habitats, wireless evaluation of engine plume characteristics, and wireless monitoring of temperature and pressure on the skin of exploration vehicles during descent will also be enabled by these devices.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Distributed wireless monitoring of sensors using passive SAW sensor-tags will have widespread non-NASA commercial applications. AE sensors have been shown to be capable of real-time detection of cracks, delamination, and other growing failure mechanisms in concrete, metal, composites, and other materials. Given the current state of the nation's aging infrastructure, this technology will be widely used to monitor the condition of bridges, tunnels, and pavements. Combination of the proposed sensor-tags with novel AE sensor technologies such as sensors based on flexible piezoelectric materials will provide low cost solutions to this extensive monitoring problem. Development of intelligent wireless infrastructure monitoring networks utilizing such passive wireless sensors combined with data correlation and interpretation would be capable of providing infrastructure owners with automated information on structural conditions, including likely causative factors for detected fault conditions. This information would be useful to the owners in effectively prioritizing limited maintenance and repair resources. Other commercial applications will likely include monitoring of commercial airframes for aging and deterioration, inventorying and tracking high value industrial assets (even in extreme environments), and distributed sensing systems for environmental applications such as landfills. ASR&D has received inquiries from potential customers related to each of these applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Inflatable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Structural Modeling and Tools
Tankage
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Metis Design Corporation
10 Canal Park, Suite 601
Cambridge, MA 02141-2250
(617) 661-5616

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Seth Kessler
skessler@metisdesign.com
10 Canal Park, Suite 601
Cambridge,  MA 02141-2250
(617) 661-5616

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Traditional structural health monitoring (SHM) methods have been limited due to the implied infrastructure, including wires for power and communication from each sensor to data acquisition units. Presently, Metis Design Corporation (MDC) has demonstrated the patented technique of point-of-measurement datalogging. During the proposed research, MDC will further exploit this SHM architecture to satisfy NASA mission specifications. This work focuses on a Boeing Proprietary technology that allows cable-free transfer of electrical signals. To date, this technology has been demonstrated to successfully power and transfer data from analog sensor arrays. During Phase I, MDC will work with Boeing to demonstrate this technology for a digital sensor bus. The first task will aim to modify the existing sensor hardware to be physically compatible with such a bus. The second task will investigate attachment mechanisms that will provide the necessary electrical connections while not sacrificing strength or structural coupling for wave propagation. The third task will seek to design an impedance matching circuit for the sensor-bus to support multiple sensors for both power and data on the same CAN-style bus. The final task will piece each of these components together to demonstrate damage detection and localization on a composite plate supplied by Boeing.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Once this product is completed through Phase I and II SBIR research, it will be ready for deployment within several NASA applications. Of direct immediate relevance would be crew exploration vehicles (CEV's) that replace the shuttle orbiter. This technology could also be implemented as part of other reusable launch systems for quick turn-around times, expendable launch systems for pre-launch go/no-go decisions, and the international space station to detect impacts or other damage.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There will be many commercial applications for this technology beyond NASA. First would likely be for DoD Aerospace applications such as Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV) and Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). Next would be ageing fixed and rotary-wing aircraft retro-fit, followed by new fixed and rotary-wing aircraft integration. Unmanned vehicles (UAV and UCAV) would so have a need for this technology. Commercial aviation would have similar needs. Outside of DoD there are other commercial applications such as naval vessels (ships, submarines, carriers), ground vehicles (cars, trucks, tanks) and civil infrastructure (bridges, tunnels, buildings).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airframe
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Structural Modeling and Tools
Tankage
Architectures and Networks
Instrumentation
Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management
Data Input/Output Devices
Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Highly-Reconfigurable
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics
Ceramics
Composites
Computational Materials
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SmartWear, LLC
1802 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite E
Santa Monica, CA 90405-4947
(310) 383-8524

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Pottenger
mpottenger@smartwearllc.com
1802 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite E
Santa Monica,  CA 90405-4947
(310) 383-8524

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The applicant is developing flexible highly-efficient piezoelectric materials for use in structural health monitoring (SHM) as contemplated in the solicitation topic. Phase I will demonstrate and verify the superior properties and sensing performance of these innovative materials, utilizing commercially available piezoelectric materials as a baseline for comparison. The proposed materials may have widespread application for sensing and monitoring vehicle and structure vibration and strain loading. The specific solution proposed by the applicant simultaneously solves several problems common to SHM systems, including the ability to easily realize distributed sensing networks; reduction or elimination of additional wiring and electrical power; minimal increase in vehicle or structure weight. Phase I will focus on the characterization and demonstration of the new sensing materials as they represent the primary technical innovation. Phase II would expand the project to a complete SHM system, combining the sensing materials developed in Phase I with data collection and reduction algorithms.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed materials could have widespread application in airframe construction to provide structural integrity monitoring, vibration damping, passive impact detection and/or energy harvesting capability. These materials could be added to all manner of space or air vehicles and structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed materials could have widespread application in airframe construction to provide structural integrity monitoring, vibration damping, passive impact detection and/or energy harvesting capability. These materials could be added to all manner of space or air vehicles, as well as non-aerospace applications such as ground vehicles, buildings, bridges and roadways. All of these represent dual-use or multi-use opportunities: NASA, DoD, other government agencies (e.g. DoT), industrial and commercial.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Integran Technologies USA, Inc.
2541 Appletree Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15241-2587
(412) 638-1140

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Heard
rheard@integranusa.com
2541 Appletree Drive
Pittsburgh,  PA 15241-2587
(412) 638-1140

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal seeks to investigate the use of a novel high strength nanostructured metal (Nanovate<SUP>TM</SUP>) as a thin structural reinforcing shell on ultra-lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) propellant and cryogenic storage tanks. In the proposed project, Integran seeks to address the intrinsic deficiencies of CFRP by applying nanometal to the inside liner of the CFRP cryogenic storage tanks to provide a high strength pressure barrier with excellent mechanical performance and damage tolerance at cryogenic temperatures, thereby enabling the use of CFRP for cryogenic storage tanks. In addition, the nanometal liner will also provide increased surface durability, wear resistance and specific strength/stiffness of the CFRP substructure at cryogenic, ambient and elevated temperatures (temperatures at which conventional composites begin to soften). The high strength of the nanostructured material will allow a thin structural reinforcing coating, thus maintaining the overall lightweight nature of the component. The successful execution of this project will provide a proof-of-concept demonstration as well as baseline mechanical property data for nanometal/composite hybrid structures at a range of temperatures, thereby allowing engineering designers to incorporate the use of these structures into advanced engineering components, including cryogenic storage tanks.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology has application within NASA for use with cryogenic storage tanks, composite overwrapped pressure vessels, satellite propellant tanks. The proposed Nanometal/Composite hybrid structures also have applicability to where composite structures require enhanced functionality such as: wear resistance, reflectivity, EMI shielding, hardness, damage resistance, material compatibility.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The technology also has applicability to more conventional pressure vessels such as fireman's air tank or gas storage cylinders. While fiber reinforced plastics composites have incredible strength to weight characteristics, there are many potential applications which would benefit from a hard nanostructured metallic coating for wear resistance, reflectivity, EMI shielding, hardness, damage resistance, material compatibility. Additional markets which may benefit from the use of a nanometal/FRP composite include: sporting goods, defense, automotive, consumer goods and electronics.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NEI Corporation
201 Circle Drive N., Suite 102/103
Piscataway, NJ 08854-3723
(732) 868-3141

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Daniel Eberly
deberly@neicorporation.com
201 Circle Drive N., Suite 102/103
Piscataway,  NJ 08854-3723
(732) 868-3141

