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NASA 2014 SBIR Phase II Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville, VA 22901-2496
(434) 973-1215

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

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Both vehicle automation systems and human pilots rely heavily on sensor feedback to safely control aircraft. The loss of reliable information for even a single state feedback signal can initiate a chain of events that leads to an accident. On small aircraft, hardware redundancy is often impractical and the failure of a single physical sensor could be the triggering event that leads to an accident. On commercial transport aircraft sensor hardware redundancy is common, but the potential for common-mode failures means sensor failures are still an important consideration. In many cases, there is adequate information available to accurately estimate the true value of a parameter even if the sensor or sensors that directly measure the parameter have failed. In the best case, a human pilot can exploit the available information to successfully fly the vehicle after a sensor failure, but it is a high workload task. In many cases, lack of situational awareness and poor manual piloting skills create a situation in which the human pilot cannot safely handle the failure. Similarly, many automation systems are unable to safely cope with failures. The proposed research will build on the successful phase one proof-of-concept demonstration to develop a virtual sensor redundancy system that identifies and isolates faulted sensors, and fuses information from healthy sensors and vehicle dynamics models (including arbitrary nonlinear models) to estimate correct outputs for faulted sensors. The research will also develop the Virtual Sensor Toolkit, a software tool that supports the entire lifecycle of virtual sensor development and deployment from requirements development to testing and design updates. Barron Associates has partnered with commercial unmanned air system producers to advance the TRL of the technology through an aggressive Phase II development and testing effort that prepares the team for flight tests immediately following Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology is applicable to a wide range of air vehicles, both manned and unmanned. Ultimately, Barron Associates seeks to apply the technology to commercial transport aircraft, and the Air France 447 crash, for which a common-mode failure of multiple pitot tubes has been identified as a key initiating event, demonstrates the need for the technology. In the near term, small unmanned air systems represent a large potential market. Size weight and power constraints severely limit hardware redundancy on these platforms, and small low cost sensors are often less reliable than those used on larger more expensive platforms, creating a significant need for the proposed technology. Small general aviation vehicles also typically have very limited hardware redundancy, and with glass cockpit technology becoming increasingly common in even the small vehicles, Barron Associates sees significant market potential here as well. Beyond air vehicles, autonomous ground and marine vehicles represent significant potential markets. Many automobiles already offer limited automation capabilities to enhance safety, and fully autonomous vehicles may become commonplace in the foreseeable future. Automation systems on these vehicles have the same need for reliable input data as those on air vehicles and, especially on roadways, safety will be paramount. The virtual sensor technology is thus expected to have significant market appeal in this sector.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research is closely aligned with the goals of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP). The loss of accurate sensor data presents significant hazards to both air vehicles being manually piloted and those using high levels of automation. The virtual sensor redundancy technology effectively mitigates failures of physical sensors, including common-mode failures that may affect multiple redundant physical sensors, and provides a continuous stream of accurate sensor data. The reliable input data provided by the virtual sensor system will enhance the robustness of vehicle automation systems, directly supporting the goals of the Safe Autonomous Systems Operations (SASO) project within AOSP. Onboard system failures including sensor failures are an important class of precursor events to vehicle upsets. By mitigating these failures, virtual sensor systems reduce the likelihood of automation failures and provide accurate information for manual piloting, thereby reducing the likelihood of an upset event. This capability directly supports work in the area of Technologies for Assuring Safe Aircraft Energy and Attitude State (TASEAS) within the Airspace Technology Demonstrations (ATD) project of AOSP.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring)
Data Fusion
Diagnostics/Prognostics
Recovery (see also Autonomous Systems)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville, VA 22901-2496
(434) 973-1215

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nathan Richards
richards@bainet.com
1410 Sachem Place, Suite 202
Charlottesville,  VA 22901-2496
(434) 973-1215

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aircraft Loss-Of-Control (LOC) has been a longstanding contributor to fatal aviation accidents. Inappropriate pilot action for healthy aircraft, control failures, and vehicle impairment are frequent contributors to LOC accidents. These accidents could be reduced if an on-board system was available to immediately guide the pilot to a safe flight condition (including cases of control failure or vehicle impairment). Barron Associates previously developed and demonstrated (in pilot-in-the-loop simulations) a system for finding appropriate control input sequences for upset recovery, and for cueing pilots to follow these sequences. The proposed work adds several innovative capabilities to the existing architecture and includes flight test verification of the efficacy. One of the most significant current enhancements is the addition of adaptation to address off-nominal vehicle responses. Off-nominal vehicle responses can occur for a number of reasons including adverse onboard conditions (e.g., actuator failures, engine failures, or airframe damage) and external hazards, especially icing. The addition of adaptation capabilities enables the system to provide appropriate upset recovery guidance in cases of off-nominal vehicle response. The recovery guidance system is also specifically designed to be robust to variations in pilot dynamic behavior as well as to provide robustness to pilot deviations from the recommended recovery strategies.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The immediate application for the proposed technology is in the civilian aerospace sector to improve aviation safety and security. However, the technology will readily extend to military aviation and space exploration. The increasing prevalence of autonomous and remotely-piloted UAVs for military and homeland security applications, their consideration for terrestrial science missions and planetary exploration in the near-to-mid term, and the likely ubiquitous commercial roles of these vehicles in the longer-term, provide numerous opportunities for the transition of the proposed SBIR technologies. Application potential is not limited to the aerospace industry, but is extensible to all systems where a human operator can be assisted by an automated agent or where an autonomous system could benefit from an on-board upset recovery solution.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
One of the overarching goals of the NASA Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) is to improve aircraft safety as the NextGen Air Transportation System matures. As loss of control accounts for a significant percentage of the fatal accident rate, developing systems that improve the response to upset conditions in flight are critical to achieving this goal. This research addresses three of the top challenges for the AOSP including: (1) the Airspace Technology Demonstrations (ATD) Project area of Technologies for Assuring Safe Aircraft Energy and Attitude State (TASEAS), (2) the Real-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (RSSA) area of "reducing flight risk in areas of attitude and energy aircraft state awareness", and (3), with direct application to autonomous recovery, the Safe Autonomous Systems Operation (SASO) Project. The DAGUR system provides robust recoveries for nominal and impaired aircraft as well as robust performance in the face of variations in pilot behavior (Challenges 1 and 2). The provided closed-loop guidance is equally applicable to autonomous vehicle upset recovery (Challenge 3).

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring)
Man-Machine Interaction
Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems)
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing
Simulation & Modeling
Recovery (see also Autonomous Systems)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nokomis, Inc.
310 5th Street
Charleroi, PA 15022-1517
(724) 483-3946

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
William Davis
wdavis@nokomisinc.com
5330 Heatherdowns Blvd., Ste. 209
Toledo,  OH 43614-4644
(419) 866-0936

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
National Aeronautical and Space Administration's (NASA) Aviation Safety Program "seeks capabilities furthering the practice of proactive safety management." One area of particular interest is the prognostication of Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of avionic systems. In response, Nokomis is proposing to develop an Electronic Health Monitoring (EHM) Sensor Unit which would be able provide accurate estimates of the RUL of avionic systems. This sensor module would identify changes in the unintended Radio Frequency (RF) emissions of various flight-system electronic components to determine the current health state and predict the future reliability of the scanned system. Designed as a handheld unit which would allow for system scans of components while installed in the aircraft, the EHM Sensor Unit would be capable of scanning and returning real-time RUL prediction results. This real-time capability would allow for frequent maintenance monitoring, including during the brief turnaround periods experienced at the gate. This technology would allow NASA, as well as flight-system and aviation maintenance providers, to better monitor the electronic health of these critical avionic components, as well as better predict their future lifespan, allowing for systems to be repaired or replaced prior to an unanticipated failure.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Other potential applications outside of NASA and the aviation industry include any industry where premature detection of potential electronic failure would be of benefit. Specifically, high-reliability industries, such as the defense, space, medical, and automotive electronics industries would be able to immediately apply this technology. Defense applications extend to the periodic monitoring of long-term storage weapon systems, as well as maintenance monitoring of avionic systems. For medical applications, monitoring of the electronic health of implantable electronics would be possible with this technology. Commercial Space and automotive applications would be similar to those of the general aviation industry, allowing for monitoring and maintenance of key electronic systems prior to complete failure.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The intended application is to augment the Aviation Safety Program's (AvSP) ability to improve upon overall aviation safety throughout the industry. These sensor systems would meet the AvSP goal of seeking capabilities furthering the practice of proactive safety management. This technology would provide the AvSP with a powerful useful tool for the determination of Electronic Health and prediction of Remaining Useful Life of avionics. Additional applications within NASA extend to the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) and Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD). Both the IVHM and ESMD applications for this technology would extend to the monitoring of Electronic Health of systems in both manned and unmanned space vehicles. For unmanned vehicles, the proposed technology can be adapted as an integrated sensor, while manned vehicles could support both an integrated and the handheld systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring)
Space Transportation & Safety
Condition Monitoring (see also Sensors)
Quality/Reliability
Electromagnetic
Diagnostics/Prognostics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Qualtech Systems, Inc.
99 East River Drive
East Hartford, CT 06108-7301
(860) 257-8014

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Somnath Deb
deb@teamqsi.com
99 East river Drive
East Hartford,  CT 06108-7301
(860) 761-9344

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In Phase II, the QSI-Vanderbilt team seeks to develop a system-level diagnostics and prognostic process that incorporates a "sense and respond capability," which first uses error codes and discrete sensor values to correctly diagnose the system health including degradations and failures of sensors and components, and then invokes appropriate prognostics routines for the assessment of RUL and performance capability. The QSI-Vanderbilt team plans to emphasize advancement in the following five areas: (a) leverage extensive LADEE telemetry data to further enhance and develop online degradation profiles, performance analysis and remaining useful life (RUL) computation algorithms, (b) develop/implement degradation detection algorithms to compute time-to-alarm (TTA) and time-to-maintenance (TTM) predictions and correlate with alarm/maintenance events, (c) develop reusable library of models and tests, (d) verification and validation of the resulting solution, and (e) demonstrate the proposed solution on LADEE's and other spacecraft subsystems. Once fully developed, outcomes of this effort will lower the cost of developing prognostics and provide maximum critical system availability, smarter scheduling of maintenance, overall logistics support cost, and optimal match of assets to missions. The proposed offering will also provide a cost-effective and pragmatic solution to our commercial customers who want to reduce unscheduled downtime by practicing condition based maintenance, but cannot justify the cost of developing prognostic methods in the conventional way.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential applications for DoD and Commercial users are even larger. This is because they are likely to operate multiple systems, a fleet of vehicles for example, that have the opportunity of periodic preemptive maintenance. To address these customers' needs, we will develop a decision-support module on top of the proposed capability here that will allow the customer to define his own business rules. Such business rules will help the customer answer questions like "if the system has a scheduled downtime window of 2 hours tomorrow, what pre-emptive repairs should I perform within that maintenance window so as to minimize the chance of unscheduled downtime (due to failure) in the next 10 days". For enterprise-wide logistic planning, this decision-making capability will also help optimize the cost of additional opportunistic maintenance versus the cost of additional downtime if such maintenance were not performed. The capability developed here is key to proving the business case for prognostics in commercial and military applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA is developing increasingly autonomous systems that can perform missions with a high degree of certainty with minimal human intervention. Examples of such mission include rovers operating in Mars, where the missions are extremely long, and therefore multiple components and subsystems will degrade and fail over the duration of the mission. However, due to the long communication delays between Mars and Earth, these systems cannot be monitored and diagnosed by mission control like any other near-earth mission. The proposed capability will be invaluable to NASA for such operations by (a) Predicting failures before they disrupt the mission, (b) Reducing false positives of such prediction with the proposed diagnosis-driven prognosis, and (c) identifying the remaining useful capability of the system. This will enable NASA to focus on the mission planning and recovery aspects, and manage the health of the system, rather than being blindsided by unexpected failures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring)
Analytical Methods
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems)
Condition Monitoring (see also Sensors)
Data Processing
Simulation & Modeling
Diagnostics/Prognostics
Recovery (see also Autonomous 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)
Joseph Jackson
joseph.jackson@ssci.com
500 West Cummings Park Suite 3000
Woburn,  MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SSCI has developed a suite of SAA tools and an analysis capability referred to as ASPECT (Automated System-level Performance Evaluation and Characterization Tool). ASPECT encapsulates our airspace encounter generator, sensor/tracker fusion algorithms, and prediction, threat assessment, and avoidance modules. It also provides both component-level and system-level analysis that is required for evaluating how well SAA sensors and software meet fundamental safety requirements for UAS in the NAS. ASPECT consists of MESSENGER (Multi-aircraft Encounter Scenario Generator), ASSIST (AsynchronouS Sensor fusIon SysTem), FORECAST (Fast On-line Prediction of Aircraft State Trajectories), and REACT (Rapid Encounter Avoidance & Conflict Resolution) modules. Initial versions of FORECAST and REACT were designed under related projects. Phase I developed the ASSIST (Asynchronous Sensor Fusion System) capability, which fuses combinations of SAA sensors such as GRB, ABR, camera, and Mode C transponder for localizing non-communicating threats. ASPECT was then used to analyze ASSIST's estimation accuracy, with the objective of achieving the precision of ADS-B and rejecting spurious/clutter tracks. Phase II will: (i) Expand and validate the underlying sensor models and demonstrate capability using flight test data generated at Olin College (Needham, MA), (ii) Extend our REACT system, and (iii) Carry out SAA system-level analyses using ASPECT to illustrate the relationship between sensor suite (hardware) selection, component SAA software modules, and achievable safety performance of the integrated system. The result of Phase II efforts will be a complete flow-down error and risk analysis framework, which constitutes a major step toward the integration of UAS into the National Airspace System. Phase II plans have been reviewed by NASA's UAS Traffic Management Program and AeroVironment (letters of support attached), who we anticipate to be one of our early transition partners.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ASPECT technology will be directly applicable to military UAS carrying out missions in GPS-denied environments. In such situations, secondary sensors are the only option, and collision avoidance is to be achieved with respect to both own team members and non-cooperating threats. Other applications of ASPECT will be in law enforcement, border patrol, and perimeter surveillance missions performed using UAS in scenarios where ADS-B is intermittent or unavailable.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
ASPECT technology will have immediate applications in NASA programs focused on integration of UAS into NAS such as the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Program. In addition, NASA programs involving multiple collaborating UAS performing a variety of missions will substantially benefit from the ASPECT technology. This is since one of the major requirements for safe operation of multiple collaborating UAS is timely and accurate collision detection and effective collision avoidance. ASPECT will also find applications in NASA space programs where safety requirements include detection and avoidance of non-cooperative spacecraft, space debris, and small celestial bodies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Analytical Methods
Intelligence
Perception/Vision
Telemetry/Tracking (Cooperative/Noncooperative; see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Data Fusion
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mosaic ATM, Inc.
540 Ft. Evans Road, Northeast, Suite 300
Leesburg, VA 20176-4098
(800) 405-8576

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Chris Wargo
cwargo@mosaicatm.com
540 Fort Evans Road, Suite 300
Leesburg,  VA 20176-4098
(443) 994-6137

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A key component to solving many engineering challenges of UAS integration into the National Airspace System is the ability to state the numbers of forecasted UAS by airframe and mission/operation type being performed within discrete airspaces. The UAS Demand Generator for Discrete Airspace Density (UAXPAN) is a cloud-based application producing UA demand forecasts from user defined scenarios consisting of: UAS, industry, missions, and forecast elements. In Phase I, UAXPAN was developed as a prototype to demonstrate Government and commercial UAS operations. In Phase II, the overall project objective is to enhance the UAXPAN system to allow users and governance groups to start actively adding UAS missions, forecasting UAS growth, and assessing the impact of UAS operations in different areas. The collected data can then be shared with other users seeking to perform assessments of impact or demand and to optimize the crowd sourced input in a cloud-based hosting approach to receive feedback. This will be accomplish by developing UAXPAN as a full system and testing this system as a Beta Operation, designing and developing a user friendly wizard forecast system, and conducting research and analysis on communications and spectrum planning, ATC loading, and environmental impacts of noise and atmospheric emissions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The UAS demand tool, UAXPAN, will provide valuable forecast data to non-NASA users in the Federal Government (FAA, DHS, DOT, EPA, DoA, DoI), Armed Services, state and local governments, universities, standards organizations (RTCA, ICAO, AEEC, AUVSI, JARUS) and defense and commercial business. All these organizations need to support investment planning, perform engineering, determine market needs, or establish international standards and agreements based upon the projected use of UAS which goes beyond just having aggregated U.S. totals. The U.S Congress is driving the introduction of UAS through the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2012 and their staff would be able to benefit from UAS projections by industry and governing domains. UAXPAN will also be the source of analytics and projection data that can be offered to users through the emerging "big data" businesses. These firms are offering aviation system information to operational research staffs of major airlines or airport operators for the purpose enhancing operation effectiveness.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
UAXPAN is an innovative concept for a UAS Demand Generator that is directly related to fostering NASA's achieving results in driving UAS integration in the NAS. Our UAS demand forecast system will provide valuable input to the R&D being performed by the NASA UAS Program. The Control & Communications Project (NASA GRC) and the Certification & Safety Project (NASA LaRC) will directly benefit by having the number of UAS forecasted operations soundly based upon real world constraint knowledge and industry SMEs – and based upon industry markets, UAS types, use by mission, and discrete airspace classes associated with geographical location and time. This forecast data is needed to validate the communication systems engineering work on channel bandwidth sizing, signal-in-space specification (especially for shared channel access techniques) and for planning of spectrum reuse. Without this UAS demand data the selection of differing approaches to form consensus on standards for civil aviation will be delayed. The UAXPAN project will also be essential in the development of another NASA emerging project for the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) System which is targeted to enable low-altitude civilian applications of UAS. The UTM will greatly benefit from accurate forecast of planned UAS use in low altitudes as input data to traffic flow and control simulations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Analytical Methods
Network Integration
Transmitters/Receivers
Command & Control
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Data Fusion
Data Modeling (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Opto-Knowledge Systems, Inc. (OKSI)
19805 Hamilton Avenue
Torrance, CA 90502-1341
(310) 756-0520

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Chris HolmesParker
Chris.HolmesParker@oksi.com
19805 Hamilton Ave
Torrance,  CA 90502-1341
(310) 756-0520

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
OKSI and Professor Frank Dellaert of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) are teaming up to develop an ultra-low cost passive low-SWaP spherical situation awareness sense/avoid system based upon monocular stereo vision (i.e., stereo-from-motion) for small UAS platforms operating within the NAS. When flying close to the ground (e.g., during takeoff and landing) obstacles such as cars, trees, buildings, power lines, people, and so on are not equipped with beacons. In this setting, the ability to actively detect obstacles within the environment in real-time and to take evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions is a required capability for safe operation in the NAS. Currently, there are no existing technologies that sufficiently address the sense/avoid problem associated with operation of small UAS platforms (<55lbs) operating within the NAS. To this end, OKSI is developing the Stereo Obstacle Avoidance Rig (SOAR) that will provide a complete solution to the sense/avoid problem for small UAS platforms. The SOAR system utilizes a video stream from a distributed aperture array of cell phone cameras combined with state-of-the-art single-camera stereo vision algorithms in order to construct accurate 3D environmental maps in real-time.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are no existing COTS sensor technologies that address the FAA's sense/avoid concerns for UAS operation within the NAS, particularly for small UAS platforms weighing 55lbs or less. The ultimate goal of the proposed effort is to develop an operational SOAR sense/avoid system that can be used for real-time obstacle avoidance for UAS operating within the NAS. This promotes the objectives of NASA SBIR Topic A2.01 Unmanned Aerial Systems Integration into the National Airspace by enabling sense/avoid for navigation within uncertain and hazardous environments, as well as promoting autonomous flight capabilities for UAS platforms (Figure 3). As UAS drones are approved for commercial operation in the NAS, there will be a growing market for this sense/avoid technology, which is sure to be required on-board every UAS operating in a commercial capacity.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
UAS in the NAS (ARMD): SOAR promotes the objectives of NASA SBIR Topic A2.01 Unmanned Aerial Systems Integration into the National Airspace by enabling sense/avoid for navigation within uncertain and hazardous environments, as well as promoting autonomous flight capabilities for UAS platforms. Autonomous landing and hazard avoidance (HEOMD and STMD): Safe landing is critical for spacecraft exploration, as was recently demonstrated by the European Space Agency's recent mission difficulties with the Rosetta spacecraft and the Philae lander, which had difficulty locating a stable surface for landing. SOAR can be utilized for safe landing site selection in unknown environments (e.g., for Project Morpheus). Multiple-Use Sensor Technologies/Instruments (SMD): SMD's goals include developing high-quality, multi-purpose, low-cost, low-SWaP sensing capabilities to make spacecraft missions more affordable). SOAR uses COTS hardware with software-based sensing, meaning the SOAR system can be used for sense/avoid, navigation, automated landing, topographical mapping, reconnaissance and more.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Relative Navigation (Interception, Docking, Formation Flying; see also Control & Monitoring; Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Perception/Vision
3D Imaging
Image Analysis
Thermal Imaging (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Astronautics)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Nu Waves Ltd.
122 Edison Drive
Middletown, OH 45044-3269
(513) 360-0800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tim Wurth
tim.wurth@nuwaves.com
122 Edison Drive
Middletown,  OH 45044-3269
(513) 360-0800

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The high-efficiency and linear UPEND RF C-band power amplifier was designed, simulated and partially prototyped in Phase I to provide range extension for the NASA/Rockwell Collins Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) program's transceiver in support of NAS integration of UAS. UPEND leverages state-of-the-art analog pre-distortion linearization and Doherty power amplifier circuits, MMIC technology, and module-level power efficiency and thermal design, to minimize size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) of the connectorized PA module, while maintaining the linear output required by amplitude modulation. The UPEND model achieved significant improvement in Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and power efficiency, while the proof-of-concept prototype provided validation for the model with respect to EVM performance improvement with linearization. In Phase II NuWaves will address the needs of both amplitude-modulated and constant-envelope waveforms by developing multiple MMICs and packaging them together as needed. Separate die will be fabricated for the Doherty amplifier and the linearizer circuits, wire bonded and packaged into two different component-level integrated circuits &#150; one with and one without the linearizer. Two different connectorized PA module variants will be developed using these two component-level ICs, adding the necessary power supply circuitry, supporting circuitry, and mechanical and thermal design to address different NASA and commercial market needs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercial applications include: - Unmanned Systems command & control and payload communications, including UAS, Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). - Terrestrial and airborne tactical communications, including handheld, manpack and vehicle-mounted data links. - Broadcast communications, including television camera-mounted data links. - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Non-NASA customers may include major UAS suppliers, such as General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Sensors, Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works), Textron Systems AAI, etc., who may be required to use an interoperable data link for CNPC in the NAS. Additionally, terrestrial and space communication systems integrators, such as CNPC contractor Rockwell Collins, L-3 Communications (Communication Systems - West, and Cincinnati Electronics), Cubic Defense Applications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Information Systems, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, BAE Systems, Cobham, Harris, General Dynamics, and Raytheon, are potential commercial users for the UPEND technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary NASA application for UPEND remains non-payload command and control for UAS in the context of NAS integration. Additional NASA applications for the UPEND technology may include: - UAS payload communications (e.g. video and sensor data) - Telemetry, tracking and telecommand - Deep space communications - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) - Airborne weather radar systems Target programs include: - CNPC, SCaN and iROC (Glenn Research Center), - Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) projects DBSAR and ECOSAR, Airborne Weather Radar projects XRAD, HIWRAP and CRS, and TDRSS transponder project LCT (Goddard Space Flight Center) - iGCAS, MAPS, PPA and ADS-B (Armstrong Flight Research Center) - ALHAT, LD-CAP and AirSTAR (Langely Research Center) - Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP), EDSN, and TechEdSat (Ames Research Center). - GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) project, and NISRO SAR project (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Amplifiers/Repeaters/Translators
Transmitters/Receivers
Command & Control
Telemetry/Tracking (Cooperative/Noncooperative; see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors)
Ranging/Tracking
Telemetry (see also Control & Monitoring)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Irvine Sensors Corporation
3001 Red Hill Avenue, B3-108
Costa Mesa, CA 92626-4526
(714) 444-8700

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Medhat Azzazy
mazzazy@irvine-sensors.com
3001 Red Hill Avenue, B3-108
Costa Mesa,  CA 92626-4526
(714) 444-8756

