| PROPOSAL NUMBER: | B1.02-9724 (For NASA Use Only - Chron: 012275 ) |
| PROPOSAL TITLE: | Robotic Optical Monitor for High Throughput Crystal Growth Experiments |
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Macromolecules are crystallized for crystallography in ?screens? consisting of numerous (30-200) small volumes (2 ? 50 muL) of combinations with several (2-10) other solutes. Each combination is frequently over days or weeks to evaluate growth, if any, of crystals, thereby creating of repetitious, labor-intensive tasks. This task could be assigned to an automated roving video microscope using a similar magnification to that used in crystallography (4X ? 70X). However, a roving videomicroscope, requires considerable volume, power, mass, autofocusing and moving mechanical parts. It can have a significant failure rate. These constitute undesirable features for spaceflight and inconvenience in the laboratory. A no-moving-parts Robotic Optical Monitor is proposed. Phase I research will consist of a trade study of the following embedded optoelectronic devices to be tested using a standardized crystal-growth chamber: a 1-dimensional lensless microscope, an area array lensless microscope, a square sensor array with lenslets, a multiangle light scatter sensor, and a two-angle light scatter sensor. The results comparing these methods' ability to provide digitized image or scattering data will be used to select the system(s) with the optimum combination of resolution/information content, power requirement, cost, accuracy and convenience. The selected system(s) will be the focus of Phase II research and market development.
POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The lack of moving parts, the easy production of image data in digital form and convenience of use in the laboratory and in space experiments will make the Robotic Optical Monitor popular in these environments. Provided costs can be maintained this product will be marketed to about 2,000 corporate, academic and government research laboratories and offered as commercial and/or Government equipment aboard the International Space Station. The Robotic Monitor can thus be a product for all three markets addressed by Space Hardware Optimization Technology, Inc. (SHOT, Inc.): research laboratories, space flight hardware construction, and space flight commercial services.
NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
(Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. Paul Todd
Space Hardware Optimization Technology,
7200 Highway 150
Greenville , IN 47124 - 9515
NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR
(Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Space Hardware Optimization Technology,
7200 Highway 150
Greenville , IN 47124 - 9515