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1 to 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Nanomaterials and nanocomposites offer great potential for improvement in many applications. One such NASA application is the prevention of microcracking as well as improvement in impact strength at cryogenic temperatures of composite cryotanks/carbon fiber-reinforced filament wound composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) as used in liquid fuel propulsion systems and other related fiber-reinforced structures as used in space exploration. Replacement of the currently-used aluminum-lithium cryotanks with composite cryotanks is advantageous from a weight-saving standpoint, but these composite structures are susceptible to microcracks from long- and short-term exposure to cryogenic temperatures from fuel storage and space environments. In Phase I, we propose to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel engineered nanocomposite in a fiber-reinforced composite in order to eliminate microcracks and enhance the impact strength at cryogenic temperatures. The program is a collaborative effort with a leading developer and manufacturer of COPVs. A key aspect of the proposed program is that it combines nanoscale additives with modifications to the conventional epoxy matrix polymer structure and morphology in ways never done before. The Phase II program will build upon the Phase I demonstration effort by implementing the technology in other epoxy systems and fiber systems used in the filament winding process combined with technological advances made by our strategic partner; implementation of the technology to linerless cryotanks will be a major focus as a drop-in replacement for current aluminum-lithium cryotanks. In addition, we will implement the technology in other fiber-reinforced composite structures as may be applicable to NASA applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications include lightweight composite cryotanks as a replacement to aluminum-lithium cryotanks for liquid fuel propulsion systems and storage of cryogenic fuels. These would include propellant tanks for EDS (Earth Departure Stage) and Altair lunar lander and for the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. Similar structures involving composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) as well as general structures involving fiber-reinforced composites that use commercial high-performance epoxy/fiber systems and are susceptible to cryogenic environments or varying forms of impacts would also benefit from this proposed technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA commercial applications would include the use of the proposed technology in composite applications where microcrack prevention due to either cryogenic temperatures or impacts is an issue. These applications would include commercial jet aircraft, military aircraft and ground support vehicles having structures made of fiber-reinforced materials which may be susceptible to impacts or sub-ambient temperatures. Other possible applications may include lighter and safer fuel storage in automobiles and buses that run on hydrogen fuel, on-the-road transport of refrigerants such as liquid oxygen or liquid nitrogen, and self-contained breathing apparatus tanks for firefighters and homeland security. The technology is designed as an additive to commercial epoxy systems which will allow implementation in manufacturing with minimal changes to current processing.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Tankage
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Applied Poleramic, Inc.
6166 Egret Court
Benicia, CA 94510-1269
(707) 747-6738

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Rich Moulton
poleramic@aol.com
6166 Egret Court
Benicia,  CA 94510-1269
(707) 747-6738

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
As an alternative material to aluminum-lithium, cryotanks developed from fiber reinforced composites can offer significant weight savings in applications for fuel containment of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. For composite materials to be accepted and utilized in these structures, they must be resistant to microcracking. It is the objective of this work to develop a matrix system for aerospace composites that alleviates all forms of microcracking from cryogenic cycling regardless of the lay-up and configuration. This will be accomplished by using a novel chemistry that provides the necessary inherent network and backbone structure for this environment combined with newly developed nano-modifiers. This technology and approach will result in a high performance matrix system that has low or no cure shrinkage combined with very low CTE and extremely high toughness. Such a matrix will be combined with carbon fibers to fabricate lightweight, high performance composites that are expected to have the microcrack and permeability resistance required for cryotank structures. It is expected that the Technology Readiness Level will be 3-4 at the end of this Phase I research.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The successful completion of the Phase 1 and 2 research programs will enable the development of lower weight cryotanks for NASA launch vehicles. The microcrack resistant composite cryotanks will also provide reduced hydrogen permeability over that of traditional composite materials. Applications that would benefit from this technology include EDS propellant tanks, Altair propellant tanks, lunar cryogenic storage tanks, and Ares V tanks. In addition to the utilization of these materials for cryotanks, other space and aerospace applications may be found which require highly tough, low CTE composite matrices such as space and aerospace structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to cryotank composite structures, many composite applications and designs will benefit from the high toughness, low cure shrinkage, and low CTE of the matrix technology developed in this research. Commercial composite applications that have been limited by current matrix technology can be found in space, aerospace, and airplane structures. Specific applications that may benefit from the low CTE include high precision antennas, reflector components, and precision optical devices. The high toughness of these matrices will enable more damage tolerant composite for commercial aircraft structures, engine components such as fan blades and core cowls, and ballisitic applications. Also, this technology will enable stitched and advanced multiaxial perform to be utilized in many new applications that have been limited before by microcracking. Film adhesives for advanced structural bonding and composite cocure applications will also benefit from this technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Tankage
Fluid Storage and Handling
Composites
Organics/Bio-Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Plasma Processes, Inc.
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville, AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John O'Dell
scottodell@plasmapros.com
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville,  AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 1 to 2

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Radiation-cooled, bipropellant thrusters are being considered for the Ascent Module main engine of the Altair Lunar Lander. Currently, iridium-lined rhenium combustion chambers are the state-of-the-art for radiatively cooled thrusters. To increase the performance of radiation-cooled engines, improved chamber materials are being developed that will allow higher operating temperatures, better resistance to oxidation, and reduce mass. In an effort to increase performance, hafnium oxide thermal barrier coatings and improved iridium liners have been developed, and hot-fire tests of rhenium chambers with these improvements have shown higher operating temperatures, i.e., >200<SUP>o</SUP>C increase, are possible. To reduce engine mass, recent efforts have focused on the development of carbon-carbon composites. Replacement of a rhenium structural wall with carbon-carbon could result in a mass savings of >600%. During this effort, an innovative composite thrust chamber will be developed that will incorporate advanced hafnium oxide and iridium liner techniques as well as replacing the expensive, high density rhenium with a low mass carbon-carbon composite. As a result of this investigation, an advanced composite thrust chamber with improved performance capability and reduced mass will be produced. During Phase II, the fabrication methods will be optimized and a full-size Ascent Module chamber will be produced and hot-fire tested.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
PPI's targeted NASA application is for the Altair Ascent Module main engine. Other NASA applications include in-space propulsion components for apogee insertion, attitude control, orbit maintenance, repositioning of satellites/spacecraft, reaction control systems, and descent/ascent engines, nuclear power/propulsion, oxygen generators, and lunar regolith processing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Both government and commercial entities in the following sectors use advanced high-temperature materials for the following applications: coatings, defense, material R&D, nuclear power, aerospace, propulsion, automotive, electronics, crystal growth, and medical. PPI's targeted commercial applications include net-shape fabrication of refractory and platinum group metals for rocket nozzles, crucibles, heat pipes, and propulsion subcomponents; and advanced coating systems for x-ray targets, sputtering targets, turbines, rocket engines, wear and thermal/electrical insulation.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Chemical
Micro Thrusters
Monopropellants
Propellant Storage
Composites
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd.
The Millenium Centre, RR 1, Box 100B
Triadelphia, WV 26059-9707
(304) 547-5800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Rick Lucas
rdl@trl.com
The Millennium Centre
Triadelphia,  WV 26059-9707
(304) 547-5800