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Phase II effort will complete the design of a flight prototype of an eye safe 3D LIDAR which, when deployed on Unmanned Ariel Systems (UAS), will detect aircraft flying near the UAS and enable timely avoidance maneuvers. The Active Continuous Awareness Surveillance System (ACASS) sensor detection range for small air vehicles is 5Km. ACASS searches a 30 degree elevation by 360 degree azimuth field of regard in 3Dimensions every 2 seconds. ACASS key components include a SWIR, fully eye safe, high pulse rate fiber laser, optical beam shaping and elevation steering elements, an advanced focal plane array with integrated readout electronics, a wide field of view receiver telescope, and mechanical elements for azimuth scanning. These elements will be developed, individually tested, and integrated into an Engineering Development Model which will demonstrate key functionalities required for a successful detect and avoid sensor system. Testing will be accomplished in both laboratory and ground environments. Test results will be used to update the final design of the flight prototype which will enable a rapid flight demonstration program.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Autonomous operations of Unmanned Ariel Systems (UAS) is the National Air Space is a recognized need across the spectrum of US, State, and Local government organizations for such needs as ariel system testing and development, crop surveys, surface mapping, border security, and police anti-crime operations. These needs extend directly into the civil and commercial sectors of the US economy. The wide area surveillance capability of ACASS is directly applicable to physical security of high value infrastructure such as power stations, transportation nodes, and commercial, civil, and military facilities. The ACASS systems 3D imaging capability enables real-time detection, classification, and alerting of potentially threatening activities near critical facilities. Its fully eye safe operation enables deployment in populated areas.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Detect and Avoid capabilities of the proposed concept are directly applicable to the NASA desired use of autonomous UAS operating at high altitude for earth sciences missions (reference SBIR Topic S3.04). The simultaneous capabilities for high resolution 3D imagers from a wide area surveillance system can be exploited in several types of space operations such as a) docking where the fully eye safe feature of the laser being used in ACASS can eliminate human safety concerns for operations with the ISS or other manned platforms), b) landing operations on planets/asteroids/comets, and c) improving planetary surface navigation providing detect and object avoid enhancements thru 3D imaging.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Navigation & Guidance
Perception/Vision
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
3D Imaging
Image Processing
Lenses
Detectors (see also Sensors)
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)
Ranging/Tracking

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Numerica Corporation
5042 Technology Parkway
Fort Collins, CO 80528-5081
(970) 461-2000

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joseph Knuth
joseph.knuth@numerica.us
5042 Technology Parkway
Fort Collins,  CO 80528-5081
(970) 207-2272

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed Phase II program aims to develop new methods to support safety testing for integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace (NAS) with a particular focus on testing the collision avoidance (CA) algorithms of a UAS Sense-and-Avoid (SAA) system. This research addresses the fundamental difficulty of verifying the performance of autonomous systems that dynamically react to the environment. In particular, this research program would develop novel methods for conducting non-parametric, closed-loop simulation testing of collision avoidance algorithms as well as other autonomous operations. The technology generates a campaign of simulation experiments that automatically adapt to the algorithms in question. The purpose of this innovation is to expose potential vulnerabilities in UAS autonomy that are generated through the interaction of autonomous UAS algorithms with other agents such as an intruding aircraft operating under ``right of way rules". This work augments both the probabilistic open-loop testing methods, where agents do not react, and closed-loop testing where agent behavior is fixed a priori.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is need to test and verify autonomous operations of unmanned aircraft in numerous domains. The Department of Defense has a deep need for testing complex (e.g., autonomous) systems where brute force testing methods are infeasible. This includes the US Air Force, where unmanned aircraft are increasingly ubiquitous, and Missile Defense Agency where Numerica is involved in parametric testing of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The immediate NASA application is safety analysis for the UAS Integration in the NAS program. In particular, this work would support the Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability (SSI) and Integrated Test and Evaluation (IT&E) subprograms within this effort through tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fast-time and HITL simulation testing. In addition, this technology could be used to test autonomous algorithms within other domains at NASA, such as space exploration.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
CFD Research Corporation
701 McMillian Way Northwest, Suite D
Huntsville, AL 35806-2923
(256) 726-4800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yi Wang
yi.wang@cfdrc.com
701 McMillian Way, NW, Ste D
Huntsville,  AL 35806-2923
(256) 726-4800

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The overall goal of the project is to develop reliable reduced order modeling technologies to automatically generate parameter-varying (PV), aeroservoelastic (ASE) reduced-order models (ROMs) for aerostructural sensing and control. In Phase 1, both equation-based and data-driven PV ROM technologies were developed and proof-of-principle was successfully demonstrated. A set of carefully selected ROM algorithms and model coupling schemes were developed in an integrated architecture to generate PV ASE ROMs. Critical evidence was established in NASA relevant case studies that ROMs enable unprecedented speedup and accuracy for aircraft ASE analysis. PV ASE ROMs for X-56A MUTT models in the current mission were developed, which demonstrated >10X reduction in the number of states and precise capture of vehicle dynamics at various flight conditions. In Phase 2, software will be expanded and refined for enhanced performance and functionality. ROM algorithms will be optimized in terms of efficiency for MIMO systems, consistent state representation, PV capabilities in a broad flight envelope. PV structural ROM will also be developed to consider changes in modal parameters at various flight conditions. The strategies for integrating ROMs, sensors and actuators with control design for ASE studies will be tailored to meet various needs in NASA. A modular software environment will be developed with facile interfacing to NASA tools for technology insertion and transition. ROM software will be extensively validated and demonstrated for ASE and flight control analysis of the current X-56A MUTT model, its future release, and other relevant aircrafts.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The non-NASA markets and customers of the proposed software include various aerospace, aircraft, and watercraft engineering sectors (involving fluid-structure-control interaction). Potential end-users and customers include various government agencies such as US Air Force, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), US Army, Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), US Navy, etc. In addition, the proposed technology will also find broad markets in industries such as aircraft and aerospace, automobile, combustion, power, propulsion, chemical processing, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The proposed research would directly contribute to these vital areas by providing a powerful tool to generate fast ROMs, which can be extensively used to (1) analyze the operating processes for fault diagnostics and optimized design (e.g., structure and fatigue analysis, real-time flow control and optimization, hardware-in-loop simulation); and (2) develop advanced strategies for on-line process monitoring and control.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology will provide a fast and accurate analysis tool for ASE simulations of aerospace vehicles and aircrafts. NASA applications of the technology include: (1) rapid and computationally affordable analysis for optimal aerodynamic and structural design of aerospace vehicles; (2) development of advanced, reliable ASE control strategies (such as controlled maneuver, and aeroelastic instability control, e.g., buffet, flutter, buzz, and control reversal); and (3) arrangement of test procedures for rational use of instruments and facilities. The success in the proposed research will markedly reduce the development cycles of aerospace vehicles and aircrafts at reduced costs. NASA programs like aerostructures test wing, active AeroElastic Wing (AEW) and active twist rotors, Multi-Use Technology Testbed (MUTT) will also stand to benefit from the technology.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Air Transportation & Safety
Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems)
Process Monitoring & Control
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Simulation & Modeling

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

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

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 8

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In Phase I, a prototypical FUN3D-based ZONA Euler Unsteady Solver (FunZEUS) was developed to generate the Generalized Aerodynamic Forces (GAFs) due to structural modes, control surface kinematic modes, and gust excitation using a frequency-domain linearized unstructured Euler solver based on the Navier-Stokes solution of FUN3D as the steady background flow. These GAFs can lead to a state-space equation representing the plant model for rapid aeroelastic and aeroservoelastic (ASE) design and analysis. The overall technical objective of Phase II is to develop and validate a production-ready FunZEUS that will be developed by enhancing the prototypical FunZEUS (1) to drastically improve its computational efficiency; (2) to expand its commercialization potential by interfacing with other commercial CFD codes; (3) to include the static aeroelastic effects in the GAF generation; (4) to demonstrate its applicability to complex configurations; (5) to showcase its plant model generation capability using spoilers and other control surfaces; and (6) to improve its maintainability and modularity by integrating all modules in a ZONA's database and dynamic memory management system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential market for FunZEUS includes organizations involved in air vehicle design, aircraft flight test centers, airframers, aircraft analysis, commercial, business jet and military aircraft manufacturers, and organizations that maintain current air vehicles. ZONA will market FunZEUS to the aerospace industry, which includes government agencies, private industry, and universities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed effort is highly relevant to NASA's on-going and future projects within NASA's fixed wing project under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. NASA's fixed wing project involves several non-conventional design concepts such as the Truss-Braced Wing (TBW), the Blended Wing Body (BWB) and the Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ). Because of the BWB's flying-wing-type and the SBJ's slender fuselage designs, these designs are prone to the BFF (Body Freedom Flutter) problem. In addition, it is expected that the gust loads on the high aspect ratio wing of the TBW configuration will be one of the critical design loads. The proposed work will offer a computational tool to the NASA designers for early exploration of technologies and design concepts that exploit the trade-off between the passive and active approaches for mitigating the potential aeroelastic problems associated with those non-conventional configurations. It thus can be seen that through the research planned to be conducted during Phase I and II of this effort, NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program will benefit significantly. FunZEUS developed in Phase I and II of this effort can be effectively applied to many categories of flight vehicles including X-56A MUTT, X-48B blended wing-body, joined-wings, sub/supersonic transports, morphing wing aircraft, space planes, reusable launch vehicles, and similar future flight vehicle concepts pursued by NASA, thereby largely expanding NASA's technology portfolio.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Characterization
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Composites
Smart/Multifunctional Materials
Structures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
OPTINAV, Inc.
10914 Northeast
Bellevue, WA 98004-2928
(425) 891-4883

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Dougherty
rpd@optinav.com
10914 Northeast
Bellevue,  WA 98004-2928
(425) 891-4883

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 6
End: 8

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Noise measurement of aerospace vehicles is difficult and usually requires expensive, specialized facilities. With the proliferation of UAVs there is need for noise data, both for ISR and non-military vehicles. Wind tunnel testing is common and much less expensive. The innovation is a novel in-flow microphone array combined with the start of the art Functional Beamforming algorithm that makes it practical to measure UAV noise in a non-acoustic wind tunnel. The proposal calls for further development of the measurement technique so that it can be commercialized as a service using the Kirsten Wind Tunnel at the University of Washington.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Any of the many UAV manufacturers. Northwest UAV. Air Force. Navy.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Noise measurement in the AAPL and the 9x15 at NASA-Glenn and in the NFAC at NASA-Ames. Also, potentially, any NASA wind tunnel.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Acoustic/Vibration

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)
Jason Hermiller
hermillerjm@crgrp.com
2750 Indian Ripple Rd.
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638
(937) 320-1877

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This project will combine the advantages of adaptive materials with the simplistic passive design of state-of-the-art acoustic liners to provide the ability to tune them for specific operational frequencies (ex. take-off/cutback, cruise, and approach). Many proposed solutions are not practical from a manufacturing/cost perspective: too complex or add weight to the aircraft that is not justifiable. The requirements for aircraft noise are becoming more stringent with greater emphasis on improvements in performance efficiency and lower fuel consumption. CRG has demonstrated feasibility in implementing adaptive technologies into acoustic liners. The next step is to develop increased understanding at more relevant size scales to demonstrate repeatable liner control performance supported by more extensive acoustic testing runs to understand the initial shifting and increased suppression behaviors that have been observed. Automated cyclic testing of a given adaptive liner parameter will be executed on the order of hundreds of thousands of times to demonstrate the durability of the adaptive material for this application. CRG has focused adaptive liner design on demonstration of tuning reactance to TRL 3-4 in Phase I. CRG will develop multiple integrated prototype demonstrators with flow duct testing to achieve a TRL 5-6 at the end of Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed adaptive acoustic liner technology has high potential for application in public and private sector commercial airline jet engine systems. This project's technologies, developed for NASA liner concepts, would directly apply to systems operated by other government and commercial enterprises. Government systems that would derive the same benefits would include improvements in noise reduction, prediction, measurement methods, and control for subsonic and supersonic vehicle systems, including fan, jet, turbo-machinery, and airframe noise sources operated by the DoD and all major commercial aviation companies. This technology's attributes for commercial jet engine manufacturers should yield a high potential for private sector commercialization for implementation of tunable characteristics for turbofan engine acoustic liners. Additionally, CRG also sees a future for resulting commercialization of the adaptive liner technologies with commercial turbine generators, marine turbine systems, and the rail industry.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Supporting several of NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate projects and the Fundamental Aeronautics Program, this project's technologies directly address requirements for improvements in noise reduction and control for subsonic and supersonic vehicle systems, including fan, jet, turbomachinery, and airframe noise sources. This project's technologies offer system-level improvements in noise, emissions, and performance. The resulting adaptive liner capabilities could potentially be used by NASA to more quickly study different passive liner concepts.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Smart/Multifunctional Materials
Isolation/Protection/Shielding (Acoustic, Ballistic, Dust, Radiation, Thermal)
Pressure & Vacuum Systems
Acoustic/Vibration

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Spectral Energies, LLC
5100 Springfield Street, Suite 301
Dayton, OH 45431-1262
(937) 266-9570

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sivaram Gogineni
goginesp@gmail.com
5100 Springfield Street, Suite 301
Dayton,  OH 45431-1262
(937) 266-9570

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
To be useful for computational combustor design and analysis using tools like the National Combustion Code (NCC), low-dimensional chemical kinetic mechanisms for modeling of real fuel combustion chemistry must be sufficiently compact so that they can be utilized in multi-dimensional, multi-physics, reacting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Despite advances in CFD-appropriate kinetic mechanism reduction for kerosene-range fuels, significant combustion property variation among current and prospective certified fuels remains a challenge for meaningful CFD-advised design of high pressure, low-emissions combustors. The proposed project will leverage Princeton's ongoing work in aviation fuel surrogate formulation and modeling as well as kinetic mechanism development for emissions and high pressure combustion to produce and demonstrate a meta-model framework for automated generation of fuel-flexible compact chemical kinetic mechanisms appropriate for 3-D combustion CFD codes. During Phase I, Compact Mechanisms for both an alternative, natural-gas derived synthetic kerosene and a conventional petro-derived Jet A kerosene have been developed and demonstrated. Results indicated that, over a very broad range of pressures, temperatures, equivalence ratios, and characteristic times, these Compact Mechanisms well reproduce predictions of global combustion behaviors (ignition, extinction, heat release rate, pollutant mole fractions) relative to predictions of significantly larger target chemical kinetic mechanisms. Technical objectives for Phase II R&D include development of a stand-alone software application for generation of tailor-made, fuel-specific Compact Mechanisms, and demonstration of Compact Mechanism performance in computation-intensive CFD applications. Achievement of these objectives together will advance the current state of this R&D program to TRL 5.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The commercial product foreseen from this SBIR program is a stand-alone, novice-friendly real fuel kinetic mechanism generator software package that can interface with commercially-available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. Accordingly, potential customers may include the companies supplying ANSYS, CFD-ACE+, or COMSOL, as well as industrial users with proprietary in-house codes. Application of compact real fuel kinetic models has broad appeal to automotive, aerospace, and marine propulsion industries, both for civilian and DoD applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Technical Objectives presented in this Phase I proposal directly address a topic in the NASA SBIR solicitation for low emissions/clean power aircraft combustors. The "compact" low-dimensional chemical kinetic mechanisms proposed for modeling of real aviation fuel combustion chemistry will support physics-based CFD development of next-generation engines such as those employing lean direct injection (LDI) technology. Reacting flow simulation platforms like NASA's National Combustion Code (NCC), as well as ANSYS, KIVA, and OpenFOAM, require mechanisms sufficiently compact so as to be tractable for multi-dimensional, multi-physics, CFD simulations, but which also preserve the predictive fidelity of more detailed kinetic mechanisms. Importantly, the present framework permits the consideration of a variety of real fuels, including alternative fuels derived from a variety of non-petroleum resources. Evaluation of such alternative fuels is among the major NASA research thrusts under the general topic of propulsion.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Conversion
Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable)
Ablative Propulsion
Fuels/Propellants
Surface Propulsion
Verification/Validation Tools

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

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VCCTEF) concept offers potential improvements in the aerodynamic efficiency of aircraft through real time wing shaping. NASA and Boeing have been studying the suitability of this concept to address the drag reduction problem in aircraft with reduced-stiffness wings. However, reduced stiffness may lead to wing flutter. In addition, displacements of VCCTEF control surfaces are limited and subject to highly nonlinear and time-varying constraints. Hence control design needs to solve a constrained multi-objective optimization problem. To address these challenges, in Phase I SSCI carried out initial development and testing of the Drag Identification and Reduction Technology (DIRECT). The DIRECT software estimates wing structural modes on-line and uses that information in a robust predictive controller design. Based on using Evolutionary Optimization and off-line analysis, DIRECT estimates wind disturbances on-line and selects optimal controller parameters from a table lookup to achieve on-line drag minimization. Building upon the successful Phase I development, in Phase II we propose to extend the DIRECT approach and evaluate its performance through high-fidelity simulations and wind-tunnel testing. Specific Phase II tasks include: (i) Test Phase I flutter suppression algorithms and PSC algorithms in a GTM simulation with flexible modes and VCCTEF control surfaces; (ii) Extend and enhance the drag minimization approach by developing innovative Performance Seeking Control (PSC) algorithms; and (iii) Compare the features of PSC and other available performance seeking control algorithms through wind-tunnel testing at the University of Washington Aerodynamics Laboratory (UWAL). Professor Eli Livne of University of Washington and Mr. James Urnes, Sr. will provide technical support under the project. Phase III will focus on commercialization of SYMPTOM software to manned aircraft and UAS.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed DIRECT system is applicable to future flexible-wing commercial vehicle concepts where the main objective is to enhance fuel efficiency while reducing noise and emissions. The approach will also be applicable to military aircraft with elastic wings.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed DIRECT system is consistent with the main objectives of the NASA N+3 Concept Aircraft Project. In particular, it addresses the problem of flutter identification and suppression, while simultaneously achieving drag reduction using performance-seeking control algorithm. Hence the proposed DIRECT system can be used in future designs of HALE UAVs with flexible wings. The use of the DIRECT technology in this context would help in lowering the costs of NASA scientific research by reducing fuel consumption, and in contributing to environmental protection by lowering emissions and noise.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
M4 Engineering, Inc.
4020 Long Beach Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90807-2683
(562) 981-7797

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tyler Winter
twinter@m4-engineering.com
4020 Long Beach Boulevard
Long Beach,  CA 90807-2683
(562) 981-7797

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Approaches for weight prediction, in the conceptual design phase, typically consist of parametric relations or empirical databases. Historical databases work reasonably well when applied to existing or conventional designs, however, they fail to predict accurately the weights and loads associated with unconventional designs (like the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator). There exists a need to augment existing historical databases with a physics-based methodology/capability for predicting the weights and loads of unconventional designs. In the current proposal, M4 Engineering will continue to streamline the structural layout process, improve the overall user experience, and develop a comprehensive suite of capabilities in an effort to build a complete weight statement for unconventional (and conventional) conceptual wing and fuselage designs. The main goal for this effort will be to develop a software tool capable of generating weight and load responses for unconventional designs from physics-based structural analysis simulations.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
M4 Engineering has active relationships with several prime contractors who are likely users of this technology. These include Boeing Phantom Works, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon. These provide excellent commercialization opportunities for the technology. The proposed methods and software have the potential to dramatically streamline the physics-based weight prediction process for conceptual designs. Demand for this capability will be found in the government and at major airframe manufacturers. The proposed effort will satisfy this demand with a tool that is not only technically capable, but is easy to understand and use. One major airframe manufacturer has already expressed interest in M4 Engineering's technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The first NASA application occurred during the Phase I effort when the proposed methodology was applied to the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator. The next NASA application will be performed as a demonstration example during the Phase II development. It is also expected that this technology will be directly applicable to other research projects planned at LaRC and GRC. Examples of potential application include any future unconventional configuration or next generation system requiring accurate and rapid weight prediction. The 2006 NASA Strategic Plan defines a Strategic Sub-goal 3E to "Advance knowledge in the fundamental disciplines of aeronautics, and develop technologies for safer aircraft and higher capacity airspace systems." A key outcome under Strategic Sub-goal 3E is 3E.2, "By 2016, develop and demonstrate future concepts, capabilities, and technologies that will enable major increases in air traffic management effectiveness, flexibility, and efficiency, while maintaining safety, to meet capacity and mobility requirements of the Next Generation Air Transportation System." This proposal addresses the NASA goals by proposing state of the art advances in rapid physics-based weight prediction of unconventional designs which exist outside of historical databases. By making these analyses available earlier in the design process, more effective and accurate vehicle systems can be generated while maintaining safety.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Composites
Structures
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc.
P.O. Box 595
Pismo Beach, CA 93448-9665
(805) 275-1053

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Green
michael.green@esaero.com
P.O. Box 595
Pismo Beach,  CA 93448-9665
(805) 275-1053

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Hybrid-electric propulsion is becoming widely accepted as a potential disruptive technology for aircraft that can provide significant reduction in fuel consumption as well as many other benefits. The majority of the analysis tools that exist today, however, do not harness the capability to analyze these unique systems, especially in the rotorcraft realm. The Phase I effort focused mainly on the development of the PANTHER tool in preparing it for modeling hybrid and all-electric rotorcraft. The tool was then exercised by modeling a handful of propulsion architectures. The goal of the proposed Phase II effort is to further improve upon the strengths of the PANTHER code that was developed, and then utilize this tool to further explore the hybrid-electric rotorcraft design space. Given the goals of the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project (RVLT), the PANTHER tool must be further expanded to enable the sizing and performance analysis of unique rotorcraft configurations with propulsion system designs unseen in the vertical lift realm. The tool will be expanded with modules for fuel cells and flywheels along with improved engine modules, physics-based motor and drive models, and a new capability to model complete missions. The thermal management aspect will also be addressed with modules for radiators, cooling ducts, fluids, and pumps. With the capability of PANTHER vastly enhanced, numerous trade studies will then be conducted that attempt to explore a large portion of the rotorcraft trade space made possible by hybrid-electric propulsion systems. These trades will aim to answer many of the questions that have arisen in the community about hybrid-electric rotorcraft. Using the results and lessons learned from these studies, and accommodating the goals of NASA and the RVLT project, a detailed conceptual design will be performed on a notional hybrid-electric rotorcraft demonstrator.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A commercial application for top-level distributed propulsion sizing tool would be very attractive, as the industry is pressing toward hybrid-electric distributed propulsion (HEDP) concepts as new technologies for electric components and batteries develop. This product will leverage its ability to customize the propulsion system architecture and operation, and it will offer detailed analysis of thermal management system design and performance. A potential Phase III effort could pair the sizing and weights tool with aerodynamic analysis, terminal area operation analysis, and mission analysis tools to provide designers with a very useful hybrid electric aircraft design and analysis suite. AFRL would benefit as they are conducting in-house studies and supporting ESAero in other related areas. IARPA and the FAA will also benefit, as the tool will be distributed within the government FOUO. ESAero has identified the government and industry partners to develop this type of technology both near term (Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed Martin) and long term (NASA, AFRL, IARPA etc.).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential NASA applications for this proposed effort will focus on delivering a tool that fits within a larger MDAO framework for hybrid electric aircraft design synthesis with a highly integrated thermal management system design and analysis tool, benefitting multiple NRA projects, and other direct NASA efforts, both internal and external. Several nuances native to the turbo-electric or hybrid electric distributed propulsion are electric component weight and structure, power transmission networks, and thermal management systems, collectively requiring a tool such as the one proposed for initial aircraft design synthesis. These new hurdles have not been addressed in previous textbook methods or efforts, but play a significant role in determining the feasibility of these new aircraft configurations. One of the major benefits to a decoupled energy management system using distributed propulsion is the freedom in placing the propulsors. Each configuration will inherently have vastly different structural and cooling considerations.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Superconductance/Magnetics
Distribution/Management
Storage
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Actuators & Motors
Machines/Mechanical Subsystems
Atmospheric Propulsion
Verification/Validation Tools
Heat Exchange

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc.
5735 Hollister Avenue, Suite B
Goleta, CA 93117-6410
(805) 683-9659

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jonathan Sugar
grants@launchpnt.com
5735 Hollister Avenue, Suite B
Goleta,  CA 93117-6410
(805) 683-9659

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
LaunchPoint Technologies proposes to build a scalable hybrid electric propulsion system. LaunchPoint will build and fly a 1 kW hybrid electric vehicle and will build and bench test a 6 kW hybrid power source to demonstrate scalability to much larger systems. During the phase I, LaunchPoint showed the feasibility of a manned hybrid electric VTOL vehicle that can achieve the speed and fuel efficiency of a high aspect fixed wing aircraft while still providing VTOL capability for a commuter-type application. Using Fly-By- Wire techniques and applying it to electric aircraft propulsion can lead to highly reliable architectures which we call "Propulsion-By-Wire", providing a tremendous increase in reliability and safety of the vehicle compared to conventional VTOL architectures. In this phase II we propose to develop the hybrid power source (Battery, BMS, Gen-set, and hybrid controller) portion of a "Propulsion-By-Wire" system for 2 power levels. LaunchPoint will build and fly a 1 kW hybrid electric vehicle that will meet notional airworthiness requirements for flight over people, and will scale the hybrid power source to 6kW proving the potential scalability of the system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is a lot of interest in subscale hybrid propulsion systems to extend range on already built electric vehicles. Aerial camera operators who need extended duration for filming could have an immediate need for this technology once it is available along with any sUAV or drone that needs extended flight time. Scaling the hybrid propulsion system to larger sizes will enable new vehicle architectures allowing higher safety, reliability, and fuel efficiency. Many companies, including Boeing have expressed interest for both the subscale and larger scale systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Multiple projects at NASA could benefit from a scalable hybrid propulsion system. Bill Fredricks Greased Lightning project has expressed interest in integrating our 1kW genset as soon as it becomes available into his subscale Greased Lightning project. A phase III continuation of this work could be directly applied to multiple larger scale NASA projects. Mark Moore's Leaptech fixed wing vehicle demonstrator could use a scaled-up version of our hybrid propulsion system in his vehicle as a range extender. The Heist program with Sean Clarke could also use a higher powered version of our hybrid power source on their test stand to help them perform their power sharing and distribution studies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Air Transportation & Safety
Distribution/Management
Processing Methods
Actuators & Motors
Atmospheric Propulsion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Direct Vapor Technologies 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)
Balvinder Gogia
bgogia@directedvapor.com
2 Boars Head Ln
Charlottesville,  VA 22903-4605
(434) 977-1405