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This proposal addresses NASA's need for non-autoclave composites manufacture. The Constellation program, including the Ares V launch vehicle, will require very large-scale structures and conventional autoclave-based composites which are very costly and suffer from logistical problems. Out of autoclave (OOA) composite manufacturing technology has the potential to solve the constraint issues of autoclave processes without suffering performance issues. However, several critical issues remain a technical challenge, and further development is required to bring OOA into the mainstream of composites manufacturing. Touchstone proposes to demonstrate that a composite tool made from its carbon foam materials can be self-heated by passing an electric current through the tool body, thereby heating only the tool and part and not requiring an autoclave or oven for curing. In Phase 1, a small prototype tool will be built and tested for self-heating performance in comparison to a conventional autoclave cure cycle on the same tool. Specific resin systems suited for OOA processing will be utilized, and performance properties of composite samples produced by both the self-heated carbon foam tool and a conventional carbon foam autoclave tool will be characterized. At the end of Phase 1, the TRL will be 4, and by the conclusion of Phase 2, the TRL will reach 6.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This proposal addresses NASA's need for non-autoclave composites manufacture. The Constellation program, including the Ares V launch vehicle, will require very large-scale structures and conventional autoclave-based composites which are very costly and suffer from logistical problems. Out of autoclave (OOA) composite manufacturing technology has the potential to solve the constraint issues of autoclave processes without suffering performance issues. However, several critical issues remain a technical challenge, and further development is required to bring OOA into the mainstream of composites manufacturing. Touchstone proposes to demonstrate that a composite tool made from its carbon foam materials can be self-heated by passing an electric current through the tool body, thereby heating only the tool and part and not requiring an autoclave or oven for curing. In Phase 1, a small prototype tool will be built and tested for self-heating performance in comparison to a conventional autoclave cure cycle on the same tool. Specific resin systems suited for OOA processing will be utilized, and performance properties of composite samples produced by both the self-heated carbon foam tool and a conventional carbon foam autoclave tool will be characterized. At the end of Phase 1, the TRL will be 4, and by the conclusion of Phase 2, the TRL will reach 6.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Developing the self-heated carbon foam tooling technology will not only benefit NASA's current and future missions but will also have significant implications in the commercial aerospace and large boat building industries. As Boeing is pioneering use of composites in commercial airplane manufacturing, other large airplanes will follow suit, and cost reductions will be critical in these applications. Demonstrating that large scale composite structures can be produced with OOA technologies, such as carbon foam tooling, Touchstone anticipates that commercial aerospace as well as DoD and commercial shipbuilding will adopt the technology. At the end of the Phase 2 effort, Touchstone and its prime contractor partners will have demonstrated a large-scale carbon foam self-heated tool and complementary fiber/resin systems that will be applicable to a wide range of non-NASA applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aeronix, Inc.
1775 W. Hibiscus Blvd., Suite 200
Melbourne, FL 32901-2627
(321) 984-1671

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steve Iezzi
siezzi@aeronix.com
1775 W. Hibiscus Blvd., Suite 200
Melbourne,  FL 32901-2627
(321) 984-1671

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Exploration of planetary surfaces will require a communication architecture that supports operational capabilities in which fixed and mobile assets on the planetary surface can communicate seamlessly and securely. Aeronix understands the issues and believes that it can leverage it knowledge and expertise in its military IEEE-802.16 products towards a space qualified solution. Aeronix is currently developing two technologies that will be directly leveraged. • A 5.8GHz 802.16 based radio developed military wireless communication terrestrial applications. The radio is designed to support 20 nodes providing 40Mbps using omni-directional antennas. This is a fully reconfigurable product employing a DSP to configure re-configurable FPGA logic. • The development of a smaller 2.4GHz 802.16 based radio for UAV applications. Aeronix is currently in fabricating evaluation units that are approximately 10"3 intended video and audio applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
IEEE 802.16 (i.e. WiMax) is an industry-lead standard that is being targeted broadly for metropolitan area networks and last mile applications with extended range and high-speed data requirements. Aeronix is investing in 802.16 PHY and MAC intellectual property to address markets such as DoD, NASA, and commercial. Award of this SBIR will extend the capabilities. Commercial applications include applications that require Aeronix extended Doppler and rotor craft communication capabilities. Examples include air-to-ground commercial wireless LAN's (such as airto-ground Internet access) and ground-to-ground high speed mobile applications (automobiles). Traditional 802.16 last mile applications are also a market for Aeronix intellectual property and products. DoD applications include air-to ground and ground-to-ground tactical communications and last mile information distribution (voice, video, and data). As a means of rapidly bring products to market in volume, Aeronix leverages its expertise and designs to a commercialization partner with strong product manufacturing, support, and product sales capabilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA Non-Commercial applications include spaced-based wireless networks, lunar-based wireless networks, and Mars-based wireless networks. Usage models include point-to-multipoint and Mesh networks for communication between base stations, mobile rovers, mobile humans, and sensors. Equipments supported via this SBIR include base station access points, subscriber stations, wireless bridges, and wireless NICs for radiation environments. NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Mobility
Perception/Sensing
Teleoperation
Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety
Airport Infrastructure and Safety
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Architectures and Networks
Autonomous Control and Monitoring
RF
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Portable Life Support
Suits
General Public Outreach
Highly-Reconfigurable
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Honeybee Robotics Ltd.
460 W 34th Street
New York, NY 10001-2320
(212) 966-0661

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jason Herman
herman@honeybeerobotics.com
460 West 34th Street
New York,  NY 10001-2320
(646) 459-7819

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lunar dust has been identified as a significant and present challenge in future exploration missions. The interlocking, angular nature of Lunar dust and its broad grain size distribution make it particularly detrimental to mechanisms with which it may come into contact. Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation (HRSMC) seeks to develop a dust-tolerant, autonomous connector to transmit data and power on Lunar surface systems. HRSMC has extensive heritage in developing mechanisms for extreme and dusty environments, including the development of a dust-tolerant electrical connector prototype and a dust-tolerant mechanical connector concept. There are many near-term applications of such a connector including: the utility and electrical connections that will be used on the next-generation Lunar EVA suit, cryogenic utility connections that will be used to pass liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen during in-situ¬ resource utilization (ISRU) activities, and high-power electrical connectors capable of thousands of cycles for Lunar Surface Mobility Unit (LSMU) battery recharge and data transfer. As noted in current Lunar architectural options, human EVA's, long range Lunar rovers, and ISRU activities are on the mission horizon and are paramount to the establishment of a permanent human base on the Moon. In Phase I, HRSMC will baseline prior dust-tolerant connector work to develop a conceptual design for an autonomous, dust-tolerant, re-usable connector to enable electrical transfer between a LSMU and a central resource outpost or a deployed solar power unit. This connector would be easily adaptable to the needs of other Lunar surface system utility connectors required for EVA suits or other systems such as ISRU utility connections. This development path will result in an autonomous Lunar dust-tolerant electrical connector with a TRL level of 3-4 at the end of Phase 1 with a goal of at least TRL 6 at the end of Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The dust-tolerant autonomous connection mechanism to be developed through this project will be an enabling technology for extended Lunar operations in that they will allow several cycles of utility connection and disconnection for EVA and surface operations. Future mission scenarios involving erectable structures, diverse EVA-compliant tools, Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU)-to-rover or EMU-to-robot interfaces, and other in-situ assembly or interconnection activities will all call for dust-tolerant reusable connectors. In particular, the Constellation LSMU battery recharge connector will require dust-tolerant technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Military and homeland security operations are often conducted in uncontrolled environments. An increasing use of high-technology tools provides for improved performance, but also introduces new risks. The incorporation of dust-tolerant reusable connection mechanisms in military couplings will allow greater reliability and flexibility for modular electronics in operational scenarios, especially in dusty, dirty, sandy environments. Incorporation of dust-tolerant connectors would also reduce maintenance, repair, and overhaul costs by reducing select component failures due to degradation by dust and sand. Current connectors meet stringent mil-spec environmental requirements when connected, but the connection itself must be made under relatively clean conditions. We expect that adding a tolerance to making and breaking connections under off-nominal conditions will result in an increased service life for modular electronics for use in military and homeland security applications. There is also broad commercial potential for dust-tolerant reusable connectors in several commercial applications requiring the reliable performance of modular electronics in uncontrolled environments, including oil and gas exploration, first responders and emergency services, heavy and highway construction, and mining. By employing dust-tolerant connectors, rather than attempting to seal dust intolerant connectors against the environment, the connectors used in these applications may be truly ruggedized.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Human-Robotic Interfaces
Integrated Robotic Concepts and Systems
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Testing Facilities
Modular Interconnects
Fluid Storage and Handling
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Portable Life Support
Suits
Tools
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
In-situ Resource Utilization
Liquid-Liquid Interfaces
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Deployable Space Systems (DSS)
955 Nysted Drive
Solvang, CA 93463-2247
(805) 693-1313

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Spence
Brian.Spence@DeployableSpaceSystems.com
955 Nysted Drive
Solvang,  CA 93463-2247
(805) 693-1313

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose a concentrated photovoltaic electric power system for lunar operations called C-Lite Lunar. The novel technology produces a near-term solar array system that provides substantially improved performance in terms of high specific power (>600 W/kg BOL, 10X lighter than rigid arrays), lightweight, high deployed stiffness (5X stiffer than rigid arrays), high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (>1,000 kW/m3 BOL, 30X more compact stowage than rigid arrays), affordability, and rapid commercial readiness. The proposed effort will provide a disruptively positive performance impact to the end-user, and allow for the rapid insertion of this mission-enabling technology for future applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
C-Lite Lunar Power System is primarily focused on the needs of lunar base missions. Future Mars base missions will also benefit from experience gained on the moon. The broader technology developed for the C-Lite Lunar Power System is widely applicable to most future NASA missions as a direct replacement for existing photovoltaic systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
C-Lite Lunar Power technology is also widely applicable to all non-NASA missions, including DoD and commercial missions, as a direct replacement for current state-of-the-art. The total solar array system market is estimated at $500M to $750M annually. C-Lite Lunar Power technology has the potential to ultimately replace many existing solar arrays. The compelling performance benefits of the proposed technology such as: Ultra-lightweight (10X lighter than rigid arrays), high deployed stiffness (5X stiffer than rigid arrays), high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (30X more compact stowage than rigid arrays), affordability, and rapid commercial readiness, will be mission-enabling for many applications. Applicable missions include: LEO DoD surveillance, reconnaissance, communications and other critical payload/equipment satellites, LEO commercial mapping and critical payload/equipment satellites, MEO DoD satellites, GEO commercial communications and critical payload/equipment satellites, and GEO DoD communications and payload/equipment satellites.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Erectable
Ultra-High Density/Low Power
Composites
Photovoltaic Conversion
Renewable Energy

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Microcosm, Inc.
4940 W. 147th Street
Hawthorne, CA 90250-6708
(310) 219-2700

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Wertz
jim@smad.com
4940 W. 147th St.
Hawthorne,  CA 90250-6708
(310) 219-2700

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Microcosm proposes to design and develop a fully autonomous Lunar Navigator based on our MicroMak miniature star sensor and a gravity gradiometer similar to one on a ship-board celestial navigation system designed by Microcosm for the Navy. The new sensor will provide surface navigation on the Moon or Mars with accuracies comparable to state-of-the-art precision celestial navigation systems on Earth. The system can rapidly determine its location anywhere on the Moon or Mars where a large portion of the sky is visible, day or night. With the unique three field-of-view star sensor design, the sensor can also be used to provide precise surveying of surrounding terrain and, in either of two modes, can provide passive range-finding to artificial or natural objects. The entire package will be less than 10 cm on a side, weigh less than 1 kg, draw less than 10 W of power, and work in a wide range of temperature and illumination conditions. Phase I will focus on the system requirements, a preliminary navigator design, and initial performance estimate. Phase II will focus on fabricating and testing a functioning prototype of the Lunar Navigator, including ground testing with real stars at night.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This lunar navigator technology is applicable for navigation of landers, rovers, balloons, or airplanes on or above the surface of any planets, asteroids, or moons for which stars can be seen from the surface. The navigator device is potentially low cost, light weight, and exceptionally robust in that it does not depend on any external resources for navigation. A modified form of this technology (replacing the gradiometer with a set of Earth sensors) could also be used for robust spacecraft navigation in low planetary orbits. This system, with initial operational success on the Moon, is directly applicable to surface navigation on Mars both day and night.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology is applicable for air, sea, and land navigation on the Earth as a back-up to GPS. There is an identified Navy need for comparable technology (with, of course, different structural, qualification, and environmental constraints). It could also be used for many types of commercial transportation systems as an alternative to GPS.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Guidance, Navigation, and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Sciences, Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Guiler
guiler@psicorp.com
20 New England Business Center
Andover,  MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lunar dust creates a number of hazards to lunar operations including, effect on human health, degradation of life support systems, wear to mechanical systems and loss of efficiency of solar arrays. Lunar operations require a system which mechanically removes dust from key systems and prevents its redeposition. While there is no wind on the moon, electrical phenomena allow the transport of lunar dust over long distances. Lunar dust is constantly in motion. There are currently no dust mitigation techniques that can be applied to a variety of surfaces which can mechanically remove dust and prevent its redeposition. Electrostatic dust removal techniques are being developed, but these have not been tested with the pure iron particles found in lunar dust and lack mechanical removal schemes needed for imbricated angular particles. Physical Sciences Inc. and West Virginia University proposes a novel liquid crystal membrane dust mitigation system (LCMDMS). This system uses both electro static (conductive layers for charge control) and mechanical (vibrating surface) dust removal/prevention techniques to maintain dust free operation of flexible, curved, transparent and opaque lunar based systems. This system is designed to be transparent and applied as a membrane to a surface which needs to be kept dust free.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
PSI's proposed liquid crystal membrane dust mitigation appliqué concept is a revolutionary concept and will have potential applications in the following areas: * Dust and debris removal from systems deployed in lunar and Martian exploration; * Spacesuit dust alleviation; * Boundary layer control through dynamic roughness, Military, commercial and general-aviation drag reduction and stall delay; * UAV and MAV control of flow separation and transition; * Control of flow separation in internal flow applications; * De-icing of aerodynamic surfaces.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
* De-icing of wind turbine surfaces; * Act as active "turbulators" in pipe flow; * Dust mitigation for earth based systems such as turbine intakes for ground power units; * Flow control for marine based systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Erectable
Inflatable
Optical
Portable Life Support
Suits
Tools
Photovoltaic Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SpaceDev, Inc.
1722 Boxelder Street, Suite 102
Louisville, CO 80027-3137
(303) 530-1925

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fred Beavers
fredb@starsys.com
1722 Boxelder Street, Suite 102
Louisville,  CO 80027-3137
(720) 407-3203

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SpaceDev Inc. is proposing an innovative fluid coupling enabling the transfer of consumables such as liquid oxygen while maintaining functionality in the presence of lunar regolith, including dust. SpaceDev initially designed and developed this coupler to support on-orbit fluid transfer of cryogenics, gases, and water. Further development of and enhancements to this existing design are planned under Phase 1 to demonstrate feasibility for lunar applications, with advanced prototype testing in Phase 2 to make-ready the coupling for formal flight qualification and production. At the heart of the fluid coupling is an innovative re-settable knife edge seal that requires low pre-loads to provide the fluid seal. The sealing surface can be quickly and easily reset with the application of a heater-type electric signal for only a few minutes at ambient conditions. Joint coupling is accomplished by a sharp-edged member piercing and embedding itself into a soft Indium seal ring. After coupling disconnect, reset is accomplished by heating the Indium seal to its melting point. Entrained in an arterial wick, the seal ring surface reflows, leaving a virgin seal surface upon cooling. The arterial wick allows for joint reflow in microgravity environments. The coupling is then reset to allow for successive servicing operations. Current prototypes have been tested with air, water and LN2 at pressures from 0 to 100 psi. SpaceDev recently completed a separate Phase 1 SBIR that demonstrated that the all-metal, knife-edge seal con-cept has the capability for maintaining seal integrity even in the presence of the abrasive, lunar dust. The knife edge seal offers two distinct advantages when attempting to mitigate the affects of lunar dust: 1) the knife edge tends toward self-cleaning and exclusion of foreign matter such as lunar dust due to metal cold-flow patterns during penetration, and 2) the Indium can be heated and re-flowed in between mate and demate cycles to reform a fresh seal.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA commercial applications include manned and unmanned lunar operations, operations on MARS, and other exploratory missions involving operations in abrasive environments.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential Non-NASA commercial applications include on-orbit spacecraft servicing, and terrestrial fluid transfer applications in abrasive environments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Propellant Storage
Fluid Storage and Handling
In-situ Resource Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Adherent Technologies, Inc.
9621 Camino del Sol NE
Albuquerque, NM 87111-1522
(505) 346-1685

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jan Gosau
adherenttech@comcast.net
9621 Camino del Sol NE
Albuquerque,  NM 87111-1522
(505) 346-1685