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Research is proposed to demonstrate the use of advanced manufacturing techniques to enable the affordable application of multi-functional thermal/environmental barrier coatings (T/EBCs) having enhanced resistance to high temperature combustion environments. T/EBCs are envisioned to protect the surface of Si-based ceramics against moisture-assisted, oxidation-induced ceramic recession. Current T/EBC systems have been demonstrated in long time exposures at ~2400 F substrate temperatures. However, their use at elevated temperatures (i.e., 2700 F substrate temperatures) is limited by the low temperature stability and high diffusion activity of current T/EBC materials. One approach to increase the temperature capability of these systems is the incorporation of multilayered T/EBC designs. In this effort, enhanced processing techniques will be employed to demonstrate the manufacture of robust T/EBC systems using a physical vapor deposition based processing approach which enables improved coating adhesion and advanced coating architectural, compositional, and microstructural control, as well as non-line-of-sight (NLOS) deposition. During this proposed Phase II effort, processing/property/performance relationships for the manufacture of the novel coating architectures will be determined. Optimized processing approaches will then be used to demonstrate the deposition of high temperature capable T/EBC systems coating onto components of interest to gas turbine engine manufacturers.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This research is anticipated to the development of result in robust processing approaches for environmental barrier coating systems that enable higher temperature capability and improved durability than current EBCs. These advancements will help enable the use of Si-based ceramics in high temperature capable gas turbine engines. These advances will potentially benefit all gas turbine engines requiring greater performance and efficiency. In addition, this research specifically supports the goals of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) which seeks to expand the boundaries of aeronautical knowledge for the benefit of the Nation and the broad aeronautics community and in particular NASA ARMD's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project which has a goal of conducting long term research in technologies which promote, among other things, higher performance and higher efficiency gas turbine engines.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The development of high temperature T/EBC systems using DVTI's advanced coatings processing techniques will enable not only new T/EBC systems for use in future military and commercial aircraft platforms, but also new deposition processes to enable affordable coating application onto engine components. DVD coaters are envisioned to be small with low capital costs and tailorable volumes so that small volumes of parts can be deposited at low cost. The soft vacuum required and the high deposition rates also have the potential to facilitate assembly line like part coating for some geometries. The non-line-of-sight capabilities of this approach enable coatings to be applied onto complex components, thus expanding their use. The compositional and morphological flexibility of this approach would also enable other advanced functional coating systems to be applied such as thermal barrier coatings, wear and corrosion resistant coatings, thin film batteries, and damping coatings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Processing Methods
Ceramics
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Composites
Metallics
Atmospheric Propulsion

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

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tom Butler
tomb@ormondllc.com
4718 B Street Northwest, Suite 104
Auburn,  WA 98001-1750
(253) 852-1298

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
High-value bearings are a critical part of the safety, reliability, cost and performance of modern aircraft. A typical passenger jet will have 100 to 175 high-valve bearings costing from $2,500 to $50,000 each for a total aircraft cost of $300,000 to $600,000. All gas turbine engine bearings are inspected at overhaul and typically 30-40% of there are rejected. For each engine overhaul, bearing replacement costs on average $100,000. Any process that increases bearing performance and reliability will have a commensurate effect on aircraft safety, reliability, performance and operating cost. In Phase I, Ormond demonstrated a novel surface enhancement process, cavitation peening, imparting deep, high magnitude residual stresses that are predicted to significantly enhance bearing life, reliability and performance. Preliminary fatigue results generated in Phase I look promising and analytical results indicate a fatigue life improvement of over 100% may be possible. Cavitation peening uses ultra-high pressure water jets to generate intense clouds of cavitation bubbles that collapse on the work piece generating shock waves that cold work the material. No particles are use, the process produces no waste and adds no weight to the part and is very inexpensive. The new technology is currently being evaluated by Boeing, Sikorsky, Bell and Rolls-Royce for aerospace applications and is proving particularly effective for gears. The company is also working with major bearing manufacturers Timken and SKF to investigate the value of the technology for bearing applications. The proposed Phase II work would refine the process, address readiness level issues and generate the fatigue data that is critical to wide spread acceptance of the cavitation peening technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Bearings are a fundamental mechanical component used throughout transportation, energy generation and manufacturing. Improving bearing load ratings in a cost effective manner could have a significant impact on automobile fuel economy, wind turbine power generation, aircraft engine efficiency and reliability, manufacturing machinery reliability, and just about any other rotating component. With all these applications, the global bearing market is a worth $42B/year, with more than 75 bearing manufacturers. The cavitation peening technology is also widely applicable to other materials and components, such aluminum airframes, carburized gears, titanium rotors and disks, steel structures and just about any place where fatigue is a concern.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The target application for NASA programs is primarily aircraft gas turbines, particularly high performance engines where the added bearing rating could be utilized to increase engine output, reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs and increase safety and reliability. Other NASA applications could be any rotating components where weight or power consumption is an issue, such as motors, rotors, pumps and wheels. The process would also be applicable to new bearing materials and non-bearing applications such as airframe structures, gears, drivetrain components and any component where fatigue and flaw tolerance are issues of concern.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Space Transportation & Safety
Generation
Processing Methods
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Metallics
Actuators & Motors
Machines/Mechanical Subsystems
Structures
Spacecraft Main Engine

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Spectral Energies, LLC
5100 Springfield Street, Suite 301
Dayton, OH 45431-1262
(937) 266-9570

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sukesh Roy
roy.sukesh@gmail.com
5100 Springfield Street, Suite 301
Dayton,  OH 45431-1262
(937) 902-6546

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Numerous ground-test and wind-tunnel facilities are used extensively to make surface measurements of and to characterize the forces and moments encountered by aeronautics test articles. Quantitative results in these test environments are required to validate the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools that are used to extrapolate wind-tunnel data toward realistic flight conditions and hardware. The development of fast instrumentation and measurement capabilities that can readily be integrated into the extreme conditions present under such test conditions is one of several major technological challenges associated with the design, building, and operation of these complex test environments. Among the host of physical quantities, accurate mapping of velocity flow fields remains a significant yet essential challenge in these facilities. In addition, spatially and temporally resolved measurements of other flow parameters, such as gas density, pressure, temperature, and species mixing fractions, are of paramount importance to characterize fully the fluid dynamics. Unfortunately, the widely available current suite of flow-field probes exhibit varying degrees of intrusiveness, requiring either the physical placement of probes inside the test facility or the introduction of foreign particles or gas-phase species into the flow field. Thus, the development and application of non-invasive flow-field diagnostic probe techniques is of principal importance in these environments. This proposal expands upon our successful Phase-I results and offers an integrated package of truly cutting-edge, multidimensional, seedless velocimetry and flow diagnostics for ground-test facilities. The concepts and ideas proposed range from proof-of-principle demonstration of novel methodologies using kHz-rate femtosecond (10-15 sec) and 100-kHz-rate burst-mode picosecond (10-12 s) duration laser sources to measurements in realistic tunnel conditions expected in the current solicitation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The advanced diagnostic toolkit proposed under the current program will be a significant step forward in using cutting-edge laser technology and spectroscopic approaches to address a variety of diagnostics challenges in multiple government and industrial applications. As this noninvasive optical toolkit is optimized, a major beneficiary besides NASA would be DoD test facilities developing advanced weapons systems such as supersonic fighter aircrafts, hypersonic vehicles, rockets and high-Mach number reentry vehicles. In addition, the rapidly developing commercial space industry as well as test facilities at conventional aircraft will significantly benefit by having access to such advanced multi-parameter diagnostic toolkits. Therefore, a wide market potential is expected in defense, industrial, and commercial sectors for the proposed technologies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed research program will expand upon advanced laser-based, high-data-rate, multi-dimensional, multi-parameter, noninvasive optical diagnostic platforms for NASA ground-test facilities. Such diagnostic capabilities will be a major step forward in design and model validation efforts in transonic ground-test facilities developing next-generation aerospace vehicles and air-breathing propulsion systems. During the proposed program, we will develop these measurement tools into compact, user-friendly, and mobile platforms that enable broad implementation in ground-test facilities. The expertise within this research team in state-of-the-art laser technologies, physics, and chemistry-based diagnostic techniques, and extensive product development and implementation background in defense, propulsion and energy applications will be a critical factor in realizing the proposed diagnostic platform and toolkit.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Analytical Instruments (Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma, Energy; see also Sensors)
Fiber (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Photonics)
Lasers (Measuring/Sensing)
Ultraviolet
Visible
Multispectral/Hyperspectral

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc.
2520 West 237th Street
Torrance, CA 90505-5217
(424) 263-6300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jesus Delgado Alonso
jesusda@intopsys.com
2520 West 237th Street
Torrance,  CA 90505-5217
(424) 263-6321

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Pressure sensitive paint (PSP) systems are excellent tools for performing global pressure measurements in aerodynamic testing, especially in wind tunnel studies. The major limitation of PSP for pressure mapping is its dependence on an oxygen-containing flow, since those paints are actually oxygen sensors. Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) is developing a unique coating in which fluorescence quenching can form high resolution images of the true pressure distribution on surfaces in transonic flow in oxygen-free atmospheres. The fluorescence in these unique coatings depends directly on absolute pressure, and oxygen permeation into the coatings is not required. The new coating, however, is completely compatible with the "legacy" (oxygen sensing) visualization equipment used in current transonic test facilities. With this novel pressure sensing technology, coating materials can be used that are not useful for oxygen-based PSPs, and coatings that can meet requirements not achievable with classical paints, like operation at extremely low temperature or in highly contaminated environments. In Phase I, IOS has created the oxygen-insensitive pressure-sensitive coating materials, and applied them to glass and stainless steel test coupons. The fluorescence emission lifetime and intensity of these test samples were measured at varying static pressures under pure nitrogen, showing significant correlation with pressure in the range studied (from 0.05 to 14.7 psi), and excellent repeatability. This sets the stage for Phase II development and delivery of a complete temperature-compensated true ambient pressure sensitive paint system that can be used to characterize flow around structures in hypersonic wind tunnels. At the end of Phase II, the coatings will have been tested at relevant environments (TRL5), and will be available for NASA to begin testing in a high-fidelity laboratory environment (TRL6).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
One very obvious advantage of TAPS PSPs is that they can be used in "water tunnels" for testing hydrodynamic structures. Thus, ship designers (including both the U.S. Navy and commercial naval architects) will be able to use the whole-surface image-based pressure mapping techniques now available to aerospace engineers. A large class of industrial and commercial structures that emit oxygen-reactive species &#150; from tailpipes to smokestacks &#150; that has hitherto been unaddressable by PSPs can be studied with TAPS paints. Pressure mapping of other non-aerodynamic structures (e.g., automobiles, trains, buildings) can be accomplished with conventional PSPs, but the increased shelf-life and stability of TAPS paints will make them attractive for these applications as well. Finally, the true-pressure-sensitive pigments developed in this project will also be useful in a host of spinoff applications, from "point sensors" (e.g., on the tips of optical fibers) to optical pressure switches.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
True ambient pressure sensitive (TAPS) paint will be immediately useful in wind-tunnel studies of hypersonic flow, where working fluids other than oxygen are often used to achieve Reynolds numbers characteristic of air flow at higher speeds, particularly in the study of real gas aerodynamic effects, including the world's largest pressurized cryogenic wind tunnel, the National Transonic Facility (NTF), the 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel and the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). Advanced pressure sensitive coatings will be adopted rapidly by other aerodynamic test facilities where oxygen-independent pressure mapping is needed; for example, in the study of combustion-related phenomena (where the partial pressure of oxygen clearly does not depend exclusively on the local ambient pressure). Once the advantages of oxygen-free pressure mapping are demonstrated in these applications, TAPS-based PSPs will rapidly displace the conventional oxygen-sensitive paints in lower speed wind tunnels as well.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Characterization
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Coatings/Surface Treatments

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Rolling Hills Research Corporation
420 North Nash Street
El Segundo, CA 90245-2822
(310) 640-8781

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Michael Kerho
Mike@RollingHillsResearch.com
420 N. Nash Street
El Segundo,  CA 90245-2822
(310) 640-8781

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 6
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a simple, robust, self-contained, and self-powered sensor array for the detection of laminar/turbulent transition location, areas of flowfield separation, and shock wave locations. The system can be used for both flight test andin ground test facilities. The proposed system uses a very robust and proven sensor technology combined with a novel mounting and manufacturing technique. The sensor array is reusable and requires no calibration, external power source or acquisition system. The system combines an array of small, surface flush, sensors embedded in an extremely thin, flexible polyimide strip coupled with a self-contained, battery powered acquisition, reduction, and storage system. The system operates by sensing changes in local heat transfer within the boundary-layer. Variations in heat transfer due to the state of the boundary layer (laminar, transitional, turbulent, separated regions) produce changes in the sensor output. Other flowfield features where heat transfer is affected will also be discernable, such as shock waves. The flush mounted sensors, embedded in a smooth, thin polyimide sheet, conform to the local surface contour and produce minimal aerodynamic interference, allowing non-intrusive measurements. The system will be quantitatively accurate across the low-speed through supersonic flow regime. No external power or control is required for operation. After testing, the system can be quickly removed and reused. Compared to current systems designed for similar measurements, the proposed system promises to provide a significantly more robust and efficient system in a relatively simple, cost effective package.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Advanced sensing technology for both flight and ground test facilities that can determine transition location, regions of separated flow, and the locations of shock waves will provide RHRC with a unique and highly marketable product. The ability to measure laminar/turbulent transition and separation locations will be of significant importance to both test engineers and researchers. With the current high costs of both flight and ground testing, coupled with reduced design and test schedules, the proposed technology will be highly desirable in military, government, and civilian testing markets. The technology developed by RHRC and Q-flex under this program will allow efficient and cost effective measurements on vehicles across a wide range of applications other than aircraft. These include automobiles and hydrodynamic applications. RHRC and Q-flex will be able to provide complete sensor systems. The technology can also be easily licensed. Any surface where aerodynamic performance is a concern is a potential application of the technology. The technology has a very large audience in both government and commercial research and development.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A robust measurement system capable of determining transition location, separation, and shock locations for both flight and ground test facilities has significant potential application at several NASA centers, and across a wide range of NASA facilities. The accurate determination of boundary-layer transition and separation locations can be used to validate computational fluid dynamics models, transition prediction, and multidisciplinary analysis and optimization tools. The system could be used in boundary-layer ingestion and optimization efforts. In a more permanent set-up, the robust measurement system could be used as input for vehicle adaptive control in uncertain environments or adverse conditions, or for closed loop flow control for aircraft, rotorcraft, or high lift technologies. The measurement system's relatively simple, robust technology, coupled with its reusable nature make it a very attractive, cost effective system. With the significant push for increased efficiency and reduced fuel consumption, laminar flow, and increasing its extent on aircraft surfaces is a fundamental aerodynamic goal. The proposed measurement system will help NASA meet both the Environmentally Responsible Aircraft (ERA) and Subsonic Fixed Wing Project goals.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Condition Monitoring (see also Sensors)
Characterization
Pressure/Vacuum
Sensor Nodes & Webs (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport)
Thermal
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT)
Simulation & Modeling
Diagnostics/Prognostics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Vigyan, Inc.
30 Research Drive
Hampton, VA 23666-1325
(757) 865-1400

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Amber Favaregh
favaregh@vigyan.com
30 Research Drive
Hampton,  VA 23666-1325
(757) 865-1400

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Thermal anemometry (a.k.a. hot-wire anemometry) has been a key experimental technique in fluid mechanics for many decades. Due to the small physical size and high frequency response of the sensors (resulting in excellent spatial and temporal resolution), the technique has been widely used for studies of turbulent flows. Even with the advent of nonintrusive techniques such as Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), hot wire anemometry is uniquely capable of extremely high frequency response and fine spatial resolution measurements. ViGYAN has demonstrated a fundamental change to the anemometer configuration, with two related aspects. First, the circuitry to power the sensor and establish its operating point is packaged immediately adjacent to the sensor, i.e. in the typical probe holder, removing the effect of the cable connecting the sensor to an external anemometer. Second, modern analog-digital conversion hardware has been employed to the maximum extent possible, including directly driving the sensor. Data transmission is fully digital, immune to environmental variations or electrical noise. Based on these results, the Phase II work will deploy this "Digital Bridge" system using a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) device connected via fiber-optic cable the miniaturized "probe holder" electronics. The DSP will be controlled by a generic PC with software to control the system and acquire/store data. A production-ready version will be developed and delivered; facilities, expertise, and resources are available to fabricate and deliver production units at the conclusion of Phase II. Production designs for ruggedized units will also be done for use in wind tunnels that operate at higher dynamic pressures and extreme temperatures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are many commercial and educational wind tunnels in the U.S. and around the world that could use the Digital Bridge. Looking to broader markets, the majority of air mass flow sensors for automotive applications rely on thermal anemometry in one way or another. The monitoring and control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is also done with thermal anemometry systems. A digital bridge approach will offer improved environmental tolerance and greater reliability for both applications, with its digital outputs being easily integrated into the overall automotive or industrial control systems used. There are a number of applications for hot wire sensors in medical instrumentation . It should be noted that a requirement in many of these systems is electrical isolation; our use of fiber optic instrumentation cables would be very useful in such environments.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A primary objective of the Digital Bridge design is, of course, to improve the performance of thermal anemometry in demanding aerospace applications, particularly wind tunnels. Any NASA wind tunnel, from small low-speed facilities to highly complex installations such as the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at NASA LaRC are candidates for this technology. The miniaturized, localized, and substantially digitized electronics package could be used for acquisition and processing of signals from hot film arrays, often used for boundary layer studies in both wind tunnel and flight environments. Other potential research applications could include planetary atmosphere measurements. One of the key issues here has been the large number of sensors, but the digital bridge approach lends itself to effective multiplexing of a large number of sensors across a smaller number of anemometers. Such an approach would allow for the use of hot wire sensors analogous to the shift to electronically scanned pressure (ESP) transducers widely used in wind tunnels.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Medical
Data Acquisition (see also Sensors)
Pressure & Vacuum Systems
Biological (see also Biological Health/Life Support)
Thermal
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT)
Cryogenic/Fluid Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Thoughtventions Unlimited
40 Nutmeg Lane
Glastonbury, CT 06033-2314
(860) 657-9014

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stephen Bates
thought@tvu.com
40 Nutmeg Lane
Glastonbury,  CT 06033-2314
(860) 657-9014

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A prototype high temperature, single optical fiber thermal imaging system will be developed, tested, and delivered to GRC. The components of the instrument will be specified in detail, designed, fabricated, and purchased where appropriate. The illumination and imaging system will be assembled and system tests will be performed. Given a set of calibration images produced by the diagnostic, the image analysis needed to recover a thermal image of a surface will be developed and demonstrated. System resolution tests will be performed. The thermal imaging laboratory system will be modified to be appropriate to a prototype commercial instrument. The thermal imaging prototype will be tested and debugged at Thoughtventions and its operating characteristics defined. The thermal imaging system and operating manual will be completed and delivered and field tested at GRC for their ongoing use.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Commercially, TvU envisions producing a Fiber Thermal Imaging Systems for sale initially to NASA, the Air Force, and to companies such as Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls Royce, and SNECMA for use in their jet engine research programs and later their production. Pratt & Whitney has provided a letter of support for Phase 2 development and hopefully will be one of our first commercial Phase 3 customers. They plan to apply the instrument to improve turbine and combustor designs to improve the F135 and NGPF maintenance costs. Their future programs needing the diagnostic may include JSF Growth, Navy Unmanned Combat Air Systems (UCAS), VAATE, and Next Generation Long Range Strike (NGLRS) initiatives.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary NASA application is to jet engine turbine and combustor ground test facilities. In particular the Phase 2 prototype will be installed and tested at an engine test facility at GRC. The generic application is to high temperature facilities with limited optical analysis where thermal mapping is crucial for equipment diagnosis.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Thermal

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Blazetech Corporation
29 B Montvale Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801-7021
(781) 759-0700

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
N. Albert Moussa
amoussa@blazetech.com
29 B Montvale Avenue
Woburn,  MA 01801-7021
(781) 759-0700

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA is developing methods to collect and convert local resources such as Martian air (mainly carbon dioxide, CO2) into oxygen that can be used during the mission. The objective of this project is to protect such equipment from dust that may be sucked in with the CO2. We proposed an innovative dust filtration system that is ideally suited for long duration operation in Mars because it works well in a low pressure environment and it is essentially self-cleaning. The system is based on two mechanisms of dust filtration that have been tested separately and successfully In Phase I. In Phase II, parametric tests will be performed with simulated Mars dust and under simulated Mars environment to optimize each mechanism. Then the two mechanisms will be combined in a prototype and tested. The prototype will be delivered to NASA for potential future tests in the zero gravity airplane and in combination with the equipment to be protected.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The dust filter technology can also be extended to other applications where filtration without significant use of manpower is a priority. Examples include: (1) filtration of sand from gas streams that enter the engine compartments in helicopters and aircraft especially in desert conditions like in Iraq and Afghanistan extending their life, (2) separation of fine particulate contaminants from emissions from chemical process industry and smoke stacks in power plants, and (3) cleanup of particulate contaminants (bacteria, dust, etc.) from air conditioning system in aircraft. We have collaborated extensively with key players in both areas over the years and we will reach out to them in Phase II to seek their input in extending our technologies to their applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary intended application of the proposed technology is in the filtration of Mars dust under the NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) program. Technologies such as MIT's MOXIE that may be sensitive to particulate contamination can benefit from using BlazeTech's dust filter.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)

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)
Karen Jayne
kjayne@reactive-innovations.com
2 Park Drive, Unit 4
Westford,  MA 01886-3525
(978) 692-4664

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In Situ Resource Utilization(ISRU) is a key technology required to enable missions to the Moon and Mars. The Martian atmosphere consists of 95% carbon dioxide which can be used in (ISRU) processes to synthesize propellant and life support consumables. Reactive Innovation proposes to develop a lightweight electrochemical reactor to collect and pressurize CO2 from the Martian atmosphere. The Phase I successfully demonstrated collection and pressurization of CO2 from pure and dilute gas streams. In the proposed Phase II program, we will continue to optimize components and scale up the technology to meet the needs of NASA's ISRU processing applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA, this technology will have significant terrestrial-based applications. The market for collecting and separating carbon dioxide from other gases is expected to grow with continued interest and emphasis on reducing CO2 emissions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
This technology has significant NASA applications in ISRU processing on Mars, where carbon dioxide is a plentiful resource and can be processed to make propellants and oxygen. Other NASA applications include air revitalization.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
Protective Clothing/Space Suits/Breathing Apparatus
Conversion
Generation
Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable)
In Situ Manufacturing
Processing Methods
Resource Extraction
Polymers
Fuels/Propellants

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
WASK Engineering, Inc.
3905 Dividend Drive
Cameron Park, CA 95682-7230
(530) 672-2795

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Wendel Burkhardt
wendel.burkhardt@waskengr.com
3905 Dividend Drive
Cameron Park,  CA 95682-7230
(530) 672-2795

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
High power electric propulsion systems have the potential to revolutionize space propulsion due to their extremely high performance. This can result in significant propellant savings on space vehicles, allowing the overall mass to shrink for launch on a less expensive vehicle or to allow the space vehicle to carry more payload at the same weight. Many of the electrical propulsion systems operate in pulse mode, pulsing hundreds or even thousands of times per second. Creating reliable valves that can operate in pulse mode for extremely long life and at low power are critical in these applications. In Phase 1 of this effort, WASK Engineering demonstrated the suitability using a piezo actuated valve to meet the requirements of electric thrusters. Valves actuated with piezo crystals offer the benefits of 1) a demonstrated ability to operate at frequencies from 0 Hz to over 1,000 Hz, 2) the ability to throttle continuously from 0-100% open, 3) extremely fast response, 4) low power usage, 5) opening the valve with infinitely variable operating waveforms, sine wave, square wave, saw tooth, custom wave form, etc., 6) no EMI generated, and 7) a very low part count for reliability

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The capabilities the current valve possesses will permit it to be used for flow control in pneumatic systems. The small size and low power consumption open the potential to use the valve in portable, battery powered applications. We are already evolving another piezo actuated valve for an application to actively control gas turbine combustion instabilities. In this effort we are developing relationships with jet engine fuel control companies such as Woodward Controls. This has benefits not only commercially but also militarily, as the Navy is evaluating alternatives for active combustion control in their jet aircraft. A second potential application is to apply this technology to rocket engine combustors. In current rocket engine developments, especially those using a heavy hydrocarbon fuel such as RP-1, combustion instability is an ongoing concern. Typical approaches significantly complicate the design. Incorporating a number of modulating valves into a small number of the injection elements in a combustor have the potential to counteract the devastating effects of the instabilities in rocket engines and significantly reduce development costs. To this end we have had discussions with both NASA rocket engineers and engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory about the potential of pursuing this approach.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential NASA applications include application of the valve to the propellant control for electric thrusters. This includes both continuous firing and pulse mode units. The valve's capability to throttle and readily adjust the frequency and pulse width of opening enables the possibility of easily operating a thruster at various average power levels, depending on mission requirements. When this effort is completed, the valve will have demonstrated an unprecedented cycle life. This will make it suitable not only as a valve for long duration missions with electric propulsion, but also for valves and regulators for satellites and space probes on long duration space missions. The valve can also be used, with some minor modifications as a cold gas thruster. This would allow microsatellites a simple method of control while on orbit. The ability to throttle makes the control very effective, as the impulse bit can be adjusted from large to very small depending on the immediate requirement. This has the benefit of simplifying the control system due to the very small minimum impulse bit possible. For all of these applications, the combination of all the significant features of the valve, 1) throttling, 2) pulse mode operation at very high frequencies, 3) very small size, 4) very light weight, and 5) very low power requirement result in a very unique and innovative valve.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Relative Navigation (Interception, Docking, Formation Flying; see also Control & Monitoring; Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Attitude Determination & Control
Ceramics
Metallics
Actuators & Motors
Pressure & Vacuum Systems
Maneuvering/Stationkeeping/Attitude Control Devices
Spacecraft Main Engine