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The lunar surface is to a large extent covered with a dust layer several meters thick. Known as lunar regolith, it poses a hazard in the form of dust clouds being generated by all forms of gas expansions in the high vacuum environment of the lunar surface. This is especially pronounced during spacecraft operations. Instruments placed on the moon by the Apollo mission showed marked degradation due to damage from dust released during the lander's takeoff. Since there is no air movement to remove the dust after it is deposited, it is essential that dust is not displaced during everyday operations of a permanent lunar installation. Adherent Technologies, Inc. (ATI) has over the last decade developed a number of specialty UV curing resins for NASA applications in space. ATI is proposing to develop a resin and dispenser system to coat large areas of lunar surface around landing pads and atmosphere locks with a thin, dust-stabilizing coating. The coating will be UV stable and elastic enough to weather the temperature extremes of a lunar day and night cycle. Special emphasis will be given to a low outgassing, solvent-free system that does not contaminate the lunar atmosphere.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Dust mitigation is a major requirement for the successful operation of a lunar base or even to deploy instruments on short-term missions close to the take-off site. The novel new technology proposed here will enable NASA to quickly establish a dust-free zone without contaminating the atmosphere around the application site.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
On earth, dust is commonly fought using non-permanent means like water or oil sprays. There are several applications however that require long-term dust stabilization. This is especially true for mine tailings from toxic metal operations like uranium and lead mining. The resins developed under this program can be used with little modification to cover large areas with a coating stable to weather and sunlight degradation at a very reasonable cost.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
Composites
Multifunctional/Smart Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Plasma Processes, Inc.
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville, AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Elizabeth Schofield
eschofield@plasmapros.com
4914 Moores Mill Road
Huntsville,  AL 35811-1558
(256) 851-7653

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The deleterious effects of lunar dust, typically less than 50 µm in diameter, have to be addressed prior to establishing a human base and long duration human presence on the surface of the moon. These effects include abrasion of seals, gaskets, motors, actuators, gimbals, bearings, blocking of optical windows, and coating of thermal control surfaces and solar panels with lunar dust. Negative physiological effects due to dust inhalation by astronauts must be mitigated. Issues related to lunar dust have been identified since the Apollo missions; however, no credible mitigation techniques have been implemented to date. The essence of this proposed activity is to develop a dual-use coating system - a highly wear resistant coating surface that can also perform as part of an electrically conductive circuit upon demand to minimize wear surface abrasion and, when electrically activated, repel fine lunar dust particles from wear surfaces, sealing surfaces, and complex geometries. Multi-use wear resistant surfaces are also applicable to space structures such as the trundle bearings on the space station solar arrays.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications of the technology include all lunar surface operations and all materials/equipment exposed to the lunar surface environment, such as rovers and robotic systems, prospecting equipment, habitat materials, EVA suits and astronaut apparel, thermal radiators, power systems, communications equipment, solar concentrators, airlock systems and seals, and measuring equipment. This multi-use technology is greatly needed for any surface or component for which dust deposition or inclusion would interfere with its function, especially where typical dust removal methods (brushing, etc.) are ineffective, time consuming, or would destroy the surface properties due to the highly abrasive nature of the dust. Components of aerospace transportation vehicles, space station, space transportation vehicles such as the Ares V launch vehicle, space station, orbiters, landing vehicles such as the Altair Lunar Lander, rovers, and habitat components all provide potential insertion locations for Phase 2 technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA commercial applications for this technology are found in the Defense Sector, namely dust removal from and wear protection of components within the U.S. Army's Objective Force Warrior uniforms or similar apparel, dust removal from and wear protection of air intakes and ventilation apparatus for heavy equipment and vehicles, and dust removal from electronics and communication equipment in combat situations. Commercial applications include prospecting equipment, communications protection, industrial dust mitigation for electronics and sealing mechanisms, and industrial bearings in all rotating or translating equipment.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Tools
Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization
In-situ Resource Utilization
Microgravity
Ceramics
Metallics
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Tribology

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Pioneer Astronautics
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood, CO 80215-5516
(303) 980-0890

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Zubrin
zubrin@aol.com
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood,  CO 80215-5516
(303) 980-0890

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Durable Dust Repellent Coating (DDRC) consists of nano-phase silica, titania, or other oxide coatings to repel dust in a vacuum environment over a wide range of temperatures. The coatings are engineered with dielectric properties to strongly repel particles from surfaces. Durability is attained by application methods such as sol-gel coating or physical vapor deposition onto stationary and rotating surfaces of EVA equipment, hatches and seals, lunar modules, ISRU hardware, and habitats prior to assembly. The application of the coating is followed by annealing at elevated temperatures. Initial development is planned for stainless steel, followed later by other metals and plastics. In addition to dust repellency, the DDRC provides abrasion resistance to lunar hardware. Some of the DDRC coatings also impart UV resistance to the substrate. Unlike convential dust removal methods such as brushing or blowing that may result in deep infiltration of particles, dust can be readily removed from DDRC surfaces by tilting or mild vibration.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
DDRC for stainless steel developed during Phase 1 will be useful for lunar operations that involve exposed stainless steel surfaces on the moon. Phase 2 coatings would have much wider application to activities on the lunar surface, including space suit fabric, other metals, and flexible materials. Pioneer would work with the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) to establish Technology Infusion Advisors to help guide the Phase 1 work. Commercialization could be achieved in cooperation with targeted industries or government agencies willing to invest in adaptation of the DDRC to specific industrial needs and for use in specified environments. This would include developing efficient, economic methods of application to the surface that DDRC is needed for and a course of field testing to prove effectiveness prior to marketing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
DDRC coatings would also find wide applications for the Department of Defense during military deployment to dusty regions where similar equipment breakdowns occur as a result of dust contamination. Industries that create processing dust (such as mining and excavation activity) would be likely beneficiaries for the DDRC.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Airlocks/Environmental Interfaces
Erectable
Launch and Flight Vehicle
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Suits
Tools
Composites
Metallics
Radiation Shielding Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Reaction Systems, LLC
1814 19th Street
Golden, CO 80401-1710
(303) 216-2950

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
David Wickham
wickham@reactionsystemsllc.com
1814 19th Street
Golden,  CO 80401-1710
(720) 352-7161

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The development of new, robust, lightweight systems for CO2 removal during EVA is a crucial need for NASA. With current activity focused on the development of Lunar outposts, mission times will need to be extended without increasing the size and weight of the portable life support system (PLSS). While much of the recent work on the development of new CO2 control strategies has centered on sorbents that can be regenerated during the mission, these system add "on back" hardware, increasing weight and complexity, and reducing reliability. A simpler approach is to use a membrane system to separate CO2 and H2O from the O2 environment. Unfortunately, separating gas phase molecules with the needed selectivity is difficult with standard membrane materials. However, converting CO2 and H2O to compounds with much different properties, could allow the needed separation to be achieved. Therefore in this Phase I project, Reaction Systems will develop a liquid membrane that will have high permeance and selectivity for CO2 and H2O compared to O2, resulting in a TRL = 4. In Phase II we will advance the TRL to 6 by designing and constructing a full scale prototype, which will be delivered it to NASA.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The most immediate application of the technology being proposed herein is the control of CO2 and H2O levels in the space suits of astronauts during EVA. This is a critical need as NASA mission objectives include creating lunar outposts, with the eventual goal of exploring Mars. In addition, with only slight modification, the technology could be applied to CO2 control in spacecraft and on the surface of Mars.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to the wide spread use for NASA applications, identifying effective means to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion is an area that is receiving much attention. The wide spread use of fossil fuels has caused a substantial rise in the concentration of atmospheric CO2, a recognized green house gas and further increases in atmospheric CO2 are not desirable. Thus, there currently is a great deal of interest in the development of methods to sequester CO2 from combustion processes. Other commercial applications would include the control of CO2 in underwater vehicles and other enclosed spaces and the development of rebreathers for SCUBA gear.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Portable Life Support
Suits

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Optics Corporation
20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg. 100
Torrance, CA 90501-1821
(310) 320-3088

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jason Holmstedt
EOSProposals@poc.com
20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg. 100
Torrance,  CA 90501-1821
(310) 320-3088

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To address the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) need for space suit displays and processing cores, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Conformal Light Augmented Single Substrate Head-Mounted Display (CLASS-HMD) for extravehicular activities (EVA), based on radiation-hardened COTS electronic components and a low-profile compact see-through head-mounted display (HMD) design. This approach incorporates compact conformal holographic projection optics instead of bulky lens system, which enables us to meet NASA EVA helmet-mounted display requirements for greater acceptance by astronauts, thus increasing their situational awareness during EVA. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of a space suit HMD system through system design, fabrication, and testing of key components of the system, and analysis of the performance in meeting NASA HMD requirements, as well as for commercial applications. A preliminary proof-of-concept prototype system will be developed, which will demonstrate TRL-4 by the end of Phase I. In Phase II, POC plans to develop a fully functional prototype and demonstrate a space suit HMD system. The results demonstrated will offer NASA capabilities to reduce workload on astronauts performing EVA tasks on the lunar surface.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The CLASS-HMD technology will provide new capabilities for astronauts during EVA in a radiation-hardened see-through display that allows them to monitor the conditions around them. This will allow astronauts to be more productive and take on less risk. Applications include space walks, harsh-environment training, and navigation during Martian dust storms.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We anticipate widespread appeal of the CLASS-HMD technology for such applications as gaming HMDs, flight simulators, and other immersive display systems, including medical and CAD/CAE 3D image displays, and virtual-reality displays for endoscopy/laparoscopy, and such environmentally risky professions as firefighting. Another potential commercial application for the CLASS-HMD system will be for the pilots of future private-sector space-tourism spacecraft.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Computer System Architectures
Software Development Environments
Photonics
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Air-Lock, Inc.
Wampus Lane
Milford, CT 06460-4845
(203) 878-4691

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Battisti
bbattisti@airlockinc.com
Wampus Lane
Milford,  CT 06460-4845
(203) 878-4691

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 2 to 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Air-Lock, Incorporated is proposing to design fully sealed shoulder and arm bearings with interchangeable bearing housings. The interchangeable housings shall be utilized in trade studies to determine the optimal bearing profile and weight relative to the shoulder and arm position. It is assumed that the next generation of NASA pressure suits will require the crewmember to utilize their suit in both the pressurized and unpressurized mode. Historic, key design drivers have always been suited comfort in the unpressurized mode and suit mobility in the pressurized mode. As a minimum, bearings will be needed at the shoulder, bicep, and wrist to satisfy pressurized mobility requirements. To placate unpressurized comfort, the optimal bearing design shall be lightweight and low profile; often conflicting characteristics in bearing design. This SBIR proposal will provide NASA with a bearing design that facilitates quick trade studies to determine the optimal bearing profile and weight.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Due to the highly specialized nature of the proposed design effort, extending the application of the interchangeable bearings is unlikely. More feasible applications can be realized through the improved manufacturing techniques developed during Phase II. Reducing mass of historically metallic structures via composite, structural plastics or urethanes have been achieved in the past but proved to be very costly. Air-Lock plans to develop manufacturing techniques that would allow the molding of complicated geometries to "near net shape" to realize cost reduction of lightweight, robust structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The recent increase in commercial space business ventures (Virgin Galactic, Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, (i.e., COTS), Bigelow Aerospace, etc.) would present excellent opportunities to implement the pressure suit bearing. Additionally, and of equal importance are the manufacturing techniques to be developed throughout the proposed effort that can be utilized for any pressure suit hard mobility joint.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Suits
Composites
Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Creare, Inc.
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755-0071
(603) 643-3800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Izenson
mgi@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover,  NH 03755-0071
(603) 640-2405

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced EVA suits for space exploration will need a portable life support system (PLSS) that is compact, lightweight, and highly reliable. A key component is a blower that circulates air through the space suit ventilation loop. We propose to develop an innovative air blower that can meet the challenging requirements for circulating ventilation air in an EVA suit using a reliable system that consumes little power. In Phase I we will prove the feasibility of our approach by producing a conceptual design for the blower and building and demonstrating a proof-of-concept blower. In Phase II we will optimize the blower and motor designs to achieve small size and maximum efficiency while meeting requirements and constraints for operation in exploration space suits. We will demonstrate lifetime and reliability of critical components and deliver a prototype blower that can be used in system tests of advanced portable life support systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ventilation fan is a critical technology need for the Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS), since the exploration PLSS design calls for a separate ventilation fan instead of a combined fan/pump/water separator like the one used in the current shuttle extravehicular mobility unit. The blower that we develop will meet the requirements for circulating ventilation air in the CSSS.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The head/flow requirements for the space suit ventilation blower are very similar to the requirements for personal cooling systems based on filtered air ventilation needed for terrestrial applications. The military needs these blowers to provide a lightweight cooling and ventilation system for soldiers and marines wearing body armor or chem/bio protective gear in hot environments. Civilian applications include portable ventilation systems for HAZMAT teams and nuclear or chemical plant workers.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Portable Life Support

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amsen Technologies, LLC
1684 S. Research Loop, Suite 518
Tucson, AZ 85710-6740
(520) 546-6944

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Hongxing Hu
hhu1@mindspring.com
1684 S. Research Loop, Suite 518
Tucson,  AZ 85710-6740
(520) 546-6944

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4 to 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR project aims to develop a lightweight, highly thermally and electrically conductive heat pipe plate for passive removal of the heat from the individual fuel cells or electrolysis cells within a cell stack. The desired heat pipe plate will be fabricated from a novel composite based on carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are possibly the best heat conducting material the world has ever known, as their unusually high thermal conductivity has been reported recently. In reality, however, such high thermal conductivity values have not yet been achieved in any carbon nanotube ensembles. This has been attributed to the thermal resistance presented at interface junctions between individual nanotubes. The Phase I effort will be focused on solving this problem by an innovative approach, which offers the potential of incorporating a high content of carbon nanotubes in the composite while interface thermal resistance being minimized. The Phase I work will build on our preliminary experimental results to establish the proof-of-concept.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The outcome of the innovation has the potential of providing NASA with a novel heat pipe plate for passive removal of the heat from the individual fuel cells or electrolysis cells within a cell stack.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology will find wide applications as heat pipes or heat sinks in military and commercial electronics, appliance, and equipment.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Composites

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Thermacore, Inc.
780 Eden Road
Lancaster, PA 17601-4275
(717) 569-6551

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sergey Semenov
s.y.semenov@thermacore.com
780 Eden Road
Lancaster,  PA 17601-4275
(717) 569-6551

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Thermacore Inc. proposes an innovative titanium heat pipe thermal plane for passive thermal control of individual cells within a fuel cell stack. The proposed technology eliminates actively pumped liquid coolant loops, which improves system efficiency, reliability, safety, simplicity, life cycle as well as saves weight and volume. Although the main purpose for this technology is thermal management of fuel cells for space applications, the same technology can be applied for electronics cooling: heat spreaders and heat sinks, where thin design is required. The proposed titanium heat pipe thermal plane will be reliable passive heat transfer device with the following parameters: bulk density: under 3 grams per cubic centimeter, thickness: less than 0.050 inches, effective thermal conductivity: in excess of 2,000 W/(m K), electrical resistivity: less than 0.2 ohms-cm, operation against gravity: 4 inches

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The targeted area for the proposed titanium heat pipe thermal plane application is thermal management of advanced primary fuel cell and regenerative fuel cell energy storage systems. Other areas where the proposed titanium heat pipe thermal plane can be utilized are: - on-board electronics cooling, - heat spreading for in-flight sprain/strain therapeutic treatment devices, - isothermal enclosures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are many potential non-NASA applications for the proposed titanium heat pipe thermal plane. Among them: - thermal management of fuel cells for automotive industry, - DARPA Thermal Ground Plane program, - High Energy Laser (HEL) cooling, - Avionics cooling, - 1-U server cooling, - Blade server cooling, - medical equipment thermal control, - thermal control of the phase-change energy storage units