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
e beam, Inc.
21070 Southwest Tile Flat Road
Beaverton, OR 97007-8739
(503) 628-0703

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Bernard Vancil
bernie@ebeaminc.com
21070 Southwest Tile Flat Road
Beaverton,  OR 97007-8739
(503) 628-0703

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to combine the two most powerful cathode technologies into one hollow cathode assembly for use in ion and Hall-effect thrusters. Together, these technologies will boost ion thruster performance and life beyond current art. Reservoir cathodes have demonstrated, in microwave tube environments, lifetimes beyond 100,000 hours with no drop in output. Scandate impregnated cathodes have demonstrated emission beyond 10 amps/cm2 at 800 degrees Cb(W) and emission levels over 100 amps/cm2 at under 1000 degrees Cb(W). This is over 200 degrees below comparable all-tungsten impregnated cathodes, the cathode normally used for space propulsion. High temperature is the great enemy of long cathode life. Longer-life cathodes are needed for interplanetary and lunar missions, as well as earth-escape and near-earth maneuvers. In Phase II, we shall continue developing the hybrid scandate reservoir cathode and perfect our stand-alone scandium-doped tungsten cathodes. We shall continue to improve our hollow reservoir technology. Then we will combine the two technologies into an integrated module.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
All the applications described in NASA commercial applications apply to non-NASA markets except interplanetary space travel. More powerful thrusters are needed in commercial satellites for orbital transfer. These would allow all-electric propulsion for larger, heavier satellites operating in geo-synchronous orbits. All-electric propulsion lowers mass and size and raises efficiency. Other areas include Department of Defense radars and communications. This is the largest market for high-performance cathodes. The cathodes proposed here would increase life, performance, frequency data rates and resolution in these systems. Nongovernmental applications lie in high-speed x-ray tomography, electron beam-stimulated lasers, especially at UV, and commercial geo-synchronous satellite downlinks and propulsion. Hollow cathodes can be used as a source of high current density electrons for applications such as electron beam welding or as a source of electrons in corrosive environments. The cathodes proposed here are capable of creating electron beams of 1000 amps/cm2 or more. Even though the energy spread is high, the extraordinary current densities make for an extremely bright beam.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Mars and lunar cargo missions would benefit, as would the upcoming JUNO mission to Jupiter. Also, piloted interplanetary mission become feasible with sufficient cathode output and life. Earth transfer, station-keeping and earth-escape should occur by all-electric means. It would lower cost, size, mass, and complexity. This technology would also help NASA's conventional cathode applications. Improved cathodes are needed for microwave amplifiers for space communications. The cathode is the performance-limiting component in these devices. A higher output cathode is especially needed for terahertz amplifiers and sources. The so-called "terahertz gap" is a vast region of frequency space that is unutilized, largely because of cathode technology limitations. Scandate cathodes are the key to accessing that space. In short, NASA needs higher bit rates, more power, and higher frequency for space communications and a host of other applications, and these are largely limited by the cathode.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Amplifiers/Repeaters/Translators
Materials (Insulator, Semiconductor, Substrate)
Metallics
Nanomaterials
Maneuvering/Stationkeeping/Attitude Control Devices
Spacecraft Main Engine
Lifetime Testing

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

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

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Liquid rocket developers have identified advanced engine concepts that are not feasible due to manufacture due to limitations in currently available technologies. Specifically, engine developers are in need of a manufacturing technology that is capable of generating cooling channels in liquid rocket nozzles and combustion chambers at low cost, while supporting increasingly complex designs (see appended letter of support from Aerojet Rocketdyne). This Phase II project will result in a reduced cost flexible technology that is ready to support the development and fabrication of advanced channel wall rocket liners and combustors. This will be achieved by adapting a novel manufacturing technology that can machine delicate and complex features in metals and ceramics. This technology was demonstrated to be feasible to support the advancement of channel rocket design by making more complex designs manufacturable while reducing lead time and manufacturing cost. It was shown to reduce machine time by 90% when compared to milling the same cooling channels in stainless steel. Advancing engine performance can be achieved through more optimal combustor and liner cooling, however engine designers are currently limited in what can be designed due to current technology slitting saw or end mill capabilities. The proposed technology overcomes this limitation and supports the design and fabrication of highly complex and delicate features. It can easily be scaled up to support SSME class engines. At the end of Phase II, this technology will be ready to support the development of and production of channel wall rockets that incorporate more complex cooling features than are currently feasible to manufacture. The technology will made more user friendly and efficient to implement, and a manufacturing workstation layout and cost will be developed to support both small and SSME class engines.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential non-NASA applications where Ormond has seen interest include ground based turbine generators, and nuclear reactor maintenance. Any application where materials are too difficult to machine the desired feature is a candidate. For example, ceramics, high strength metals, nickel alloys, and refractory metals.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are several NASA applications that may benefit from the proposed technology development. These include channel wall liquid rocket combustors, advanced turbine blades, future scramjets, space optics. This project will support Space launch System (SLS) programs, primarily the RS-25 engines. It also has application to other engines such as J-2X, RL-10, and any large LOX/RP boost engine similar to F-1.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Mirrors
Atmospheric Propulsion
Launch Engine/Booster
Spacecraft Main Engine
Heat Exchange

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

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

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA's Road Maps for both Launch and In Space Propulsion call for the development of non-toxic, monopropellant reaction control systems to replace the current toxic hydrazine based systems. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle capsule with twelve 160 pound force (lbf) hydrazine monopropellant thrusters and the Orion Service Module with eight 100lbf NTO/MMH auxiliary propulsion thrusters are obvious insertion candidates. Additionally, the Commercial Crew and Cargo spacecraft have also demonstrated the need for 100lbf class attitude control thrusters with quantities comparable to Orion. Hydrazine replacements, including non-toxic HAN- and ADN-monopropellants, combust at higher temperatures making them incompatible with current Inconel 625 thrusters used in 100lbf engines. With an emphasis on hydrazine replacement increased performance, ease of manufacturing and cost reduction, a "green" 100lbf flight-weight thruster is being developed.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications include Commercial Access to Space programs including the lift/space craft programs for SpaceX Falcon/Dragon and Orbital Antares/Cygnus; Satellite insertion and positioning; tactical missile divert and attitude control; auxiliary power generators; and jet engine restarters.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications include reaction control thrusters for the Orion MPCV capsule and service module; 100lbf thrusters in support of Commercial Crew and Cargo spacecraft; Reaction Control Systems for Space Launch System

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable)
Prototyping
Processing Methods
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Joining (Adhesion, Welding)
Metallics
Fuels/Propellants
Maneuvering/Stationkeeping/Attitude Control Devices
Spacecraft Main Engine

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Quest Thermal Group
6452 Fig Street Unit A
Arvada, CO 80004-1060
(303) 395-3100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scott Dye
scott.dye@questthermal.com
6452 Fig St Unit A
Arvada,  CO 80004-1060
(303) 395-3100

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced space propulsion systems are a critical need for future NASA deep space missions. High thrust engines could revolutionize space exploration. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion ("NTP") is a high thrust/high Isp propulsion technology. Reduced or Zero Boil Off of LH2 propellant for long duration missions is among the critical technology advancements needed for cryogenic propellant storage for both NTP and chemical propulsion. Quest proposes to continue development of Cellular Load Responsive MLI (CLRMLI), an innovative, high performance thermal insulation system. CLRMLI is a novel technology with a cryopumping cellular core containing Load Responsive MLI layers. This new form of insulation uses cryosorption cryopumping to self-evacuate when in contact with cryogenic propellant tanks, allowing high thermal performance in-air and in-space. The Phase I program successfully demonstrated CLRMLI is a feasible and attractive insulation for new launch vehicle platforms and LH2 or LNG powered aircraft. CLRMLI has a measured heat flux of 11.4W/m2, 25X lower than SOFI (vacuum). NASA's Technology Roadmaps call "Zero Boil Off storage of cryogenic propellants for long duration missions" and "Nuclear Thermal Propulsion components and systems" the

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Several aerospace prime contractors have interest in Quest/Ball IMLI and related insulation systems. CLRMLI could significantly improve launch vehicle insulation, reduce cryopropellant boiloff and increase mission capabilities. High performance CLRMLI system can replace SOFI in cryogenic upper stages such as AC, ACES and SLS. CLRMLI is ideal insulation for LH2 powered aircraft such as Boeing's Phantom Eye, and for LNG fueled aircraft. Advances in thermal insulation developed for space cryogenics thermal control have relevance to terrestrial industrial applications. Reducing thermal conductivity and heat leak could have significant impact on Earth-based heating and cooling industrial processes and needs, for green energy and high energy efficiency. IMLI and derivatives might be able to provide improved thermal insulation for storage and preservation of cryogens for a variety of industrial uses. LNG tanks could benefit from improved thermal insulation, and CLRMLI might benefit LH2 storage for hydrogen fueled aircraft and ground vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
CLRMLI is a novel high performance thermal insulation offering dramatically better thermal performance than SOFI both in-air and in-space. CLRMLI could be a good SOFI replacement for launch vehicle platforms, such as SLS, where it could help solve cryogenic propellant boiloff concerns. SLS is baselining using SOFI at 1.2", nearly double the usual thickness, to reduce boiloff. CLRMLI, with a measured heat flux of 46 W/m2 in-air and 11 W/m2, offers much lower heat leak than SOFI (289 W/m2). Boeing has indicated strong interest in CLRMLI (and the companion VCMLI concept), and will support this Phase II work with engineering support. CLRMLI could benefit NASA for LH2 storage for long duration nuclear thermal propelled vehicles for deep space exploration, as well as cryogenic propellant storage for conventional LH2/LOX chemical propulsion systems. NASA's Technology Roadmaps call "Zero Boil Off storage of cryogenic propellants for long duration missions" and "Nuclear Thermal Propulsion components and systems" the #2 and #7 ranked technical challenge for future NASA missions. CLRMLI could provide 92% lower heat flux than current SOFI insulation for in-air use and 97% lower heat flux in-space. CLRMLI might be a preferred thermal insulation for future NASA mission use, with a combination of high thermal performance, good structural strength, operable in both in-air and in-space environments, and it can be engineered for specific mission requirements.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Smart/Multifunctional Materials
Isolation/Protection/Shielding (Acoustic, Ballistic, Dust, Radiation, Thermal)
Fuels/Propellants
Active Systems
Cryogenic/Fluid Systems
Passive Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
1701 Military Trail, Suite 110
Jupiter, FL 33458-7887
(561) 427-6337

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tim Miller
TMiller@fttinc.com
1701 Military Trail, Suite 110
Jupiter,  FL 33458-7887
(561) 427-6350

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Design, fabrication, assembly and test of the Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. (FTT) concept for a submersible, superconducting electric boost pump during Phase II will transition the pairing of superconducting motor and high performance pump technology for use in liquid hydrogen (LH2) from TRL 3 to TRL 6. This innovative solution offers significant performance and operability benefits to future nuclear thermal and conventional chemical propulsion powered cryogenic in-space and upper stage systems. FTT's submersible superconducting electric motor driven liquid hydrogen (LH2) boost pump combines a high performance hydrogen pump inducer along with an electric motor drive using active speed modulation to maintain constant discharge pressure with up to 55% vapor at the inlet. The LH2 environment enables an energy dense superconducting motor that is precisely controlled. This approach substantially reduces the risk of cavitation in the main pump and enables the downstream high speed turbopump to be operated at optimum efficiency with much reduced pressures in the propellant tank. Utilization of the low-cost, near-zero NPSHr electric boost pump permits considerable tank weight savings (as much as 40% for the NTP Mars Mission). The concept also offers significant operability and vehicle performance advantages for new cryogenic upperstage vehicles using conventional chemical propulsion engines.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential Non-NASA commercial applications of the technology developed under this SBIR include any boost pump application for cryogenic upper stages to increase main pump NPSP margins and/or reduce tank pressurization requirements to reduce system weight. Ground based refueling station applications to transfer liquid natural gas from the storage tank to the vehicle tank.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications for the technology developed under this SBIR include low heat leak cryogenic circulators and transfer pumps for propellant depot, upper stage engine recirculation pumps, and cryogenic stage boost pumps, including the NTP application. Additional applications for this technology include small, light-weight, cryogenic; Hydrogen, Methane, Oxygen propellant boost pumps for chemical rocket engine applications as well as propellant loading ground support equipment.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Spacecraft Instrumentation & Astrionics (see also Communications; Control & Monitoring; Information Systems)
Space Transportation & Safety
Superconductance/Magnetics
Processing Methods
Actuators & Motors
Machines/Mechanical Subsystems
Fuels/Propellants
Spacecraft Main Engine
Cryogenic/Fluid Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ACENT Laboratories LLC
3 Scott Lane
Manorville, NY 11949-2623
(631) 801-2616

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Kielb
robert.kielb@acentlabs.com
747 SW 2nd Ave IMB #34
Gainesville,  FL 32601-6279
(352) 284-6223

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has identified Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) as an approach that can provide the fastest trip times to Mars and as the preferred concept for human space travel. In order to perform component testing in support of NTP engine development, an efficient means for delivering high-flowrate, high-temperature hydrogen is required. Non-nuclear generation of the desired hydrogen flowrates and temperatures for ground test of NTP components and subsystems is problematic. ACENT Laboratories is developing a Hydrogen Wave Heater (HWH) for this application. The HWH is an innovative embodiment of a wave rotor. Wave rotors can be used as a primary compressor/heater or as a topping compressor/heater to multiply the temperature and pressure of an existing compression or heating process. These highly-scalable continuous-flow devices are capable of flow rates in excess of 100 lb/s and temperatures over 5000 F.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to Department of Defense applications for high enthalpy wind tunnel applications, the ACENT wave heater is pertinent to any application of gas heating above the temperature limits of conventional materials. Applications include manufacturing and material processing among others. Additional spin-off technologies currently under consideration include condensing wave rotors for CO2 separation and capture in addition to supercritical CO2 wave cycles that can enable efficient waste heat utilization.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The target markets for the ACENT wave heater are commercial and government entities that require high temperature heating of gases to temperatures beyond the current state of the art using electrical or combustion-driven heat exchangers. Ongoing NASA efforts relating to Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) technology development require heating of hydrogen to temperatures well beyond conventional heating capability. ACENT is actively engaged in discussions with relevant personnel at NASA SSC and MSFC regarding possible heater development opportunities beyond this SBIR effort. Additionally, the hypersonics community within NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD) has a strong interest in the development of high temperature clean air heaters for high enthalpy wind tunnels.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Analytical Methods
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Conversion
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Fuels/Propellants
Heat Exchange

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ultramet
12173 Montague Street
Pacoima, CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Arthur Fortini
art.fortini@ultramet.com
Ultramet
Pacoima,  CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Efficient nuclear-thermal propulsion (NTP) requires heating a low molecular weight gas, typically hydrogen, to high temperature and expelling it through a nozzle. The higher the temperature and pressure, the higher the thrust and specific impulse. For ground test facilities that will be heating the gas to temperatures up to 4400F (2425C), the number of materials that can be used is severely limited. The need for compatibility with hot hydrogen limits the field even further. In Phase I, Ultramet designed, fabricated, and tested a system for heating high-pressure hydrogen to temperatures approaching 2400C. The system included a foam-based heating element, an insulation package, and a carefully designed multiwalled pressure vessel that could contain the hot gas at pressures up to 2000 psig. The Phase I effort demonstrated the suitability of the selected materials and the overall design approach. Phase II will focus on scaling up the system, fabricating and testing hardware, and laying out a clear path to a system that can deliver hot hydrogen at flow rates up to 40 lbm/sec (the highest flow rate currently of interest to NASA) at pressures up to 2000 psig. The overall system will be composed of multiple modules, and each module will be comprised of multiple heating elements. Because the design is modular, flows higher than 40 lbm/sec can be achieved. The modular design also minimizes programmatic risk because it will allow the use of materials at higher technology readiness levels and subsystems that do not have to be scaled up.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Military applications mirror many of the NASA applications, especially in terms of igniters for engines on launch vehicles and satellite propulsion systems. Hypersonic wind tunnels will also benefit from the technology. Perhaps the largest commercial applications would be ignition systems and catalyst heaters for turbine engines used for terrestrial power generation. Other applications include gas and water heaters where high efficiency is critical.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
As a source of high temperature, high-pressure hydrogen, the primary NASA application for this technology is ground test equipment for testing nuclear-thermal and solar-thermal propulsion systems. High-power NTP systems will benefit a variety of NASA missions that involve long transit times and/or the need to enter orbit at the destination. High-power NTP systems will also benefit crewed missions beyond the Moon because they will result in shorter trip times, reducing the consumables load and reducing exposure to cosmic radiation. As a system for heating flowing propellants, the technology can be used as an igniter for monopropellant and non-hypergolic bipropellant engines. Such engines can be used for booster-class engines, reaction control engines on launch vehicles, and main and attitude control engines on satellites and interplanetary spacecraft. As a system for heating gases and liquids in general, the technology can be used in hypersonic wind tunnels.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Processing Methods
Ceramics
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Metallics
Spacecraft Main Engine
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17601-5688
(717) 295-6061

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Calin Tarau
Calin.Tarau@1-act.com
1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster,  PA 17601-5688
(717) 295-6066

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
During a NASA Phase I SBIR program, ACT addressed the need for light-weight, non-venting PCM heat storage devices by successfully demonstrating proof-of-concept of a vapor chamber with a PCM-based wick structure. The principal objective of the Phase II program is to design, fabricate, and test a full-scale PCM vapor chamber. Goals of the Phase II program include establishing thermal and structural design requirements. ACT will also develop a thermal storage model for integration into the heat transport model developed in Phase I. A custom microPCM will be developed and screened with the assistance of subcontractor SwRI to obtain optimum properties for thermal performance. ACT will also design, fabricate and test a sub-scale PCM vapor chamber with relevant form factor and a fraction of the full-scale heat load. Upon successful demonstration of the sub-scale unit, two full-scale PCM vapor chambers will be fabricated and tested. Both full-scale units will undergo extensive thermal performance testing. At the end of the Phase II project, one of the full-scale PCM vapor chambers will be delivered to NASA for further testing, and the other will remain at ACT for extended life testing.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
MDA's Airborne Laser (ABL) program has significant cooling requirements that can only be addressed by mechanical refrigeration systems. These include cooling of the various high powered solid state lasers currently used on the ABL for tracking and ranging as well as standby cooling for the basic hydrogen peroxide (BHP) loops on the Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL). To reduce size, weight and power consumption, the PCM vapor chamber could be integrated into the refrigeration system to reduce the temperature lift requirement during peak heat load conditions. By using the PCM vapor chamber as a load leveling device, the power requirement of the compressor can be significantly reduced. ACT is also currently working on several other high energy laser cooling applications with military primes and direct government funding programs. These applications require PCM storage to reduce the mass of the thermal control system.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed PCM vapor chamber can operate as both a thermal capacitor and as a two-phase heat exchanger. For NASA applications that have a need for a thermal capacitor, the PCM vapor chamber can provide mass savings to the system by swapping out the existing thermal capacitor with the PCM vapor chamber. For thermal control systems requiring both a thermal capacitor and a liquid/liquid heat exchanger, the PCM vapor chamber can be used as an all-in-one solution. This approach has the potential to provide significant mass savings.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Heat Exchange
Passive Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Sustainable Innovations, LLC
111 Roberts Street, Suite J
East Hartford, CT 06108-3653
(860) 652-9690

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Josh Preston
josh.preston@sustainableinnov.com
111 Roberts Street, Suite J
East Hartford,  CT 06108-3653
(860) 652-9690

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Long duration manned space exploration requires further closure of the oxygen loop of the life support system than is currently realized aboard the International Space Station. In order to further close the oxygen loop, NASA has been developing an advanced Plasma Pyrolysis (PPA) technology that reduces the waste methane to higher order hydrocarbons in order to better utilize the hydrogen for oxygen recovery. In order for this PPA technology to be feasible, there must be a means to separate the hydrogen from the other compounds for recycle to the Sabatier reactor. Sustainable Innovations' signature electrochemical cell architecture embodied in A Highly Efficient, Solid State Hydrogen Purification System for Resource Recovery (HRR), provides a solution to NASA's search for regenerative separation technology enabling maximum hydrogen recovery from a stream containing water vapor, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons including methane, acetylene, ethane, and ethylene, among others. During the Phase II effort, Sustainable Innovations will design and fabricate a full-scale prototype four crew-member (4-CM) unit, optimizing hydrogen utilization, weight and volume, and enabling full integration of the HRR with PPA and Sabatier systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Sustainable Innovations plans to market the HRR technology under the trade name H2Renew

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The goal of the Hydrogen Resource Recovery (HRR) system is to extract pure hydrogen from the mixed gas effluent of the Plasma Pyrolysis Assembly (PPA) for recycle to the PPA and the Sabatier reactor, thus enabling maximum oxygen recovery from carbon dioxide reduction. Successful improvement of the HRR technology will enable greater closure of the life support oxygen loop via the Plasma Pyrolysis technology. The HRR is enabling technology for any of the proposed carbon dioxide reduction technologies that require hydrogen separation as one of the unit operations. Specific applications include: Life support enhancement on the International Space Station and long duration Mars missions, and ISRU fuel production.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-1916
(303) 940-2347

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gokhan Alptekin
galptekin@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge,  CO 80033-1916
(303) 940-2349

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
An on-board oxygen concentrator is required during long duration manned space missions to supply medical oxygen. The commercial medical oxygen generators based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) are large and highly power intensive. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) proposes to develop a small, lightweight, portable oxygen generator based on a vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) to produce concentrated medical oxygen. The unit uses ambient vehicle cabin air as the feed and delivers high purity oxygen while meeting NASA's requirements for high flow capacity, closed-loop tissue oxygen control and operation in microgravity/partial gravity. TDA's VSA system uses a modified version of the lithium exchanged low silica X zeolite (Li-LSX), a state-of-the-art air separation sorbent extensively used in commercial Portable Oxygen Concentrators (POCs) to enhance the N2 adsorption capacity. In Phase I, we demonstrated the scientific, technical, and commercial feasibility of the oxygen concentrator module (OCM). In Phase II, we will develop a higher fidelity prototype with an adjustable pressure output to produce 2-15 lpm of O2 at 50% to +90% purity from ambient cabin air. The OCM will be capable of self-regulating the oxygenation of the patient using a closed loop feedback system that senses tissue oxygenation level. We will evaluate the sorbent performance in a breadboard bench-scale prototype under simulated microgravity/partial gravity exploration atmospheres and carry out a 1,500 hr longevity test (at a minimum) to determine its mechanical durability. Based on the experimental results, we will design a prototype unit that will meet all of NASA's requirements (e.g., low power draw over the range of flows and oxygen levels, lightweight and volume), while delivering the desired oxygen flow and purity.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The portable medical oxygen generator will also find immediate use in the medical evacuation platforms used in the military and civilian applications as well as in portable oxygen generators. The sorbent used in the system would also be applicable to bulk production of oxygen. Oxygen is a strategically important chemical, with a $2.0 billion market value.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
An on-board oxygen concentrator will find application in long duration manned space missions and in International Space Station (ISS) and Orion spacecraft to supply medical oxygen by recovering the excess oxygen from the cabin air. The unit will be able to concentrate oxygen with little or no net change in the vehicle cabin oxygen concentration.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Fire Protection

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Proton Energy Systems, Inc.
10 Technology Drive
Wallingford, CT 06492-1955
(203) 678-2338

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Luke Dalton
ldalton@protononsite.com
10 Technology Drive
Wallingford,  CT 06492-1955
(203) 678-2128

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is the development of a cathode feed electrolysis cell stack capable of generating 3600 psi oxygen at a relevant scale for future exploration missions. This innovation is relevant to NASA's need for compact, quiet, efficient, and long-lived sources of pressurized oxygen for atmosphere revitalization (AR) and EVA oxygen storage recharge. Present AR equipment aboard International Space Station (ISS) consists of power-intensive, noisy compressors that have service lives less than 2 years. Proton's proposed electrolyzer stack will eliminate the need for these compressors, by developing a cell stack that can produce 3600 psia oxygen via electrochemical compression. This innovation results in a quiet, efficient, solid state device with no internal moving parts to service or fail.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology will also enable commercial regenerative fuel cell (RFC) systems, which will benefit from high pressure electrolysis for compact reactant storage. Proton is working to commercialize RFC systems for a variety of terrestrial energy storage applications. In particular, Proton's RFC technology has been demonstrated as a replacement for lead acid batteries in telecom backup power systems. This solution provides both ride-through capability and rapid response characteristics at a lower life cycle cost than battery technology. A natural extension of backup power is the integration of RFC's with inherently intermittent renewable energy sources. Additional massive and undeveloped markets are emerging as higher penetration of renewables causes grid balancing and regulation challenges. Small scale power generation and energy storage will become another distributed technology analogous to cell phones for communications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Based on Proton's unique experience in commercializing PEM electrolyzers, transitioning to NASA, DOD, and developing commercial applications are important outcomes of this technology development effort. The NASA applications for this technology are several: providing pressurized oxygen refill capability to a number of scenarios including ISS, EMU, and future lunar surface systems. Civilian commercial derivatives of this technology would enable a variety of energy storage applications. High pressure electrolysis provides the key capability for volumetrically dense hydrogen and oxygen storage. Impacts of this technology on military operations include enabling high altitude unmanned aerial vehicle operations and a variety of underwater vehicle operations, most notably UUV's. The similarity between the high altitude and undersea applications is that both require the storage of oxidant, in addition to the storage of fuel. High altitude UAV's can be used for missile defense, surveillance, and communications. Undersea applications include long-term distributed data gathering with long endurance buoys, transport of special forces personnel, and mine neutralization among others. In short, the proposed effort will support the development of an enabling technology for a variety of applications that require high pressure hydrogen and/or oxygen for energy storage and life support.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
Remediation/Purification
Conversion
Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Systems & Technologies, Inc.
12 Mauchly Building H
Irvine, CA 92618-2330
(949) 733-3355

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Stephen Kupiec
skupiec@asatechinc.com
12 Mauchly steH
Irvine,  CA 92618-2330
(949) 733-3355

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced Systems & Technologies proposed WHISPER (Wireless Hybrid Identification and Sensing Platform for Equipment Recovery) solution to NASA's need for automatic location and tracking of a large number of individual crew items in a space habitat microgravity cabin is to combine an EPCglobal compliant RFID smart augmented tag (a dime-sized device that is powered and read by off-the-shelf UHF RFID readers and contains a microcontroller and INS) with an IR sensor that works in conjunction with AS&T's existing Particle-swarm, Ubiquitous, Projector-based Positioning Ergrodic Transformation (PUPPET) system. This will enable simple wireless location tracking of an unlimited number of items such as fasteners, hand tools, and clothing but would also do more complex orientation and velocity tracking. WHISPER modules can also be attached cold thruster maneuver platforms or even personnel for monitoring tasks or exercise.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ability to tracking multiple items in close proximity to each has been a constant focus in the warehousing, manufacturing and shipping industries. In many cases it is also highly advantageous to also be able to determine the orientation and pose of items such as robotic arms, servos, and even human actions for training, medical, simulation, and even time/motion studies. While current RFID tags are capable of determining location they cannot effectively track motion or pose. The AS&T proposed AS&T WHISPER system, due to its hybrid technology of INS, optical tracking (through AS&T's PUPPET technology), and RFID technology, using PSO data fusion methods, will be able to provide low power, postage stamp-sized location, orientation, and kinematic information over a wireless WISP network for industrial, medical, training, and simulation uses in a wide variety of related industries. In essence the WHISPER tag is an idealization of a position/pose/tracking spime.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications of this system will location tracking of various small and large items in space but will also include exercise monitoring, robotic poise control, vestibular compensation of motion sickness for space travel, musculoskeletal injury monitoring in astronauts, head tracking and tele-factoring for astronauts and internal navigation for SPHERES modules on board the ISS. The system could be incorporated, for example, by NASA into robotic arms to provide high precision "eye hand coordination" for automated manipulation tasks.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Analytical Methods
Spacecraft Instrumentation & Astrionics (see also Communications; Control & Monitoring; Information Systems)
Man-Machine Interaction
Attitude Determination & Control
Command & Control
Condition Monitoring (see also Sensors)
Teleoperation
Data Fusion
Inertial (see also Sensors)
Biophysical Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Environmental and Life Support Tech.
6600 East Lookout Drive
Parker, CO 80138-8707
(303) 495-2090

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Clifford Jolly
cliffjolly@elstechnology.com
6600 East Lookout Drive
Parker,  CO 80138-8707
(303) 495-2090

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A catalytic post-processor is the last unit operation that reclaimed water typically sees before being consumed by the crew, therefore the entire sub-system must be safe, reliable and well-understood. The key innovation required to provide a sub-system for longer-term missions is to develop catalyst technologies that maintain a high degree of activity and physical stability over multi-year operational lives. The high catalytic activity of noble metals combined with the surface area and adsorptivity of activated carbon are the ideal combination of parameters for achieving the highest level of performance at the lowest penalty for a post-processing sub-system. The problem has been the physical breakdown of traditional activated carbon catalyst supports. To address this problem, the Phase I and previous intermittent research efforts have shown that noble metal catalysts supported on Porous Solid Carbon, exhibit superior physical properties to alumina, ceramic and granular activated carbon-supported catalysts currently used by NASA and throughout the chemical process industries. The Porous Solid Carbon-based catalysts are proposed due to their remarkable hardness and physical stability combined with their high surface area and surface activity. Phase I continued the successful demonstration and scale-up of the technology, demonstrating that the reactors can be manufactured with high surface area and porosity and good internal consistency, as well as demonstrating that the catalytic activity is extremely high under very mild conditions. The Porous Solid carbon reactor scale-up will be completed in Phase II to International Space Station-sized reactors that will be fabricated, tested and characterized using advanced analytical methods that will yield a fully quailifiable protocol for manufacturing the reactors for Phase III flight implementation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
New PSC-based catalyst materials will provide benefits in sustainability, energy efficiency, selectivity and process economics that will help US manufacturing industries optimize the value of our petrochemical resources in global markets, maintain and create all-important manufacturing jobs in the US, fuel increased exports of American goods to worldwide markets, and provide a significant, sustainable source of geopolitical capital to the United States. Scaled to production quantities, Porous Solid Carbon has a high degree of potential to be a true breakthrough in the field of materials science. These physically stable and catalytically robust materials will have wide-ranging application throughout the chemical process industries, potentially impacting areas within as much as 75% of a global catalyst market projected at >US$24B by 2018. Examples include hydrotreating to reduce sulfur in fuels, olefinic monomer purification via selective hydrogenation, and potentially game-saving applications in several high-profile gas-to-liquids projects. The multiplicative impact is even greater- over $3T per annum in products are manufactured using catalytic processes. Sustainability impact is also high-- application of PSC to pollution control will provide a massive level of social benefit by reducing discharge of organic pollutants on people and place, helping to reverse the decades-long environmental problems plaguing Asia and other parts of the world.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Long-range missions will benefit from upgraded catalytic post-processing reactors for both water recycling and air revitalization systems; multiple NASA programs can benefit from this technology. The opportunity for immediate implementation in the ISS Water Recovery System exists, and application of longer-life, more catalytically robust reactor technology to manned Mars missions, where re-supply options are even more constrained, is essential.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
Remediation/Purification
Waste Storage/Treatment

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NEI Corporation
201 Circle Drive North, Suite 102/103
Piscataway, NJ 08854-3723
(732) 868-3141

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Runqing Ou
rou@neicorporation.com
400 Apgar Drive, Suite E
Somerset,  NJ 08873-1154
(732) 868-3141

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The space suit assembly (SSA) contains metallic bearings at the wrist, neck, and waist, which are exposed to space environment, and pose a potential shock hazard. Current methods to mitigate the hazard are short-term, and there is a need for an insulative and durable coating on the metallic components. In Phase I, working with a supplier of space suits to NASA, we demonstrated proof-of-concept of a novel Self-Healing Coating (SHC) system which is highly insulative and is capable of healing surface damages at ambient conditions. The three-layered self-healing coating was applied on flat panels of stainless steel, titanium and aluminum. In addition to self-healing, the ability of the coating to resist impact damage was demonstrated. Building upon the successful Phase I demonstration, the focus of the Phase II effort will be to further test and optimize the SHC system and implement on a prototype metallic bearing. The Phase II objectives include: (i) ensuring that the self-healing coating system can be used in space environment; (ii) determining the least coating thickness that will provide both self-healing and electrical resistance; (iii) developing a suitable process for depositing the coating on components of different geometries; and (iv) developing a property and performance data set that best predicts useful life of the coating. Successful development will culminate in applying the SHC system on a prototype component and performing the needed qualification testing. We anticipate achieving a TRL of 6 by the end of the Phase II program. The work plan includes preparing coating solutions and coating flat test panels; conducting performance tests and optimizing coating thickness using coated plates; qualifying the SHC system for use in a space environment; developing a property and performance data set that best predicts useful life of the coating; applying SHC system to a prototype hardware; and evaluating performance of coating on prototype hardware.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Potential commercial applications for a self-healing, electrically-insulating coating system include uses where protection is needed against either shock hazards or corrosion, or even physical damage. The coating technology is a potential solution for being used as a chromate-free coating system that is capable of self-healing cuts and scratches at ambient temperatures without any external heat or stimulus, thereby limiting corrosion. A SHC system on aluminum is particularly relevant as it is the structural material in the aviation industry where presently hexavalent chromium &#150; based coatings are used, despite significant risk to human health. Currently, there are no qualified complete non-chrome coating systems, thus presenting an unmet need and an opportunity for the coating system being developed in this program. Introduction of a barrier coating with room temperature self-healing function will facilitate establishing a chromate-free system with performance equivalent to that of a chromate-containing coating. Accordingly, the SHC system would not only be an environmentally-friendly alternative to current coating systems that contain hexavalent chromium, but it would also result in significant cost savings as fewer aircraft would be forced out of operation for maintenance and repairs due to the coating system's self-healing capabilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A host of metallic bearings on different components of the SSA such as helmet, neck, wrist, arm, waist, leg, and boot can benefit from the developed self-healing insulative coating. A SHC system on metallic substrates which exhibits self-healing at room temperature, provides electrical insulation, and mitigates shock hazard, is a unique NASA application. To the best of our knowledge, currently, there is no commercially available coating solution to meet NASA's requirement. As the proposed SHC system is meant to satisfy a specific NASA need for a durable and insulative coating on the metallic components of a space suit, the technology is applicable for present and future NASA missions, such as spacesuits for Extravehicular Activities (EVA), Portable Life Support System (PLSS), Mars 2020 Rover Mission, Asteroid Redirect Mission 2020s and Human Exploration of Mars. The focus of the current effort is on applying the coating on stainless steel, titanium and aluminum.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Protective Clothing/Space Suits/Breathing Apparatus
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Polymers
Smart/Multifunctional Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc.
2520 West 237th Street
Torrance, CA 90505-5217
(424) 263-6300

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jesus Delgado Alonso
jesusda@intopsys.com
2520 West 237th Street
Torrance,  CA 90505-5217
(424) 263-6321

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 6
End: 9

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advances in spacesuits are required, to support the ISS and future human exploration. Spacesuit development and ground-based testing require sensing and analytical instrumentation for characterizing and validating prototypes. While miniature thermosensors measure reliably at low cost, and can be incorporated all around spacesuit prototypes, incorporating gas sensors at locations of interest inside a spacesuit has been a significant challenge &#150; in particular for human subject tests &#150; because of the size and cost of available instrumentation. The sensor probes and cables must not restrict the suit or human subjects' mobility, and must not disturb the gas flow. Intelligent Optical System is developing luminescence-based sensing patches for non-intrusive monitoring of critical life support gas constituents and potential trace contaminants in spacesuits. Flexible sensitive patches inside prototype spacesuits are interrogated via optical fibers, and do not disturb the gas flow or the human subject. This will give suit engineers great flexibility for choosing multiple sensing points, fitting the sensor elements into the spacesuit, and cost effectively relocating the sensor elements as desired. In Phase I, a first demonstrator was validated at Johnson Space Center by comparison with current instrumentation used in the Suited Manikin Test Apparatus. Phase II will produce an advanced system ready for integration into NASA programs, and for commercialization (TRL9).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The potential market for noninvasive sensor patches includes the industries that apply protective packaging to moisture- or oxygen-sensitive goods. Incorporating patches inside packages will enable the users to check gas composition nondestructively throughout the life of the packaged product, assuring the integrity of the envelope. Packaging with gas barrier properties and/or modified atmospheres is used extensively for electronic components, hygroscopic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, animal feed, and surgical and dental instruments. Specifically adapting and calibrating the patch sensors will suit them for use in these industries.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology will apply directly to accomplishing the objectives of the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program, contributing to the rapid and effective development of novel EVA systems, and the demonstration of key capabilities for future human missions beyond Earth orbit. Exhaustive testing of prototype systems reduces risk and improves the affordability of exploration missions. The proposed technology will significantly enhance current capabilities for demonstrating, in ground-based testbeds and in flight experiments on the International Space Station (ISS), the prototype EVA systems developed in the AES program. In addition, sensor materials developed in this project will find direct application for life support system monitoring. Luminescence sensors for pO2, pCO2 and pH2O have significant advantages over competing technology for the Portable Life Support system, including reduced size, low power and operation under wet conditions. Today IR technology remains the most accurate and stable CO2 means of monitoring for the PLSS, but it is highly sensitive to free water that can condense or accumulate in the gas sampling area, particularly on optical windows. When NASA astronauts work hard in spacesuits, they sweat, creating moisture that has historically caused IR sensors to fail or give inaccurate readings. Luminescent sensors capable of operating while wet offer an alternative to overcome this limitation.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Chemical/Environmental (see also Biological Health/Life Support)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ultramet
12173 Montague Street
Pacoima, CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Selin
jim.selin@ultramet.com
Ultramet
Pacoima,  CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In this work, Ultramet is developing a three-dimensional (3D) laser-directed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) additive manufacturing system to build free-form refractory metal components for liquid rocket propulsion systems. By combining Ultramet's experience in refractory metal fabrication by CVD with computer control of directed laser energy, nearly unlimited expression of part shape and metal composition can be realized for component fabrication. 3D additive manufacturing is revolutionizing many industries by offering unconstrained complex build geometries and reduced cost, lead time, and material usage compared with conventional manufacturing techniques. By developing laser-directed CVD technology for refractory metals, Ultramet will bring these inherent benefits to a class of materials that are notoriously difficult to form and thus are expensive to implement. By depositing successive layers of metal directly from reactive precursor gases, the system will be able to build components from rhenium, tungsten, tantalum, niobium, and their alloys with complex internal features and reduced assembly part count. In Phase I, Ultramet designed and built a laser-directed CVD reactor, successfully deposited both rhenium and tungsten in a controlled fashion, and achieved well-defined two-dimensional spatial control and layering as a strong demonstration of process feasibility. In Phase II, Ultramet will design and build a new high-power, high-speed reactor with optical z-axis control to enable layering for 3D geometries at high deposition rates. Software and hardware integration will provide automated layering control to enable fully automatic additive manufacturing from 3D models. The deposited rhenium and its layering will be characterized and optimized by direct printing of mechanical test specimens and small demonstrator articles. This phase of the research will mature the system and technology to a level where automated fabrication of small 3D components is possible.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed manufacturing technology will be directly applicable to the fabrication of propulsion components for attitude control and apogee engines for commercial and government satellites and for solid and liquid divert and attitude control systems for kinetic kill vehicles. In addition, the large refractory metal crucible market would benefit from the tailorable design control to maximize value in the development of semiconductor foundries. Refractory metals are also of great importance in nuclear fission and fusion power plant systems, where they are often the only suitable material but suffer from fabricability limitations that would be effectively lifted by the successful realization of this technology. Tungsten components for the fusion research community and future power plants represent a specific significant potential market.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed manufacturing technology has the potential to revolutionize the fabrication of engine and hot gas path components for liquid and solid rocket propulsion. By providing the capability to build free-form parts in refractory metals, systems engineers and designers will be free to pursue optimized designs for increased performance and reduced weight while simultaneously reducing the manufacturing constraints, cost, and lead time associated with such hardware. The technology will be directly applicable to the fabrication of prototype and production propulsion components.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Process Monitoring & Control
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Prototyping
Microfabrication (and smaller; see also Electronics; Mechanical Systems; Photonics)
Processing Methods
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Metallics
Lasers (Machining/Materials Processing)
Maneuvering/Stationkeeping/Attitude Control Devices
Spacecraft Main Engine

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
COSM Advanced Manufacturing Systems, LLC
1 Vincent Road
Ipswich, MA 01938-1464
(978) 500-7174

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Robert Milgate
bmilgate@cosmtd.com
120 Victory Avenue
Lexington,  KY 40502-1536
(978) 235-1559

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a methodology for advanced process control and deposition analysis built around using signals generated by beam-component interactions in the Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3) system. Based upon our successful Phase I results, hese signals have the potential to be used for many forms of both metrology and process control. While many material properties might be studied by using this interaction, our initial focus is an investigation into beam and sensor characteristics for geometric analysis of the deposition. Signals derived from the electron beam-component interaction could offer spatially resolved dimensional information about the deposited material, as it is being deposited. This is important, as the ability to monitor a parameter during deposition creates the possibility of controlling that parameter during the deposition process. As a further refinement, the ability to collect and store a spatially resolved pass-by-pass map of the deposition path geometry may have value in on-the-fly adjustments to subsequent build passes. Such mapping would allow working with the layer-by-layer nature of the deposition process to fine tune the deposition geometry. Such spatially resolved, layer-by-layer deposition mapping could also be stored, giving a three dimensional mapping of the as-built deposition path geometry. This could prove valuable for component quality assurance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Non-NASA commercial applications for this submission will also require the successful follow on development of the concepts proposed. That development would result in these and potential other metrology capabilities being fully designed and integrated into a ground up purpose built next generation Electron Beam Direct Wire Feed fabrication system. The results of the Phase I electron beam modeling and experimental work that will fold into an optics design specific to the AM task. These systems will be made available as a commercial turnkey product for a broad range of markets and applications. We envision that these systems, as a result in part on the further development outlined in this Phase II submission topic, to yield significantly improved and quantifiable results compared to those of the state of art today allowing them to begin more mainstream applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The commercial application for NASA will be demonstrable on the deliverable EBF3 POC system currently on loan to COSM under our Research License as detailed in this submission and upgraded with work proposed in this submission. That development could also result in a standalone metrology sub-system package that would be made available to upgrade the EBF3 systems at Langley Research Center currently in use on program development work. Those upgrades will necessitate further system level integration engineering and hardware build. This in situ metrology package would have the ability to collect and process signals derived from the electron beam-component interaction that could offer spatially resolved dimensional information about the deposited material and the possibility of a second tier of control over the fabrication process wherein process parameters are adjusted to achieve target deposition dimensions. The functional deliverable package would consist of detector(s) to be place in the EBF3 chamber, a set of detection electronics, power supplies, hardware controls interface, cables and module and system level software necessary for integration to the EBF3.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Process Monitoring & Control
Metallics
Machines/Mechanical Subsystems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TentGuild Engineering Company
4740 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder, CO 80305-4505
(866) 666-7761

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gyula Greschik
greschik@teguec.com
4740 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder,  CO 80305-4505
(866) 666-7761

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Proposed is the development and validation in a laboratory environment of a photovoltaic (PV) array design of unique and enabling characteristics. Namely, smoothly deployed from compact stowage with one single, continuous sweep of motion, a total PV surface area up to and beyond 4000~m2 (the area associated with 1~MW power) is provided by two wings, with mechanical performance objectives also met. The PV cells are mounted on flexible strups that, assembled, constitute array disk pie segments between straight ribs and smoothly wrap between the latter on the central hub for stowage. The surface shears in stowage effected by this kinematics are absorbed by shear compliant hinge strips between the strips, and the PV cells are mounted on the latter ro precisely align in the roll. Deployed, the surface segments between the ribs are pretensioned with catenaries on the outer perimeter, supported by the rib tips which extend outward. A full mechanical design is developed to complete concept validation for a pair of wings 2000 m2 each, fabrication and operational issues are explored and addressed, and a working prototype wing is built to complete concept validation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
For the large solar array structure here proposed, markets other than what has just been outlined will also arise. Some non-scientific space applications such as defense (the military use of space) and planetary defense (defending Earth against impact by space objects such as asteroids) have traditionally time and again entertained power-hungry mission scenarios. With the actual availability of a light weight, reliable, and easily scalable truly large solar array such as the one herein proposed, actual needs for this product in these additional markets will certainly arise.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA has been spearheading the strategy to develop a robust and advanced space infrastructure that, in the foreseeable future, could support the extensive exploration of the solar system and render human presence in space sustainable and affordable. One of the key technologies in this drive is solar electric propulsion (SEP), a technology with a mass efficiency an order of magnitude higher than conventional chemical engines. SEP which has already supported some missions (e.g., Deep Space 1 in 1998 and Dawn in 2007) will revolutionize navigation (i.e., velocity change, orbit revision) capabilities for spacecraft of traditional architectures. However, to be powerful enough to support equipment on a scale necessary for the infrastructure behind human presence is space, SEP has to be scaled up which directly requires solar arrays capable of producing up to 1~MW of power, the long term goal targeted by this NASA solicitation. It is this future market (currently) driven by NASA for large solar arrays that the product developed by the presently proposed effort targets.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Generation
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Prototyping
Deployment
Structures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
L'Garde, Inc.
15181 Woodlawn Avenue
Tustin, CA 92780-6487
(714) 259-0771

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Juan Mejia-Ariza
juan_mejia@lgarde.com
15181 Woodlawn Avenue
Tustin,  CA 92780-6487
(714) 259-0771

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The main goal in Phase II will be to develop several prototypes of the Ultra-FAST boom that is needed as the Trunk beam in the 300 kW GRA Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP). The target bending strength requirement will be twice of the SRTM ADAMS truss (2 x 0.04 g). Also, with the help of our subcontractor, High Strain Dynamics, L.Garde plans to study the integration of U-FAST into a 300 kW solar array system. These goals will allow the success of NEO NASA mission in ~10 years. Therefore, we will update of the U-FAST design in order to obtain a 0.08g bending strength parameter for a 300kW solar array system. This will be possible by increasing (10-20) the number of longerons in the truss and having a 80% slenderness reduction in the longerons. Also, finite element analyses will be executed to study integration of U-FAST into a 300 kW solar array system. Including dynamic analysis for truss deployment reability and integrity; and truss static analysis for stiffness and strength in bending. Finally, fabrication and testing of three prototypes will be done to validate the finite element solution.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The market is wide open for novel and robust large area solar arrays. Potential customers for the proposed product include space government agencies such as NASA, European Space Agency, JAXA, as well as various private space companies such as Space X, Orbital Sciences Corp., Bigelow Aerospace, etc. Applications include crew and cargo transport, probes and satellites, research crafts, and space mining. L'Garde's approach and strategy to commercialize this technology includes initial partnering with NASA and other Department of Defense agencies through other SBIR/STTR or BAA programs. In addition, L'Garde Inc. will build corporate and industrial partnerships. We have already initiated a partnership with Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a commercial provider in leading-edge CIGS photovoltaic technology, and they have stated that they would offer assistance in the form of consultation for the Phase II work. Communication between LGarde, Inc. and governmental/industrial partners will be ongoing throughout in order to understand the current and future needs, and hence have the information needed to keep the technology up to date and make it cost-effective and hence attractive to the user community. Our president and senior management possess significant marketing experience and business acumen.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
L.Garde's deployable solar array will offer a novel strategy to package and deploy a solar array, demonstrate scalability, and meet NASA's requirements and desired size goals in the next 20 years. The U-FAST program goal is to design, develop and test an advanced lightweight truss design suitable to support large space-based solar arrays. Thus, our primary customer will be NASA or its prime aerospace contractors: Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, Ball Aerospace, ATK, etc. Although the number of truss structures that might be purchased from LGarde is not large, there are numerous space applications that could broaden this market. In addition to providing a deployable support structure for large solar arrays to power space electric propulsion, other applications exist. These include support structures for large-area solar sails to provide propulsion for deep space missions, such as space weather advanced warning, orbital debris removal at GEO, and deep space exploration. Another application for large space structures is in the design of sunshades for large space telescopes such as JWST. Space-based microwave radar and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are mission areas of great interest to NASA, NOAA and organizations within the Defense Department (USAF, DARPA, NRO, Navy). LGarde anticipates strong interest in this technology from the aerospace community upon the successful completion of the NASA Phase II program.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Analytical Methods
Project Management
Quality/Reliability
Processing Methods
Composites
Deployment
Fasteners/Decouplers
Machines/Mechanical Subsystems
Structures
Simulation & Modeling

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)
Michael Rauscher
rauschermd@crgrp.com
2750 Indian Ripple Road
Dayton,  OH 45440-3638
(937) 320-1877