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Cooling
Power Management and Distribution

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen, Inc.
431A Hayden Station Road
Windsor, CT 06095-1373
(860) 688-6500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
William Smith
wsmith@infinityfuel.com
431A Hayden Station Road
Windsor,  CT 06095-1373
(860) 688-6500

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a static, cathode-fed, 2000 psi, balanced-pressure Advanced Cathode Electrolyzer (ACE) based on PEM electrolysis technology. It electrolyzes water vapor supplied to the hydrogen-evolving electrode and eliminates the need to circulate hydrogen and water on the cathode side of the cell. Innovations include the application of Infinity proprietary cell sealing technology to electrolysis to minimize high-pressure seals and the use of innovative passive current-control techniques to eliminate potential hydrogen gas in feedwater chambers. ACE produces hydrogen and oxygen that is free of liquid water droplets without using dynamic product gas/liquid water phase separation and/or other motorized equipment.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A simple reliable modular electrolyzer, that passively and efficiently generates high pressure hydrogen and oxygen, has wide potential application in future NASA missions. These include lunar and planetary fixed base energy storage, recharge of lunar rovers and portable power fuel cells as well as generation of oxygen for crew life support.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non NASA commercial applications include recharge of fuel cells for telecom backup power, remote off-grid power, undersea fuel cell systems and aircraft and airship energy storage systems

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Revitalization and Conditioning
Energy Storage
Power Management and Distribution
Renewable Energy

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton, MA 02466-1311
(781) 529-0500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Cortney Mittelsteadt
cmittelsteadt@ginerinc.com
89 Rumford Avenue
Newton,  MA 02466-1311
(781) 529-0529

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Development of a static vapor feed electrolyzer utilizing an advanced bipolar plate that produces sub-saturated H2 and O2 is proposed. This novel bipolar design can greatly simplify electrolyzer systems, as it eliminates the need for water/gas phase separation, which is particularly challenging in a zero gravity environment. Maintaining water in the vapor phase greatly reduces membrane swelling which should increase durability. Finally, by keeping water in the vapor phase the MEA is not exposed to ion and other contaminants that are carried by a liquid water stream, further increasing durability and simplifying the system by reducing the need for ultra-pure water. The primary goal of this Phase I program then is to demonstrate a high-pressure (1000 psi) static vapor feed electrolyzer and demonstrate that the system can operate without purge of the water feed stream for up to 100 hours.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Lunar and space stations, satellites, high altitude aircraft

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Fuel cell vehicles hydrogen filling stations, Naval electrolyzers

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ridgetop Group, Inc.
6595 North Oracle Road
Tucson, AZ 85704-5645
(520) 742-3300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Milena Thompson
milena.thompson@ridgetopgroup.com
6595 North Oracle Road
Tucson,  AZ 85704-5645
(520) 742-3300

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Energy storage devices, including fuel cells, are needed to enable future robotic and human exploration missions. Historically, the reliability of the fuel cells has been problematic, including the scrubbed launch of the Atlantis Space Shuttle in September, 2006, and Endeavor in August, 1995. A 2007 Department of Energy report indicated that, "Component degradation and failure mechanisms are not well understood, which makes mitigation strategies necessary." A key method of monitoring the performance and mitigating voltage problems is to precisely monitor the voltage from the individual cells. This can be facilitated through the development of a novel Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Ridgetop Group, Inc. proposes to develop this ASIC for NASA's Fuel Cell voltage monitoring, with the added features of being radiation-tolerant, and including in-situ component degradation functions, which support IVHM initiatives within NASA. In addition, Ridgetop will design the ASIC to add tolerance to space radiation effects, and prognostics-enable the ASIC to provide advance notice of impending failures using in-situ test structures from Ridgetop's Sentinel Silicon<SUP>TM</SUP> library. There is currently no ASIC that is capable of providing the foregoing capabilities, so it will be unique and very useful to NASA.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The NASA programs that utilize fuel cells for power sources are ideal applications for the IC developed from this SBIR. In addition to precisely monitoring the cell voltages, the IC also supports its use in larger integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) applications, and is radiation-tolerant for space-based usage. Among the specific usage areas: > NASA/Ames Research Center Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Test Bed (ADAPT): This center provides best practices for the adoption of prognostics and IVHM. > NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) > NASA Constellation Altair Lunar Lander

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Precise voltage monitoring of fuel cells provides much-needed observability to internal module state of health. The ability to link the measurements to an integrated vehicle health management system (IVHM) also transcends NASA and commercial applications, such as for cars and forklifts. Fuel cell-powered vehicles are currently in development and prototypes are being fielded for testing. In the commercial sector, other applications available for fuel cells include backup power for hospitals and critical infrastructure applications, telecom, and even cellular phones. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is also very interested in fuel cell development as a means of reducing our dependence on imported oil, and has expressed interest in Ridgetop's development in this area.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
On-Board Computing and Data Management
Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yardney Technical Products, Inc.
82 Mechanic Street
Pawcatuck, CT 06379-2154
(860) 599-1100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joseph Gnanaraj
joeg@lithion.com
82 Mechanic Street
Pawcatuck,  CT 06379-2154
(860) 599-1100

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are attractive candidates for use as power sources in aerospace applications because they have high specific energy (up to 200 Wh/kg), energy density (~ 500 Wh/L) and long cycle life (1,000 – 30,000 cycles depending on the depth of cycling). Yardney/Lithion, Inc. the leader in cutting edge Li-ion batteries is dedicated in research, development, design and manufacturer of high performing battery systems for aerospace, land and sea applications. At the present moment, two of the Lithion batteries are operating on the surface of Mars with great success. Future robotic and human exploration missions require advanced human-rated energy rechargeable batteries level metrics should have specific energy of 300 Wh/kg at C/2 discharge rate and 0<SUP>o</SUP>C, and energy density greater than 500 Wh/l, with a calendar life of 5 years. The cycle life of the cell is required at 100% Depth of Discharge (DOD) in the range of 250 cycles. Yardney proposes to develop environmentally benign new electrode components and cell chemistries based on high capacity of 300mAh/g layered Li2MnO3 derivative cathode, composite silicon based anode with a capacity of over 600 mAh/g and suitable electrolyte.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The new composite anode and cathode based Li-ion batteries for NASA find various applications which include power for landers, rovers, and Extravehicular activities (EVA). Areas of emphasis include advanced component materials with the potential to achieve weight and volume performance improvements and safety advancements in human-rated systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High capacity and high energy applications include power tools, electric vehicles and telecommunications. Automotive and industrial sectors, where the slim, small-sized battery will deliver large amounts of energy. For example, the battery's advantages in size, weight and safety highly suit it for a role as an alternative power source for hybrid electric vehicles.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Superior Graphite Co.
10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 1470
Chicago, IL 60606-3700
(312) 648-3630

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Igor Barsukov
IBarsukov@SuperiorGraphite.com
10 South Riverside Plaza, ste#1470
Chicago,  IL 60606-3700
(312) 466-2891

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
For this project Superior Graphite Co. (Chicago, IL, USA), the leading worldwide industrial carbon manufacturer and the only large scale battery grade graphitic carbon producer in the USA, will develop, explore the properties of, and demonstrate the enhanced capabilities of novel nanostructured SiLix-C anodes, capable of retaining high capacity at a rapid 2 hour discharge rate and at 0oC when used in Li-ion batteries. We have already demonstrated advanced anode materials with the specific capacity of 600 mAh/g, minimal irreversible capacity losses and stable performance. We are confident that by the developing and applying a variety of novel nano-materials technologies, fine-tuning the properties of composite particles at the nanoscale, optimizing the composition of the anodes, and choosing appropriate electrolytes we will be able to revolutionize Li-ion battery technology. In order to achieve such a breakthrough in power characteristics of Li-ion batteries, the team will develop new nanostructured SiLix-C anode materials with dramatically improved capacity and stable cycling performance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High power Li-ion batteries capable of efficiently operate at low temperature and providing high energy density are needed to power landers, rovers, and extravehicular activities. Development of the proposed anode materials will contribute to the development of such batteries.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Power Source for Hybrid Electrical and Electrical Vehicles. High power Li-ion batteries with high specific energy are considered to be the most attractive candidates for new generation of hybrid and electrical engines as well as mobile power tools. Batteries for Electronics. Consumer devices such as laptops, PDAs, smart cell phones, digital cameras, radios, portable DVD players and others are getting more sophisticated and require advanced Li-ion batteries, which can provide more power for longer time while being smaller in size and lighter in weight. Batteries for Army Missions and Expeditions in Cold Weather. Due to the expected combination of high energy and power densities the developed Li-ion batteries will decrease the weight burden for the soldiers on a mission or travelers to remote and cold locations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Sciences, Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Junqing Ma
ma@psicorp.com
20 New England Business Center
Andover,  MA 01810-1077
(978) 689-0003