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
CRG's no-oven, no-autoclave (NONA) cure of OoA or autoclave prepreg materials allows the manufacture of large composite structures without the expensive and energy-intensive capital equipment currently required for fabrication. Qualified autoclave or OoA prepreg tapes can be applied simultaneously with dry unidirectional (UD) tapes in an automated process. The presence of dry fibers throughout the layup before infusion allows improved breathing, removal of volatiles from prepreg, and improved compaction with only atmospheric pressure, mimicking the double vacuum debulk (DVD) process without the equipment. NONA resin is then introduced at ambient temperature to wet out all available contact surfaces and cure itself and the prepreg. The NONA epoxy resin uses its own chemical energy to propel itself through a complete cure with no external heat required. The baseline NONA resin provides good strength, chemical resistance, and thermal performance up to 350F. Pairing NONA resin with a compatible prepreg a cure of both systems is achieved at room temperature. Because the cure occurs at room temperature, the NONA resin locks in its shape near room temperature, thus allowing the use of low-cost tooling materials, typically avoided because of high CTE.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Government systems that would derive the same benefits would include the Next Generation Air Dominance multirole combat aircraft operated by the US Navy, the Long Range Strike Bomber operated by the US Air Force, the Future Vertical Life helicopter operated by the US Army, and multiple unmanned systems operated by all US Armed Forces Services. This technology's attributes for lower-cost high performance composite structure fabrication should yield a high potential for private sector commercialization for primary and secondary structural aerospace components. Specific customers would include Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Sikorsky, and Bell Helicopter for fuselage, wing, and secondary interior structures. While new commercial aircraft designs have long cycles, the opportunity for aircraft interior retrofits using composites can have a shorter design and implementation cycle and deliver similar efficiency and durability performance improvements as primary and secondary structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Supporting NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, this project's technologies directly address requirements for new manufacturing processes and advanced materials for creating lightweight structures for heavy lift launch vehicles. This project's technologies offer the benefits of qualified aerospace prepreg systems combined with the low-cost tooling and low-capital curing of NONA manufacturing to reduce overall manufacturing costs and enable larger primary structures.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Processing Methods
Composites
Polymers

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Allcomp, Inc.
209 Puente Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91746-2304
(626) 369-1273

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Steve Jones
steve.jones@allcomp.net
209 Puente Ave
Industry,  CA 91746-2304
(661) 275-5597

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
abcd

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
abcd

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
abcd

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Aerodynamics
Composites
Structures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
SIFT, LLC
319 1st Avenue North, Suite 400
Minneapolis, MN 55401-1689
(612) 339-7438

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Daniel Bryce
dbryce@sift.net
319 1st Ave North, Suite 400
Minneapolis,  MN 55401-1689
(435) 213-5776

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
SIFT proposes to design and develop the Marshal system, a mixed-initiative tool for maintaining task models over the course of evolving missions. SIFT will demonstrate Marshal by developing it as a plugin for the TRACLabs PRIDE procedure authoring system. A Marshal-enabled PRIDE will learn and maintain task models so that it can improve the consistency and correctness of PRL-based procedures. Marshal will monitor procedures as they are authored in PRIDE, learning organizational conventions and commonly applied constraints. Marshal will enhance the PRIDE interface with dialogue elements that highlight potential errors and unconventional elements in the current procedure. Marshal will allow model drift by adapting its model of procedures over time and it will accommodate incomplete and inconsistent feedback from procedure authors. Marshal's capabilities will stem from how it represents and reasons with a family of possible procedure model interpretations. As authors use different procedure constructs, Marshal will create interpretations of constraints that match the constructs. With author feedback, Marshal will update the interpretations to more closely match the corpus of procedures authored by the organization. With a family of model interpretations, Marshal can compute the expectation that user procedures are correct and consistent. Marshal also computes diagnoses explaining which assumptions about the user's intended model lead to inconsistency. From the diagnoses, Marshal populates a queue of potential plan flaws that the author can address at their convenience through natural and informative dialogues. As users interact with Marshal, it automatically maintains procedure models so that they can better serve procedure authors as missions evolve.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We will develop Marshal technologies to be applicable across a variety of domains, beyond those at NASA. At SIFT, we have extensive knowledge in planning and scheduling for in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellites, and ground troop movements. These domains touch on a range of organizations, including the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the Office of Navel Research (ONR) and the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
We will target Marshal as a key technology for handling evolving and changing task models for all NASA missions. Many NASA missions evolve and grow as they are occurring. For instance, the Mars Exploration Rover mission has expanded greatly beyond its original mission parameters. As a general-purpose model evolution tool, Marshal will be capable of handling complex domain constraints in such domains. Marshal has high applicability to analog missions where operations methodologies are evolved (i.e., Desert RATS and NEEMO). Further, any mission for geologic centric (i.e., planetary surface or asteroid) exploration and ISS crew planning will require occasional on-the-fly modification of procedures and tasks. Finally, as the possibility of long distance spaceflights draws ever closer, NASA will require technologies capable of duplicating or replacing current ground control tasks. We will work toward making Marshal a viable candidate for increasing the autonomy of astronauts during these flights.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Intelligence
Man-Machine Interaction

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)
Joseph Jackson
joseph.jackson@ssci.com
500 West Cummings Park Suite 3000
Woburn,  MA 01801-6562
(781) 933-5355

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In Phase I of this project, SSCI carried out initial development of the Generalized Guidance, Navigation & Control Architecture for Reusable Development (GUARD). The resulting framework is applicable across different Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) domains, and enables further development and testing of reusable GN&C software for such applications. GUARD is based on the key functional requirements for GN&C software for AR&D, with special emphasis on the commonality across different domains of operation and unique implementation requirements for GN&C algorithms in such domains. Phase I accomplishments include: (i) Augmented the flight-test proven on-line trajectory optimization and control algorithm with a Fault Detection, Identification and Accommodation (FDIA) capability, (ii) Extended SSCI's Vision Based Navigation (VBN) algorithms, recently demonstrated for shipboard landing flight experiments, to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy for the AR&D implementations, and demonstrated its robustness to docking pattern variations; (iii) Carried out a detailed study of common GN&C functions for AR&D, and developed a conceptual solution for a user interface enabling agile reconfiguration of domain-specific information; and (iv) Carried out initial analysis of System-level Performance Metrics for AR&D missions to facilitate V&V of the overall integrated GN&C system. Phase II will demonstrate an enhanced prototype of the GUARD with integrated GNC/FDIA/VBN software that will make it reusable in three disparate AR&D system domains. Demonstrations will be in simulation and hardware tests as follows: orbital AR&D (in simulation), planetary rover docking with a habitat (evaluations at Olin College on R-Gator platform), and a quadrotor close-proximity operation mission (evaluations at UT Austin on quadrotor platform). Phase III will focus on commercialization of the GUARD software and its implementation to future NASA Space Exploration missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Another important application area for the GUARD technology is autonomous UAV/UAS markets. GUARD will be particularly well suited for the delivering a GN&C software toolkit that has been designed and evaluated for UAV teams for missions such as autonomous formation flying and aerial refueling. From the GN&C system design and functionality perspective, such missions have many commonalities with AR&D space missions and missions involving close proximity operations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Immediate applications of GUARD are envisioned in the NASA Space Exploration Programs and future missions whose important components are AR&D tasks and close-proximity operations. GUARD technology has a potential to supersede point design methodologies and result in substantial cost savings in the development of GN&C software. Another family of missions that will benefit from the GUARD technology are space landing missions on planets, asteroids and other celestial bodies. The MICP-based optimal trajectory planning and control software, originally developed by our team member Prof. Behcet Acikmese, is becoming the standard for next generation Mars missions and has been funded by NASA Flight Opportunities program for maturation and test validation. Augmenting the MICP algorithm with FDIA and VBN capabilities under the GUARD framework will be a major thrust for our future research in this area.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Relative Navigation (Interception, Docking, Formation Flying; see also Control & Monitoring; Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Attitude Determination & Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TRACLabs, Inc.
100 North East Loop 410, Suite 520
San Antonio, TX 78216-1234
(281) 461-7886

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Patrick Beeson
pbeeson@traclabs.com
16969 N Texas Ave Suite 300
Webster,  TX 77598-4085
(281) 461-7886

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
TRACLabs has a long-term goal to provide a software toolkit for flexible tool use by robotic manipulators. Our proposed toolkit is a suite of state-of-the-art algorithms focused on extending current pick-and-place planning and control methods to enable robust tool usage by humanoid and other armed robots. Our system provide more intuitive tools for the user of the robotic manipulator, including visualization tools for defining tool use scenarios, including Cartesian tolerances along trajectories and expected forces/torques on the tool tip. This will allow robots to be more capable and more reliable during long-term autonomous tasks, by significantly improving the ability of remote supervisors to command complex tool-usage tasks, by enabling robots to operate safely alongside humans during shared tasks, and by providing a general tool usage framework that works with novel tools and with any robot configuration.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Department of Defense (DoD) is investing heavily in very capable, dexterous robots for tasks such as disaster relief, ordnance disposal, search and rescue, and casualty care and evacuation. These robots will need the sophisticated software produced in this project in order to perform their complicated tasks. Manufacturing robots are making new strides in dexterity and flexibility with robots such as Baxter and the GM R2. These robots will also need new control algorithms that allow them to manipulate tools and work alongside their human co-workers. The oil and gas industry is increasingly looking to automation to reduce worker injuries both on-shore and off-shore. Dexterous, mobile robots that can manipulation drilling rig tools and equipment will require software such as that produced by this project.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA has several dexterous robots that assist humans in space activities. These include the R2 and Dextre robots on-board the International Space Station (ISS) and the Valkryie research robot being developed at NASA Johnson Space Center. These robots will need to use tools and interact with both remote supervisors and side-by-side human teammates. Our system provides software tools that increase the capabilities of dexterous robots and reduce the painstaking reliance on teleoperation. As more capable robots move beyond low-earth orbit, for example exploring the Moon or Mars, they will increasingly need sophisticated control algorithms focused on very dexterous manipulation and flexible reconfiguration in case of failure.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Robotics (see also Control & Monitoring; Sensors)
Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Ultramet
12173 Montague Street
Pacoima, CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Williams
brian.williams@ultramet.com
Ultramet
Pacoima,  CA 91331-2210
(818) 899-0236

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Ultramet and ARA Ablatives Laboratory previously developed and demonstrated foam-reinforced carbon/phenolic ablators that offer substantially increased high heat flux performance and reduced weight relative to conventional ablators. The structure consisted of an ablator-filled foam front surface backed by Ultramet's highly insulating aerogel-filled foam. Arcjet testing was performed at NASA ARC to heat flux levels exceeding 1000 W/cm2, with the results showing a significantly reduced ablation rate compared to conventional chopped fiber ablators, and ablation behavior comparable to FM5055 at just one-third the density. In 2008, NASA ARC contracted ARA to develop a new heat shield design involving integration of fully cured mid-density ablator blocks within a structural honeycomb reinforcement. The block ablator-in-honeycomb heat shield is envisioned to provide high atmospheric entry reliability due to the structural attachment integrity provided by the honeycomb lattice in the ablative material layer. In Phase I, the Ultramet-ARA team demonstrated the initial feasibility of using ablator/aerogel-filled foam within honeycomb cells through fabrication of a 16-cell panel in which foam blocks were literally pressed to shape using a die and then snug-fit into carbon/phenolic honeycomb cells. The 16-cell panel was infiltrated with ablator to a controlled depth on the front face, which simultaneously bonded the foam blocks to the honeycomb, and the remaining foam void space on the back face was filled with aerogel. In Phase II, block ablator-in-honeycomb structures will be optimized through flat and curved panel fabrication, properties testing, and high heat flux testing at NASA ARC and the Air Force LHMEL facility. This effort will leverage a current Ultramet project for NASA ARC focusing on optimization of ablator-filled foam compositions for use in the 1000-8000 W/cm2 heat flux range, which could ultimately be used in the block ablator-in-honeycomb architecture.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications include solid rocket motors for conventional satellite launch, nanosatellite launch systems, launch platform protection, tactical missile solid rocket motors, internal and external motor case insulation, throats, and nosetips.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed block ablator-in-honeycomb heat shield is anticipated to meet NASA requirements for increased heat flux capability and reduced mass in entry vehicle thermal protection systems. NASA applications include the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle for beyond Earth orbit exploration (entry, descent, and landing heat shield and backshell), asteroid sample return, and planetary sample return. Earth return can have an entry velocity greater than 11.5 km/s and a heat flux in the 1500-2500 W/cm2 range or higher. Use of ablators in rocket nozzles has been extensive, and NASA also stands to benefit in that application.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Processing Methods
Aerogels
Ceramics
Composites
Isolation/Protection/Shielding (Acoustic, Ballistic, Dust, Radiation, Thermal)
Simulation & Modeling
Passive Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Physical Optics Corporation
Integrated Systems Division, 1845 West 205th Street
Torrance, CA 90501-1510
(310) 320-3088

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Volodymyr Romanov
ISProposals@poc.com
Integrated Systems Division, 1845 West 205th Street
Torrance,  CA 90501-1510
(310) 320-3088

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Based on the successful feasibility demonstration in Phase I, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to continue the development of a novel Thermal Protection System Nondestructive Evaluation Tool (THRON), which addresses NASA's need for evaluation of lightweight rigid and/or flexible ablative materials, and provides noncontact, one-sided in situ operation for accurate detection, identification, and precise spatial localization and measurements of internal and surface defects/voids, and evaluation of bondlines and in-depth integrity of such materials and also large-area multilayer thermal protection system (TPS) structures with complex geometries. THRON is based on POC-patented X-ray Compton imaging tomography and POC-patented apodized coded aperture X-ray imaging optics, substantially modified and optimized to meet NASA's requirements. The THRON Phase I prototype demonstrated excellent potential for detection and spatial localization of defects/voids with dimensions <6 mm by 6 mm by 6 mm, and bondline defects <12 mm by 12 mm by 200 &#956;m in TPS material and structures. At the end of Phase II, POC will perform a technology readiness level (TRL)-6 demonstration of THRON in POC's X-ray lab and/or at NASA facilities, and will deliver to NASA a working engineering model of an effective NDE tool.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Military applications of THRON will include in situ NDE/NDT of large-area, nonuniform, multilayer, aluminum/titanium/composite structures with complex geometries, and also combined polymeric, ceramic, and metal matrix composite structures for U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army aircraft. THRON-based systems (with minimum modifications of THRON) will also be used for NDE/NDT of airplane, helicopter, and missile parts containing electronics, mechanical components, propellants, explosives, etc., to detect defects and verify integrity. THRON-based systems can be incorporated by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army as a reliable, rapid, robotic, easy-to-use NDE/NDT system. Potential DHS applications include the detection of vehicle-borne contraband, drugs, and explosives. The commercial applicability of THRON includes its use for in situ NDE/NDT of large-area nonuniform multilayer aluminum/titanium/composite structures with complex geometries in aging and modern commercial aircraft, spacecraft, light marine vessels, and any application requiring defect detection for multilayer ceramic, composite, metallic, and plastic nonuniform structures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary NASA application of the proposed THRON is a compact NDE system that can be used for noncontact, one-sided in situ evaluation of structural integrity of TPS spacecraft material and structures, with the capabilities of accurate detection, identification, and spatial localization of internal and surface defects (cracks, voids, delaminations, porosity, and inclusions), and evaluation of bondlines and in-depth integrity of lightweight, rigid, and/or flexible ablative materials and large-area multilayer TPS structures with complex geometries. Additional NASA applications include in situ NDE/NDT of large-area nonuniform multilayer aluminum/titanium/composite structures with complicated geometry used in the development of advanced aircraft and spacecraft, providing accurate identification, localization, and measurements of all types of internal and surface defects.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
3D Imaging
Display
Image Analysis
Image Processing
Radiography
Ceramics
Composites
X-rays/Gamma Rays
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
T.E.A.M., Inc.
841 Park East Drive
Woonsocket, RI 02895-6112
(401) 762-1500

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Aaron Tomich
atomich@teamtextiles.com
841 Park East Drive
Woonsocket,  RI 02895-6112
(401) 762-1500

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Thick, 3D woven carbon/phenolic composites offer potential improvement over legacy thermal protection systems (TPS) for re-entry vehicle heat shield applications. However due to the scale and complexity of typical re-entry vehicle structures, it is likely that multiple 3D woven panels would need to laid up to create the overall heat shield, creating potential weak spots at the panel joints. In Phase I T.E.A.M., Inc. addressed the joint issue by developing an innovative stitching process capable of forming mechanically reinforced joints between densely woven, 3D carbon fiber pre-forms up to 3" thick. The Phase I scope included design, model and fabrication of multiple stitched joint specimens with anticipated strength / stiffness properties multiple times higher than baseline, un-stitched joints. In Phase II T.E.A.M. proposed a parallel manufacturing scale-up and D&A/testing effort to mature the MRL/TRL of the developed technology. The high level goals of Phase II are A) To scale the developed stitching process to the size, geometry and repeatability representative of that required for fabrication of net shape re-entry vehicle structure (i.e. ~1.5m base diameter cone + nose cap will be demonstrated), and B) To optimize the stitched joint configuration (i.e. stitch site frequency, orientation and tow size) for performance in a re-entry environment by analytical modeling and mechanical and LHMEL testing of stitched and un-stitched joints using a representative 3D woven carbon/phenolic material system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed innovation will create the capability to stitch/join together carbon fiber preform assemblies with geometries too complex for existing textile processes, including 3D weaving, to achieve. Potential commercial applications thus include those composite applications where through thickness strength AND complex geometry are both required. Examples include composite armor for military vehicles and structural composites for aerospace including stitched skin + core assemblies, stitched joint assemblies and stitched skin + web-stiffener assemblies.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is directly relevant as a joining technology for NASA Ames' 3D-woven carbon/phenolic thermal protection system (3D-TPS) for the Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) program, which is currently targeting delivery of heat shield solutions for mission programs including for future Venus, Saturn, high speed sample return, and human missions beyond lunar or Mars Sample Return (MSR) missions. Similarly, the technology will enable joining of thinner and thicker 3D woven carbon and ceramic fabrics relevant to NASA's Adaptable, Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT) program, and the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) program.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Composites
Joining (Adhesion, Welding)
Textiles
Passive Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
NexTech Materials, Ltd.
404 Enterprise Drive
Lewis Center, OH 43035-9423
(614) 842-6606

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Scott Swartz
s.swartz@nextechmaterials.com
404 Enterprise Drive
Lewis Center,  OH 43035-9423
(614) 842-6606

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has a defined need for energy dense and highly efficient energy storage and power delivery systems for future space missions. Compared to other fuel cell technologies, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) based systems are better suited to meeting NASA's efficiency targets while operating directly on methane and oxygen reactants. SOFC power systems for lunar landers and other exploration vehicles are an ideal application for this technology, as well as for power generation on the moon or on Mars. NexTech Materials has established SOFC technology that offers high power density with direct internal fuel reforming and high single-pass fuel utilization, making it uniquely suited for achieving NASA's performance and efficiency requirements. In Phase I of this project, NexTech designed a methane/oxygen SOFC system and established a process model, designed the stack and hot box for this system, and completed testing to validate that the target efficiency of 70 percent was achievable. In Phase II of this project, NexTech will specify and source all system components, build a three-dimensional CAD model of the methane/oxygen SOFC system, build and test 1-kW scale stacks of the Phase I design, demonstrate 70 percent electrical efficiency in a stack with only methane and oxygen reactant feeds, and evaluate long term durability and thermal cycling capability of the stack.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The lightweight and high efficiency SOFC technology to be developed on this project is specifically geared toward meeting the demanding requirements of NASA applications, but will have near-term applicability to energy systems for unmanned underwater vehicles. Meeting the robustness requirements (i.e., thermal cycles and rapid start-up) for NASA applications will make NexTech's SOFC technology suited for other military applications, such as gen-sets, auxiliary power units for silent-watch vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Additionally, the internal reforming stack technology to be developed in this SBIR project is directly applicable to residential micro-combined heat and power systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Solid oxide fuel cells have promise to meet some of NASA's emerging power generation system needs. An SOFC power system using the same reactants as the propulsion system (cryogenically stored oxygen and methane) can provide exceptional energy density. Lunar landers or other exploration vehicles are an ideal application of this technology. SOFC systems also may find uses on the moon or on Mars for generating power from hydrocarbons produced from In-Situ Resource Utilization technologies.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Conversion
Generation
Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Project Management
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Processing Methods
Ceramics
Coatings/Surface Treatments
Lifetime Testing
Simulation & Modeling

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Yanhai Power, LLC
402 Hopestone Crossing
Irmo, SC 29063-7603
(716) 380-3698

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Joshua Persky
jpersky@yanhaipower.com
402 Hopestone Crossing
Irmo,  SC 29063-7603
(720) 220-2162

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
As NASA space missions become longer in duration the need for high efficiency power generator sets that can operate on NASA logistical fuel become critical. Historically NASA has used fuel cells as part of the energy solution. Space bound energy and power systems require rapid start and stop cycle times as well as high power densities. The high operational efficiency, coupled with the use of logistical fuel options make fuel cells vital to the extended future missions of NASA. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have been demonstrated on a variety of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Our team has developed tubular SOFC systems capable of cycling from room temperature to 700C and full power in less than 15 minutes. The system has been cycled more than 250 times and demonstrated life times greater than 2000hrs. Coupling the freeze cast microstructure with the rapid cycling and portability of the tubular systems will lead to a high power density robust SOFC system operating on methane and oxygen capable of space missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Summarized below are potential post applications. The customer needs we are addressing are: For DoD: Highly compact electric power sources for portable and wearable battlefield electronics; compact, quiet power units for battlefield communications stations and auxiliary power on military vehicles. For private-sector customers of high-value portable or mobile devices (e.g. UAV's, emergency lighting, and communications): A power unit with smaller size than possible with batteries, as well as quick refueling vs long recharge time. Versus combustion engines, the system provides for quiet, clean energy generation. Our potential initial key customers for 1 kW-class T-SOFC fuel cells and stacks include: 1. DoD programs for portable and wearable battlefield electronics &#150; prime contractors and subcontractors. 2. Private-sector makers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's), portable emergency lighting, and communications devices &#150; prime contractors and subcontractors. 3. Fuel cell power system manufacturers (buyers of freeze cast T-SOFC anodes, single cells, or stacks for integration into power units for the above applications).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
For the past 4 decades electrical requirements on human space flight missions have been supplied by alkaline fuel cells (AFC). These systems are costly and aging rapidly and will soon be unsatisfactory for future NASA missions. Replacing these systems with solid oxide systems allows for increased fuel flexibility and compatibility with energy density fuels greatly expanding mission length. Increasing the power density of T-SOFCs is a vital step in achieving NASA's objective. Specifically, cells developed during this program can be further used in the following systems: 1. Energy storage and maintenance for the international space station 2. High altitude balloons 3. High altitude aircraft 4. Energy storage for future missions and settlement on the moon and Mars

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Conversion
Distribution/Management
Generation
Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable)
Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17601-5688
(717) 295-6061

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
William Anderson
Bill.Anderson@1-act.com
1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster,  PA 17601-5688
(717) 295-6104

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In this SBIR Phase II program Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) proposes to develop titanium/water heat pipes suitable for Spacecraft Fission Power applications. NASA is currently examining small fission power reactors design, such as the Kilopower, which aims to provide roughly 1 kW of electric power. Kilopower plans to use titanium/water heat pipes to remove the waste heat from the cold end of the convertors. Previous water heat pipe designs for space fission power are not suitable, since they cannot operated in a vertical orientation, which is necessary for ground testing of Kilopower. The overall objective of the Phase I and II programs is to develop a titanium/water heat pipe radiator suitable for Spacecraft Fission Power, such as Kilopower. To meet this objective, the following items must be achieved: demonstrate the ability to transport heat over a long distance from the Stirling cold end to the radiator, design and fabricate a heat pipe radiator for integration into the Kilopower system and identify the best wick design for the varied operating conditions of the Kilopower system. The principle objective of the Phase II project will be to develop full-scale titanium water heat pipes that will be suitable for testing in the Kilopower demonstration unit.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
One application is for satellite thermal control for military and commercial customers. As satellite powers continue to increase, the required radiator panel size and mass must also increase. Since the radiator size scales with T^4, switching from ammonia to water heat pipes would increase the allowable temperature, and significantly reduce the radiator size. In addition to large (communications) satellites, SmallSats and CubeSats could also benefit from scaled down heat pipes developed on the proposed program. CubeSats are made up of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm units, and titanium/water heat pipes can simplify ground testing. There are three disadvantages of CCHPs for CubeSats: (1) They are relatively expensive, (2) They are relatively massive, and designed to carry heat over several meters, (3) Orientations during Thermal Vacuum testing are constrained by the heat pipes. In contrast, the titanium water heat pipes developed on the current program can be scaled down so that they are small, low mass, and relatively cheap. They can also be tested in any orientation, and can be embedded in High Conductivity (HiK&#153;) aluminum plates, to give a high conductivity baseplate that is extremely inexpensive compared to pyrolytic graphite.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The immediate NASA application is for space fission nuclear reactors that utilize Stirling converters or thermoelectrics for power conversion. NASA Glenn Research Center is currently developing a 1kWe Fission Power System with a 15 year design life that could be available for a 2020. An electrically heated test of the complete reactor/energy conversion system (except for the titanium/water heat pipes) is planned for in the next few years test. This test will use an electrically heated depleted uranium core, and will help validate the overall system design. The next step will be to life test the complete system, from the electrically heated uranium core to the titanium/water heat pipes. ACT will design, fabricate, and test the titanium/water heat pipes for the Kilopower life test on the proposed program. At the end of the Phase II program, these heat pipes will be delivered to NASA Glenn Research Center. Assuming that the Phase II program is successful, ACT then plans to assist in the Kilopower life test on a Phase III program.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Conversion
Passive Systems

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Polaronyx, Inc.
2526 Qume Drive, Suites 17 and 18
San Jose, CA 95131-1870
(408) 573-0930

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jian Liu
jianliu@polaronyx.com
2526 Qume Drive, Suites 17 and 18
San Jose,  CA 95131-1870
(408) 573-0930

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
High efficiency pulsed lasers have been considered to be an enabling technology to build high power transmitters for future deep space high rate space communications. However, to achieve a high peak power at a high repetition rate and with a short pulse width and >25% wall plug efficiency still remains an issue unsolved. PolarOnyx proposes a novel approach targeting to make 20W high power fiber laser at 1550 nm and resolve the issues of efficiency. A tabletop feasibility demonstration has been carried out at the end of Phase I. A prototype will be delivered at the end of Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High power fiber lasers represent the next generation of critical optical components needed to build the coherent optical communications of the future and cable TVs that will deliver increased communication bandwidth and improved Quality of Service (QoS) end users. The market for the application is growing and will be of great potential of hundreds of millions market. Other commercial applications include -Material processing. This includes (1) all types of metal processing such as welding, cutting, annealing, and drilling; (2)semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing such as lithography, inspection, control, defect analysis and repair, and via drilling; (3) marking of all materials including plastic, metals, and silicon; (4) other materials processing such as rapid prototyping, desk top manufacturing, micromachining, photofinishing, embossed holograms, and grating manufacturing. - Medical equipment and biomedical instrumentation. The high power laser can be applied to ophthalmology, refractive surgery, photocoagulation, general surgery, therapeutic, imaging, and cosmetic applications. Biomedical instruments include those involved in cells or proteins, cytometry, and DNA sequencing; laser Raman spectroscopy, spectrofluorimetry, and ablation; and laser based microscopes.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA's deep space communications, the proposed short pulse high power fiber laser approach can also be used in other applications, such as space, aircraft, and satellite applications of LADAR systems and communications. PolarOnyx will develop a series of products to meet various requirements for NASA/military deployments.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Amplifiers/Repeaters/Translators
Waveguides/Optical Fiber (see also Optics)
Prototyping
Fiber (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Photonics)
Lasers (Communication)
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
QuinStar Technology, Inc.
24085 Garnier Street
Torrance, CA 90505-5319
(310) 320-1111

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Schellenberg
jschellenberg@quinstar.com
24085 Garnier Street
Torrance,  CA 90505-5319
(310) 320-1111

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
QuinStar Technology proposes to develop a high-efficiency, solid-state power amplifier (SSPA), operating at Ka-band frequencies, for high data rate, long range space communications. Specifically, we propose to develop a 20 W power amplifier with an associated PAE of 60% operating over the 31.5 to 34 GHz band. This will be accomplished by employing two major innovations. First, we plan to utilize wide bandgap Gallium Nitride (GaN) on Silicon Carbide (SiC) device technology to fabricate our high-efficiency MMICs. Operating at a higher voltage (typically 20-28 V versus 4-5 V for GaAs), GaN permits power densities which are 5-10 times higher than GaAs or InP. In addition to a higher power density, high-voltage operation results in lower matching and cell combining losses, making these MMICs more efficient. Secondly, we are proposing to utilize a switching mode of operation (Class-F) to enhance the device efficiency. While this method has demonstrated PAE levels of >80% at 2 GHz, these levels have not yet been realized at Ka-band frequencies. Computer simulations, contained in this proposal, indicate that by using this method, device PAE levels ranging up to 73% are possible at 32 GHz. Furthermore, this was verified by benchmark data from at least one GaN foundry showing a device, operating in Class-F, with a PAE of 80% at 3 GHz. Finally, simulations at Ka-band frequencies indicate that even with circuit losses, we can still maintain the efficiency (PAE) at or very close to 60%. The layout and performance of a multistage MMIC is included in this proposal, together with the overall SSPA configuration and performance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Applications for high-efficiency Ka-band amplifiers abound in the commercial segment as well as DoD. These include SATCOM applications for the Army in the 29.5 to 31 GHz band to radar applications for all military services in the radar bands (33 to 38 GHz). For radar, high efficiency is particularly important for airborne applications, such as UAVs and fire control radars, where the prime power is limited. In the commercial segment, a massive market exists for high-efficiency SSPA to replace tubes in SatCom terminals. Additional markets include airborne terminals for commercial airlines using SatCom (27 to 31 GHz), emerging communications applications in the 38-39 GHz range, weather and environmental monitoring radars operating in the 34 to 36 GHz band, aircraft landing systems to enhance or replace Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) with EVFS at 35 GHz, Security and Surveillance radars for commercial, industrial and municipal applications and helicopter collision avoidance radars for brown-out and obstacle avoidance. Further, this technology is scalable. By using power combining technology, we can provide high-efficiency amplifiers with output power levels well beyond the current goals of this program. For example, with the current 5 W chip and a 16-way combiner, power levels approaching 80 W are readily attainable.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Future NASA robotic and manned space exploration missions require high-efficiency power amplifiers, operating at Ka-band, for high data rate, long range space communications. Ka-band is the frequency of choice since it 1) provides more available bandwidth for higher data rates and 2) offers a theoretical benefit of 12 dB in EIRP compared with X-band (8.41 GHz) for the same antenna aperture size. Current technology can provide efficiency levels typically in the 20-25% range, and with packaging, combining networks and power conditioning, the efficiency rarely exceeds 15%. Employing GaN device technology together with switching mode (Class-F) device operation, our approach shows the potential to achieve PAE levels of 60%. Since the transmitter SSPA is usually the largest consumer of spacecraft DC power, our high-efficiency approach potentially represents a high-value proposition for NASA. In addition to this telecommunications application, NASA employs active Ka-band sensors (radars) for planetary landings and for a wide variety of Earth science missions, including Ka-band radar for cloud measurements, weather and climate variability studies. Since these sensors are airborne or satellite based, they would also benefit from this high-efficiency SSPA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Amplifiers/Repeaters/Translators
Power Combiners/Splitters
Transmitters/Receivers
Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Optical Physics Company
26610 Agoura Road
Calabasas, CA 91302-3857
(818) 880-2907

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Richard Hutchin
Rahutchin@opci.com
26610 Agoura Road, Suite 240
Calabasas,  CA 91302-3857
(818) 880-2907

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Laser communications (Lasercom) technology offers the promise of much higher rate data exchanges while reducing the size and weight of the telecommunications package for deep space missions. This improved system performance is due primarily to the narrow transmit signal beamwidth at the optical wavelength, which allows for more efficient delivery of the transmit signal to the receiver. The problem of pointing a laser signal can in general be decomposed into the problems of (i) stabilizing the optical line of sight and (ii) providing the appropriate pointing reference to the receiver location. Optical Physics Company (OPC) has adapted the precision interferometric star tracker it is currently developing under several DoD contracts for deep space lasercom beam pointing applications. The OPC interferometric star tracker can also be used to provide precise attitude measurements to the spacecraft for navigation and orbit determination purposes. The current concept for the beam pointing is for a star tracker to be mounted opposite to the downlink beam boresight. This configuration has the advantage that, for outer planet missions, the sun will almost always be away from the tracker, thus allowing the tracker to have a direct view of the sky.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The most immediate application of this technology is in deep space optical communications with the main customer in this area being NASA. NASA Draft Communication and Navigation Systems Roadmap Technology Area 05 dated November 2010 states in reference to optical communications that "longer term, reliance on beacons should be eliminated." Our technology offers the ability to communicate from a near Earth or deep space (up to 40 AU) spacecraft platform using a narrow beam aimed precisely at a beaconless receiver. We can consider both near Earth and deep space applications for the proposed technology. For applications in deep space ranges (up to 40 AU- which is the radius of the solar system), we can name the JPL project called deep-space optical terminals (DOT) as our primary customer at this time. This project was initiated in 2009. DOT involves concept and design of terminals that can handle higher data rates with lower mass and power than the Mars Laser Communication Demonstration (MLCD). OPC has also been funded recently for a study by JPL to investigate if its interferometric star tracker can be used for a spinning spacecraft. The study findings have shown the feasibility of adapting the interferometric tracker to provide accurate attitude information for a rapidly spinning spacecraft.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Application most relevant to this project is the use of star trackers for spacecraft. OPC is building a cubesat star tracker at this time to deliver to a DOD customer. The performance is power dependent - ranging from sub arcsecond to 2 arcsecond accuracy. The package is small - 250 cc in volume. Another visible band star tracker application was proposed to the Navy recently under the SBIR program. This proposal has been selected for award. The application involves space situational awareness, specifically to develop, build and deliver a version of the interferometric tracker capable of detecting and tracking dim objects. Another application is GPS denied navigation which has increasingly become a more acute need in the past few years. Customers are GPS denied navigation systems include virtually the whole armed forces. Our approach is primarily tailored to airborne platforms such as fighter aircraft, ground attack aircraft, next generation bomber, Tier II and Tier II+ UAVs, airborne early warning and control aircraft, ICBMs, and missiles including hypersonic missiles. OPC is currently funded under Navy RIF to build and flight test a stellar inertial navigation system prototype.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Navigation & Guidance
Telemetry/Tracking (Cooperative/Noncooperative; see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
11711 North Creek Parkway South, Suite D113
Bothell, WA 98011-8808
(425) 486-0100

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Jesse Cushing
cushing@tethers.com
11711 N. Creek Pkwy S, D113
Bothell,  WA 98011-8808
(425) 486-0100

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Positrusion ISS Recycler enables recycling of scrap and waste plastics into high-quality filament for 3D printers to enable sustainable in-situ manufacturing on the ISS and future deep-space manned missions. In order to minimize astronaut time required for recycling, mitigate safety risks, and improve the quality of product relative to conventional filament extrusion methods, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) has developed a novel "Positrusion" method for processing plastic pieces into filament. The Phase I effort successfully demonstrated Positrusion recycling of 3D-printed scrap ABS and Ultem materials back into filament, establishing the technology at TRL-4. Moreover, testing demonstrated that Positrusion achieves order-of-magnitude improvement in filament dimensional quality compared to commercially-available filament, which not only will improve the performance and reliability of ISS 3D printers but also make Positrusion competitive in terrestrial commercial applications, such as recycling plastic wastes in the home and office into useful 3D printer feedstock. The Phase II effort will deliver a complete ISS recycler payload system configured as an EXPRESS locker payload, flight qualified and at TRL-6. The Positrusion payload will provide recycling services aboard the ISS with operations that are as simple, safe, and reliable as a microwave oven, enabling astronauts to place scraps in the machine, push a button, and then move on to other duties while the recycler automatically processes the part into spooled filament.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Positrusion's produces filament of superior quality compared to conventional commercial processes, is well suited to small-batch filament production with zero wasted material, and uses a simple architecture that is more appropriate for operation by regular 3D-printer users. These attributes make it well suited for part recycling applications in consumer and pro-sumer 3D-printer markets TUI plans to target the aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer, and R&D markets for commercialization of the Positrusion plastics recycling technology.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Positrusion supports NASA's current efforts aboard the ISS as well as in future deep space missions by providing a facility for recycling scrap plastic parts to form high quality 3D printer-ready feedstock to enable on-orbit manufacture of tools, containers, radiation shielding, and mechanical parts. The installation of this facility will provide launch savings by reducing the launched mass required to restock ISS printers, as well as optimizing the amount of raw material required for deep space missions that utilize NASA's 3D printing. The Positrusion system will also enable recycling of packaging materials and other plastic parts into useful filament, reducing the waste mass that must be deorbited by cargo vehicles. Positrusion process also produces superior filament quality than conventional commercial processes, making it ideally suited to supply any NASA needs for terrestrially produced filament. It is also very efficient for small-batch filament production, reducing the costs and schedule for development and qualification of new filament materials.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
In Situ Manufacturing
Processing Methods
Polymers

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC
75 5th Street Northwest, Suite 244A
Atlanta, GA 30308-1064
(404) 991-2210

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Dominic DePasquale
dominic@tvaero.com
1040 Crown Pointe Parkway, Suite 950
Atlanta,  GA 30338-4741
(404) 991-2209

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA) proposes to enable commercial space activity and improve utilization of the International Space Station (ISS) through use of small reentry devices (REDs) for high-temperature materials flight testing and small payload return missions. TVA is presently developing two RED systems with a high degree of technological similarity. The first is RED-Data2, a 1.7 kg capsule that rides along with a host vehicle to collect engineering data during reentry and breakup. RED-Data2 can also serve as a test-bed for testing and demonstrating high-temperature materials in actual flight conditions. The second device, named RED-4U, is a recoverable capsule sized to accommodate a payload mass and volume equivalent to four CubeSats or more. As the next step in hardware development toward commercialization of these systems, TVA proposes to produce a flight unit RED-Data2 and an engineering development unit of RED-4U. Flight of a RED-Data2 serves as an opportunity to both demonstrate the materials flight test mission, and to demonstrate key technologies for the RED-4U mission. The RED-4U engineering development unit is an important step toward an operational RED-4U system for on-demand return of experiment samples. Both RED-Data2 and RED-4U enable innovative commercial space activity and improved utilization of the ISS.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The Non-NASA commercial applications of RED-Data2 and RED-4U parallel those of the government applications. Reentry breakup data collected by RED-Data2 can assist space vehicle engineers in designing expendable satellites to reduce the hazards of debris, and in designing reusable spacecraft for survivability. Better knowledge of reentry phenomena can improve understanding of risk and lead to increased satellite operational lifetimes. The ability to flight test new materials can help fill a gap in materials characterization to enable development of hypersonic vehicles for crew and cargo transportation. Small payload return capability complements the business models of the emerging commercial space industry and the rapidly expanding small satellite sector. RED-4U could be used to return scientific experiment samples and other payloads from commercial orbital platforms such as those proposed by Bigelow Aerospace and Orbital Technologies, or for intermittent return from free-flying commercial transportation vehicles such as the SpaceX DragonLab, Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus, or the Sierra Nevada DreamChaser. Sample return is also a key element of plans of commercial companies seeking to mine the Moon or asteroids such as Moon Express, Planetary Resources, and Deep Space Industries.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
RED-Data2 has two main applications of benefit to NASA. The first is for reentry data to improve simulations and prediction models. This has value as NASA tackles challenges associated with orbital debris and end-of-life disposal, and for design of crewed space vehicles for survivability. The second application is for development of high temperature materials. Low-cost flight testing of materials allows for rapid qualification of materials in relevant environments for use on future government and COTS missions. The immediate application for RED-4U is to service government and commercial customers performing microgravity research on the ISS. Market research and workshops conducted by NASA and industry concluded that high-frequency payload return is an essential capability to drive high-volume research aboard the ISS. Longer-term NASA applications include sample return from asteroids or planetary bodies in support of robotic or human exploration.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Space Transportation & Safety
Biophysical Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
The DNA Medicine Institute
727 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-3323
(617) 233-7656

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Eugene Chan
echan@dnamedinstitute.com
727 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge,  MA 02139-3323
(617) 233-7656

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 7

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
There is an extraordinary need for a universal biomedical analyzer that has broadly flexible capabilities for cell studies, small animal experiments, and crew member health. The goal of our rHEALTH X device is to create a single palm-sized device with tripartite capabilities: non-invasive measurements, cell cytometry analysis, and multiplexed nanostrip tests. Currently, there is no single device that is able to provide comprehensive non-invasive measurements, let alone combine it with the rHEALTH's significant wet laboratory analytical capabilities. We have developed the existing rHEALTH technology in collaboration with NASA and here, in this Phase II proposal, we intend to further push the envelope and develop a fully integrated solution. The non-invasive module will include measurements of heart rate, SpO2, body temperature, respiratory rate, and EKG. The module will be housed in the back of the rHEALTH X and will be fully detachable for wireless/wearable applications. The main unit will provide wet laboratory capabilities for cells and nanostrips. At the end of Phase II, we will deliver a rHEALTH X with vitals patch to NASA and bring it up to TRL 7, so that it can be flight-certified and flown on the International Space Station (ISS) in a timely manner.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The rHEALTH X will have a transformative effect on the delivery of diagnostic information. This includes real-time health monitoring, providing rapid diagnosis, measurement of leukocytes to diagnose infection and inflammation, portable EKG to allow immediate measurement of heart rate and rhythms, temperature to assess infection and fever, respiratory rate to measure breath capability, SpO2 to measure oxygenation and breathing changes, acute determination of trauma and blood loss, comprehensive portable health monitor with tripartite capabilities, healthcare diagnosis at home and in the field, consumer health management. The rHEALTH X will enable the democratization of biomedical diagnostics.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The rHEALTH X can be utilized onboard the ISS to perform science. These applications include non-invasive measurements of cells and small animals, temperature monitoring of experiments, 4-parameter flow cytometry applications, multiplexed gene expression analysis using nanostrips, biomarker measurements of cell changes, flexible assay capability for space research community, and use of rHEALTH X in Microgravity Sciences Glovebox or Disposable Glove Bag to solve sample transfer issue. The rHEALTH X will aid crew members on the ISS and for travel to Mars. Capabilities allow for rapid monitoring of immune alterations from radiation, bone loss from microgravity environments, kidney health based on metabolites, cardiac rhythm disturbances, sleep alterations, and other critical and emergent conditions that may affect the health and safety our crew members. In addition, the technology can be broadly utilized to track body health and performance in cabin and EVA. Other crew health application include real-time monitoring of astronaut health status, heart rate monitoring to detect arrhythmias, temperature to assess infection or fever, respiratory rate to determine breathing capability, SpO2 to measure respiratory function, study of bone health via 25-OH vitamin D, assessment of immune function via TNF&#945;, study of space radiation effects, systematic monitoring of astronaut health status, acute determination of trauma and blood loss.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Medical
Biological (see also Biological Health/Life Support)
Chemical/Environmental (see also Biological Health/Life Support)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Material Answers, LLC
66 Buckskin Drive
Weston, MA 02493-1130
(617) 378-1976

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Chris Scott
cscott@materialanswers.com
66 Buckskin Drive
Weston,  MA 02493-1130
(617) 378-1976

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed work will expand upon the Phase I efforts based on lightweight multifunctional composite materials with polybenzoxazine (PBz) matrices, with emphasis on high hydrogen content composites that provide excellent radiation shielding. The work focuses on material systems that provide multifunctional capabilities including strength, stiffness, and toughness. Phase I work demonstrated proof-of-concept for the novel benzoxazine resin based formulation and demonstrated its use in the fabrication of prototype polyethylene fiber composite. This approach provides a novel path to addressing NASA's need for lightweight shielding materials that can also serve as structural members and provide protection from micrometeoroid impact. Polybenzoxazines are organic thermosetting polymers that can be tailored at the molecular level to optimize characteristics that are particularly advantageous for radiation shielding applications, such as high hydrogen content. Polybenzoxazines are easily synthesized from inexpensive raw materials and can be optimized for high hydrogen content, high temperature performance, and/or high strength to weight ratio. Our approach to these multifunctional spacecraft materials continues refinement of the polybenzoxazine composite technology that was demonstrated in Phase I. Specific goals of the project include: a) optimization of composite processing and quality and determination of the process window; b) determination and benchmarking of mechanical properties; c) preparation of target samples for shielding testing; d) and scale-up of both the resin synthesis and composites manufacture.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed material systems also have aerospace applications where radiation shielding could be provided for selective areas of aircraft that fly at high altitudes. There has been reported concern of the long-term effect (many years of service) for pilots. Additional applications include equipment and structures where shielding against specific types of radiation are required. These include nuclear energy, nuclear propulsion, and medical equipment.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
- An innovative, tailored material system for lightweight radiation shielding of humans. - An innovative, multifunctional, integrated, and multipurpose structure for lightweight radiation shielding of humans, structural components, and micrometeoroid protection. - An innovative approach for developing radiation shielding materials. These materials have potential applications in the following NASA systems: - Space structures - Orbiters - Landers - Rovers - Habitats - International Space Station (ISS) - Space Launch System (SLS) Program

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Isolation/Protection/Radiation Shielding (see also Mechanical Systems)
Composites
Polymers
Structures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-1916
(303) 940-2347

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gokhan Alptekin
galptekin@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge,  CO 80033-1916
(303) 940-2349

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
An on-board oxygen concentrator is required during long duration manned space missions to supply medical oxygen. The commercial medical oxygen generators based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) are large and highly power intensive. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) proposes to develop a small, lightweight, portable oxygen generator based on a vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) to produce concentrated medical oxygen. The unit uses ambient vehicle cabin air as the feed and delivers high purity oxygen while meeting NASA's requirements for high flow capacity, closed-loop tissue oxygen control and operation in microgravity/partial gravity. TDA's VSA system uses a modified version of the lithium exchanged low silica X zeolite (Li-LSX), a state-of-the-art air separation sorbent extensively used in commercial Portable Oxygen Concentrators (POCs) to enhance the N2 adsorption capacity. In Phase I, we demonstrated the scientific, technical, and commercial feasibility of the oxygen concentrator module (OCM). In Phase II, we will develop a higher fidelity prototype with an adjustable pressure output to produce 2-15 lpm of O2 at 50% to +90% purity from ambient cabin air. The OCM will be capable of self-regulating the oxygenation of the patient using a closed loop feedback system that senses tissue oxygenation level. We will evaluate the sorbent performance in a breadboard bench-scale prototype under simulated microgravity/partial gravity exploration atmospheres and carry out a 1,500 hr longevity test (at a minimum) to determine its mechanical durability. Based on the experimental results, we will design a prototype unit that will meet all of NASA's requirements (e.g., low power draw over the range of flows and oxygen levels, lightweight and volume), while delivering the desired oxygen flow and purity.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The portable medical oxygen generator will also find immediate use in the medical evacuation platforms used in the military and civilian applications as well as in portable oxygen generators. The sorbent used in the system would also be applicable to bulk production of oxygen. Oxygen is a strategically important chemical, with a $2.0 billion market value.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
An on-board oxygen concentrator will find application in long duration manned space missions and in International Space Station (ISS) and Orion spacecraft to supply medical oxygen by recovering the excess oxygen from the cabin air. The unit will be able to concentrate oxygen with little or no net change in the vehicle cabin oxygen concentration.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Medical
Biological (see also Biological Health/Life Support)
Chemical/Environmental (see also Biological Health/Life Support)
Biophysical Utilization

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Pulsar Informatics, Inc.
3401 Market Street, Suite 318
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2614
(215) 520-2630

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Daniel Mollicone
daniel@pulsarinformatics.com
3401 Market Street, Suite 318
Philadelphia,  PA 19104-2614
(215) 520-2630

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 8

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This project will achieve a wrist-worn actigraphy device called STARwatch, designed specifically for space exploration environments. It will provide a minimally obtrusive, objective measure that evaluates astronaut sleep-wake activity and light exposure. This project will leverage our second-generation actigraphy device that has already been validated in controlled laboratory experiments against gold-standard polysomnography. The compact wrist-worn device includes sensors to collect sleep metrics and will also serve as a wireless hub to collect real-time physiological data from other body-worn sensors (e.g., heart rate, EEG). It will use standardized wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth) to automatically uplink data to the ISS network (no astronaut time required). Data will automatically be integrated into medical operations support systems adhering to NASA data requirements (e.g., HL7), providing immediate feedback to astronauts and flight surgeons to aid in decision-making relative to astronaut medical, behavioral health and performance issues. During Phase II, we will conduct user testing and validation in a space flight analog environment, complete product refinements, and certify STARwatch for spaceflight. (Phase II TRL of 7-8).