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop a silicon whisker and carbon nanofiber composite anode for lithium ion batteries on a Phase I program. This anode provides high capacity, high power, and improved cycle life at a competitive cost. Silicon is low cost and has a theoretical capacity of 4200 mAh/g but it has a limited cycle life. The nanocomposite design provides a synergistic improvement in reversible capacity and electrochemical cycling as a result of the unique silicon architecture and structural reinforcement provided by the nanofibers. In the Phase I program, PSI will demonstrate a technology readiness level of 3 with an anode capacity of greater than 1000 mAh/g for over 100 cycles (100% depth-of-discharge) using 2 mAh cells. These performance goals will result in an overall battery energy density of greater than 300 Wh/kg. In the Phase II program, PSI will increase cell size to 2500 mAh and optimize cell design to further improve cycle life.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Energy storage with improved weight and volume performance are required for various NASA applications which are both orbital and planetary surface. Flight elements of the Exploration Vision initially include the Orion and ARES crew and launch vehicles, respectively. For lunar capability, additional elements include the Lunar Lander or Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), robotic missions, and surface systems. Surface systems include human habitats, Extravehicular Activities (EVA), science measurements, and the utilization of in situ resources. This lithium-ion battery system has the capability to provide an energy density of greater than 300 Wh/kg with a 5-year calendar year service life. The battery system contains no toxic materials and lends itself to being human rated for Exploration missions. These mission applications include portable power for landers, rovers, and astronaut equipment; storage systems for crew exploration vehicles and spacecraft; and stationary energy storage applications such as base power or peaking power applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Rechargeable lithium ion batteries have rapidly become the primary choice to power the next generation hybrid electric vehicles. These battery packs require large volumes of low cost anode materials that provide higher charge and rate capability than graphite anodes. This proposal will utilize carbon nanofiber stabilized silicon whisker as active materials that will provide unmatchable capacity and rate capability. Success in the proposed Phase I research will result in a novel silicon whisker composite anode that can be readily incorporated in lithium ion batteries. The scalable synthesis process would allow the anode to be produced at a sufficiently low cost to allow incorporation in the targeted electric vehicle and bulk energy storage markets.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TH Chem, Inc.
8415 Manuel Cia Place, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87122-2815
(505) 610-6027

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tuqiang Chen
tchen@thcheminc.com
8415 Manuel Cia Pl. NE
ALBUQUERQUE,  NM 87122-2815
(505) 610-6027

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Current state-of-the-art Lithium (Li) or Li-ion systems are unable to meet the performance goals of space-rated rechargeable batteries for many NASA's future robotic and human exploration missions. They either cannot provide sufficient energy and power or have poor cycle or calendar life. TH Chem, Inc. (THC) proposes to develop a new electrochemical system that is fundamentally different from the state-of-the-art, for advanced Li battery applications. Li batteries developed from the new system will show significantly improved battery performance characteristics including energy/power density, cycle/calendar life, cost, and abuse tolerance. The new system is based on development of novel polymeric cathode materials (PCMs) having high-energy functional groups chemically grafted to a robust polymer backbone. In Phase I, THC will prepare the proposed PCMs by functionalization of an inexpensive polymeric starting material. Li cells will be assembled using the PCMs and electrochemically evaluated. The concept of the new electrochemical system will be demonstrated. THC has extensive experience in Li battery chemistries and technologies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High performance Li-based batteries will provide more stored energy and power for NASA's power systems in robotic and human exploration missions, satellites, spacecraft, and probes.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Lithium batteries have extensive applications in commercial products including electric vehicles, cellular telephones, lap-top computers, digital cameras, tools, and other consumer products.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 W. 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-1916
(303) 940-2347

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
John Olson
jolson@tda.com
12345 W. 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge,  CO 80033-1916
(303) 261-1122

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lithium-ion batteries are slowly being introduced into satellite power systems, but their life still presents concerns for longer duration missions. Future NASA goals for retuning to the Moon and the manned exploration of Mars will demand increased specific energy and life from batteries. The properties of the graphite anode, and in particular the 'solid electrolyte interface' (SEI) layer, are key focus areas for advancement. Improving the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery anode for both life and specific energy are the goals of this proposed research. Nanocomposite Carbon/Silicon anodes for Li-ion batteries will be produced that can be safely used at high charge/discharge rates, have high specific capacity and a long cycle life. Silicon nanoparticles will be contained in an engineered nanoporous carbon matrix and have room to expand and contract, thus preventing deleterious interphase formation. Phase I is expected to achieve a TRL of 2 and will demonstrate the performance and feasibility of the new anode. Phase II will achieve a TRL of 3 and will successfully scale up the synthesis as well as demonstrate improved performance with commercial cell prototypes.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The solicitation is specifically aimed at exploration applications (landers, rovers and extravehicular activities). Development of new, high performance anodes as proposed here could benefit all these applications with lower weight and volume, decreased cost and increased safety. We plan to partner with MeadWestvaco to manufacture the anode materials domestically. MeadWestvaco is one of the leading carbon manufacturers in the world and we have existing joint venture agreements for development of our engineered pore size activated carbons for ultracapacitors. In addition, we will partner with Quallion, a leader in high quality Li-ion battery manufacture, to produce commercial cell prototypes. Quallion was awarded a Title III program in 2006 to develop domestic sources of materials for Li-ion batteries for satellites.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Shifting transportation energy sources from CO2 generating imported oil to clean domestic electricity generation will decrease global warming and increase national security. In addition to electric and hybrid electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are used in many consumer electronic devices such as cell phones, cameras, laptops, etc. Improved carbon nanocomposite anode materials are needed to improve the performance and decrease the cost of lithium-ion batteries for all these applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
EIC Laboratories, Inc.
111 Downey Street
Norwood, MA 02062-2612
(781) 469-9450

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dharmasena Peramunage
pera@eiclabs.com
EIC Labs, 111 Downey Street
Norwood,  MA 02062-2412
(781) 769-9450

Expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) upon completion of contract: 3 to 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A new high capacity rechargeable Li battery anode based on Li metal alloys protected by carbon nanoshells will be developed. A reversible Li-ion capacity exceeding 600 mAh/g or nearly twice that obtainable with graphite anodes is expected. Coupled with our advanced polymer electrolyte and high voltage cathode, we expect a fully developed battery to have a specific energy of >150 Wh/Kg, and energy density of >300 Wh/l and the capability to produce >1000 deep charge/discharge cycles and thus makes it very desirable for space power applications of NASA.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Principal NASA applications will include power sources for landers, rovers, deep space probes, satellites and extravehicular activities. Coupled with a suitable electrolyte and cathode, Li-ion cells based on this anode will be adaptable for space exploration-related applications, in moon and other planetary habitats, requiring high specific energy rechargeable batteries with unique attributes such as non-flammability and sub-ambient temperature operation.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The new anodes will result in high performance Li-ion batteries suitable for electric vehicle propulsion and for use in portable consumer products such as cellular phones, portable power tools, cameras and laptop computers.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Mobility
Manned-Maneuvering Units
Portable Life Support
Suits
Multifunctional/Smart Materials
Energy Storage