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There is an articulated market need for tools that track sleep and performance, particularly in areas where human performance has precise operational constraints and important safety implications, such as commercial aviation, emergency health care, shift work, etc. Sleep monitoring technologies described in this proposal can help meet this need by providing professionals working in safety-sensitive occupations with immediate feedback about their sleep and performance and assist with selecting fatigue countermeasures.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
STARwatch will provide a minimally obtrusive, objective measure that evaluates astronaut sleep-wake activity and light exposure. The deliverables for this project exactly meet the need outlined in the solicitation topic and are primarily relevant to NASA's need to address the HRP IRP Risk of Performance Errors Due to Fatigue Resulting from Sleep Loss, Circadian Desynchronization, Extended Wakefulness and Work Overload. Following operational validation and verification, STARwatch will be ready for deployment on ISS to support astronauts during space exploration missions and on Earth during training (including international travel) and post-mission.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Analytical Methods
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Physiological/Psychological Countermeasures
Ad-Hoc Networks (see also Sensors)
Software Tools (Analysis, Design)
Data Acquisition (see also Sensors)
Data Processing
Biological (see also Biological Health/Life Support)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Advanced Systems & Technologies, Inc.
12 Mauchly Building H
Irvine, CA 92618-2330
(949) 733-3355

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
James Kilpatrick
jkilpatrick@asatechinc.com
12 Mauchly Bldg. H
Irvine,  CA 92618-2330
(949) 733-3355

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The pace and progress of new sensor technology development continues to lag far behind the broad ranging potential offered by guided wave NDE. In response to NASA solicitation H13.01 for Advanced NDE Techniques for Complex Built-up Structures, Advanced Systems and Technologies Inc., propose a collaborative program which seeks to combine an advanced sensor technology for rapid wide-area capture of ultrasound wave-field data with recent advances in NDE guided wave signal processing. This proposal describes how the Spatially Coherent Optical Vibrometer Array (SCOVA), combined with chirped ultrasound excitation and narrow tone-band decomposition provide deep data sets for application of new spatio-temporal and spatio-spectral analyses to address a broad range of NDE functions pertinent to NASA spaceflight structures. In form and function, SCOVA offers a sensor geared towards practical deployment of guided wave NDE. The ability of SCOVA to capture swept ultrasound data at hundreds of points simultaneously, offers a major advancement in the practical application of guided wave NDE targeting multiple defect modalities in current and future complex spaceflight structures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The application of the proposed NDE system is anticipated to be of immediate benefit to all branches of military and commercial aerospace organizations concerned with aircraft maintenance and general fleet airworthiness. A broad range of application is anticipated by virtue of the sensors integration of advanced fiber optic component technology with very large scale integrated (VLSI) digital electronics which provides a robust instrument architecture suited to both flight-line and field deployment. In particular, the scope of application is further enhanced because the same SCOVA technology in conjunction with different modes of acoustic and ultrasonic excitation, offers an NDE instrument which is broadly applicable to detection of delamination, disbonds and hidden crushed core damage resulting from foreign body impacts and, potentially, bond line adhesion failure. However the potential areas of application extend beyond this to space, automotive, industrial and maritime fields where composite structures are similarly employed for a wide variety of applications due to their light weight and strength.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
SCOVA facilitates multi-tier search and damage assessment for NDE and structural health monitoring of complex spaceflight structures employing composites, thin light-weight metals and hybrids. Guided wave techniques offer a viable means for composite NDE to identify foreign body impact leading to hidden damage in the form of delaminations, disbonds, crushed core, kissing bonds, matrix cracking or for incipient micro-crack accumulation due to fatigue or thermal damage. In addition to corrosion and fatigue cracking in metals, guided wave inspection is also being actively investigated to meet the urgent NDE demands arising from the increasing deployment of titanium diffusion bonds and bonded joints in metal composite hybrids employed in spaceflight vehicle construction. In form and function, SCOVA is geared towards rapid deployment of guided wave inspection to a broad array of structural NDE tasks.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Space Transportation & Safety
Health Monitoring & Sensing (see also Sensors)
Lasers (Measuring/Sensing)
Acoustic/Vibration
Optical/Photonic (see also Photonics)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Albido Corporation
19 Leaming Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80906-4209
(719) 502-1348

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alfred Gnadinger
alfred@albido.com
19 Leaming Road
Colorado Springs,  CO 80906-4209
(719) 337-4318

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Albido proposes to develop a Passive Wireless Sensor System for Structural Health Monitoring capable of measuring high-bandwidth temperature and strain of space and aerospace vehicle components operating in extreme environments. The proposed system uses a network of true passive Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) temperature/strain sensors that can be interrogated wirelessly from a distance of several meters. SAW sensors are lightweight, passive (battery-less), simple, reliable, scalable, sensitive, do not disturb the operating environment, can be permanently placed on the critical components, allow quick and inexpensive acquisition of data to diagnose structure performance or failures, and transmit the relevant data to a remote data processing center wirelessly. A low cost software radio approach will be developed to overcome a strategic bottleneck in SAW sensor system development. In Phase I Albido demonstrated the proof-of-concept of the proposed sensor and the transmission capability in an adequate laboratory environment (TRL 3). Based on the successful results of Phase I, we will develop a product prototype in Phase II that will be validated in a relevant environment by comparison testing against conventional instrumentation on a test article indicated by NASA. At the end of Phase II, the sensor system will be at TRL 6.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
There are two major market segments for non-NASA applications: military and commercial. Since the proposed sensors are small, wireless, conformal, lightweight and suited for harsh environments, the main military application is for structural health monitoring in harsh environments such as measuring strain and temperature on turbine blades inside a jet engine in operation and also for other military systems such as helicopter blades, Army tanks (e.g. M1). In the commercial field Albido's sensors are attractive for structural health monitoring of commercial jet engines, power plant turbo generators, wind turbines and more. However, since Albido's sensors are also low cost, many consumer applications are attractive. For example, they can be placed on critical sections of fragile objects transported by truck. The truck driver can monitor in real time the structural health of his/her cargo. Parameters to be measured are, for example, temperature, strain, pressure, humidity, and location (identity) of the sensors. Automotive and construction industries can also benefit from this type of sensors. Such system can be also used to drastically reduce the cost of vehicle maintenance by performing Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). The estimated size of the combined military and commercial market available for Albido's products is about $4 billion per year.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed technology allows sensors to be placed on critical aerospace and other components without disturbing the aerodynamic flow. That means they can be left in place and be used for monitoring the health and usage of the components in actual operation of the aerospace vehicles. The sensors are relatively inexpensive and a multitude of them can be used and monitored simultaneously. The technology is ubiquitous, that means it is applicable to a wide variety of components such as space launch vehicles, gas turbine and piston engine components, transmission parts, etc. The proposed wireless technology is easy to install and reconfigure, which makes it very adaptive to any specific application. Passive wireless SAW sensors have many Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) applications within NASA such as: continuous assessment, life of vehicle, thermal protection systems, accelerometers, harsh environment operation, radiation hard operation, ground and in-flight testing, space applications, structural health monitoring (SHM) of spacecraft and launch vehicles, aircrafts, Orbiter Wing Leading Edge Impact Detection System, impact sensors, NASA's ATP facilities, and many others. Of particular importance is to Maintain Vehicle Safety (MVS) between major inspections.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Air Transportation & Safety
Avionics (see also Control and Monitoring)
Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation)
Spacecraft Instrumentation & Astrionics (see also Communications; Control & Monitoring; Information Systems)
Space Transportation & Safety
Condition Monitoring (see also Sensors)
Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors)
Thermal
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT)
Diagnostics/Prognostics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Gener8, Inc.
535 Del Rey Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085-4018
(650) 940-9898

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
William Bischel
bbischel@gener8.net
500 Mercury Dr.
Sunnyvale,  CA 94085-4018
(650) 940-9898

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose a novel new architecture for a low-phase noise electronically tunable laser single-frequency laser at 2.05 microns that meets all the demanding requirements as a seed laser for NASA Lidar applications measuring CO2 densities in the atmosphere. The laser technology is based on previously developed hybrid integration technology that enables the direct optical coupling of active and passive waveguide chips. Array scaling was previously demonstrated for a 4-channel IFOG optical engine and this technology will be applied to the development of the array-scalable tunable laser. The proposed tunable laser can address LIDAR applications at 2.05 microns and can be modified to any wavelength spanning the range of 640-2500 nm.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The single-frequency tunable laser developed by this project be of general benefit to the scientific and R&D community. The availability of the tunable laser will allow new optical sensors and instrumentation to be quickly prototyped. These lasers can also be used for coherent optical communications. Since the technology is inherently array scalable, there would be a significant reduction in per-port cost for a 4 or 8 port tunable single-frequency laser module.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The proposed laser system is the key enabling component for the development of advanced LIDAR systems for NASA applications measuring and monitoring CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere from both ground based and space based systems. The availability of this laser system will significantly reduce the development time to develop the next generation of LIDAR systems. The next gen LIDAR design can take advantage of the hybrid integration technology to minimize the foot print, to increase the ruggedness and to reduce the power consumption and weight.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Analytical Instruments (Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma, Energy; see also Sensors)
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)
Chemical/Environmental (see also Biological Health/Life Support)
Optical/Photonic (see also Photonics)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
ADVR, Inc.
2310 University Way, Building 1-1
Bozeman, MT 59715-6504
(406) 522-0388

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Shirley McNeil
mcneil@advr-inc.com
2310 University Way, Building #1-1
Bozeman,  MT 59715-6504
(406) 522-0388

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR Phase II proposes the development and delivery of a compact, space qualifiable, diode-based seed laser system that utilizes a digital controller to allow autonomous acquisition of lock to the required wavelength in remote environments for multi-wavelength flight and space-based lidar applications. Successful development of this technology, due to its compact, efficient, and reliable design, is an important step towards enabling deployment of future space-based high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) systems for remote sensing systems, as well as improving the autonomous performance of deployed and developing ground and flight-based HSRL systems.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA's use in various lidar systems, a digitally controlled, compact, low cost, wavelength stabilized, diode-based seed source can also be applied for systems requiring high frequency stability, such as long path difference interferometery, holography, spectroscopy, and metrology. A compact frequency stabilized seed laser source may find use in fiber and free-space communications where rapid, moderate power phase modulation is required. Medical applications that may benefit from this technology include medical imaging and phase-modulation fluorimetry in bioprocess and clinical monitoring. A number of commercial lidar or lidar-like systems will benefit from the insertion of this technology, including environmental and pollution monitoring, floodplain measurement, land use assessment, bathymetry, robotics and machine vision applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The primary customer is NASA Langley's High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) program for aerosol and cloud characterization. This system is being considered for the ACE lidar by NASA's ACE Science Working Group because of the higher information content it provides over backscatter lidar on key aerosol optical and microphysical properties. The proposed technology will find multiple uses in other NASA's lidar remote sensing programs, such in altimetry, DIAL lidar, and 3D WINDS where compact, low cost, stabilized single frequency laser sources are required, and also has potential application in spectroscopic measurement techniques.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Spacecraft Instrumentation & Astrionics (see also Communications; Control & Monitoring; Information Systems)
Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring)
Waveguides/Optical Fiber (see also Optics)
Characterization
Data Acquisition (see also Sensors)
Fiber (see also Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Photonics)
Detectors (see also Sensors)
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)
Lasers (Measuring/Sensing)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fibertek, Inc.
13605 Dulles Technology Drive
Herndon, VA 20171-4603
(703) 471-7671

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Brian Mathason
bmathason@fibertek.com
13605 Dulles Technology Drive
Herndon,  VA 20171-4603
(703) 471-7671

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Fibertek proposes to develop laser technology intended to meet NASA's need for innovative lidar technologies for atmospheric measurements of methane. NASA and the 2007 NRC Earth Science Decadal Study have identified methane lidar as a key technology needed to address global change research. Under this SBIR opportunity, we propose to develop an injection-seeded Erbium-doped YAG (Er:YAG) laser transmitter for methane lidar that can be used to increase performance of an existing GSFC methane lidar SNR by 20-40 times and enable future International Space Station (ISS) and satellite platform missions. In addition to targeting space flight applications, the technology could also be used for future global hawk (GH) mission. Key innovations of this technology include: * Average output power >5W at 10kHz pulse repetition rates * Direct generation of near-transform-limited single-frequency output at a 1.65um methane absorption wavelength with appropriate linestrength for high-altitude aircraft or spaceflight measurements. * High reliability and compact size, weight and power (SWaP) * Potential for high efficiency (4-8% wall plug efficiency)

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Fibertek's core business is aerospace lidar and laser technology in support of commercial , aerospace and government customers. The core Er:YAG technology developed as part of this SBIR can be utilized for NASA markets in support of global change research, gas exploration market to identify methane and hence sources of natural gas and oil, pipeline leak identification. The Er:YAG core eye safe technology also enables advanced performance aerospace needs in : Laser rangefinding, target designators, 3D flash and scanning imaging lidars and coherent imaging systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Methane lidar is needed by the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) to support earth based global change research and exploration science mission to identify the planetary sources of sinks of methane, a key green house gas. NASA mission use includes: Updating existing NASA DC8 lidar, technology support development of a Global Hawk, high altitude UAV, methane lidar as part of an Earth Venture Suborbital mission; A successful phase 2 can support a satellite based global methane measurement that can identify more localized methane sources/sinks and can operate in day and nighttime conditions which provides additional data when combined with passive optical systems.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Biomass Growth
Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
3D Imaging
Lasers (Communication)
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)
Lasers (Measuring/Sensing)
Infrared

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Fibertek, Inc.
13605 Dulles Technology Drive
Herndon, VA 20171-4603
(703) 471-7671

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Charles Culpepper
cculpepper@fibertek.com
13605 Dulles Technology Drive
Herndon,  VA 20171-4603
(703) 471-7671

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
echnical Abstract: IThis Phase II SBIR program will build on successful Phase I work to provide Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL-4) laboratory brassboard demonstration of laser sources and non-linear wavelength converters with significant improvements in efficiency and reduction in size, weight, and power consumption compared to systems currently available for space-based instruments planned for the coming 10 to 15 years. This new-generation technology is needed to reduce the size and weight of flight hardware to make it compatible with affordable, more capable satellite payloads. In particular we propose to demonstrate a novel laser transmitter architecture capable of providing a factor of two to three higher average power, pulse energy, and efficiency than laser systems flown on first-generation space-based active remote sensing systems. Our proposed program also includes brassboard demonstration of a highly-efficient wavelength conversion to the blue spectral region (450-500 nm) desired for oceanographic lidar sensors, of interest both for ACE and nearer-term Earth Venture missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Within the U.S. Navy, the principal end-technology application is for advanced lidar systems requiring blue laser output for underwater detection systems for ocean-type water, where blue wavelengths provide significantly greater penetration. The proposed laser system also produces green output at 532 nm, which is suited to applications in shallower coastal waters (for example, shallow-water mine detection and bottom mapping). The high efficiency and low SWaP of the new laser design makes it a candidate for replacing heavier, less efficient laser transmitters on underwater lidar systems based on UAV platforms.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
State-of-the-art compact laser transmitters for atmospheric and ocean lidar systems. This program will provide laser technology that is commercially unavailable to NASA. Efficient, compact lasers at high TRL will enable the development of highly desired instruments for measurement of atmospheric and ocean scattering at the critical air-sea interface in support of atmospheric modeling and climatology. Transition to space-based sensors supported by Earth Venture class and Decadal Study missions. Early development of airborne demonstration systems is a critical step in technology maturation.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Lasers (Ladar/Lidar)
Electromagnetic
Visible

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alphacore, Inc.
1616 East Main Street, Suite 221
Mesa, AZ 85203-9074
(520) 647-4445

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Esko Mikkola
engineering@alphacoreinc.com
2972 West Katapa Trail
Tucson,  AZ 85742-4806
(520) 647-4445

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR Phase II proposal requests support for Alphacore, Inc. to design and characterize a 24 Gsps (gigasamples per second), wide input bandwidth (40 GHz), 6-bit (5.0 effective number of bits, ENOB), low-power (700 mW), and low-cost analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for use in a wide range of NASA's microwave sensor remote sensing applications. The ADC does not employ time-interleaving and provides a very wide spur free input bandwidth making it more suitable to NASA's remote sensing missions and a variety of radio astronomy applications than any other ADC available. In addition, the ADC will be radiation hard (>300krad) and thus suitable for use on-board space missions. A key innovation in Alphacore's approach to the ADC design is that we have considered how the ADC will be used in a system; a custom designed digital back-end implements digital data de-multiplexing and signal conditioning to allow seamless integration with commercially available, high-end, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) that are the main building blocks of modern scientific spectrometers and interferometers. Alphacore's ADC provides these improvements at much lower power and lower cost than existing commercial ADCs that use off-chip components to provide these features. Alphacore's design takes advantage of the latest low-power, high-speed digital CMOS processes, resulting in ADC power consumption that is less than 1/8 of the power consumption of competitor ADCs. The proposed ADC employs an innovative topology with high-bandwidth front-end sampling circuit combined with an interpolated flash-type ADC and encoder circuitry that simplifies FPGA interfacing. All the needed clock signals are generated from a low-cost 100MHz crystal clock reference with a low-jitter (<200fs), radiation-tolerant on-chip PLL.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
In addition to NASA's remote sensing applications Alphacore's ADC is a perfect match to a wide range of radio astronomy applications. Alphacore received several letters of support form the international radio astronomy community to go with this application. The features that make it an exceptional match to the requirements of international large-scale radio astronomy experiments are: seamless interfacing to FPGAs, single core design instead of time-interleaved one, very high sampling rate and bandwidth, easy clocking with an on-chip PLL, low power dissipation and low cost. The ADC also has wide commercial applicability in networking (coherent receivers, network modules), communications (software-defined radio), test equipment (high-speed digital oscilloscopes), radar and electronic warfare (EW) devices. The radiation hardness makes it suitable for commercial and defense sector space applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Some of the currently planned missions that benefit from Alphacore's ADC are listed below. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.7 meter airborne telescope that includes multiple spectrometers covering a broad range of wavelengths. Its Heterodyne Instrument requires 64 high-bandwidth ADCs, similar to the Alphacore ADC. Global Atmospheric Composition Mission (GACM) has passive and active remote sensing instruments in low Earth orbit (LEO) including a UV spectrometer, an IR spectrometer, and a scanning Microwave limb sounder (SMLS). Alphacore's ADC that has 24GSps sampling rate, 40Ghz bandwidth and is radiation hard meets the requirements of these instruments. Compact Adaptable Microwave Limb Sounder (CAMLS) is a collection of instruments, scalable for use in balloons, aircraft and eventually in space. It is a follow-on mission for GACM, and requires digital spectrometers to cover 40 GHz of bandwidth. Six high-bandwidth (and rad-hard) ADCs are needed. Alphacore's ADC is an excellent match to this application. Airborne Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder (A-SMLS) instrument requires seven high bandwidth ADCs for analysis over the spectral range from 225 to 234 GHz. Other NASA missions that can benefit from Alphacore's ADC are TSSM, CCAT, JUICE, MARVEL and VESPER.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Planetary Navigation, Tracking, & Telemetry)
Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors)
Entry, Descent, & Landing (see also Astronautics)
Microwave

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
QuinStar Technology, Inc.
24085 Garnier Street
Torrance, CA 90505-5319
(310) 320-1111

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Edward Watkins
EWatkins@QUINSTAR.com
24085 Garnier Street
Torrance,  CA 90505-5319
(310) 320-1111

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
High power, compact, reliable and affordable power amplifiers operating in the W-band (94 GHz region) are critical to realizing transmitters for many NASA missions and other significant applications for remote sensing and environmental measurements. QuinStar Technology proposes novel approach for a family of solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) that will exceed the performance and operational requirements for measurement instruments and monitoring equipment of the future. Proposed approach is based on optimal combination of unique techniques for highly efficient and yet robust power combining, circuit integration and innovative packaging methods. This also leads to affordable products suitable for space, airborne as well as terrestrial applications. Key features of the proposed implementation are: scalability of power output, compact, lightweight, flexible architecture and high reliability with very significant potential for performance improvement and price reduction as MMIC device technology matures further. Initial objective of proposed effort is to achieve greater than 50 Watts of power output at 94 GHz at greater than 20% duty cycle and with 40 dB or more gain. Phase II work will focus on innovative robust designs for power combining, packaging and select device/material s. Phase II effort will lead to a producible and scalable design baseline that will be used in Phase III for manufacturing deployable products.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Many diverse applications of high power SSPA for W-band transmitters are found in the non-NASA environment, ranging from Helicopter Collision Warning and Brownout Degraded Vision sensor to industrial and military surveillance and security sensors. In addition, airborne and ground-based environmental monitoring instruments would greatly benefit from affordable, light-weight compact power amplifiers at 94 GHz. Some of the governmental agencies involved in this work are: Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Federal Aviation Administration, NOAA, Department of Defense, to name a few. Measurement and monitoring of clear air turbulence (CAT), severe weather and clouds would significantly gain from the development of a cost effective high power SSPA. Future aircraft landing systems (electronic enhanced vision systems) envision the use of SSPA in their transmitters. Space-based cloud profiling radars are envisaged for deployment in low-earth orbits by many space agencies world-wide. A space-qualified W-band SSPA will significantly increase the economic viability and mission success of these future programs. Security and Surveillance-related applications will also benefit from use of high power SSPAs

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
High power SSPAs operating at 94 GHz are needed for a wide range of radars and sensors for atmospheric measurements or environmental monitoring, specifically clouds profiling, mapping light precipitation and snow. Many of these radars are airborne, often on high altitude UAVs. Another application is for mapping super-cooled moist air and wind shear. Dual-frequency cloud-profiling radar is being planned for deployment on the International Space Station. Other ground-based radars for research also utilize high power SSPA. Long-term objective is to completely eliminate the need for any tube-based power amplifiers from the transmitter of these instruments. A very significant application of the W-band SSPA is for the advanced 94 GHz cloud profiling radar in the future Aerosol/Cloud Ecosystem Mission (ACE) to study and measure aerosols, clouds, air quality and ocean ecosystem beyond the scope of prior missions such as CloudSat and EarthCARE. Instrumentation radars which aid in the development of tactical radars in the W-band is yet another application of the proposed high power SSPAs.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Amplifiers/Repeaters/Translators
Power Combiners/Splitters
Transmitters/Receivers
Circuits (including ICs; for specific applications, see e.g., Communications, Networking & Signal Transport; Control & Monitoring, Sensors)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
LongWave Photonics
958 San Leandro Avenue, Suite 300
Mountain View, CA 94043-1996
(617) 399-6405

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Alan Lee
awmlee@longwavephotonics.com
958 San Leandro Avenue, Suite 300
Mountain View,  CA 94043-1996
(617) 399-6405

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA and NASA funded missions/instruments such as Aura (EOS CH-1)/MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), SOFIA/GREAT and STO have demonstrated the need for local oscillator (LO) sources between 30 and 300 um (1 and 10 THz). For observations >2 THz, technologically mature microwave sources typically have microwatt power levels which are insufficient to act as LOs for a heterodyne receivers. LongWave Photonics is proposing to develop a compact, frequency agile, phase/frequency locked, power stabilized, single mode quantum cascade laser (QCL) system with > 2mW power output. The system includes distributed feedback grating (DFB) QCL arrays packed with multiple devices on a single semiconductor die with individual devices lasing at different frequencies. The source will be frequency agile over 150 GHz with center frequencies ranging from 2 to 5 THz range. The DFB QCL array will be packaged in a high-reliability Stirling cycle cooler. The source will be phase/frequency locked to a stable microwave reference synthesizer which allows continuous phase-locking ability over the THz laser tunable range with <100 kHz line width. The proposed system will be able to provide sufficient power for an LO at > 2 THz, with reduction of LO linewidth, and absolute frequency accuracy and with output power stabilized to reduce system noise. The whole system will be in a compact package which can be further reduced for a flight instrument.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Initial applications for this technology are mainly research markets for low pressure gas spectroscopy. The narrow line width and the ability to provide real-time frequency information of the THz radiation also has great appeal. Another potential application is to replace THz gas laser used for THz detector power calibration. Long-term applications include industrial uses for trace gas detection. For industrial applications, the use of high-reliability, compact Stirling cycle coolers would greatly increase the usability of these QCL devices, which have traditionally required liquid nitrogen cooling or larger cryocooling systems.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications include the use of the QCL as an LO for >2 THz receivers for future missions. Here the narrow line width (<100 kHz) of the QCLs can be used to resolve Doppler-limited low pressure gasses (~MHz linewidth). The DFB QCL array LO would be a frequency agile, compact replacement for any gas-laser LO. The resulting source will be compact, reliable, table-top sized THz high power with stabilized frequency and power. It will be an easy-to-use platform for NASA researchers to study the performance of other key components in the receiver such as Schottky or HEB mixers.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Lasers (Measuring/Sensing)
Terahertz (Sub-millimeter)

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
QmagiQ
22 Cotton Road, Unit H, Suite 180
Nashua, NH 03063-4219
(603) 821-3092

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Mani Sundaram
msundaram@qmagiq.com
22 Cotton Road, Unit H, Suite 180
Nashua,  NH 03063-4219
(603) 821-3092

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) based on Type-II strained layer superlattice (SLS) photodiodes have recently experienced significant advances. In Phase I we developed and delivered to NASA a 320x256 DUALBAND FPA integrated in a dewar cooler assembly (IDCA) that produces simultaneous and spatially-registered imagery in two spectral bands, namely, a fire channel in the 3-5 micron window and a thermal channel covering 8-12 microns. Such FPAs are known to be uniquely effective for detecting wildfires either locally from aircraft or globally from satellites in low earth orbit. The performance of SLS detectors now rivals that of mercury cadmium telluride but at a fraction of the cost. Their high quantum efficiency combined with the advantages of two-color imagery and data interpretation will permit the detection of wildfires with much reduced false alarm rates. The same devices will also enhance NASA's capabilities in a host of other satellite and airborne Earth-observing missions devoted to long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere and oceans. They will also be instrumental in supporting future Space Science missions aimed at studying distant galaxies and discovering potentially habitable planets orbiting other stars. In Phase II we will expand dualband FPA format to 1280x1024 (12 micron pitch) and develop and deliver both a compact IDCA and camera so that NASA can field-test this promising new sensor technology for its wildfire-detection and other remote-sensing missions.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
1) Gas imaging(e.g. for the petrochemical industry) 2) Security and surveillance 3) Thermography 4) Medical imaging 5) Missile defense 6) Space-based situational awareness

POTENTIAL NON-NASA APPLICATION(S) (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
1) Satellite-based wildfire detection 2) NASA's other earth-observing missions in the infrared 3) Space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics 4) Chemical/spectral mapping of forests, vegetation and crops 5) Temperature mapping of oceans and landmasses 6) Atmospheric mapping 7) Pollution monitoring

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING
Thermal Imaging (see also Testing & Evaluation)
Detectors (see also Sensors)
Optical/Photonic (see also Photonics)
Thermal
Infrared
Multispectral/Hyperspectral

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN: (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
IntelliEPI IR, Inc.
201 East Arapaho Road, Suite 210
Richardson, TX 75081-6203
(972) 234-0068

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER: (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/ZIP, Phone)
Paul Pinsukanjana
pinsu@intelliepiir.com
201 East Arapaho Road, Suite 210
Richardson,  TX 75081-6203
(972) 814-6050

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This Phase II SBIR proposes to further develop high performance (low dark current, high quantum efficiency, and low NEdT) infrared epitaxy materials based on Type II Strained Layer Superlattice (SLS) for large format space-based sensor applications. The epi materials will be grown with Sb-capable multi-wafer production Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) reactor at IntelliEPI-IR. The initial goal includes achieving QE of at least 40% with LWIR spectral